Christina, Author at A Mommy Story

Dec 16, 2013

You’re Never Too Old To Stop Learning

December 16, 2013 By Christina

“Mom, why do I have to go to school? Homework is so dull and boring! It’s draining my life from me!” Cordy has always been one to tend towards the dramatic, although these outbursts have become more frequent in the last month.I understand her frustration. “Well, sweetie, we all have our jobs to do. Mommy and daddy each have jobs to earn money and help our companies with their purpose. And your job right now is to go to school and learn everything you need to know to be a successful adult who will make a difference in the world.”

“I can’t wait until I can be done with school and never need to learn anything ever again!” she huffed. I knew she didn’t mean that. She loves to learn and absorbs new material like a sponge. In this particular instance, she was just unhappy with the amount of homework she had cutting into the few hours she had at home before bedtime each night.

I gave her the same answer I’ve repeated to her several times. “You’ll eventually be finished with school, and it’ll then be your choice as to what you want to do from there. Many kids go on to college, where most of your classes will be in whatever subject you’re really interested in, and I hope you’ll do that. But I think no matter what, you’ll want to keep learning new things your entire life. Think of how boring life would be if you stopped learning anything new! Someday you’ll stop going to school, but education is something that should keep going for your entire life, whether you’re in school or not.”

And truthfully, I do believe education is a life-long endeavor. After all, since starting kindergarten at five years old, there have been just six years in my life where I wasn’t formally enrolled in a class in some way. (Yes, ONLY six years, and I’m 37!)

I went to college right out of high school, completing my four years and graduating with a BA in History, cum laude. I changed my major three times during those four years of college, mostly because I had too many interests and trouble deciding which direction I wanted to go.

After college, I immediately went into a Masters Degree program for History. However, halfway through the first year, I discovered my primary professor was planning a sabbatical for the next year, meaning I’d either have to take a year off from my program or choose a different focus. I quit the program before the year was up, choosing to work until I could determine what I wanted to do next.

A history degree isn’t exactly a perfect match for jobs in the real world, but my self-taught technical skills landed me a job in web design at a university library. I had been dabbling in HTML all through college (unofficial education), and that side-interest earned me a job.

I didn’t make it even six months before I decided I wanted to be back in school again. I applied for and was accepted in a Masters program for Theatre, specifically costume design and theatre history. I had also been working as a seamstress on the side, making costumes for our renaissance festival for myself and friends. I minored in Theatre in college, too, so theatre history was a good fit.

Thanks to my web design job, I had moved on to a job in online instructional design at that point, developing corporate e-learning courses for a private company. I worked from home for much of my time there, going above and beyond to meet and beat my deadlines while also taking graduate level courses in theatre history part-time, teaching Intro to Theatre classes to undergraduates every Friday morning, and serving as costume designer for one of the university’s plays that season.

I probably would have finished my MA, but after getting married in 2003 and then pregnant in 2004, we made the choice to move closer to family. I had planned to finish my degree remotely, since I was only a class and a thesis away, but the demands of work and baby pushed all of that to the back. I also realized at that time that I probably wouldn’t find a lot of jobs related to that degree.

It was just after Cordy was a year old that I got the idea to go back to school for nursing. When I was in college the first time, I considered going into pre-med. At 28 years old, I thought I was too old for pre-med, but still young enough for nursing school. My hope was that nursing would give me the job flexibility I needed for my family.

I started with the prerequisite courses first, and found them to be a breeze, giving me confidence that I could make it through nursing school. By the time I started my clinical courses, Mira had joined the family, so I was committed to a full course load, clinicals, and a preschooler and baby at home. (That was about the same time Cordy was diagnosed with autism, too.)

Cordy helped me study Chemistry back then

Was it easy? No way! It was probably the most intense period of my life. With all of the responsibilities on my plate, adding college into the mix was tricky. But I was passionate about the subject, which made it easier to stay up late doing homework while everyone else slept and study for exams with Dora the Explorer as background noise.

I graduated in 2009 and immediately got my RN license and a job. That wasn’t the best year for jobs in any sector, with the country in full recession, and I moved to another job in 2010 when it was clear that the birth center I worked at was going to close due to hospital budget cuts.

I worked two years at the next job, as a nurse and manager for a pediatric nutritional call center. My previous work experience prior to nursing helped me get the manager position, while my RN license got me in the door. It wasn’t the perfect job by any means, and I didn’t have the flexibility I was expecting in nursing. I considered going back to school for my BS in nursing, or possibly becoming a nurse practitioner.

It was in 2012 that I was abruptly let go when the company scaled back and got rid of the overnight shift entirely. I had been working when everyone else slept for three years, so I wasn’t sad to go back to the land of daylight.

Thankfully, through long-standing connections with blog friends, a job presented itself quickly and I jumped on it. Only it wasn’t nursing – I’d be back into the land of IT and computers. The position would challenge me with an ever-changing list of responsibilities, and required me to brush up on and grow my technical skills. I was ready for a new challenge and jumped at the chance.

Over a year and a half later, and I’m still in love with my job. It’s a position with variety, challenge, and the need to continue adapting to new products and situations. It’s also flexible and meets the needs of my family, too. While I haven’t gone back to school, I’ve spent a lot of time in self-study to improve my technical skills to be more useful for my company. And there’s a good chance I may eventually find myself enrolling in classes again to formalize and improve on my IT knowledge.

My nursing degree certainly hasn’t gone to waste – at the very least, it’s good knowledge to have for personal use. I take continuing education courses to meet the requirements of my license and keep it current, and if it wasn’t for the chain of events that ended with my previous nursing job, I wouldn’t be where I am now.

Nursing and IT are both hot fields to be in, and I’m glad to have experience and knowledge in both. Each step of my education has been valuable, including that BA in History from years ago. Working any job requires far more than just the basic skills listed on the paper – the whole person hired to work in that position can bring a wealth of unrelated, but possibly beneficial, skills to the job. I consider myself well-rounded.

My advice to my daughters will continue to be that education is never a waste. While it’s important to consider career potential, and consider the timing of when you’re seeking to improve your skills and knowledge, you’ll always have some benefit to education throughout your life. Who knows? Maybe I’ll decide to go for another degree in my forties?

—

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Filed Under: school, sponsored, the J-O-B

Dec 9, 2013

No Really, Check Again

December 9, 2013 By Christina

I appreciate having health insurance, I really do. But the complexity of health insurance sometimes confuses me.

I had an in-office surgery done in June to remove a severe atypical mole from my back, along with much of the skin around it. As you can expect, that wasn’t a cheap procedure.

Since we had recently switched health insurance carriers, I expected there would be a few hiccups in the claims process. The first came with a letter from the insurance carrier letting me know they had contacted my doctor’s office for more information. No big deal, I thought.

Then another letter came asking me for more information. I provided what I could and mailed it all in. Then about a month later, I received a letter from insurance stating that none of it was covered for pre-existing conditions because they didn’t receive any information from me. A day later, the bill for the total procedure came from the doctor.

I didn’t flip out, because I’ve seen this before. It likely was a mix-up somewhere and a phone call would resolve everything. I called the insurance company in mid-September, and gave them all of the claim information. The woman I spoke with was very nice and explained that they needed proof of insurance prior to this coverage in order to process the claim and not deny it for pre-existing conditions. I thought I had mailed all of that in, but they had no record of having it on file.

She gave me the fax number for their claims department, and later that day I faxed over the proof of insurance from our prior insurance. I then called my doctor’s office and explained the situation to them, again authorizing them to provide any information needed to my insurance. I considered the issue resolved at that point. It was a hassle, but I understand mix-ups can happen. At least it was done.

Last month, I received another letter from the insurance that notified me they were contacting the doctor’s office again for more information. I had no idea what else they could possibly need, but shrugged my shoulders and figured they’d call if they needed anything else from me.

Then last week I received another set of letters telling me the claim had been denied. So this morning I called the insurance company again, and spoke with another very nice woman who wanted to help make this right. I explained it all to her in detail, and she checked the records for me.

“Oh, I see the problem. Did you have health insurance immediately before this for at least a year prior to coverage with us?”

“Yes,” I responded.

“OK, so we just need proof of your prior insurance…”

I cut her off and explained I had mailed it in once, and faxed it in again. I provided the date that I faxed it in, the number that was provided to me to send it to, and offered to send her the fax confirmation sheet showing it had been received.

“Let me check again,” she responded. A few seconds later, she said, “Oh wait, here it is! Yes, we do have it on file, right where it should be.”

“Great! So…what’s the holdup then?” If they had it, what more could they possibly need?

“We had it on file, but it looks like they didn’t realize we had it, so they continued to deny the claim. I’ll put a note on these claims to have them processed again with the information on file, and it should be completed in 5-10 business days.”

I was so confused by that statement that I could only thank her for her help and didn’t ask any further questions.

I can only shake my head at the thought that they had the information they needed to process the claim but denied it again based on missing the information that was right in front of them. At least I was able to get confirmation that it was received, and I’m grateful for friendly and helpful customer service. Having someone friendly and helpful to talk to makes the entire experience bearable.

Now let’s hope it gets processed this time so we can pay our part of it and be done. The scar will forever remind me of that visit – I don’t need unprocessed claims to further remind me as well!

Filed Under: daily life, money

Dec 6, 2013

Even Dogs Have Clothing Fit Issues

December 6, 2013 By Christina

It’s been two years since we first met Cosmo and brought him into our family. And since that time, he’s grown from a lanky pup with gigantic paws into the solid dog (still with gigantic paws) that he is today.

Cosmo at 5mo old

Even though he’s nearly one hundred pounds now, he still gets cold easily. That large size didn’t come with a lot of fur. He’s got the ultra-short pit bull coat that is nearly bare on his underside, and he doesn’t have a large amount of fat for insulation. So when he goes outside on frigid days, he gets cold. It’s common to see him dash to the fireplace after a trip outside, trying to warm himself while he shivers.

Last year I bought Cosmo a sweater for the holidays. He didn’t seem to mind wearing it, but he didn’t seem particularly thrilled with it, either. And I felt a little like the crazy dog lady who dresses up her dog like a child.

But as fall arrived this year, I noticed that the cold did affect Cosmo. We had bought him a cute Superman sweater for Halloween, and I put it on him a couple of weeks ago when it was particularly cold. I’ve never seen a dog look so happy in a sweater. He seemed upset when I took it off of him. The next day, when I held it up, he practically put it on by himself, lifting his paws in advance of me taking them to guide them into the holes. I can’t feel guilty about putting him in sweaters anymore – he clearly likes it and wants additional layers of warmth.

Now, it’s not easy to find sweaters for Cosmo. He wears an XXL. I know, right? He’s not THAT big of a dog. But his chest and neck are so massive that nothing less than an XXL will fit across his front half.

I wanted to find something warmer for him for the freezing days ahead of us, so I looked online and found a sweatshirt for dogs. It came in XXL, and the description even mentioned that it was designed to fit dogs with a thick, muscular neck. I checked his measurements against the size chart, and he easily fell within the requirements. Even better, it opened in the back with velcro – if it was too loose on his back half, I could possibly add more velcro to make it tighter.

When it finally arrived this week, I pulled it out of the bag and Cosmo was immediately sniffing it. It was a nice heavyweight sweatshirt material, so I knew it would be plenty warm on him. Cosmo wouldn’t leave me alone, so I tried it on him right away.

Um…this is an XXL?

It fit without any trouble around his back half, but the top 4″ or so were impossible to close around his deep chest and neck.

Poor guy. He was so excited to get new clothing, and it’s too small for him to wear. I feel your pain, Cosmo. Clothing never fits me right, either. Your chest, my hips – we’re not made for standard clothing templates.

Only in his case, there’s no option above XXL.

Is there a Big & Tall clothing store for cold dogs?

Filed Under: Cosmo

Dec 3, 2013

Easy Chicken Dinner with Campbell’s Soup

December 3, 2013 By Christina

Evenings have been a bit of a blur around here lately. With therapy appointments, gymnastics, homework, and everything else going on, it feels like we’re trading off who’s home each night, coming and going constantly. Tonight, for example, shortly after the kids are home from school, I have to get them in the car to go to Mira’s gymnastics, where we’ll meet up with Aaron after he’s done with work. Depending on who has more to do, one of us will stay at gymnastics and the other will take Cordy home to finish homework.

I’d be embarrassed to tell you the number of times we grab food on the go each week. I know it’s not healthy for us, but with such little time, it’s hard to put together quick meals that the kids will eat. And let’s be honest – I’m a lousy cook. Domestic tasks aren’t my strength. I usually leave the cooking to Aaron, but occasionally I’m called on to come up with a meal for the family.

When that happens, I’m thankful to find easy recipes that even I have trouble screwing up. Recently I heard about Campbell’s Wisest Kid in the Whole World promotion and their kid-friendly, easy recipes involving Campbell’s soups. I was invited to give one a try to see just how simple and tasty it could be. I love soup as an easy meal itself, but had never considered cooking with soup.

The hardest part was finding a recipe my family would all eat. Cordy is picky, Aaron is gluten-free, and Mira just occasionally decides she doesn’t like certain foods, after they were her favorite foods last month. (In other words, typical kid.) We looked over the recipes together and agreed on the Fiesta Chicken & Rice Bake, though, so that was my mission.

I liked the simplicity of this recipe: a can of tomato soup, some chicken breasts, rice, chili powder and cheese. I looked through the comments on this recipe and decided to add some corn to the mix, too. (Look at me, going off-script for a recipe like I think I know what I’m doing!)

This is all you need to make this meal. (Plus a little water, if you don’t use pre-cooked rice like me.)

This recipe is also a single dish recipe, cutting down on anything complicated by mixing it all together in the same dish. It was honestly so easy to put together – I had it ready to go before the oven had even pre-heated! I was a little generous with the chili powder, as we like our dishes on the spicy side here.

Once the oven was ready, I covered the dish in foil, put it in, and baked for 45 minutes. I spent that time pondering how I could put together a dinner so quickly, and wondered if there was a catch.

When the timer went off, I pulled out the dish and peeled back the foil. I cut into a chicken breast to make sure it was cooked all the way through, which it was. And ta-da! – there was a perfect Fiesta Chicken and Rice Bake.

I’m a lousy food photographer, but I can assure you this smelled and tasted delicious.

All that was needed at that point was a hefty dose of cheese and serving it to the family. It smelled SO good! I split a chicken breast between Cordy and Mira, and Aaron and I each took the other ones.

The result? Cordy loved the chicken, and ate some of the corn and rice. I’ll call that a success. Mira liked the chicken, didn’t like the rice, but singled out the corn to eat. I knew she’d like the corn. Adding the corn was a great idea and helped provide some additional flavor to the dish. I might even try adding black beans next time.

I thought the chicken was just right, tender without being dried out, but Aaron and I agreed it could have used a little additional spice. However, seeing how easy this recipe is, it would be equally easy to quickly add additional spice to meet the needs of our spicy-food-loving family. Even being light on spice, though, it was still delicious.

I was surprised just how simple it was to make this dish from Campbell’s. It’s easy enough that the kids can help with the prep work, giving them more control over their dinner. Or if we’re rushed, it’s easy for one person at home to start the meal while waiting on everyone else to get home.

You can find the recipe for the Fiesta Chicken and Rice Bake at Campbell’s website, along with several other kid-friendly recipes your family will love.

Filed Under: domestic zero, sponsored

Dec 2, 2013

A Tree Dilemma

December 2, 2013 By Christina

I had mentioned that we bought a new Christmas tree last week. This tree was just what I wanted: 7.5 ft, pre-lit artificial tree with LED lights. Even better, this tree has a little box on the cord that lets you switch the lights on the tree from white lights to multicolor lights. I generally prefer white lights, but I thought it would be fun to let the kids get to see it with multicolor lights now and then.

On Friday afternoon, we set up the tree in the living room. Aaron plugged it in and we verified that the lights worked. The multicolor lights were disco-party colorful and the white lights were a bright, yet warm, white light. The kids asked to put it on the multicolor lights while we decorated the tree, so we switched it over to the colorful confetti of lights.

The next day, our tree fully decorated, I stood back and admired the total look. It was still set on multicolor lights, so I reached down to the controller and flipped it over to white lights.

But this time, the white lights weren’t so bright. In fact, they were very dim, barely lit at all.

I thought I might have wiggled the plug loose, so I reached back to the plug and verified it was fully plugged in. The lights were still dim. I turned the switch on the box back to multicolor, and suddenly they were blindingly bright again.

What?? I tried switching it back and forth a few more times, but the white lights remained dim, while the multicolor option worked perfectly. When we first set it up, the white lights worked without any trouble – why are they now not working?

So now, we have a dilemma: what do we do with this brand new tree? Do we continue trying to make the white lights work again? I still have the receipt – do we take all of the decorations off, take down the tree, box it up and return it to the store, only to get a new one and go through decorating it all over again?

Or do I just put my love of white lights behind me and learn to embrace the rainbow?

Cosmo would prefer we leave it, as he was slightly traumatized by bringing this giant thing into the house.