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Memphis!!!

Day 1 (it's really 36 hours)   My Memphis adventure did not start well. Woke up to two inches of "slurpee" which I had to drive in to get to the train station - a trip that would normally take about an hour wound up being an hour and a half. Finally made it to the station with five minutes to spare only to find out the train was running a half hour late. The layover in Chicago was long, boring and noisy. I saw more more Amish people in Chicago than I've seen in my whole life in Michigan :0

lmctrouble

lmctrouble

unemployed - week 1

It's been so nice not having to get up at 6:30 every morning (I was never a morning person and the stroke certainly didn't improve that - lol). I get to eat my breakfast at my leisure, do some cleaning and then get to the pool before the hordes of kids and teenagers show up. The stinkleys have really been enjoying having mumma home too as that means they can spend as much time as they want outside now that the weather is starting to warm up.   I had a job interview at an apartment complex

lmctrouble

lmctrouble

leap of faith

So I got in touch with HR today and told them I wanted to take the severance package and that it would be fantastic if they could get the paperwork done in time so that Friday could be my last day - we'll see how long it takes them. I did talk to the HR person about what a horrible place it was to work and she told me that they had heard that from other people that had left - which made me feel better because I was beginning to think I was becoming paranoid or overly sensitive because of the s

lmctrouble

lmctrouble

opinions please

So my 60(ish) day evaluation was today and it did not go well. Apparently I'm not friendly enough and I don't help my coworkers enough. I can't say I'm surprised - I think they've been looking for ways to get rid of me that can't be blamed on my disability. They did ask if I might still be interested in the severance package that was offered last year and I told them that I might be. I emailed HR today with some of the questions I wanted answered if I'm going to consider it seriously.

lmctrouble

lmctrouble

odds and ends, this and that

The stinkleys and I are ready for winter to be over!!! Playing "let the cats out, let the cats in, let the cats out, let the cats in" is becoming a tiresome game - especially when I see a furry head in the window two minutes after I get back to my chair and get comfortable.   The job search is slow - it seems like everybody wants somebody with a bachelor's degree and five years of experience even for just a general office job.   Therapy is going well - my OT says she can see improvement

lmctrouble

lmctrouble

it's been a weird week so far

First of all my doctor finally got my updated note to HR limiting me to working 8 hours a day and (surprisingly) I haven't heard of any repercussions yet - we'll see what happens down the road when they realize I won't be doing overtime during the loan bonanza this spring.   My brain has been pretty foggy the last couple of days - I'm not sure if it's from my fall last week, stroke fatigue or just utter boredom from doing nothing but comparing papers to information on the computer (which is ve

lmctrouble

lmctrouble

can this week be over yet .... PLEASE?!?!?

On the bright side my Dr sent a note to HR stating that I can work no more than 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week - we'll see how well that goes over. Now for the bad news - I managed to slip and fall on a patch of ice last night and of course I landed on my affected side. I went to the Dr today just to make sure I hadn't damaged anything and she seems to think I just banged myself up but sent me for xrays of my wrist and ribs just to make sure nothing is broken. Gotta love winter in Michigan

lmctrouble

lmctrouble

looking

I met with a job placement person through Michigan Works a couple of weeksd ago and she revamped my resume and did up a generic cover letter for me which she's been sending out to various employers for me. I've also been sending it out for positions I find interesting. I hope I get some nibbles soon because I can't do this job much longer - especially if they keep demanding overtime every week. I have no problem working 40 hours a week but anything more wipes me out. I think my new supervisor

lmctrouble

lmctrouble

it's official - I hate my job

I had a meeting with my supervisors today where I was informed that I will be doing all the indirect loan review since the person who's doing it now is moving over to input - happy happy joy joy (not!!!). They also told me that I can't take unpaid time for my therapy like they originally told me - now I have to use my PTO time. I'm making an appointment with my vocational counselor to work on finding a different job.

lmctrouble

lmctrouble

the most boring job in the world

So I've been at my new job for a couple of weeks now and I have determined that it's the most boring job in the world. I'm growing callouses on my behind from sitting in a chair and reviewing loans all day to make sure the right information was entered on the system. Coming from the accounting world, I'm used to a more mentally active job. On the other hand, there's no overtime required, no stress, no customer contact and as long as I work 35 hours a week I can take whatever time I need for th

lmctrouble

lmctrouble

big day tomorrow

I start my new job tomorrow - not sure how I'm going to like it. Apart from dealing with all the doodlies I loved my other job - as long as I was left alone to play with my numbers I was happy as a clam (unless of course my accounts didn't balance). This job is second day review on loans to make sure they were put on the system properly - sounds boring to me - but it pays the bills. I had my son help me move some boxes and stuff from the building I was in to my new building - it's amazing how

lmctrouble

lmctrouble

another week bites the dust

TGIF!!!! It's been a long week and I would have given anything to feed the stinkleys and go back to bed this morning. We're moving more and more of our department to Traverse City which means I have less and less to do and that means I'm getting closer and closer to moving to my new job which means that I'm going to have to sort through ten years worth of crap in my desk. I went out to dinner with a bunch of ladies I used to work with and was up WAY past my bedtime but it was worth it!!   I

lmctrouble

lmctrouble

i survived!!!

I finished my first full week working six hours a day. Thank goodness it's Friday and I have a couple of days to relax and catch up on household chores cuz I certainly didn't get much accomplished after work all week - I basically made dinner and cleaned up and that was it!! We have a bench outside of our office that I've been laying down and resting on during my lunch hour - one day my boss came through and gave me a funny look and asked if I was ok. I got a tour of the new office where I'm

lmctrouble

lmctrouble

nontraditional Thanksgiving

I took over doing Thanksgiving several years ago when it became too much for my mother to do. Since I wasn't able to cook this year we went out for our Thanksgiving meal today (I had the shrimp basket since they didn't have the Cajun shrimp pasta I really wanted) - which means I get to sleep in and relax tomorrow (other than occasionally getting out of my chair to let the stinkleys in or out). A friend invited me to spend Thanksgiving with her and her husband since my son is at his dads house

lmctrouble

lmctrouble

winter has arrived

How do I know? Because the stinkleys don't spend more than an hour outside at a time. It seems like no sooner do I let them out and get comfortable in my chair then I see a furry face pop up in the window saying "let me in mumma - it's cold and wet out here". We got a little bit of snow the other day which reminded me that I need to get to Cabela's and get a set of slip on grippers for my shoes or I'll be skating down my porch steps. I also dropped my winter coat off at the alteration shop t

lmctrouble

lmctrouble

first day of work

I survived my first day back at work. A lot of the day was spent on the phone with the help desk getting all my accesses set up again. And I got an early Christmas present - there aren't any available extensions in our phone queue so I won't have to answer phones for the forseeable future!!!

lmctrouble

lmctrouble

finally going back to work

I actually wanted to go back last week but the return to work note didn't have a specific date of return on it so HR wouldn't let me go back. And of course the doctor was on vacation so it couldn't get sorted out until today. I received a call from HR today saying I was approved to go back to work starting Monday - I told them that due to the nature of my job I'd rather wait until Wednesday, only to be told that I had to be there on Monday unless the doctor would fax another note saying I coul

lmctrouble

lmctrouble

WHOOP WHOOP!!!!!!

I had an appointment with the neuropsychologist today and he gave me the all clear to go back to work part time!! He said not to be surprised if I get more tired than usual (which I expected) and to take my time working back up to full time.

lmctrouble

lmctrouble

I DID IT!!!!!

In the words of the immortal Willie Nelson "I'm on the road again"!!!! Now I just need to get the spinner knob and turn signal adapter on my car. Who's ready for a road trip?? :0)

lmctrouble

lmctrouble

Well ... I didn't fail

The instructor didn't schedule enough time so we couldn't do any highway driving and he didn't have a turn signal adapter for me to use. And he had some nitpicky things he wants me to work on - I cut my left turns too close, I didn't use turn signals in the parking lot, I didn't stay in the center of my lane (too far left), I didn't slow down for the railroad tracks and I didn't leave enough space between me and the car stopped in front of me at an intersection. One more session and I'll be go

lmctrouble

lmctrouble

neuropsychologist appointment

My appointment with the neuropsychologist was last week and I have mixed feelings about what the results are going to be. Some of the tests I think I did really well on and others I know I completely bombed. I know they look at the testing as a whole and not individual test results, but I'm still worried that he'll say I'm not ready to go back to work yet. I don't think I can take anymore sitting around the house watching TV.   I get to do my driving assessment this week and hopefully I'l

lmctrouble

lmctrouble

what do you say?

Whenever I'm out in public with my shoulder sling on I get comments like "that looks painful" or questions like "what happened". I say I had a stroke which seems to shock most people - today I wanted to say "I hurt it sliding into home plate" or something equally as outrageous. What do you say to people when they ask "what happened"?

lmctrouble

lmctrouble

something new

So - I decided to start blogging (you lucky people are in for a treat - or maybe not - lol). My OT ordered me a hand splint to keep me from making a fist during the night - except for that icky, sweaty feeling you get when you're in contact with plastic for any length of time - it was surprisingly comfortable. At least I wasn't awake half the night trying to keep my hand unclenched. She also started using the e-stim in hopes of jump starting some hand movement since the only thing I can do rig

lmctrouble

lmctrouble