Almost 2006

Well, it's New Year's Eve...and I don't have to work! Hooray! :) After working the last three days, I'm excited to finally have some time to deprogram and relax after the busy week. I've already been to Weight Watchers this morning...and had a successful weigh in! I lost 1.6lbs...after eating everything in sight at my grandma's house. I was pretty excited about it. I got to come home and eat breakfast in joy.

I'm still trying to get over this stupid cold. I thought I was so much better until I woke up with my head pounding and snot everywhere! :) Thank goodness for Tylenol Cold. It's all better now. I don't want to spend my day feeling icky, so I fixed it quick! :)

Sadie is walking around the house on three legs looking like a wee poodle tripod. She's also now wearing one of those collars because she won't stop licking her stitches. She's pretty angry about it. She keeps running into walls and can't figure out how to get around with that collar on. She's pretty sad. Liberty has been staring at me for the last 10 minutes because I was drinking a 20 oz soda. She wants the bottle. I just gave it to her, and now she's happily chewing on it. Now Oliver jumped up on the bed and is trying to chew on Liberty. She's abandoned the bottle and is trying to get to me for protection. She's a big baby.

I am working the next two days. Sunday is considered a holiday..so hooray for me! :) ANYWAYS. I'd better start working around here. I really have a lot of straightening and cleaning to do today. My room's a disaster. A friend of ours is having a New Year's thing tonight....still trying to figure out if I have the energy to go to that.

Well...hopefully I'll have a productive and restful day...can those two things go together? I hope that you and your family have a fabulous time ringing in the New Year....even if it means sleeping through it! :)

Vere returns!

She's home! She's shorn and bruised, but she's home. She almost didn't get to come home, on account of the holding of the bladder. Becca went up there and Sadie did all the business for her and she was allowed to come home. She's actually doing really well, and she doesn't seem to be in any pain. She's not walking on the knee yet, but she will put weight on it. We're doing some training already. She loves it...or else she loves the treats I give her when she does good.

Today was absolutely crazy at work. I spent almost the entire day in procedures with one kid. It was neverending! I also got an admit right at 6pm and spent the next hour doing procedures on that same child with the possessed grandma. I loved the baby and the mom, but the grandma needed to go away quickly. SO annoying!

I've been sick the last couple days, but I'm actually starting to feel better today. I still have a head full of snot, but at least I don't feel or look like death. Ta DA! I work tomorrow and then have Saturday off. I'm hoping that I can make it...I don't want to call in if I can help it. I feel bad going to work with a head full of goo...but I don't think I'm contagious. If I felt bad enough, I wouldn't go.

Anyways. I'm tired and going to bed.

Christmas is fabulous...but oh, so tiring!

Christmas makes me tired. I absolutely love it...but it is tiring. There are so many people at my grandma's house that most of us are sleeping on the floor. Me and the air mattress are great friends. Liberty really doesn't like to sleep on the air mattress...and really I don't either. She ends up trying to sneak off the bed every hour. I have to go chase her down, and most of the time, she gets right back into bed and goes to sleep. Beast. I on the other hand, am now wide awake and can't go back to sleep.

My family opens presents really slowly. I mean...ridiculously slow. It's fun, because everyone goes one at a time...but it does drag out. It took 5 hours to open presents...and that was with my grandma cutting down on the number of presents she bought. When there are 13 people...it just gets slower and slower. All the dogs were running around through the paper, taking it back to their lair to eat. Nutty beasts.

When I finally got home yesterday, I just threw all the stuff in my bedroom floor and left it there. I have absolutely no idea when I will get to put it away. I have to work the next two days, then off 1, then on two, then off 2, then on 1. EW! Nasty! Oh well...at least it's busy up here.

Anyways...I'll type more when I have the chance...but probably not today.

Prayers for Boo

Our puppies have many nicknames. MANY MANY nicknames. Here's a few for your enjoyment.

Liberty: Lib, Liberty Grace, Grace, Gracie, Ween, Weinertastic
Sadie: Vere, Sadie Guinevere, Boo, Booters, Flufferiffic, Fluffytastic, Booter Vere.
Oliver: Sadly, he hasn't acquired many nice nicknames yet...some of his bad ones are "Pee Butt, and OLIVER!!!"

So, back to the headline of this blog entry. Sadie (aka Boo) is having surgery today. She has "patellar luxation", which in layman's terms means that her knee cap slips off her knee. When it does that, her little leg catches and she hops on that leg. If you've ever seen her run, she will run a few steps, then her right leg (most of the time), will catch and she'll hop. This is not normal, but it is genetic in the poodles. If it's not surgically corrected soon, her knees will get to a point that they can't be fixed. So, Becca is having her right knee fixed today. They actually have to break her little shin bone and pin in in the right place. Needless to say, Becca's a wreck....as I would be if Grace had to have surgery. Sadie will be hospitalized overnight and then Becca can take her home tomorrow morning. Then Sadie has to remain quiet and still for 6-8 weeks. Have you ever met Sadie? There's usually no such thing as quiet and still. She loves to run around, jump on furniture, and be crazy Boo. She'll have to be crated so she remains still....and mostly so her brother and sister don't maime her. They love her, and will not understand why they can't love on her. So, please say a little prayer for Sadie and her mom today. Pray that Sadie will be pain controlled after surgery, and her mom to have peace of mind.

Almost the most wonderful time of the year!

So Christmas is literally right around the corner. How exciting! It really doesn't feel that way, though. I guess it's because I know I have to work tomorrow...oh well...such is life. Hey, it's a holiday AND a weekend...that's a lot of dollars per hour! :) Hooray! :) This week, I've been trying to get everything ready to go this weekend, with a little bit of running around like a chicken with my head cut off! :) I've got the presents bought and wrapped (finally), the laundry in the works, and a couple of bags packed here and there. Liberty Grace's suitcase is packed, as she is going to the "Barking Hound Village" tonight to spend the night and wait expectedly for me to pick her up tomorrow night after work. She knows something is going on...especially since her food and favorite toys are packed up in a bag. She's pretty clingy right now....even more so since her brother and sister left for the country.

Tomorrow, I will be at work, bright and shiny in the early morning. I am hoping that I do not have to float to another floor, but there's a distinct possiblity. Although, I keep thinking that it's my turn, and we are always full and needing our nurses lately! It's nutty. I've heard that Christmas Eve is pretty busy...all the doctors are trying to send everyone home that they can. The kids who are left get quite a treat though, from what I'm told. Remember that parade we had at the beginning of the month? Well, everyone gets tons of presents and fun stuff. I don't know if anything goes on Christmas Eve, but I hope so.

After work, I am going straight to pick up Gracie, and then head out. It will put me at Grandma's house shortly after midnight...but at least I'll be there! :) I am sure everyone will still be up...cause they are crazy.

Anyways, I wish you and your family a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS! I'll be back after the holiday!

I win!

Today, I finally accomplished something that I have been trying to do for weeks! I finished all my Christmas shopping and I wrapped all my presents! TA DA! It took me an extremely long time....mostly because I'm pretty slow at the wrapping. I'm pretty particular too. The gift tag has to match the paper...and other bizarre things that I do while wrapping. I know that I wrapped for at least 2 and 1/2 hours in the AM, then another 2 in the afternoon. That seems excessive.

My washer is at this very moment making the loudest noise it has ever made. I think the clothes must be uneven in there. It actually sounds like it's about to take off. I'm afraid! :(

I don't really know what I'm going to do tomorrow. I had planned to spread the present joy over the next couple of days, but I was overly ambitious today. I have no laundry to do... It's obviously going to be a long day.

Anyways....Nothing else exciting happened today. I guess it will be a couple of slow days...

Weekend ruckus! :)

Oh the weekend. Normally, weekends are pretty calm around here. We get admissions, we discharge people, and sometimes we have STAT orders....but it's pretty calm. This weekend, not so much. We've been running around like chickens...all of us. We've got emergency orders coming out our ears, and someone is always doing something funky on the heart monitor. It's a party in a box. I've spent most of my day in one patient's room...just hoping that he will continue breathing! That's not a great situation to be in! :) Thankfully, everyone knows how crazy it is, so everyone's helping each other.

The puppies are still doing okay. Liberty and Sadie are working at loving their brother, who seems to be getting bigger every day. He's a pig, for one thing. Loving the food and wanting to eat his and everyone else's. Two days ago, he thought Sadie wanted to share her food. He was very mistaken, evidenced by the LOUD growling and snarling that occured. Liberty plays with him more than Sadie, but they both do a good share of snarling and snapping. He's not smacking them in the face as much...but he did bite me on the cheek yesterday, leaving a nice couple of gashes. It's my war wounds. I was bugging him...but we do NOT bite faces. Oliver goes back to the doctor this week...hooray for shots! :)

This week I WILL wrap presents. I will I will I will. Okay, so I don't want to...but I'm running out of time. I also still have to buy some presents. Slacker. I only work Wednesday and Christmas eve this week...so I should have time... Who knows why I'm not inspired to wrap this year. I have plenty of beautiful paper (I'm so addicted to paper!)

I leave for my grandma's house on Saturday evening. I have to put Gracie in a kennel Friday night so I can pick her up by the hospital on Saturday night. She will hate me...but it saves me an hour of driving, and I'm all for that. I'm sure everyone will still be awake when I get to grandma's. They always are....and usually still eating! :) It's going to be an interesting year with half the group on Weight Watchers. I don't care...I will eat! It's only once a year, right? I did so well after Thanksgiving...hopefully it will carry over. I've lost 3 lbs since then, so I'm right at 67lbs total. AMAZING! I'm still in shock.

Well, I probably should be getting back to my patients. I'm sure that someone needs something!

And now the fancy ball gowns...the one in green (Leigh) looks like a mermaid! 

Fancy Point of Grace in crazy red dresses. 

More Avalon. 

Okay, so this is Avalon from last week. 

Ho oray for December!

I love Christmas. I'm so excited that it's next weekend. I'm a gift giver....I love to pick out presents for my family and figure out what would be perfect for them. I love to see their faces! :) Tonight, I went to find boxes and tissue paper. Hooray for Dollar Tree! Cheap! :) I did not buy any wrapping paper, which was a very hard thing. I absolutely love to buy paper. I always buy from fund raisers and then find lots of good cheap paper the days after Christmas. It's a fabulous addiction. I also love to wrap presents...which I was supposed to do this week. Sadly, this didn't happen. It didn't happen last week either. They are just sitting in piles in the spare room. Sad!

I had such a fun time in Austin. We went shopping, laid around with the puppies, saw a movie, and just had a great time. On Wednesday night, we took the puppies to Zilker Park for the Austin "Trail of Lights". The entire park is filled with displays sponsored by various local companies. They had Snoopy, Disney, manger scenes, and the most scary...."Greek Christmas", filled with statues of greek gods and other random things. Bizarre. The puppies walked a long way, and were so tired when we got home. People kept saying "Oh look at the puppies in their sweaters! How cute!" As if we would take three tiny pups out without protection from the cold. They were stunning. Oliver looked a little girly in his teal green sweater...I hadn't found one that was manly yet. I have since remedied the situation and he's walking around the house in a navy blue sweater with a yellow stripe. He's fancy.

Last night, Becca and I drove up to Denton for a Point of Grace concert. It took us a ridiculously long time, seeing as I 35 is always nutty. Once we got there, we staked out our seats and waited for the glories to begin. The first half was fabulous. Intermission was short..thankfully. Then the madness started. Apparently, this church's idea of a Point of Grace concert was to have the girls go away for awhile and have their "Celebration Choir" do a mini concert for FORTY minutes. Then, POG came back, and sang all the meaningful songs with the choir. I was hacked. I did not drive all that way for a concert with their choir. They sang most of the good songs (the ones I was looking forward to) with the choir...so it almost ruined it. I was so sad afterwards. Point of Grace is always good, but I didn't like the fact that this church had us listen to their choir for so long. I was thinking that maybe this was their Christmas cantata...but that's happening on Sunday. There was no excuse for that madness. Thankfully, the trip back was quick and we actually didn't get in too terribly late.

ANYWAYS. That's what has been going on around here lately. I have to work the next two days..then Wednesday, then Christmas Eve. Party! :) Hope you are staying warm! I will post pics of the concerts when I find my connecty cable thing. :)

Busy weekend.

Well, I worked all weekend. It really wasn't bad....just long! I stayed late yesterday for a friend who wanted to see her nephew's play. Then she stayed late for me today....so I got some extra sleep this morning! Hooray! :) It's been a really busy couple of days. I don't mind busy...and I really didn't mind the extra weekend pay. Hooray again! :) Oh well...work is work. It usually doesn't get too interesting. Mondays are especially bad. We usually have tons of procedures that need to be done and they go really slowly. Of course, today was the exception. Today the Dallas Cowboys came to our hospital to see the kids. They were in the main auditorium, along with the cheerleaders, and signed autographs for all the kids who wanted to see them. I was very lucky that my patient wasn't able to go by herself down there...so I just had to go. We met so many players! It was really exciting. All I have to say is Drew Bledsoe is YUMMY. Okay, I said it. He told me Merry Christmas. That must mean we are now a couple! :)

Liberty has just finished ferociously digging in a fleece that was sitting on my bed. She's pretty angry with me right now on account of the bath she just received. Sadie and Oliver got one too. Everyone hates me right now. It's all good. I'm not offended! :)

Tomorrow, I am going to Austin to spend some time with Michael and Jennifer. Okay, so really not Michael since he'll be studying all the time for his finals (he's almost done! Only one more semester!). Jennifer and I will be having a rocking good time though. I know she's got lots of stuff planned, and I am just happy to have a break from work! :) I'm taking Gracie (obviously) and Oliver with me. It should be an interesting car ride. Liberty will have to sit in her car seat and Oliver will be banished to the back seat in his crate. Sad for him! :) Oh well, he'll learn one of these days about how we don't pee in the car . (never done it in my car..but I don't want a first time!)

Well, I still need to finish packing..BLECH. Oh well. Life is tough. I probably won't blog until Thursday or Friday...so have a great week! I know I will!

Wiped out 

Cutie pie 

Cold snap continues.

Well, the cold is still here. Yesterday, the whole city of Dallas closed because of the ice on the roads. It really wasn't that bad, I was able to get out around noon without difficulty...but Texas drivers will panic at the very sight of frozen precipitation. It was fine to be cooped up though. I did a lot of dishes (thanks to the Pampered Chef party) and cleaned both the kitchen and the living room. I felt productive. All the school districts were off, so the restaurants and stores were filled with kids. I think everyone thought it was just a nice break.

Our Pampered Chef party went well. We had a smaller than expected turn out, mostly because it was actively sleeting the entire time....but we still had fun. I'm hoping to close the show today after I meet with the hostess. I also have to go weigh in. That is always an interesting adventure. Last week, I lost 4.6lbs. I was in shock. I did not expect that, especially after the Thanksgiving holiday. We'll see how today goes. Sometimes after a big loss, it's hard to keep the momentum going...but I've had a pretty good week! :)

The puppies are doing well. Yesterday, Sadie made some progress with her brother by playing with him for almost 10 minutes. She was chasing and eliciting the chase from him. It was hilarious! It was the first time she had acted like herself since Oliver came. Liberty eventually joined in the puppy mayhem. It was a big puppy pile. Oliver is currently running around the house with his stuffed camel in his mouth. Every once in a while, he lights on a certain area to squeak it or chew on it...but mostly a lot of running. Nutty.

Today, Becca and I are driving to Fort Worth to see Avalon. It's all the way on the west side of Fort Worth...so hooray for a late night and then working tomorrow! I actually have a really busy couple of days, even though I'm working! :) I have the concert tonight, the floor Christmas party on Saturday night, then I am working late for a friend on Sunday night. The good thing is she is staying late for me on Monday morning so I don't have to be there until 8:30 or so. Hooray for late morning! (especially since it will be my last day until I go back on Saturday! :) I don't mind this 3-4 days off in a row thing. At least I know that with working weekends, my paycheck will be much happier! :)

Well, I suppose I should get started with my day. I am STARVING because I haven't eaten yet due to my weigh in. I have no idea if it really helps. I'm off to run some errands. Wa HOO!

The cold is here!

Oh hooray. It is cold outside. I know that there are other places where it's much colder than here....but right now it's 27 degrees. It's about darn time! Since it was so hot over the summer, apparently it's going to make up for it now! Hooray! Electric blankets are out (okay, so maybe it's been out for a month or so...), sweats are on, and there's actually sleet outside! The only down side to this wonderful winter wonderland is I have a Pampered Chef show tonight! We're not supposed to get any more rain/sleet so hopefully, people will decide to come anyway! :) I know that we've got several orders already, so even if the turnout is low...we'll still make some dollars! :)

Today, I pretty much worked on the show preparations from when I got up to about 1:30 this afternoon. We've had catalog shows since May, but that was our last kitchen show. I had lots of copies to make, catalogs to stamp, and all kinds of garbage to go through. I really need to sit down and organize it. That might have to wait. I really need to start wrapping Christmas presents this week. It's usually a several day affair, especially since I really love to wrap. I go a little crazy with the ribbon and bows. Well, at least my presents are beautiful. It also takes longer because my mom's side of the family has a tradition with our present giving. Every present we give comes with a clue to its contents. Sometimes the clues are really witty...sometimes they just have to do with the brand name of the item that's inside. You can also tell when someone has been wrapping and writing clues for awhile...the clues get corny! :) I haven't even started wrapping yet...so it will fun.

Oliver is presently chewing his paws in the chair next to me. Sometimes, I think he watches his sisters for retarded things to do. He's nuts. We had to get him a new crate for when he sleeps and when we're gone. Sadie's old crate was WAY too small for him. Poor lamb. This new one is much more roomy, enough for him, his fleece blanket, and his favorite stuffed camel. Great, now he's chewing his wrist. The entire paw is in his mouth. Therapy is needed.

Well, I suppose I should go get ready. I think I'm supposed to look presentable at this shindig. HA!

Days off are wonderful!

Today is Day 1 of 4. I've been way productive today already...it's kinda scary! I've done laundry, run errands, and maybe that's all for right now. The puppies have spent most of the day outside, running around like they are crazy! Sadie's mostly watching and sunning herself, but she will join in every once in awhile. Oliver has been a boundless ball of energy. I'm waiting for him to crash. He's bound to be tired. He's spent his morning chasing his sisters and carrying his stuffed toys outside. Crazy dog. I posted a picture of the girls fighting over the stuffed rabbit with Oliver. It was hilarious! Grace and Sadie look a little possessed.

I also posted a picture from the parade! That room was for all the characters to get their costumes on. I didn't have any from the rest of the day since my camera was on the fritz. Becca has some and she's going to send them to me when her computer behaves.

I just saw our landlord showing the duplex next door to some people. They REALLY didn't look like "rent a duplex" people, but maybe they were just all dressed up for work...or something. They really looked like Highland Park people, but what do I know? I found an excuse to go rummage in my car so they could see the scary neighbors they would be encountering. We're terrifying.

Tonight, Becca and I have to practice some recipes for a Pampered Chef show tomorrow. I'm so excited about it because we finally have a show where we don't know anyone! Not even the host! She got our name from a friend of hers who is friends with our friend Kerrie. Crazy how that works...but we're excited! We've already received some orders...so that's always fun.

Well, the puppies have been outside for awhile now. I am about to declare it nap time. Hope you are staying warm!

An epic battle for the rabbit. It's life or death. 

Characters getting ready. I think this is Spot, and the back of the Wild Thing (from Where the Wild Things are!) 

Parade mayhem!

The parade fun is over! I really did have a good time yesterday, irregardless of the fact that I was up so early. The day started out with me sitting at the DART station at 5:53am. For those of you who don't know, the DART is our light rail system. It fabulously runs from way north in Plano, through downtown, and ends somewhere in South Dallas. That's just the red line. There's a blue and a green (and soon to be yellow) line too. I love to ride DART when I have to be downtown and I know that everyone else in the world will be too. Who wants to drive in that? :) Anyways, on Saturdays, the DART only runs every 20 minutes. I had to be downtown at 7:15Am, so I had to be assured that I would be on the DART that left at 6:28am. I guess I was paranoid, because I waited on that blasted platform for 30 minutes. At least I wasn't cold! The parade uniform consists of red sweatpants (which everyone looks good it!HA!), a red turtleneck (which normal people haven't worn since the 80's) and a sweatshirt. Not usually a bad uniform. The high temperature yesterday was 89 degrees. That is NUTTY. I was roasting all day long. Once I got downtown, I was given the job of helping the characters into their costumes. Then I got drafted to go to City Hall with a handful of characters who were going to be meeting the crowds for an hour and a half. It was really a good time...those kids were so excited to see them! I was the escort for Miss Bindegarden...apparently she's the star of a book. I'd never heard of her. After that, we were whisked away on our golf carts to a brunch for people who had donated 25,000 or more to Children's and their families. Then, I got to drive the characters back on a golf cart through the busy streets of downtown. Then I got to go home. I saw absolutely NONE of the parade! :) I did see the "giant inflatables" all lined up, as well as the floats...but nothing else. I did get to see the parade on TV. TIVO recorded it for me. It looked really cute! I also missed the Point of Grace concert at City Hall afterwards. Becca did call me and let me listen to our favorite part of one of their songs. It was a good time. I would have been a lot angrier if I wasn't going to see them in concert in 2 weeks anyways! All in all, it was a good time. I am hoping with one year under my belt as a character escort, maybe next year I can be a character? I'm sure I'll have lost more weight by then...hooray for me!

Today, I'm at work. It's not too bad at this point. I have 4 kids, but that pretty much guarantees that I won't get any admissions, especially since we have no open beds! My friend Cat is back from maternity leave, and I always love it when she's here. She's the one who trained me!

This week, I have lots of time off in a row....and not many plans on how to spend it. Hopefully, I'll get presents wrapped and laundry done. That's the goal. We'll see.

Oliver continues to love his sisters. They are getting much better with him. Liberty and him trounced each other for 1/2 an hour yesterday. They are rebels. He doesn't cry at night anymore, except when he hears that we are awake. We're still working on the potty issues...but he does great in his crate! It will come...we've only had him less than a week!

Have a fabulous Sunday....it's supposed to get cold here! I LOVE COLD! :)

Sadie let me sleep with her! 

Now I'm worn out! 

Snuggling with my sisters... 

Why don't you love me yet? 

Puppy updates...and some other stuff!

Things are still chugging along here on the farm. Sadie and Liberty are still managing to adjust to the addition of their brother. They have their moments....moments when they snarl and bark...and then moments where they snuggle with him. Yesterday, Sadie let him snuggle with her under my covers. I got pictures, but they are on Becca's camera. Last night, Liberty was laying parallel with my leg and let Oliver chew her rabbit laying parallel to her. It was very sweet, but of course, no camera! This morning, I got some great snuggling pictures. I'll make sure to post them. Today, they are all in the bed. I see three separate lumps. Not quite sure who is where...but at least no one is growling or snarling.

Tomorrow is the big parade! I am a character escort, which really means I help the characters get dressed and undressed and to their part of the parade. I thought I would be marching in the parade, but I don't think so. That's okay though...this is still an elite group I've managed to get in. Perhaps next year I can be a character...hooray! :) I have to be downtown tomorrow morning at 7:15am. Fun for me! :) I also found out that the parade is going to be syndicated to over 350 cities in the US! Check www.childrensparade.com to see if it's going to be near you! I know it's showing here at 10AM on CBS. Tivo is going to record it for me. They showed us all the "giant inflatables" last night. They include Hello Kitty, Curious George, and Garfield. It's going to be a lot of fun. I also might get to drive a golf cart! :)

***I just heard Gracie snarling under the covers....not good news. There's rustling in the bed too....Maybe I should investigate. She's now poked her head out of the covers. I see Oliver chasing her. Poor Gracie. She's tortured. ***

Next week, I work Sunday, Monday, Saturday. It's going to be an interesting 4 days here with the motley crew. We have a Pampered Chef party on Wednesday and a concert on Friday. It's going to be a busy week! I am going to try and get all the Christmas presents bought and wrapped....I don't have too many more to buy. I love to buy them! :) I wish I could have unlimited funds to buy presents because some of the the ones I see are perfect...but I can't spend that much money!

Today, it's my goal to get my Christmas cards out. I haven't even printed the letters yet, so I'm not sure how realistic that goal is. It may have to wait until Tuesday!

Anyways, I'm sure I'll have loads to tell (and pictures to show) of my adventures tomorrow. It's going to be interesting!

Days of fun...

Well, the craziness in the house has only multiplied since the arrival of Oliver. The girls tolerate him thus far, Liberty a wee bit more than Sadie. Sadie is a big fan of the teeth baring and growling. And who could blame her? If I was a wee poodle, I would hate to be trounced. Liberty plays with her, but gets tired of her easily. He's eating like a crazy dog...wants to eat all the time...and yesterday we found out why. Poor lamb still has worms. So now, all the puppies have to be treated, although we think the type of worms he has are not transmitted to other pups except through swallowing fleas. We'll take all of them to Dr. Rachel on Thursday to see if they all need treatment. He also needs to be started on his shots...we'll see if he's healthy enough to start those. I was worried about him last night, so we went to Petsmart and got some over the counter worm medicine, maybe if it helps just a little big...that would make me feel better. I'm a worrier when puppies get sick. He's not showing that he feels bad though. He's a maniac...running around crazy. He's very sweet. He cried a lot more last night than the night before, but I'm sure he'll learn quick. I think he already responds to his name. He's a smart puppy.

Anyways...today has been rather steady. Not too much has gone on, but it's been a constant thing. I don't mind days like this. I don't like when days are absolutely crazy! It's my second day of three...so at this point, I'm usually excited because I don't have to be here the next day. Well, in order to have my days off for the parade, I had to do three in a row. There are sacrifices that have to be made!

I have to go grocery shopping on Thursday. BLECH! I really don't like it...but then I don't like when I have no food and have to eat out because I am too lazy to get food! :)

Well, must be off now. I'm sure there's something I should be doing!

A Christmas tree and so much more...

I love Christmas decorating! It's so much fun to get those boxes out of the storage room and drag them to the house. I don't use half the decorations I have, but it's always interesting to see what I've decided is keep worthy. Becca and I decided last year to keep the lights up on the side of the house. After all, there's really no reason to take it down if we're just going to put it up again in 10 months, right? :) Anyways....sadness of all sadness, most of them didn't survive the summer. The ones that didn't survive were of course the ones on the roof. Kim put those up last year...but she's not around this year. We had to figure out how to get up there. I volunteered and bravely crawled around the edge of the roof, exchanging the crappy lights for the new ones.

We also went to get a Christmas tree today. I had decided to myself that I wanted to go cut a tree this year, instead of get one from a store. Becca had come to the same conclusion. We found one online and headed out this afternoon. The farm was close to the border of Texas and Oklahoma...so just about an hour's drive. It was actually a really cute farm. They take you to the fields and let you run around their trees with a hack saw. After quite a while, we found two we liked. We flipped a piece of bark for it and headed back to the barn. On the side of the barn, there was a little cage with a puppy in it. It was so cute and small...I had to go hold him. Needless to say, I fell in love. He was so cute! I showed him to Becca who also decided that he would just have to come home with us. If you scroll down, you can see his picture. We named him Oliver, because like Oliver Twist, he was also an orphan. Apparently he was dropped off on the side of the road, flea ridden and wormy. He was very sick, and this nice family took him in and took him to the vet. He didn't get along with their puppy, so they decided to give him away. He'll go visit Dr Rachel later this week. Dr Rachel loves puppies. I'm sure she'll love him!

The Christmas tree is decorated and lit. It's so pretty! I'll have to post a picture of it later...when I have more time. I have to work the next three days...ICK. I really despise three in a row...but I'll just have to suck it up. :)

Hope you are more than ready to start the next few weeks countdown to Christmas...I know I am!

Grace and Sadie wear me out! 

I'm flying! 

New Puppy Oliver! 

Full and happy!

Don't you just love Thanksgiving? When else is it okay to stuff yourself so full that you can't even see straight? Holidays in my family are always fun. First of all, we are always a nutty group. Now, Thanksgiving is always more tame than Christmas, but it's still fun. There's nothing more fun than sleeping in a house that's meant for about 4 or 5 people...and putting 10 or 12! It's really all about seniority in the house. If you've either aged long enough or been married long enough..that determines sleeping places. For example, my parents always have a bed. It doesn't matter who else is there...they always get one. I guess being married for 32 years, you get some bonuses. I never get a bed...that's just the way it goes. For the last couple of years, my sister and I have slept in the laundry room on an air mattress. This year, it's going to be interesting because there will be so many married couples there. Connie and I have decided to join forces and sleep in my Grandpa's office...and let the married couples fend for themselves. Even with all the creative sleeping arrangements, Kim and Evan are still going to have to sleep in the den. Oh well....again, it's all about seniority.

The second thing that makes holidays fun is the dogs. We have a lot of dogs. I have Gracie, Michael and Jen have Sam, my parents have Jack, my grandma Emerson has Heidi (another dachsy), and my aunt and uncle have 2 dachsies named Star and Banner. There are at least 4 dogs at a time at each holiday. At Christmas, there will be 5. That's a lot of puppies. Poor Sam, he's an honorary dachshund. This past weekend, Jack got to meet Gracie. It was quite the adventure. Now, Liberty is pretty wild, but Jack is manic. He loves to run around, pouncing on things that didn't exist. He also likes to share his "love" with all the dogs around him. He can't help it...he still has all his bits. He doesn't know any better. He did get popped quite a few times this weekend. Poor thing. I think Gracie is exhausted from him. They ran around chasing each other for at least an hour just this morning. At about 4:30 this morning, I heard this THUNK on the bedroom door. I didn't think anything of it. I tried to go back to sleep, but it continued. Oh, it was Jack. He'd somehow escaped out of the laundry room and was head butting the door so he could see us. I took the puppies outside and then we went back to bed. Jack wasn't so used to the "open the covers and go find a place to sleep" routine. He kept jumping all over the bed and annoying the snot out of Gracie. It was pretty hilarious. He finally got the idea and went to sleep.

I'm back at home now, and Gracie is crashed in the chair next to me. She doesn't even want to play with her toys...this is how tired she is. Big Baby. I think she misses her sister Boo. I'm not sure when Becca will be home, but I know Gracie will probably sleep until then. I might sleep until then too...shopping on Black Friday really takes it out of you. It also doesn't help that Kimberly called me before I was supposed to be awake, just to be a beast. Apparently, Michael told her to. I beat him for that.

Well, I'm going to go veg now. I haven't been doing much of that lately. I'm doing laundry at the same time...so is it really relaxing? :) Hope your thanksgiving was happy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello from the 8th floor of Children's Medical Center. Yes, that's right...I'm slaving away on Thanksgiving. I thought when I got here, that it would be quiet and calm today. Good heavens was I wrong! A child that I had yesterday that was giving me fits then, decided to give me fits today. Apparently, she thought that it was okay to have heart rates in the low 60's when you are 4 months old. Let's just say I didn't agree with her. RSV is REALLY nasty this year, so make sure you protect your children. This year's strain is making kids heart rates drop...as well as let them not breathe well. Poor things. She's not the first kid at CMC to have all those symptoms...and low heart rates don't normally go with RSV. That virus is getting nastier by the year...which it should. They can't kill it...it just loves to mutate. I ended up sending her to the unit before I had to call a code on her. That was not a fun time! It was especially bad because since she has a contagious illness, I had to be in major isolation precautions including gown, gloves, and masks the entire time I was in there. I was in her room for 2 1/2 hours straight. That stuff is HOT! Thankfully, the wonderful girls I work with made sure my other kids were okay. Hooray! I finally just now ate lunch (hooray for cocktail weenies and 7 layer dip!) and now I'm planning to get on a caffeine high.

After I get off work, I'm going to go pick up the ween and fly over to Grandma's house in Fort Worth. Michael, Jen, and I are going shopping tomorrow morning, so I'm sure that will be a load of fun. I don't really want to get up early on my day off, but it's just what I have to do. Poor Gracie is all alone at home right now. I'm sure she's found something to destroy in her boredom. Her sister's not there....she has nothing to beat up. Oh well, I don't blame her...I go nuts when I'm home alone too.

Right now, I'm trying to stay awake. I'm hoping that I can find something to do for the next couple of hours. Maybe I'll start working on crap for my evaluation . That would be the smart thing to do. I'm sure I'll just sit here and fiddle around on the computer, learning how Nick and Jessica have finally called it quits. My life is sad.

Anyways...I'd better get some more caffeine before I go crazy. Have a fabulous Thanksgiving!

Frustrating day :(

Well, as the title would suggest, this has not been a good day...and it's only 12:10pm. Sad! To start off with, I got up to go weigh in this morning. I wanted a chance to weigh in before Thanksgiving goodies. Not such a good idea, as it would happen. I gained a pound. ARG! The last two weeks I have gained and I am trying to figure out why. I think it's because I've been snacky the last two weeks, and I really need to quit it. The lady at the meeting also said I need to watch my salt intake...which I already knew but don't do. I love salt. This means I need to be SO very careful this weekend. I'm determined to lose next week, even with the holiday goodies. Keep me in your prayers...cause I need to get back on the wagon! :)

The second frustrating thing that happened this morning occurred when I was getting out of my car at home after the meeting. For those of you who don't know, my car's name is Nessie. I call Liberty that sometimes when she's sitting up on her haunches, craning her neck to the sky. She looks like the Lochness Monster...thus the nickname. I couldn't think of anything to call my car...and I'm usually pretty quick with the names. I had Liberty named the same day...and Larry, my beautiful green Neon. (May he rest in peace, on a nice farm where he can play) It don't know why it took me so long. Back to the story. I got out of my car and found that Nessie had two beautiful scratches by her gas cap, a chunk of paint missing by the tail light, and a scratched tail light. ARG AGAIN! I am almost positive it was caused by a neighbor child on a bike. I have no problems with bikes in the street, but I do have problems with children who don't admit they've done something. Poor Nessie. I got her paint fixed this morning, and the woman said "Well, we can fix the paint today, but the dent will have to wait until next week when our dent guy gets back" DENT? What dent!?! It looks like someone took a softball and slightly pressed in the panel. The lady said it's not bad and easily fixed. So frustrating. Blast it all!

Now I'm back home, seething over the horridness of my day. When you take it into perspective, it really isn't that bad, is it? No one got hurt and no one died because I gained a measly pound and had my car scratched. Sometimes, you just have to sit down and look at the big picture. I could have it a lot worse.

Gracie is outside, playing with her puppy friend next door. She's running up and down the side of the house like a crazy dog. I think she's worn out now...she's laying in the sun. I took the CUTEST picture of her and Sadie yesterday. I'll have to have Becca download it into her computer and email it to me. It's adorable.

Well, this evening, Becca and I are going to Walmart to buy things for Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes. I'm really excited...it's one of my favorite things to do. When I was teaching, I got a company to sponsor us and give the student council 1000 dollars to buy stuff for shoeboxes. We would go on this mammoth trip to Walmart and buy SO much stuff. It would always end up being about 800 dollars. Have you ever seen 800 dollars of little stuff? It's CRAZY!

Gracie is barking again. I think she's probably still laying down, just barking at nothing. She's a nut job.

I'm off. I work the next two days, then am off three, then on three. What a party!

I'm retarded!

For those of you who looked at my blog and saw random pictures of me posing, I'm not just crazy and wanting all of you to see me. That seemed kinda snotty! :) I was really posting them so that friends could see the new hairdo. I didn't know if I relayed that or not. The straightening isn't permanent...just something that my hairdresser loves to do. I love having straight hair, so I never say "Oh please, don't straighten my hair! " :) Anyways, that's the scoop on that.

I was planning to blog last night, but my day was really REALLY busy. I got home, ate my food (hooray for panda!), watched about 15 minutes of a movie, and collapsed into bed at 9:15pm. My life is so sad. I don't think that my life would be half as busy, but I still have a student with me and it really takes longer to get things done with her around. I also helped out a friend with a procedure...so that took up a chunk of time, too. I didn't even eat lunch until almost 3pm...which is very odd! Today is going much more quietly and I am very thankful for this. I'm discharging a patient and getting another one, so hopefully the time will go quickly by.

I work Wednesday and Thursday this week, which is great because it means I can still go shopping on Friday morning with my sister in law and brother! Ta DA! I love to shop the day after Thanksgiving. It's the absolute worst and best time to go. The crowds are bad, but the stores have so many staff there that the wait isn't usually too long (unless you are choosing to go to KB Toys or Toys R Us, which is SO DUMB!). We usually scour the ads on Thursday to find the place with the best give-a-ways. It's usually JCPenney's or Foleys. Last year, I found this fabulous necklace for my aunt and was able to pay next to nothing for it because I had so many discounts and then a 10 dollar gift card for waiting in line. Of course, I had to be lined up by 6:30 or so...but it was worth it! :) My mom thinks we're crazy...but that's just because she's too busy sleeping to enjoy the discounts. What usually happens is she wants to join the party around noon, when we are STARVING and really tired of shopping. We let her pay for lunch and then she shops with us the rest of the day. Needless to say, we're exhausted by about 4pm. It's a grand tradition.

Well, I'd better get going. I am expecting the ICU to call me report for my new patient any minute..we'll see how quickly that goes. ! :)

I'm starting to look anorexic! Scary! :) 

Here's my straight hair...and an angry Gracie 

The cold continues...

The weather here is an absolute joy. It's in the 50's right now, only supposed to warm up to the mid 60's. How delightful. I'm wearing fleece and long sleeves. I love it! Yesterday, the weather was like this also. I've never been so happy to have the weather like this...after that horrific hot summer. Ta DA! :)

I weighed in yesterday. I'm up 0.6lbs, which is pretty much a sniff. I did eat a banana before I went in, so that could have been a reason. I usually try to not eat or drink before I go so that I can weigh in with the same factors each week. Same clothes, same shoes, same everything. I'm not too worried. Every three or four weeks or so, I go up a wee bit, then come right back on down. I still love Weight Watchers! :)

I am going to have my hair highlighted today. I know it's not summer anymore, but I think my hair looks more fun with more blond highlights. It also covers up the impending gray color change. BLECH! I love the finished product of the coloring, but I really hate that cap they use. It's like having your hair pulled out for an hour. I really don't like it, but it's worth it. Afterwards, we are having some friends over for dinner tonight. That's always fun. We're going to grill chicken for sandwiches. Fire is always a good option. :)

Gracie is sitting on my bed, eating a Dr. Pepper bottle. She loves these. She will spend hours chewing up both ends of the bottle. I have to make sure that bottle is empty or else there will be dr. pepper all over every surface she chews it on. She's very intent right now. I wish my camera had batteries. Apparently she's done now. She's sitting on the edge of the bed staring at me. I have no idea what she wants. Next week, she gets to meet Jack. It's going to be pretty funny, I'm sure. Jack's a bundle of energy, but so is Grace. I'm sure there's going to be some chewing on each other. Hopefully, no blood will be drawn! :)

I work this weekend. Hopefully, it will be a wee bit less crazy than the last two days of work were. I really hope that my student can keep up. She's always tagging along behind me...she needs to step it up! She actually asked me the other day if I thought it was a good idea for her to work 6 months as a tech before she took her boards! I know that nursing is scary...but you really just have to throw yourself into it. I'm hoping she gets that this weekend. Last weekend we worked, it was pretty slow. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Well, I'd better get going. I'm supposed to be at my hair appointment soon. :)

Lazy day

Well, after my exciting day yesterday, I decided to take it easy today. I had some things to do, but I really didn't do anything around the house. I got up this morning and went back to work for a skills check off. It's in an area of the hospital that's pretty far away from the actual floor where I work, so I was able to get in and out. I saw a lot of the people that I worked with, so I did spend some time telling the story to all the people who had heard the rumor. By that point, people were assuming that I was bruised and bloodied...which just wasn't true! :) After dispelling all the rumors, I quickly finished up all my stations and left. I had some grocery shopping to do, and then I came home. See? Nothing exciting happened today.

I put a sweater on Gracie today. Let me just tell you...she hates it. She always manages to squirm out of it. It starts by having one arm out. Then the sweater gets around her waist and hangs out there for awhile. Suddenly, it just falls off. She's sitting next to me right now...pretty dejectedly. It's as if she believes she is being tortured and this is why she has to wear the sweater. It's pretty cold right now in the house. I believe we should put on more clothes and get in the bed with the electric blanket than turn on the heater. I usually crack once it gets about 50 inside the house, but right now, it's not bad at all. It's a nice change from the horrific summer heat! :)

Tomorrow I am going to get my oil changed for the first time in my new car. Apparently, the dealership gives you a service advisor the first time you go in. I have no idea....I just know I need to be there at 9AM. I'm going to drop Sadie off at the groomers before hand. She's starting to look rather wooly and lion-like.

Anyways...I guess there's nothing else going on. Hope all is well with you and your families. Keep warm! :)

Add assault to my life experiences!

Well, I started to blog earlier today, but was interrupted and had to quit. It's a good thing. At that time, my day had gone quite well. I had three (yikes!) nursing students doing all my busy work and I was sitting down to blog. That's when the poo hit the fan! :) I had a pretty "sick" patient that got physically violent with the staff and then decided I needed to be punched in the tummy and kicked in the shins. Ah well, all in a day's work! The good news is that no one was actually hurt and things settled down before I left...which was almost an hour after I was supposed to. It's probably because earlier I had mentioned that it had been quiet today. That was the curse.

Last night, I was awakened at 1:43am by a ridiculously loud chewing noise. Gracie was sitting on the floor, chewing on a Central Market plastic container that had contained pineapple earlier that evening. She had climbed up in the chair and taken it off the desk. She's a beast. I yelled at her twice to get back in bed and finally had to get out of bed and grab her to throw her back into bed. Yikes...what a nutcase. She was shamed royally. She knew she was in trouble because she rolled over on her stomach when I came over to her. She's a smart puppy...but sometimes doesn't think things through! :)

I am just now starting to have my adrenaline level go back to normal. What a crazy end of my shift! I was hoping to get out on time, but that was just not the case. Now I'm starting to come off the adrenaline high and I'm pretty exhausted. I'll blog more tomorrow, I'm sure.

Life goes on...and I still have a license!

Yeah, I goofed today. I had a giant lapse in paying attention and screwed up. All is good though...no worries. Turns out Orange Juice is not a clear liquid and a person can't be sedated with that on your stomach. I got to tell the attending physician and the mom (who's already a little nervous and overprotective) that I messed up. It feels crappy to have to admit something like that. I sucked it up though...although most of the time I felt like bursting into tears. I hate messing up. I know that no one is perfect, but I'd like to be a perfect nurse. This is not a reality...and I figured that out today! :)

Tomorrow we are having a potluck at work. We do a birthday lunch every month and tomorrow is it! We're having hamburgers. I have to take my George Foreman grill...which really needs to be cleaned. I started to clean it a couple of days ago, but I haven't finished the cleaning. This is not inspiring me to get up and clean it.

Liberty and Sadie are having a fight to the death. They are running around my bed, fighting over a stuffed rabbit and squirrel. They are retarded. Sadie took both her paws and threw herself against Liberty to incite her to riot. She's good at that. Now she's choking up fur balls from the rabbit. She nasty.

Maybe I should go clean the grill....maybe not. I have three days off in a row this week! Hooray! :) I'm going to get my oil changed, and run errands...and perhaps hang around here with all the laundry and puppies. Who knows..I haven't thought about it yet.

Well, I'd better go. I have to start getting ready to go to bed. I hate that...but oh well...I just have to get through tomorrow! :) Ta DA!

Dumpster Divers

This weekend, everyone in our neighborhood puts the big garbage out in their front yard and anxiously awaits the bulk trash people to come and collect it. Now, before I continue my story, let me mention that my neighborhood is TOTALLY middle class. I'd even say upper middle class. There are two streets of duplexes, and the rest of the neighborhood is beautiful houses that list for anywhere from $250,000 to $450,000! It's craziness! So, this does not explain the behavior of the neighborhood when bulk trash comes out. They all sneak out of their houses, and go digging in everyone else's leftovers. It's hilarious! Earlier today, a very well dressed woman driving a Lexus stopped at our curb to peruse the merchandise. She took, of all things, a watering can, and left. This is nutty. Now, I can't talk too much because the very papizan chair I am sitting in came from someone else's discarded treasure. Becca's mom found it for us...and we replaced the cushion of course! :) It's just really funny to see people dig through other's trash when they could just as easily go buy their own.

Today, I got the wild idea that the bushes needed trimming RIGHT THEN...which they pretty much did. Now, you have to understand that normally, trimming the bushes would not be that big of a deal. I have a wee trimmer, it's electric, and quick. It's not a hassel. BUT, it becomes a problem when you realize that our Christmas lights are still in the bushes from last year. Apparently, we thought it would be easier to leave them there than to put them away. The problem comes when the ivy and the bushes grow around the lights, making it nearly impossible to remove them. I did succeed...and I even tested the lights to make sure they worked. Unfortunately, even with all our forethinking, one of the net lights on the bushes and all the icicle lights hanging from the roof don't work. How dare they stop working after hanging there for a year in the elements! I'm waiting for the fabulous Garden Ridge sale in 2 weeks..then I can replace the lights. Let me tell you, if you've never been to one of their 120 hour straight sales, then you are missing a lot! They have all these fabulous deals, and people are running around like crazy, even at 2 in the morning. Anyways....I'll get more lights then. Becca wants something else for the yard...something like a grapevine deer or an 8 foot inflatable snow globe...we'll see! :)

The weather is so odd today. It's windy and cool, but there's no rain like was promised. Earlier, there was even 30 minutes or so of sunshine...but that's gone now. I think it might have drizzled , but no good rain anyways. It was a good day to go out and trim the bushes...i guess it inspired me. Gracie spent the time outside running up and down the fence, chasing and playing with the dog that lives next door. We think her name is Meika....but we're not sure. That's what we call her anyways. Gracie loves to stick her nose under the fence to smell the other dog...and then bark and take off running. Nutty dog.

Well, I guess that's enough random business for today.

I'm wasting away....

I love Weight Watchers. Of course, when I have a bad week, I might deny it...but I really still do. Who would have thought that simple portion control would be the key to it? It's amazing. Each week, I think that I will have reached my weight losing limit...and my body just won't lose anymore. Week after week, I am proven wrong...with the occasional backsliding week! :) When you talk to people at the meetings who have lost 100+ pounds, they say things like "Sometimes you might only lose 1/2 a lb a week". I rarely lose that little, but I'd still be happy with that. I guess I'm just waiting for the weight loss to slow down. This week, I lost 2.4lbs for a grand total of 61.4lbs since the 3rd week of February. How did I carry all that weight for so long? Today, Becca and I donated 5 bags of clothes that don't fit to the Leukemia Society. I would rather my clothes go to a worthy cause than just Goodwill. The clothes were still in great shape...just too big. We were talking about how it's sad (but I guess good) that we don't have anyone to give the clothes to. Most of our friends are smaller than we are....but even if they weren't, how would it sound to them? "Hey, here are our clothes that are too big for us, but they will fit you!" I just think that sounds mean.

I still haven't found out what I am going to be doing in the Christmas parade. Becca's going to be a bleacher host, which means she gets to stand on the parade route and make sure people don't cross the line! I think that's one of the better jobs, mostly because she gets to see the whole parade right up close without having to fight for the good seats! Also, Point of Grace is going to do a mini concert at City Hall afterwards. Rocking! :) Remember, it's a free parade....and anyone is welcome to come! We love company! :) ANd you can ride the tons of fun light rail to downtown so you wouldn't have to drive or park! :) Just a suggestion.... :)

Gracie is outside barking her fool head off. It's so nice outside today that I figured they could do with a little forced outdoor time. Sadie's just hanging out on the rug, but Liberty has decided to bark at every blade of grass that the wind blows. She's a punk. She was really excited to get up this morning when my sister called at 6:30am. EW EW and EW! I wanted to ignore Gracie, but the bounding prevented that.

Oh my heavens. I was sitting peacefully in a chair, typing this blog, when this guy came to my window trying to sell me some cleaner. He would not leave. He kept trying to sell me this product that cost $68! Okay, he obviously did not get it. He even tried to ask me out. EW EW and more EW! Sleazy little skanky guy selling "Xtreme clean". I don't clean with the products I have...why would I buy more? I finally got him to leave after saying something to the effect of "You can clean my entire house and I still won't buy it". I'm so nasty. I just want to be left alone! :)

Well anyways...I'm sure there's something I need to be doing...like finishing my laundry, for example. Hopefully Victor won't come back....Maybe I should shut my blinds!

Life at the hospital.

I just looked outside, thinking it was still going to be beautiful outside....and was I wrong. The clouds are SO black to the north. Maybe we'll get some rain! Hooray! I actually slept with my window open last night, it was so relaxing. I did wake up to a warm puppy laying SMACK next to me...I guess she was cold, too.

Things have been pretty okay today. I currently have 2 kids on the floor, the other is in a procedure. It's been pretty steady today. I've got my student with me today, and it is so hard for me to let go and let her do what she's supposed to do. I'm guessing this is probably going to be my biggest problem as a preceptor...just sitting down and shutting up and letting them learn. She's really sweet, and very willing to do pretty much anything...which is fabulous.

I go weigh in tomorrow. I honestly have no idea what to expect. The weeks I think I'll do badly, I end up having a great week. The opposite is also true. Who knows. We'll see tomorrow at 11:45!

Okay, now I'm at home. I am sitting on the couch, having just finished my "Extreme Pita" and yummy lime and black pepper chips. Hooray for chips! :) And I even have points still. I need chocolate.

Well, now I have nothing to write about. Liberty is begging for Sadie's rawhide...and it's really quite sad. She's flopped over a blanket. I guess I'll be going now...YAWN!

This is Sam, Michael and Jen's puppy. He likes rum, too. 

Gracie and her rum bottle. 

Full of uninteresting adventures!

Today was full of nothingness. I woke up, on my own, WIDE awake at 5:50AM...which is when my alarm clock normally goes off. I was not happy about this. I took the wild Gracie outside adn then tried to go back to sleep. I wasn't able to...so I started watching Finding Nemo. I love that movie...so FUNNY! Thankfully, I finally went back to sleep and got up around 8:2o. Much better than 5ish. I really didn't do much around the house today...I did clean the kitchen and cooked dinner...and did all the dinner dishes. I don't normally cook because I'm awful at it...but I don't have any money to go out to eat right now...so I have to eat the food that is frozen in my freezer. I'm going to be the defrost queen this week. It's really a good thing because I need to get that stuff out of there...especially if the food says "best if eaten or frozen by January 2005". Creepy.

I also took the puppies to the dog park today. They had fun running around with a golden retriever. Sadie kissed the big puppy, who was quite shocked. There weren't many puppies there, especially sociable ones. We didn't stay long, mostly because the girls were getting panty and hot.

Tomorrow, I get to play chauffer. My aunt's car is in the shop and she needs someone to take her to it. I'm going to do that tomorrow evening and she's going to buy me dinner. Hooray for dinner! :)

Well, for all the things that didn't go on today, I've certainly rambled about nothing for 4 paragraphs. Sometimes it amazes me how interesting I can make a boring day sound! :)

Another day....another dollar...or none in my case! :)

I know all of you will be shocked to learn that I am once again at work on the weekend. I really don't mind. I get paid more, which is always nice. Also, I don't really have a true feeling of a normal person's workday anymore. Since I'm home four days during the week and don't have a set schedule, I don't really have an idea of when everyone else is working. I actually prefer weekends most of the time because there are less people here and I can usually spend more time with the actual patients.

This weekend has been surprisingly slow. On a good day, I usally walk out the door around 7:20pm, depending on when night shift decides to get here. Last night, I was walking out at 7pm. This is shocking for me. I had discharged two of my three patients, and the last one wasn't really sick. Today, I'm going to discharge one of my patients, and it's still pretty slow. I don't know why this is! :)

Last night, I went to a friend's birthday party. She threw it for herself. I guess when I tack on 5 or so more years, I'll have the gumption to throw myself a party...but not yet. It was actually a great turn out, much better than Becca or I ever do at our parties. It's really funny...Becca and I always plan so far in advance and then no one is able to come. This party was planned in a few days, and there were only a few notable people missing! Irony! We played Scene it...which is always fun in that group. Anytime we get to scream and be loud and play against each other...we thrive on competition. It's a rocking fun time, especially when you pair it with a pinata full of chocolate and a big chocolate cake. Good times! :)

I don't have any idea what I'm going to do with my two days off. My room is clean, I have minimal dirty laundry....and I can't go shopping because I'm on the verge of overdrafting my checking account. It's going to be a long two days. My only delight is that Charlie and the Chocolate Factory comes out on Tuesday....Hooray! That movie cracks me up! :)

Anyways, I guess I should be working...so I'll get moving...but have fun today! :)

Shopping Delights!

I've had the shopping bug the last two days. Now, it really started yesterday when our electricity went out and talking to Gracie just got a wee too boring. I will admit that most of the things I have bought over the last two days have been Christmas presents...which is good. By this time, I usually have a lot more bought. I'm so behind! Oh well, it will all work out. I also am doing the Christmas shopping all out of my checking account this year, which is definately new. I'm not using the old credit cards, and it's really odd!

The weather is absolutely gorgeous. It really feels like spring...except that it's November. It's sunny, but not too hot. The wind is moving at precisely the best speed so that you can walk without feeling windblown. I've got my windows and screen doors wide open. I really wish it would get a little bit cooler, but I'm not going to complain! It really could be raining...or still hot! ICK!

I really haven't updated the blog on my weight loss in several weeks! Most of this is due to my stupid weigh in last week. I gained 1.2lbs. SAD! I weighed in the day after we came back from Washington, which really wasn't the best plan...especially since air travel makes you retain water. I did so much walking that I was convinced I would lose, which I probably would have if I had been able to weigh in later in the week. As it was, I was working...and then out with back problems. I weighed in this week and lost 1.6! Hooray! :) This is a big deal because I have entered a new points category! I lost 2 points and now get to eat less. (Note how I put things into a positive light by saying "Get to"...it's almost like a prize! :) I've got some work to do before my next big goal of 75lbs...but I still think that 59lbs gone is pretty fun! :)

Okay, so I'm watching this food network show called Everyday Italian or "Cooking with Cleavage" as my dad calls it. The lady who hosts it loves to show off her top region with either tight or low cut ensembles. Today, she's showing her friends how to cook Italian restaurant favorites. She's being really creepy today. She's currently telling this guy how to cut the stems of Shitake mushrooms and after every statement, she smiles at him. It's this creepy "I know more than you and that's sad" look. I really need to watch something else right now. She's giving me the creeps.

Speaking of creepy, Liberty is laying on the floor of my bedroom, all stretched out, with her haunches spread out behind her. She looks like a hussy.

Have you seen the JC Penney commercial about their big sale this weekend? There's a helicopter toting around this giant sale sign. Today, I actually saw a helicopter toting around a big sale sign....isn't that strange?

Well, I suppose I should go do something productive...Hooray! :)

This is Jack, my parents' new puppy. Isn't he sweet? He loves his pound puppy. 

We're all stunning. 

They tried to get Gracie to sit up, but she wanted to lay down with mom. 

So angelic! 

Precious Marcos!  

I figured it out! :)

Okay, I finally figured out Becca's scanner. Here's the picture of Marcos that I've been promising and not delivering. Also, I scanned in the pics of the puppies and one of me that we had taken for Christmas.... Have fun!

November already?

I can not believe it's November. This is craziness. I think that just yesterday, my sister was getting married and my family was at the beach house. Now it's November. YIKES! :) Things continue to go well here on the homefront. Work is going well. I've got my schedule down now where I only work 2 days in a row, with usually 2 or 3 days in between. I really like this because I'm not wiped yet on the second day and I get rebound time before I start again. Three days in a row really wipes me out. I'll do it, but only if I have to.

I got a HUGE compliment to my abilities as a nurse yesterday. The clinical educator (the one who is in charge of all the new graduate nurses and nursing students) for our floor came up to me and said that she's giving me a senior nursing student to precept. I was so excited! She said that this will be good practice for me, since I'll be starting to train new graduates in January. That's even pretty big, especially since I've only been out of school almost a year. I guess they think I know what I'm talking about! I hope they are right!

Liberty is a thief. For those of you who have never been around dachshunds, they are a crafty and evil bunch. I've known many weenie dogs and they are all like this. They lie and steal. Liberty's latest endeavor was to steal two mini bags of "Maple Frosted Mini Spooners" out of the kitchen cabinet, take them to her lair, and share them with her sister. Sadie states she knew or did nothing. Unfortunately, both of them smell like maple syrup so we know this is false. It's pretty funny to see Grace when she does steal things...she tears into them like she's never EVER been fed before. Sadie's the co-conspirator...she just eats the goods. Although, if there are Wheat thins stolen, you can guarantee it was Sadie. She loves her some wheat thins.

Today, even before I walked in the door to work, I knew I was going to be floated. I hadn't gone in quite a while, and it was pretty much my turn. We only have 10 kids on the floor, and there were 7 nurses scheduled. I'm up on the Hematology/Oncology floor today. I've got really good kids, so thankfully the night charge nurse was nice to the float Cardiac nurse. We like that. :) One of the techs from my floor is up here also, so that makes it nice. At least I have someone to talk to. Everyone has been very nice and helpful, so that's always a plus.

It is supposed to get hot again and I am angry. 80's is too hot for November. I would love it to stay here in the 60's. It's beautiful outside, with only a few random clouds in the sky. The girls love it because they can sit in the sun in the mornings. They sprawl themselves out on the living room floor because it is cool and the sun is warm. They're crazy.

I have no exciting things planned the next two days off....except an insane amount of cleaning. My room and bathroom are disasters. It just snowballs.....and continues to get worse and worse. It's sad.

Well, I've run out of things to say. I'd better get back to work now...even though all my kids are in the play room. I'll find something to do! :)

Love my mom