Vaccine Documentation

As I look to a new semester of my undergraduate career, I am faced with the looming task of completing the university’s “To Do” list. Parking Permit, check. Financial Aid Application, check. Loan Counseling(as if completing this for my two older children and my husband wasn’t enough, I have to do it again!), check. Sign promissory note, check. Class Schedule, check. Order books, check. Vaccine Documentation… WHAT?!?!

The university informs me that I must provide vaccine documentation complete with the doctor’s name and the lot number for the vaccine, to which I laugh out loud. She doesn’t understand my amusement and explains to me that all I need to do is call the doctor’s office and they can fax that information to them, which I respond with another laugh. I proceed to inform here that I am old, my doctor died many years ago, the clinic in which I received those shots no longer exists, and they didn’t do lot numbers for the immunizations back then. Confused, she tries to explain it another way and then chastises me saying I really should have a copy of that documentation as it is very important. (More chuckles from my end of the line.) Again I reiterate, doctor dead, clinic gone (mostly lies under that new HEB they built in my hometown), and trying to explain to my almost 79 year old mother where she might look for my immunization records would be a daunting task. So then she explains that I would have to have ALL the immunizations again. At this point, I am no longer amused.

So what do I do??? Email my mother… She responds that it isn’t in her filing cabinet of important documents. I tell her, of course not, they didn’t buy that cabinet until I was in middle school. I told her it is most likely in my baby book. Which she is still looking for…

Next course of action, call the high school I attended. I have an interesting conversation with the registrar. They will look at the microfiche and see if they can have a clearer copy of the immunization records sent to the school (yes, I did say microfiche – Now that really makes me feel old!). She also proceeds to tell me that the doctors call them for immunization verification on their students because the doctors don’t keep records for longer than two years. Mortified, I explain to her that it is required by federal law that medical records be kept for the life of the patient. She responded that she didn’t know such a law existed. I explain to her that my husband has more than 10 years of experience with archiving medical records with “storage.” He knows the law well as he has worked for Dell and now IBM providing these services for medical clinics nationwide. I must say the registrar now has ammunition to tell those doctors she no longer wants to do their job and to keep up their own records as required by law. But they still doesn’t help me.

After that… I ignore the situation entirely. I know… that’s not a good plan. So here I am, less than a week before school starts and we’re moving in 10 days and I must figure out what I need to do about the Immunization Documentation. Any ideas?

Twenty Four Years!

There is so much going on, what is most pressing on my mind?? I had a lovely reprieve this week as my husband spoiled me rotten for our 24th anniversary. He is still my best friend and I’m so glad we ran away together. (Can we run away now for a month and leave the kids in charge of packing and moving? Lol) Before we could get out of the driveway there was a little package at my feet. Women love little packages.  Then it was off to Durham to a lovely little restaurant. It is locally owned and they try to use local ingredients. It was AMAZING!! I recommend trying the Tasting Menu. A little of everything and it was to die for!

http://www.nanasdurham.com/about-nanas

After about a two hour dinner, we were off to the movies. Inception was a tad bit disturbing because the night before I had a dream about not being able to tell if I was in a dream or not. Hmmmm Anyway, it was a much needed break from the things I’m supposed to be doing, like packing and getting ready for school!

Silver Lining...

There is a silver lining in that Carolina Blue sky. North Carolina has numerous perks within its borders. Our summer has been filled with mini vacations and we have never left the state. Early in the summer we drove a couple of hours to the beach. Beautiful white sand and blue ocean. Get this my Texas friends, you can actually walk barefoot on the beach. Even in the middle of summer! I remember the days of my youth on Texas beaches where the sand was so hot your feet fried just running to the water. Later in the summer we drove a couple of hours to spend a week on Lake Gaston just south of the Virginia border. It was amazing!! Although we haven’t made it to the mountains yet this summer, they are calling my name to draw me out of the summer heat. But with a move just around the corner, it will have to wait. Fall Break?

CAROLina Blues

In case you haven’t quite figured out the title of my blog, here is what I was thinking…. Those that know me know my name is Carol and that 4 years ago we moved to North Carolina. Also, I was recently accepted to the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill; affectionately known simply as “Carolina” here in this state and to those who are endeared to the university. There is also a saying here that goes something like: If UNC wasn’t the best school in the nation then why did God make the sky Carolina Blue?? So now you are beginning to see the title’s real meaning. I also happen to have blue eyes and blue is my favorite color. (It was my favorite color BEFORE I started going to UNC - lol) Blue is also a reference to my transition here. In an earlier post I mentioned I was BORED, but the truth of the matter, I was lonely. I missed my friends and the great state of Texas where in the shadow of the University of Texas we bleed burnt orange (so sorry to my Aggie friends – I converted; have mercy). So I was blue…

Moving AGAIN?!?

Some of our friends have asked “Why in the world are you moving again?” To answer that question I’ll have to point to the wonderfully confusing, slightly dysfunctional, ever changing school system of Wake County. If you live here, you know exactly what I’m talking about. At least our school changes have been of our own making. I feel so bad for the poor parents that have taken their children to a different elementary school every year and they never even moved out of their house. Yes, my friends, that is the ever changing school boundaries. It can cross over you every year or you could be slated to go to a school 45 minutes away when there’s a school less than 2 miles from your house. Sad but true… Of course the people of Wake County have had it, so they elected almost an entirely new school board. But guess what… more changes are eminent.

How do we fit into this madness? Like most school districts in the country Wake County is suffering from a shortage of funds. Crazy economy coupled with a myriad of circumstances have forced schools to make hard decisions. At the end of the school year, we received word that the orchestra program at our middle school had been discontinued. We applied for a transfer to a school that is actually closer to our house that has one of the best middle school orchestras in the district. We thought this would be a no brainer… we thought wrong. We were given the opportunity to appeal, which we did. In the mean time, our school reinstated their orchestra program. What started out as a full time program was downsized to half time one year to now a limited part time program. In my opinion, this does not display that the school is interested in really keeping the program intact. It also gives a greater likelihood that we would lose yet another orchestra director because of the ever decreasing limited role to only very part time. The infamous school board gave us 2 minutes (no that is not a typo) to state our case. That’s 120 seconds to justify the logic of why a talented musician should have the opportunity to go to a school that has a full-fledged orchestra program. We did our best with more than 20 pages of back up documentation, but at the end of the day our appeal was denied. So being the adventures that we are, we decided to pack our bags in move 3.7 miles to the south to ensure we are in the school of choice boundaries.

Moving...

Since we are moving again at the end of the month I have been trying to sell some of the clothes the kids have outgrown or simply no longer wear. I ran into this precious older lady who looks for deals and buys all her grandkids clothes and clothes for her nephew’s daughters. She is a woman with modest means, but with a huge heart. When I met her in the parking lot of the Old Navy, she drove an older Crown Victoria. We had a quick exchange, she told me a little about her grandchildren and great nieces then we went our separate ways.
Interesting that she emailed me later that night with a long list of resalers in the area. She told me the places she makes her best finds. She expressed remorse that she has been buying all these clothes and her nephew and children just take it for granted. She explained it was her last installment as she has one more son who will be graduating from high school soon. It broke my heart that she has given so much and just wants to be appreciated. Here is what I wrote back to her:

Thank you for the valuable information! I had no idea there were so many options. I used to donate the kids outgrown clothes but I grew weary seeing people that work at those places pick over them and sell them for a profit for themselves on ebay. If I donate the clothes outright, I want them to go directly to someone in need. I did ebay for awhile, but it's exhausting packaging everything up and of course ebay wants their share so I decided to give Craig's List a try. Some things have gone fast, others more slowly so I will check into the resources you sent me since we are moving at the end of month.

You truly do have a big heart... it is a rare gift. Sometimes our deeds are not rewarded in this life, but He sees and counts it more precious than diamonds and rubies.

The Beginning

I decided I would document my adventure as a middle-aged mom who has decided to return to school. After our move to North Carolina with no friends and all the kids in school, I was BORED! So I went back to work making $8.00. Wow! Being 40 years old and only making $8 an hour was a humbling experience. But I loved my job and I was compensated with free classes for my daughter (gymnastics). Almost two years later, it was time to finally get back to school. It has been an adventure....