Things going on.

Alright so I'm going to do this entry in bullets so that it's easier to follow than it would be if I wrote it out in jumbled form.
First let's begin with Claire:

• Claire is doing very well. She's working hard in both of her swimming classes and is now getting praised for all of her effort in Tai Kwon Do. She looks forward to the three classes every week and is really making great effort in all.
• Claire is no longer in homeschooling. She has been taken out and placed into Great Western Academy. This choice was made Tuesday, September 20. While Claire is a smart girl and likes a challenge, the homeschooling was more than an ordinary challenge. Claire had been dealing with a lot of struggles which made her confidence level plummet after working on an "About me" paper. This "About me" paper had 9 sub-parts to it which ended up taking Claire 13 hours to complete. This was the turning point for all of us. Derrick was working with her on this because I am a stickler when it comes to any type of English based subject. He was patient with her and attempted to give her multiple hints on how to improve her writing. Claire became so upset and frustrated with the entire thing that she would just erase the entire page when an error was pointed out, and start all over again. When she was told she didn't have to erase, but instead place a line of sorts above where the error was to help input the information that is needed, she just felt it was inadequate and became more and more irate with the entire activity.
• Claire has been enrolled with Great Western Academy since Wednesday morning and she began school on Thursday. 
• Great Western Academy is a school that we attempted to get her enrolled with from the very beginning, but they were full when we tried. This school has their stuff together. While filling out paperwork with them, there was a contract that both Claire and I had to sign in regards to Anti-bullying. It stated that it would NOT be tolerated and that if it occurred than the child is dismissed from the school immediately. This contract really helped me feel comfortable with having her placed within that school. This contract of course doesn't mean that there aren't going to be kids who do not bully, but it does mean that the for occurrence will be the last from that individual. That's a great relief right there.  
• On Claire's first day of school at GWA, she actually witnessed a bullying incident. She ran over to help the girl who had been punched in the stomach and on the ground. Claire asked to be excused from recess to escort the girl to the office to get her taken care of. Claire went into the office and told the administrator what happened and the man asked who it was, if Claire knew his name. Claire, of course with being her first day, was unaware of the boys name and so she was asked to point him out as she was escorted outside with the office personnel. She pointed the boy out and in return the boy was told to go to his classroom and get his stuff and they called his parents and he was taken out of that school that very moment. So, yeah, they definitely do not play kindly to those who do not obey by the contract in which was signed, and for that, I'm so thankful. 
• Since Claire has begun, she has stated that reading has been challenging and she's having some difficulties with some of what they're reading. I did see some definite issues with her comprehension while she was homeschooling and now that I know about these issues, we as a family, will be working on improving her comprehension. 
• Also, at GWA, she is able to enjoy specials that include Spanish, Art, Library, Gym, and another class I can not think of at the moment. But, I really believe that she'll excel here because the classes are done in moderation, which is great. With her being enrolled in K-12, she was unable to really have the variety of classes if she was hung up on one in particular. 
• At GWA, she's also required to wear a uniform. I personally believe this is the best idea because of how kids are now a days with picking on one another for clothing choices. This policy really helps eliminate the issues that city schools have been dealing with for so long.
• GWA is a K-8 school. This is awesome! This allows her to really grow up with her friends w/out the fear that they'll be separated once middle school arrives. The kids come from all over Columbus, too. There is no limit to where they live, they provide a bus to go to their home and pick them up daily. 
• Claire has really begun to be happy again. With how I was attempting to not only be her Mom, but also her teacher, guidance counselor, and coach for her additional "after school" activities, it strained our relationship. As the lady at K-12 stated, "Your daughter can have her Mom back and not resent you for trying to be too many other people to her." It is very true... She was already resenting the homeschooling and it was only a matter of time before she resent me, also.   

Alright, so that's Claire in a nutshell. Things are looking good for her, and thank goodness for that!

Now onto what's going on with me:

• I am attending school full-time again. I have decided that I am going to get my Medical Billing and Coding Certification. I am very close to being able to obtain this, thanks to all of the classes I have taken for Medical Assisting. I have 30some credits until I can have that in my hand, and 60some credits until I can get a degree within it. 
• I'm still working the route and am not having a lot of issues with keeping up with it now that Claire is in school. Claire is helping when she can, and that is a great help, for sure.
• I was referred to a Cardiologist for my 100+ pulse rate per minute. I went and saw him a little over a week ago and now have a stress test and echocardiogram set up for Thursday the 6th of October to find out why my heart is beating so rapidly. 

Now onto D:

• D is working full-time and still going to school full time. He's taking classes that really interest him, which is great. Sure the classes are a bit challenging, but ultimately, they're going to mold him into what it is he wants as a career. 

And now onto the house:

• Next Friday we get our floors installed for the upstairs! This will leave the stairs to be all that needs to be done. We're going to get an estimate on completing those done after the upstairs is finished. 
• We're going to be painting the upstairs prior to the floors getting installed. Claire has decided that she is going with a blue tone that will complement her love for Dolphins! We're going to start looking for appliques that have Dolphins along with other sea life so that her room is complete with how she really wants it. D and I are going for a more modern look which will make our room so cozy!  Bye-Bye red carpet! *puke*

And last but definitely not least, the animals:

• All of our animals are finally doing well. After a long struggle with Mei Mei and Harley skin conditions, we've been able to narrow down the issues and take care of it. Apparently wrinkly dogs have issues with their skin, due to Vitamin E. Their body doesn't produce enough to help with all of the rolls on them so their skin continues to crack, in which makes the dog itchy and in result makes them bite at their "fur". We've also got them on a great flea treatment that helps with any kind of bugs getting near them attempting to bit them. That's a great help also. All of our kitties are back inside and are still adjusting to being back inside with one another. 

I think I've touched on everything I have wanted to within this post. I hope everyone is doing great and that they're able to enjoy the Autumn ahead.

Thoughts running rapid.

How can I put a smile on my face for those that are experiencing so much of what I had once devoted my life to? I wonder how it's possible for me to smile on the outside yet feel so unhappy with jealousy in the inside. I sit back watching all that I had walked away from just months ago and see those who were able to pull through it all. I never thought I'd find something that would fulfill my life in the way that this career of choice had once over my life. Now I watch my friends, which some are family go through the emotions and ability that I swore I'd be at this point. It leaves me wondering, what have I done with my life? I'm a 30 year old woman with no career, and a bill for schooling that was full of hopes and dreams that were just tossed into the air like a deck of cards. My mind wonders how I'll ever find that career that I hope for... I'm a sufferer of a medical condition that ultimately would have me best placed behind a desk but those "careers" are made for those with a degree or some type of certification within a specific area... I've decided to pursue a certificate in Medical coding and while I have hopes to land a career within this field, I have fears also... Fears that failure will revisit my life so close to the end as it has prior times. I wonder, am I meant to be that SAHM who homeschools her child and focuses 99% of my priority on her future, or do I persist to become something more which ultimately could interfere with my daughter's successful path? Heck, I'm already about half way through what I consider my life. My thoughts are out of whack and I then think... "Mom, are you proud of who I've become?" I, of course, can not get that answer, but I wish I could somehow get that answered before my time is up. My father surely has a piss poor way of showing his awareness to what I've done with my life. I ended up speaking with him for a brief period of time the other day and it was just one of those "Hey Stranger." conversations and when he asked where I have been, I replied with "Well, I guess waiting for that phone call back that you promised me a month ago." The of course the same old excuse comes into play and it turns into cares and concerns about my Uncle who is apparently homeless, however has access to Twitter. He updated his profile in February, but well, no word since. I haven't spoken to him for nearly a year now. I've come to the conclusion that my family is fucked up beyond all recognition now a days. Everyone feeds off of other people's misery and then passes it onto people like myself, when in reality I'm not the stranger, I'm the outcast. I think I've walked away from so much because of how many people have walked out on me, yet expect me to be the one who keeps a tight-knit connection with everyone... Well guess what? I have grown up and to me if people can't realize that the communication works two ways then there's no point in putting all I've got into it myself. I'm tired of being that "link" to everyone. I've become so close to just walking away from so much as of late because it's all full of drama and when I see drama it's as though I dismiss myself so I don't have to have blame placed upon me. Because somehow I always become that person who's to blame. I've never understood how that's possible, if I'm not a part of the situation to begin with.
I know this entry is ALL over the place and my original thought turned into 4-5 different areas, but I've got so much going on that thinking "straight" isn't apparent at the moment. I've come to realize that I have changed in such drastic ways that it's almost as if I don't know who I am right now because of the differences. I've got to focus on my life and find that "path" that everyone feels they should have to be successful. It's kind of ironic that I get out of the teaching field only to become the coach and teacher to my daughter a few months later. It's almost odd to me that I walked away from that "path" to take this one.
Okay. Now that this entry is more jumbled I think I'll end here.

Sunday night's clarification....

So on Monday night I felt this feeling come over me that I was really unable to identify with so I just kept digging deeper to shell out my thoughts. I'm sitting in bed and suddenly it came over me, "How the hell is this going to work?" So I kept this to myself for a few moments as I began to think further about it. D looks over and asked if I was alright and I just replied with "I don't know how this is going to work to be honest." He asked "UPS?" I said "Yeah, the hours are extremely conflicting and I don't know how this will be fair for Claire because homeschooling is not independent schooling by any stretch of the imagination." So I asked D for his honest opinion about things and he told me that he was shocked that I even decided to go back to UPS after all of the issues I had been dealing with originally from there, health wise. So after much consideration, I have decided to leave UPS entirely and not go back.
So what brought this on? Well, Monday afternoon I received a phone call from Claire's K-12 school asking what elective she had wanted and gave me some options for her, that I then passed onto Claire and she chose music. Then later that day I began reviewing our application online and seeing where we stood and saw that there was a paper that was marked as "Needed to turn in.". I called the school and spoke with someone regarding this and she was the most friendly person I've ever spoken to and not known. We sat on the phone for 45 minutes discussing how things work with K-12, since I'm a new parent within this, what's new to me, establishment. She went over all of the information that she felt was useful and told me all about how the K-12 school, in Ohio alone, has over 10K students. So much information was spoken of and it was such a great feeling to know that I could call and ask questions at anytime.
So on Tuesday morning at 7a, I sent a text message regarding the situation to the HR rep who "got me my job back" originally, explaining the situation. After multiple attempts of sending, it kept coming back connection failure, so I just sent it to Ky and let her know that I had attempted but it was failing and asked if she'd pass the information onto the HR rep, or any person within the management area. Oddly enough, when the HR rep came out to check on Ky, he made it seem as though he had already known about my departure, which led her to not having to show the text I wrote after all. When Ky showed up for her shift, she also noticed that no management were within their offices, so she was unable to show the text to any of them, either. After Ky had hauled ass on several trucks and worked her ass off, guess who shows up..... Quintin. He walked in there as if nothing had gone on and he was meant to be there. Ky had to do one of those double takes like "wtf?" and suddenly Quintin disappeared, as he normally does. Apparently, he did a no call no show on Friday so they were unable to let him go on that day. Had I shown up yesterday for my shift, I would have then walked out for him just walking in as if it was all good for him to be there. Unbelievable without a doubt!
So yesterday, Claire and I began some homeschooling for her. We worked on some worksheets and got through a good amount of Math. Everything rather elementary since she needs to take a scantron test to have her placed into classes that suite her best, but none the less it gave her some insight on what she is expected to do within the online classroom. Plus we both went through orientation and it gave us both some insight on what each of us, me as the learning coach and her as the student, need to do. One thing I need to work on is not helping her when not asked. They need to know her level of understanding, not my interpretation on how she should already know these things.
So yeah, that's what all is going on here... Well, most of the important stuff anyhow. I did keep my Wednesday route so that the money won't be impacted as much w/ me leaving UPS. I feel that giving that route up would have been rough on both Claire and I. It's a time for the both of us to kind of be together but not so far up each other's butts that we annoy one another. Plus it gives her some hindsight on what making money is about, and it doesn't dip into her losing any kind of money. My supervisor for the route is pleased to have us back entirely and thankfully he hadn't found anyone for the route before all of this went down.

Update...

So, my last update included what happened that led me to walking out on my shift and job on Thursday, so this one is going to be about what happened on Friday, following all of that commotion. Friday I talked with Ky and wanted to know what was said, or done since I left on Thursday. Since I hadn't gotten a phone call or anything on Thursday I figured I'd definitely hear something on Friday.
Well, Ky told me that the HR rep had asked her where I was and after many questions that related to the same "Where's Val?" question, and after Ky had said she didn't know multiple times, she finally told him that I quit the day prior. Oh man, shit hit the fan and quick! So, they had a conversation about things which led the HR rep to give Ky his number so that I could contact him in regards to this matter. (Mind you this is all before 10:30am) So, after speaking with Ky and her giving me Wendall's (the HR rep) number, I decided to call him and talk further about the situation at hand.
When I began to talk to him about this matter, I told him that I was absolutely fed up with the lack of motivation out there and I had gotten tired of the same ol' bullshit that had been going on w/out anything being done about it. I told him that I would not come back to UPS without having the opportunity of a new person coming in, who needs a job, and having that person trained properly because it's obvious that whoever trained Quintin was a slacker just as he is. So, Wendall said that he knows I'm not in the Union just yet, but he would stand up for me because of all of my credentials received within the time period I have been with UPS. (This Tuesday will be 3 weeks) He then went on and said, if I stand up for you and get you your job back, would you please come back in? I said "If Quintin is taken care of then, yeah, I'll come back." So, Wendall had a meeting in regards to this GIANT uproar and stood up for what I did and backed me up on my reasoning for doing so.
I get a phone call about an hour later (at most) and he said "Okay, I'll see you on Tuesday. All is taken care of and the managers are all waiting for him at the security house so that when he walks in, he's ushered out. He no longer has a job with UPS. And nothing will be held against you for leaving the way you did. Just when you come in on Tuesday Josh (our immediate supervisor) wants to talk to you about how things went down. But again, nothing is being held against you, so don't worry about that." Holy f*&$! I was in shock from this situation being handled in such a way, all because I stood up for what I believed and didn't take no for an answer.
After getting off of the phone with Wendall, I called Ky and informed her that I'd be back on Tuesday. Her and I spoke about how the situation went down and apparently they were gathering evidence against Quintin regarding his poor performance since he was a part of the union. Apparently the situation becomes sticky when you're a part of the union. Me not knowing all that was going on, I just thought they were brushing my complaints to the side and thinking of me as just another worker. Nope, guess not. All of the complaints that we (Ky and I) turned in along with the truck drivers had soon paid off and it caught up with Quintin. I'm not one to just throw someone under the bus, but be damned if I'm going to tolerate bullshit being thrown my way and do nothing about it. Hell no!
So, after I got off of the phone with Ky I went and cashed my check from UPS and decided to do something I've wanted to do for 15 years! I've waited, prolonged the desire and put it on the back burner for that long! Finally I said I'm doing it! Now! So, I went and got my eyebrows waxed in preparation for what I've wanted to get done. Afterward I went to a tattoo shop that asked if they did the procedure I wanted done and they pointed me off to Piercology and so I darted over there after talking to them to get directions. Within 10 minutes I got my piercing done!

My brow was pierced in such a quick time, I was so surprised. The pain wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be and the man who did it used AWESOME sterile technique which made me more as ease than I thought I'd be. I got a barbell with pink studs, one on each side. It's so pretty and well, there are moments where there is a little bit of pain, but really there are more times that I forget it's there and accidently snag it on something (like my sunglasses) and then I realize it's there again. LOL In the next couple of months I'll be going back to get another piercing done that I've wanted for some time, but not as long as my brow.
That evening Claire and I (a few mins with D too) were able to hang out with Ky and her friend and her friends son at Happy Hour. Our server sucked terribly and our food was taking forever to get to the table. The "server" we had didn't introduce himself, didn't do shit to make sure we were taken care of, and then blamed the kitchen for his mis-ring. I went to the mgr. there and said how shitty the service was and they turned around and gave us a free round of drinks, but they were even terrible. Yeah, that location will NOT be seeing us again. Outside of that tho, we had great company at least. Ky and I got to see each other outside of work which didn't include drenched shirts and uncomfortable placement for our undergarments due to sweat. LOL We smelled like humans, not sweat factories.
So, yeah, that's what's going on. Oh! Yesterday I contacted my supervisor for "The Bag" and told him that I'll be dropping my Wednesday route and gave him my 30 days notice on that. He stated that he'll try and find someone sooner due to the circumstance and completely understands my decision. I want to have my weeknights free so that I can take care of Claire's classwork/homework/studies with her and I think this could be beneficial for the both of us, ultimately. My supervisor was really cool about it and again, understood fully.
Okay, well that's all, I do believe. Today includes extensive cleaning and lots of rain outside, so to hell with it, I'll make what I can out of this day by being indoors. :)
Happy Sunday everyone! Yay for being off tomorrow from work and getting paid for it!

Really?!?

Okay, so here's the post/blog entry I stated I'd write within my facebook status. As y'all know I started working at UPS 3 weeks ago on Monday. I've been so incredibly lucky to have worked with someone who kicks just as much, if not more, ass than I do at this job. Every morning Ky and I would come in, knock out 8-13 trailers along with all of the additional duties that were required and go on our merry way once 2p came along. While dealing with this one "kid", all of 18, who did NOTHING but twidle his thumbs and sleep on trailers or sidewalks. He claimed to have another job and boy it made him so tired working at Arby's 40 hours a week that when he came into work at UPS he'd sleep or bitch about how he's running on no sleep and so that made him "lazy", so he claimed himself as.
As soon as Ky and I met this boy, Quintin, he came off as this arrogant little jerk who claimed to have friends in high places within the company and had huge intentions on becoming a supervisor in the very near future. Well, over the course of Ky and I, it was more and more realized that Quintin was doing nothing and if he was it was nothing in comparison to what Ky and I were doing. There were at least 10-12 occasions where he'd wonder off until 2pm with no sight of him until Ky and I left. This type of action left another guy, Marshawn, who began the same time as Ky and I left on his own to clean out all of the additional surrounding trailers on his own. And God forbid if something were to happen to Marshawn while both Ky and I were gone, because no one would be there to even witness it.
As soon as we began there we were classified as "The girls", and the ending to that classification in a sentence was, "are doing an amazing job, we've never seen it look so great out there!" Ky and I had each other's back no matter the need. We clicked from the very first day and were cool to bullshit and work together at the same time, without losing sight as to why we were there--to work.
As the days grew longer for us, so it seemed, the mornings became rougher. Pallets weren't where they ought to be, trash is thrown anywhere there is land to throw it in, trucks were uncleaned yet claimed as cleaned on their report that had to be turned in at the end of their shift, and everything began going downhill. Supervisors knew that we (Ky and I) were doing such a great job, the drivers were happy, therefore they did not need to come out to make sure we were doing OUR jobs. So, Quintin knew that he was able to get away from practically anything because with Ky, Marshawn and I running the show out there, he knew there was NO need for his ass anyhow, but he was just another person on payroll bitching and complaining every chance he had.
Over the course of three weeks I have spoken to our direct supervisor, our trainer (who is another supervisor), the HR Representative, and many others about the poor performance that Quintin was putting forth. All of them just gave another, "It'll get better....hopefully.. Or maybe it'll just stay the same." speech which got us no where. Everyday I'd go in and see the isle of trucks trashed along with all of the regular trash thrown onto the ground causing hazardous conditions for us to even walk through w/out cleaning it all up.
A couple of days ago, I blew up on Quintin as I was cleaning up all of the WET saran wrap that covers pallets when they're shipped and returned to us, but it was ALL OVER the grass. I had already taken one dumpster full of plastic and other waste over to the giant dumpster to unload it so that I was able to restart again with my second dumpster. As I was cleaning up on the second trip, after Quintin had taken his nap on the sidewalk, he decided to "help" Marshawn after Marshawn had finished his truck but just needed to throw the plastic into the dumpster. What happens? Oh, Quintin decided that he was going to take the plastic off of that truck and go to place it in MY dumpster, when mind you the other is about 20 ft away from his lazy ass feet, and I BLEW UP! I looked at him and said "UH, no! You aren't putting that in my dumpster, I am not your bitch!" He turned to me and began placing it in there anyhow as he responded with, "I didn't say you were, but the dumpster is." I responded with, "Really? Well, not this one, you can walk your ass over to the big one right over there (as I pointed). He said "Can you carry me? I'm tired." I was like "Uh, no. I'm not going to carry you!" He then made some smart remark and went and placed the plastic BACK onto the truck in which he took it off, which just so happened to be about the same distance if he had gone to the big dumpster itself. I turned to him and stated, "Really??! You're that fkin' lazy? Really? You can't just take your ass over to the dumpster and put it in there? Wow, you're a real piece of work you lazy ass!" He got all defensive and ended up disappearing for another couple of hours as he always does.Meanwhile, Marshawn is dying from laughter because he can't believe I just put him in his place like that.
After that day I made sure that I'd take pictures of all of the shit that showed up on the outlining areas just so I had evidence that I wasn't blowing steam. Well, today, this just so happened to be the day where pictures were really taken. First lets start with yesterday... Ky and I cleaned out several trucks between the both of us and then we loaded 142 pallets BY hand into one truck. This being said, I expected that we'd walk in today with little to no pallets thrown in our area and very little in the outlining areas. Boy was I wrong!

This was what Ky was TOLD to clean from the outlining areas that her and I do not work in but the boys do, and they don't clean up after themselves. This was filled like this TWICE just from one side.

This is the opposite side and how it looked before I cleaned it a couple of days ago. The trash bin above this picture was also filled up twice full of that saran wrap.

This is what we walked into this morning. This is on the OUTSIDE of where we work during our shift. I know full and well that we had NO part in this and this was left out of pure laziness!

As soon as I saw this, I snapped. There are pallets stacked like this from beginning to end of the line. Derrick likes to think of it as a Jenga Master. However, I think of it as a giant middle finger thrown Ky and my way because of PURE laziness and ignorance.

When I was hired into this job, the truckers and supervisors all stated that the turnover rate was large because of weather changes and such. Well truthfully, I don't believe it's due to that. I think it has to do with the lack of care that is being shown not only by co-workers but supervisors, also.
Today, I left early and I just couldn't take anymore. My family had also been dealing with a very very drained partial addition to their family which had made it very difficult on all of us. Nothing was caught up in the house. I was working 7 days a week and really getting paid less than what I am making from the route I do by working at UPS. While they had great perks, I would rather lose the perks and work somewhere I'm still respected and truly feel a part of. I wrote on my sheet that we turn in at the end of the day that I was fed up with the lack of motivation and care within that specific area.
My additional reasons behind this all is my body feels like a giant pin cushion from the pain I've been experiencing while and after the job at UPS. Truthfully, this morning I woke up and I couldn't even make a fist. My hands were so stiff and uncomfortable that bending any portion of my hand felt like my joints were rubberbands straight off of the box. Additionally my feet, legs, back, and arms feel so tense and uncomfortable that there isn't a big enough heating pad to cover all of the painful spots at once.
This decision came after really thinking it over with D and getting some insight from him about things because in my head it was a must-have job so that we could make ends meet... That is something I placed in my head, feeling that if I NEEDED this job I'd keep it. Again, after much review with D, we both came to the conclusion that it would be best if I just walked away now so that I can basically recuperate from all of the pain I've been experiencing but not informing people of.
In conclusion, with Claire doing homeschooling here shortly, this is another benefit for us as a family. I can work with her more and actually make sure she gets all of the activities done that she needs to. I'll be able to do school while she does and while I help her also. This will allow her to be less confused and uncertain about what she is doing, if I were not at home, and it would not throw off her schedule like it would if I was a work from 9a-2p Monday through Friday at UPS and then 3p-9p on Wednesday, and Thursday from 3p-10p, and Saturday mornings from 8a-12p.
So, yeah, that's what's going on. Just wanted to let everyone know so they're not concerned.

Fibromyalgia can KMA

So, as many of you know, I've been working two jobs now and Fibromyalgia is giving me a giant middle finger, well guess what, I give one back. Heck I may just add a second one to really get my point across. I work hard, I manage a household, and I still go to school...for now. Honestly tho, I don't see myself staying in school. I find that finding time for school through all of the other things that are going on is nearly impossible. I have made it one week at my new job and still did my route with time to spare on Thursday night, thanks to Claire's kick-ass enthusiasm. I come home from work and boy are my feet just giving me this "wtf?" feeling, but that somehow doesn't slow me down, it makes me feel that I need to work harder to get more things done. Well, with all of that being said, let me give you some insight on what it is I do during a normal day...
7:00a: Wake up and get coffee
7:15a: Throw a load of laundry in
8:30a: Get my butt out the door because for me to get to work it can take either 3 minutes or 30 due to traffic lights.
8:45a: Do my morning stretches so that my body is ready for what I have in store for it.
9:00a: Clock in
9:01a: Walk (what feels like) a mile to my site that I work in.
9:05a: Open up tractor doors and start my day.
9:05a-1:30p: Sling pallets, broom out tractors, clean up any unnecessary shit that may have been left from night crew within the tractor trailers, empty boxes, plastic wrap, coupons, even underwear from forever 21--clean because they were getting shipped but didn't make it into the facility. There are so many objects that I've come across in just the 4 days that I've worked on the outside that the list could go on and on... On an average day I clean out about 8 trucks and overall stack/sling about 110 pallets.
1:30p: Start cleaning down the isle and making sure everything's all clear of any tripping hazards.
1:50p: Trot my ass back to the offices to clock out by 2p
2:00p: Clock out
2:01p: Walk a mile to my truck
2:05p: Check my phone for any missed calls or texts that I've not had the chance to respond to.
2:06p: Go to leave the parking lot
2:10p: Make it out of the parking lot....
(Now those things are for Monday, Tuesday, and Friday. But for Wednesday and Thursdays, it's different, so I'll keep going as if it were Wednesday)
2:10p: Head over to the warehouse to pick up my supplies to package for my route on Wednesday/Thursday
2:25p: Arrive and begin to load my truck with all of my inserts and papers
2:30p: On my way home
2:45p: Home and begin to package
7:00p: Finish up packaging the route and FINALLY get to eat!
8:00p: Preset coffee for the next morning, refill my aqua supply in my cooler, make Claire lunch, throw the laundry I did throw in in the morning into the dryer, feed, water and clean the pets, take a shower.
9:00p: Send Claire to bed.
10:00p: Get myself tucked in.
(Thursdays from here on out, below)
4:00a: Wake up
4:30a: Start the route delivery so that it can get done before work.
8:00a: Finish route and head off to UPS
8:45a: Stretches
9:00a: Clock in
9:01a: Walk (what feels like) a mile to my site that I work in.
9:05a: Open up tractor doors and start my day.
9:05a-1:30p: Sling pallets, broom out tractors, clean up any unnecessary shit that may have been left from night crew within the tractor trailers, empty boxes, plastic wrap, coupons, even underwear from forever 21--clean because they were getting shipped but didn't make it into the facility. There are so many objects that I've come across in just the 4 days that I've worked on the outside that the list could go on and on... On an average day I clean out about 8 trucks and overall stack/sling about 110 pallets.
1:30p: Start cleaning down the isle and making sure everything's all clear of any tripping hazards.
1:50p: Trot my ass back to the offices to clock out by 2p
2:00p: Clock out
2:01p: Walk a mile to my truck
2:05p: Check my phone for any missed calls or texts that I've not had the chance to respond to.
2:06p: Go to leave the parking lot
2:10p: Make it out of the parking lot....
2:30p: Make it home.
3:20p: Pick Claire up from school
3:40p: Get Claire started on her homework
4:30p: Start dinner
5:00p: Start bringing in my supplies for the route for Saturdays delivery.
8:00p: Get Claire off to bed. Preset coffee for the next morning, refill my aqua supply in my cooler, make Claire lunch, throw the laundry I did throw in in the morning into the dryer, feed, water and clean the pets, take a shower.
10:00p: Get myself tucked in.

So yeah... I may be tired, but be damned if I'm not telling Fibromyalgia to KMA in the process because seriously I will NOT let this illness win! I've worked too hard for too long to allow it to win!

My Day

Here goes... Today was one of those ALL over the place type days... Claire, as you know, has been working the route with me. However, today was an off day for her too. She was in one of those modes where she didn't want to work. So, with that attitude sparked a lot of negativity between us two. Her mouth and lack of motivation had gotten to me early on--on the second street, yeah that early. I swear it seemed like it was going to be a good day too. We had this long discussion about things last night and then this morning before we left I made homemade waffles (yes, at 7am ON A SATURDAY) just so the day would flow smoother. So back to the second road. She does the second road and most times both sides because I do 6 side streets that branch off of that road. Mind you I never too far from her that I can't say I know where she is 99.9% of the time. However, today the second road she felt that since she did her side she was on her way back to sitting on her butt in the truck. Look, truly, I understand what it is to be tired first thing in the morning and yes I get how when it's hot you want a drink because of the heat index, I get that. However, today was just pure laziness. So I met up with her and asked her what she was doing (while still on the second street) as she was walking back on what she considers to be her side of the street and she said she didn't know what not to deliver to and what got DSL's. Earlier before she left the truck I told her not to worry about the DSL's because it's not that big of a deal... She decided to not listen and went on her merry way to tick me off.
As I was walking down one of the side streets as she headed back to my truck, I got cut by some evil branch, yeah that did NOT help matters much at all... But, I let it go and kept walking, not realizing until burning sensations (oh yeah I have a story about burning sensations that comes up soon too) on the back of my leg. I looked and YAY for me, blood... Yahoo... Lovely... Fun... Hm what other word can I use sarcastically? FANTASTIC! Yeah there we go..
So I got back to the truck, wiped it off and put some neosporin on it to help and then thought bandaging it would help too, but that didn't stick, go figure, right? I tell Claire that I was mad with her for not helping me on my side at all and she apologized and we moved forward. Finishing up that side of the route, we decided to do something a little different because the way we were doing it was just more walking than what was REALLY needed. I thought, heck, I might as well try and take the irritation off of her by trying to condense these roads in an easier manner.
So we had lunch, we sat there and we chatted ever so briefly because her and I have been at each other's throats for several days now. Though, I was trying to make it right and well, as the saying goes, it takes two to tango.
So, we're on the route again getting ready to do our NORMAL and routine like clockwork and I told her that she needed to deliver down to a certain house on the road we ALWAYS begin on on that side of the route, and low and behold, no listening ears were in tact. Yay for me... NO, really, it wasn't... So, I finish up my "side" of the road and I was confused as to where she was... I ended up delivering to both sides because she hadn't delivered to ANY homes on that side. Of course I'm confused because I specifically told her what to do ON that road and she did no such thing.... Worried, I sat in my truck, thinking perhaps she just lost bearings but pissed none the less. She comes back to the truck and she explains that she ran out of fliers on a road that she wasn't even supposed to be on! OMG, let me just say I was so displeased that I wanted to scream. So she grabs more and I told her instead of walking all the way down the same side she came up on, to just start delivering on the other side of the street so that the load was getting less and less instead of feeling heavier as she waited to get to the other homes. She didn't like that idea and decided to throw a frenzy. I ignored her, but she was still in plain view. She got mad and more mad and more mad and threw her bags down and said "I just can't do it, they're too heavy." REALLY??? We've been doing this very route, with this VERY routine for 3 months now and suddenly everything is HEAVY?? Grand..... So I told her she'll have to figure it out. I wound up pulling around the corner and Claire went into this uproar tear session that was a huge pity me, no one loves me act that she likes to pull when she's not getting her way... I had to take some time to breath, so I sat in my truck for about 5 minutes... I saw she hadn't moved even a block so I got out of my truck and said to her "C'mon Claire!" Some woman turns to me and says "Is this your daughter? Do you realize that she's been here CRYING for 10 minutes and these bags are too heavy for her? Do you have ANY idea the abduction rate in this country? How dare you leave an 8 year old little girl by herself, she could have been taken away. I've called the cops, a cruiser is on its way." I was like, WTF? REALLY? So then I just picked up the bags and told the lady, yes, I understand, nodding the entire way. I was SO pissed off at that point. So mad, so angry, so infuriated. I told Claire we're leaving and the lady said "I hope you don't take this out on her, it's NOT HER fault." I know I'm not a bad parent, I know that I've done this route for 3 months with Claire and I know that Claire gets these attitudes that USUALLY stop after a while and well... this time it went too damn far! Had I not gotten out of the truck that very moment, Claire would have been taken away completely because of someone who put her nose into something it didn't belong, nor did she understand and because Claire felt it necessary to act a fool so that someone would acknowledge her as an innocent child who doesn't know anything.
I took Claire home and just got so DAMN mad that I hit a dresser and slammed my feet on the ground like I was a mad woman, which face it, I think all things considered, I had reason to be one! I finished the route after returning on my own a few hours later and I think I really needed some time to myself because I was so mad that I could barely even keep the tears in anymore. I honestly felt like someone had torn my heart out and allowed an elephant to stomp on it over and over again. This was the FIRST encounter we've had that someone wasn't praising our raising style for Claire and I mean everyone we've come across has been so pleased by us teaching her responsibility early and having her understand that you need to work for what you want, not just have it handed to you. And this woman... this woman just trampled on my emotions like no other.
So that's what went on with Claire... Also, I have decided to take her off from the route, because this is not the first time she hasn't listened to what we've informed her to do and well, I can't deal with that because it's not fair to ANY of us at this point. And I can NOT take the risk of her being taken because of something like this. Perhaps this was a fked up wake-up call that needed to happen before something terrible really happened.
Then D and I are talking at the dinner table... This is where the burning itch comes in from earlier... He tells me that he had a nightmare last night and hadn't slept well. So, I asked him what was the dream about, can you remember it? He responded with a little but not entirely... So he went into detail stating that he ended up sleeping with some celebrity (which he doesn't remember anything except she was blonde) and ended up getting herpes from her. I turned to him and said "You dream cheated? Really? That's what you get for dream cheating on me! It came on nightmare form. That'll teach ya!"
What a messtastic day! That's all I'm going to write, I think that was all that happened today.. But man, isn't that enough? I'd say so!