What's on your mind today?

[jcm]

how is it spreading the wealth if it means only seeing $500 per year in my pocket? damn, I thought I was going to be rich!

didn't bush do something like that a while ago? I guess if you call it a stimulus package, it sounds better.

[quizlixx]

how is it spreading the wealth if it means only seeing $500 per year in my pocket? damn, I thought I was going to be rich!

[curiosityandthecat]

$500 is rich at the dollar tree

[jcm]

$500 is rich at the dollar tree

no, no I have enough chip clips and cleaning supplies. besides if i shopped at the dollar tree i would have $500 already. stupid walgreens and their expensive crap!

[LARA]

I'm conflicted.  I'm elated that Barak won, sickened that Proposition 8 passed, frustrated over the, um, 'discussion' over morality, and behind all this, a rather disturbing video I watched of Dr. William Rees' speech to educators on global warming is constantly playing in the back of my head.  (oh shit! The methane hydrates are bubbling, we're all gonna die.  hah.  hah.) Plus I need to hand string a classical guitar, clean the house and field any work that might pop in today.

I think the scariest one is the global warming thing.  I have tried to do my best to do my part, but if it turns out that warming is causing the methane hydrates to be released, I'm scared.   Now this is just a recently observed phenomenon, and it may be something that is occurring naturally all the time and we never noticed before.  This is what I gathered from the talk.  But really, there is a part of me that has trusted in science for a very long time and for good reason as science has never lead me astray, always provided evidence for it's suppositions and allowed me to see and answer the questions I had about it with my own eyes through experimentation.  Now I don't know that much about climate science and I have had a hard time finding any good data and papers on the net about global warming on my limited budget. But I do know that if the oceans are warming and methane is started to bubble out of them where it hasn't before, this is a big thing.  Methane is very flammable at fairly low concentrations and about twenty times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.  Without any scientific background in this area, though, it's really hard for me to judge just how freaked out we should all be.  I think I remember Carl Sagan writing about this potential phenomenon in Cosmos  and hoping then his projection was inaccurate, but now...

oh fucking well.

[rlrose328]

Oh Lara... I'm with you all the way.  The only relief is that McCain didn't win.  Period.  The Prop 8 (and the others in other states) passing just erases any joy I felt at Obama winning.  

On top of all of THAT frustration (coupled with the hubby being so far gone in anger and frustration and the kid being sent home on Monday for hitting a kid and throwing a chair), the doctor said I have an ulcer... just beginning, but yeah, an ulcer.  Got me the little purple pill (or the generic white one anyway) so hopefully, I can sleep tonight.

It's times like this that I wish I could believe in god, ask for his help, give it all over to him and let HIM get an ulcer.

Oh... I think I forgot to tell you guys... one of the religious moms I mentioned in my Conversation post (the one who said Jesus was sitting right next to me with his hand on mine... she could SEE him) said she'd pray for me to get 100 on my latest MT test since I need my GPA up.  I told her if he could get into my instructor's PC and fix any errors I'd made, he's welcomed to do it.  She said, "He CAN, Kerri!  My God is all powerful and can do miracles!  If You get 100%, will you convert?"  I told her yes, yes I would.  If I get a 100% on THIS test (not future tests, THIS one that I already submitted), I'd convert.  

[LARA]

rlrose328  Congrats on the MT exam!  That's for medical technologist right?  How cool.  I did a semester after I graduated towards an MLT program and did really well, then I found out all my student loans had collapsed.  At any rate I loved all the machines, hated the blood and pee and having to stick people with needles part.  I still have fond memories of troubleshooting and dismantling an ancient CellDyn to clean the little tiny hole where the cells slip through and changing electrodes in a Nova16 electrolyte analzyer in the total chaos medical lab I managed to get a job in after that first semester.  The machines were the really cool part for me.

I'm sorry to hear about your kid.  It's so hard when they do stuff like that, you've gotta wonder what the situation was like for them to get so frustrated.   I remember last year, my little one got too into a game of playing T-rex and bit someone else.  We had a big discussion about why being a dinosaur is only okay at home.  There was another time when she was playing in the backyard while I was visiting a friend.  She had to be only about three or so.  Anyway the other kid, maybe seven came in bawling with a great big bloody lip and a chipped tooth.  I guess they had some kind of argument over a 'magical' driveway rock they were pretending was a crystal and the rock got turned into a handy weapon.  Luckily, my friend had a good Indian healthcare plan.  It was a really embarrassing and infuriating situation for me, but looking back on it I don't really think my daughter had much of a concept of what she was doing.

This story might make you feel a little better, too.  I took my little girl out to play at the water park.  It has a post with an activation button on it the kids have to rub to get the water to start.  Anyway, another little girl ran up with my daughter and they kind of started arguing about who was going to push the button.  My little girl got kind of shrill, and the other little girl hauled off and smacked her right across the face.  Pretty hard, too.  I heard that smack from where I was sitting.  Anyway, while I was consoling mine I happened to hear the mom of the little girl who smacked mine start talking about taking her to church later that day, etc.  It made me feel better in a sense to hear that, even though I felt sorry for my daughter.  It made me realize that no matter what kind of religious viewpoints parents take, kids will be kids.  They are going to do dumb stuff at some point as they get older; bite, hit, throw temper tantrums and generally drive their parents freaking insane.  I had a lot of trouble dealing with this reality as she was younger, but I realized if I didn't mellow out and just let her make her mistakes and learn the consequences, it wasn't going to get either of us anywhere and someone was going to be fitting me for a nice straightjacket really soon.

I hope the situation works out soon with yours.  This stuff happens, right?

[rlrose328]

Thanks, Lara... it's nice to chuckle at someone else's kid stories.

I'm taking an 18-month at home medical transcription course.  It's a diploma course, similar to a 2-year degree.  18 sessions (each covering a medical specialty with book reading in 5 books, online reading, and hours and hours of practice dictation per session) in 18 months and I'm approximately 4 months behind due to illness and procrastination.  Now, I'm pushing to get done on time since I found out that extending, while an option, is expensive.  So far, I've finished pediatrics, basic physcial exam, cytology, hematology, gastrointestinal, gastrourinary & male reproductive... and now I'm on orthopedics, which is really two sessions combined with musculature and skeleton together.  LOTS of Latin terminology.  

I showed a nurse friend of mine the course materials because she was interested in changing professions so she can work from home and she said there's much more detail than she thought there'd be, very similar to her nursing courses.  We learn the why and how, not just the language and formatting.  My books cover terminlogy, history and physical exams, labortory and diagnostic tests, pharmacology, human diseases, 6 books of medical specialty terminlogy and a medical dictionary.

I would definitely make more if I went back to the job I had before (office management), but this way, I can make some money for savings and work from home.  Just have to finish this first!

My son is gifted and extremely competitive and sensitive.  A kid laughs and he thinks it's at him.  If he's reprimanded, he falls apart.  A doctor in the spring diagnosed bipolar disorder but a new psych said she's not comfortable with that diagnosis and is workng with him on impulse control and anger management.  Tonight, he got upset because he didn't want to try to explain something to us.  I'm frightened and don't know what to do... luckily, he sees his therapist on Friday.  All the moms at his school are praying for him... and his behavior worsens.   :confused:

I just keep hanging on, seeing which way the ride will go next... But I now know one thing for sure:  frustrated 8yo boy and angry 40 yo hubby don't mix well together.  

[MariaEvri]

I'm happy to say that her God let her down... I got a 94% (those two misspelled medical words dropped me 2%!).  I'm sure she'll have a good reason why he didn't fix my errors and give me a 100%... or maybe that my grade WAS worse and he fixed SOME of my errors, who knows (though the test I got back was identical to print-out I made before I sent it).   [/quote]

oh yes please do tell us what she said

[jrosebud]

kerri, do you ever just want to ask them to censor themselves?  whenever it has to do with you and your problems, they should just bite their tongues rather than waggle god-advice at you.  if it were me, i would have asked them (every so kindly, of course) to put a cork in it.  maybe that would help your ulcer a bit.

[rlrose328]

Hubby asks me the same thing... No, I don't ask them to censor themselves... and I'll tell you why...

I don't have many friends... TRUE friends on whom I can depend for anything from a stop at the coffee shop to watching my son for a 1/2 while I see a doctor.  I have a few atheist acquaintances but they homeschool and work from home and have very little time to socialize, so we haven't gotten to know each other very well at all.  (Sad that...)

So while these gals are so incredibly pious and somewhat self-righteous, they are there for me.  After I dropped off my son on Tuesday morning, I broke down in tears,     It's like dealing with family who just occasionally mention god... I can deal as long as they don't preach at me and constantly try to save me.  And when the subject DOES come up, I just stand my ground and later, blow it all out at the hubby so he can have a laugh as well.  I'm sure they do the same.  

[jrosebud]

I'm glad that they're there for you.  Life is so much better when one has good friends.

I suppose you vent about them more often then you realize, so it just appears that they are a part of what causes you stress.  I think they already do censor themselves a bit during your coffee meetings.  I have several Christian friends who do the same for me (and I for them - it's a team effort).

[LARA]

rlrose  Gifted kids are often conflicted and very emotionally intense.  I think if you have a therapist who is willing to work with your son behaviorally rather than through medication it's a huge advantage.  I'm not particularly fond of psychiatry myself, and psychiatric medications especially, but if it can help, I hope so much that it does.  Just please really, really pay attention to side effects if you have to use medications because some can be serious.  With kids, who have smaller body sizes than adults, appropriate medication concentrations are going to be harder to hit.

There's a really good book out there on the different psychology of gifted kids and misdiagnosis or dual diagnosis.  If you haven't heard of it already, of course.

Here's a good article link on it:

http://www.sengifted.org/articles_couns ... dren.shtml

The book is titled Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnoses of Gifted Children and Adults: ADHD, bipolar, OCD, Asperger's, depression, and other disorders. (2004) Scottsdale: Great Potential Press.  by James T. Webb, Edward R. Amend, Nadia E. Webb, Jean Goerss, Paul Beljan, F. Richard Olenchak

If you haven't read it already it's really, really a good read for any parent with a gifted child who is having problems with their kids emotional intensity.  It's also pretty helpful for parents too to kind of understand some of the issues they might have themselves since  a lot of parents of gifted kids are gifted as well.  I'm guessing you and your hubby might be suffering from "gifted disorder" too  

[rlrose328]

I'm glad that they're there for you.  Life is so much better when one has good friends.

I suppose you vent about them more often then you realize, so it just appears that they are a part of what causes you stress.  I think they already do censor themselves a bit during your coffee meetings.  I have several Christian friends who do the same for me (and I for them - it's a team effort).

I know I vent about them quite a bit here... it's a safe place for me to do so and I know you guys understand and have probably been through it yourselves.  I'm sure they share with their church friends the things I say as well.

And yes, we censor ourselves quite a bit.  I actually spent the entire day at the house of the "Jesus is sitting next to you" gal.  She's so incredibly sweet, would never hurt anyone intentionally.  She was just having a mom's day out at her house while her hubby was out hunting.  The house filled up with believers, me being the only nonbeliever out of about 20 women.  They discussed religion quite a bit... many times stumbling while glancing at me.  I'd just say, "It's okay."  If it got too heavy (and it did twice), I'd just go into the kitchen and get a snack or coffee.  I had so much fun that day!  I got my holiday cards made, laughed until I thought I'd pass out.  

The only thing I'd change is that there would have been a few other non-believers there... just SOMEONE with whom I agree philosophically, even if we didn't discuss it.  Luckily, I'm strong enough now to be in that situation for an entire day (10 am to past midnight) and not want to blow my brains out or say something and be ostracized, so that's progress for me personally.  LOL!

[rlrose328]

rlrose  There's a really good book out there on the different psychology of gifted kids and misdiagnosis or dual diagnosis.  If you haven't heard of it already, of course.

Here's a good article link on it:

http://www.sengifted.org/articles_couns ... dren.shtml

The book is titled Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnoses of Gifted Children and Adults: ADHD, bipolar, OCD, Asperger's, depression, and other disorders. (2004) Scottsdale: Great Potential Press.  by James T. Webb, Edward R. Amend, Nadia E. Webb, Jean Goerss, Paul Beljan, F. Richard Olenchak

If you haven't read it already it's really, really a good read for any parent with a gifted child who is having problems with their kids emotional intensity.  It's also pretty helpful for parents too to kind of understand some of the issues they might have themselves since  a lot of parents of gifted kids are gifted as well.  I'm guessing you and your hubby might be suffering from "gifted disorder" too   roflol    Joe managed to hold it in until the kid went to bed before he rolled off the couch laughing.  :banna: