Author: Karen Putz

This morning, I sat down to watch Oprah’s Debt Diet and catch up with the families that started the debt diet a year ago. The families made great strides in cutting into their debt and making some changes. Most of them reported that their marriages improved and they gained a sense of working together as a result of the Debt Diet. The advice from the money gurus (Jean Chatzky, author of Make Money, Not Excuses, David Bach, author of The Automatic Millionaire and Girl, Get Your Credit Straight!) all had the same advice: Stop spending, sell some of your stuff, increase your income, and pay off your debt.

Sounds so simple, doesn’t it?

The hubby and I have made some changes here and there lately and cut back on our spending and gas use. We’ve been staying home more and the kids took their lunch to school more frequently instead of purchasing the school lunches.

Yet, this week, the Chicago Sun Times reported that food prices are on the rise and the cost of eggs has risen 81%.

So I guess that means we’ll be eating less eggs this summer.

(Left: Julia Anderson, right: Cathy Smyth)

Ask Julia Anderson about her job and she’ll tell you she “loves it!” Julia is a Clinical Data Coordinator at Advocate Christ Medical Center/Hope Chidren’s Hospital in Oak Lawn, Illinois. She graduated from the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) in 1991 with a degree in Medical Records. She went on to obtain certification as a Registered Health Information Technician and Certified Coding Specialist.

Yes, she’s been coding for 16 years and still loves it.

Julia communicates in American Sign Language and utilizes interpreters for meetings. On the job, she had to come up with innovative ways to communicate with her co-workers. “I do not use the phone,” says Julia. “Email is my main source of communication. The associates in my hospital who I work with know that email is the best way to contact me.

“I use paper and pen to communicate with co-workers, Julia continues. “Sometimes I will use a computer or laptop as well. If co-workers have questions, they will sign, fingerspell or email me.”

Julia, along with another coordinator, supervises a staff of 24 medical coders and 4 unbilled staff. Julia’s path to becoming a coordinator was not an easy one. Back in 1999, while working as a coder, Julia applied to become a coordinator. She didn’t get the job and was quite disappointed. The job was given to Cathy Smyth, who happened to have a sister who was hard of hearing. As it turned out, Julia completed her internship years ago with Cathy’s sister at Advocate Christ Medical Center.

In the beginning, Cathy and Julia communicated via paper and pencil. Cathy learned to fingerspell and slowly picked up signs. Today, Cathy and Julia communicate fluently in American Sign Language. Several other co-workers are learning sign as well.

When the coordinator job opened up again four years ago, Cathy encouraged Julia to apply. This time, she obtained the job and continues to enjoy it today. “In my personal opinion,” Julia reflects back, “the director at that time did not think I was capable of doing the job due to the communication barrier.

“I ended up proving her wrong when I got the second chance at the coordinator position.”

I’ve been given a gentle nudge by Phil Gerbyshak to share the “other side of me.”

The Face Behind The Blog meme was started by David Airey, who urged bloggers to show a personal side with photographs. Photographs allow the reader to get to know the blog author in a new light.

So the other day, while browsing through several photographs on the computer, my son stopped me at the photo below:

“Oh neat, Mom!” my son exclaimed. “Is that one of those photos where your head is on someone else’s body?”

After the stabbing pain in my heart subsided, I informed my firstborn that yes, indeed, that was his mom’s body twenty years ago. His eyes grew wide.

So while we’re examining the past, the photo below shows me on top of my first pyramid, rounding a bend in the lake and hanging on for dear life:

That’s me on the upper left and my friend Jenny Oehl on the right. Bobby Kruso and Brent Greenwood are on the bottom left– but I can’t remember who the guy on the right is. I’m sure his aching back has recovered.

Fast forward many years and many pounds later:

I’m with my brother Dennis and my father. They just finished chopping down three pine trees and I’m hauling them off to a field on the four-wheeler.

Now that I’m older, I’m usually found behind the wheel of the boat, dragging my kids around the lake. Here’s my youngest son on the tube, the other two have been flung off after hitting a wave.

When I’m not blogging here, I’m usually meeting families at my early intervention job or at my staff writing job for an internet company. Every once in a while, I go out and do presentations for Hands & Voices (seen here with Jane Holtz, another mom and IL Hands & Voices board member):

I’m married to a great guy (most of the time!) and I have three kids who occasionally pick up after themselves. I dream of having a chef, a maid and a personal shopper to take over the stuff I hate to do.

Heck, what I need is a wife of my own!

Wordless Wednesday— need I say more?

My sister-in-law has her 50th birthday all planned out:

She’s heading to Hawaii.

So I’ve found a neat website where one can rent out places on Hawaii: Hawaii Beachfront Cottages. One three bedroom home can be rented for $200 per night. Keep in mind that some of the homes require a 30-day rental. Hawaii certainly isn’t cheap, but heck, for the sunset below– I’d stay 30 days myself!

Check out this four-bedroom house that sleeps eight: Big Island House–at $1,200 per night–four couples could share a vacation together with memories to last a lifetime.

The same site even has a blog about Hawaii: Hawaiian Beach Rental Blog.
Now all I have to do is write a couple of bestsellers so I can join my sis-in-law next year!

A couple of weeks ago, during a search for authors who are deaf or hard of hearing, I stumbled upon Connie Briscoe. In the mid 1990’s, Connie rocketed to the bestseller list with her first novel, Sisters and Lovers. Connie is deaf and the former editor of the American Annals of the Deaf.

You can read more about Connie in a Gallaudet interview and in Jamie Burke’s interview.

Connie’s newest book is Jewels, a collection of fifty stories about African American women over the age of fifty. Connie includes her own personal story in this book. I plan to order this photographic book using the gift certificates that I’ve earned from My Points–Earn Rewards at MyPoints.
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Yesterday, I headed over the library and found two of her books: P. G. County and Can’t Get Enough.

I’m on chapter three of P.G. County and fascinated by the way Connie introduces characters. I have a feeling I’m going to like her books. On page seven, they’ve already gotten into some hot, steamy action.

I’m off to read more.

I’ve been tagged by Christy at Christy’s Coffee Break to share “Ten Interesting Things About Me.”

So here goes:

1) My favorite color is purple. Oddly enough, I don’t have much purple in my house, but my college roommate and I once won a decorating contest for the “Best Dorm Room.” It was covered in purple, of course.

2) I love books. I belong to BookHands, a bookclub where everyone is deaf. We converse using sign language.

3) Toxic people drive me nuts. I’m on a mission to eliminate the toxic people in my life. Life is too short for people who have a negative view of life.

4) I once surprised my husband by driving off with a friend’s motorcycle. He had no clue that I knew how to ride one. A special thanks goes to Tim Brown, who taught me to ride his dirt bike one summer.

5) Speaking of fast things, I’m on a mission to get a jet ski by next summer. It’s a harmless way to handle a mid-life crisis. Hmm… should I start a “Jet Ski For Karen” fund?

6) I love steak. More specifically, I love steak from Outback. Nothing puts a smile on my face quicker than a gift card from Outback. The hubby knows just how to score on Mother’s Day, Christmas and my birthday.

7) I’m stone deaf when my hearing aids come out. Don’t bother arguing with me–I have a magical “off” switch on my hearing aids.

8) My ultimate favorite organization is Hands & Voices. I’ve met a lot of neat people there.

9) I hate housework. My mom loves it. She is so disappointed that the “clean” gene somehow skipped me. Fortunately, when my mom visits, the fridge gets cleaned out, the cabinets get wiped down and the blinds get vacuumed. I’m trying to convince my mom to visit more often.

10) Enough about me– tell me something about YOU. You’re next!

Will Landgren is in the pool for two hours each day, swimming laps and practicing his turns six days a week. In August, Will be competing in the World Deaf Swimming Championships in Taiwan.

“Baseball is my favorite sport,” says Will, “But swimming is a close second.”

During the summer, Will has practice each day, two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening.

Will is profoundly deaf and cannot hear the starting gun. “I use a light strobe,” Will explains. “I have an interpreter at practice so I can talk to my teammates and find out what the coach is saying. Sometimes I talk to the other swimmers myself with my voice.”

Each swimmer has to raise funds for the trip to Taiwan. To support Will at the competition, his local team has set up an online fundraiser to help Will gather the six thousand dollars he will need to participate. To donate funds for Will, visit: Palatine Park District Tigersharks Swim Team.

On a perfectly calm night, you can toss a stone into Christie Lake and watch the ripples build up. One ripple causes the next ripple, which sets the motion for yet another one…

Tonight will mark my final “Conversational Sign Language” class at Joliet Junior College. I have been teaching at JJC since the early 90’s and now I’m passing the baton on to Chris Laskowski, a physical education teacher who is deaf.

I’ve had my share of memorable students over the years. The youngest student was three years old and the oldest was 82. One student had suffered a stroke and was learning to communicate again. Several couples have taken the class to communicate with each other after losing their hearing. I have had classes as large as sixty students and some as small as six. I’ve had two students who have taken my class two times in a row and they’ve gone on to take the next level class two times as well.

Families with deaf and hard of hearing children frequently take my class and often bring the grandparents and sometimes the kids. One mom of a deaf child went on to become an interpreter. She once interpreted for me at a meeting at a local intervention agency. This mom also teaches sign classes at her local park district. Another student went on to graduate from Columbia College and now works as a full-time freelance interpreter. I recently had the honor of having her interpret for me during a meeting downtown.

I’ve also ran into former students in many different places. Several times I have gone into restaurants and discovered that the server has taken a class. I’ve found students at the post office, conferences and bookstores. It is difficult to remember all of the students after years of teaching but it’s always special to come across them years down the road.

Back in the early 90’s, I hosted a “Silent Day” in my hometown at a local church. I had forgotten all about that day until I received a phone call from Shirley Armstrong, one of the ladies who attended that event. She invited me to a breakfast as a thank you for the teaching I had done in my community years ago.

On Saturday, I had the honor and pleasure of having breakfast with a group of women from the Jubilee Baptist Church. Shirley in the picture on the far left) introduced me to the ladies from the church who continued to study American Sign Language year after year.

It’s amazing how a ripple in the pond can continue many years later.

About three years ago, we moved down the street to a larger house. For three years, our living room remained decorated with flat white paint and the builder’s thirteen dollar, gold-plated light arrangements.

I am not known for my decorating skills, but I do have a knack for accepting other people’s stuff–which is how my sis-in-law’s curtains ended up decorating the family room windows, my aunt’s lamp on a table and my mother in-law’s kitchen table ended up in the dining room.

So one day, the hubby and I looked at each other and had the same thought–let’s paint the living room. We were avoiding it for a long time because of the soaring ceilings. When inspiration hits, we roll with it. Our problem is, we often run out of inspiration in the middle of a home job and leave things halfway done.

Or we run out of money.

But this time, we got the job done and sat back to admire the soft yellow walls. We admired the new lights that we put up over the hand-me-down table.

Yet, the room still looked bare and unfinished. We knew we needed curtains, so we set out to find some. Due to the high ceilings, we quickly learned that we would have to either make them or have them custom made.

Either way, it wasn’t going to be cheap.

One day, I was at my neighbor’s house picking up the youngest kiddo and I noticed that she had some nice white curtains hanging up. We have the same soaring ceilings. “Nice curtains,” I commented. “Where did you get them?”

“Oh, those are tablecloths!” she replied. “From Linens and Things!”

I was flabbergasted.

So I ran over to Linens and Things and found a beautiful gold color tablecloth in the perfect length.

For eighteen bucks each!