Criticism

I wonder why it is that it's so much easier to remember the negative things people say to you rather than the positive ones. I had tons of great calls today where people told me how polite, helpful or efficient I was. And yet, the ones that really stuck out were the 2 in which the people were rude to me. In one of them, I was at fault (I was having trouble understanding her plan. She actually understood it completely, but didn't bother to enlighten me about what she knew. I never did find the part of the plan that actually explained the issue she was having.) For the other one, the problem was either that the customer was lying to me (which was a very real possibility with him) or that the previous representative had told him one thing and done another. I'm just reminding myself that two negative calls in 11 hours (I worked overtime) isn't too bad.

I did have to laugh after one of my calls. While the caller was hanging up I heard her say, "Wow! She sounded so young!" :-)

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Well, the month of December has been very full, but I think things are slowing down a bit now!

I am enjoying my job. We've just finished up our classroom training; yesterday I spent all day on the phones (and worked two hours of overtime) and it went really well. My training group is currently just on the "refill line" which pretty much means that when people call in to talk to the automated system, if they say they want refills and end up needing a representative, then we get to talk to them. Most of the people I've talked to have been really nice and friendly, although there were a few who were upset.

I have a recommendation to those of you who use mail-order prescription service: Have your doctor fax in your prescriptions! It takes us 5 days to process a new faxed prescription, it takes us 11 to process one that's mailed in, and that's only if we receive it in time. I had so many calls yesterday from people who were wondering why they hadn't received their orders yet, and they weren't even in the system.

I am also amazed by how many people on maintenance medications wait until they only have a week's worth of medication left before they order new stuff. It's funny because it seems like we rarely get calls for people trying to get refills at an "appropriate" time-frame. Either they want to do it way early (most plans don't let you get refills until 75% of your day supply is used up) or they wait until they're practically out and then they're upset that we can't magically make medication appear on their doorstep that afternoon. I had one lady call in yesterday who takes anti-depressants and sleep medication and she was out of both. I tried to convince her to talk to her doctor about getting a short term supply from a retail pharmacy to hold her over until her order could arrive and she just said, "No, I'll just drink a lot until my medication gets here. That works."

Daniel has been doing really well with the children. The first couple of weeks this month were pretty crazy because he was doing final projects for school, so my mom took care of the kids most of the time (Thanks, Mom!) They both love Grandma, so that worked out really well. Once Daniel finished up with finals, though, he took over. It's taken a bit for him to get used to it, but he's been doing a great job and the children are having a blast. I can already see the special bonds that they are developing, and I love it. I'd imagine that this experience will be great for their relationships throughout their lives. I miss all of them like crazy, but that's to be expected. I'm looking forward to Jan. 5th, because that's when I start my 4 day a week schedule. I'll really enjoy having an extra day to be home.

We've have a busy Christmas week. On Monday, we went caroling with my family and exchanged gifts there. The caroling was a bit of a bust, we caroled to quite a few houses, but only 4 had people home. It was fun, anyway, though.

Then on Tuesday, we had our annual Christmas bash with my Dad's sibling's families and my Grandma. That party is always really fun, and this year was no exception. My cousin, Christina, played a really showy arrangement of "Oh Holy Night", it was really impressive. Then my sister, Julie, sang a song that she wrote about the Savior. It was beautiful and touching. We also sang Christmas carols as a group and then Santa came. My brother, Jared, dressed up this year and did a great job. I'll have to post pictures once I get them. Caleb was really excited to see him. Kaiana was a little unsure, but she didn't cry. While we were at the party, Caleb just talked about how cool Santa was, but the next day he said, "Santa looks a lot like Uncle Jared. He sounds like Uncle Jared, too!" I guess next year we'll have to have someone else dress up.

On Wednesday, we went to my grandparents home to visit. We had to show up late because of work, but it was a nice visit anyway. Kaiana was pretty excited by their dog. She's a little one so she was only a little bit bigger than Kaiana.

We had a pretty quiet Christmas. We've made a tradition to stay home and just celebrate with our immediate family, and that works out well. We played with Caleb's new toys. Santa brought Twister for our family, so we tried that out. Caleb thought it was pretty fun.

Today we're headed over to my in-laws for a Christmas celebration there. I need to finish my mother-in-law's gift, but I have everything else done. I made pillowcases for everyone else in the family, but I decided to make a photo calendar for her. Unfortunately, with how busy I've been, I haven't gotten it finished yet. I'm close to done, though. :-)

Kaiana had a doctor's appointment a week ago, and she is now 16 lbs. and 25 1/4 in. That puts her at the 15th percentile for weight, and way below the 3rd for height. lol The nurse looked at me and said, "So... who in the family is petite?" :-)

Well, hopefully the next post I make won't be quite so long!