Xbox & More Education...as if I needed it....

HA! So if you know me, you know that I love to learn. Learn how to build, destroy, all kinds of things. So, when I realized, in light of the holidays, that our household was bursting at the seams with Xbox 360's...I asked myself...

"What the HELL are we doing with 4 Xbox 360's?" And we were about to buy yet another one for the same teenager that had just gone through his 3rd one! Absolutely ridunkulous!

I come from the age of Atari and the original Nintendo...even played the fancy Sega at a friends house when they first came out. Now my younger boys have portable game systems, consoles at my house AND their dad's house. Every child that recently came over for a party had a Nintendo DS in their hand. All the kids were playing each other on their handhelds. While the adults, being as lame as we are, were playing each other on the 3rd functioning Xbox we have.

The teenager complains that his system is slow, or that the fan is always running and it interferes with his music. Then about a month or so ago, he comes to us saying that his current Xbox 360 has the RED RING on it. Dope...there that one goes! Another $300 that didn't make it through the year! AH-HA...I learn that the new Xbox is coming out in just a few weeks and my "Mommy" mentality kicks in.

This kid must think I was never a kid once too. So, I talked it over with his dad and we started putting two and two together...and guess what...it equals 4! That's right folks: 4, the number of Xbox 360's we have in our home that apparently do not "work" due to the RED RING!

So with this in mind, I thought, surely since the beginning of this gaming era of the Eighty's, someone at Microsoft has figured out that their $300 machines that are getting 16+hours of game time a day, need to hold up. Surely, a $300 machine isn't going to just quit working when my sloppy teenager doesn't dust his room for a year! Off to Microsoft.com I went!

Parents: Do not try this in front of your teenager! It was cause convulsions, eye-popping, and utter disbelief in the gaming world!

Microsoft does have a fix! No more buying new Xbox's!

I had the teenager assist me in this laborous plan, we hooked up each one of the "broken" Xbox's and I went through the self-support site on Microsoft. Apparently each Red Ring indicates a seperate, fixable issue. Either by yourself or by Microsoft. When we discovered the first unit was repairable but outside the regular warranty, that's when the Teenager knew there was NO WAY his unit was repairable because it was older than the first....drum roll please....His WAS repairable AND his expiration date was 3 days away!!!

So, in one fale swoop, I ruined a Teenage Boy's dream of a brand new Xbox for Christmas! Hahahahaha...but not really, because I'm giving him the joy of having 2 renewed units fresh on his shelf by New Years! Oh, and the other unit we had wasn't under warranty, but the site did offer solutions to our technical problems we were having and instructed me on how to reset my unit and get updates...Works like new now!

Super mom to the rescue! By the way, I have, indeed, banned our home from buying a new Xbox for the next 10 years at the very least! Who wants a game system that keeps screwing up, even if they will pay for it to be fixed?

Want one for the road? The next day, my middle son's Nintendo DS quits holding a charge....that's a whole other fiasco that doesn't have room on this blog!

So...I chose

Well, I attended the nurse meeting last night and it was very good. The chairman was very helpful and insightful. She went over how the program worked and what kind of hours we'd be required to put in and such. This college has a 98% pass rate for the Board of Nursing. That's awesome! Told the end of the session, the director who has been an LVN for 15 years now after 20 years of being an Office Manager, said to us, "If you are changing careers or considering this one for the money, don't waste your time. You will love the pay, but you will be miserable." Now, while I know I would enjoy working with the children eventually after the schooling, my first thought, was..okay then...that's it, I'm not going to do it. And for once, I'm listening to my first instincts. I'm not going to be a nurse. Even if I did do it, it'd have to wait until next year at the least.

For the first time, I can say that, I really enjoy my job. The pay isn't all that great, but that will change over time I'm sure. After I'm done with this semester and I've walked across the stage and received that diploma...I'm going to take a break! Focus on me, my boys, and put the focus on them for a while. In the last few years, I've been trying to improve myself...on paper. Now, it's time to start in real life. Put all those lists I've been making into action.

I sat in a cell for a little over a year, planning how things would be when I got home. I had it all worked out..on paper. Then, I came home and things just didn't go as planned. I stepped back into my old ways of trying to work for as much money as possible, always looking for the bigger, better deal. I've forgotten that kind of mentality put me where I was. And I haven't given myself a chance to appreciate what I do have.

So, for me, last night, not only did I learn that I wasn't going to be a nurse; I learned that I was going to be....me. I don't know what or who that is just yet, even though I'm supposed to be helping to young boys realize who they are...I guess we'll all find out together. When I talked to them last night about this and the changes that will come, my oldest just said, "Mom, it's okay if you want to be someone else, I feel that way sometimes too. But you said I can be whoever I want to be, so why don't you just do that. Just be whoever you want to be. Me and Bubba will love you too."

That did it for me...so here's to Whoever I Want To Be....off I go!

Career Choices--Which to choose

I'm getting ready to finish my degree next semester and I've been thinking a lot about what I want to do for there. I'm always looking for something else to peak my interest since I get bored so easily.
I've been kicking around a few ideas this past year for a career path. I was in a job that where I loved the work, just not the company. I tried for months and months to find another company in that field, but unfortunately no one was paying at the same rate and I couldn't afford to make less. So, that's when I hit school full speed. I started out majoring in Business, then when I realized that the job I enjoyed wasn't going to pay what I'd need to support my boys, I switched to Veterinary Medicine to start training for a Vet Tech. An obvious choice for me given my love for animals. After further investigation into the Vet Tech field, and more core classes at school, I realized that a Vet Tech wouldn't cut it either. I'd have to continue school long after my boys graduated high school...another 13 years, just to make a living long-term as a Veterinarian.

I'm really tired of school! Yes, Carlena the nerd, is tired of school!! I want to learn something, earn that degree, and put that knowledge to use and turn it into cold hard cash that will benefit my family. I'm sick of working 40+ hours a week and have nothing to show for it at the end of the month because I'm scrapping by. I know that I'm not the only one doing this, I know most families live this way and are content...I'm not.

I've tried to think of a business I could do myself and run with it...I see those people around me that think of something, put it into motion and next thing you know, they've got hundreds of fans on Facebook and are supporting themselves doing what they love as their own boss. I'll be honest...I suck at that. I want to be so good at it, but I'm just not. Like I said before, I never have the cash to put toward anything I want to start for myself, and bills have to be paid...so those entrepreneurs out there get mad props from me!

So, that leads me to where I am today. I've stuck with the General Studies in Science degree which will just mean, hey look at me...I went to school. I've finally found a good job and I'm content where I'm at, but the pay...well, the raises will come in time I'm sure, but seriously...I'm impatient! I've worked since I was 15...hard too...I'm ready for something I do to finally pay off. I look back and realize that I've spent a lot of time doing things I thought would benefit me in some way. Now I'm seeing that none of it has, so all that time and effort has been wasted. I'm tired of going through the motions and not getting ahead in life.

Which leads me to this: I have a friend that is a nurse...an LVN to be concise. She recently moved here from North Texas and has been searching for a job. Well, she finally found one and man...the pay is freakin awesome! I've been toying with the idea of working in the healthcare industry for about 2 years now. I've researched by a sonogramer...whatever the real name for that is..not sure. A NICU nurse, a nurse at Ronald McDonald House. I really want to work with kids, I wanted to teach but do to my criminal history, I didn't want to chance parents not wanting me around their children...and let's face it, kids don't care, it's the parents that make it impossible; but that's another issue. So, my friend has been talking to me about nursing since last year when I met her and how awesome it is. I really didn't think twice about it since I don't know if I'm ready to send myself back through the ringer of the educational system once again. But I find myself thinking about it all day and night. Thinking of all the possible avenues for this adventure. The pros and cons, the sacrifices, the rewards. This one thing keeps stopping me from saying I'll just go for it: It scares me.

I have a tendency to regret my decisions. I finally have a laid-back, kick-ass job, that will eventually pay me well...in like 8 years. I don't want to take this leap and fail, because then I'll have lost an awesome job and they don't come along everyday. There's also the fact that I've NEVER even spent one day in the healthcare industry...well there was that Temp-job back in 98 where I proofed prescriptions, but that doesn't count. What if I get into the program, quit this job, and realize I'm not cut out for this. I just don't want to make the wrong decisions anymore, but I don't want fear to make me pass up this chance to change my daily life for the better. And in turn, change the lives of my children as well.

Here are the Pros:
-Awesome Pay..like $20+ an hour
-12 hour shifts(less days to get a full week)
-Being around kids all day...might kill that baby-fever I've got...
-Doing something I've wanted to do for awhile
-Home with boys more during the week...possibly

The Cons:
-Have to quit work or find a part-time evening job
-Puts our savings goals on hold for a year
-ANOTHER year of school
-The hours will probably be nights and/or weekends, so I won't see the Boyfriend that much


Help me out here folks...not sure what to do. I'm going to an information session tonight and if I do this I'm thinking I should jump on it...I've thought about waiting too maybe take a year off from school...but as they as say, "There's no time like the present"!

The Unfair Workforce Not for employees

So I was recently fired from a job. I worked at this place for a little a year. During that year I saw a President and Vice President belittle people, scream and cuss at the staff, harass people for their sexual preference, threaten physical violence on their employees, and throw things at their employees. Witnessing all of this over a year and crying myself to sleep at night was what I was left with each day. I was verbally beaten day everyday. They used the fact that I am on probation to remind me that I'm not worth human decency. Other employees, not related to them have witnessed all this too. Yet they will not come forward because they either get paid well and have been there forever or they are scared of losing their jobs.

When I filed my unemployment claim, I was told I was denied because I was fired. During the interview, I played the recording of the Owner/President saying he didn't care if I was threatened or that I'd had things thrown at me, I wasn't being a team player. During that interview this same guy said that I yelled at his son in front of customers, which a blatant lie. Yet I'm the one who gets to suffer because he's a business owner and Texas protects them tso they can do what they want to do to employees.

I asked a lawyer what my options were and was told since they do not have more than 16 employees, there is nothing they've done that he can file against. All I can do is file a EEOC claim and that was it. NICE

So since I was fired for no longer taking the abuse and standing up against them, I lose benefits. But in the beginning, I was told not to quit, because then I would have no case...but wait..I still don't have a case? So I suffered through a year of abuse, watching others be abused, just so they can have the last laugh and keep on doing whatever they want?

Texas needs to protect their workers from Small Business owners like this! I have had a PERFECT track record at EVERY employer I've ever had until them,so I know it wasn't just me. The Owner has his 3rd wife and 2 sons working there. He would scream and cuss at all of them for anything. He would see his sons harass a gay employee about his status and do nothing! When that employee tried to talk to him about it, he told him "quit throwing a fairy fit"! That employee was harassed until he was made so miserable he quit. They fired a lady whose mother was in the hospital because she called in to take care of her one day. They did this because son#1 didn't like her.

They have other employees that have worked there for years. These employees are loyal because they have been allowed to do drugs, be jailed, do other stuff and not be fired. They have had more conduct reports written on them in 2 months than I had over 14 months there, but they have never been fired. They currently employ people that show up high to work every day. They have had over 10 people hired then fired or quit in less than a year. And they continue to state it's everyone else that has a problem.

I don't know what to do! There is so much injustice here, yet I'm told they are untouchable. When I did file unemployment and fought it, the owner went so far as to call my probation officer and flat out lie to him, trying to get me in trouble with the law! You would think he'd just leave me alone, but he knows that I have him recorded saying things that he knows he shouldn't have said. Why else would he go to the trouble of trying to harass me through my probation officer? I wish there was something that would hold this employer responsible for their actions.

Getting Life Done

So, I'm a multi-tasker..like a crazy multi-tasker! I have been knoew to drive, eat a banana, fix a juice drink and answer a call all at the same time! LOL

But, I've become overwhelmed by my own doing and now I'm undoing the craziness. Its hard to find a place to start since I feel most of the things I've got going are all very important. I've quit one school and am focusing on only one. I've began to sell off my projects from one hobby to focus on another completely. And I've made a stand for my personal time to be mine alone.

I'm into this new "prioritization" by one week and I can already see places that are going to be neglected, but in true fashion I will deal with it as it arises and continue to float along.

How does a busy mom with ambitions outside her family make this dreams a reality without sacrificing everything else?

More of the same

Just cleaning out the camera today and thought I'd post some of our pics....We have Ben's Birthday weekend when Shane and his family came to hang out. The boys on Halloween...proving that Obi Wan and Darth Vader CAN get along! LOL Lastly, our Christmas 2009 pics...the boys had a great year!

The Holidays and The New Year

Happy Halloween, Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Feliz Navidad, oh and Happy New Years! Whew! I am glad all these Holidays are behind us! The whirlwind of home tasks and the busy work time has had my head spinning.

Santa visited the boys and they were delighted with what he left them. They spent Christmas morning here and then they went off to their Dad's house for yet another Christmas celebration. Oh, what it is to be a kid again and have all these Merry celebrations to float around too. The boyfriend and I spent the remainder of the holiday weeks together without any children. So, it was pretty boring around here during the last few weeks.

I have completed the first semester of school with a 4.0 average and the Spring semester has begun! I'm really looking forward to have a 3-month summer break because my brain feels fried!

Here are some pics of the house for the holiday...we actually had a White Christmas in North-Central Texas for once...not since 1975 has that happened! It was great to watch the boys roll around in the snow Christmas morning! It just made me miss my family in Denver and wish that we were all there too!