Sinuses and Sloshy Ears

I went to my doctor a couple of weeks ago because I kept having fluid in my right ear and lots of pressure behind it. When I dipped my head to the right, the room would spin for a second as my brain adjusted to the fluid sloshing around inside my head. It’s happened in the past and usually requires an antibiotic to clear it; and it generally works. Shortly after I started the antibiotic was when all the kids, one after another, all came down with fevers and whatnot. Since I was on the antibiotic I didn’t think I could get what they had.

The antibiotic cleared up a bunch of my symptoms – my cough, my leaky nose, and that stuff – but didn’t really help my ear. So, this past Thursday I called the doctor’s office again to see if she could call me in a different Rx for something stronger. The recept told me the doctor was out and wouldn’t be back in until Friday and “would it be okay if it waited until then?” Did I really have a choice? Uh, no. Yes, it would be okay to wait. I didn’t get a call back. Midday Friday I called again and spoke with someone different. She explained that Dr. G. had only gotten back that morning and probably didn’t get my message yet. She took another and said someone would call me back later in the day. I got no call.

Long story short, the doctor had called back about 8:00 Friday night but we either didn’t hear the phone or someone was on it and didn’t realize a call beeped in. I got the voicemail today. She said she didn’t want to try another antibiotic yet; she wanted me to try an OTC Claritin or Zyrtec first. Since I had all five kids today I couldn’t run out to the store so I sat here with my sinuses clogged, my ear pressurized and little, minor sinus headaches off and on all day. Some pain over my right eye moved to over my left eye moved to the left side of my head and stayed a while.

When Kara got home from work she asked if I had anything to take and remembered I couldn’t go out all day but did remember she has generic Claritin in her medicine chest and also had Afrin Sinus nasal spray. Even though the Claritin said it’s the non-drowsy formula, Kara suggested I wait until bedtime to take it since meds like that usually put me to sleep. She suggested I take the Afrin at the time – around 4:00 – just to ease my sinus symptoms. So I did; two squirts in each nostril. WOW!!

If you’ve ever taken Afrin, maybe you’ll understand what I’m going to say next. Not only did the Afrin clear my sinuses up within a minute; it cleared them up so well that it actually hurt me to breathe. It was about 45° outside today but when I breathed in it felt like I was breathing in 0° air. Holy cold air, Batman!! I think I’ll save the Afrin for the next time I’m so clogged that I actually can’t breathe at all. That stuff is brutal. It didn’t clear the sloshing in my ear, or the minor sinus headachy pains, but I could breathe in the air from the California coast.

I was glad I could breathe but didn’t like the pain. Then, before I knew it, my nose was – and still is – leaking like a faucet. Whatever was clogging my sinuses has decided that it’s time to discharge itself on a constant basis. I have to keep running for tissues; either that or I’m sniffing every three seconds. Now, Ty’s doctor told me, about three years ago, that I was developing allergies. I’d taken Ty to the doctor for a minor, non-productive cough and she said it was seasonal allergies. When I mentioned that I thought he was just taking my cold, she asked me a couple of questions, looked at my eyes and said I didn’t have a cold, that I was developing allergies – in my old age. (I added that last part; she didn’t say it.)

I have to call my doctor tomorrow to let her know how I’m feeling after taking the allergy meds. Since I haven’t taken the Claritin yet, I’ll just tell her I’ll call her back in a couple of days, after I’ve had a chance to let it work. I gotta say, though, if this is what allergies are like, I don’t want them. I’m going to send them back to wherever they need to go; I’ll have to find out what the return policy is because I just don’t want them. I don’t have a receipt, though, because it’s not something I personally ordered, and I don’t think I got them as a gift. I’ll have to do some research to find out why they landed here and who sent them. Whoever it was needs to step forward.

Granted, I don’t feel as bad as a lot of people I know who have allergies. My sister has had them most of her life and was always walking around with a tissue in her hand and a leaky nose. My ex also has allergies and is constantly in a clogged fog. I don’t want to get that way so, with luck, this is as bad as they’ll get for me. Somehow, though, I don’t think I’m going to be that lucky. Minor sinus headaches and a sloshy ear I can handle – I don’t like them but I can handle them – I just don’t want to have to walk around leaking and sneezing and wheezing with a constant headache. I’m going to stop these allergies in their tracks.

I’m off on a tangent again. I just really wanted to warn you of, or offer to you – however you choose to take it – the remedy I got from the Afrin. The last time I had this kind of remedy was the time I took Contac Day/Night medicine for a cold. My dad also took it and we both only took it once. We agreed that once was one too many times. That Contac dried us up so badly that, not only did it hurt severely to breathe, but we were constantly drinking to get rid of the feeling of dehydration. The Afrin I took today wasn’t as bad as that, but it was bad enough. Maybe one of you will find it beneficial. It did work as it said it would; it was just too strong for me. Good luck to you if you try it; I think I’ll give the Claritin a try and see if that works. No more Afrin for me. Ack!!

Until next time…peace to all.

Bogus Offers and Sales Positions

I recently had help updating my resume. I called Kaplan and spoke with a Career Specialist because I’m not having any luck finding a job. Most everyone hiring a paralegal wants experience (I think I mentioned all of this recently) so she suggested we revamp my resume. Since I last did it nothing has changed; absolutely nothing. So she thought that, rather then updating information that can’t be updated, we reword a few things. Not exaggerate them, or fabricate them, just reword them so they sound more active than passive. Okay. I did what she said and she approved it.

Now I’ve got my resume posted on all sorts of job search web sites under the heading Paralegal Seeks Work. I’m getting responses, too – from all sorts of sales companies. I know they’re just generic head hunter-type responses and not directed specifically toward me but isn’t there a way to weed out those morons and get them to stop wasting my time? If the title of a person’s resume doesn’t say “Sales” anywhere, those bogus ads and offers ought to be automatically blocked. I know it would save me time and energy. I don’t want to check my email to find that bullshit sitting in my mailbox.

Besides, I don’t like sales. I don’t like having to cold call people to offer them a product or service; even if the call is auto-dialed from a computer. I don’t like talking on the phone all day long. There are a select few people who I speak to on the phone for extended periods of time, and that’s fine. If I don’t know you, however, I don’t want to spend time talking on the phone with you. I know; you’re saying that paralegals talk on the phone all day. In some cases that’s true; but there’s a difference. If I’m working as a paralegal I’m inclined to like my clients and wouldn’t have a problem discussing their issues over the phone. I’m also not trying to sell them different services. “And, Mrs. Smith, if you sign a contract with us today we’ll throw in three hours of phone conferences at half price.” I don’t think so.

Not only do I not like sales, I’m no good at it. Most sales jobs come with a script that has to be followed to get the sales pitch across to the potential client. Along with the script come rebuttals that are supposed to be utilized when the potential client declines the offer. I’m the type of sales person who, when the client says, “No thank; I’m not interested,” I’d say, “Okay, have a nice day,” and hang up the phone. No rebuttal would ever come from me to try to pressure someone into buying a product or service. They don’t want it, fine; I’m cool with that.

I won’t do it to anyone because I don’t like it being done to me. There are a good many fast food servers who’ve asked me, after I’ve placed my order, “Would you like such-and-such with that?” I’ve always responded with, “Is it free?” When they say it isn’t, I politely tell them that, if I wanted it, I would’ve ordered it. When I worked in a movie theatre many, many years ago, suggestive selling – that’s what it’s called when you try to sell someone something they didn’t request – was what we at the concession stand were supposed to do. They wanted us to sell larger items because they were more expensive. I didn’t like it but did it to prove a point to my bosses. In front of my Manager and DM I did the required suggestive selling.

A man walked into the theatre with his two young kids and ordered two small popcorns at $1.50 each and two small sodas at $1.25 each (I told you it was a long time ago). So, as I was told to do, I suggested larger items because they were more expensive, of course. I “suggested” that he could buy a medium-sized popcorn for $2.25 and a large soda for $1.75 and have enough popcorn and soda for all three of them, plus he’d save $1.50. He was happy with the deal and the savings, bought his items and wished me a good day. My Manager and DM weren’t as happy. Hey, I did what I was told. They told me to sell the larger, more expensive items, and I did. They weren’t angry and we all did laugh about it, but that was the last time they asked me to do any suggestive selling.

See, I’m just no good at sales. If a company wants me to sell stuff to strangers to make the company money, they’re emailing to the wrong inbox. I want to do things to help people, not bilk them out of their money on useless shit. So let’s find a way to stop these people from responding to our posted resumes with bogus job offers and opportunities that we’re not seeking. I think telling them to stop just won’t do the trick. I’m sure they’ve been told before. Maybe someone at these job posting sites can rig the search system to match exact words in titles and job offers. Last time I checked Paralegal was nowhere near to being close to Salesperson. See, it’s not a match; I don’t get bombarded with a bunch of crappy offers.

What I would really like, though, is for attorneys and others in the legal field to realize that we can’t get experience if they’re not willing to offer us a job in the first place. Again, though, I’m repeating myself. It’ll all work out, it always does; and someone wonderful will offer me a fabulous job doing the work I like doing – preferably from home. And if any of you reading this know any attorneys in the Suffolk County, NY area who are looking for a paralegal, send them my name; please and thanks.

Until next time…peace to all.

Semantics

I can’t believe it’s been two weeks since I’ve been here. I didn’t realize it had been that long. I do hope you’re all doing well. Things here are as okay as they can be right now. I’m looking for work but not getting any responses to my resumes, even though it’s been recently updated with the help of a Career Specialist at Kaplan University. It was a really recent update so maybe it’ll take a couple of weeks before I get any hits. We’ll see and I’ll let you know if anything happens.

The kids are doing well in school; Zach just signed up for the chorus and practices start the beginning of March. They’re out of school for the next week for winter break so I’ve got to think of some fun things to do with them. The weather at the end of last week was really nice but it’s only supposed to be between 30 and 40 degrees all this coming week. I won’t let them be on the computer or play video games constantly so we’ll have to find something else to do where we use our own brains instead of technological brains. We’ll do it, too; rest assured.

Anyway, the reason I signed on tonight was because of a conversation I had with a friend last night. He’s a great guy and we laugh constantly. The reason the conversation started was because, on Friday, he said he’d be here ‘tomorrow’ to visit the kids and me. ‘Tomorrow’ being Saturday, of course. We made our arrangements via text so I texted him that tomorrow would never get here so his visit might not come to pass. He said tomorrow would get here; that I needn’t worry. Was he missing something, or was I? I repeated that ‘tomorrow’ never gets here and told him to think about it.

When he arrived yesterday he brought up the subject again and asked what I meant. I told him that ‘tomorrow’ will never get here regardless of what he thinks. He laughed and said that if ‘tomorrow’ didn’t get here we’d always be stuck in Saturday. I said, “No, we’ll always be stuck in today.” He stared at me like I grew a second head. DUH!! I actually had to explain it to him. “Dude, think of it this way. What is ‘tomorrow’?” “Sunday.” “Right. And when Sunday gets here, what will it be?” “I’m not following you.” Of course he wasn’t. “Okay, let me make this really simple. When you wake up on Sunday, will you say it’s tomorrow?” “No, I’ll say it’s today.” BINGO!!! “See, tomorrow never gets here.” Then he understood but decided to keep arguing anyway. We couldn’t stop laughing.

He’s one of those same people who asks me, via text or IM, “You there?” My response: “No, I’m here.” If I was ‘there’ I’d be where he is, right? Think about it before you answer; it’s all a matter of semantics. It’s like that question most people ask when speaking to a stranger on the phone. Most people, at the end of a conversation, will usually ask the other person, “And what was your name?” What WAS your name? “Well, when we started talking it was Mary; now, though, it’s Agatha.” Dude, just ask the person what his or her name IS; it hasn’t changed.

Yes, I’ve probably done it myself but I make a conscious effort not to do that. And I love catching others doing it. I get Kara on that one all the time. When I do, though, she calls me out on a couple of things I say. For instance, I ask if I can borrow a scissors. Yes, a scissors, or a tweezers. The package says scissors or tweezers. I don’t need a pair of either, I only need one item. It’s the same with pants. I buy and wear a pants. I don’t buy or wear a pair of shirt or a pair of bra, so why would I buy a pair of pants when it’s only one article? I wear a pair of socks and a pair of shoes. How many are there? Two of each. Am I right? I believe I am. You can disagree, I don’t mind.

I know I’ve probably discussed this before but it was a while ago if I did so it was time for a reminder. Only because it was on my mind tonight, that’s all. The “today/tomorrow” thing tends to get me thinking about other things that don’t make a lot of sense. So that’s it; I hope my return made you smile, even for a second. I’m going to try to be back here on a regular basis; I think I need it. Too much going on that needs to come out. In the meantime, keep smiling and thinking about tomorrow.

Until next time…peace to all.

I Am Stress Free

I am completely stress free. I have my life and myself exactly the way I want them. I live in my dream home, the one with five bedrooms, two-car garage, and all the other amenities I wanted – all previously mentioned in another blog. It’s perfectly decorated and everything is exactly the way I pictured it before I began building it. The kids and I all have our own bedrooms (and they all sleep in their own bedrooms); they’ve got a playroom; I’ve got my office, and we’re all deliriously happy with our beautiful home.

In my aforementioned office, I work from home doing paralegal work. I busted my ass to get that degree and it’s finally got a place in my life. I bring work in from different attorneys, I do the work, and I return it on time and well before the deadlines. All the attorneys I work for are extremely pleased with my work and I even get to pick and choose the jobs I do for them. That gives me the time I want and need to spend with them, and to raise them with a parent close at hand. I get to attend their school functions and even volunteer occasionally at the schools. How? Because I’m good at my job and I’ve scheduled my work and home lives perfectly around one another.

The money I make working for these attorneys is more than enough to pay all my bills on time and in full; and I’ve still got enough for us to have extras when we want or need them. There is never a concern over money; we always have exactly what we want and need when we want and need it. Not only that, but I’ve still got enough to invest in college funds for each of my children; and I’ve been able to donate money back to all the agencies that helped me over the past couple of years – Hope House, CAPA, and the Salvation Army. Plus, my kids and I get to adopt a family through the Salvation Army each year at Christmas time. It’s a wonderful feeling.

My van is brand new and in perfect condition; we’ve all got clothing that I actually bought from somewhere other than a thrift shop; and our furniture matches and is not ripped or stained. It’s also bought and paid for, by me; and with the exception of a couple of items, none of it is second or third hand stuff anymore. Don’t get me wrong; there’s absolutely nothing wrong with thrift shops or getting hand-me-downs but for the first time in my life, my belongings are all brand new and paid for with my hard-earned money. I’ve waited and worked for this for a long time and I’ve finally got it.

I’ve also lost the 30 pounds that I’ve wanted to lose for a long time. I exercise every day and I eat right. The weight came right off, and I’m keeping it off, so when I went to buy myself some new clothing, it was all in much smaller sizes and I look and feel fabulous. My hair is cut in a flattering style and, even though I don’t wear make-up, I am beautiful and I look ten years younger than my actual age. I’m a great catch for any guy that comes my way. I’ve had a couple of offers but don’t really want to go there just yet; I’m having too much fun enjoying the success of reaching my goals.

I set these goals for myself and I’ve spent a lot of time and hard work to get everything I’ve got. I deserve it, my kids deserve it, and we’re all happy with the way things are going for us right now. Not only are they going well, but they’re getting better and better each and every day. I set new goals daily, weekly, monthly, and I do what I can to attain them. Nothing stands in my way; I don’t let it. My kids see me setting and reaching my goals so they’ve started doing it too. They’re happy and goal-oriented and they even follow the house rules. There is no more arguing or fighting like there used to be; and we laugh a whole lot more, too. There are lots of hugs and kisses to go around in our home, and so much love it’s amazing. I knew I’d have my version of a perfect life one day, and I’ve got it. That’s why I’m stress free, and I will be from this day forward.

No, what you’ve just read isn’t what my life is today; it’s what my life will be in the near future. It’s me putting my positive thoughts and energy out to the Universe to get the energy flowing and swirling around me to the point that everything you just read will happen for me. I will have my perfect, dream home; I will have the perfect work-at-home paralegal job; I will make enough money to do all that I’ve mentioned; and my life, and the lives of my kids, will be just as perfect as I’ve discussed here.

We do have all the love, hugs, and kisses that I said we have; that part is absolutely true. The rest is yet to come, but it’s on its way and I’m looking forward to every unique and wonderful surprise the Universe has in store for us. I can’t wait to see what spectacular happenings are on the horizon of my life; and I know that everything in my life will be as wonderful as I want it to be. I will make it so; mark my words.

Until next time…peace to all.