My Life

MY BOYS:
Cody and Will got new tattoos! Cody's is a heart with MOM in the middle on his right bicep. He has a soft spot in his heart for me! Will got some abstract earth monster on his left inner lower arm. Wow, tattoos all over. Soon there will be no spot left.
MY HOME:
Grass is mowed, garage walls and ceiling are painted, water system is installed as well as a new hot water tank. I need my kitchen sink drain snaked out [Rick?] I need my bathroom sink drain out, it is broken and won't release....[Darren?]. Back deck is waterproofed, picnic table needs done and the front porch. I need to look for my own patio set, Mo and Paul just loaned me their's and they need them back. There is still lots to do before winter hits Pennsylvania!!
IN BETWEEN:
I had a work meeting Tuesday morning, then an office inspection with our security officer from Colorado as well as my direct supervisor and review supervisor. After they left, Tim stopped in to see if I needed anything done. By that time, I was so tired and ready for a break, I kind of broke down. I can only go so far in a day.
MY EMOTIONS:
I cried most of yesterday afternoon and did not work much at all. Some days are like that. All of a sudden it hits me that I am really ALONE and a WIDOW. Me? At the young age of 51? Not possible. The last year is such a blur to me and I know it will take days, months, years even to get over the grieving process – it is so overwhelming to me right now. I do a pretty good job of faking life right now – when all I want to do is crawl into a hole. My comfort is the chair Todd died on; I will go into the garage and lay on it with his jacket around me and I feel so close to him there. [and of course, cry some more] I know it will get better….but it will take a lot of time.

This is me dragging my broken heart around with my wagon....
IN BETWEEN:
Darlene Hanna picked me up to go listen to Raeman at the Brewery in Slippery Rock. I was still not up to par but we stayed for a bit and Raeman took his break with us as well as the drummer, Steve McMurray. Max Schang was, as usual, buddying up to his fans...he is the lead of the group; Max Schang and friends.
MY JOB:
I was nominated for a RockStar Award. I won $100 in gift cards; I picked Lowe's and Home Depot. [ Patio set?] The letter sent on my behalf is a good read.
My boss, Andy Crouse, said: Congratulations! You are a really good example of why KeyPoint is the best place to work!
THE LETTER:
I want to nominate Julia Miller because she really is amazing. Last week I had a case in which two days before the CD [critical date] we needed to get sources from all over the country interviewed and the case reviewed. I thought the situation was hopeless, that we would miss the CD, but Julia appeared to drop everything and went to work on this case immediately. She contacted all of the FM's [field managers] on the case and CC'd myself and others working the case so we were all in the loop. She must have worked on this case for hours, reviewing it, getting the various sources scheduled for interview, letting everyone know what the status was, etc. It was so impressive; the work she put into the case to ensure it made it by the CD. She also followed up the next day with FM's and Investigators regarding open items to ensure the case didn't miss the CD.

Throughout all of this stress Julia was so cheerful and pleasant to work with! She wrote replies with feedback telling everyone, "good job" and "everything looks good", etc. I was so impressed by how much work she put into it and how pleasant she made such a stressful situation for everyone. She took what I thought was a hopeless situation and made it work.

I hope she gets some form of reward or recognition for all of the hard work she did; but more importantly, the positive attitude she had during the whole ordeal. She was a pleasure to work with!

Sincerely,
Karen L.