Good, Better, Best

Some Good

After being completely deflated when the college discontinued the program I was in, I took the summer to hang with Alice. During that time I did some research and we looked around and concluded that there are still lots of jobs in Medical Transcription. So I started to look in to other options in regards to training. I found an online program through CareerStep that trained you not only on the transcription part, but also on the editing part. Most transcriptions are being done by computers now, however, someone has to edit what the machine gets wrong. At the end of the training, I will be trained in both. 

So I enrolled. It's all online and work at your own pace. I started in September when Alice went back to school and I am already halfway through. The first half was mostly review from the classes I had already taken. Now I've started the transcription part. It isn't too hard. It's just A LOT. I have a gazillion audio files to get through and I feel like I am making zero progress. I'm working on it while Alice is at school so I have not dedicated the amount of time I should be dedicating to it. (Like right now when I should be doing school but instead I'm blogging. I'm pretending it's warming up my fingers.) My goal is to find more time on the weekends to get through a few. I would LOVE to be finished by the summer. My goal date keeps getting pushed around as I better understand what work needs to be done. This goal date isn't any earlier than what it would be if I was continuing classes at the college so I'm trying to be okay with it. 

There is a light at the end of the tunnel - I just can't see it yet. Hopefully I'll see it soon. 

Feeling and Looking Better

We are still doing our diet/exercise program. I'm down 15lbs. I am elated. My Beloved is down more and looks fantastic. While at my check-in appointment with my new Hematologist, he noticed I had lost quite a bit of weight since my last visit. He asked what we were doing and what my goal weight was. I told him I don't really have a goal weight - I just don't want people asking when I'm due anymore. He has an app that figures what your target weight should be and I am apparently 5lbs away from being considered in the 'normal' weight range for my body. BOOYAA!!! I haven't weighed in at "normal" for years! He went on saying that it's a range - 155 could be the top, 140 was still considered normal so I could get down lower. I told him it didn't matter - "you had me at normal." 

We look better, we feel better, and we're dedicated to keeping up with it. Thanks to Pinterest, we have tried lots of diet recipes that have really been tasty! So that's helped. I still give Alice something else or at least the non-diet version of what we're having. She gets regular noodles and white rice, lucky kid. 

The Best Most Recent Example of How We are STILL Unqualified Parents

When Alice gets overly exhausted, it is almost impossible to get her to go to bed. She sobs for hours in protest. HOURS! On January 1st, she was so unbearable, we finally put her on a mat on our floor next to our bed. She finally went to sleep. The next day while my Beloved was picking the mat up Alice came in, looked at it with incredulity, and said, "wus that?" Dada replied, "it's where you slept last night." 

Alice - "nuh uh! I syeep in my own bed!"

Child.

This past Sunday, she had another bedtime meltdown. This time, Dada offered to lay on the floor next to her bed until she fell asleep. He does this occasionally when Alice is inconsolable. We have a pack-n-play mattress that slides out from under her baby bed and he lays down until she falls asleep and I wake him up to come to bed. Only Alice decided to lay on the floor with him. 

She FINALLY fell asleep on the floor. The last time we tried to move her from the floor to her bed and that was the wrong decision. Wrong, wrong, wrong. So we looked at her and said she could sleep on the floor.  

At almost 4am, I awake to her crying. I get up, switch the hall light on, open her door, and can't see her. I can hear her crying, "Momma, I stuck! My head!" only she is nowhere to be found. 

Somehow the child had managed to get under her baby bed. Lord, have mercy.

I call for Daniel and proceed to lift the bed. 

My poor groggy husband comes running around the corner to me lifting the baby bed and the groggy child emerging from under it. "What the heck?!" Yep - 'what the heck' about sums it up. 

We get her back to bed and everything settled. 

And the dog who was barking like a maniac last week because the wind blew - slept through his kid crying for help. Didn't even leave his bed when His Man jumped out of his. Stupid dog. 

So that's what's going on here. Maybe when I'm done transcribing my fingers off, I'll have more time to blog. We'll see!

Until next time......