Things They are a Changin!

Well hello everyone!  A great deal has happened since my last blog so on your mark, get ready, here we go!

As of July 28th 2016 I am no longer employed with the Billings Montana Mental Health Center.  As the sign above clearly shows my feelings for the situation, I will enlighten you all on the circumstances.

Medicaid has taken it upon themselves to rewrite the duties that I and other case managers like me have been doing for many years.  Suddenly, we were no longer allowed to "assist" our clients with any of their activities of daily living such as grocery shopping, ensuring they made it to their doctor appointments, assist them in getting food boxes or even taking action if we suspected abuse toward them or by them toward someone else.  We no longer can transport them anywhere.  The higher ups stated that all those duties were to be done by a Rehab Aid but the problem is...the office has none and won't hire any.  This leaves the clients who have no car or money for a taxi or bus pass with nothing.

The other issue was that we were being told to be "creative" with our notes so that if we did end up doing some of these duties, we could get paid for them.  This basically set all of us up to lie about what we were doing with the clients.  I have never done well with change and after doing my job for the last 18 years a specific way and telling the truth in my notes, there was no way in hell that I was going to lie about what I was doing or watch my clients suffer because they had no help.

My only solution for this situation was to leave my job and that is what I did.  I am thinking about applying for a part time job to fill the next few months until I retire in April 2017 so I am hunting on the job sites and applying for different jobs.  I really do not want to work with mentally ill persons anymore so I am looking for more of a normal type of job.  At 61 I think I could do bagging at the grocery store and just work when I want to.

It pains me deeply to see the clients suffering now.  I had persons on my case load who had no money, no car and couldn't get a bus pass.  They desperately needed the assistance that I gave them.  To rip that service out from under them was wrong, cruel and frankly, really stupid.  I foresee the Mental Health Center falling apart in the near future.

I did very well at the Montana State Fair this year.  I made a Steampunk style chess board and designed the pieces myself.  I received a blue ribbon for this.  I also received some ribbons for photographs and other jewelry items that I put in.  I also was given a Best of Show for a piece of jewelry that I designed.  All in all, I was quite happy with it.

My whole life is up in the air at this moment.  I don't know what to do or how to do it.  I have lost 65% of my income and am living on my VA income only.  When all is paid, I have $88.00 left to last me until the next pay day so it seems that I will need to find another source of income very soon to last me until retirement.  I hope that I can find something fairly easy to do that I will value.  I had thought of going into business for myself as an independent case manager but by the time I even started making money, I would be retiring so that did not seem practical. 

I am getting the itch to head out of town and do some grandkid lovin or take a trip for a few weeks but I would need to get some income before I do this.  However, I really would like to see my daughter and the children.

So folks, that is my story for now.  I'll update as things go along but for right now I am dirt poor and feeling it.  As always, Cheers!  Freedancer

He Was Murdered!!!

Hello everyone!  Some of you will not like what I am going to say here today and I am truly sorry about that.  However, it must be said and everyone out there must pay close attention.  There was a very important man who was murdered last Saturday.  His name was Antonin Scalia and he was a Supreme Court Justice.

Now I know what you are saying.  He died naturally and that is that.  Well you can all think again.  He most certainly was murdered and the President of the United States had his dirty hand right in it up to his evil elbow!

There were too many important votes coming up that the Justice most likely would have affected and there are people in the United States and all over the world that wanted to see those votes turn a different way.  What better way to do it but to rid the court of one of the steadfast conservatives?

This man whom we call our president has an evil agenda and that agenda is to take away our freedom as we know it and turn this country into a Socialist nation.  He undermines the rights of Christians in favor of Muslims and people of the "other" persuasion.  He does not want us to have our first or second amendment rights and what we work day in and day out for he wants to give to those who do not work at all.  Those citizens who basically "suck off the troth".

President Obama is an opportunist.  He saw the chance to take Justice Scalia out and he took that chance with little or no regard for anyone else but HIS own agenda.  Don't let anyone tell you this low life scum didn't have anything to do with this situation.  They would be lying to your face.

Congress now has a job to do.  It is to stonewall Obama every step, every turn and every move he makes.  He must not be able to have anyone nominated to take over Scalia's post.  It must wait until the new president takes office.  Our lives depend on it.  If another liberal judge gets in, life in this country will change forever.

It shakes me to the center of my soul to know that someone in such a position of power can just snap their fingers and kill a sitting justice like that.  Obama may have not "pulled the trigger" but he certainly "gave the order".  No,  that dear man did not die of natural causes.  He was murdered in cold blood, in his sleep, to keep him from voting.

Say what you will about me but mark my words.  The truth will come out because God is angry and when He get's angry, things get discovered.

Rest in peace Justice Scalia.

As always, Freedancer

Just Call Me Leftie!

Well hello everyone!  Freedancer here catching everyone up on the latest news!  On the 12th of Jan I had the first of several surgeries that are on the books to be accomplished.  Right now as we speak, my dominant right hand is in a very attractive bright pink cast.

I underwent the first of my CMC joint surgeries and am happy to say it went very well.  The pain was actually quite minimal but the real challenge was learning to do everything with my left hand.  It is amazing how difficult that simple action is.  Don't let anyone tell you it is easy because it is not!

I was lucky to have a fantastic hand surgeon, Dr. Smith, from the Billings Sports Medicine Clinic. I was very worried that when I was under the troughs of anesthesia that I would yell out "Danger Will Robinson or Oh the pain...the pain" but lucky for me I behaved myself.  I also was lucky to have the anesthesiologist that I had for my shoulder surgery in 2012.  I was so happy to see him.  I will be in this cast for 4 weeks and then the VA will take over my PT.  I have everything great to say about the VA.  The new ARCH program paid for my surgery for me and they were just fantastic!

My beautiful daughter came up from Belgrade and assisted me for 4 days.  She brought my little grandson with her.  He is so sweet and getting so big!  He is 7 months old and has eyelashes to die for!  I've been off work for two weeks now and of course all that time was vacation so there goes this years vacation.  I go back to work this coming Monday part time and the next Monday will be full time.  I think I am ready and my retired hubby said he enjoyed having a taste of what my retirement will be like in a couple of years but is ready to dive back into his solitude again!

We took a trip up to our cabin getaway yesterday and I thought it would be a good time to put the new feather mattress topper on the master bed.  As I was taking off the blankets, I noticed a bunch of the mouse poison pellets down in the corner of the blankets.  It  dawned on me and I finally knew where all the mouse pellets were going, the little ratturdes were bringing them all the way up from downstairs and stashing them in our bed, to get back at us!  Those are some pretty smart and obviously very vindictive rodents! Well, I got rid of it quickly after I showed my hubby what was going on.  The war is on now and it wont be pretty!!

The break at the cabin was kind of nice.  We ate pop tarts, drank coffee and watched North by Northwest on the DVD player.  Great movie!  So that is my story for now.  I am actually typing with one hand and 4 fingers and not doing too bad.  Cheers!  Freedancer

2015 is Gone and 2016 has Arrived

Hello everyone!  Well, 2015 is history and 2016 has made its entrance.  I wonder what God will bring to us this year?  For me, I was able to spend some time at Christmas with my daughter, son in law and grand babies.  How quickly they grow!  My granddaughter is already on her way to being age 3 and my grandson is 6 months old.

For two days we were privileged to have them here.  Since I had to work on the 24th, we had out Christmas on the 23rd.  I was able to have the kids to myself for several hours on the 23rd while the kids went shopping.  I so enjoyed them!  Little baby Micah is such a sweet baby!  I cuddled with him and could hardly put him down the whole time.  Lydia was told that she had to take a nap before we opened up Christmas gifts.  When I went downstairs to check on her, she was still awake.  I explained that I had spoken with Santa Claus and he said that she had to have a nap before he would put the very special gift that he had brought to her under the tree.  I left for about 15 minutes and she fell fast asleep.

This year, I had been collecting things to put into a very special doll house for Lydia.  We got the house over the net from a family in Florida.  While waiting for it to arrive, I had spent a lot of time purchasing some very special trolls to go in the house.  I had many of them when I was a child.  They had the most adorable scrunched up faces and fly away hair of many colors!  The only problem was is that they were naked!  I spent some extra time finding some clothing for them and lots of furniture to put in the house, making sure it was large enough to prevent choking. I got it all ready and purchased a small suitcase from the local Good Will for Lydia to put all of her little toys in when she was not playing with the house.  I them wrapped them all carefully and put them in the laundry room.

We opened all of our gifts and we were all sitting there in the living room thanking each other for the thoughtful things they purchased for us.  I then looked over a Lydia and asked her if she was ready to have the very special present from Santa.  Her eyes got big as saucers and she was grinning from ear to ear!  I told her to close her eyes tight and we put the gifts on the floor by the tree.  That little girl lit up like a firefly in Summer!  She was so excited about the house that she barely could keep from screaming.  Of course she had not ever seen a troll before but fell in love with them.  There were baby trolls, sister and brother trolls, mommy and daddy trolls and a very special grandmother troll.  She had so much fun putting the house together and didn't want to put it away when it came time to pack up to go to her other grandparents house in the Billings Heights.  The suitcase thing was a great help.

After they had headed out to Grandpa Bears house, we sat in the rubble of papers and ribbon and thought about all the excitement of the last two days.  I wouldn't have given it up for the world.  It was all it should have been and more.  My hubby's sister was on her way over with her gifts and we quickly cleaned up the living room for the next round.  The kids would be headed to Circle Montana to see his parents tomorrow and they would remain there until after the 1st of January.

I took a few moments to think about the true meaning of Christmas.  Sure, it was great to see all the family and to watch the kids faces light up at the presents and tree but how much had I thought about the little baby in the manger who was the true Light of the world?  I was humbled by the feeling of gratefulness at what Jesus had done for me so many years ago.  How I longed to just touch his robe like the woman did when he dragged the cross through the city to the spot where he would be crucified.  She had such faith!  I want that kind of faith!  I want to know that when I close my eyes for the last time that when I open them I will see the face of God looking back at me.  This remains my desire and will be my desire until I draw my last breath on earth.  Please!  If you do not know Jesus as your personal savior, please ask Him to fill your soul this very minute!  Heaven will be a wonderful place and to see you there will make even more wonderful.  It's a free gift and no amount of money or other wealth can pay for it.  All it takes is for you to tell Jesus you believe in Him and ask Him to save you.

In another week I will be having surgery on my right hand to repair the CMC joint.  I have researched this carefully and watched a video of it.  If you are to have this done, don't watch the video...it is somewhat brutal!  However, the success rate is an impressive 96% so I am fired up and ready to tackle this challenge. The recovery time is quite lengthy so I will not be getting a vacation this year again unless my hubby pays me for it!  I hope to get completely well as I need my hands to work on my jewelry and other crafts.  My part-time business has done very well this year.  I even accomplished a custom made bracelet for a client and it turned out really nice.  I have sold quite a few photo's, especially the ones that I have assigned numbers to.  I am now armed with a fantastic new camera which can do most anything.  Funny story here was that my last camera that I purchased after I broke the one on vacation, quit working.  I sent it in for repair and was told it would cost as much as I paid for it.  I ended up retiring that one and purchased the newest one.  I ran across the old camera in the craft cupboard and put new batteries in  it just for giggles to see if it would work.  Well, it did work and now I have a back-up camera which is just fine with me!

Well, that's all for now everyone.  I will write more again later on.  I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and wish for all of you  a fantastic new year!  Cheers!  Freedancer