cape cod chips again

I got another letter back from them, this time basically saying "Thanks for liking our chips--here are some coupons for you."

I got two for fifty cents off for 5 oz. bags, and one for a free bag. To their credit, the free bag coupon did cover the biggest size--so at least they're not stingy!

Maybe everybody should write to them and see if we all get free chips! :)

Med Legal --hired!

Okay, so they hired me! I'm working on my first official case today.

The thing about the cases is that since I'm working with people's Real Live Medical Info, I can't say much (anything at all) about them. If I did come up with something pricelessly fascinating, I'd have to totally scrub it down for confidentiality, including the fact that it was from Med Legal in the first place... so I probably won't bother. Sorry. :P

Missouri, here we come!

Tomorrow we're going to MO for 5 days to see Eric (Alex's brother, for anyone who doesn't know) do a big musical performance, and to spend some time with the Price/Bowling side of the family. We'll post afterward (probably with pics) on how it went. :)

a bit more about Med Legal

It is a company that helps lawyers prepare for medical cases--like a malpractice suit, or when the insurance company won't pay for a treatment.

Basically, the lawyer has a patient and a pile of medical files, but doesn't have the time or the understanding to read through them all and get what they're actually saying. To fix this, the lawyer gets in touch with Med Legal, who has a crack team of Legal Nurse Consultants. The LNCs comb through the medical records and write up a bunch of reports which fully explain what is going on medically with the person, WITH the added bonus that they also evaluate the case from a legal standpoint.

The final step on all the reports is for them to be sent to an editor. This is where I (hopefully) come in. The editor reviews each file for grammar, formatting, style, consistency, and content. Content means does the medical data make sense? Have we covered all points that the lawyer asked for? Is every pro or con of the case addressed and pointed out for the lawyer? The content step is very important, since that's what makes the case for the lawyer.

I think that sums it up pretty well. I'll post again when I hear back from the senior editor on how I did on my test case!

writing update

I finished the test case and I think I did pretty well on it. :) Of course, I'm trying not to be too cocky until I get some feedback (should be tomorrow) but I can at least say that I did well on the content parts of the case. I can't wait for tomorrow!

first day's work

....for Med Legal, that is.

Okay, so technically I'm still doing training until I finish my first test case for this new editing job, but I have spent about 5 hours editing the files tonight and am feeling pretty happy about having flexed my writing muscles once again. :)

Tomorrow I have to finish the editing (I'm down to having some editing points to check in the morning when I am less tired) and then I have to get all the files emailed over to the senior editor by 4:00 PM. Then she gets to decide whether she still likes me. I hope she does!! :P

simmer down, baby :)

Apparently Behbeh is at the 90th percentile for size. Yes, that's a whopping 8 ounces!! I had to get specially called and informed of this fact by the doctor's office. Geez.

EDIT: I've had some time to mull this over a bit more. The nurse wanted to know whether I am eating a lot of carbs or sugar, or perhaps exclusively drinking fruit juice. Especially since my weight gain was "somewhat more than expected" at the last visit (3 lbs more for the month than they "guesstimated" at one of our starting visits). Geez, 3 extra pounds. I was told I was slightly underweight at the beginning and that weight gain was not going to be an issue.

I was thinking, why is this a problem that my baby seems somewhat big at only 4 months along? As my friend Chris pointed out, a mis-measurement of only one centimeter changes it from the 90th to the 10th percentile, so the baby might not even BE big. However, we know that the baby was very active and wiggly during the ultrasound--is there a problem with having a nice strong, healthy baby?

You can probably tell that I'm feeling a bit persecuted. I happen to NOT be eating a ton of carbs or sugar. I have been distinctly repelled by starches for about three weeks, so I'm pretty much living on protein and fresh veggies. AND both my sisters AND my mom had big babies, so picky, worrying nurses can go SIT ON A TACK.

our beach!

We went to the beach!

"Look, the ocean!" Alex helpfully says. (I find it funny that he's wearing a Pacific t-shirt.)

You can see that there are about a million rocks to throw into the ocean. Alex revealed that he can skip stones like nobody's business. One of them even skipped about twelve times, surfing all the way over a wave before sinking!

We found a plank, so Alex said I had to walk it. No excuses, he said.


We also drove along and found about a million little shops and restaurants along the coast, but I forgot to take pictures of any of those. Oh well--we'll be going back throughout the summer!

ultrasound again

Today is maybe the real last ultrasound. Behbeh Bowling is still a good size and everything is looking like it should. Alex will be scanning the pictures later so we can post them, but for now we have an urgent appointment to go sit on the beach and enjoy the gorgeous day we're having. :)

a response from Cape Cod chips!

This is the entirety of the email I got in response to mine:

"Thank you for letting us know.

I will forward your letter to our marketing department.

Please lt us know if we can be of any more help.

Thank you."

I guess we'll see what happens next....

the Cape Cod chip situation

I just wrote to the customer service department (after finding their weensy "contact us" link hidden at the bottom of their website). I'll post if I hear anything back. :)

AWESOME :)

As of about 15 minutes ago, I am starting training to do a from-home editing job. Woo!! :)

I have to get through all the training before they permanently hire me, but they like me and I like them, and I'm getting a password to the website.... and so on. And I know they're legit because my friend Rachel was working for them before I came along.

preferred name for my growing belly

"Mummie tummy"

Thank you, that is all. :)