Hi, welcome to Gma’sPhoto November Highlights!
The huge highlight for November was making a career change. It’s Official is the post I explained my fears and wonderful moments.
Becoming an official student delivery specialist.
The new career perk:
Lunch Date with my grand girls.
My new work family.
Having a meal with Brynlee at the school luncheon.
Watching Brynlee (the one wearing pink shoes) play basketball. This is her first year.
Take Care. Best wishes, Debra
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Hello. Yes, it’s official; I am a certified Student Delivery Specialist! I am thrilled to be able to pick up and deliver students to and from school 🙂 Today’s post will be rather lengthy, bear with me.
The past 10 weeks has been a bit fearful and wonderful. That’s right. You may wonder how it can be both at the same time. Let me explain.
I honestly thought career wise I was working where I would retire. My husband plans on retiring a second time in 3 years and I would like to retire as well. I, on the other hand, will need to wait 5 years. Insurance is a huge consideration. Sixty five is the magic number for me to be able to receive/qualify for Medicare. Working from home for a company that contracted with the state for childcare is not an easy job, very stressful. I kept saying I wish I could work part time. One day while driving past the school there was this huge sign posted, bus drivers needed.
That’s all it took. I called and inquired. Benefits included: Part-time; Major medical premiums paid; Holidays and Summer off; a Pay raise and a Company vehicle. I applied and got the job. All I needed to do was a Dept of Transportation physical and of course get a CDL. If you are interested, here is the online handbook I needed to study and then pass a written test.
First was the physical. One of the questions asked was about sleep. Of course I admitted to having a CPAP machine. Keep in mind I had not been using it. During my exam, the practitioner stated I would need to provide at least a three month report of CPAP usage. From the appointment date, three months would be middle November. A blow to my plans. So I asked the director of transportation (my boss) if I could do something while I worked on the required report. Her answer was absolutely. I actually began working for the school district as a para for the special ed buses. With this information, I provided my two week notice to the childcare employment. This is when the ‘fear’ factor presented itself.
Instead of being paid every other week, it would be once monthly. My first check would only be two weeks. That’s spooky in itself! My husband was very supportive and we worked that through. Then I had to study for the test. At this time I was studying on my own for the permit. The written text consisted of a general test, passenger test and then school bus test. Each test could be taken for a total of 4 times. If you could not pass, then you would need to wait six months to take the test again. It took me four times to pass the general test. The first three was taken at the Lawrence drivers license office. My trainer helped me study and instructed me to go to the Topeka office, requesting a written test. The other times it was done on a computer and I thought if I skipped a question it was an automatic wrong mark. The test was 50 questions and could not miss more than 10. Each time the test was different and I had missed 11. The day came for me to take the test for the fourth time. I was very anxious. Took the general test and passed, only missing two questions. Took the next two and passed them the first time.
The next few weeks I was preparing for the skills test. This included knowing the vehicle under the hood and the inside and outside of the bus, motor parts and light functions. After mastering backing the bus, pulling forward, parallel parking and demonstrating what to do when picking/dropping students off at bus stops, when approaching train tracks and a few other situations, it was time to go for the skills test. Luckily the lady who assisted me the day of my written tests was the one who was my skills examiner.
The wonderful. I work part time. This has been so amazing! I actually felt a bit guilty for not working more. There will be times when I will drive field trips, like the one coming up on Dec 7th. It’s a Saturday, I will be taking the wrestling team to a meet. It will be a full day and the whole day I will get paid 🙂 My boss said end of February, March and April there will be many field trips for all three schools, grade, middle and high school. For now I am wanting to take the extra trips. When Kevin does retire, then I will go back to just the 20 hours. I am a social butterfly and the human interactions is important to me.
This week there is no school Nov 24-29. I have never had this much time off for Thanksgiving! The downside, students have had the cold and pneumonia and I now have the cold. It’s been nice hanging out at home, eating chicken noodle soup and watching movies. Our Thanksgiving with the family will be Saturday. I should be over my cold by then.
After driving the students for the past two weeks, I can tell you stories of what happens on the bus routes. Parents beware, your kid may be a little angel at home but………
👼
I absolutely love being a Student Delivery Specialist. The kids are angels. Just keep in mind if they come home and tell you a story about the bus driver doing a break check, it’s not a break check! They do not see everything the driver sees. I drive many country gravel roads and it’s deer rutting season. 🙂
Take Care. Best wishes, Debra
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Hi, welcome to Gma’sPhoto! I am changing my One Sentence a Day to the month’s Highlights. October is probably my most favorite month of the year. I’m eager to share these moments with you!
Now that I have passed the general Commercial Drivers License (CDL) test and have my CDL permit, I actually get to drive the bus.
Sharing same no school days with the grand girls. Many of our days off match up and I am so excited. October 17 and 18 were such days! We went to the zoo, picked up Brynlee’s eyeglasses and went rock hunting.
Take Care. Best wishes, Debra
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Hi, it’s September. Just 3 months until Christmas. But first Autumn!
01. Sunday. I really enjoy this season. The first sign of Autumn was just this morning, the fog. This image was taken while I was on my way to the grocery store. Erika and her family will be coming over to spend the day with me and Kevin!
02. Monday. I delivered the senior session images to Cresinda.
03. Tuesday. Worked my last day with the Kansas child support services.
04. Wednesday. My first day working for the school district! What a day it was. The bus would not start in the morning. Jumped the bus and still did not start. Ended up the bus needed a new battery.
05. Thursday. Getting up at 4:30 am comes pretty quick!
06. Friday. Getting up at 4:30 am is not the best part of this new job.
07. Saturday. Slept in till 7:00 am. Took a nap, much needed.
08. Sunday. Kevin surprised me once again. Went to morning mass!
09. Monday. This is my first full week working at the school district.
10. Tuesday. Went to my brother in law’s mother’s service. Living in a small town, everyone knows everyone. Her service was packed with many of her family and dear friends.
11. Wednesday. Stayed up much too late last evening. Overslept, not good. Had to rush to work. All good, but still got my heart racing.
12. Thursday. Still settling into my new daily routine, I came home and did some housework. Now that I am working part time, there should be no reason for my house not to be clean. 🙂
13. Friday. Oh boy, Friday the thirteenth. A high schooler ran into the bus I was riding on this morning’s route. The student was fine. Car a bit dinged. Bus ok, nothing.
14. Saturday. Spent the afternoon with my parents. Erika and her family was there too. Kentucky Fried Chicken was on the menu for dinner!
15. Sunday. On the drive home, stopped by the Grinter’s Sunflower Farm. This is really growing. Not so much the fields of flowers but the farmer’s wife opened a general store a couple years ago and the place was a hoppin’ place today.
16. Monday. The library was having an Adult Crafting Night. I went and painted some rocks!
17. Tuesday. Returned to the library to fax some paperwork needed for Adam’s insurance.
18. Wednesday. Drove into Lawrence for Bible Study and to fill Adam’s pillbox. Wednesday is early release for the school kids. Needed to get back to the bus so the Lawrence trip was a quickie.
19. Thursday. Finally, some rain. Craved ice cream. So I made myself a frozen cherry smoothie!
20. Friday. At the school there is a large transportation break room. Nice. Spent the time between morning route and afternoon route there.
21. Saturday. Kevin took me to Ashli’s Family Diner for breakfast. Pancakes sounded good. The only option on the menu was the ‘giant pancake’. The waitress asked me if I wanted the ‘giant’ pancake. Sure!
22. Sunday. Kevin and I went to church, early mass. Went to Lawrence to fill Adam’s pillbox. Bought groceries. Spent the afternoon at home. Watched the Chiefs play football in the evening. Go Chiefs!! Chiefs won.
23. Monday. A fellow bus driver called in sick. Her route was split between two other buses. I was on one of those and was able to get in some additional hours.
24. Tuesday. Studying for the written CDL test. Getting anxious.
25. Wednesday. Attended a defensive driving class. Was shown how to park in a parking space correctly. Learned other useful tips/information.
26. Thursday. Completed the defensive driving class and received my certificate. Supposedly I can provide this to my insurance company and possibly get a discount on the rate. We will see.
27. Friday. I passed the written CDL test. Next I will be training on a real bus, the driving part 🙂
28. Saturday. I was tired. Passing the CDL test was really stressful. More stressful than I had realized.
29. Sunday. Kevin and I went to Sunday Mass. This is becoming our new Sunday norm! Watched the Chiefs play.
30. Monday. Between the morning route and afternoon run, I went into Lawrence to visit with my folks. Also filled Adam’s pillbox. On my drive thru Lawrence, I had happened to see this wreck. Pretty scary. All involved seemed to be okay, out of vehicles and standing waiting for the emergency personnel.
September went way too quick. Looking forward to October. The leaves will be changing colors and the weather getting cooler. Sweater weather 🙂
Take Care. Best wishes, Debra
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Hi, welcome to Gma’sPhoto! August did not start favorably. The stomach bug landed and hit me hard. I was out from work Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I am now on the mends and back to my regular schedule and activities.
01. Thursday. Went to see the doctor. Wanted to make sure I had the stomach bug and not more to do with my Crohn’s. Needed note to return to work.
02. Friday. Back to work.
03. Saturday. Met my daughter for a brief moment before she left for a Branson, MO vacation. Drove into Lawrence to meet my son and do grocery shopping. Studying for my CDL. This will be a fun story. I will post about this later.
04. Sunday. Took a nap. Felt good to catch up on much needed rest.
05. Monday. Long day Monday.
06. Tuesday. Took the day off from work to attend a meeting for the school bus position. Safety meeting and CPR class.
07. Wednesday. Back to work.
08. Thursday. Work day was good. Virtual walk in the evening with Linda.
09. Friday. Prepping cameral for Saturday’s photo session with Cresinda.
10. Saturday. Had a wonderful time taking senior portraits!
11. Sunday.
12. Monday. Contacted HR and my first day to report to my new position will be Sept 4th.
13. Tuesday. Typically work day.
14. Wednesday. Had my DOT physical. All went good except one minor thing, CPAP and the lack of use.
15. Thursday.
16. Friday. I have not given my two weeks yet. Wanted to see how PTO not used would be paid out. I will need to use it. Monday, I will put in for the time off, then give the notice once time is approved!
17. Saturday. Lunch date with Cris. We meet half way at Legends. It’s a mall, not the typical mall you would think of. All the stores are outside. Let me clarify that. Imagine you are in the mall and you are standing in the center in front of each store. That area I would describe a huge hall between the two rows of stores. Well, at Legends that hall is outside. The stores are buildings but once you leave a store you go outside to the next store. Each store is connected like in a typical mall. We ate lunch and then shopped!
18. Sunday.
19. Monday. Put in my request for days off. I will need to take the time off or loose my paid PTO time.
20. Tuesday. Turned in my two week’s notice 🙂
21. Wednesday. Work as usual and virtual walk with Linda.
22. Thursday. Dinner and movie night at the Tonganoxie library. I had fun last year and did not want to miss seeing Elvis this year!
23. Friday. A night at Starlight watching Westside Story! The time I was invited to see Little Mermaid inspired me to want to come back to Starlight. Knowing Kevin wouldn’t be interested, I invited Linda to go with me.
24. Saturday. Spent the day working on Cresinda’s senior images. Downloading to computer and editing.
25. Sunday. We went to church! I was so excited about this. Last night, Kevin, asked if I want to go to church. Yes, I said. The sermon was for me. Amazing. The Good Lord knew I needed to hear it!
26. Monday. My last week of working for child care. 🙂
27. Tuesday. Went in to take the CDL test. That did not go as planned. I will need to retake the test.
28. Wednesday. Busy day at work.
29. Thursday. Another busy day at work.
30. Friday. Spent the night over at my folks house. Dad went on a motorcycle trip to Springfield, IL to see motorcycle races. Mom and I binge watched the YellowStone marathon.
31. Saturday. Ended up staying a second night with my mom, still watching YellowStone!
Once again another month has come and gone. There’s not time for regrets. Looking forward to September!
Take Care. Best wishes, Debra
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Hi, welcome to Gma’s Photo. Another month has come and gone. One of my photo memories that popped up on my phone is the featured image I selected for this post. It really doesn’t have anything to do with July, however- I found it funny. I wanted to share a funny! Seems each month goes faster than the last. In five, we will be preparing for Christmas. Image that! For now, I will concentrate on what I did in July. Here is my one line a day for July.
01. Monday. Linda is busy with her firework stands. Our virtual walk is postponed until after the firework season has ended.
02. Tuesday. Making a list of things needing to do before the party.
03. Wednesday. I miss my virtual walks with Linda.
04. Dinner and movie night with Adam. Lots of people shooting fireworks! Adam’s little dog, Illi, did not like the sounds throughout the night.
05. I took the day off from work. Went to the hospital for the Prolia shot. Spent the rest of the day getting ready for our July Summer Party!
06. Kevin made pulled pork. We asked our guest to bring a side dish. So many delicious foods were brought. My sister in law wanted a sibling picture. This is Kevin’s parents and siblings.
07. Drove Adam home after breakfast. Once home worked on the blog and went to bed early.
08. Back to work. Busy day after holiday weekend. Washed Dixie, our Australian Shepard. She had an encounter with a little white striped kitty. 🤭
09.
10. Dinner and Movie night with Adam. For dinner we had some left over pulled pork. Oh so delicious!
11. I sure enjoy my frozen dark sweet cherries with low fat vanilla yogurt!
12. Went with Erika and her family to see the Little Mermaid musical at Starlight Theatre.
13. Had a sleep in morning. Worked on my blog. Took a nap. Watching the news and seen Donald Trump assassination attempt. Scary.
14. Went apartment hunting with Adam.
15. It’s Monday again. Linda and I are back to our virtual walking!
16. Tuesday. I didn’t realize just how much I enjoy walking with Linda.
17. Wednesday. Movie and Dinner night with Adam.
18. Thursday. Typical day at work.
19. TGIF! The best time of the weekend is 5.30pm. I have the whole weekend ahead of me!
20. Saturday. Mom asked that I drive her and dad to his appointment Monday morning. I had to get the details of Monday and make arrangements for work.
21. Sunday. Spent the night at my folks house. Wanted to be there in plenty of time on Monday morning. Had a wonderful visit with my parents.
22. Monday. Went with my parents in the morning. Dad had a colonoscopy scheduled and I was the designated driver. All was good. Amen!
23. Tuesday. Kevin’s 59th Birthday!
24. Wednesday. Virtual walk with Linda.
25. Thursday. Dinner and movie night with Adam. I have no idea what to have for dinner. We have lots of tomatoes from the garden. A salad is sounding perfect! Movie, Land of Bad. Not a family movie, but I must admit a good watch.
26. Friday. Our 38th anniversary. Took the day off as a vacation day. Kevin is cutting hay this weekend before the next round of rain. Next week is supposed to be hot and will need to get the hay put up before it burns. For lunch a repeat of dinner last night.
27. Saturday, I am bored. Have you ever had one of these days? I did a Google search for events in my area. This is what I found. On my way to check it out!
28. Sunday. Spent the evening in the ER. Kevin had been working out in the pasture. He had come to the gate, parked the tractor. He had gotten out of the tractor to open the gate. He heard a popping sound. That is when the tractor advanced, pinned him between the tractor and barbed wire fence. The hedge post kept the tractor from possibly breaking a rib or several. So with the cut from the barbed wire on his arm, Kevin was very lucky. 13 stitches later he is sleeping.
29. Monday. Work as usual. Felt tired all day.
30. Tuesday. Woke up with a really bad stomach ache. Held the throne with the trash can between my knees very royal like.
31. Wednesday, Another day with the stomach bug.
It’s now August 1st and I am still not feeling the best. Called in sick and have a doctor’s appointment for follow up. I just want to make sure the ‘bug’ is not more to do with my Crohn’s.
I am ready for a healthier August!
Take Care. Best wishes, Debra
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