(no subject)
I haven't looked at when my last post was, but I'm guessing two months ago - that's usually about right. It's time now for another, I guess. I've had two glasses of wine, though, so hopefully, the words I'm typing actually make sense. Let me post some updates:
About Me:
Been on Zoloft for a couple of months now to help with the anxiety. The first month - a really low dosage - didn't help me at all. The next two months have been double that dosage, with a noticeable difference. I think my level of anxiety is probably normal human anxiety. I am, however, finding it hard to stay awake. Zoloft "may cause drowsiness" so I'm half awake and living off of more coffee than usual. Or, as I've been calling it - "the elixir of the gods." I talked to my doctor about it and he said to give it more time. It's possible that my body still hasn't adjusted to it yet, and also possible that it's just the lack of sunlight in the winter months.
About Work:
Speaking about anxiety, I did almost had another anxiety attack when I learned that we had 1057 applications in the system for our nursing program for Fall 2012. That's 250 more than last semester, which was already the highest semester in recent years. These applications have to be processed by the equivalent of 2.5 people in less than 2 months. Our normal processing rate is about 10 apps a day for a full-time person. But first, we have to spend at least a week making files, verifying entrance exam scores were received (and are passing), and several other pre-processing duties. Fortunately, we were able to eliminate duplicates apps, applicants with missing/failing scores, and unpaid applications so that we are down to more like 650-700 that need to be processed. I am coordinating the efforts again, as before, but this time I KNOW I'm coordinating, as opposed to last semester when I was under the impression that it was someone else's job and I was just helping her. I am, however, teaching one of my newer co-workers what to do, seeing as how I am the part-time one and probably shouldn't be the coordinator. (Our boss thinks that my co-worker is taking the lead on it, but she and I have already talked and agreed that she is absolutely clueless about it and wants me to do it while teaching her.) So far, despite me having a whole lot of faith in my co-worker's skills, I still think that I'm the best one to coordinate it all, part-time or not. I'm just the most detail-oriented and computer-savvy (at least with respect to the software we're using) person in the group. I'm not the most experienced person with regard to processing, but that person is a Ludite when it comes to technology. He's also not big on responsibility. I'm not the most experienced person with regard to computers, but that person is a bit dated on her computer skills and knows more about background computing, rather than the software we need to use. Plus, she's our newest advisor and has the least experience. She's got other responsibilities anyway. I will make it through. I think we'll do fine if I and the one to whom I'm teaching the process now work together as a team. But enough about work.
About Ansel:
My kiddo is reading - more or less. There are lots of words he gets wrong and billions of really tricky words that will take him years to get, but still, he's READING. He read the majority of the Dr. Seuss book "Ten Apples Up on Top" to me a few weeks ago. It took about an hour at his slow pace, but to be fair, Dr. Seuss books are longer than most little kids' books should be. He's also gained a new-found interest in his old board books - the ones we read to him and let him chew up when he was barely even walking and talking. He likes them because they are short, he's familiar with them, and they typically have short words.
His drawing has gotten better recently, too. The things he's drawing now actually look more like what he says they are. If he wants to draw a flower, well, it looks like a flower. If he wants to draw a pirate ship, he draws a pirate ship with port holes, flags and people on board. It's pretty cool stuff to watch his artistic development.
Okay, I think that's all I can manage. That's actually a lot for a sleepy girl with two glasses of wine.
About Me:
Been on Zoloft for a couple of months now to help with the anxiety. The first month - a really low dosage - didn't help me at all. The next two months have been double that dosage, with a noticeable difference. I think my level of anxiety is probably normal human anxiety. I am, however, finding it hard to stay awake. Zoloft "may cause drowsiness" so I'm half awake and living off of more coffee than usual. Or, as I've been calling it - "the elixir of the gods." I talked to my doctor about it and he said to give it more time. It's possible that my body still hasn't adjusted to it yet, and also possible that it's just the lack of sunlight in the winter months.
About Work:
Speaking about anxiety, I did almost had another anxiety attack when I learned that we had 1057 applications in the system for our nursing program for Fall 2012. That's 250 more than last semester, which was already the highest semester in recent years. These applications have to be processed by the equivalent of 2.5 people in less than 2 months. Our normal processing rate is about 10 apps a day for a full-time person. But first, we have to spend at least a week making files, verifying entrance exam scores were received (and are passing), and several other pre-processing duties. Fortunately, we were able to eliminate duplicates apps, applicants with missing/failing scores, and unpaid applications so that we are down to more like 650-700 that need to be processed. I am coordinating the efforts again, as before, but this time I KNOW I'm coordinating, as opposed to last semester when I was under the impression that it was someone else's job and I was just helping her. I am, however, teaching one of my newer co-workers what to do, seeing as how I am the part-time one and probably shouldn't be the coordinator. (Our boss thinks that my co-worker is taking the lead on it, but she and I have already talked and agreed that she is absolutely clueless about it and wants me to do it while teaching her.) So far, despite me having a whole lot of faith in my co-worker's skills, I still think that I'm the best one to coordinate it all, part-time or not. I'm just the most detail-oriented and computer-savvy (at least with respect to the software we're using) person in the group. I'm not the most experienced person with regard to processing, but that person is a Ludite when it comes to technology. He's also not big on responsibility. I'm not the most experienced person with regard to computers, but that person is a bit dated on her computer skills and knows more about background computing, rather than the software we need to use. Plus, she's our newest advisor and has the least experience. She's got other responsibilities anyway. I will make it through. I think we'll do fine if I and the one to whom I'm teaching the process now work together as a team. But enough about work.
About Ansel:
My kiddo is reading - more or less. There are lots of words he gets wrong and billions of really tricky words that will take him years to get, but still, he's READING. He read the majority of the Dr. Seuss book "Ten Apples Up on Top" to me a few weeks ago. It took about an hour at his slow pace, but to be fair, Dr. Seuss books are longer than most little kids' books should be. He's also gained a new-found interest in his old board books - the ones we read to him and let him chew up when he was barely even walking and talking. He likes them because they are short, he's familiar with them, and they typically have short words.
His drawing has gotten better recently, too. The things he's drawing now actually look more like what he says they are. If he wants to draw a flower, well, it looks like a flower. If he wants to draw a pirate ship, he draws a pirate ship with port holes, flags and people on board. It's pretty cool stuff to watch his artistic development.
Okay, I think that's all I can manage. That's actually a lot for a sleepy girl with two glasses of wine.