Where Did Summer Go?

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Jenni Elyse

At the beginning of summer, I felt like time was moving slowly which is how I wanted it. Now that summer is almost over, meaning I start school in three weeks, I’m wondering where my summer went.

I’m not ready for school to start again. I need to qualify that. I’m ready for school, but I’m not ready for how it’s going to affect my schedule, especially my work schedule.

Currently, I work full-time and go to school part-time. Because of this, I have to fit my school schedule into my work schedule. As I’m getting closer to graduation, this is becoming harder to do because the classes I need are only available at certain times. This next semester, they happen to be available around lunch time.

Each day, I need to be to work by 7:00 in the morning. Then, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I have a class from 1:00 to 2:00. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I have a class from 12:00 to 1:30. After class each day, I’ll go back to work and stay there until 6:00.

I’ll still be working only 40 hours, but because I’ll be there from 7:00 am until 6:00 pm each day, it’s going to feel more like 60 hours each week. The things I do to better myself.

I was able to work out my class schedule so I have a class each day. I like that much better than last semester when they were all MWF classes and I had to make up the time away from work on Tuesday and Thursday by working 12-hour days. Thank goodness for small miracles.

Before School Starts To Do List

Finish watching LOST. I only have 16 more episodes.
Conquer Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I only have Ganondorf left to defeat.
Finish reading The Book Thief. I keep getting distracted and now I have no more time for distractions. ;)
Reread Shiver and Linger, so I can read Forever.
Gather my sanity to get me through the next few months.

A Full Plate

Posted on June 22, 2010 by Jenni Elyse

I decided to drop my summer term class after all. It had nothing to do with the teacher and it had nothing to do with being assigned to read books before the class even started. (Actually, I’m going to keep reading The Lord of the Rings trilogy since they’re already on my radar.) I simply decided that I need a break from something. I’d prefer to take a break from work (not my new job, just work in general), but since I can’t, school is the next best thing.

I have too much going on all at once to have to worry about an accelerated class too. Changing jobs has taken a toll on me. I really like my new position, but it has taken some getting used to, especially as far as the schedule is concerned. I can dictate my own schedule, but I have existing appointments I have to work around so I’ve had to work 11-hour days a couple of times since I started.

Trying to figure out my health is taking a toll on me too. I’ve noticed that I’ve been feeling a lot worse lately, which is in line with IBS. (The more stress you’re under the worse IBS becomes.) The more and more I’ve started to pay attention to the things I eat, I seem to feel icky after I eat anything with gluten or anything with dairy. I haven’t been able to pin it down to one or the other yet. (Corey thinks it could also be sugar.) I’m slowly going gluten free, but I don’t want to go completely gluten free until I’ve talked to my gastroenterologist tomorrow.

My regular doctor told me I should know after two weeks of being completely gluten free if I feel better, maybe not completely better, but remarkably better. I’ve decided to go gluten free for two weeks (starting this Sunday) and still eat dairy. If I don’t feel much better, I’ll also cut out the dairy for a couple of weeks. Then, I’ll introduce gluten back into my diet to see if one or the other (or both) are the culprits to feeling bad after I eat. If neither going off of gluten nor dairy helps, then I’ll cut out the other allergen foods and work from there.

It’ll be nice to not worry about school while I’m figuring out my new job and figuring out my new eating lifestyle. Plus! I get to read what I want for 10 weeks. ;) I’m hoping to up my number of books read drastically during this little hiatus.

Random Ramblings

Posted on June 17, 2010 by Jenni Elyse

I saw my doctor again today. He confirmed that it’d be beneficial to go off gluten for a bit to see if it helps. He said I don’t need to worry about seeing an allergist because sometimes their tests aren’t the most reliable. He just suggested that if going off gluten doesn’t work, then I should try going off of the major allergy causing foods, like dairy, nuts, soy, and eggs. He’s also referring me to a gastroenterologist to see what he thinks because there’s still a possibility I do have Celiac since my blood test was positive. He also said I could just have a sensitivity to gluten, which is much better than Celiac. It means that I’ll feel badly when I eat gluten, but gluten won’t cause the same kind of damage it does to people with Celiac. I could also have colitis or IBS. Hopefully, the gastroenterologist will be able to give me some answers.

As you can see, I have a few options to try. We’ll see how I feel after I give up some yummy foods. Now, it’s just a matter of stocking my house with gluten-free things. I’m going to go simple for the first little bit by just eating veggies, fruits, and lean meats. Then, if I notice that not eating gluten helps me feel better, I’ll add in the gluten-free carbs.

*****

My spring term class officially ended yesterday. I didn’t have a final exam; I just had to hand in a final paper worth a sixth of my grade. Depending on how I do on my paper, I’ll either have a low A or a high A-. I’m really happy with how well I did in this class. It definitely wasn’t the easiest class since it focused mostly on principles of literary theory, but I did learn a lot.

*****

My new class starts on Monday. My teacher is pissing me off more and more. The main reason is the assignment to read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy before class even starts. In her first e-mail, she told us we had until the end of the first week to get them done. In subsequent e-mails, all sent this week I might add, they now have to be read by Monday. I’ve only finished The Hobbit so far. I’ve been too busy with my current homework, new work schedule, and everything else life has thrown at me to spend the time I need to get the other books done. Luckily, I get to choose the book to focus on during the class so I’ll just choose The Hobbit. I still need to read the other three books because she said we might draw on them during the term for more information.

Finally, she signs every one of her e-mails as “Sister” blah blah. I know I’m going to BYU, but do teachers really have to go by Sister or Brother blah blah (unless they’re religion teachers, of course)? I had to send her an e-mail yesterday and I deliberately called her Prof. blah blah.

I’m actually considering dropping this class, not because of my teacher, but because I’ve just been s0 busy with everything that I’m a little stressed out right now. Plus, I’m a little overwhelmed with my new job. Starting a new job and a new accelerated class at the same time doesn’t seem like a good idea. The only problem with dropping my class is that I can’t take it in the fall because it conflicts with my other classes. The soonest I could take it is in the winter. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem, but it directly corresponds with the class I just took so I don’t want to let too much time pass by before I take it.

New Job

Posted on June 14, 2010 by Jenni Elyse

As many of you know, I’ve been extremely unhappy with my job. After seven years of writing boring training manuals, you just get kind of tired doing that day in and day out, you know? Plus, I clashed with my manager a lot. I didn’t feel like he really appreciated me. Nor did I like his management style. He’s a nice guy; just not a very good manager, in my opinion. It’s been a hard six years. (I know I just said that I’ve been doing this for seven years. I actually had the best manager for the first year of my old job and then he moved to a different department.)

Anyway, I don’t have to worry about that anymore! :D I still work for Henry Schein, but as of today, I’m no longer in the Practice Education (Training) department. I also no longer write training manuals. :D Hallelujah! I’m now in the Coaching department and my new title is Profitability Account Manager. In my new position, I’ll coach dental offices on how to be more profitable using the resources and information in their software. I’ll also help develop the curriculum (kind of like my old job) for the coaching topics.

My schedule is still fairly flexible (except during this transition period when I’m taking over appointments the previous person in my position scheduled), and my new manager is awesome. I’ve actually worked with him for the entire time I’ve been working at Henry Schein–10 years. In fact, he’s the one who trained me to use the Dentrix software.

I was a little frazzled today trying to figure everything out, but I think I’ll really like this job. I’m excited to be working with offices again. I’m also excited to be doing something different.

You Know it’s Cold When

Posted on March 24, 2010 by Jenni Elyse

Anyone who knows me knows I’m not a cold person. I get hot so easily. I have always advocated that it’s better to be too cold than too hot because you can always put more on to warm up and you can only take off so much to cool down.

At work, I’m underneath an air vent. Not only does this air vent gush out cold air all year around, it also gushes out the air full blast. 8O It’s ridiculous! I’ve never been so cold in all my life!

On a typical day, you can find me wrapped in my slanket trying to keep warm. On some days, I’m so cold that my slanket isn’t enough. On those days, I’m not only wrapped in my slanket, but I’m also wearing a sweater, a coat, or both.

I feel like I work in the Arctic. My overall body temperature is changing because I’m starting to feel cold in other places too. I didn’t like being a hot person, but I don’t like being a cold person either. Isn’t there a middle ground?

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