Long-lost Family and Friends Update

Hello, all, and welcome to my blog. I've decided that, instead of mass-emailing everyone about everything that's new with me, I would just post it in a blog and let those who want to read it, read it. Plus, it's WAY better than those stupid Christmas card letters! :)

What's new with me? Well, this depends largely on when the last time was that you spoke with or saw me! Some of you may already be in-the-know, some of you may not be. So, I'll just start where I damn well please, and if you want to know more, you can contact me.

I am working full-time at the same hospital that I've been employed at for nearly seven years. My title there is Patient Financial Counselor, although that really doesn't say much about my duties. In a nutshell, I "help" patients who are "financially challenged" or who don't have health insurance to pay for their services. I have implemented several charitable programs over the past two years that have helped many patients save thousands of dollars on their health care. I have also created a training presentation for current hospital staff (namely, those who are hands-on with the patients) to learn how to talk to patients about their financial situations while keeping the interests of the facility in tact. I am also an advocate for those patients who feel that the services they received were less than par. Some days I make the people happy, some days I make the employer happy. But hey, you can't please them all, right?

I recently began working part-time as a bartender for a local nightclub. As most of you know, I have bartended for a combined total of about 2 1/2 years, but gave it a rest over the past year. Now that I'm back in the action, I'm wondering why I ever quit! The money is great, the social atmosphere is most definitely my niche, and the friends I have made are wonderful!

In addition to working both full and part-time, I am also enrolled in college classes part-time. My major is Criminal Justice, with emphasis on investigations and criminology. I don't plan to become a police officer by any means! That type of work is NOT for me! My ultimate goal is to work for the ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Federal Agency) doing investigations. Since I will be starting out with a mere Associates Degree, I will most likely begin my work in the criminal justice field by becoming a probations/parole officer. That will be my foot in the door, so to speak, that will hopefully lead to bigger and better things! All of this will take alot of time, since I can only go to school part-time, but I am bound and determined to achieve my goal. (I know, I know, nearly 30 years old and I'm just now figuring out what I want to be. LOL)

In other news...

Most of you know that I have always had a love for animals, and throughout most of my life have had pets of every type. From cats to lizards, from dogs, to guinea pigs, I've had them! Feathered, furry, scaley, and slimy! Things aren't quite so chaotic on the pet front anymore. I have one dog, a pit-bull, named Malachai. He is my baby! I rescued him from the local humane society about a year and a half ago. His full story is not known, as he was found running along the side of a highway and brought to the humane society. He was already neutered and fully trained - he already knew all of the basic commands, such as "sit," "shake," and "no." The veterinarian who first examined him guessed his age (at the time) to be about two years old. He is extremely docile, very well-behaved, and scared of his own shadow! LOL He has a strange fear of men, for reasons that could be anyone's guess, but he's learning to get over that. He's learned how to trust the people that I show trust towards. He definitely knows that I am his master, but he also knows he can walk all over me if he gives me those puppy-dog eyes!

I also have one cat, a tortiseshell tabby named Zoe. She is about 4 years old, and truly believes that she is God's gift to this world! She may as well have been born with a tiara on her head, because she IS the princess! But she's a lover too, and I would do anything for her :)

That's it for the pets! No more... yet! I have been looking into getting a Ball Python (yes, please take a moment to cringe), but it will be long after I fully research and make sure that it's a pet for me!

My personal life is exciting and mellow at the same time. I have a great boyfriend, named Brennon. He is a full time EMT for Curtis Ambulance out of Milwaukee, WI, and he also volunteers part-time as a firefighter for the local fire department. He will be joining the police academy at the same school I'm attending in the spring semester, as he hopes to get into the corrections field soon. For fun, we like to watch a lot of movies, we both love to cook, and we like to hang out with friends. We share many of the same friends (which is how we met), so it's never akward to hang out in groups! He has a large family, much like myself. He has three siblings, two of which are twins. His father is a firefighter for another city, and Brennon recently decorated himself with a tattoo of the firefighting symbol along with the years that he and his father began their careers, respectively. Brennon is a wonderful person, who loves to tell stories about his experiences, and who loves to make people laugh! I hope you all get a chance to meet him soon!

As always, my friends are a HUGE part of my life. I have several friends who have been with me for years, as well as friends that come and go. My close friends are often my only "family" at times, because my family is so spread out. And they take on that duty with pride! I do it for them as well, and have even become a "mentor" for one particular friend of mine, who is my new roommate. Nichole is a recently-single mother of two girls, works as a CNA and a waitress, and often looks to me for help with living on her own for the first time. Not that I'm an expert, but I clearly have plenty of experience with being alone! We've really helped eachother get through some really tough times, and I'm grateful to have her in my life.

Some of you may remember that I embarked on a family history quest a couple of years ago. Thanks to the help of many family members as well as some distant relatives that I have met through research, I have sucessfully traced family lines back to the year 1330 A.D., and have over 4,000 ancestors in the entire tree!! Don't get me wrong - this is a never-ending project! I will continue to research lines where I've met a dead-end, and will hopefully pass this tree on to the next family historian (um, who's going to have children for me to pass this on to???). I still work on the genealogy research as much as I can, but with my busy schedule, I simply don't have much time to spend on it. Thankfully, my generous brother has funded much of the research by purchasing year-long subscriptions to Ancestry.com as Christmas gifts! This has helped tremendously, as well as other sources, in finding "lost" information about my ancestors!

Speaking of my brother, he got married in July to a woman who I am proud to call my sister! I am also the proud new "step-aunt" to three "kids." They're all adults, so I didn't even have to go through that "Aunt a.k.a. baby-sitter" stage! SWEET!

Ok, I suppose I should end this post now. It's quite long! Besides, I can't really think of anything else to write at the moment. HOWEVER, please check back to my blog regularly - I plan to update when ever the writing bug bites me!

Love to you all,

The Jester