Changes

Today begins a series of… changes. 

Yesterday, I was still working the “Daywatch” shift (from 07-1500 hours), but today (and for at least the next four months) I am working the “MidWatch” shift (from 4pm-2am for the first month, then from 3pm-1am for the remaining three months).  This will be the first time I have switched from my 8 hour day 7 on, 3 off, 7 on, 4 off shift and rotation to one of the new 10 hour day 6 on, 4 off, 4 on, 5 off, 5 on, 4 off.

I will admit that I am not a fan of working ten hour shifts, but since this will be my first foray into the world of 10’s – I’ll do my best to keep an open mind…  Stay tuned.  I’m trying my “darndest” to keep from forming an opinion until the end of the trimester. 

I’ll share my “review” in January. 

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In other news that could be categorized as “Change” – I have FINALLY gotten around to cleaning up my Blogroll. 

For the past 2 1/2 years, that blogroll of mine was full of dead links, and links that (in all honesty) I never had time to actually visit.  I had close to a hundred links to Mom and Dad blogs there that (at one point or another) caught my eye.

But, in all honesty (and fairness) I have to admit that it was a RARE occasion indeed that I would actually click through and catch up on these blogs.

So, what I did is approach this in a two-step attack.  First off, I went into my feed reader, created a new “category” called “Blogroll”, and moved all the blogs that I DO read on a regular basis.  I then moved all those other blog feeds to a “blog” folder – So I can still read them when the mood strikes, but I also do not have to worry (or feel guilty) about accidently wiping the slate clean with a “mark all read” on a blog I do keep up with.

I then went and deleted the old “blogroll” page, and started a new one from scratch.  I took all the blogs from the “blogroll” category in my feed reader, and put them here on my FOF Blogroll page.

BLOGROLL PAGE

Rest assured, that if you are on this page, I am keeping up with your blog(s) on a regular basis (even if I do not comment as often as I should).  Also, many of these blogs have a “secondary” or related blog(s) that I visit, but, in the interest of keeping things neat, I only listed the “primary” (or what I consider the “primary”) blog.

Believe it or not, this was a much bigger job than I anticipated.  By the time I was done, I thought I had gone stir-crazy – so…  If you are a frequent visitor to my blog, I probably am a a frequenter of yours, and if you do not see your blog on that page – hit me up with an email…  It’s possible probable I may have overlooked one or two.

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And on the final news related to “Change” – today is the last day of Summer vacation for the kiddos…  Tomorrow is the first day of 9th grade (high school) for #2 of 5, 8th grade (junior high) for #3 of 5, 4th grade (elementary school) for #4 of 5, and 1st grade (elementary school) for #5 of 5. 

#1 of 5 would normally be attending his (Post Secondary) Culinary Arts classes, but has taken some time off in order to complete the Management Training Program (a six week program) through his employer (that counts as “school” in my book), and is expecting a baby sometime in January.  Working full time, going to Management Training Classes full time, and a baby on the way this semester…  I think he has enough on his hands to justify the “hiatus” from Culinary Arts.

So, (in case your keeping score) that’s at least one kid in all levels of the educational ladder… 
Four different buildings for five different kids.

1 kid in post secondary.education (of one form or another).
1 kid in high school.
1 kid in junior high school.
2 kids in elementary school.

Life is good.

Healing... And Moving On

Well, two days after the fateful event that caused so much trauma for our family (please click link to read the heartbreaking story if you have not already herd it), we began the process of healing, and moving on.

After a morning of work, I was unable to chaperone a field trip to the Minnesota Zoo with our youngest's preschool class that I had previously signed up for. The Incident Commanders were all very understanding, and did everything they could (and then some) to get me there - but in the end, it was cutting it too close.

This worked out ok in the end because I ended up making a run to urgent care for a persistent, and worsening cough. More on that "experience" later...

After the ER visit, and picking up subsequent prescriptions, I made my way home to accomplish the one task I had set my sights on for the day. We needed to lay Garfield to his eternal resting spot. At the family dinner table, we discussed the various options...

We came up with three viable options. The concave portion of our kidney shaped flower garden, a back corner of the yard, or under our deck where the ideas that we came up with.

We also talked about how we would mark the location...

In the end, we chose the concave portion of our kidney shaped flower garden. Additionally, we decided to "upgrade" this area, and create a small "memorial" to our beloved Garfield. We are going to put a concrete birdbath, and an etched stone memorial there too.

Planning this with the family was really nice. I really think this helped move us towards "closure".

After dinner, I started the work of cutting up the lawn (so I could put the patch back when I was done), and digging the hole. When the whole was complete, we called the kids, our next door neighbor kids, and I was going to invite the "across the street neighbor girl" (who played with Garfield every day) but, she was sick, and could not come over.

All of them had made cards, or picked flowers (dandelions), and came up with some things to send Garfield off with.

- I got a small baggie of Cat food for him (man, that cat could E. A. T. - It was only fitting to send him off with a little of what he liked best!).

- #2 of 5 decided to send him off with a laser pointer. (Garfield LOVED the laser pointer. We could get him to jump over 6 feet to try and "catch" it....)

- #4 of 5 use a piece to her gerbil cage (Garfield was so "interested" in the gerbils... He would stand guard, and sleep near their cage - just hoping for one of them to get loose.)

- Everyone else made cards (including the little girl across the street who could not be there).

We placed our things with Garfield, sealed up the box, and #2 of 5 lowered him into the little "grave".

More dandelions on top, and #2 of 5 asked to fill the hole back in.

Unfortunately #1 of 5 could not be with us, but he called us, and specifically asked that we say a prayer for him since he could not be there.

By the time we were finished, the kids were all doing MUCH better. The "immediacy" of the situation has passed, and as the old saying goes... "Time heals all wounds". Overall, everyone will be ok. #2 of 5 is even talking about wanting another cat. (But he does not ever want to name another cat Garfield - so he can always remember "his" Garfield the way he was...) No decisions have been made in this direction as of yet.

As promised this post includes the photo of Garfield on the Mother of Five's cel phone (the one that #2 of 5 does not want changed for a while...)

One last photo. This is the last photo we took of Garfield. It was dated 4-20-09. #4 of 5 was cleaning out her gerbil cage, and Garfield (who loved to squeeze his HUGE frame into the smallest possible boxes to curl up in) decided to do so in the gerbil's cage.

When I Am Not At Home

I was going through my 2008 photos, and came across this picture (that I had forgotten that I had taken).
It was supposed to be a follow up to THIS POST by Postulates and Pasttimes.

When I am not at home, this is where I can usually be found.
(One of the 4 main consoles at work.)

I love "Trifecta Friday"

When "my Friday" (the last day of my work-week) ends on a true calendar Friday, and that happens to fall on a payday Friday - we call them "Trifecta Fridays".

This happens once every six weeks.

Trifecta Friday is followed with four (well needed) days off!

Since I am on the topic of "work"... Check out THIS LINK!
That made for an exciting morning!

Some Good News

Some good news came today, in the form of a job offer and start date for the wayward and prodigal #1 of 5.

His three month stint of being a (by choice) unemployed, uninsured, have-nothing-to-do, have-nowhere-to-go, have-no-money-to-do-it-with, video-game-playing, tv-watching, food-eating, couch-potato of a parasite on my (over sized) bottom side has now come to a (hopefully permanent) end.

Hmmm... Do I seem a little... Frustrated??

Yeah, ok... That was a bit harsh on my part... But I have such a hard time understanding why a 20 year old able-bodied man would choose to try not to have a full time job - and (literally) lay around the house doing nothing. Especially when that 20-year-old has drive and ambition (when he wants to), and endless possibilities ahead of him...

Now that my rant is over, it's time for some good news! #1 of 5 rejoins the "real world" on Wednesday as a meat-cutter for a local "Club-Style" retail warehouse giant (a local "Club-Style" retail warehouse that DOES NOT rhyme with "Blostco").

He has some pretty significant bills to pay off (that he has been blowing off), before he can evem START to think about a car again...

Please, everyone.. For the sake of my sanity - say a prayer, send some good karma, or think of a happy little thought ("any happy little thought") his way. He will need all that he can get... (And I need him to get all that he can get)...