A day in the life...

I used to like snow days...

2008-12-10T15:00:00.000-08:00

Not So Much Anymore

Thanks to good ol' Mother Nature, schools in our area had a snowday on Tuesday. Normally, I wouldn't really care. However, since Alex is supposed to begin this "Early On" program, the speech therapists schedule works just like the schools (obviously, since they work through the Intermediate School District). So when my local school has a snowday, that means that the speech therapist won't travel to our home. Well, that's what happened on Tuesday. Sandy from Early On was supposed to come to our house on Tuesday morning to do Alex's evaluation, which will determine if he qualifies for assistance. I have no doubt that he will qualify, but I'm still a bit anxious about getting it done. I called Sandy today, since I wasn't sure if she was supposed to call me to reschedule, or if I had to call her. So his evaluation is now rescheduled for Monday morning. Let's hope this one goes as planned!

Date Night, Date Night, Date Night!!!

Can you tell I'm excited? :) Phil and I have our whole day planned out, from shopping to dinner to the hot tubs. I have our reservation set and everything. The more I have thought about it, the more I've realized it really has been a while since Phil and I have had a date night. Especially since we were trying to do one once a week back in the summer.

The Love Dare: Update

For those of you that don't know, I am doing The Love Dare on Phil. You may remember me talking about it after we went to see the movie Fireproof. A couple of weeks ago I found a website that has all 40 dares on it. It only has the full lesson for days 1-5 and for days 6-40 it just has the dare and the scripture that goes with it. I am now on day 10. I didn't tell Phil at first that I was doing it, but it didn't take him long to figure it out (in other words, he found my paperwork). :) Some of the things I've had to do have inspired some really good talks between Phil and I. The only one I had a somewhat difficult time with was when I had to ask Phil for three things about me that annoy him or make him feel uncomfortable. That's never something easy to hear, even when you know that it's coming.

I have especially enjoyed doing The Love Dare, because it has reminded me to pray daily for my marriage. So often I pray for my friends, family, church members, etc. but I forget to pray for my marriage. Beyond my relationship with God, that is the most important relationship I should be praying for! Even though I have all of the dare activities online and printed out, I still plan on buying the book. It will be nice to have all of the lessons that go with each dare. If you haven't seen the movie Fireproof yet or heard of it, be sure to check out the trailer at www.fireproofthemovie.com. It comes out on DVD on Jan. 27th and is on pre-sale at several Christian Bookstore websites.

Earning My Pay

Boy, have I been working hard for the money tonight! I have been going through mounds and mounds of paperwork from each of the police departments that we dispatch for. I ran all of the missing persons, stolen vehicles, impounded vehicles, abandoned vehicles and stolen articles/guns for each department. Everything gets entered in to the state computer, so if any other department runs that person/vehicle/article, they are notified that it's listed as missing or stolen. I set aside each thing that we still have in our files, but was no longer in the state computer. The supervisor that comes in in the morning will be sending them off to the respective departments for them to cross check it with the police report it originated from to make sure the case is closed and it's not supposed to still be in the system. All in all, it took me 5 hours out of my shift to run through everything. My hands are tired!!! (Yet here I am, typing a blog. LOL) I think I've put my share of work in for the night. Assuming the 911 lines don't ring, I'm going to post this blog, kick my feet up and catch up on Sunday's episode of Desperate Housewives on www.abc.com.

Have a wonderful week everyone!!!

So much to do!

2008-12-07T16:00:00.000-08:00

I'm so glad I have a day planner...

Especially during this time of year, my days seem so busy that I don't know where I would be if I didn't write everything down. Although things seem jam packed and busy right up until Christmas, it also makes me appreciate the time between Christmas and New Years. People are still happy and jolly from the Holiday Season, but everything slows right down and you can relax. On the other hand, people are so busy and stressed during the days leading up to Christmas, that it makes many of them cranky. I especially don't like going shopping during this time of year. Even if it's just grocery shopping. Everyone is so rude and unpleasant. All of the shoppers want to just get in and get out. All of the cashiers are tired of dealing with cranky people, so they in turn become cranky to everyone they deal with. On a positive note, I think this time of year proves more than any other, the power of a smile. Just smiling and greeting everyone you pass by is like a contagious thing. Rather than being passed by like they don't exist, they are actually acknowledged by another person and it lifts their spirits. Suddenly, they begin to slow down and share a smile with others as well.

I dare everyone to try that during the next couple of weeks. If you're out shopping, take your time. Notice the people around you. Smile at them and give them a hello as they pass by. I guarantee you will lift their spirits.

Early On...

I finally got Alex registered for the Early On program through the Intermediate School District. If I haven't mentioned it before, I apologize for confusing you. At Alex's 2 year check up, our doctor was concerned because he is not talking much. My pastor thought the general rule of thumb was 50 words by age 2. We're lucky if Alex has 10. I was told by a couple of people about this program through the school district called "Early On." They actually send someone to your home to evaluate the child. Assuming the meet the criteria for needing assistance, they come to your home once every week to work with the child. When I spoke with the "family planner" on the phone last week, she said that they like to see at least 20 words by age two, and by Alex's age (2 years and 3 months), he should be starting to put two words together and trying to form sentences.

We are supposed to have our first meeting with the family planner on Tuesday. However, they are now calling for 8 inches of snow, sleet and freezing rain between Monday night and Wednesday night. The family planner explained that if school is cancelled, then they don't travel. So I hope school doesn't get cancelled on Tuesday, because I've really been looking forward to this appointment! I even had to cancel Alex's bi-weekly playdate with his buddy Elijah for it. The general goal of the program is to assist children that have fallen behind in meeting mile stones or children that have learning disabilities, and catching them up to where their peers are by the time they begin school. I've heard a lot of good things so far about the program, so I have high hopes!

Pills, drugs, and other fun stuff I need to use to live a normal life...

I'm happy to say that for the most part, my Methotrexate is working well. It makes me sick for about 24 hours after I take it, so pretty much all of my Mondays are shot, but at least I can function normally. I think the hardest thing to accept is the "new normal." Although I feel better and function better than I did before I started the Metho, I'm still not back to where I was before my Rheumatoid Arthritis developed. I still have trouble with my knees, and some of my other joints feel a lot weaker than they were two years ago. In fact, a couple of days ago, Alex was trying to play with an outlet while we were decorating the Christmas tree. He wouldn't stop, so I put him in time out. He was really upset and crying hard, so I got down on my knees in front of him and talked to him very calmly and explained why he was in timeout. Phil looked at me and his jaw dropped. It's been so long since I've been able to get on my knees. As it was, it still hurt. It felt like my knees were incredibly bruised when I was on them, but at least I was able to do it!

I have an appointment next week with my Rheumatologist. This is the first appointment since he increased the dosage of my Methotrexate. He said that if it didn't kick in by this appointment that he would start me on Enbrel or Humira shots. That is what I wanted originally. It's just one shot a week that I can administer to myself at home. Although I don't like the idea of being sick every Monday, because of the side effects of my medication, I can't justify stopping the Metho and going to shots when it is actually working for me. I did have some stiffness and inflammation a bit last week, but I think that was because I forgot to take my pills on Sunday night and ended up taking them a day late. Also, since my little puking party a couple of weeks ago, I haven't had a reoccurance. I think that happened because I took the pills right before bed. Since then, I've been sure to take them in the evening with my dinner, so I have a full stomach. Granted, I'm still fatigued, nauseas and dizzy all day on Monday, but it works.

Date Night!!!

It's amazing what kinds of things excite me these days. Before Alex, it used to be, "Yeah, I'm going out to dinner with Phil." like it was just an everyday thing. Now, it's "date night!" and it's an exciting thing! :) It's something that doesn't happen as often. Not always because we can't find someone to watch Alex or because our schedules don't coordinate, but sometimes we have to have a babysitter because both Phil and I have something going on, and I get to the point where I feel like we're always taking him to a sitter. I don't like doing that. There are nights when I would like more than anything to just hang out with my boys at home. But this week, we have one of those special nights!

This Friday, my mom will be watching Alex for the day while Phil and I go out to finish our Christmas shopping. We will be going to Grand Rapids to finish everything (basically to go to those bigger places we need that aren't in Greenville or Ionia). After we're done shopping, Phil is taking me out to dinner, then to the hot tubs. I can't wait! Outdoor hot tubs are awesome when it's cold and snowing out. I just hate the run to and from the hot tub. Brrrrrrr! lol

That's all I have for now. Things have been pretty slow in dispatch, so no exciting stories from work. Maybe soon, though. :) Have a wonderful week!

I Just Want to Sleep!!!

2008-12-02T01:59:00.000-08:00

The Thanksgiving Disaster...

Picture this: It's 11am on Thanksgiving Day. I work the 6pm-6am shift, so I'm fast asleep. Phil comes in to our bedroom and wakes me up to watch Alex while he takes a shower. Alex was happily playing with some toys, so I sort of dozed off. Soon after, this voice is ringing in my head, "Katy, you need to wake up. Something doesn't smell right." As I start to come around, I think to myself, "Why do I smell baby powder???" I open my eyes to one of the most shocking sights I've ever seen. There stood Alex at the side of my bed with a small bottle of baby powder, violently shaking it up and down, sending baby powder everywhere. He was literally covered head-to-toe. That was just the beginning of the mess. There was baby powder all over the carpet, the side of the bed and on some clutter on the floor near him. I quickly grabbed him, took him to the bathroom, stripped him down and put him in the shower with his daddy. I returned to the bedroom with the vacuum, but it didn't suck any of the powder up at first. I eventually figured out that I had to use one of the vacuum attachments and that worked great! After Phil and Alex got out of the shower, I got Alex dressed and ready to go to Phil's family dinner. I was so wide awake, that it took me forever to get back to sleep. My only regret about the whole thing (other than dozing off) is that I never got a picture of Alex! :)

The Love Dare...

Well, I have officially started it! I'm going in to Day 4 today. I still haven't bought the book, but I did find a website online that has all 40 dares, as well as the scripture that goes along with it. I copied and pasted each one in to a Word document and made some additional space to write notes at the end of each day, then printed it off and took it home with me. It is going well so far. I don't know if it's the Dare at work, or just the fact that Phil and I actually got to spend time together during this past weekend, for the first time in forever, but it was a great weekend!

A Normal Day??? Not For Us!

After church Sunday morning, Phil and Alex and I went to get our family Christmas tree. We left home at noon, knowing that a snow storm was supposed to start around 2 or 3pm. Well, it didn't hold off quite that long. In fact, it began snowing as we left town. We successfully found our tree and Phil loaded it up into the bed of his pickup truck. Just a few minutes after we left, his rescue was toned to a two vehicle accident with people injured. Since it was sort of on our way home, he decided to respond. The roads were already getting awful at that point. We arrived at the accident scene at the same time the ambulance and rescue did. Since it was only visible just after cresting a hill, I backed our truck up several yards and turned some of Phil's fire lights on to slow people down. Alex took that time as an opportunity to nap. :) We were there for about an hour.

Before we even left that scene, the rescue got toned to another accident, north of where we were at. We went there as well. At this scene, a woman had rolled her vehicle in to a 10ft. ditch. When we first arrived, we couldn't even see the vehicle because it was so far down. While Phil tended to the driver and passenger (who were both wet and freezing cold because there was standing water in the ditch), I jumped out of the truck and snapped a couple of pictures. We weren't there for long when the ambulance arrived, assessed the patients and took them to the hospital. Then, we finally made it home. The three of us spent the rest of the evening hanging out together. Overall, it was a very nice day. Crazy, but nice.

November 21st, already???

2008-11-21T15:27:00.000-08:00

Ole!

Every year, we do the best that we can to celebrate birthdays and major holidays at work (on my shift). I usually get together with my dispatch partners and a certain shift of officers that I work with, and we plan a dinner. Since we're working on Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, we've decided to begin planning our T-giving dinner. The police officers came to dispatch the other night so we could plan our menu. I was slightly against having turkey for our dinner (which believe it or not, we have done the full turkey dinner here before), since I assumed most would be having turkey with their families during the day. So one of the officers suggested, "What about enchiladas?" I thought he was joking at first, but he was totally serious. So, we're having our first Thanksgiving Mexican Fiesta! :) I'm still anxious to see if anyone will be funny enough to bring a piniata.

It's a Girl!!!

Totally not what you think. :) Phil got a doe on opening morning of gun season! I opted not to go with him this year because there is no way these arthritic knees are climbing in to a tree stand. I know if I had wanted to go, he would have chosen a place on the ground for us to sit, but the tree stand that he usually sits in is (in my opinion) one of the best spots. Phil's dad also got a deer on Thursday evening. He shot a 9 point buck. It's "technically" a 9pt, but I call it a 9 1/2 pt, since one of the tines it just barely too small to count. Phil and I, along with his mom and brother are thinking of going together to get my father-in-law a shoulder mount of his buck as a Christmas gift, so I've been researching taxidermy places in the Montcalm County area since I arrived at work. I didn't know that it was so expensive! All of the shoulder mount prices I've seen so far have ranged from $355 to $400. Of course, if I really knew anything about taxidermy, I'm sure I would know that there is a lot to it, and all of the work that goes in to it is probably well worth the money.

Ohhhhhh my...

This morning, Phil and I took Alex to Grand Rapids to meet my sister-in-law Kelly, and her kids Jade, Trent, and Kyra. Nate and Kelly wanted to get a professional picture of all of the kids to give to our parents for Christmas. Boy, was that interesting! First, Phil, Alex and I were late getting there, so I felt awful (thanks to the bank in Greenville for holding us up!), but we finally got started. Jade (5) and Trent (3) were very good. Alex (2) was good for the most part, but got a little cranky when we tried to make Kyra smile using a bouncy ball and he couldn't have it. Kyra did not do quite as well, though. She wanted nothing to do with taking pictures and didn't want to leave Kelly's side for a second. We finally were able to get one decent shot. Alex, Trent and Jade were all sitting on their knees. Kyra was on the end, sitting on Kelly's leg while Kelly was doing her best to lean back to get out of the shot. They did the pic in black and white, then put a black shadow on the outside, so you can't even tell that Kelly's knee is in the picture. :) Ah, the miracles of modern technology! They also did some single shots of Alex, of which we ordered a few. They should be ready to pick up in just a couple of weeks.

I think that's about it for now. Have a blessed and happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

RAWR!!!

2008-11-10T14:44:00.000-08:00

Let Me Begin With the Good...

Last week, Phil and I celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary. It was on Thursday, November 6th. Last year, we had a pretty crappy anniversary, so we were determined to make it good. To give you a little insight, we celebrated last year by attending Phil's grandmother's funeral. Fun, eh?

This year we celebrated on Wednesday. My aunt and grandmother watched Alex for us while we went to Grand Rapids for dinner and some hot tubbing. We've always enjoyed spending time in a hot tub where we can find one, but since my arthritis kicked in, it's not just for fun anymore. It's theraputic! In fact, I've often thought of checking to see if my insurance company will cover the purchase of a hot tub. :) Anyway, I'm getting off track. We enjoyed a very nice evening together. It was an early evening (by our standards), because I knew that my aunt had to work the next day. We got back in town at 9pm. We picked Alex up, and because he hadn't taken a nap AT ALL during the day, we put him right to bed when we got home.

It was such a beautiful evening (temps in the lower 60's), so I decided to take advantage of it and work on cleaning out my car. I have this horrible habit of leaving things in my car, rather than taking them in the house when I get home in the mornings. It seriously looked like I was living in my car. And with the amount of stuff in there, I probably could have! It got the front of my car cleaned out, and used one of Phil's Armoral cleaning wipes to wipe down the dashboard. I think that was all it took to strike up my motivation for the next morning. It was another beautiful day, so after I woke up, I continued working on my car. After I finished getting all of the mess out of there, I took it to the carwash and washed it. Then I vacuumed it, wiped down the leather seats with cleaning wipes, cleaned the inside of the windows and wiped down pretty much every surface. I felt great! My car hasn't been so clean since I drove it off the car lot. Hopefully my car will return the nice gesture and stop breaking down all the time!

What a Waste of My Time!!!

This morning, (after working a 12 hour shift for the past three nights) I had another contract negotiation meeting with Ionia County. What a complete and utter waste of my time! We had a mediator come in this time, since we've hammered everything other than money issues out. Quite frankly, we're so far apart as far as money issues go, that I forsee us going at this for months to come. I can't go in to much detail, but we're taking our case to a judge now, and the county has still not offered us a wage proposal. In fact, there was discussion of freezing our wages for this three year contract. Hmmmm. Cost of living is going up 4.19% this next year, and they want me to sell 12 other dispatchers on a 0% raise??? Not gonna happen!

The problem is this: We can go to fact finding. That's what it's called when we take our negotiation to a judge. The judge (or arbitrator in this case) listens to our side and the county's side, then gives a judgement. Because dispatchers are not, according to the law, and "essential" employee like police and firefighters, we do not have binding arbitration. Binding arbitration means that whatever the arbitrator rules, it was has to happen. Because we don't have binding arbitration, the county can listen to the arbitrator's ruling and say, "Yeah, that's nice." then impose their last best offer. So if a 0% raise is their last best offer, that's what we have to take.

Public Act 312 is something that I'm very passionate about. When 312 was created, it was to give binding arbitration to essential public safety employees. Of course, after it became a law, labor lawyers started to pick it apart, and discovered that 911 dispatchers and corrections officers were not technically named in the act. So, we do not have binding arbitration. I was extremely disappointed this morning to learn from our union rep that 312 has passed the House and is being held up in the Senate.....but for corrections officers only! Apparently, 911 dispatchers are still not considered and "essential employee." Tell me, how would your police officers, firefighters or EMS personnel get to you if it weren't for the 911 dispatchers?

So please, call your area representative and tell them that you want dispatchers included in Public Act 312!

A Long Overdue Update

2008-11-03T21:07:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween!!! (A Couple of Days Late)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween! I know we sure did. Alex was a duck this year. We started the day out by having lunch with Phil in Sheridan while he was on call for Rescue. On our way home, Alex fell asleep in the car (it was his normal naptime), but wouldn't go back to sleep when I got him in the house. So, he only had about a 20 minute nap. In the mid-afternoon, I dressed Alex in his costume (which he cried and cried about putting on) and we met my aunt at the prison. I know that sounds weird, but my dad, brother and aunt all work there. We weren't hanging out with prisoners or anything. lol We took Alex to the business office to show him off to my aunt's coworkers. After returning home, we hung out with my parents for a bit before Phil arrived. We redressed Alex and started our Trick-or-Treating fun. We made a few stops in Carson City, then ventured off to Trufant to see Phil's side of the family. His dad puts on a HUGE display every year, so many of the kids in town stop by. Alex slept all the way from Carson to Trufant, so he wasn't very social at first. But by the time we went to Grandpa and Grandma Christensen's house, he was better.

Overall, it was a great night! After spending a few minutes in his costume, Alex was okay with it.

On a Good Note...

My new medication seems to be working!!! My joints aren't really inflammed anymore, except for my right elbow. I can't seem to straighten my arm all the way. But otherwise, I'm feeling much better! I'm so glad that a medication is finally working for me. The only downfall is that I have strict instructions from my doctor to NOT get pregnant while taking this medication. It comes with a very high risk of birth defects. In fact, if Phil and I do decide to have another baby someday, I have to stop taking the medication at least 3 months before we even start trying. So right now, we're sort of in a limbo stage of, "Do we expand our little family and hope that my body can handle it?" or "Do we choose to make Alex our one and only?" Originally, Phil and I both said we wanted 4 children. After having one and raising him for two years, I think we've both reconsidered (at least I have). Still, I would love to have one more. I guess we'll just wait to see what God's plan is for us.....

Now, I haven't blogged on here for about two weeks and I know there's much more that I could share, but it's 1:41am, I've been up since 8am, and I'm in the middle of my work shift, so I can't seem to think of anything else to talk about. So I guess I'll just have to write some notes down next time I think of something to type about, that way I can write a little more next time. :)

Happy Memories

2008-10-17T01:04:00.000-07:00

Have I Mentioned What a Sap I Am?

I am! I'm a sucker for the good old fashion family memories. Fortunately, I have a husband who is more than happy to make those memories with me. :) Last week, we took a day out of our busy schedules to just spend the day together as a family. We went to Klackle's Orchard in Greenville. They have a large area for children to play with jungle gym equipment, a petting zoo, face painting, etc. When you pay for admission, each person gets a 1/4 peck size bag for apple picking. After looking around for a little while, we took Alex to the petting zoo area. I was a little worried about how he would react, because he did NOT like the animals when we went to the Ionia Free Fair. Of course, thinking back, he was a little tired and cranky that day. Well, things went completely different this time! We walked up to the pen with the goats. Phil held Alex's hand right up to one of the goats and it licked him. He smiled and giggled and stood right next to the other children trying to pet the goats even more. We took him to the back side of the barn where the sheep were fenced in. For some reason, he wanted nothing to do with them. But Phil walked him right up to the fence and held Alex's hand out. He still resisted until I got some food and he saw one of the sheep eat right out of my hand. I gave Phil and Alex some food and Alex giggled and giggled. We also visited some very small pigs and a calf.

After the petting zoo fun, we took a wagon ride out to the apple orchards. We stopped at two different areas to pick apples. We got Red Delicious and something else (I can't remember. Golden Spies, maybe?). We also went to a field filled with pumpkins and picked a pumpkin out for Alex. He had a blast running through the field. We finished our wagon ride and went to the gift shop and bakery to get some of their yummy doughnuts. I took several great pictures while we were there and you can view them at either my myspace or facebook pages.

Money, money, money...

Right now, my coworkers and I are in the middle of contract negotiations with Ionia County. More specifically, my partner Jim and I are handling them on behalf of the dispatchers. Jim is the union steward and I am the alternate. This is my first time participating in the actual negotiations (or doing anything with the union beyond voting, for that matter) so I was a little nervous. Some of the stuff, it took me a little bit to understand, but I'm learning a lot and getting the hang of it!

Our most recent meeting was last week. We got everything in the contract figured out as far as wording that needs to be changed and everything else now comes down to $$$. We're asking for a decent raise. Nothing outrageous, but what we think we deserve. Especially after taking what the county has offered us in the past (usually when they said, "We're offering *this* because that's what we're offering everyone"), then find out months later that they gave the Sheriffs deputies or jail officers more. On top of that, cost of living is going up 4.19% next year. Knowing all of this, they want Jim and I to sell a raise to our dispatchers that everyone is probably going to laugh at and throw right back at us. Somehow, I don't think our negotiations are going to go anywhere, anytime soon.

Off to bed...

It's been a very long weekend. Phil and I decided to get a sitter for Alex for Saturday night, and go out to dinner together after he got out of work. We ended up going to Huckleberry's in Greenville to grab a bite to eat, then Phil played a couple of games of pool. It's been quite a long time since I've been in a bar! I certainly didn't miss the smoky atmosphere. Afterward, we went to Wal-Mart to grab a couple of things (mainly diapers. :) The parenting never stops!). While there, my friend Sheena sent me a text saying she and a couple of friends were at the Midtown Bar back in Carson City. Since we were already going back to Carson to go home, we decided to stop in for a drink. After all, I think this was Sheena's first official night out since she gave birth to Rory. And time without the kids is so sparse, I thought I should jump at the opportunity! We stayed for about an hour, then came home to go to bed. This morning, Phil had a clean up session at one of his fire stations, so I took Alex to church by myself. He was a handful today! Running all over, laying down on the floor while I was trying to talk to people, etc. I sure would like to know what the sitters fed him last night! :)

Afterward, we met Phil in Trufant for a family reunion with his side of the family. From there we went to his parent's house for a while, then home. All afternoon, Alex was whiney and acting out. But I knew it was because the poor little guy had only taken a 15 minute nap. I felt so bad for him! After we arrived home and ate dinner (and calmed Alex down), Phil and I spent some quality time playing with him, then put him to bed. At some point between me watching Desperate Housewives and gathering up the trash to put at the curb tomorrow morning, Phil snuck in to bed, too. So, it's about time I get there myself. I'm pooped!!

Have a wonderful week!

Blessings In Disguise

2008-10-02T19:37:00.000-07:00

You have to look for the good in the bad...

Last week was to say the least, very trying. Phil had taken his truck to the mechanic because of some transmission problems. The bill started out at $100, which is what it cost to have them put the truck on the hoist, look it over, and tell us what was wrong. At first, they saw an obvious tie rod problem. One of the tie rod ends was about to fall off. They also determined that the speed sensor on the transmission was not working correctly, and that's why it wasn't shifting well. The estimated total for repairs: $800. Ugh. I hate hearing numbers like that. But I still wasn't too upset. I knew we would be able to take care of it. After those repairs were done, the mechanic called Phil back and told him that it only cost $675. Sweet!

Unfortunately, when the mechanic took the truck for its test drive to make sure everything was running smoothly, it wouldn't even shift out of first gear. He took it back to the shop and found a couple more things that weren't working. The cost now: $1057. That's when I started to worry a little, but I was still sure that we could make it somehow. It's not like Phil and I are rich people. We love working for our communities, but it certainly doesn't pay a lot.

After the new repairs had been made, the mechanic went to change the transmission filter and the transmission fluid. He pulled the pan out from beneath the transmission and in Phil's words, "There was more metal in the pan than there is in Greenville Steel." Upon further inspection, the mechanic determined that the drum in the transmission is shot. Not good!!! The new cost: $3000! My heart sank when I heard that.

You may still be wondering where the blessing is in all of this. Simply put, it's my husband. Phil knew exactly how I was going to react. He knew that as the phrase "Three thousand dollars" was ringing through my head, I would turn in to a crying stressed-out mess, with tons of questions running through my mind trying to figure out how in the world we're going to pay for it. He immediately told me that we would be fine. The repair shop is always willing to let us do a payment plan (after all the money in car purchases and repairs we've given them over the years, I would certainly hope they would be more than willing to work with us! lol). We'll pay $200 every two weeks until it's paid off. He had already made arrangements to pick up some extra ambulance shifts, is planning on picking up all of the rescue time he can and hopes to get some extra fire shifts if/when they're available. With his reassurance and planning, I actually felt okay.

I think part of the reason I was so frustrated in the first place, is because financial problems always seem to happen right before Christmas. I love the Holiday Season and would love nothing more than to bless my family with lots of wonderful gifts. But for once, I would like to do it without struggling. I've been tossing that thought through my brain for a week now. There has to be a reason that this always happens. What is God trying to teach me or show me? Am I too dependant on material gifts to show my love toward family members? Am I not doing enough during the rest of the year to show them how much I love and appreciate them? The quest for understanding continues.....

A MUST SEE!

A movie came to theaters last weekend that I've been waiting to see for a couple of months now (since I found out about it). It's called "Fireproof." I'm sure many people haven't heard of it because it wasn't widely advertised. The movie was written and created by members of a church in Georgia, the same church that made "Facing the Giants" if you've ever seen or heard of that. Here's the jist of the movie... Or you can see the awesome trailer at www.fireproofthemovie.com.

"Fireproof" is about a firefighter, Caleb (played by Kirk Cameron) and his wife Catherine. Their marriage is quickly deteriorating and Caleb calls his father to tell him that it's over and they will be getting a divorce. His father asks him to wait 40 days before doing anything and tells him that he will be sending him something in the mail. A couple of days later, Caleb receives a handwritten book from his father called "The Love Dare." Each day of the 40 days there is a different task to do, along with an explaination and Bible verse that go with it. The goal of "The Love Dare" is to win your spouses heart back. He reluctantly tries it and about half way through, turns his life and marriage over to God (he was not really religious before that). I won't go in to the rest of the movie, because I don't want to spoil it, but I will say that there wasn't a dry eye in the theater, Phil and I included!

After we left, Phil and I of course discussed the movie on our way home. Because of things that have happened in our marriage and the difficult times we've been through, I began wondering if Phil would ever take the initiative to do the Love Dare on me. Then it was like God himself slapped me upside the head. Who cares if Phil does it on me? I should do it on him! It's not that our marriage is in turmoil right now or we're headed for divorce or anything. In fact, this year has been our best yet. But why not use the tools that this church in Georgia has provided, through God, to bless our marriage and make it even stronger?! I was shocked to learn on their other website that nearly 75% of firefighter marriages end in divorce. That is one statistic I would like to NOT be a part of! If you would like to check out their other website, which has great information on it about helping your marriage, go to www.fireproofmymarriage.com. It also gives the link to buy materials to start a small group at your church. That is something I would love to be a part of sometime, but for now I'm just trying to get people to go see the movie! I don't know how long it will be in theaters, but it is currently playing in Grand Rapids and Lansing. GO SEE IT!

Here are a couple of interesting facts that I've learned along the way. "Fireproof" was made with a $500,000 budget and they spent about the same amount in post-production. Certain low budget according to Hollywood standards! In it's opening weekend, the film grossed $6.5 million. It came in #4 at the box office, which amazed film critics. I mean, who ever would have thought that people would actually want to see a film that has a good message and doesn't include swearing, nudity of violence?! (I hope you're reading my sarcasm there.) It also grossed the second highest amount in history for a movie that opened in less than 1,000 theaters (the first place being a Hannah Montana movie, go figure). I also learned that Kirk Cameron turned his life over to God several years ago and mostly does Christian movies now. He even made a promise to his wife several years ago (who played his girlfriend on "Growing Pains" and was his first on-screen kiss) that he would never kiss another woman, on or off screen. WARNING: Possible movie spoiler... So in the last scene of the movie, when he kisses his wife, they dressed Kirk's wife at Catherine and had her stand in for the kissing scene. Isn't that amazing?! Seriously, do you ever hear of people these days, especially in Hollywood, making that kind of commitment to their spouse and honoring it? And how awesome of the production crew to work with him on that!

Seriously, I can't wait for the movie to come out on DVD so I can see it over and over again! lol

911 Dispatchers...We're all crazy!

2008-09-28T15:38:00.000-07:00

I'm home! ......again

I had my 911 APCO conference up in Tustin this week. (Just in case you're wondering, APCO stands for "Association of Public Safety Communications Officers.) I was a little nervous going in to it, since I was the only person going from my department, I had never been there before, and the only people I knew were two dispatchers from Montcalm County, but I didn't know when they were going to get there.

I found the place easily. It's apparently a sort of camp for 4H. There are three buildings which include a dining hall, several conference rooms and rooms for people to stay in that range from dorm-style to Days Inn type rooms with two queen beds and a coffee maker. Those rooms also have a private bathroom. I wasn't quite so lucky. I was in the dorm-style housing with a bathroom/shower room that is shared by our entire floor. (There were about 6 rooms on our floor and two people per room, so it wasn't too horrible.) When I got there, I was fortunate enough to find some friendly people in the parking lot who pointed me in the direction of registration. After I got signed in, received my name tag and goodie bag, I ventured off to find my room.

I arrived in my room and immediately noticed that my roommate hadn't shown up yet. So, I checked things out, went through my goodie bag which included lots of cool 911 stuff, and read through all of the information pertaining to the conference (all of the do's and do not's). After about 20-30 minutes, my roommate showed up. She came with two other girls that stayed in the room next to us. Her name is Susan, she works for Grand Traverse Dispatch Center, and I'm pretty sure she was already drunk when she got there! lol I was happy to have her as a roommate, though. She was very friendly and outgoing, and we had a lot in common. For example, both of our husbands are firefighters. We had plenty to talk about, which made things a little more comfortable. After getting settled in, the girls took me up to the room of the two guys that they came with. One is a supervisor of their dispatch center and the other is their Deputy Director. I was surprised. They both look so young!

After a while, we headed down to the social area where they had some food and the infamous open bar. At 8pm, the Euchre Tournament started. I gladly participated, and although I scored pretty high in the end, I wasn't quite good enough to get a prize. After the tourney ended, around 10:30pm, everyone was hanging out, drinking and socializing. I started thinking to myself, "You know, you really didn't get much rest on vacation. You should take advantage of this situation." So, I went to bed! :) I was in bed by 11pm or so and slept sooo well! I heard my roommate stumble in around 3:30am. The crazy part was that she got up at the same time I did, around 8:30am.

So much to learn, so little time!

I was sleeping so well, that I skipped the obnoxiously early breakfast and the first morning class. (Hellooo?! Not all of us are day shifters!) When I finished showering and dressing, the first morning session was just being released. I hung around during their break, then went to a class put on by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. That was a great session! They talked about the Nation Center and also talked about Amber Alerts and what is required to issue an Amber Alert.

After that class was lunch (AKA-My breakfast. lol) and in the afternoon I started off with a class about NCIC. NCIC stands for the National Crime Information Center. It's a computer system that we use to see if people have warrants (typically, out of state warrants). They explained to us how NCIC Offline Searches work. You can run someone in an off line search and find out everything about them dating back to Jan. 1, 1990. To give you an idea of what we would get: If they were to run my name, they could tell you every address I've ever lived at, every vehicle I've owned, the license plates on all of those vehicles, any warrants I've ever had (not that I've had any!). They can even tell you any time a police officer has ever run my name through the system, what department their from, and the date and time they ran my name. The amount of information they handle is unbelievable!

I know this doesn't matter much to anyone who is not an officer or a dispatcher, but the reason I took the time to tell you all of this, is because doing an NCIC offline search is part of how Timothy McVeigh was caugh after the Oklahoma City bombing years ago. This is how it went down...

After the bombing, the detectives determined through sifting through debris and through witness accounts, that it was a Ryder truck that contained the bomb. They went to the Ryder Truck Rental place and received the information on who rented the vehicle. Unfortunately, it was an alias name. They did get a good description from the man who rented the vehicle out and he worked with a sketch artist to get a sketch. They took the sketch and started showing it around hotels in the area. One hotel worker said that he had rented a room to that guy. They looked at his info and he used his real name, Timothy McVeigh. (He also used his friend's brother's address as his home address, which is how they got Terry Nichols) They did an NCIC Offline Search on McVeigh, and saw that a state trooper had run him through the system just two days before, on the day of the bombing. They contacted that trooper to see why he was run, and it turns out that the trooper had pulled him over because there was no plate on his vehicle. During the course of the stop, he found a gun in McVeigh's vehicle and arrested him on a concealed weapons charge. He was currently sitting in their county jail! Can you believe that??? If they hadn't run that offline search, McVeigh could have easily served his time, been released and just disappeared. What an awesome tool! I'm so glad I learned about it.

Later in the afternoon, I took a class about DART. That is the Disaster Assistance Recovery Team. It's a team made up of police officers, retired officers, forensic specialists, forensic dental specialists and medical examiners. Basically, if a department has some sort of mass casualty incident, they can activate this team and they will help the department sort through the dead bodies and body parts, and also determine what body parts go together. Yucky job, I know. They based the class around the crash of Flight 255 that happened in 1987 at Detroit Metro Airport. It was pretty crazy to see such a large scene with so many bodies laying around. A couple of parts were a little bothersome, like when they showed two close up shots of deceased children. But overall, it was a very informative class and I learned a lot about how mass casualty incidents are dealt with.

The last class I took that afternoon was by far the best! It's called "The Fun Side of 911." It was put on by Hariette Miller-Brown, who actually used to be the director at Ionia County Central Dispatch, but long before I was around. I've heard a lot about her and was looking forward to meeting her. She is the State of Michigan 911 Administrator. Basically, when it comes to 911 in Michigan, she is the top person. She sort of like a celebrity to dispatchers. :) She was awesome! Very upbeat, very friendly and very knowledgeble. She did two games, Jeopardy and Are You Smarter Than a 911 Director?, which was designed after Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?. It was a very fun class and I even won a couple of prizes!

Thursday night was the big dinner and the night where everyone really parties. I did my share of socializing and a little beer drinking, then headed to bed around midnight. I didn't even hear my roomie come in that night! On Friday, I had lunch with Hariette, the dispatchers from Montcalm, Kelli and Amy, and the director of Montcalm County dispatch, Jeff. After lunch was the APCO business meeting, then "The Auction." They had some great prizes that they auctioned off for money (to help fund the conference) and gave some away. I ended up with a pill box for my meds that has a clock and alarm on it that will go off when I'm supposed to take my pills. I didn't really have my eye on it, but it is something that will be useful for me and no one was bidding, so I got it for $5. :) I also got a 48 piece set of Rubbermaid food storage containers. I really had my eye on the Kodak Easy Share digital camera, but bidding started at $50 and it sold for $95. I really wasn't planning on spending that much!

Overall, I had a great time! I really hope my dispatch center will send me back next year, but the reason I got to go this year was because I received the Dispatcher of the Year Award. but hopefully someone will be nice to me next year. Maybe I can even take next year's Dispatcher of the Year, so they don't have to go alone!!

Have a wonderful week!

Back from vacation!

2008-09-22T21:39:00.000-07:00

A Well-deserved Vacation

It's that time of year. Time for my one big vacation I take every year. It didn't start out too well, but ended wonderfully!!! The beginning of my time off was spent getting ready for Alex's birthday party. Unfortunately, the closer the day got, the worse the weather predictions got. We had one of the parks in Carson City reserved for the party, but what was left of Hurricane Ike decided to blow through for a visit on the day of the party (Sunday, the 14th). Seeing that there was no immediate end in sight for the rain, I made some phone calls on Saturday and was able to use the youth room in the basement of our church. All in all, it worked great! Everyone really pitched in to do what they could to help out, from cooking food to setting up tables to cleaning up when we were done. So, to those family members and friends, THANK YOU!

Alex was blessed with many wonderful gifts. Among his favorites are a couple of fire trucks (one with a mute button!!!), a fire helmet that even has a mask that comes down over Alex's face with a voice amplifier on it. He hasn't quite figured out how that works. He just thinks it's funny when I talk in to it and he tries to put it on my head all the time...although it's a wee bit small for my big ol' head! He also got some great books and learning toys and several new outfits. He's certainly tall enough to fit in to 24 month and 2T clothes, but his waist is so thin that they all slide right off. I tried a pair of 24 month size jeans on him a few days ago and figured that although they were a little loose (okay.... a LOT loose) that they would work. Then as I picked him up to sit him on my lap a few minutes later, by the time he was on my lap, the waist of the jeans were around his knees. :)

The Trip...

On Wednesday, Phil, Alex and I left for Mackinaw City. I think that Phil and I were both nervous about our vacation, so we were extremely prepared for everything! After all, wouldn't camping with a 2 year old make pretty much anyone nervous??? While in Mackinaw City, we did some shopping and ate dinner. Afterward, Phil took Alex and I down to the shore of Lake Huron near the Mackinaw Bridge to watch the sunset. (Cue the "Awwwww") :) We spent some time there and read the historical displays in the park that talked about the bridge and shipwrecks of the Great Lakes. This was also Alex's first time seeing one of the Great Lakes. I got some wonderful pictures of my boys, the bridge and the sunset over the lake. We also met a great couple down on the beach. They were bikers and I saw them taking pictures of eachother with the bridge in the background (which is the same thing Phil and I were doing). As they walked by us, I offered to trade pictures with them. I said that I would take a picture of them together in front of the bridge if they would do the same for us. They happily agreed. As we continued talking, I learned that they are from Indiana and just got married on the previous Saturday. They both love riding motorcycles and were spending their honeymoon doing a circle tour of Lake Michigan (Indiana to Michigan, across the bridge and through the U.P., to Wisconsin, to Illinois, then back to Indiana). They were very kind people. Phil and I both wished them a safe trip as well as congratulations on their wedding before they left.

On Thursday, we went from Mackinaw City to Roscommon where we camped for the yearly Firemen's Memorial Festival. We made a couple of stops on our way. First, we stopped in Indian Lake at the Cross In The Woods shrine. I haven't been there since I was a kid and my parents took us during one of our yearly Mackinaw vacations. It was so beautiful and peaceful there! After visiting the cross, getting some pictures and saying a prayer with Phil and Alex, we spent some time walking on the trails through the woods, learning about some saints, and going through the stations of the cross. After we left there, we stopped in Gaylord to take Alex to The Call of the Wild. If you've never been there, it's a huge store that sells tons of stuff, mostly having to do with wilderness and animals. The back half of the building is a museum that displays all kinds of animals. Each animal has a plaque next to the display that gives information about it and some of them have a button you can push to hear what the animal sounds like. One display is a walk-in (all of the others are guarded by glass) with a deer and a bear, so children can walk right up and touch them. Alex loved the bear! By the time we finished, Alex was getting tired and cranky, and it was definitely nap time.

We arrived at our campground just north of Roscommon in the mid-afternoon. We got camp set up and were happily surprised to learn that some of our friends from back home were staying at the campsite right across from ours! They have a son that is 3 (or maybe 4) years old, so Alex was happy to have someone to play with. That night was very cold, in the upper 30's or low 40's. Not exactly good tent camping weather! I know Alex slept well, I'm not sure about Phil, but I was awake off and on all night long.

Friday came and brought with it some beautiful weather! That was the day of Alex's actual birthday. I still can't believe he's 2 years old now!!! Phil and I had pretty much the entire trip planned out and Friday was set as a "family day." We went to Houghton Lake to take Alex miniature golfing for his first time. It also happens to be something that Phil and I enjoy doing on our vacations. I got some great pictures from our outing. When we finished, we went to Roscommon to visit the Firemen's Memorial. Again, I took the opportunity to click away with the camera. I caught a couple of very sweet pictures of Phil showing Alex the name of a friend of his parents on the memorial. The base of the statue and wall behind it have the names of every firefighter in Michigan that has been killed in the line of duty engraved on it. The statue is a fireman holding a child in one arm and holding the other out with a lantern in his hand. Friday night, the rest of the people we were sort of meeting up with arrived and set their travel trailer up at the campsite next to ours. Since it was so late when they arrived, they joined us at our campfire and we sat around chatting until bedtime. The temperature that night was in the 50's. Much better sleeping weather!!

On Saturday, we got up and made breakfast, showered and headed to town. The grand parade was at 11am. We stayed for most of it, but left before the end so we could beat the mad rush of traffic to the fairgrounds. Last year we actually stayed for the end of the parade and ended up stuck in traffic, taking us about an hour to go 3/4 of a mile or so. Phil and his three buddies from Stanton Fire Department competed for the second year in a row at the Search and Rescue competition. They have a 3 story smoke house filled with smoke. There are an unknown number of dummies placed inside that the guys have to find. To make sure they're doing a proper search, they have judges inside with thermal imaging cameras so they can see what the guys are doing. The teams have 15 minutes to find as many dummies as they can. To give you a clue as to how difficult this competition is, there were only two teams that actually found a second "victim." Last year, no one found more than one. Out of 6 teams, Phil and the guys took 2nd place! They received a plaque to take back home, a "department prize" (they chose a nice propane grill), t-shirts and individual prizes, which everyone who competed received.

After the competition, we stopped at a couple of vendors at the fairgrounds and got a quick bite to eat, then went back to the campground. We got a fire going and ate dinner. Friday afternoon, we stopped at a local store to buy a cake for Alex's birthday, but didn't eat it until Saturday night. We served all of our friends, who were already at our campsite by then. Then Phil and I started walking around to other campsites with pieces of cake, just trying to get rid of it. Ironically, the party that we stopped at and gave away the most cake at consisted of guys from Portland Fire Department, Lyons/Muir FD, Ronald Twp FD and Belding FD. Of course, I took a moment to say hi, introduce myself, and let them know that I am one of their dispatchers. In our field, especially as far as fire departments and EMS is concerned, it's not too often that we get to see one of the faces from the other end of the radio.

We went back to our site and before we knew it, our small group of 11 adults and 2 kids had turned in to a party! People started coming out of nowhere and just hanging out with us. :) Someone decided to start a drinking game called "Tippy Cup" and boy, were they loud! They were cheering eachother on and of course, most of the people were intoxicated already. Around 9:45pm, the owner of the campground came by and asked us to quiet down, saying that he could hear our group at the other end of the camp. The funny part about that is, "Quiet Time" for the campground doesn't even start until 11pm. LOL I was a little worried that everyone was going to hang out until the wee hours of the morning. Since I knew we were going to have an early morning on Sunday to pack up camp and head home, I really wanted to get some sleep. Fortunately, people started wandering back to their own sites, and before we new it, it was just Phil and I and the Stanton FD people (4 couples altogether). By midnight, the rest of them decided to call it a night and we were cleaned up and in bed by 12:15. Of course, Alex, who had fallen asleep around 9:45pm, got up around 7:30am again.

Sunday morning, we tore down camp, packed it all back in the truck and said goodbye to the campground for another year. We went to the memorial site once more to see it decorated with all of the wreaths that were placed there during the memorial service on Saturday morning. We also went to the local fire department for their pancake breakfast fund raiser, then back to the fairgrounds to catch some of the vendors' last minute deals. We bought a few things, then drove home.

I really didn't get much rest, but all in all it was a WONDERFUL vacation!!! It was so nice to get away from everyday life for a few days and just spend time with Phil and Alex. We were truly blessed by God with beautiful weather, good friends and some family memories that we will always cherish.

I'm almost there!

2008-09-09T00:45:00.000-07:00

Vacation, here I come!

I have two hours left in my shift, then a full shift tomorrow night. After that, vacation begins! Although I know it's going to fly by, I am so excited to have more than 3 days off at one time. Undoubtedly, the first couple of days will be spent cleaning house and preparing for Alex's birthday party on Sunday. Actually, I already started preparations. I spent a while last night making hamburger patties out of the meat that I bought. Do you know how long it takes to make 25 hamburger patties??? Fortunately, my mom has this plastic patty maker that she got from Tupperware back in 1979 or so. lol It's old, but boy did it help!

I started thinking today... During the first few days of vacay, I'll be cleaning house, etc. Then we have Alex's birthday party. On the Monday and Tuesday after that, we'll be packing for our camping trip. Wednesday through Sunday we'll be on our trip, and Monday it's back to work. When exactly am I supposed to rest???

Put the puke bucket away! (LOL)

I am happy to report that after my third dose of the new medicine, I have not had any nausea! I did have a little bit of a headache earlier in the day and I was very tired (Alex actually took a 3 1/2 hour nap this afternoon, and I slept the entire time, too.), but other than that I have felt fine. I hope this means that my body is getting used to the medication. Now if it would just start doing it's job, I'll be good to go.

On that note, I did a little online research the other day. I googled "Rheumatoid Arthritis support groups" because I was wondering if they even existed. To my surprise and delight, I found several online RA support groups. I didn't join any, but I was able to read through the posts that people had written. I mostly looked for posts on Methotrexate (the new medication I'm on) and read information from people that have been on it from 5 weeks, all the way up to 18 years. The only major complaints I heard were hairloss and upset stomach. I also learned that there is an injectable version of Methotrexate, usually used by people that have a lot of stomach problems from the pill version. The woman that posted who has been on Mtx for 5 weeks said that it was just starting to kick in and she could really start to feel the difference in her joints. Another woman said that after it really started to work for her, she felt like she didn't even have RA. All of this gives me hope that it will work for me and I will someday soon feel "normal."

The Catholic Workout

My best friend Sheena's daughter was baptized yesterday. Although Sheena attends my church (Carson City United Methodist), Rory was baptized in the Catholic church. Her entire family is Catholic and so is Sheena. I guess she figured she would be disowned by her family or something if she didn't have her daughter baptized in the Catholic church. :) This was the second time in my life I have been to a Catholic church service. I was mostly worried about having Alex there, since they don't have a nursery or a cry room. Thankfully, he was very well behaved. He only started to get antsy during the last 10-15 minutes of the service. I brought plenty of things for him to do and some snacks to eat. Despite all of the fun things I brought, do you know what occuppied him the most? Trying to put his little MSU jacket on! He has been infatuated lately with trying to put his own clothes on and that is exactly what he tried doing throughout half of the church service.

By the end of church, my knees were killing me. It was funny, though. Every person that I talked to in the afternoon who asked how it went, I would say "Man, my knees were killing me." and every single person said "You know, you don't have to do all of that kneeling. You're not Catholic." Why is it that everyone thinks I participated in the kneeling activities?? I didn't. It was all of this constant sitting and standing that made my knees ache.

I'm not sure why it is, but I always love baptisms. I feel such a sense of hope when I see an infant get baptized. Hope that this child will know Jesus. Hope that he/she will truly be raised in the Christian faith. Hope that he/she will go on to show others the love of Christ. I often wonder though, if people sometimes baptize their child out of tradition or because it's the "right" thing to do, or if they really plan on raising this child to be a true Christian. By that, I don't mean just teaching them Jesus Loves Me and the stories of Christmas and Easter, but really teach them to know God, to talk to God and to worship God. Teach them about forgiveness and repentance. Teach them to tithe. Teach them about sin. Do people realize that by baptizing their child, they are expected to do all of this???

I have many more things I could ramble on about, but it's 5:30am and my relief is here now. Time to go home and sleep so I can work my last night with wide eyes and a working mind!! :) Have a wonderful day!

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

2008-08-30T17:37:00.000-07:00

I'M SO EXCITED!

I almost forgot to mention, when Phil and I were at the waterball tournament in Portland last weekend, we were getting ready to leave when a guy came up to me and handed me what looked like a business card. I just glanced at it and put it in my pocket, then took a real look at it when we got to the truck. It is an advertisement for a movie. Before I continue, have any of you seen "Facing the Giants"? If you haven't, it's about a football coach trying to turn his team around. He not only changes them as a team, but he changes their lives as well by teaching lessons from the Bible, encouraging them to pray, and showing them what God can do in their lives. I had never seen it before a few months ago when my dispatch partner Jim brought it in to work one night. I did remember seeing an exerpt from the movie in one of Pastor Ken's sermons when he was at our church. The movie was created and cast from a church congregation. Although it wasn't hugely popular, I thought it was an excellent movie, and it was great seeing people minister to others in such a manner.

Well, the advertisement I received is for another movie created by that same church. It is called "Fireproof." You can see the trailer at http://www.fireproofthemovie.com/. I watched it earlier, and now I can't wait for the movie to come out!!! (It hits theaters on September 24th and Jim said it will be opening in Grand Rapids.) It's about a firefighter who is a hero at work for saving lives, but at the same time his marriage is falling apart at home. He decides to call it quits, but his father asks him to give it 40 days before filing for divorce. Through the advice of his father, he begins looking to God, praying for his marriage and doing everything he can to win his wife back.

I'm sure part of the reason that I'm so excited about this movie is because watching the trailer was somewhat like watching exerpts from my life. I am married to a firefighter. We've had our own share of marital problems and although I personally don't believe in getting divorced, there was once a time when I wasn't sure if I wanted to be married anymore. But through love, communication and above all, the grace of God, things between Phil and I are now better than they've ever been. We still have our struggles, but we don't fight, argue and bicker like we used to. We've learned not only to talk, but to *listen* to one another. I've learned to pray about apects of our marriage that I had never considered praying about before. I don't think we could make it through life without God leading us and showing us how to love each other.

So, in conclusion.....I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THIS MOVIE!!! :)

10 DAYS TO GO...

September 9th. That's my last day of work before vacation! It's the one vacation I take every year, so by the time it rolls around, I'm in desperate need of it. I won't be doing much of anything for the first few days, but on Sunday the 14th is Alex's birthday party. I can't believe my baby will be 2! Monday and Tuesday will be spent packing. On Wednesday, Phil, Alex and I will spend the day and night in Mackinaw City. On Thursday, we will head to Roscommon for 3 days of camping. I can already feel the anxiety building up. Seriously, are we insane to go camping for 3 nights with a 2 year old???

Our main reason for going to Roscommon is the Fireman's Memorial Festival. It's always been a big thing for Phil and means a lot to him that we're able to go. On Sunday we'll come home, then it's right back to the grind on Monday....but only for the day. :) I have another round of union contract negotiations in the afternoon, then my 8 hour work shift that night. Then my supervisor gave me Tuesday off, because Wednesday-Friday I will be up north in Tustin (wherever that is) at the APCO confrence. Unfortunately, once I return from APCO, I have to work my regular Saturday and Sunday shifts. Nothing like bringing you back to reality from a vacation than 5 days of work.....although technically, 3 of those days are more like a big party with training seminars in between. Haha!

APCO.....A FIVE MONTH COUNTDOWN.

Back in April of this year, I was honored with my dispatch center's "Dispatcher of the Year Award" (recently renamed the "William L. Charon Award" after our dispatch director who passed away last year). As part of receiving the award, the dispatcher also receives several small gifts and usually goes to the NENA confrence in Lansing. It's basically a one or two day dispatch confrence with dispatch supervisors from all over the state where they have some training seminars for everyone to attend. My former partner Kevin received the award last year and went to NENA. He said it was "Eh, okay." :)

I went to a great training class earlier this year and spoke with the owner of the company. She told me that she would be teaching a class that sounded really interesting to me at this year's APCO confrence (this one is for supervisors and dispatchers). So I put in a request with our interim-director that he send me to APCO instead of NENA. It was approved, and I've been practically counting down the days ever since! It has its perks. It's 3 days long. Everyone stays in a dormatory style housing on site. It's open bar all three days. On Thursday night, there is an all-you-can-eat steak and crab leg dinner. Anyone that knows me well knows that I *heart* crab legs! In the evenings, there is a euchre tourney, and the points you earn at that, you can use at "the auction" on Friday afternoon. I'm not quite sure what the auction is all about, but I guess they give away some pretty nice stuff. Unfortunately, the company owner that was supposed to teach the class that I wanted to attend was diagnosed with breast cancer a few months ago, so she will not be there. But she's a very strong woman and I'm sure God is helping her survive this.

My only apprehention about the confrence is that I don't know anyone. Actually, I will know one dispatcher from Montcalm County, and if things work out she and her dispatch partner will be in the room next to mine. But other than that, I'm on my own! I guess there's no better time to make some new friends. :)

I MISS MY BOYS... :(

It's been a crazy and confusing weekend for us, schedule-wise. Phil left Saturday to spend the weekend in Trufant with his parents. They were chosen as this year's Grand Marshalls for the Trufant Jubilee Festival (congrats Mom and Dad K!), so Phil drove them in the parade. My mom watched Alex while I slept through the morning and early afternoon, then I took him to Grandma and Aunt Deb's house to stay for the night. Tomorrow on my way to work, I will pick him up from there and take him to M57/M66, where Phil will meet me to pick him up. They'll go back to Trufant for the night and I will join them there when I get out of work Monday morning. We'll spend the rest of the day hanging with my in-laws. No big plans, just some quality family time. But until then, I'm missing Phil and Alex like crazy!!

A Rough Start

2008-08-26T18:49:00.000-07:00

A long weekend and an even longer Monday...

As I expected, I was busy busy busy this past weekend. Phil and I didn't make it to a couple of the things we wanted to do, but things went well. Phil competed in the waterball tournament in Portland on Saturday. The playing area was larger than what he usually plays on and the players start closer to the middle, rather than on the ends. But despite that, he did great! He ended up in 6th place out of 23 teams. I'm so proud of him for finishing where he did (although I'm sure he's disappointed that he didn't place high enough for a trophy) because the rest of the guys in the top places are excellent players! I just hope he realizes himself how well he did (though I've been doing my best to assure him of that). :)

On Sunday, we went to church in the morning. The sermon was excellent and really spoke to both Phil and I. Our pastor would like us to spend 40 days fasting and praying for our church, asking God what direction we are supposed to go in. Because I can't fast from food due to the medications I have to take, he suggested that people who can't do that give up something else. It may not mean much to others, but Phil and I have both committed to giving up swearing. I have the mouth of a sailor when I'm at work and hanging out with the guys, and I've been on Phil to clean up his language ever since Alex joined our family (I don't really swear around Alex, that's why I've been on Phil about it). In an effort to hold ourselves accountable, we have started a swear jar. 25 cents for each naughty word. Since Sunday afternoon, I've donated $1.50 to the pot. I won't say how much Phil has put in, but there is well over $5 in there right now. :) We also decided to take the money in the jar at the end of the 40 days and give it to the church as an offering.

My biggest complaint of the weekend was lack of sleep. Not for lack of trying, though! For some reason, I have not been sleeping well at all lately. Friday night, I took a Tylenol sleep aid for my first time. Although I slept well up until 3:30am or so, Phil said I tossed and turned way more than usual. When I finally got up around 6:30am (well before my alarm was supposed to off), I was incredibly sore! I don't know if it was from lack of sleep or because the sleep aids interacted with my RA meds, causing them to not work (this also happens when I take any Asprin products). So I took a hot shower to loosen my muscles and joints for the day.

The same thing happened both Saturday and Sunday night. The only benefit was that I got an early start getting ready for church on Sunday and my meeting on Monday. :)

Just another Manic Monday...

I was a little excited about Monday. I met my dispatch partner Jim, who is our dispatch Union Steward, and Will, our representative from the Police Officers Labor Council Union (POLC) for breakfast in Ionia. After eating and chatting for a while, we headed to the courthouse to begin negotiations for our contract that will expire at the end of this year. I was excited, because this is my first time acting as the union alternate and being involved with negotiations. Over all though, I would have to say it was a little disappointing. Will sent the county administrator a copy of our proposals about two weeks ago and told him we expect a counter offer at our first meeting. This would save us a meeting or two. Unfortunately, that is not what happened. The county people apparently needed some more clarification on our proposals. We all thought they were pretty self explainatory. So we went over each one and explained it, the negotiators from the county went in to caucus to discuss it, and when they came back out they wanted to set up the next couple of negotiation meetings. That was it! No counter offer, no negotiating. No wonder why our negotiations always take so long. The county administrator and his associates are completely unprepared!

The rest of the day pretty much went downhill from there. I took the first dose of my new medication on Sunday night. I have had one side effect from the pain medication I'm on. It makes me very drowsy. I should have expected a side effect or two from this new medication, but I never really thought of it. When I was driving to Ionia in the morning for my meeting, I started to get a headache. It lasted all through the meeting, but wasn't really strong enough to bother me. On my way home, I started getting really nauseas. By the time I got home, I thought I was going to throw up. I went right to bed to get more sleep before I had to go to work (fortunately for me, it was the night of my 8 hour shift, so I didn't have to go in until 10pm). I got up for dinner, but didn't feel like eating. I forced myself to eat a little, since I didn't have lunch and I was going to be up for the rest of the night. When I got to work, the nausea hit all over again. We keep the thermostat in dispatch on a nice brisk 64 degrees (it helps keep us awake at night! lol). Even at such a cool temp, I was still breaking a sweat, then I started getting dizzy. After about an hour, the feeling passed and I was just left feeling drowsy from the pain med. I'm glad I only have to take this medication once a week!

The other thing I'm a little nervous about is the fact that this medication causes hair loss. Some people lose a little, some lose a lot. Now, I don't know if that means I'm going to have bald patches on my head, or if my hair is just going to thin out. Either way, I don't want it to happen!!!

Change? Who, me???

A lot has been going on in my life lately. Phil and I have really grown in our relationship during the past few months. I would dare to say that the last 8 months have been the best yet. Although things continue to get better, there are still things that need to change. Like any normal person, I think it's the other person in the relationship that needs to change. With all the thinking and praying I've been doing lately, one thing keeps popping into my mind (and straight from the lips of God, I'm sure): "I can't make anyone change. I can only change myself. Only when I change myself will I begin to see changes in other people."

I recently began reading the book "The Power of a Praying Wife." I'm only a couple of chapters in to it, but I already love it! And what did I find in the second chapter? "When you pray for your husband, especially in the hopes of changing him, you can surely expect some changes. But the first changes won't be in him. They'll be in you." I know I'm making this sound like it's all about my husband. It's not. There are several things and people in my life right now that I would like to change. But the fact remains that if I want them to change, I have to start by changing myself, or rather allowing God to change me. What a hard pill to swallow! I pray for God to change me, but at the same time, I wonder how that will happen. I guess I will figure it out in time.....

Still not sure what I'm doing here...

2008-08-19T01:01:00.000-07:00

I can feel my body screaming, "Put me to bed!!!"

After getting close to 3 hours of sleep this morning, I went to my doctor appointments in Grand Rapids and in Lansing. After the second appointment, I did some shopping with my mom (she had appointment at the same office in Lansing, so we went together), then back home for some dinner. Just before we left Lansing, I received a call from work. One of the night shift dispatchers called in sick, and they needed coverage. Since it's been forever and a day since I've even been offered overtime, I decided to take the opportunity. So after dinner, I went to bed around 9pm and slept until 1am. Somewhere in all of the hustle and bustle of the day, I forgot to take my evening dose of meds, so now my body is not only out of whack because of the day's erratic schedule, but now I hurt all over! But, I come to this blog bearing good news!!

A glimmer of hope...

I was very worked up and nervous before my appointment with the new Rheumatologist today and did a lot of praying about it. I was so afraid that he would just blow off my request to change meds and leave me on the current ones, thus leaving me sore, inflammed and fatigued all of the time.

Well, my prayers were answered and the doctor was very receptive to my request. Instead of the Enbrel shots that I requested, he said he wanted to try me on Methotrexate. It's a pill, but instead of taking it every 12 hours, I have to take 6 pills once a week (all at one time). I also have to take a folic acid pill everyday and I'm going to stay on one of my pain control meds, which I only take once a day. I did ask about how the medication can affect pregnancy. Not that Phil and I are planning on trying anytime soon, but we would like to have at least one more child in the future. I was told that I can NOT get pregnant while on this med. Although there are great benefits, it basically robs your body of folic acid (hence, the pill I have to take each day), which is needed to develop a baby's brain and nervous system. The doc said that usually woman "can't" get pregnant while on Methotrexate, but if by chance they do, there is a severe risk of birth defects. When Phil and I do plan on trying for another child in the future, I have to be sure to quit the Methotrexate at least 3 months in advance. So, as odd as it sounds, it would be a huge blessing to not get pregnant right now...

(The rest of this blog was written in the evening. I didn't have too much to write in the morning, while I was at work.) :)

"Quack, quack!"

My mom is busy making Alex's Halloween costume right now. Can you believe it's that time of year already?! I've really been in the mood for fall lately, and I can't wait for the sights, smells and cool brisk air. I've decided to dress Alex up as a duck this year. He loves watching his Wiggles DVD and in one of the songs about "Captain Feathersword," they sing "Quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, cockadoodledo." A couple of months ago, Alex started singing along with it, saying "Cack" and moving his hands like a duck's bill. I'm actually not sure where he picked up the hand thing from, because in the video they all flap their arms like wings. Regardless, I thought the duck costume would be perfect! Last year he growled a lot and was a lion. This year he quacks, so he'll be a duck. :)

What a beautiful day!!

Although I slept for a good portion of the day, it was really beautiful! That cool air was such a nice change. That's just the kind of weather that gets me in the mood for fall! I spent most of the day sleeping, hanging out with Alex and getting some things done around the house while Phil worked Rescue in Sheridan. Tomorrow, he'll be working Carson's Rescue truck, so it will be a nice change to have him home while he's on call. I go back to work for two days, then it's off for another busy weekend. It seems like all of my weekends are packed full of activities lately.

While I'm thinking of it, if anyone is looking for something to do on Friday evening, how about giving some of your time and hard earned money to a good cause? There will be a benefit at 5pm at the VFW hall in Greenville. It is for Tracy Larson of Greenville. She is a 911 dispatcher and supervisor for Montcalm County Central Dispatch who was the victim of a domestic assault. Her boyfriend assaulted her and shot her in the abdomen before taking his own life. She spent nearly a month in the hospital and is now staying at Laurels of Carson City, recovering physically as well as emotionally. All proceeds from the benefit will go to Tracy and her 3 teenage daughters to pay medical bills and general living expenses.

On Saturday, Phil is hoping to shoot in a waterball tournament at Portland Fire Department (part of their River Fest activities). This will be our first time at Portland's competition. Hopefully Phil will kick some butt! On Saturday evening, we're going to another benefit, this one for the father of Phil's fire Lt. for Montcalm Township FD. Sunday brings church in the morning and the first (annual, I hope) Ionia County Law Enforcement Picnic. I'm really looking forward to it! It's not too often we get to hand out with our coworkers outside of work, but since we work as one big family, I think it's an important thing to do. I know invitations went out to Central Dispatch, Belding PD, Ionia PD, Lake Odessa PD, Portland PD, the Sheriffs Department, and MSP. I think the folks from the Prosecutor's Office and the District and Circuit Courts were also invited. I'm anxious to see who actually shows up, and I hope it's a good turn out!!

I think that's all I have for now. Have a wonderful week everyone!!! I may not blog again until the beginning of next week...

Ready for the weekend to be done!

2008-08-17T16:06:00.000-07:00

Wasn't the full moon on Friday???
This weekend has been soooo long and busy! There was a full moon Friday night, and while I expected the worst, I only received one call from a truly certifiable person. Even when I talked to my officers afterward and asked them what her deal was, they just threw up their hands with a wide eyed look and gave me the "I don't know" grunt. So with Friday night done, I thought I was going to breeze right through the rest of the weekend. Not so. Saturday night was so busy, I barely had a chance to breathe! It mostly started with a house fire. It turned out to be the house of one of our Berlin/Orange firefighters and was a total loss. When all was said and done, we had 5 different fire departments on scene. After that, we had a total of 3 suicidal people, a woman that led state troopers on a 5 mile chase down the freeway (apparently because she was just a dimwit), and many, many, many phone calls. We usually have a nice wind down time from 2-5am, but last night the phones actually rang frequently right up until I left at 5:30am.

Tonight, things haven't been much better. We had one suicidal person already (what is it with suicidal people this weekend???), and it seems to be the night for out of control kids. Or as we like to call those calls, "Kids of parents who don't know how to discipline."

Say it with me: D-I-S-C-I-P-L-I-N-E
Seriously, what is it with parents these days? They are so afraid that someone is going to scream "abuse" and get the system involved when they discipline their kids. But is that really an excuse to NOT discipline them? No! I've seen the situation a hundred times... A parent's child is running around, being loud, being rough with other children, being disrespectful to adults, etc. So what does the parent do? Without getting up from their chair:

"Johnny, don't do that.
Johnny, I said don't do that.
Johnny, I said no!
Johnny, you need to stop right now.
Johnny, I said stop!
Don't make me come over there..."

Of course, the child doesn't stop, because they know there are no consequences. I say, if the child is still acting up after your second warning, get out of your chair and remove the child from the situation. Sit them down somewhere, talk to them about their actions, give them a time out, do something for goodness sake!

I received a 911 call once from a father at the Ionia Fairgrounds. He said his 11 year old daughter was refusing to get in the car and wanted an officer. I was absolutely shocked. I asked him, "Is this your daughter?" He said "Yes." I said, "Then you pick her up and put her in your car!" This is what really threw me for a loop: He said to me, "I can do that?" I told him that YES, of course he can pick his daughter up and put her in the vehicle. As long as he wasn't abusing her or leaving marks or bruises on her, he could use physical force to put her in the vehicle.

This is partly what scares me about being a parent these days. I know how I plan on raising my son through the years. I plan on teaching him manners and respect. I know I will do my best to make Alex in to a well rounded, respectful young man. But I know that not all parents are that way. I can control what happens and what Alex learns at home, but how can I control what he learns from other kids whose parents aren't as involved in child raising as I am? I guess I just have to instill the best morals I can in Alex and pray a whole lot!

Busy weekends lead to relaxing days? Not for me!
After a couple of hectic nights of work, I will go home for a couple (I hope!) hours of sleep in the morning, then it's up and off to Grand Rapids. I have an appointment with my Rheumatologist just before noon. I'm excited and nervous at the same time. I plan on asking my new doc to start me on Enbrel. Right now, I'm on three different meds in pill form. I have to take them every 12 hours, which is really hard to do with my work schedule. If I take them at a time I'm always awake, like 6pm, then I can take them at 6am on the days I work. But on the days I have off, I'm sleeping! If I take them at 10pm, I can take them at 10am on my days off, but in between work shifts, I'm always sleeping during that time. This causes me to miss doses every now and then, which then makes me more sore and fatigued.

I've been researching Enbrel lately. You can get it in the form of a shot that you give yourself at home once every two weeks (although I recently heard from a girl that takes it twice a week). That sounds like a MUCH better option to me!! I'm just afraid that my Rheumatologist is going to blow me off or something. I don't know why, but I always have that fear. But lately, my right hand and wrist have been deteriorating a lot. I've resorted to wearing a brace (or splint, whatever it's called) at work to stabalize my wrist, otherwise it's extremely painful by the end of the night. I've also noticed that I am having trouble gripping things. Trying to put my car in gear has been horrible! I have the gear shift that sits by your thigh and has a button on the side that you push in with your thumb. OUCH!

I imagine that because of the condition of my hand and wrist, and the fact that I want to change meds, I will probably have to go through more testing. Fun, fun. I don't really mind, though. After having a blood clot earlier this year and having to get my blood drawn one or two times a week for a couple of months, then having to get shots in my knees because of arthritis, I really have no problem with needles! Heck, I could probably draw my own blood at this point. lol

You know, looking back on this part of my blog, I really hate typing all of it, because it sounds like I'm falling apart at the seams. Although I feel like that somedays, I really do thank God for each day that I'm alive, each day I can spend with my husband and son, and each day I can come back to work. I know things will get better. I'm optimistic by nature. :)

Until next time.....

I heart blogging

2008-08-15T15:47:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog!! I have actually been blogging for a long time on my myspace page, but I like the idea of blogging here better. It gives people who don't have myspace a chance to see what's going on in my life, since my myspace profile is private (long story). Since most of the people that I anticipate reading this already know me, I won't go in to the full details of "Who is Katy?" but here is a short overview:

I am 28 years old. I live in Carson City, Michigan with my husband Phil and our almost-two year old son, Alex. I work in Ionia County as a 911 dispatcher, something I never thought I would end up doing with my life, but something I would never change! I am United Methodist, and attend the United Methodist Church of Carson City. I don't get out a lot, so talking about my hobbies (or lack there of) would be pointless. :) Much of my time is spent caring for and hanging out with my son and husband, which is what I adore doing! Once in a great while, when I get the ambition and spare time, I like to do some scrapbooking. I really enjoy doing is photography. I just need to get a new camera that doesn't put some digital mess on all of the bright spots in my pictures like my current camera does...

One thing I really enjoy blogging about is my experiences in the dispatch center. Not only is it entertainment for my readers, but it's theraputic for me (believe it or not). I sometimes walk in to dispatch thinking I've experienced everything possible. God always seems to prove me wrong! I do this job because I love helping people. Granted, it is a mostly thankless job, but just knowing that I have been there for someone when they really needed it, that I have been the voice of calm and reason when things are crazy and hectic.....that is thanks enough. So, without further ado, here a couple of my stories from dispatch...

THE WORST OF THE WORST: When people ask about my experiences in dispatch, this is the one call that sticks out in my mind. Even now, 3 years later, it feels like it happened just yesterday. It's true what they say. There is no worse feeling in the world than hearing one of your coworkers (and friends) scream "Shots fired!" on the radio. It's a sense of complete helplessness.

I had only been working in Ionia for little less than two years. I received a 911 call one night. All I could really hear was a woman screaming on the phone and saying what I thought was "Don't hit me." When she wouldn't respond to my questions, I immediately toned my officers for a domestic assault in progress. I assumed it was a dispute between husband and wife. While I was talking on the radio, the phone went dead. I continually tried to call back, but only got a busy signal. When officers arrive on the scene of an assault, we have a timer in our CAD (Computer Aided Dispatch) system that goes off after 3 minutes, letting us know that it is time to check their status to make sure they're okay. Something felt odd that night and I set the timer for 1 minute (no doubt, that was God at work!). When I checked them after one minute, there was that horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach when I heard both officers yelling "Shots fired!"

Soon after, they called on the radio and told me that the suspect had shot himself. Both of my officers were okay and the victim, although traumatized, was relatively uninjured. Here is what happened: The female victim was home alone. At about 10pm, her male neighbor came to her house, asking to use the phone. She let him in her door, not seeing the shotgun he was holding behind his leg. He was high on cocaine and came to her house with the intention of raping and killing her. When my officers arrived, they walked right in to the house and found them in the bathroom, where he had stipped her of her clothes. He started firing his gun at the officers, then turned it on himself.

After things had calmed down and the detectives arrived at the scene, my supervisor called me back to her office. She replayed the call for me and said "Listen..." There is was. Between the screams, a low soft spoken male voice saying "I'm going to ******* kill you." I couldn't even listen to the rest of the call. I walked outside, and as us dispatchers have to do every so often, I had a good cry. That voice still haunts me to this day. I couldn't believe I had missed that, but in hindsight, there was absolutely nothing I could have done differently. I toned my officers immediately, I continued trying to call the residence back (I later found out that he had ripped the phone out of the wall, which was the reason the phone went dead and I couldn't call back). In the end, I know for a fact that I saved that woman's life that night, and that is what matters. God used me to help this woman in need and while doing so, he also protected my officers. Looking back on the scene, at the holes in the walls from the suspect's gun, my officers had no idea how they didn't get hit that night.

But life in dispatch isn't all shootings and death. There are plenty of funny parts, too!

"UH...THAT'S NOT AT&T!!!": A couple of months ago, I received a fire alarm at this little AT&T building just outside of Clarksville (actually, it's more like a shed). I sent the fire department out there and although they could hear an audible alarm, everything seemed to be okay. They asked me if AT&T was sending anyone out to open the building up so they could check the inside.. Since I didn't know at the time, they decided to call the 800 number posted on the front door. Here is the automated message they got: (in a fake "sexy" voice...) "Like a girl with a little meat on her bones? Then you called the right number! Large and lucious ladies will show you that bigger is always better." Then it of course goes on to ask for your credit card information. The fire department guys even called back once more to make sure they had the right number. lol Imagine my reaction when the fire chief came on the radio and said "Yeah, can you let AT&T know that the number on their door is a porn number?"

MEDIA=VULTURES!: I can't believe I'm actually going to type this on a public page, because most people that I work with don't know this story (and for good reason!). Last winter, I got a call from one of the local news agencies that shall remain nameless (but it sounds like "Good TV Kate" *wink, wink*). It was a Monday morning after a snowy weekend and they were wondering why Ionia County schools were the only ones closed for the day. I scoffed and said "Who knows? Probably budget issues." The reporter said "Oh, Ionia County Road Commission is having budget problems?" Seeing that this woman was taking me seriously, I quickly tried to back track and told her I was kidding, that I didn't know if there were actually budget problems. We both quickly said our goodbye's and I thought it was a done deal.

.....Until 5:05am. My partner picked up the phone and it was another news agency wondering about the Ionia County Road Commission budget problems. He said "Budget problems? Where did you hear that from?" to which the reporter answered "Well, it was the lead story on WOOD TV 8's 5am news broadcast." (Oops! Did I just give away the news agency's name?) I just burried my face in my hands for the rest of the day as the story became bigger and bigger and was reported on by more and more news agencies, including a nice one on one interview with the head of the road commission. That's the last time I joke this the press!!!

I hope you've enjoyed these few stories. I know I'll have more in the future. Heck, I could think of a couple more now, but this blog is long enough already!!