Day 3 of you being gone Harley.... It's still so fresh, so unusual to wake up without your big droopy jawls plopping down onto my knee, indicating you need to be let out. You put a huge weight on my heart when you left this cruel world. You showed me within the time you were here you really served a purpose. Harley, you practically healed my first dog since Celtic by coming into this world and showing me (in your own way) different options to get MeiMei better. She was really sick before you came along and had so many issues that no one knew the answers to, you shed so much light on how you reacted similarly to what she did to certain foods, bathing solutions, flea treatments along with so many other things. Harley, you came into this world to help guide MeiMei and after very little consideration, you helped guide me too.
As the days went on with us being unable to locate someone who would help you w/out the thought of money being brought into play, all of the suffering you encountered, and through it all, all of the love you still gave until your dying moments, you guided me, you showed me that I really can do something meaningful with my life. You showed me that I need to better myself by helping those I love the most and are the most innocent creature that walks this "green" earth.
Harley, you never gave me any lip, unless it was plopped on my leg, you communicated with us in a way no one human could understand, you brought us so many squeaky toys that our heads spun due to the noise brought with them. And now, now that you're up there in Heaven with those toys that meant so much to your existence, I'm able to see that you served a purpose here on Earth. Just like I saved you from being hurt on a daily basis, you saved me from making poor judgement on my life.
Just a couple of days before Harley passed away or even got sick for that matter, I said to myself and aloud, "I've got to find a purpose, I feel like I've missed my calling to do something meaningful with my life." After all of the frantic phone calls and painful circumstances with vets, I found my calling, my purpose, what would make my life along with many others lives a little simpler. Just like the saying goes "To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world." Well, same goes for animals. "To the world you may be one animal, but to one person you may be the world." She was and still is our world. She made us laugh, she made us panic, she made us find joy in the everyday lows and highs that many others would consider to be nothing. However Harley served a purpose to shed light on my life. She showed me something I already knew but didn't feel I could handle at one point in my life because of my love for animals.
Many times I thought that I wouldn't be able to work with animals that would be injured or in a bad state in their life. With all of the vet situations we went through and Harley suffered through, it showed me that vets are full of the desire of making money and less desire of taking care of the pets in need. Well, after thinking about it, I knew that my heart is with animals. For me, I've always been so full of love for animals but always feared I'd get too wrapped up in their lives and become hurt by their loss more than love the entirety of being with them.
With that being said, I've decided that I will be attending school again, but on my own terms, and I will be studying Veterinary Assisting. I vow that I will NOT work for any agency or company that is not non-profit. Consideration and compassion is key in the Veterinary field and I can't let money within huge industries take over what I love so much about animals. To me, that would ruin the field for me. I don't want to work somewhere that animals are turned away because their credit isn't good enough to be approved for CareCredit in these messed up economy times. I don't want to feel that someone should HAVE to take their animal to get euthanized because the ER fee is so high before treatment is even established. I don't want to work in a place so dependent on receiving money immediately instead of working with try to revive or even help a pet in need.
I've signed up through the same school I went to for continued education to receive my high school diploma. I will be getting all of the information in the mail in the next couple of days and once I complete this program I will then continue my education into becoming a Vet Tech if I feel that's where I'd like to continue. Either way, I know that even just ONE more loving person in this world to help animals, no matter the situation, can help a great deal. And, right now I feel that Harley has inspired me to better myself, I feel that perhaps she was an angel sent to me from my Mom to give me some kind of guidance to where I belong. I know, if my Mom were to have been able to afford going back to school, she would have gone into the veterinary field. Harley is not only my inspiration but she is my heart! She helped guide me in a way no other animal in this world has been able to. So for the loss of you Harley, and for the love I'll always hold in my heart, know that I'll not give up on becoming a Veterinary Assistant, because like I said, one person can make a difference! I could be that one person!
Monday, January 9, 2012
Saturday, January 7, 2012
The loss...
The loss of a pet/family member is so straining on ones entirety. Last night, I lost my love, Harley Quinn. She had lived with us since she was 5 weeks old and had made such a huge impact on this house. She was one to shed light on how great everything was or could be when it came to being an owner. She brought the best out in MeiMei. She helped us find a dog food that was able to allow both of my girls to have a shiny coat of hair instead of the constant biting of themselves due to very dry skin. She helped us find flea medication that actually worked instead of all of the other shit we had tried for years previous that hadn't worked for MeiMei even when "prescribed" by the veterinary clinic. She brought smiles to our face up until the day she past away. No matter what the cause of her going into cardiac arrest, I will be forever grateful to the vet who actually allowed us to bring her in without any immediate payment required. I'm so thankful that we got her to a facility where she was able to be given a chance to live.
Here's what all happened. Up until Saturday December 31, 2011, she was this happy go lucky dog. This amazing creature that gave me strength to go day to day w/out the thought of bad in anything to severe. However, Thursday, December 29, 2011, she was out in the back yard and came in limping a bit. We thought that perhaps she may have had a splinter in her paw because we have hay spread out in our yard to help prevent the mud from being brought into our house from not only the dogs, but from us as well. Since we've had so much rain, our back yard has turned into a mosh pit at times. So we checked her paws to verify whether or not she had a splinter, and nothing was there. So, I decided to read up a bit on what can be given for inflammation or pain to dogs to help soothe the pain. She sat down and she was in pain with her right paw and was very hesitant to allowing me to touch her nail. Man, she whimpered and attempted several times to pull her paw away due to how much pain she was in. She had dug in our back yard, most likely and her nail was ripped a bit, but at a very rough location because it was right at the quick. So after reading and making sure that I could give her something to soothe the pain that was OTC, I gave her an aspirin. She began to get better, walking on her own, and man was I thankful.
December 30, 2011 we went to pick up some things from the store and when we came home I noticed that her eyes were almost bulging out from her face. This was extremely abnormal for her. So, I tried to give her some love and look into her eyes to see if there was anything that may have caused this while I was away. It didn't seem to be too serious but it was definitely concerning. As she began having this problem, she started to stop eating. She began vomiting anything at all she'd even drink.
December 31, 2011 she started getting stiff feeling. She wasn't walking in the graceful way she'd normally walk. You could tell she was uncomfortable, but we couldn't understand why.
January 1, 2012 she had her eyes even more bulged, she was coughing, her body was difficult for her to lay down, but wasn't comfortable standing.
January 2, 2012 she wouldn't drink nor eat. Her entire face was swollen, she stopped trying to move so much. She was lethargic at this point.
January 3, 2012 she was unable to breathe. Her throat was swollen. She couldn't keep anything down at all and I rushed her to the vet that morning when we woke up. She was taken into Banfield Veterinary, where at this point we thought it was an allergic reaction to the aspirin. We couldn't think of any other reason as to why she was so bad off. I also informed the vet that it may be an infection due to the nail being ripped so close to her quick. The doctors take her back and she was hooked up to IV's full of Benedryl, Predisone, and Pepcid. These medications apparently did some good, so when I picked her up after work, the swelling had gone down, but she still wasn't her full self. The doctor stated that I was to give her 50mg of Benedryl, and 20mg of Pecid, twice daily. This was quite difficult considering the meds were to be given orally and her tongue was swollen. The night of January 3rd, I called the doctor to see if I should administer any meds before bedtime and she stated that I should give Harley some Benedryl and start the other scheduled meds tomorrow. She did drink when she came home but she still would not eat very much. She had a few pieces of chicken, but threw them up later.
January 4, 2012 Harley's tongue was swollen again, her ears even swollen, her face was a TINY bit better, but she still wasn't looking good. I administered the medications as prescribed but Harley would just throw them back up. Harley wouldn't eat and she would not drink either. The medications I attempted to give her, she wouldn't take in any food product, so I seriously had to shove these pills down her throat, but take into consideration, her tongue was swollen and I couldn't truly be aware if I had gotten them down or not. Only later for her to cough so badly that the medications came out anyhow. I called the vet in panic when I came home because she had vomited yet again, and the vet at Banfield told me that her stomach could still be bothered and that Aspirin takes a week to get out of the system. Later that evening she began to pant heavily but we could see her tongue as a tongue, not just something she had sitting there swollen in her mouth. Harley began to get stiff, her body was unable to go under the coffee table and her vision seemed to be effected more and more. I spoke with Banfield about that and suggested that she be put on some kind of muscle relaxers and they then said, you'd have to bring her in for us to examine her again, that's just $35 for us to look at her and then the additional costs would have to be paid upfront.
January 5, 2012 Harley was panting heavily but she began drinking water on her own, unlike other days where I used a turkey baster to get water in her system. However, noticeably, everything that she was attempting to drink was only spewing back out because of her tongue again being swollen. I called multiple doctors along with my vet, at Banfield. The biggest issue stood that we did not have the funds to do a lot of the "requested" procedures. When Harley would stand at the water bowl, her feet would bow inward. Not thinking too much about the fact (at that point) that it was the same paw that she had initially injured. Harley again became lethargic. When talking to vets I explained that I'd give them a check and if they could just hold it until we get paid this week, it would be something we'd be able to do. But, no one and I mean, NO ONE was willing to help. Everything just continued to worsen. The vets continued to say that they could not help if we couldn't pay them upfront, and the emergency cost to walk IN the door was a minimum of $110. Everything was to be paid upfront.
January 6, 2012 Harley went outside, where she loves the most and enjoyed her day in the fresh air. Of course she was monitored, but she was standing without much complication and she was still panting but less. Her facial swelling seemed to decrease a bit, but her eyes were beginning to bulge again. I wanted to have her enjoy her day outside and made sure she got enough fresh air before she came in. Around 6:40pm D came home, and she heard the car pull in. She tried to get up and when she did she fell on her side. D came up the steps and I asked him to help her, thinking she had fallen because of how stiff she had been. D goes to help her up and her legs fell out from under her. She was attempting so hard to move her legs, but on our floors, since we have no carpet, she couldn't move her body.
D moved her out into the hallway and sat with her while I called different vets to find out what I could do. Many were closed, or closing. I called Banfield again and they said "You can bring her in tomorrow, we open at 9a and we could examine her." I explained AGAIN that I could give them a check to hold until we get paid and they said, "Oh, we can't accept held checks. You'd have to pay upfront the entire cost. You can call the Humane Society and see if they can do anything." I then call them, and surprise surprise it's an automated telephone, telling me all of these other numbers to call and "Oh we're closed." was of course stated, because it was 7:01pm and they close at 7:00pm. I then contact my neighbor and explain that if Harley doesn't get seen tonight she is going to die, she by no means is going to make it through the weekend if no one is willing to fkin help!
After that I called a local vet that I just got Ninja spayed at because they're an emergency clinic as well. I called Capital Veterinary Referral and Emergency Clinic and the Vet Tech there stated it would be $120 to walk in the door and then any additional fees beyond that. All to be paid upfront of course.... But, they'd euthanize her for $110 and they could bill me for that, and since we wouldn't be able to pay up front we'd have to take the body home with us and figure out what to do with her body. I was so ill from that conversation, that's SO sick! How can do you do that?????????? SICK!
After that phone call that led to disgust, I called my neighbor who is the one who actually had her Daddy, Tyson (until last year when he passed away) and has her Mommy Jezzy, who is a big baby. When talking with her she said for me to call the vet she took Tyson to and so I did. So I called Georgesville Animal Hospital and they were closed but had a recording that stated if it was an emergency that we can call...... MedVet Ohio and a few others which I had already called. This was my last hope, my last chance for Harley's life....
So I called MedVet Ohio and explained the situation to them and they said they could hold a check for up to 21 days and that we could come in NOW! So, I went, got shoes on, D got his shoes on, and D carried her down the steps since she was unable to hold her own weight, we put Harley in the crate to transport her to the vet in something stable, because we couldn't be sure that she would be okay if she was just put in my truck. We drove to Worthington which is about a 30 minute trip and D carried her into the Hospital, which may I add is stunning! Two techs came out IMMEDIATELY and put her on a stretcher and immediately took her back. We began to fill out paperwork and I hadn't even gotten half a page into it before a Vet tech came out, and asked to get some information as to what led her to this point and what-not. After about a 45 second "conversation" she asked, "If her heart stops, do you want us to perform CPR to try and bring her back?" I knew, right then, that she had gone into Cardiac Arrest. D said, "please try! Try!" I knew that she wasn't okay at all. The vet tech said they tried to take her temperature and it wasn't even readable because of how high it was.
We were then taken to a consultation room where I broke down, but D was still being as strong as he could be. Then just moments after sitting there a doctor came in and said, "I'm so sorry, but her heart has stopped beating and we've attempted several rounds of CPR, and she's been incubated, but she's not responding. At this point, I wanted to ask if you want us to continue, or stop. I will say that if she were to respond it is likely she'd have brain damage or be restricted from much of what she was once able to do. It's your call, what would you like for us to do?" At that point D spoke and stated "We do not want her to suffer! So with your professional opinion being stated, please let her go and stop the CPR." We both broke down so badly and they doctor went to inform the techs to stop attempting. The doctor came back in and asked if we wanted to see Harley but D said he couldn't do it. After a couple of minutes of initial shock though, we changed our minds and they wheeled Harley in on the stretcher, covered in a blanket up to her shoulders. I went to her face and apologized over and over and over for all that she'd gone through and how I wish I could have helped her more. I kissed her non-swollen sweet loving face and told her just how much I love her and she'll never been a replaceable pet in my eyes. Telling her how much I hope she's up in doggy heaven with her daddy now playing with all of the dog toys she can handle. I knew she was in peace, seeing her face not swollen for the first time in a week showed me just how peaceful she was at that point. D and I held each other and talked to Harley as if she was just sleeping, because honestly that was exactly what she looked like, as if she was just resting peacefully.
The doctor told us that her throat was so swollen that she couldn't swallow anything. Her pulse stopped as soon as they moved her through the doors away from us. After taking her temperature they knew it wasn't good since it was unreadable. She also said that Harley was very swollen throughout and that the cause was unknown with the given information that we had provided. She offered an autopsy but did say that it's very unlikely that the cause will be revealed on an indefinite reading. She said most that come back, come back inconclusive. We declined the autopsy even before the doctor stated the outcome possibilities... We just didn't want to do that to Harley! No way, no how.
After that, we were asked if we wanted her paw prints sent to us so we have them for memory. We were so thankful for that opportunity. Then we also requested she be cremated and her ashes be sent to us so that we can have her urn with her paw prints in front of them. She will forever be in our hearts and I'm so thankful for the services that were provided by MedVet Ohio. and that even though she struggled and strived to live for US, for the past 7 days. As soon as she went to the back she knew we weren't watching her anymore and that she could relax her body and let go. We're also very thankful that she was in a place that COULD do such helpful things for Harley, even though she wasn't able to accept them because it was too late. If she had passed in our home we wouldn't have known what to do at that point.
This was so unfortunate but then again, everything worked out for Harley. She is in an amazingly peaceful state now that gives her the ability to not live for others. She's on a cloud up there with my first dog, Celtic probably is stealing Harley's tennis ball as I write this.
So, that's the story of what all happened over the passed couple of days here in the Eshenbaugh household. I will say if this is what 2012 has to offer us for the rest of the year, I will officially give up! Harley's loss is going to take many years to heal. There is no one who can replace this amazingly precious and kind hearted love that we lost yesterday. All we can pray for is that she's not in pain, she is better off, and that she is resting in peace.
We love you Harley! Always have, and always will!
Here's what all happened. Up until Saturday December 31, 2011, she was this happy go lucky dog. This amazing creature that gave me strength to go day to day w/out the thought of bad in anything to severe. However, Thursday, December 29, 2011, she was out in the back yard and came in limping a bit. We thought that perhaps she may have had a splinter in her paw because we have hay spread out in our yard to help prevent the mud from being brought into our house from not only the dogs, but from us as well. Since we've had so much rain, our back yard has turned into a mosh pit at times. So we checked her paws to verify whether or not she had a splinter, and nothing was there. So, I decided to read up a bit on what can be given for inflammation or pain to dogs to help soothe the pain. She sat down and she was in pain with her right paw and was very hesitant to allowing me to touch her nail. Man, she whimpered and attempted several times to pull her paw away due to how much pain she was in. She had dug in our back yard, most likely and her nail was ripped a bit, but at a very rough location because it was right at the quick. So after reading and making sure that I could give her something to soothe the pain that was OTC, I gave her an aspirin. She began to get better, walking on her own, and man was I thankful.
December 30, 2011 we went to pick up some things from the store and when we came home I noticed that her eyes were almost bulging out from her face. This was extremely abnormal for her. So, I tried to give her some love and look into her eyes to see if there was anything that may have caused this while I was away. It didn't seem to be too serious but it was definitely concerning. As she began having this problem, she started to stop eating. She began vomiting anything at all she'd even drink.
December 31, 2011 she started getting stiff feeling. She wasn't walking in the graceful way she'd normally walk. You could tell she was uncomfortable, but we couldn't understand why.
January 1, 2012 she had her eyes even more bulged, she was coughing, her body was difficult for her to lay down, but wasn't comfortable standing.
January 2, 2012 she wouldn't drink nor eat. Her entire face was swollen, she stopped trying to move so much. She was lethargic at this point.
January 3, 2012 she was unable to breathe. Her throat was swollen. She couldn't keep anything down at all and I rushed her to the vet that morning when we woke up. She was taken into Banfield Veterinary, where at this point we thought it was an allergic reaction to the aspirin. We couldn't think of any other reason as to why she was so bad off. I also informed the vet that it may be an infection due to the nail being ripped so close to her quick. The doctors take her back and she was hooked up to IV's full of Benedryl, Predisone, and Pepcid. These medications apparently did some good, so when I picked her up after work, the swelling had gone down, but she still wasn't her full self. The doctor stated that I was to give her 50mg of Benedryl, and 20mg of Pecid, twice daily. This was quite difficult considering the meds were to be given orally and her tongue was swollen. The night of January 3rd, I called the doctor to see if I should administer any meds before bedtime and she stated that I should give Harley some Benedryl and start the other scheduled meds tomorrow. She did drink when she came home but she still would not eat very much. She had a few pieces of chicken, but threw them up later.
January 4, 2012 Harley's tongue was swollen again, her ears even swollen, her face was a TINY bit better, but she still wasn't looking good. I administered the medications as prescribed but Harley would just throw them back up. Harley wouldn't eat and she would not drink either. The medications I attempted to give her, she wouldn't take in any food product, so I seriously had to shove these pills down her throat, but take into consideration, her tongue was swollen and I couldn't truly be aware if I had gotten them down or not. Only later for her to cough so badly that the medications came out anyhow. I called the vet in panic when I came home because she had vomited yet again, and the vet at Banfield told me that her stomach could still be bothered and that Aspirin takes a week to get out of the system. Later that evening she began to pant heavily but we could see her tongue as a tongue, not just something she had sitting there swollen in her mouth. Harley began to get stiff, her body was unable to go under the coffee table and her vision seemed to be effected more and more. I spoke with Banfield about that and suggested that she be put on some kind of muscle relaxers and they then said, you'd have to bring her in for us to examine her again, that's just $35 for us to look at her and then the additional costs would have to be paid upfront.
January 5, 2012 Harley was panting heavily but she began drinking water on her own, unlike other days where I used a turkey baster to get water in her system. However, noticeably, everything that she was attempting to drink was only spewing back out because of her tongue again being swollen. I called multiple doctors along with my vet, at Banfield. The biggest issue stood that we did not have the funds to do a lot of the "requested" procedures. When Harley would stand at the water bowl, her feet would bow inward. Not thinking too much about the fact (at that point) that it was the same paw that she had initially injured. Harley again became lethargic. When talking to vets I explained that I'd give them a check and if they could just hold it until we get paid this week, it would be something we'd be able to do. But, no one and I mean, NO ONE was willing to help. Everything just continued to worsen. The vets continued to say that they could not help if we couldn't pay them upfront, and the emergency cost to walk IN the door was a minimum of $110. Everything was to be paid upfront.
January 6, 2012 Harley went outside, where she loves the most and enjoyed her day in the fresh air. Of course she was monitored, but she was standing without much complication and she was still panting but less. Her facial swelling seemed to decrease a bit, but her eyes were beginning to bulge again. I wanted to have her enjoy her day outside and made sure she got enough fresh air before she came in. Around 6:40pm D came home, and she heard the car pull in. She tried to get up and when she did she fell on her side. D came up the steps and I asked him to help her, thinking she had fallen because of how stiff she had been. D goes to help her up and her legs fell out from under her. She was attempting so hard to move her legs, but on our floors, since we have no carpet, she couldn't move her body.
D moved her out into the hallway and sat with her while I called different vets to find out what I could do. Many were closed, or closing. I called Banfield again and they said "You can bring her in tomorrow, we open at 9a and we could examine her." I explained AGAIN that I could give them a check to hold until we get paid and they said, "Oh, we can't accept held checks. You'd have to pay upfront the entire cost. You can call the Humane Society and see if they can do anything." I then call them, and surprise surprise it's an automated telephone, telling me all of these other numbers to call and "Oh we're closed." was of course stated, because it was 7:01pm and they close at 7:00pm. I then contact my neighbor and explain that if Harley doesn't get seen tonight she is going to die, she by no means is going to make it through the weekend if no one is willing to fkin help!
After that I called a local vet that I just got Ninja spayed at because they're an emergency clinic as well. I called Capital Veterinary Referral and Emergency Clinic and the Vet Tech there stated it would be $120 to walk in the door and then any additional fees beyond that. All to be paid upfront of course.... But, they'd euthanize her for $110 and they could bill me for that, and since we wouldn't be able to pay up front we'd have to take the body home with us and figure out what to do with her body. I was so ill from that conversation, that's SO sick! How can do you do that?????????? SICK!
After that phone call that led to disgust, I called my neighbor who is the one who actually had her Daddy, Tyson (until last year when he passed away) and has her Mommy Jezzy, who is a big baby. When talking with her she said for me to call the vet she took Tyson to and so I did. So I called Georgesville Animal Hospital and they were closed but had a recording that stated if it was an emergency that we can call...... MedVet Ohio and a few others which I had already called. This was my last hope, my last chance for Harley's life....
So I called MedVet Ohio and explained the situation to them and they said they could hold a check for up to 21 days and that we could come in NOW! So, I went, got shoes on, D got his shoes on, and D carried her down the steps since she was unable to hold her own weight, we put Harley in the crate to transport her to the vet in something stable, because we couldn't be sure that she would be okay if she was just put in my truck. We drove to Worthington which is about a 30 minute trip and D carried her into the Hospital, which may I add is stunning! Two techs came out IMMEDIATELY and put her on a stretcher and immediately took her back. We began to fill out paperwork and I hadn't even gotten half a page into it before a Vet tech came out, and asked to get some information as to what led her to this point and what-not. After about a 45 second "conversation" she asked, "If her heart stops, do you want us to perform CPR to try and bring her back?" I knew, right then, that she had gone into Cardiac Arrest. D said, "please try! Try!" I knew that she wasn't okay at all. The vet tech said they tried to take her temperature and it wasn't even readable because of how high it was.
We were then taken to a consultation room where I broke down, but D was still being as strong as he could be. Then just moments after sitting there a doctor came in and said, "I'm so sorry, but her heart has stopped beating and we've attempted several rounds of CPR, and she's been incubated, but she's not responding. At this point, I wanted to ask if you want us to continue, or stop. I will say that if she were to respond it is likely she'd have brain damage or be restricted from much of what she was once able to do. It's your call, what would you like for us to do?" At that point D spoke and stated "We do not want her to suffer! So with your professional opinion being stated, please let her go and stop the CPR." We both broke down so badly and they doctor went to inform the techs to stop attempting. The doctor came back in and asked if we wanted to see Harley but D said he couldn't do it. After a couple of minutes of initial shock though, we changed our minds and they wheeled Harley in on the stretcher, covered in a blanket up to her shoulders. I went to her face and apologized over and over and over for all that she'd gone through and how I wish I could have helped her more. I kissed her non-swollen sweet loving face and told her just how much I love her and she'll never been a replaceable pet in my eyes. Telling her how much I hope she's up in doggy heaven with her daddy now playing with all of the dog toys she can handle. I knew she was in peace, seeing her face not swollen for the first time in a week showed me just how peaceful she was at that point. D and I held each other and talked to Harley as if she was just sleeping, because honestly that was exactly what she looked like, as if she was just resting peacefully.
The doctor told us that her throat was so swollen that she couldn't swallow anything. Her pulse stopped as soon as they moved her through the doors away from us. After taking her temperature they knew it wasn't good since it was unreadable. She also said that Harley was very swollen throughout and that the cause was unknown with the given information that we had provided. She offered an autopsy but did say that it's very unlikely that the cause will be revealed on an indefinite reading. She said most that come back, come back inconclusive. We declined the autopsy even before the doctor stated the outcome possibilities... We just didn't want to do that to Harley! No way, no how.
After that, we were asked if we wanted her paw prints sent to us so we have them for memory. We were so thankful for that opportunity. Then we also requested she be cremated and her ashes be sent to us so that we can have her urn with her paw prints in front of them. She will forever be in our hearts and I'm so thankful for the services that were provided by MedVet Ohio. and that even though she struggled and strived to live for US, for the past 7 days. As soon as she went to the back she knew we weren't watching her anymore and that she could relax her body and let go. We're also very thankful that she was in a place that COULD do such helpful things for Harley, even though she wasn't able to accept them because it was too late. If she had passed in our home we wouldn't have known what to do at that point.
This was so unfortunate but then again, everything worked out for Harley. She is in an amazingly peaceful state now that gives her the ability to not live for others. She's on a cloud up there with my first dog, Celtic probably is stealing Harley's tennis ball as I write this.
So, that's the story of what all happened over the passed couple of days here in the Eshenbaugh household. I will say if this is what 2012 has to offer us for the rest of the year, I will officially give up! Harley's loss is going to take many years to heal. There is no one who can replace this amazingly precious and kind hearted love that we lost yesterday. All we can pray for is that she's not in pain, she is better off, and that she is resting in peace.
We love you Harley! Always have, and always will!
September 11, 2009-January 6, 2012
Rest in Peace my beautiful baby girl!!!
Monday, December 19, 2011
Long time, no write...
It's been so chaotic here with us as a family that sitting down to take time to write hasn't really happened as I had made time before for it. Well, here's what "you've" missed.
~I'm working two jobs
~I'm working two jobs
- Between working at Panera Bread and The Columbus Dispatch, I've had little to no time to breath lately.
Let's start with Panera:
- When I started at Panera, it was a job that I felt rushed to get. I wasn't certain that I'd stay there for an extended period of time because fact is, it's restaurant business and it's been a long time since I've worked in a restaurant type of job.
- Management within the store I work in is pretty together. There are some typical behaviors that you see in every restaurant with managers, but this store doesn't amount to much of the bullshit I've seen in my time in the many restaurants I've worked in previously.
- My GM is the flirtatious, unmarried, unattached manager who has an eye for the lookers.
- My Assistant manager is pretty together. Soft spoken, married with a child and has informed me that he doesn't cuss at home so "It's fair game at work." LOL
- My scheduling manager does not have kids and I'm uncertain if he's married but he's got a pretty good head on his shoulders as it appears at work.
- My shift supervisor is pretty cool. She's attending school for the Police Academy and is in a relationship happily.
- All of the managers know how to work within every position in the store and are capable of jumping in to help at any given time, as needed. Heck at one point all of the managers were on the line cooking. At other times they'll help tidy up the dining room, brew coffees, restock needed items, work dish, take the trash out, work barista making drinks, ring on the registers, and I've even witnessed a few checking the bathroom's cleanliness. That is a huge difference from what I've seen in the past. The office at our store is rarely ever occupied and when it is, it's for checking out cashiers or making orders, not for sitting in and watching others work.
- How I've grown ALREADY with the company after being there for a little over a month:
- I started working in the dining room which consisted of cleaning, bussing tables, interaction with guests was absolute key, brewing/restocking coffees and coffee stations, etc.
- I'm now trained as a Cashier.
- I've been certified on both dining room and Cashier.
- The management wants to train me on the line.
- I have become a trainer for the dining room. The management is so pleased with how I run the floor that they want me to train 3-4 people this week on the floor.
- With this training, I will be able to move onto other areas that will allow me to advance into other areas.
- Over-all, my happiness level is pretty good there. With the management's support in some limitations I've had since working there, they've shown me that a good management team is possible in the restaurant business. There are good days and bad days, but I think that's going to be anywhere.
Now onto the Route delivery:
- I must say, I am not very happy with how shitty my route coordinator is about taking care of what needs to be. He has complained about the people who work for him not delivering, however, when I bring anything up to him, I'm too enthusiastic as a delivery person.
- In my eyes if you want a job to be done, hire people who will actually deliver it and stop bitching about how unreliable your staff is! As I've told my route coordinator, there are many people who do not have a job who would actually deliver the route as it's supposed to be. But, then again, maybe my thoughts are too high of others.
- I've begun to lose respect for my route coordinator for the reasons listed above.
- Over-all happiness, meh! If not for financial loans needing to be repaid, I would not stay there.
Home life:
- Let's start with health:
- Dental:
- Claire is doing alright with his dental visits, no cavities. We were however informed that she may need braces in the upcoming years. We do have some time to determine if that is a must have, but it's only between the ages of 11-13 years old.
- D's is good, no cavities. They do say that he may need to get his wisdom teeth extracted soon due to a more than likely chance of them beginning to bother him.
- Mine is pretty good too! Since getting my dental procedures done in June, things have improved quite a bit, however, I'm still concerned a bit about how my gums are, and have an appointment for the 9th of January to get a cleaning and I'll address those problems then.
- Health:
- D's been doing pretty well, aside from this cold he's been dealing with for quite some time now. He does seem to be improving over the past couple of days with some new OTC meds that were just started a couple of days ago.
- Claire's been doing alright. She had a double ear infection a few weeks ago and is doing better now that that's all cleared up. She's still dealing with some ankle issues but it's not as persistent as it was a while ago.
- Me, I'm okay. Yesterday I fell on the newly wet floor and slammed my right side of my chest into the corner of my chest. Since then I've had some elevated pain that has made it difficult for me to carry anything that isn't extremely light. Lifting things are really hard to do also. And bending down has been quite the issue, also. I've had some shortness of breath and also some sharp pains that have made it hard to handle much at all. I have a doctors appointment tomorrow for my 3 month check up and I will bring this up to the doctor when I see her. I have a cardiologist appointment for January 9th to figure out what's going on with my irregular pulse rate.
- Holidays:
- This holiday has and always will be a pain in the ass. I'm not a huge fan of the holidays and all that it has to "offer". I've become even more anti this year than years previous.
- My phone was stolen from my front porch last Friday from a stranger who is an idiot. After practically reaching through the phone and strangling Verizon associates, I finally became satisfied by getting my contract renewed and a new phone being issued so that I did not have to pay a $300+ fee to replace the phone that was stolen.
- D and I have decided to talk to Claire about the truth of Santa Claus. She did handle it well and to be honest I'm thankful that it was spoken of and that's cleared off of the table. It's been something we've wanted to talk to her about, but held off to help keep her innocence. This time was just best. She admitted that it all made sense now because all but one other person in her classroom had said Santa was fake!
- Claire got a lot of cool things this Christmas and doesn't believe that we'll be celebrating Christmas this year, so this year will be special I really do believe.
- Animals:
- Ninja is getting spayed January 2nd.
- All of the cats are inside for the winter and are getting along. It took quite the adjustment for the cats to get along with Ninja inside too, but finally after much adjusting, everyone is getting along, with the occasional hiss here and there.
- All of the others in the house are doing good too! All is good with the animals.
- D's school:
- Yet another quarter with great grades. 2 B's and 1 A this quarter. Even with some roadblocks throughout the quarter for him, he still managed to pull out above passing grades!
- D's work:
- While he's still working on his degree, he's working his butt off at work too. We're finally alright enough so that he can invest in life insurances for all of us at his work, also be a part of short and long term disability, and keep us on his benefits package. So while it's not the dream job, it still definitely provides for us in a way that allows us as a family to be taken care of.
Well I think that pretty much sums it up here.
Thanks for reading my lengthy update! Happy Holidays everyone!!!
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
I'm not the girl I used to be....
I'm now a woman, a woman who has many health issues that get in the way of what I'm most experienced for job wise. While I know that I am going to keep my job at Panera, I also know that my body isn't as fast nor as functional as it used to be. As I worked on Friday for 10 hours, the day went by so slow, and we were so busy. The aches and pains became more unbearable as the day progressed and a lot of why was because all I did was walk around in circles, clean up dishes, wipe down tables, take out trash, spot sweep the carpets, mopped the floor, and made sure a lot of things were in order. That being said, I honestly was on my feet for 9.5 hours non-stop. I took a 30 minute break at nearly the beginning of my shift so that made it all the more challenging to have the shift go by quickly. Knowing that I had to be on my feet for 7 hours non-stop til the end of my shift was enough to drain me completely. The afternoon came and I swear I just kept counting down the minutes and it was so difficult to see that somehow after cleaning 40-50 tables, taking out 3 trashcans full, cleaning the bathrooms, brewing coffees', and bringing back about 60 plates and 20+ coffee cups, only 30 minutes had passed by. It was insanity, you'd think with 900$ being brought in every 20 minutes on average that the time would fly by! Nope, not this time. It seemed no matter how busy we were, time had gone by slowly there. I worked all of last week, like 4 days total and every shift was soooooo slow.
At the end of my scheduled shift I was even reluctantly let go by my GM. While I know I probably should have stayed as he wished me to, I just couldn't do it. I literally flew out of the door to go home when I told him I couldn't stay any longer past my shift and didn't turn back! In a way I felt bad for just up and leaving, but in another way my body had had it at that point. And I was so tired also. I had been there since 4am and it was already 2pm. 10 hour shifts are brutal on my body now, and I've just now learned that.
I thought that I would have been able to fulfill my duties and kick ass at this job but honestly I feel so damn dumb when it comes to the system to ring things in on. It's not a Macros system, in which I'm used to, it's something completely different. I worked the register for one day and felt SO disabling to the team. The person who was "training" me was so much faster and when I asked for something she'd just go in and tap it like it was just staring me right in the face. The people are really nice though, I will say that. Everyone I work with is super helpful and have great vibes about their job. Of course there will always be one person you just don't click with, which I do have, however it's not enough to make my job miserable.
So as it is right now, I'm still looking into the medical field for a job because I'm more comfortable in something healthcare vs. something I'm trained in due to extreme experience. I'm in hopes that with all of the applications I turn in, I'll be considered for a job that'll allow me to grow within the medical field. It's hard to have experience when you've been trained in something completely different and finding that happy medium is quite difficult. I mean, I have certifications that are something that the medical field looks for but it's just the lack of experience that hurts me most. There are times I wish I knew someone on the inside so that I could land some type of job that would give me some kind of peace. It's unfortunate for me too because with the majors I've looked into, I've not been happy with them. I just know that ultimately I want to have the opportunity to work with people who are in need. I've always known that I've wanted that, I guess I'm just one step closer to finding out who I am by knowing that the help I want to provide is within the healthcare industry.
At the end of my scheduled shift I was even reluctantly let go by my GM. While I know I probably should have stayed as he wished me to, I just couldn't do it. I literally flew out of the door to go home when I told him I couldn't stay any longer past my shift and didn't turn back! In a way I felt bad for just up and leaving, but in another way my body had had it at that point. And I was so tired also. I had been there since 4am and it was already 2pm. 10 hour shifts are brutal on my body now, and I've just now learned that.
I thought that I would have been able to fulfill my duties and kick ass at this job but honestly I feel so damn dumb when it comes to the system to ring things in on. It's not a Macros system, in which I'm used to, it's something completely different. I worked the register for one day and felt SO disabling to the team. The person who was "training" me was so much faster and when I asked for something she'd just go in and tap it like it was just staring me right in the face. The people are really nice though, I will say that. Everyone I work with is super helpful and have great vibes about their job. Of course there will always be one person you just don't click with, which I do have, however it's not enough to make my job miserable.
So as it is right now, I'm still looking into the medical field for a job because I'm more comfortable in something healthcare vs. something I'm trained in due to extreme experience. I'm in hopes that with all of the applications I turn in, I'll be considered for a job that'll allow me to grow within the medical field. It's hard to have experience when you've been trained in something completely different and finding that happy medium is quite difficult. I mean, I have certifications that are something that the medical field looks for but it's just the lack of experience that hurts me most. There are times I wish I knew someone on the inside so that I could land some type of job that would give me some kind of peace. It's unfortunate for me too because with the majors I've looked into, I've not been happy with them. I just know that ultimately I want to have the opportunity to work with people who are in need. I've always known that I've wanted that, I guess I'm just one step closer to finding out who I am by knowing that the help I want to provide is within the healthcare industry.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
So many people think of this holiday as a bunch of nothingness. I hate that this holiday is so underplayed. I've always LOVED Thanksgiving and find that Thanksgiving shouldn't just be one day out of the year, but every day of the year. If you can't find one thing within the day to give Thanks for, then you need to change your way of living. I love to cook on Thanksgiving, listen to what everyone is thankful for, watch football, and just all out relax when I can on such a day. It's hard to really get the family off on the same day anymore and we're all in such a hustle and bustle to get things done that we don't have the chance to think about how good so many of us have it.
Over the past year I've really grown to find out who I am as an individual. I was attempting to mold myself into a profession that was not who I am ultimately. It showed it wasn't who I am by a subtle "gesture" and it allowed me to move forward and find that I'm so much happier with other things that have presented themselves to me along the way.
My list of things I'm thankful for is so long that it really makes it hard to sum it up in few words. Regardless, I'm going to try anyhow. I am thankful for my family, my husband, my husband's family, my friends who are like family, my animals, my house, my friends, my health (even if it's rocky from time to time), my jobs, the ability to have electric, heat, water, cleaned clothes, dried clothes, warm clothes, a pillow to rest my head on, a blanket to cover my body as I sleep, medication to help heal the sickness of my daughter, my husband's job, my husband's dedication to making our lives as a family better, Craigslist for all of the animals I've rescued from there, facebook for all of the family and friends I can keep in touch with, thrift stores so that I can give away and receive that in which is given away by others in hard times, a warm coat so that when I'm working I can keep from getting cold, my truck so that I can maintain both of my jobs, the ability to give and not look to receive back, the list goes on and on I tell you! lol
Today I was able to give someone a meal for a change. I went delivering my route with D and Claire on Saturday of last week and ran into this little old lady who loved to talk! I accidently spooked this lil' ol' lady while delivering to her street. She is a DND (do no deliver) and I used her side steps to get up to surface so that I could deliver to her neighbor. She didn't see me coming and I spooked her. She was raking leaves and she practically jumped out from her skin. She was the sweetest old lady I've had the opportunity to meet, aside from D's grandmom. We stood outside for about an hour talking about health and her daughters and her not being able to travel for Thanksgiving because her doctors' orders. She has heart problems and was told she was forbiddened from driving up to Dayton because of her health problems.So we talked for a little while longer and she stated that she would be popping in a microwave banquet meal and having her Thanksgiving at home. So, I thought immediately about how many people had helped me in the past and jumped at the chance to bring her Thanksgiving dinner. I wanted to surprise her so I didn't say anything but I immediately spoke of the idea to Derrick. Today I made a HUGE dinner and had PLENTY of left overs and made her a plate as I finished cooking! I went up after our family dinner, to her house, knocked and she peeked through her door window and opened up. I then wished her a Happy Thanksgiving and told her that she has done so much for others in her life that it was time that someone do something for her and told her that she doesn't deserve eating a banquet meal from the freezer and that she, even though by herself should eat homemade dinner! She was in tears of joy. Thanking me over and over for taking the time out to make her dinner and bring it to her. She was so touched and then we just stood there and talked and talked for an hour or so. She and I were about to part ways as she said "I'm going to be chowing down on what you brought me!" That made me so happy! :) Knowing that I was able to make someone smile on a day like today makes me feel so good!
Well, I'm about to head to bed because of crazy ass Black Friday celebrators! Gotta be at work at 4am and am scheduled til 2pm. Ick! Oh well, money is money... lol
Again, Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!
Over the past year I've really grown to find out who I am as an individual. I was attempting to mold myself into a profession that was not who I am ultimately. It showed it wasn't who I am by a subtle "gesture" and it allowed me to move forward and find that I'm so much happier with other things that have presented themselves to me along the way.
My list of things I'm thankful for is so long that it really makes it hard to sum it up in few words. Regardless, I'm going to try anyhow. I am thankful for my family, my husband, my husband's family, my friends who are like family, my animals, my house, my friends, my health (even if it's rocky from time to time), my jobs, the ability to have electric, heat, water, cleaned clothes, dried clothes, warm clothes, a pillow to rest my head on, a blanket to cover my body as I sleep, medication to help heal the sickness of my daughter, my husband's job, my husband's dedication to making our lives as a family better, Craigslist for all of the animals I've rescued from there, facebook for all of the family and friends I can keep in touch with, thrift stores so that I can give away and receive that in which is given away by others in hard times, a warm coat so that when I'm working I can keep from getting cold, my truck so that I can maintain both of my jobs, the ability to give and not look to receive back, the list goes on and on I tell you! lol
Today I was able to give someone a meal for a change. I went delivering my route with D and Claire on Saturday of last week and ran into this little old lady who loved to talk! I accidently spooked this lil' ol' lady while delivering to her street. She is a DND (do no deliver) and I used her side steps to get up to surface so that I could deliver to her neighbor. She didn't see me coming and I spooked her. She was raking leaves and she practically jumped out from her skin. She was the sweetest old lady I've had the opportunity to meet, aside from D's grandmom. We stood outside for about an hour talking about health and her daughters and her not being able to travel for Thanksgiving because her doctors' orders. She has heart problems and was told she was forbiddened from driving up to Dayton because of her health problems.So we talked for a little while longer and she stated that she would be popping in a microwave banquet meal and having her Thanksgiving at home. So, I thought immediately about how many people had helped me in the past and jumped at the chance to bring her Thanksgiving dinner. I wanted to surprise her so I didn't say anything but I immediately spoke of the idea to Derrick. Today I made a HUGE dinner and had PLENTY of left overs and made her a plate as I finished cooking! I went up after our family dinner, to her house, knocked and she peeked through her door window and opened up. I then wished her a Happy Thanksgiving and told her that she has done so much for others in her life that it was time that someone do something for her and told her that she doesn't deserve eating a banquet meal from the freezer and that she, even though by herself should eat homemade dinner! She was in tears of joy. Thanking me over and over for taking the time out to make her dinner and bring it to her. She was so touched and then we just stood there and talked and talked for an hour or so. She and I were about to part ways as she said "I'm going to be chowing down on what you brought me!" That made me so happy! :) Knowing that I was able to make someone smile on a day like today makes me feel so good!
Well, I'm about to head to bed because of crazy ass Black Friday celebrators! Gotta be at work at 4am and am scheduled til 2pm. Ick! Oh well, money is money... lol
Again, Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!
Sunday, November 13, 2011
That in which...
That in which is to good to be true, usually should be considered as such. My sighs of relief from last week have quickly changed to rages of anger. Abercrombie immediately started pulling bullshit with me and cut hours. I was supposed to start last week but they pushed that to Monday, and well, I got a phone call from the mgr. on Friday and said instead of coming in at 7a on Monday, to come in at 9a. Not to mention I was informed that the hours are not guaranteed, I would have to be on call and expected to come in at ANY moment when the season does begin to pick up, I was hired on as seasonal only, my family CAN'T use my discount, and to top it all off, they switch my shift so that I have to drive in during rush hour which would take a minimum of 45 minutes ONE way! Yeah so.... I'm not going in, they can KMA! I am pursuing other options and have an interview tomorrow at 11:30 for a first shift job. Plus it's damn likely that I'll be working MUCH closer to my house if I land a job tomorrow. Also, my current mgr. is working on making me stay a bit more patient and with me staying patient, he's going to keep his eyes and ears open for positions that open up. I like my current job, and look to stay at it, no matter where I get hired. So if there are more openings, I will just stay there for the long term. It works out pretty well for me and my family anyhow.
Well, I'm off to get some dinner. I just wanted to update so that people weren't thinking I'm still happy go lucky about Abercrombie.
Well, I'm off to get some dinner. I just wanted to update so that people weren't thinking I'm still happy go lucky about Abercrombie.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Big sigh's of relief
Let me just start by saying, today has been one of those days where I can just inhale and exhale w/out feeling like I'm going to be so overloaded that I can barely stand it.
I got a job last week with Abercrombie and Fitch! I am a processor within the warehouse and have my orientation tomorrow afternoon. I hadn't formally really announced that on here but I have been so busy with tying up loose ends that I haven't had much time to do so. So, tomorrow I have orientation and will likely start working on Thursday, my regularly scheduled time which is 7a-3p, Monday through Friday. Wow, a set schedule! A schedule that allows me to be here for my child in her time of need instead of a job that requires evenings all of the time. I'm making decent money through Abercrombie, plus the discounts that come along with it, which I will know further in detail how they work out soon. I placed my brother on the list of receivers for this discount so that he can reap in the rewards too. That's a huge thing to me. I've never worked in a place where I could have anyone other than myself listed for the discount within the company before. I'm really looking forward to this change. I think it's better for me than being in a medical office right now. I was lucky enough to get into the company because of a friend whom I met through the kick-ass girl I worked at from UPS. We went out for Happy Hour one night and all had a great time and have been in touch ever since. Autumn informed me that they had open positions at her job (Abercrombie) and that I should come in and fill out an online application in the warehouse. When I went in I found out that they were having open interviews! That was a HUGE step for me because I had no idea. There were several classes before us (the class) and a lot of the positions had already been filled. I wasn't optimistic about getting a first shift, but I figured I'd give it a shot and work there if it was meant to be. So we had a group interview where everyone within the class was being interviewed by 2 managers in a lunch room setting. We all sat around this table as they threw question after question at us to see how we'd react. I must say, I hate being put on the spot with difficult questions, but I was able to pull off some pretty good answers, thanks to my Medical Assisting Program that I was previously in. Many questions were about how I had reacted in the past about certain topics that I was a firm believer in and how I didn't back down because of my beliefs. Well, that's an obvious program to refer to, because in honesty, I really stepped up and didn't put up with many aspects within that program and I didn't care if others pinned me as wrong for believing such things because it was my choice, my belief, and those are two things you can NOT take from this gal. When he went around to ask which shift would best suite us, I told him either 4 days a week 1st shift or 5 days a week 1st shift, but nothing other than that because of my daughter. He explained prior to allowing people to share when they'd be able to work that first shift if VERY limited because many people wish to have that schedule due to other priorities. I was one who couldn't picture myself away from my daughter for the evenings and worry about her eating, showering, doing her homework, taking care of the animals, etc, so I was very honest about my intentions and they granted that for me. So, I have a friggen set schedule! I am more thrilled by this than anything else. The fact that I can still have a life and take care of things needed around my house and hold down a 40 hour a week job is GREAT to me! Plus overtime is allowed! How crazy is that word, now a days? That's like impossible to hear anymore, unless everyone got laid off or the world was ending.
So that's new job related information.
Onto my current job with Columbus Dispatch. I have given up my Wednesday/Thursday route. I think this is best! With the scheduled hours I'll be committed to with Abercrombie, I couldn't think my ability to get the midweek delivery done properly. Sure, I could go out there and just wing the hell out of the route and probably take a chance of messing it up to get it all delivered by 6p on Thursday, but honestly, I don't want to take the chance of losing my job because of being too tired or just too rushed. So, last week was my last Wednesday/Thursday delivery. I gave my 30 days last week but my manager found someone who can start on the route tomorrow, so I don't have to live-out the 30 days because someone else was willing to take it over for me quicker than my 30 days! They signed the contract last night and start tomorrow, thank goodness! I'll keep my Saturday delivery route because I think it's important to keep myself active and this is something that will allow me to do so. Plus I really like the Saturday delivery route because I'm less constricted on time frames in regards to delivery times. I get all of my supplies delivered to my house on Thursday and then I'm able to package them Thursday night, Friday night, and deliver them on Saturday and Sunday. Those are much broader time lines for me that don't overload myself too much.
Okay, so that's all of my job situations that are happening.
Now onto school. I have decided to drop all of my classes today so that I don't have to worry about overloading myself with concern to drop them later. I hadn't dropped them as of yet because I was concerned about financial aid and me having to find a job to repay my loans. But, now that I've found a job that I intend on sticking with for a while, I feel comfortable with dropping everything and walking away without any kind of worries! With keeping my Saturday route, just working 2 weeks there will pay a monthly payment for my student loans, which is my incentive to keeping my Saturday route.
Okay, so school and work has been touched on.... Now lets talk about Claire.
I had a conference with Claire's homeroom teacher last week and it was quite eye opening. Her grades looked pretty good on paper, but well, that's not the entire case that's been going on. Claire has been withholding homework that she is to be taking home daily and return the day after. She claims to have forgotten to take the assignments home, however, these assignments added up to nearly 2 weeks worth of homework that were stored in her desk. This does not include the homework that she HAS brought home. She has been having a lot of behavioral problems in school and we need to nip them in the butt now.
On Halloween, Claire was sent home with a note from her Reading teacher in regards to Claire decided to write on the inside of someone's desk instead of participating in the reading that she was supposed to take part in. She took the person's marker and began writing within the desk. The teacher took recess away but I wasn't going to stop there! Claire had lied about having the note (or anything) in her book bag when she came home from school and when I decided to look through her book bag she quickly responded with "I got into trouble today." She went on to say that it was due to talking. I later read the letter and it stated that she had written in a desk during Reading. Man, was I ticked?! I think I was more angered by her lie than the actual act of doing the, what I consider, vandalizing of the desk. After I read the note, I wrote to the teacher, stating that Claire needs to be punished for what she did by cleaning all of the desks within the classroom and that loss of recess doesn't cut it! I asked Claire that evening, "When were you going to show me that note, since it needed to be signed?" She responded with "After we went Trick or Treating." Infuriated was an understatement at this point! I ended up dropping off the letter to her school directly because I did not trust that Claire would turn it in. Needless to say, she did not go Trick or Treating that night and stood in the corner for what would have been the time going trick or treating. So, yesterday she was kept after school to clean all of the desks within that classroom. Boy, she was an unhappy camper by this, but I told her perhaps next time she'll take this into consideration next time she thinks it's necessary to act badly in the classroom.
She has been punished for many acts of lying but we have worked on a new reward which will make her think twice about lying... This includes going to Sea World on her 10th birthday! She's in love with Dolphins and Orca's and additional to the fun, it's educational! So, we as a family sat down and spoke about what needs to be improved on, not only from her, but from us as parents and I wrote up a contract last night for both her and us as parents so that she sees what she has to work toward and so that we can stick to actually doing something about improving her lying and our reactions to them. So this house is going to be changing pretty rapidly and I think overall it's going to work out for the best. However, if Claire has one slip up, we're taking the trip away from her. In the meantime between now and the trip, she will have the opportunity to earn many other great things. Things really need to change here at the Eshenbaugh household because if it doesn't our communication level is going to be thrown down the crapper and that's not fair to any of us. The trust level has to be rebuilt and we need to show that we can confide in one another instead of have the constant fear of what will happen if things ARE shared.
Thankfully we have a great family member who is easy to talk to about things like this because she's been there and is also a teacher. These things have been very helpful. Plus I have a friend who is going through the same stages with her daughter(s) and we're able to discuss our horror stories and success stories too. With those people here to help, I know that we can work toward a successful future. Because face it, we're new at this and Claire is an only child who is easily manipulated by older kids so she's able to "fit in". We are going to work long and hard at making things work better for all of us.
With that being stated, Claire has been taken out of Swim and Tae Kwon Do so that we can take the time she would've been in the classes for her additional homework and study time. They have a website where she's able to test her skills and improve on them as needed. I think this will help improve her scores in school and also build her confidence levels within the classroom. Once she's back on track, she will go back into the extracurricular activities, but for now we need to work on improving her skills in the classroom. Her and I will take some time out to practice swimming, but on our own times, instead of scheduled times. With my Wednesday night/Thursday route, this is something we can manage in once she's done her homework.
Things are getting in order, and there's no better time than the present to make everything work out great for us as a family!
Alright, I think I've touched on every topic there is to touch on that I've left everyone out in the dark about.
Happy Tuesday everyone!
I got a job last week with Abercrombie and Fitch! I am a processor within the warehouse and have my orientation tomorrow afternoon. I hadn't formally really announced that on here but I have been so busy with tying up loose ends that I haven't had much time to do so. So, tomorrow I have orientation and will likely start working on Thursday, my regularly scheduled time which is 7a-3p, Monday through Friday. Wow, a set schedule! A schedule that allows me to be here for my child in her time of need instead of a job that requires evenings all of the time. I'm making decent money through Abercrombie, plus the discounts that come along with it, which I will know further in detail how they work out soon. I placed my brother on the list of receivers for this discount so that he can reap in the rewards too. That's a huge thing to me. I've never worked in a place where I could have anyone other than myself listed for the discount within the company before. I'm really looking forward to this change. I think it's better for me than being in a medical office right now. I was lucky enough to get into the company because of a friend whom I met through the kick-ass girl I worked at from UPS. We went out for Happy Hour one night and all had a great time and have been in touch ever since. Autumn informed me that they had open positions at her job (Abercrombie) and that I should come in and fill out an online application in the warehouse. When I went in I found out that they were having open interviews! That was a HUGE step for me because I had no idea. There were several classes before us (the class) and a lot of the positions had already been filled. I wasn't optimistic about getting a first shift, but I figured I'd give it a shot and work there if it was meant to be. So we had a group interview where everyone within the class was being interviewed by 2 managers in a lunch room setting. We all sat around this table as they threw question after question at us to see how we'd react. I must say, I hate being put on the spot with difficult questions, but I was able to pull off some pretty good answers, thanks to my Medical Assisting Program that I was previously in. Many questions were about how I had reacted in the past about certain topics that I was a firm believer in and how I didn't back down because of my beliefs. Well, that's an obvious program to refer to, because in honesty, I really stepped up and didn't put up with many aspects within that program and I didn't care if others pinned me as wrong for believing such things because it was my choice, my belief, and those are two things you can NOT take from this gal. When he went around to ask which shift would best suite us, I told him either 4 days a week 1st shift or 5 days a week 1st shift, but nothing other than that because of my daughter. He explained prior to allowing people to share when they'd be able to work that first shift if VERY limited because many people wish to have that schedule due to other priorities. I was one who couldn't picture myself away from my daughter for the evenings and worry about her eating, showering, doing her homework, taking care of the animals, etc, so I was very honest about my intentions and they granted that for me. So, I have a friggen set schedule! I am more thrilled by this than anything else. The fact that I can still have a life and take care of things needed around my house and hold down a 40 hour a week job is GREAT to me! Plus overtime is allowed! How crazy is that word, now a days? That's like impossible to hear anymore, unless everyone got laid off or the world was ending.
So that's new job related information.
Onto my current job with Columbus Dispatch. I have given up my Wednesday/Thursday route. I think this is best! With the scheduled hours I'll be committed to with Abercrombie, I couldn't think my ability to get the midweek delivery done properly. Sure, I could go out there and just wing the hell out of the route and probably take a chance of messing it up to get it all delivered by 6p on Thursday, but honestly, I don't want to take the chance of losing my job because of being too tired or just too rushed. So, last week was my last Wednesday/Thursday delivery. I gave my 30 days last week but my manager found someone who can start on the route tomorrow, so I don't have to live-out the 30 days because someone else was willing to take it over for me quicker than my 30 days! They signed the contract last night and start tomorrow, thank goodness! I'll keep my Saturday delivery route because I think it's important to keep myself active and this is something that will allow me to do so. Plus I really like the Saturday delivery route because I'm less constricted on time frames in regards to delivery times. I get all of my supplies delivered to my house on Thursday and then I'm able to package them Thursday night, Friday night, and deliver them on Saturday and Sunday. Those are much broader time lines for me that don't overload myself too much.
Okay, so that's all of my job situations that are happening.
Now onto school. I have decided to drop all of my classes today so that I don't have to worry about overloading myself with concern to drop them later. I hadn't dropped them as of yet because I was concerned about financial aid and me having to find a job to repay my loans. But, now that I've found a job that I intend on sticking with for a while, I feel comfortable with dropping everything and walking away without any kind of worries! With keeping my Saturday route, just working 2 weeks there will pay a monthly payment for my student loans, which is my incentive to keeping my Saturday route.
Okay, so school and work has been touched on.... Now lets talk about Claire.
I had a conference with Claire's homeroom teacher last week and it was quite eye opening. Her grades looked pretty good on paper, but well, that's not the entire case that's been going on. Claire has been withholding homework that she is to be taking home daily and return the day after. She claims to have forgotten to take the assignments home, however, these assignments added up to nearly 2 weeks worth of homework that were stored in her desk. This does not include the homework that she HAS brought home. She has been having a lot of behavioral problems in school and we need to nip them in the butt now.
On Halloween, Claire was sent home with a note from her Reading teacher in regards to Claire decided to write on the inside of someone's desk instead of participating in the reading that she was supposed to take part in. She took the person's marker and began writing within the desk. The teacher took recess away but I wasn't going to stop there! Claire had lied about having the note (or anything) in her book bag when she came home from school and when I decided to look through her book bag she quickly responded with "I got into trouble today." She went on to say that it was due to talking. I later read the letter and it stated that she had written in a desk during Reading. Man, was I ticked?! I think I was more angered by her lie than the actual act of doing the, what I consider, vandalizing of the desk. After I read the note, I wrote to the teacher, stating that Claire needs to be punished for what she did by cleaning all of the desks within the classroom and that loss of recess doesn't cut it! I asked Claire that evening, "When were you going to show me that note, since it needed to be signed?" She responded with "After we went Trick or Treating." Infuriated was an understatement at this point! I ended up dropping off the letter to her school directly because I did not trust that Claire would turn it in. Needless to say, she did not go Trick or Treating that night and stood in the corner for what would have been the time going trick or treating. So, yesterday she was kept after school to clean all of the desks within that classroom. Boy, she was an unhappy camper by this, but I told her perhaps next time she'll take this into consideration next time she thinks it's necessary to act badly in the classroom.
She has been punished for many acts of lying but we have worked on a new reward which will make her think twice about lying... This includes going to Sea World on her 10th birthday! She's in love with Dolphins and Orca's and additional to the fun, it's educational! So, we as a family sat down and spoke about what needs to be improved on, not only from her, but from us as parents and I wrote up a contract last night for both her and us as parents so that she sees what she has to work toward and so that we can stick to actually doing something about improving her lying and our reactions to them. So this house is going to be changing pretty rapidly and I think overall it's going to work out for the best. However, if Claire has one slip up, we're taking the trip away from her. In the meantime between now and the trip, she will have the opportunity to earn many other great things. Things really need to change here at the Eshenbaugh household because if it doesn't our communication level is going to be thrown down the crapper and that's not fair to any of us. The trust level has to be rebuilt and we need to show that we can confide in one another instead of have the constant fear of what will happen if things ARE shared.
Thankfully we have a great family member who is easy to talk to about things like this because she's been there and is also a teacher. These things have been very helpful. Plus I have a friend who is going through the same stages with her daughter(s) and we're able to discuss our horror stories and success stories too. With those people here to help, I know that we can work toward a successful future. Because face it, we're new at this and Claire is an only child who is easily manipulated by older kids so she's able to "fit in". We are going to work long and hard at making things work better for all of us.
With that being stated, Claire has been taken out of Swim and Tae Kwon Do so that we can take the time she would've been in the classes for her additional homework and study time. They have a website where she's able to test her skills and improve on them as needed. I think this will help improve her scores in school and also build her confidence levels within the classroom. Once she's back on track, she will go back into the extracurricular activities, but for now we need to work on improving her skills in the classroom. Her and I will take some time out to practice swimming, but on our own times, instead of scheduled times. With my Wednesday night/Thursday route, this is something we can manage in once she's done her homework.
Things are getting in order, and there's no better time than the present to make everything work out great for us as a family!
Alright, I think I've touched on every topic there is to touch on that I've left everyone out in the dark about.
Happy Tuesday everyone!
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