It has been a long time since I wrote last. A lot has happened! School finally got out! It was a challenging year but I got through it. It felt as though I was trying to run up a mountain when I got back with the kids being behind by quite a bit. I found out through politics that no matter what happens throughout the year, it is still my name that gets the blame if the kids do not succeed. Oh well...no complaints, it's over for now!
Wiard Park has started. It has going well. I missed my first couple of days with the crew because my youngest sister got married and I was in Tacoma. Crest is still posing problems for us because of one thing after another. It would be a long entry if I tried to explain all that we have done and tried to do to get this system up and running. The crew seems to be working well together. It is killing me again to not be able to do everything. I would say my knee is about 60% up and running.
I am now riding my bike to work. I bought a nice Giant bike from Hutch's Bike Shop. I drive in the morning to the physical therapy office and from there, I ride to Wiard. One way is about 4.25 miles so round trip, I am riding about 8.5 miles. This comes out to 42 miles a week. That is pretty good!! My knee seems to be doing better and I enjoy the ride. I sometimes meet up with other employees and ride. The ride only totals about 20 minutes one way. That also means I am doing about 40 minutes of excersie per day! I actually look forward to the ride. I never thought I would. I also am saving gas which is much needed these days. Alicia also bought a bike so we can ride together after PT. We are both liking the ride. We plan on taking our bikes to Montana this year on vacation. It will get us out of the house and hopefully continue weight loss. I am trying hard to get into shape and get this knee ready for my return to the police department.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Winding Down
The school year is finally winding down. This has been a wild school year. With the injury to my knee, I lost a lot of ground with the kids this year so it feels like I am constantly trying to run up a mountain to get the students ready for tests and for 7th grade. I know my administrators know because we have discussed it. They were thinking that I wrote off teaching because I want to do law enforcement. I told them I love teaching and would still want to teach. I do plan on keeping my teaching credential current.
Crest project is done. We finished last week so I got to spend some time with my family finally. It felt really good to be around them. It felt like I hadn't seen them in months...oh wait...I hadn't seen them in months. It doesn't really matter now...CREST IS DONE!
I am going to try and do more with the police now. I still can't get into uniform but I will be able to work in an unmarked car and still carry a badge and gun. I will cordinate the events the reserves will be doing. It is still more paperwork but at least it is something.
My knee is doing much better. I had a doctor appointment last Thursday and it went really well. For physical therapy I will doing "work hardening." This means that it is more intesive therapy which is set up more for job oriented tasks. The past couple of sessions have been pushing my knee with more extreme exercises. I have been doing 10.5 minutes on the bike (intermiedate level) which is very tough. I have also been running on the treadmill, sliding on the slideboard (looks like I am a figure skater), and running on the eliptical. These I trade off throughout the week. It is very tiring. I also do 3 reps of 10 on the leg press to build my quad and calf muscles. I have consistantly increased the weight and right now, I am on 4.5 weights. I also do the stepper 2xs a week. I have also started doing "up-downs" at 6 inches to strengthen my knee so I can go up and down stairs without "flopping" down. We have also started doing "dots" where I do a ton of jumping in a pattern. I also have my exercises at home I do. This is all in order to help me pass the ORPAT. I hope I can do it by the end of the summer. Then I can begin applying for a job with the police department.
I think that is all the news since my last blog! Hope to write more!
Crest project is done. We finished last week so I got to spend some time with my family finally. It felt really good to be around them. It felt like I hadn't seen them in months...oh wait...I hadn't seen them in months. It doesn't really matter now...CREST IS DONE!
I am going to try and do more with the police now. I still can't get into uniform but I will be able to work in an unmarked car and still carry a badge and gun. I will cordinate the events the reserves will be doing. It is still more paperwork but at least it is something.
My knee is doing much better. I had a doctor appointment last Thursday and it went really well. For physical therapy I will doing "work hardening." This means that it is more intesive therapy which is set up more for job oriented tasks. The past couple of sessions have been pushing my knee with more extreme exercises. I have been doing 10.5 minutes on the bike (intermiedate level) which is very tough. I have also been running on the treadmill, sliding on the slideboard (looks like I am a figure skater), and running on the eliptical. These I trade off throughout the week. It is very tiring. I also do 3 reps of 10 on the leg press to build my quad and calf muscles. I have consistantly increased the weight and right now, I am on 4.5 weights. I also do the stepper 2xs a week. I have also started doing "up-downs" at 6 inches to strengthen my knee so I can go up and down stairs without "flopping" down. We have also started doing "dots" where I do a ton of jumping in a pattern. I also have my exercises at home I do. This is all in order to help me pass the ORPAT. I hope I can do it by the end of the summer. Then I can begin applying for a job with the police department.
I think that is all the news since my last blog! Hope to write more!
Monday, May 19, 2008
Almost Done
We are almost done with the project at Crest Park. I did a lot this evening and tomorrow I will have some help from another employee which should make it a lot easier. This project is killing me. I am just ready for it to be done and then I can get onto doing more police work.
I got my new holster today so I will be able to finish the backgrounds on Thursday. I need to get those done so my Sgt. doesn't think I am a slacker and someone he can count on. This is important beacause I would like to work for this department. I need to be dependable. I am hoping that this summer I will be able to do some things such as transport, escort, and other activities that allow me to be in uniform.
More to come later!
I got my new holster today so I will be able to finish the backgrounds on Thursday. I need to get those done so my Sgt. doesn't think I am a slacker and someone he can count on. This is important beacause I would like to work for this department. I need to be dependable. I am hoping that this summer I will be able to do some things such as transport, escort, and other activities that allow me to be in uniform.
More to come later!
Friday, May 16, 2008
Needing a break
I am just needing a break from work for a couple of days. The weekends seem to not last long enough so I think we should have more 3 day weekends. With all the jobs needing things and family needing attention, I feel like I am stretched a little too thin. It sucks because I want to do good at all jobs but because they are all demanding a lot of time I seem to only do partly well. I guess the question to ask is "what can you do?"
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Some tough times
These past couple of weeks of been really tough for me. I have a great family and wonderful friends who are getting me through all these times.
The students at school are getting a little crazy lately. They seem to think the year is over and they do not have to work or follow any rules. They are driving me crazy!! For some reason or another, the kids are making their lives harder. There are things they still get to do at the end of the year, however, I wonder if they will make it.
Work is also becoming more difficult. With the school asking more and more of the teachers with little incentive, I wonder how many teachers are going to be willing to stick it out. I love teaching and it hurts me to think that I might not be in the schools much longer. I will be making the swich to law enforcement as soon as my leg is better.
I need to be able to run and pass the physical exams for the PD. This does not mean only the KFPD but also other PDs in Oregon. Alicia and I have also discussed briefly moving to the coast. I would like to start here at the PD and become trained by these officers. Every time I hear the sirens blow by me or see the cars fly, it makes my stomach turn wanting to be in there helping in any way I can. AAAHHHHH! Ohh well....it will happen sooner than later.
Wiard is also taking a toll on me. The project at Crest was suppose to be done a few weeks ago and it continues to be an ongoing project. It is very frustrating when we only have a few people working on it. I am putting in a lot of hours trying to finish moving dirt back into the trenches. I am losing valuable time with my family and missing them tremendously. My wife has been raising our kids by herself with little help from me. I go to Mills at 7:00 and get home about 8:00. Those are 13 hour days 5 days a week. That is to much. I also have been trying to do more work at the PD to get back into the swing of things. I wish Wiard was done so I didn't have to work so hard there and I can spend more time with the police department and my family. After Crest is done, I am going to let my boss know I will not be working except for closing duty on Thursday.
Things always get better. It is said that He does not give us more than we can handle. I think this is a great test!!! Hopefully I will be able write more. I would like to write daily or at least every other day. Talk to you later!
The students at school are getting a little crazy lately. They seem to think the year is over and they do not have to work or follow any rules. They are driving me crazy!! For some reason or another, the kids are making their lives harder. There are things they still get to do at the end of the year, however, I wonder if they will make it.
Work is also becoming more difficult. With the school asking more and more of the teachers with little incentive, I wonder how many teachers are going to be willing to stick it out. I love teaching and it hurts me to think that I might not be in the schools much longer. I will be making the swich to law enforcement as soon as my leg is better.
I need to be able to run and pass the physical exams for the PD. This does not mean only the KFPD but also other PDs in Oregon. Alicia and I have also discussed briefly moving to the coast. I would like to start here at the PD and become trained by these officers. Every time I hear the sirens blow by me or see the cars fly, it makes my stomach turn wanting to be in there helping in any way I can. AAAHHHHH! Ohh well....it will happen sooner than later.
Wiard is also taking a toll on me. The project at Crest was suppose to be done a few weeks ago and it continues to be an ongoing project. It is very frustrating when we only have a few people working on it. I am putting in a lot of hours trying to finish moving dirt back into the trenches. I am losing valuable time with my family and missing them tremendously. My wife has been raising our kids by herself with little help from me. I go to Mills at 7:00 and get home about 8:00. Those are 13 hour days 5 days a week. That is to much. I also have been trying to do more work at the PD to get back into the swing of things. I wish Wiard was done so I didn't have to work so hard there and I can spend more time with the police department and my family. After Crest is done, I am going to let my boss know I will not be working except for closing duty on Thursday.
Things always get better. It is said that He does not give us more than we can handle. I think this is a great test!!! Hopefully I will be able write more. I would like to write daily or at least every other day. Talk to you later!
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Great Weekend
This last weekend was great! It started out with hanging out with the Macdonald family on Friday night. We love to be around them. They are great people and fabulous to our kids. If there is a silver lining with this whole knee thing, it has been getting to know Jeremy and Julie. They both were great to Alicia and I during the surgery and continue to be great friends. All of our kids love them and they are more family now than friends. Julie and Alicia talked websites and photography, while Jeremy and I played the wii. Pretty fun!
On Saturday, Alicia and I were invited by Eric (my physical therapist) and his wife to go to the Cowboy Dinner Tree in Silver Lake. We met at his house at 5:00 and went in the Lincoln Navigator limo. It was awsome. I think the limo could fit 20 people. We went with a few other couples and some singles as well. I think we left with 6 bottles of rum, 1 bottle of Yeager, a fifth of Black Velvet, another fifth of Pendeton, and beer. After the 2+ hours, we were very "happy." I say we but really it was everyone else but me. I got sick thanks to Norco and alcohol mix. That really sucked but it was good to be out with friends and hang out. We met some really cool people too! After dinner, we loaded back up and went back to Klamath. Alicia and the girls went to Waldos to continue the party while I went back to Eric's house and hung out until the girls got back. Then we went home about 2AM. I found out that I really am not as young as I use to be. I use to be able to work on 4-6 hours of sleep a night and funtion. Now, if I don't get a minimum of 7-9, my whole week is shot. I woke up this morning so tired. I took a small nap (it would have been longer had Emalie not woke me up) and took the afternoon off.
I would have to say that I needed this weekend even though I did not sleep very much! I love spending time with my wife and being around friends. The limo was a probably a once in a lifetime experience and we definitly made the best of that time.
On Saturday, Alicia and I were invited by Eric (my physical therapist) and his wife to go to the Cowboy Dinner Tree in Silver Lake. We met at his house at 5:00 and went in the Lincoln Navigator limo. It was awsome. I think the limo could fit 20 people. We went with a few other couples and some singles as well. I think we left with 6 bottles of rum, 1 bottle of Yeager, a fifth of Black Velvet, another fifth of Pendeton, and beer. After the 2+ hours, we were very "happy." I say we but really it was everyone else but me. I got sick thanks to Norco and alcohol mix. That really sucked but it was good to be out with friends and hang out. We met some really cool people too! After dinner, we loaded back up and went back to Klamath. Alicia and the girls went to Waldos to continue the party while I went back to Eric's house and hung out until the girls got back. Then we went home about 2AM. I found out that I really am not as young as I use to be. I use to be able to work on 4-6 hours of sleep a night and funtion. Now, if I don't get a minimum of 7-9, my whole week is shot. I woke up this morning so tired. I took a small nap (it would have been longer had Emalie not woke me up) and took the afternoon off.
I would have to say that I needed this weekend even though I did not sleep very much! I love spending time with my wife and being around friends. The limo was a probably a once in a lifetime experience and we definitly made the best of that time.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
After surgery
It has been awhile again since I have written. On Tuesday I went to the hospital to have my knee scoped. The doctor was going to look and see if there was any minescus damage, clean scar tissue, and manipulate it while asleep. I was lucky on this surgery. While in surgery, we found that there was no minescus damage and he did not have to manipulate it!! This is great news. He did tell me he took out a lot of scar tissue. This means that recovery is not going to be prolonged at this point! I thank God for his help in my healing!! Thanks to all those people praying for me as well and keeping my family and I in their thoughts!
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