Puppy craziness

Here's some pictures of the wildness I am currently experiencing...

Weekend warrior...

Okay, so perhaps I'm just a WEE bit overzealous on my title. I would imagine being a warrior meant lots of work, lots of effort, and many things accomplished...none of which has occured this weekend! :) That's okay, the longer I work 8-5, the more I realize how much I need to cherish my weekends! If I am running around wildly all week, I absolutely need to relax! Today, Liberty and I have just hung around the house. I have been reading most of the day, a pastime I dearly love and do not get to do enough of. I still have to finish the Harry Potter book, but today, my goal was to finish out the Shopaholic series. (It's absolutely as classy as it sounds!) I've got about three more books waiting to be read, so I don't know if I'll delve into those anytime soon. I seem to go on spurts with the reading. Some weeks, all I want to do is read. For the last couple of weeks, I haven't wanted to do any! ODD!

Next week, I am completely by myself at work, which is always interesting. It's usually very busy, which is GREAT! I don't mind being busy, and it usually makes the time go faster! I don't end up sitting around going "I am so BORED!". My manager is back in town this week, which is also fabulous. I've got lots of things to talk with her about....

I think that's all that's going on. Have a beautiful week!

Excitement abounding...

After four days of doing practically nothing and having Liberty follow me EVERYWHERE, one would think I'd be more than ready to go back to work....but NO WAY. I'd take another week of this lovely lounging around in a heartbeat. I have no desire to go back. The only thing luring me back to work is the knowledge that I am doing the inpatient side this week. I always enjoy this side more, only because I get to play with all the very sweet inpatients. Hopefully, in my two weeks of inpatient, I'll get to send most of the babies home.

Today, I'm going to find lots of things NOT to do to pass the time of my last day off. I'm NOT going to clean. I'm NOT going to do laundry. I'm NOT going to think about how little I want to go to work tomorrow. Instead, I'm going go to lunch with Jennifer, I'm going to read nonsense books, and sadly, I'm not going to spend any money.

This week should be a good one, especially since I'm only working four days! Shorter weeks always make for happier people. It's also pay week, which is absolutely the way to make people happy! :) The bad part of this week is that Liberty is already being absolutely pathetic. She follows me everywhere, and I'm afraid she's going to be a pile of pitiful doxie after having me her all the time. Oh well, I guess I can undo all the damage I've done the last five days! :)

Such is my very exciting life. I redesigned my blog while I've been off....hope you like it! :)

My maniac baby.

SO, with all my free time, I've been playing on YouTube a lot. I found a video of a baby dachshund, right after it was born. Liberty was so intrigued by it! She kept cocking her head and roaming around the computer, looking for the baby. I never thought she had any mothering instincts, but I guess that's not the case! I actually got it on video...so thought I'd share it with you!




I'm sad that these people named that doxie baby "bruno"...and I wish they wouldn't breathe so heavily on the video....BUT it's really all about Grace's hilarious reaction!


Isn't she crazy?

VACATION! :)

Sometimes the best vacations are the ones where you do nothing but sit and relax. That's the kind of lovely vacation I am currently experiencing. I have not had the chance to do this in several months...more than 6 I think. I know it may seem low-key to most, but oh well.

Yesterday, there were two highlights to my preciously pitiful day. #1: I went to Michael and Jen's and played with their puppies while their mom is away. I watched food network for the first time in MONTHS! :) It was such a happy time. #2: I rearranged my living room and bought a wireless router for my internet.

Doesn't that excitement make you wish you were me? :) Liverty is getting very VERY spoiled with all this attention and mommy time. I'm sure I'll have to undo that next week!

Guess I'll go back to my pitifully boring and perfectly relaxing day!

Donate Life

I have always been a fan of organ donation, even before I took a job in transplant. I think that if you can give life to someone after you are no longer around, that should be your final gift! What an amazing gift it is! Texas has recently started a registry that will let you tell your family exactly which organs and tissues you'd rather not take to the grave with you! :)


www.donatelifetexas.org


The website's really great...it even goes through the myths and facts about organ donation. AND I'm always available to tell you what an AMAZING impact your donation can make.

FINALLY!

I'm OFF CALL! :) Okay, so it's a short lived excitement....but it's all I have. To sleep with my pager and phone in the other room is a lovely concept. I've been having a grand time. Staying out late, sleeping late....all things I haven't had the chance to do while I've been tied to the pager. Again, let me say that I don't HATE being on call, but doing three transplants in 2 weeks really tires one out. I just wish I wasn't the heart good luck charm :)

Oliver's gone back to Becca's this week, and Liberty's quite the mournful creature. I even bought her these bones she LOVES, but she won't touch them. It's probably because Oliver's not here to chew them first. She noses them around, but seems uninterested. Pitiful. Ungrateful beastie.

Other than being off call, there's really nothing interesting happening. I have had a chance to play with an old friend the last couple of weekends, and that's always fun. Last night, we went to the rodeo...oh yes, the RODEO. We saw the most interesting people, and most interesting of all...Whiplash the cowboy monkey. It was hilarious!

Anyways, that's all the fun over here in the grand land o' Dallas. I've got next Thursday through Monday off for what I like to call "relax time". I'm thinking of doing the massage thing, and probably a host of other relaxation things! I'm still sore from taking a flying leap down the OR corridor, so it might be good to relax! :) My manager is very dedicated to me taking my time off, especially since I have more than 200 hours saved up! I've got five day weekends throughout August and September, which will be SO SO nice! I haven't taken any time off since February! :)

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend. Continue to pray for my babies who are all recovering from their transplants....and some still waiting! :)

Job woes.

I love my job. I love my job. I love my job.

Now that I've said that to convince myself, let me further deliberate. I love most aspects of my job. As much as I HATE getting calls/pages in the middle of the night, I don't mind going in to help a child have a new chance at life. In fact, I LOVE it! I absolutely love being there for those families. It is an experience I could never EVER explain. Walking out to those families to tell them "Your child's new heart is beating" is a phenomenal experience. I literally have goosebumps the entire time I am walking out to tell them. I love being able to TEACH all day long...and have it be something worthwhile! I LOVE making connections with the kids and their families. I love having so much responsibility, and having people trust what I say. That's very important to me. I love that I have a great secretary who keeps me on track. I am SO blessed to have great doctors to work with, including one I am quickly becoming kindred spirits with! (Only Anne lovers will get that one!)

Now that I've spoken all the wonderful parts of my job, let's delve into what I don't like. I really don't have much to complain about. Sure, the long hours get tiring. It's very hard on my body physcially to be up for so many hours at a time, but I don't mind doing it. I DO mind my main co-worker. The fact that she gets in my business every minute of every single day is thoroughly bothersome to me. I can't seem to do anything without her having some question "What are you doing? Who are you talking to? When did you pee last?" Does it matter? If I could get JUST a wee bit of praise from her, I'd be absolutely shocked. I've learned never to expect it from her because all I am going to get is criticism. BUT, in the grand scheme of things, it really does NOT matter what she thinks of me. What matters is what the doctors and patients think. Do they trust me to make good judgements and decisions? Does my manager think I'm doing a good job? These are the important things. SO, I'll let her play her passive agressive game, even though I hate it. I'll just continue to see the good in my job, and hopefully, she'll either cut that crap OUT, or quit! :)

Have I told you how excited I am to be off donor call this Friday? The fact that we have done FIVE transplants since June 26, all on my watch, should speak for itself. I was off for two weeks, and of course we didn't do a single one while my co-worker was on call. Let's hope that our two remaining babies on the list get their hearts soon....but only after I go off call! :)

Wow. This has gone on for awhile. I guess I should get to bed. I'm SO ready for Friday. I fixate on it... :)

A klutz to the core....

Never let it be said that I am not dedicated to my job. This weekend, I took a flying crash down the operating room hallways en route to the room where a precious angel was getting a new heart. Aren't I retarded? I've got a wonderfully swollen left leg now, but a new heart is happily beating inside its new owner! :)

Oliver is currently 3 inches from my face, staring creepily. He's very upset that I won't speak to him right now, but would you speak to him if he'd peed outside his crate on your carpet? I didn't think so. Now he's sniffing my hair. Rude! :)

So, let's think of things I want to do this week.....

1. I'd like to have uninterrupted sleep. Uninterrupted by parents going crazy over weird things (Yes, transplants can have diaper rash, you don't HAVE to call me at 2AM to inform me).

2. I'd like to finish the new Harry Potter book. I read the first 6 in less than 24 hours each. This one is taking awhile because I've been so busy doing other stuff, I haven't wanted to do anything but sleep when I can!

3. I want to get a massage at the massage school...anyone in?

4. I'd like to have a moment to play with my friends....and not have to work!

Okay. That's it. I'm sure there's something else, but I can't think clearly right now. Hope your week goes wonderful!