Please work out

Mike and I got tickets to Viva Las Vegas and I requested the weekend off from work, but there is a slim chance I might have to work. I told Mike if I had to I would just drive back and forth because I cannot miss work. Mike didn’t like that. I don’t know what else to do. I don’t want to worry about about it, but at the same time I don’t want to be caught off guard by being scheduled to work.

So I am praying since that weekend is Easter Weekend, that no camps will be scheduled. Or if they are she has enough people to work it. I talked to at the meeting today since she mentioned certain months and time off requests. I told her about my trip, well just a bit I sometimes am not comfortable talking to her, but I told her I had a trip planned to vegas that we bought tickets for. I don’t know if I even told her what the tickets were for. I told her I understood about the possibility getting scheduled, but if doable if she can keep in mind that I payed for just about everything. I don’t even think I told her it was all non refundable, but you would hope she would know that.

Mike also told me to use some of my money (he was more giving me permission and promised not to get mad) to buy some clothing for the event. I have one dress that will work and that’s it. I don’t have anything else. I think I found a few dresses that I like. I also need shoes. Plus a shirt and a purse won’t hurt as well. I don’t have the chance to wear these items often, but when I do I know I would.

Rockabilly Weekender

I am excited!! Mike and I have been wanting to go to this for a few years now and this year we will be. I bought the tickets and Mike will get the hotel. It will be a nice trip for us, since we haven’t gotten to have a nice time together since Vegas last August.

I may not look it, but I love the rockabilly lifestyle and think pin-ups are amazing!! Most of those girls don’t always fit the beauty standards we see today.

Roller Derby Gear

After much thought and feeling I finally bought roller derby gear. I bought a rookie package which included skates, a helmet, knee pads, elbow pads, wrist guards, outdoor wheels, a ultitool, and bearing cream. I hope to teach myself to skate again. I never learned how to skate as a kid, no sidewalks to learn on. I remember the last time I went skating, which was ice skating and not roller skating and my knees where giving me trouble. I had knee issues as teen and I’m not sure why. Hopefully I can practice enough so I can try out for a league. We got to banked track bouts, but I don’t think I am going to be nearly ready to try-out or play with them, even though I would love to.

I have a roller derby blog, that I am not very good at updating but I try, http://eleanorsplicer.blogspot.com

New Year…

I am never one who believes in resolutions. I just try to make the next year better to the best of my ability. I am still waiting to hear if I got the internship. I really hope that I do, but I understand that if not then it is not meant to be this time around. In the summer I will try again or in the fall. I want the experience and the agency I applied to sounds like a great program. I have the syllabus for my internship credit and while it seems a bit tedious I know it’s important and will help me in the future.

To add to a year that seem unsure, someone broke into my aunt’s house next door. My aunt passed away 3 months ago and while we live next door someone broke in and took a bunch of stuff. I have a feeling it’s someone in the neighborhood. No one is friendly with their neighbors here and while most people are elderly there are a few younger adults that just seem like trouble. I hope with some changes this will not happen again and whoever did it really needed the stuff for money and was not doing it for drugs or something.

I also was hoping to read 50 books in 2011 and I was one book away. That’s pretty good since I cannot remember the last time I read more than 2 books in a year that were for fun. So 49 is a HUGE achievement. I am proud of myself and I have discovered so many books that I have fallen in love with. I have so many more books that I have added to my to be read pile. If interested I have a book blog over at blogger called Fallen’s Book Life where I talk about books and review them.

I am not sure what else this year has in store for me and my family, but hopefully it’s good and not bad.

When I get some…

When I get some money there is two things I really want to or need to do. First, is going to the eye doctor to get my contact and glasses prescription up to date. It’s been a while and I need to get things updated so I can see properly. The other is boxing/kickboxing lessons. I have been wanting to get into on of the other. I took one of those cardio kickboxing class in college and really liked it. I would love to get actual lessons to help get in shape and learn some self defense stuff. Does not hurt to know. 

I found a place not far from school… well main campus that instead of being your usual gym and requires a monthly fee, one that does it by a flat rate per session. so 8 sessions are $180. A bit high, but for 8 sessions for private lessons twice a week is not bad. The others either don’t list a price which scares me or really don’t have what I want. 

Needing to Learn How To Cook

I grew up like a lot of kids did, both my parents worked and our dinners were… not the greatest. Whatever was fast and easy to make for 5 people was what we had. Usually some kind of frozen dish.

As I have been getting older and gaining weight I feel like I need to learn how to cook. I know one day I’ll be living with Mike and my son and we got to eat. I never learned how to cook. I can try, but usually it turns out to be a huge disaster and the food gets thrown out.

I want to take cooking classes like a simple basic cooking class, but I cannot seem to find any. Most are either through the culinary schools and those are for people wanting to become chefs. I don’t want that, even though I like the idea of having my own bakery. Others offer things I don’t want… well mostly it’s hard to understand what they are teaching.

I don’t live in LA or New York so there probably isn’t as many places to learn as the bigger cities. I still not even sure if I want to just try to learn to cook healthy or go back to veganism. I just need to make a change.

Roller Derby and Other Things

Next week roller derby starts back up. No not for me skating, but the league we like to go see 2012 schedule starts. I am excited for it because, well I love roller derby. I even have friends that tell me I need to join or introduce me to new people as an awesome derby chick. So I am excited to be getting back to watching roller derby. Lately, I have been trying to watch it on-line as soon as possible, but that doesn’t always work. So I get to sit in the Coliseum and watching some awesome derby. Hopefully we can stop sitting by people who always get up every 5 minutes.

Also, next weekend is the Roller Derby World Cup taking place in Toronto. This is the first roller derby world cup and I really want to see how other teams around the world are. Even Ireland will have a team and I really want to see them. Hey I love all things irish, even irish derby girls!! I hope the US wins because our team is amazing. It seems like we should, but you never know some of the other teams might be a surprise.

So I will be watching and talking lots about roller derby. I hope to get some gear and insurance and be able to play derby. I think I need something to do with other women and get some more social life back. I haven’t had much of one and having a son to take care of it’s even harder to get some me time. I am sure a lot of moms feel this way, especially single moms like me. Our families come first and most of the time we ignore ourselves, even when we feel like we might be being selfish with things.

Speaking of which my birthday is next week and I don’t have any plans. It’s on a Tuesday, but I am sure that nothing will be done. I’ll get a few presents and my family will go out to eat somewhere and that will be it. No parties, no going out drinking or any of that. Last year I actually planned something to happen. This year I just don’t feel like it. I don’t know what it is, but as badly as I would like one night to do whatever I want to do and see my friends, I just don’t feel like planning anything for my birthday. In a weird way I almost feel like I don’t deserve anything. Yes, I want things, but for some reason I feel like I don’t deserve anything. I have felt this in the past as well. This must be what it’s like to be close to 30 and not living up to your potential does to you.

One Step Closer

Today I got word about my fate in getting the internship with one of the local police department. I have been selected to move on in the process of applying. This means I have to deal with an intensive background check. I have a packet of 45 pages to fill out along with other documents that I have to have on hand. Once I turn it in I will do a background interview. I think that’s to make sure I did not lie on my paperwork and to go through all the things I need. Of course I have 3 write ups at work and my financial situation isn’t that great, but I haven’t committed any crimes and my driving record is clean. I don’t do drugs, never tried them and I don’t drink excessively. So really I think there’s no reason not to pass. I just have to make sure I fill out everything and put down the correct information. It’s hard to remember every single job I’v ever held and all the traffic citations I’ve gotten.

I also hope that with this internship that I could lead to an actual position with the unit. It would be a fun job and a great step in a better direction for my family.

Lots to Update On

I haven’t forgotten about this blog. I’ve just been a bit busy. School started and that has been a huge ordeal, I’ll explain later, I went to Boston with my sister for 4 days and there has been some family… issues I will put it.

The school year looked very promising for me. Taking my last history class and getting my minor done as well. About the end of September I realized that I hit a huge bump in the road. My topic was good, but the books and sources I would need where in special collections. I would have to go there during office hours. When 5 books and countless other sources are in this location and you are a single parent it’s pretty hard to find the time to sit there and do your research. I tried to get help from my professor, but she wasn’t much help. Told me that she warned us this class was not for getting our sources on-line. So I tried to find a new topic, but no such luck. I dropped the class.

I figured I would wait until the spring semester and take a different class. I shortly realized that a history degree is not something a single parent or a person with a normal day job can do. The whole “group” has this ego about those who pursue the major. Even my teacher seem to look down on me.

So I have decided to switch majors. The criminal justice major will put me a semester or two behind, but I can work full-time and be a full-time mother while I go to school. The entire major is online. Actually all of my crj classes have been on-line. Next semester two of my classes I am opting to take on campus. Just because they are research and stat classes and it’s a new thing for me. I haven’t officially switched yet, but I plan on it. While it sort of bad that I cannot finish my history degree, it’s for the better.

Boston was amazing!! I wish I had gone there sooner. I am sure if I went to college there like I had planned I would never move back to Arizona. I just loved the entire city. I saw a lot of things and the concert (Dropkick Murphys) was AMAZING!! There’s pictures on my Flickr account.

And lastly, there is a family death. It is very recent. And for some reason I have a very easy time accepting the death of a love one I find it hard to be around my family members who are struggling with it. I was able to stay calm during the whole thing (I was there when the paramedics were working). My aunt passed of unknown causes. None of us saw it coming and it will be weird for a long time.

Maybe I Will Get My Masters

I was looking at the CRJ website for my university and I noticed that for the on-line Master of Arts in Criminology it claims there is no GRE score needed to enroll. This of course catches my attention. If I can get my masters without having to take the GRE I would be happy. Also, since the degree is all on-line I could work full-time. I just need to have two letters of recommendation written for me, a letter of interest and a resume. I just do not know who to use for my letters of recommendation. All my criminal justice professors have been on-line so I did not really have much of an connection with them. Maybe I will use one of my fall professors, who happens to know my best friend. So that might be something to think about.

Also I am still debating whether or not I should volunteer with the police department. I know I need some kind of internship/volunteering job to add not only to my resume, but to improve my chances of either a job or getting into grad school.

I was actually thinking about putting aside going to grad school because I need to make money for my family. So if I can work and go to school that would be great. I guess I will just double check with the school to make sure I saw things right and keep looking for jobs.