Long time no write

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.

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!

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!

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?"

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!

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.

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!

It's been awhile

I have not written in a while and a lot has happened. The story starts before Spring Break. At my doctors appointment on the Thursday before, I was told that he would go in and scope the knee. The doctor is a little worried with the popping sound because it is not a consistant pop. He thinks it might be minescus damage. If that is the case and he has to repair it, I will be non weight bearing for another 4 weeks and will be set back another couple of months. I know it is not his fault but man, I want this to be over.

During Spring Break I worked at Wiard putting in a sprinkler system at Crest Park. We had a large crew working with us and the excitment was overwhelming. We were all ready to put this system in. I think it is because most of the crew saw it grow from a piece of paper and now it is a reality. We ran into problems the very first day. The equipment we rented ended up not working and put us behind. Then we got new equipment and it also was not working well. We were 2 days behind by Wednesday. To add insult to injury, we also were dealing with freezing temperatures. Our faces were all wind burnt and hands were cold. We still stuck it out and worked together. We did not finish even the main line but we were able to continue to work and stay busy. One more thing went wrong, I looked at the bid and the supply list and I under ordered the pipe. I had to sit for a couple hours and try to figure out where I went wrong. I ended up having to order more pipe which added another 3200 dollars to the project. This was huge because the board only approved the budget for the project to not exceed 11,000 dollars and the pipe set us over. My boss had to get a hold of board members and tell them what happened and get a census over the phone in order to get the rest of the money. I have a feeling I will be answering for that in the next meeting. I just can't believe I did not catch the mistake before then. Oh well!

The weekend was much needed. I had to work for a few hours on Saturday to try and make up some time that we lost because of the equipment problems. After I got home, Alicia and I dropped off our kids with my parents and headed to Medford for a mini vacation. This was nice because I needed some of the relax time and we were also able to spend quality time together. We went to Costco first and got stuff for the house and we then ended up looking for a hotel. We decided on the Shilo which ended up being horrible. This was by far the worst Shilo I have ever been in. The first room that we went to had hair in the bed and almost made us both puke. We got another room and then headed for dinner; we did this at the Red Robin. We then went to Circuit City where Alicia was able to get some supplies for her camera. Then off to the hotel to sit in the hot tub. The hot tub was being used by a family with kids so we decided to try the sauna and steam room. When we finally went into the hot tub, the water was the temperature of a bath that a 1 year old would enjoy. It was not warm at all...very disappointing!!! Then of to bed (or grown up time :-) ). On Sunday we met up with a friend who just had twins 7 weeks early so the babies were in the NICU in Medford. We were able to see the babies and Alicia held one of them. I sat outside because they were really tiny! Afterwards, we took the parents out to dinner at the Olive Garden and then headed back to Klamath to get a good nights sleep.

I guess I can't complain to much about the week. I found out that my sugery is set up for April 8th so I am taking the 8th and 9th off. I hope and pray that the doctor can get my knee up and running so I can begin my career in law enforcement sooner rather than later!

WHOA!!!

My knee is feeling better and I am able to do more things. We went out to celebrate because my therapist put me on the eliptical and told me this was the first step to running. I also got ahold of the LT and he informed me that I could go in and work at the PD and run calls. This would help and free up the regulars from those calls. He is still going to talk to the chief about getting me on the list by using my last ORPAT score. Things are still moving in a positive direction. Alicia continues to be very supportive of this change and is looking forward to it.

Ashlie ended up getting sick this week. She is struggling to breath because her little nose is so stuffed up. She went to the Dr on Friday after school and we were told she has the crud that everyone else it Klamath has. She also might have RSV which sucks because our family friend just got over it. She kept me up Friday night (I got about 3 hours of sleep) and spent the night my parents on Saturday night. That was a great break. She is still sounding horrible.

This week is going to be a good week. I see my doctor on Thursday and it should go really well.

In the Lemieux house

What a week. A lot when on over the past few days. With a lot of prayer and talking to friends, I have made the decision to pursue a career in law enforcement. Of course this means I will will have to wait until this darn knee heals up. I spoke with some cop buddies and they all agreed that I would be a very good cop. I also spoke to some of my teacher buddies and they stated similar thoughts. I really enjoy police work and I also enjoy teaching but I think it is time to try the next phase in my life. Alicia has been very supportive and "almost" looks forward to the change in career.

My goal now is to continue teaching until I am able to test either in Klamath or the Bend area. I am hoping to get Klamath because I love the department here. I know many good cops and would like to be apart of a wonderful group of people. I would also like the move to the Bend area because my wife and I both agree that it is a gorgeous area that is not to far from family.

Of course it is going to take a lot of work to make this happen. I need to get strengthen my knee and leg before I can even attempt the change. I will also need to really begin to market myself. I know that it will all work out because with a lot of prayer, God has made my heart so excited about the change. It will be hard on the family for about 4 months because of the acadamy. There is also the fact that I will no longer have my summers "off." I put this in quotes because as of right now I do not have my summers off while working at Wiard Park. I will also have to spend a couple of years working holidays because officers with more senority will ask ofr those off. But I believe within time, I will be able to get to have my holidays off too!

Afterwards, there will be FTOs but regular shifts and then probation periods. Then the goal of becoming a full time cop will be complete. I will be working very closely with my doctor and physical therapist in order to accomplish my dream.

I will miss my Mills family. They are great people and talented teachers. I will miss 2 people in that building the most, Jeremy and Sandy. Of course, we will be in touch but it won't be the same as seening them daily. Life sure throws some changes, doesn't it! With God leading my life, there is no way any of this is the wrong decision.

Lack of sleep and the knee

Today has been a harder day for my knee. It probably has something to do with the lack of sleep and a very intense PT session that worked my knee really hard.

I had a horrible time trying to go to sleep last night. I fell asleep for about 20 minutes and woke up. There was a movie Alicia turned on called "Dirty." It was about 2 corrupt cops. It was a not good movie but was unable to turn it off or go to sleep with it on. I just laid there and tried to fall asleep which did not work. I ended up taking the puppies outside a couple times (just to be sure they would not go in their crate). I also brought Ashlie into bed with us and all she did was twist and turn all night. I finally took her back to her bed and looked at the clock. It said it was 1:20. All I could think about as I finally drifted to bed was I had to wake up in 4 hours.

I woke up this morning to a very sore knee. I was unable to walk on it without a large limp. I limp on the knee now but this was a big limp. I looked over at my wife and she was just sleeping away (she slept for at least 8 hours). I went in to take a hot shower and try to loosen up my knee. I ran out of hot water before I was ready and when I got out, my beautiful bride was still in bed. She did get up to wake Bug up but nonetheless, still in bed. I hobbled back into the bathroom and got ready for the day.

All day I was on my feet. I know that if you ask Kelley (my administrator) she would probably disagree because she walked in while I was on the computer making a "pop quiz" for math. I got done with school and went to the park to feed the ducks. I ended up carrying Ashlie around which added another 20 some pounds to the knee. Then off to my parents for dinner. Got home and man this knee is sore. Now I am ready to go to bed because with the sore knee and lack of sleep, there is nothing that sounds better now.

Kids and Puppies

What is the deal with kids and puppies. I was sitting here this evening watching my middle child and she was wanting to play but cannot get the concept of holding them a certain way. With the puppies being chocolate labs, we are lucky they are good family dogs. They love Emalie and the runt, Bella, is extremely good with Emalie and her constant need to pack her around. The puppies are also very good with Ashlie and Kaelie. Kaelie does not pay them much attention but Ashlie loves to try and play with them until they put her fingers in their mouth. We are teaching the kids to say "no bite."

I have much to think about these days. I have been very fortunate to have a very caring and loving wife. We might be thinking career change and it is quite the decision. I also have great friends to rely on as well. Jeremy and Sandy have been great to talk to about decisions. I thank God for all these people in my life that are able to help with decision whether short term or long term.

Traveling with Kids

Holy crap!! We went to Eugene/Springfield to hang out with family. We had a wonderful time with our friends/family. There was no downside to anything except riding in the car with 3 tired kids. This was the hardest part of the day!! Good trip though!