Monday is Here!

 

Making the Most of a Monday ❤️

Good morning, friends!

Well, here we are again. Monday. Somehow Monday always seems to get a bad reputation before it even gets started. I think sometimes we let the thought of Monday overwhelm us before we even give the day a chance.

So yesterday morning, I decided I wasn’t going to do that.

I told myself that I was going to make Monday the best day I could, even knowing it was probably going to be a busy one at the call center. And with the holidays getting closer, I knew our members were probably going to be especially concerned about their money.

Our bank draft members have their billing taken on Fridays or Mondays, and this time of year, I completely understand why people want to hang on to every dollar they can. Christmas is coming, expenses are piling up, and sometimes people are dealing with circumstances that have nothing to do with the holidays at all.

Some have lost a spouse. Some have lost a job. Some are simply struggling financially or dealing with a personal hardship.

I understand that.

And that’s where I have really been trying to remind myself of what my job is. My job is to save my members, but I don’t want to be that pushy person on the other end of the phone. That’s just not who I am.

Instead, I want to help them understand the value of their membership and the benefits they have. Sometimes that means moving their billing date out. Sometimes it means sending them information about their benefits so they can look everything over. Sometimes it means taking a little extra time to explain exactly what their membership covers.

And sometimes it simply means listening.

Yesterday, I laughed with some members. I experienced some of their sadness with them. I listened to their concerns and tried to help however I could.

I really felt like I gave it my very best.

And when I left work at 3:30, I had 15 total saves! 🎉

Most of them felt like really good saves to me, too. Not just numbers on a scoreboard, but people who I felt like I had genuinely helped.

That made me feel pretty good about what I do.

Not every phone call is an easy one. In fact, some of them are downright difficult, especially when someone is dealing with a personal hardship. But I think yesterday reminded me that I don’t have to be pushy to be good at my job. I just need to listen, explain, help, and not give up too quickly.

And apparently, Monday and I got along just fine. 😊

Dinner and Making Memories

After work, Mr. C. and I headed out for dinner with Brody, Savannah, Lane, Landon, Sophie, Alisha, Elizabeth and Charles at Tequila Plata Mexican Restaurant.

It was one of those completely random little plans that just happens, but honestly, I love things like that.

We were simply getting together for dinner, visiting, laughing, and spending some time together. But I think those are the moments that become memories.

Especially for Mr.C. and his grandchildren.

I feel very blessed that we are able to do things like this together. I know there are so many families struggling financially right now, and I don’t ever want to take for granted the fact that we can occasionally go out, enjoy a meal, and make memories together.

And let’s talk about the food because… YUM! 🌮

I would definitely go back.

There were a few little hiccups with the service. Mr.C’s  meal was supposed to come with beans and rice according to the menu, but they didn’t come with his meal. I also ordered a small queso that never made it to the table. And I wouldn’t say the service was the friendliest I’ve ever experienced.

But you know what?

I can work around that.

The food was delicious, the prices were good, and they had a ton of choices. And I even got myself a margarita. 🍹

If you know me, you know I am a margarita girl, so that definitely made me happy!

We visited, laughed, ate, and enjoyed being together. The boys behaved themselves, Sophie was her adorable little self, and eventually it was time to head home, get ready for bed, and call it a night.

And honestly, when I think back over the whole day, I have to say it was a good day.

A productive day.n

A day where I worked hard, helped people, spent time with family, enjoyed a good meal, drank a margarita, and made a few memories along the way.

What more could I ask for from a Monday?

So maybe that’s my little reminder for today: Don’t let Monday decide what kind of day you’re going to have.

Sometimes we just have to decide for ourselves.

I hope your Monday was as blessed as mine was. ❤️

And if you drop a comment below, I’d love to know…

What did you have for dinner on your busy Monday?

Thank you so much for stopping by and reading my little corner of the internet. It truly means a lot to me that you take the time to peek in and see what I’ve been up to.

Until next time…

Cheers,
Karen ❤️🌮

Getting closer to Surgery

A Little Rain, A New Printer & One Day Closer

Hello everyone! It is Wednesday, October 14th, and I am on my way to work on this beautiful, rainy morning.

Well… I say rainy morning, but it actually only rained for about three minutes. 😂 It had just started raining when I left, and I knew we were supposed to get some, but I honestly thought it had gone around us. Other areas of Oklahoma got quite a bit of rain last night. Elk City got around six inches! Meanwhile, we barely got a drop here.

And let me tell you, we need it. We have been so dry for months, so I’ll gladly take whatever rain Mother Nature wants to send our way.

My New Printer Has Been Getting a Workout

As you may remember, I recently ordered myself an HP Smart Tank 6000 series printer, and I have to say… I LOVE IT!

I cannot even tell you how much I have been printing lately.

I’ve been printing stickers that I am fussy cutting, along with all kinds of fun stationery and journal goodies from the Stationery Corner Facebook group I’m in. There are so many talented ladies in that group who generously share their creations, and I am having a blast using them in my journals.

I’ve mainly been using everything I print for my journaling, and I recently started a new journal swap that begins in November. I’ve already started filling in some of the pages and gluing a few things together, so I’ll have plenty of places to use all these fun little stickers and embellishments.

I just ordered a pack of letter-size sticker paper, and I’ve probably already used half of it.

Twenty sheets.

Gone.

😂

No complaints here!

And let me just say… when people tell you that you get what you pay for, sometimes they are absolutely right. I went back and forth about buying a more expensive printer versus buying one of those $40 printers that I like to call a “throwaway printer.”

I decided to spend a little more, and I’m so glad I did.

The print quality is fantastic, and being able to print my own stickers, journal pages, and other crafty things whenever I want has been wonderful.

I’ve been reading reviews about the HP 32-pound paper, too, and apparently the heavier paper can help with ink bleeding through. So I’ll probably be ordering some of that soon.

And then I discovered they even make sticker paper in different colors!

Well, apparently my printer has officially opened the door to a whole new level of crafting. 😂

I’m also hoping that, once I’m feeling better, I can print a couple of pictures I have of Kendall and see how they turn out. I’m curious to see just how good the photo quality is.

One Day Closer to Surgery

And then there is the other thing occupying a pretty big chunk of my brain right now… my surgery.

Unum called me yesterday, and I may have mentioned that in yesterday’s post. The person who will be helping take care of me throughout this journey is April.

She was very nice, and we had a good little conversation. She told me that if I have any questions, I can call her, and of course I can also send questions through my patient portal.

She also mentioned that if I end up needing a hysterectomy, she would be the person working with me through that process as well.

But we’re not going there yet.

For now, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the D&C gives us the answers we need, that the test results come back negative for cancer, and that Karen will be good to go.

That’s the plan.

That’s what I’m hoping for.

And I’m choosing to focus on that.

I will admit, I was not expecting my out-of-pocket expense to be around $3,500. That’s a pretty big number to suddenly add to the budget.

But sometimes you just have to do what you have to do.

At first, I thought maybe I would spread the payments out over a year and a half or even two years. But honestly? I don’t want to do that.

I’d rather tighten up the budget and work really hard to get it paid off in about eight months if I can.

I’d much rather be extra budget-conscious for eight months and get that bill marked PAID than have it hanging over my head for years.

So I may do a little number crunching today and see exactly where I’m at and what I can realistically put toward it.

I originally told the hospital I was probably going to put $300 down, but I’m thinking I may try to put a little more down if I can. Every little bit will help.

A Much Better Wednesday

The good news is that I’m in a much better place mentally today.

Yesterday was just one of those days. I was grumpy, stressed, and probably making myself even more stressed because I was stressed. Does that even make sense?

Sometimes we do that to ourselves.

Today, though, I’m looking at things a little differently.

I just have to get through today.

That’s it.

Get through Wednesday, go home, and then I have several days off to recover.

So far, I think the hardest part of this entire surgery journey has actually been the paperwork, phone calls, figuring everything out, and trying to get all the little details taken care of.

The actual surgery hasn’t even happened yet, and I’ve already completed enough paperwork to qualify for a small degree. 😂

I also called my BFF, Cherrie, yesterday to ask if she had been able to take off work on the 15th for my surgery.

When she started talking, I could tell she hadn’t quite processed that the 15th was basically here.

I had called her Tuesday.

I’m like, “Girl… we have Wednesday and then surgery!”

And she’s like, “Oh my goodness!”

That girl works way too much. She’s working six days a week and doing everything she can to keep her head above water.

My friend Nancy even stated she would take me if needed. But she has her hands completely full with her autistic son Liam.

Thankfully, Mr. C and I had already talked about everything. He told me that as long as my surgery was in Duncan, Oklahoma, he didn’t mind taking me.

So I’ve got that covered.

And now I’m just ready to get through today.

Tomorrow is surgery day.

Today is work day.

And after that, it’s time to rest, recover, and hopefully get some answers.

One day at a time.

That’s all I can do.

And honestly, that’s enough.

Send good vibes and prayers my way!

Karen❤️

Zero buy at Hobby Lobby

 

A Monday at Work, a Hobby Lobby Adventure & a Purse Left at Home

Well, Monday is officially in the books!

For a Monday, I will say that it wasn’t overly crazy at work. Since the banks and post office were closed, I honestly think a lot of people assumed we were closed too. We didn’t have nearly as many callers needing assistance as we normally would on a Monday.

I ended up saving six people yesterday.

Now, my daily goal is twelve saves, so technically, I did not have a stellar day. But if I’m being completely honest, my mind just wasn’t really in the game.

My surgery is coming up Thursday, and while I don’t want to say I’m scared, I will admit that I’m a little nervous about it. I’ve been trying to stay positive, pray about it, and remind myself that it is a relatively short procedure. From what I’ve been told, the surgery itself probably won’t last more than ten or fifteen minutes.

I’ve also been getting quite a few calls from the hospital doing all the pre-check-in stuff. Every time my phone rings, I’m thinking, Okay, I know I’m coming! You just need to tell me what time to be there! 😂

They’ll call me Wednesday afternoon with my actual arrival time, so I’ll be ready.

As for work, I kind of did my own thing. I looked around on Facebook, read some things, and played quite a bit of my Meow Sudoku game. If you’ve never played it, it’s basically Sudoku with cats—and apparently that’s enough to keep me entertained at work. 😂

Unfortunately, I wasn’t completely focused on every single member like I normally would be. But in my defense, I already know I’m probably not going to make my monthly goal because I’ll be out for a week recovering from surgery.

So, I kind of gave myself a little free pass not to feel like I had to perform at 100%.

My head just wasn’t in the game.

I’ll just have to make up for it Tuesday and Wednesday!

A Little Hobby Lobby Adventure

During the day, Shelby mentioned something about going to Hobby Lobby after work.

Naturally, I said, “Do you want to go to Hobby Lobby after we get off work?”

She was like, “Are you serious?”

Yep! I was.

So I sent Mr. C a message and told him what I was planning to do. He was fine with it and asked how long I was planning on being gone. Then he asked if I could bring him something to eat.

Of course I could!

So after work, I met Shelby at the Duncan Lawton Y parking lot, and we headed over to Lawton.

Our big destination?

Hobby Lobby.

Now here’s where things get funny.

Would you believe that I got all the way to Hobby Lobby before realizing that I had left my purse at home?

Yep.

My purse.

With my money.

My driver’s license.

Everything.

It had been sitting at home on the couch all day long.

Shelby was so sweet and said, “Hey, I have some money. If you see something you want, I’ll buy it for you and you can pay me back.”

And honestly, that was probably a blessing in disguise.

Because if I had actually had my money with me, there’s a very good chance I would have bought several things I absolutely did not need but somehow convinced myself I couldn’t live without. 😂

But instead…

I walked out of Hobby Lobby with NOTHING.

Zero dollars spent.

Not one thing in my basket.

I don’t know if I’ve ever walked out of Hobby Lobby without buying something before!

I’m pretty sure that’s a record.

And honestly, some of the things I saw were things I probably would have bought if I had my money with me. But they were also more than what I had really wanted to spend.

So maybe forgetting my purse was actually the universe looking out for my budget.

When I called hubbie  to ask if he had seen my purse, he said, “Yeah. It’s been here all day.”

Of course it has. 😂

Then he told me to tell Shelby that if I bought anything, he’d get her money back the next day.

I told him I wasn’t really seeing anything I wanted to buy anyway.

And that was that.

Sometimes the things that go wrong actually work out for the best.

No purse.

No money.

No impulse purchases.

$0 spent at Hobby Lobby.

I’m calling that a win!

A Fun Little Outing

Even though I didn’t buy anything, Shelby and I had a really nice visit on the way to Lawton and back.

She finally picked up the recipe box she’s been talking about for the last couple of weeks, along with some extra recipe cards.

I think she’s going to have a lot of fun filling that thing up.

Sometimes it’s not about what you buy. Sometimes it’s just about getting out of the house, having a little adventure, talking, laughing, and enjoying someone’s company.

And that’s exactly what Monday turned out to be.

I dropped Shelby back off at the Y and made it home around 5:45.

Once I got home, I unloaded my lunch bucket, threw a couple of taquitos in the microwave for dinner, and called it good.

Nothing fancy.

Just an easy Monday night.

I was tired, so I ended up going to bed around 8:40.

And honestly?

It felt pretty good.

Bring On Tuesday

I already know Tuesday is probably going to be a completely different story.

Since Monday was so slow, I’m expecting everyone to call Tuesday.

That’s just how it seems to work at LegalShield. When one day is quiet, you can almost guarantee the next day will be crazy!

So we’ll see what Tuesday brings.

I’m going to keep praying, keep my positive thoughts going, and get through Tuesday and Wednesday. Then Thursday will be here before I know it.

One day at a time.

That’s all I can do.

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog. I truly appreciate you taking the time to read about my little everyday adventures.

I hope you have the best day ever!

Cheers,
Karen 💕