Happy New Year!

A Happy New Year to everyone! I hope everyone has an even better 2009!

Birthday summary to follow tomorrow.

Project 365

For those of you who follow my blog. Here is another one to follow Project 365. This one should be interesting!

Copy Cat!

Yep...thats me!

I've been seeing so many "the cutest blog on the block" pages that I just had to try them out for myself. The best part is it doesnt make you start your widgets all over again. Now I can change my background all the time-awesome!

Thanks for the showing me the way....

Only a Few More Days...

Before Im more than half way to 50!! Yikes!

Around my birthday I always get nostalgic and start thinking about where my life is and where it should be. I'm trying so hard not to this year but its practically impossible. I have to say that when I compare my life to those around me...its not any more screwed up than anyone elses so I have to LET IT GO!

Im sure before the end of the year I will have a log post about where my life is and where its going...but right now Im going to go live it!

'Tis the Season

To have a cold. Oh Joy!

It seems that everyone around me is just getting over their cold so its my turn to get started I guess. I hate not being able to breath!

On a happier note. I did get out yesterday after all to do some shopping and I picked up some scrapbook organizing stuff. Including the embellishment center that Ive been wanting. Now I just have to figure out where I want it and get my brother to hang it-well if I can wait, otherwise I will end up hanging it up myself, lol.

I'll leave you with a picture (or two) of Roxie and Shadow (Brandon's dog) bonding


This one is on the dog bed at my house














This one is outside, Roxie sitting on Shadow (through the window so it's poor quality)

Mom Wins!

Last night my mom was packing left overs for me (which some how ended up at Brandon's!), as she was putting them in a plastic bag I watched her turn the bag right side out. I started laughing and said "you win, your more OCD than I am". I've never noticed anyone else turn bags right side out to reuse them. I will have to pay more attention to myself and other people to see if anyone else does it. Anyway-that was my funny moment of the day.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

I Just Might...

...keep her after all!


Ive been trying for weeks to get Roxie to be calm in the house and just lay down. Well in the last 3 days she has just started doing it! Im not really sure exactly what happened. It could all be her new command "park it" or it could be the fact that she can play in the yard for hours now when Im gone so she is more tired...I dont know. But whatever it is Im soooo grateful! She was making me nuts being all over the place all the time.


Here she is doing what she is supposed to in the house

Nursing Frustration!!!!!

I'm supposed to be graduating in May with my BSN. Well I just found out that because my nursing license for CA still hasnt come through I cant take the one last class I need! Im trying to find out the last possible day I can sign up just in case it comes through at the last minute. But at this rate I wont graduate until August which is 6 months after my original graduation date. *Sigh* I just checked my bank account and they cashed my check at the CA Board of Nursing so hopefully that means it will be in within the next 2 weeks or so, and that I can slide in under the deadline. *cross your fingers* Im soooo ready to be done with school!

Kids Learn By Example

Kayla watches everything I do and mimic some of it.

One of the cutest things she does is pretend to be her dogs mom. She watches me tell Roxie "Come see mom" as I pat my legs. Now she tells me (usually a few times a day, lol) "I do dis-'Come see mom Brownie'" (while patting her legs). Brownie of course is her dog. She then tells me that her mom laughs at her when she does it. She thinks its so funny to see me be a 'mom' to something since she only knows me as "Nina".

Her imagination is so amazing for a 2yo. She's always telling Natalie (her cousin, and also her imaginary friend) what to do and dragging (both her cousin and her imaginary friend) around by the "hand". The other day she even had to get her in her squeezed hands before we could get in the car. Once she was in her car seat she opened up her hands and said "I can't get her she fly away". LOL

Last night she told her mom she has 6 kids (she is obsessed with numbers). She lays down with her dolls and in a very stern voice tells them "close your eyes and sleep", and sometimes spanks them for not listening!

She's a joy to watch. Each day she does something new and she's always makes me laugh.

Of course its not all sunshine an kisses. She's pretty stubborn too. Right now we are working on having manners. She likes to ignore Hilda when she talks to her. And she is learning that Hilda is an adult and she has to answer her not give her attitude. Its not like Hilda is a stranger to her and she can use that as an excuse...its just two year old behavior, lol.

It's all amazing...and dont forget the clothes! I get to play dress up everyday LOLOLOL

Who calls this December?

I really do like living in CA right? Right now its 77 degrees!!

I have so much going on right now that I really dont have time to blog much, though I think about all the things I could be writing about frequently.

...I met a 'friendly' guy in line at the post office who wouldn't stop talking. He even told me about how he is apart of Narcotics Anonymous...and about the 'innocent' girls there. He asked me if I had any 'romances' going on...ewww! And of course the line was so long I couldnt get away from him for way too long.

...I feel like Im never going to get my CA nursing license cause things cant seem to get done. Im going to go to work for my dad until it gets done because I cant stand not working any longer.

...Ive been watching Kayla every day while her mom works which is fun. We have gotten to bond even more than before. She recently told me I could 'hold her baby sister', though she hasnt been born yet lol. She is even bonding with Brandon :). He calls and if she is here he asks to talk to her which is so silly since he 'doesnt like kids' LMBO!

...Hilda is staying here for a while now that she is back from deployment. I cant believe how long she has been back already, shes going to TX on Sunday so then I will be on my own again which is going to feel really weird!

...Christmas is less than 2 weeks away and I havent bought ONE gift!

...Ive been in CA a month or more now and I STILL havent finished unpacking. Its been about a week since I even unpacked one box.

...I love the dog (Roxie) but she still makes me insane half the time (to the point of tears sometimes). I dont know what Im doing wrong with the potty training but she will not go to the door when she needs to go out. She will cry if she is in her bed so I can take her out but if she is just loose, no luck she will just go. Im so frustrated with it!

...School is over as of 12/15 and I still have to read a book and right a paper on it. Im going to get that book today!

...Everyone I know is moving at the moment-Hilda, Maria, Sandy, David...yikes!

...And oooooohhhhh the drama that has been going on around me! Ive tried hard to only be involved on the outside. There is only so much I can do for people.

Well, I think thats a short summary of whats been going on in my life lately

Roxie

First of all...my BFF is home from being deployed..yay!! She's staying with me right now so its all girl talk and hanging out, well inbetween the millions of errands I cant seem to avoid lol. Im so glad to have her home again!

AND Brandon and I got a dog yesterday. This is Roxie. So far she has been a good puppy, she 8 weeks and 11lbs. We are working on potty training so its work right now. Im getting up during the night to take her out...then making her be quiet again so the rest of the house can sleep is the most fun, lol. Im learning fast, today was her first vet appointment which was interesting, they were running just as behind as a 'human' doctor, and we have to go back again for more shots...yay! All in all Im glad we got her though....even though I get to do the majority of the work with her.



oh...btw-she is a Red Doberman

My Apologies...

To everyone who has been trying to get a hold of me...especially ALAYNA!! I havent had 5 minutes to myself since I moved. And today my BFF is back!!! Im on my way out the door to her welcome home ceremony. Hopefully life will slow down shortly and I can catch up with everyone!!

Tonight at Midnight...

I'm going to see Twilight the movie...yay! Kim is going with me...though she just started reading the series yesterday...shes the best!!

American Girl Place...L.A CA

On Sunday Maria, Kayla and I drove out to The Grove in L.A. to check out the American Girl store. The store was absolutely amazingly huge! Totally overwhelming. Maria didnt care for it at all, she thought the dolls looked more like collectables than toys. So I ended up not buying Kayla anything. I will wait until she gets older and expresses interest or not. Plus she still carries her dolls by the hair ....lol

I did manage to find a cute doll outfit for Maddie's birthday which is Saturday, now I just have to get it to the post office.

Thats the first real 'fun' thing I have done since I got to CA.

Some awesome news...Hilda may be in CA before the end of the week! Im just waiting to hear from her again. I cant wait to see her!

Big Changes....

Just to update everyone.

I've moved.

I came back to California to be near my family and friends. Things at work just werent going so well and I had been thinking about coming back anyway so I decided just to go for it. So now I live in CA...right next to my brother actually which is kinda fun :). I'm still living outta boxes-actually Im spending the days at my house but sleeping at my brothers cause its too overwhelming to be here 24/7.

Anyway, thats why I havent been around much, hopefully things will slow down soon. Ive only been here about 4 days and Im still working on getting adjusted...next stop looking for a job :)

"It's Like A Birthday"

On Thursday Kayla was going through her latest "Kayla box" which now includes stuff for baby Josie, she was having a blast. I have never seen a kid that little that loves clothes that much. She would pull them out one at a time and look a them and every so often declare one of them her 'favorite' and then take out the next one. After she was about halfway through the box she stopped and looked at her mom and said 'It's like a boithday!' LOL! That's so adorable! Gotta love her!

A Yummy Treat!

Recently I have started looking for more organic treats when I go grocery shopping. I've been kinda skeptical about it cause Im so picky but trying to keep an open mind. The yummiest thing I have found so far is "Bare Fruit". Its bake dried completely natural fruit. I've only tried the Mango flavor so far but I'm game to try more. Organic isn't so bad :)

Tagged

I was tagged by Alayna. So here is the fourth picture in my fourth folder. This is a picture of Kayla and her cousin Natalie from January of 2007. This just shows how their relationship has continued to grow, they play together but MUST fight over the same toys, lol

I tag: Lizzie, Jackie, Lala and Shemaine. Lets see the fourth picture in your fourth folder.

"All Jacked Up"

Emily is here for the night and while we were getting her pjs out of her suitcase we found her doll. The dolls hair is messy...as they always seem to be. When she saw her doll Emily said "Her hair is all jacked up, cause mommy tried to give it a hair do". I couldnt help but laugh...I havent heard her say 'all jacked up' before, they dont tend to slang. LOL!

Leftovers

I really do like leftovers, most of the time anyway. BUT there are some leftovers that I could just do without!

My least favorite leftovers are those from my car accident. Today was the first time in a long time that I had a muscle cramp and boy was it a doozy! It just cramped down on my back and I was stuck bent over at the foot of my bed until it let up enough that I could move at all.

YIKES!!

I'm just grateful that they are few and far between now. I think tonight is a muscle relaxer night though since I have to work tomorrow and I dont want to be hurting by then. 'Cause the worst part about them is they seem to linger forever...

Alright thats all my griping for now!

The Girls

This weekend I had the girls over for Friday night and it was more of a whirlwind than usual. For some reason I felt the need to jam pack every single second they were here, I almost forgot to stop and enjoy having them.

Let's see what all did we do?

Friday-they came over around 3, and hour earlier than I was expecting them so I was already behind because of that. First they went straight to the toy spot and started playing, the toys that are there must be better than I think cause they always do that but those toys seem SO boring to me. After they settled in we made dinner together, mini pizzas. Then we played games for a little while before we left for the store. I took them to Toys R Us cause I forgot to pick up a second Barbie for them. Its so much fun to go with them to the toy store cause they are so excited to pick stuff out. And they are soooo polite its amazing! They say thank you for every single thing, and not just to me they thank the cashier, the waiter etc. So we came home from the store and they took a shower and played with their new toys while I cleaned up.

We played more games...Big Trouble, Operation, Five Little Monkeys and then started up the Wii. The girls had fun with the Wii although Maddie managed to throw the remote (on accident of course) and it hit my brand new TV! Thank goodness it's okay, my heart about flew out of my chest...yikes!

By the time we finished playing games and watched a movie the girls didnt go to bed until 1130 which is the latest they have ever stayed up at my house. I know its the weekend when they stay with me but by the time we get to bed time Im usually so tired Im ready for them to go to bed by 9 lol.

So all of that was just day one!

On Saturday the girls managed to sleep in, or at least Chloe did. Maddie is really quiet when she wakes up and just plays or reads a book so when I woke up she was in the living room playing with the Barbies. After breakfast we went to the children's museum around here that was okay, kinda young for Maddie's age but they still managed to have fun. We went from there to Red Robin for lunch, where I got 'ma'am'd UGH!! Im sure its because they are getting older so it looks like I must have to be old to have 2 kids their age. After lunch we went to the IMAX theatre and saw Deep Sea which was a very beautiful film with actual ocean footage. Chloe landed in my lap though because they kept having fish flash in front of the screen and making her jump.

After all that I took them home and got to see Emmy and Abbey while Abbey opened her birthday present. She was so cute with her new toy. I bought her a My Little Pony that talks and crawls and she loved it. She kept squeezing it with a big smile while she felt the legs move, lol. Poor kid though she has to keep trying to get it back from her big sisters who want to play with it too. Being the oldest makes me wonder what its like to be the youngest of 4 girls...gotta me pretty busy fighting your way to the top all the time.

So after all of that I sat down on my couch and just sat and sat... It's so quiet at my house after they leave.

Oh I forgot the most exciting part of the weekend. When we were leaving and I was locking the front door I turned around to see Maddie straddling the stair banister and getting ready to slide down it. I almost had a heart attack!! I very calmly said "Maddie, please get down" after she did I hugged her and told her to PLEASE never do that again! These stairs are outside so they are over both stone and cement...all I could picture is guts...awful! The funny part about it is Madison is the perfect child, I pretty much never have to correct anything she does. The most serious thing I ever have to get on to her about is to not jump on the floor cause I have people living below me. So for her to do something like that... Though of course she was by no means doing it to be 'bad' she is just the one who likes to do things that require balance.

Of course she broke the one and only rule I have "If you can get hurt doing it you cant do it" but at least now I know my heart works...lol stopped then started all on its own.

All in all it was a great weekend. But in the words of Chloe "Why did it have to go so fast?"

Oh the Places We Will Go!!

Lately I have had the desire to 'go'. Just about anywhere shopping, traveling concerts, comedy etc. So this week I made plans for a lunch date for Sunday *crossing my fingers* and bought tickets to do see Phantom of the Opera at our local art center. I haven't seen it before and I thought it would be a fun outing. I'm taking my g-ma with me who I know will love it since she has seen it before and going to have fun!

Another thing I have planned way into the future came from watching Jon & Kate +8. They took the girls to the American Girl store and it looked like fun so I looked up where they are located. Unfortunately there isn't one anywhere around here so I cant take Maddie and Chloe who love AG. BUT there is one in CA so I can take Kayla! Yay! After looking at the site its obvious its geared for girls 6 and older but I think Im going to take her when I go home before the end of the year. This time will be more for me than for her but still fun. I just wanna get a feel for it for now. Hopefully, Kayla will love AG and will want to go when she gets older. She wont get an AG doll for a while since they are pricey and something that I feel she should be able to take care of before she gets. Who knows maybe she will get her first doll on a trip to the store. Guess we will just have to see.

Obviously AG are something that I just love. I don't know if AG wasn't around when I was little or if I just didn't know about it but wow what a fun concept "Just Like Me" dolls etc. I soooo hope Kayla things they are as awesome as I do! Maddie and Chloe really like them so it gives me hope :)

Now what am I going to plan next??

Freaked out

I went to Walmart this evening and while there I noticed the guy looking at me and he immediately gave me a weird feeling. I acted like I didnt notice and kept shopping. When I came out of the next isle he was standing in the middle of the main isle, obviously waiting for me to come out. He said "Hi, how are you doing?", I said "Fine, thanks" and kept walking. A few more times while I was shopping he kept turning up, every time just walking around, nothing in his hands and not looking at any products.

Eww!

He gave me the creeps enough that I was watching for him when I left and I planned to ask security to walk me out if I saw him near the door. I'm not one to freak out about that kinda stuff or over-react so when I was nervous like that it was strange, and not something I want to do again!

But here I am, home safe and sound with a Hershey melting in my mouth...perfect!

Shopping..Again!

Tonight I felt like spending more money so I hit the stores, Toys R Us, Best Buy, and Barnes & Noble. Toys R Us was a lot of fun. I bought Abbey her birthday present (crawling baby Pony), Kayla a purple wig for the dress up clothes I have started collecting (bring on the after Halloween sales!), Matthew a Gator Golf game for either Christmas or his birthday, Five Little Monkeys game (for Emmy when she comes over), Big Trouble (for the girls when they come over), "Baby Doctor" Barbie for when the girls come over (I already have one for Kayla when she gets bigger), and 2 baby gifts for people that I know that are expecting.

After all that I hit up Best Buy! I bought a Wii fit (fun!), 2 Wii games for the girls and the first season of Nip & Tuck to see if I like it. Of course I couldn't pass up the book store since I new the new Lori Foster book was out, and bonus ! a new Iris Johansen too. After all that I skipped the grocery store though. Guess that will be on the to do for another day.

All and all it was fun....now Im off to read before I hit the sack.

Seriously! WOW!

So yesterday before work I was complaining about how tired I was blah blah blah right?

Well I went to work and WOW what a night! When I got there I ended up being L&D back up (which means I go down on deliveries if needed) and first non-vent (older than 34-35week) admit. When the night started we didnt have any planned admits. 2-3 hours into the shift we heard we had 2 deliveries to attend, a 31 weeker and a 35 weeker. Practically as soon as the 31 weeker was being admitted (the MD was still working on him and writing orders) the nurses went down on a 27weeker delivery. When they came back from that they let me know we had to go on a scheduled c-section (we attend them all). We attended that-healthy baby who stayed in the newborn nursery downstairs. About an hour later we went down on the 35weeker which could have gone either way, stayed downstairs or came up with us.

He ended up coming up with us which made him my admit. He was my first admit so I pretty much had no idea what all I was supposed to do. One of the nurses that was helping me said "Is your baby breathing? is it pink? then your doing fine" So very nice of her to kinda give me that boost of just remembering what is most important and that everything else will come along.

So all in all at the end of the night we went to a total of 5 deliveries (3 for me) and admitted 3 babies, in 12 hrs. Thats the busiest night I have worked so far.

Oh and crazy me! I volunteered to be first non-vent admit again just to get more experience. One thing someone told me that I really took to heart was that when your new take all the new experience you can so that you can learn. People are much more open to the "I dont knows" when you havent worked there very long. And therefore much more willing to help. Plus when your first admit you have much more help cause everyone runs in to assist you but when your number 3 or something else everyone is already busy helping with the others and so your much more on your own.

Off to night number 3!

Emotional Mess!

This night shift thing is really getting to me. I have tried to keep my chin up and a positive attitude about it but its not so easy. Going back and forth between sleeping during the day and trying to sleep at night sucks.

Even though last night was an easy night I still fill emotionally a wreck which is a sure sign Im exhausted and probably need a better diet. Im on the verge of tears every moment even when Im not sad. Something has to give. I'm so hoping to get this 6 on 8 off schedule. Chances are I won't but I really really need it!

Either way Im going to have to start working out on my days off to get my energy up and eat better of course. Not so much fast food and/or skipping meals.

PS-Im using my blog to whine so no one in the 'real world' has to listen to me lol.

Me me me me It's All About ME!

LOL!

Yesterday I went shopping for me for once! I didn't buy Kayla one thing! I got clothes, shoes, undergarments the whole shebang! It felt good to finally spend some of my hard earned money on myself.

Some of my loot...

Shoes (1 of 2 pairs)


Pants (4 pair)


Tops (2 of the 3 purchased)


Jacket (1 of 1)


Oh and did I mention I bought it all at Macy's? I knocked that one store out! LOL The only thing I wanted that I didn't buy was this adorable COACH purse. Sigh....but I can't have everything I want can I?

Credit Cards

Today I was checking in on my Quicken and thought I would see how my credit card balances looked since Im trying so hard to pay them off. One of them had a charge on it and I haven't been using my cards at all. So of course I called the company to figure out what the deal was. Well apparently its a finance charge because I have a balance. WHAT??? Geez what a rip off. So I figured while I was on the phone I should just go ahead and cancel the card. I did, and it felt so good I called and cancelled one more card (that leaves me only one left).

Now the only card I have left is almost paid off so I figure I will keep that one for emergencies. I need to sit down and look carefully at my cards and see if it makes more sense to transfer the balances from the those Im trying to pay off to cards with less interest rates. Thats how I got into this mess of having three cards in the begin with though so we will have to see. Maybe I will get some time to sit with my Aunt who is an accountant and she can help me with that mess.

Well cancelling the cards, laundry and cleaning the kitchen are all I got done today and of course I have work stuff and homework to do tomorrow so we will see how it goes. I'm probably going to sneak to the store and do some shopping in there tomorrow anyway. Now that I know Josie is a girl I feel the desperate need to buy her something, lol. Though Im sure she needs nothing thanks to Kayla's hand-me-downs. I'm trying hard to not buy her anything until closer to her birth because the earlier I start the more I buy and I really need to use my money for other things :(. We will see how well I do.

First Night On My Own and Purple Babies!

Last night I was supposed to be on orientation for one last night but when I got there we were so busy they gave me my own assignment (3 babies, which is the most one person gets). Technically it was a 'easy' assignment because all three of the babies were gavage only feeding and didn't need hands on care except every 3 hours. But when you spread that out over 3 babies its a bit more busy than it sounds.

Oh and did I mention that one of my babies was naughty naughty naughty all night long!? He had multiple As&Bs (Apnea & Bradycardia) of which about half of them required stimulation for him to remember to start breathing again. So sometimes I would just get out of his bed and I would have to turn around and get right back in (an isolette) and wake him up then get him resettled. I didn't have any babies like that during orientation so it was pretty overwhelming. Thank goodness all the nurses were great and would pop in and see if I needed help (and I did). Especially after I told them once that I was pretty overwhelmed and if they could help one nurse kept popping in and asking if I was okay and helping out with ideas on what might work.

This lovely baby (cute as heck!) did get the whole talking to a doctor at 5am out of the way on my first night though so now hopefully I won't dread that as much from now on. The doctors don't intimidate me during the day but who wants to call them in the middle of the night and wake them up?

Tonight will be my second night on my own and my last night of four in a row. So I'm crossing my fingers to see how it goes!

I'ts a Girl!!

Maria had her ultrasound (at the mall...cracks me up!) and 80% chance its a girl!! Yay! I cant wait to see all of Kayla's clothes out again and worn again how fun! I'm sure when I go there in Nov we will get to play with clothes getting them out and going through them *fingers crossed*.

A new baby!!!

Money Money Money!

I decided I should finally get rid of all the purses that I had in the shed. Obviously if they are out there at the bottom of a pile of totes I'm not using them. Plus none of them are Coach and I can't imagine carrying anything else, now that I have a few I love them!

Anyway, back to the tote full of purses. I sat down to go through all of the pockets...not the 'funnest' job. While going through them I got a laugh though, receipts that I kept why? Stamp cards and wonder of all wonders MONEY yay! I found $20 in a pocket...and in a purse I haven't used in a very long time, I would guess two years. Nice treat for doing a chore that I had been dreading.

I plan to take them and a pile of clothes to a women's shelter if I can locate one or at the very least to a donation place where they can do some good.

Hmm what other reward can I get for doing chores?

Day's Off

I have a total of 7 days off in a row right now and they are going so fast!

I have a ton of things I need to get done while Im off yet on the other hand I really wanna just relax and enjoy my time.

I've gotten a little bit of scrapbooking done and gotten started thinking about what is coming up (new) in our group since Im ready for some changes again. Plus I did some cleaning/organizing today that I have been needing to get done, of course as always there is more to do.

Tomorrow I hope to scrap more, do hw and sort swaps so they are ready to go to the PO on Monday.

Coach's Lawsuit!

I got a letter in the mail that Coach is being sued for asking shoppers for information eg addresses that they didnt need at stores in CA. Because I shop there I got a notice that if they lose the lawsuit that I will be entitled to 30% off my next purse! Wooo hoo! No offense to Coach but their loss my gain! The lawsuit judgement wont be until November but something fun to look forward too :).

Sometimes good things do happen when I check the mail! LMBO!!

$30 & 1 Less Hour of Sleep Later...

The doctor's verdict was....chew less gum! Grrr!

During work last night my right ear began to really hurt and it just kept getting worse all night, it hurt while I ate/swallowed and just plan breathed. I was worried that I had an ear infection so I went to the MD this morning on my way home. One co-pay and and hour later the MD said that it was jaw pain and not ear pain after all. At first I was pretty skeptical until he stuck his fingers in my jaw joints and OW! Of course after that BOTH ears were throbbing...no fun.

I'm not at all shocked that I have jaw issues cause my mom has them too and I swear anything she has I get too, just younger. I've been chewing more gum also due to working because I cant brush my teeth after I eat (I cant brush them at work...ewww) so I'm sure that's what aggravated it.

Besides all that my first 'day' on night shift went really well. Long night especially around 4am but I made it through. Tonight is night number two...hopefully I will have more challenging patients so I can stay awake better.

Days....Nights

For the last 4 weeks I have been working day shift at work (7a-7:30p) which requires me to get up at 5am to go in. At the beginning I was dragging myself out of bed in the mornings. But now Im awake before the alarm even goes off which lets me know that Im finally settled in to the shift.

Of course I am because starting Sunday I will be working nights! (7p-7:30a). I dont hold out much hope that I will get used to that because I worked 8hr nights for a year and never got used to it. Onward!

Other than the work thing its TGIF!! Im going to spend the day cleaning house playing catch up, same thing I do on any other day off. My Aunt and Uncle are flying in late tonight so Im looking forward to seeing them tomorrow. Yay for the weekend!

A True "Labor" Day

One of the memories of my childhood is of my dad telling me that 'Labor Day' was a day that we did "labor". It was one of the few days he had off work so he aways used the time to catch up on things he needed to get done. Of course as kids the thought of 'working' on a holiday was horrifying.

This year my parents are off with the little kids on vacation for the weekend and Im home making a real 'labor' day of it cause its my only day off work! Oh the irony!

Today's to do list looks something like this:

Cleaning:
Laundry (take tags of scrubs/wash)
Bathroom
Vacuum
Bleach counter tops

SWF:
Put TOW #20 in journals
Return emails
CJ update
September projects
Set up October CT & Admin meeting

Homework:
All classes
Print Syllabus

Random:
Start roast
Clean out car
Add water to fish tank
Get rid of scrubs (butterflies, blue stars)

Guess I better get off and running to get all this done. ...oh to be the days when Labor Day was a day OFF!!

Amazing Work...

I cant got into details about my job because of HIPAA but wow! Some days are amazing...and Im sure I will experience tons more.

Today we admitted 5 babies in just my pod alone...including one set of twins who were born at 23 weeks...its so amazing to look at those tiny bodies and be a part of the team that is helping them!

What awesome thing will I see next??

Politics in My Music???

This morning I was on my way to work and of course I had the radio on. I couldn't find anything I really wanted to listen to so I ended up with the song "Lolli Lolli" which I don't care for too much but I could stand.

As I was listening to the lyrics I heard them say clear as a bell "As Barack Obama says we need a change" WHAT THE HECK? I'm not politically involved by any means and don't have an informed opinion about either candidate but I STILL don't want messages about politics in my music! It felt very sneaky!

If I was a good citizen I would be calling/emailing the station (XM21) and letting them know my opinion...but instead I'm just blogging about it...lol!

Frustrated!!

Today is the first day that I came home completely frustrated from work. Nothing seemed to go well today. Probably because I didnt get very much sleep last night. Im also back to the nurse that I had my first day that wasnt as easy as it could have been. I thought it was becuase it was my first day but maybe not. I feel like I cant seem to do ANYTHING right with her and its really starting to get to me (and its only day 2 with her, thus its probably at least partly to being tired). The other day I worked last week I was with a different nurse and my day went SO much better!

I've decided Im going to try to make the next 2 days better and if that doesnt work Im going to have to talk to her and my ANM and see what we can do because Im supposed to be learning not getting frustrated.

She's not mean or anything and I dont really feel like she makes me nervous I just cant seem to be confident and do what I know how to do, probably because half the time she steps in and takes over-and the other half she doesnt and so I never know whats expected so I cant just relax and work.

Oh I almost forgot-I got my first IV start (that Ive tried so far)...yay!

See I should be really happy about my day not frustrated!

Tomorrow is going to go better for sure cause I cant deal with another day like that. By the end of the day today I was exhausted and stressed out to the point that I was just ready to cry!

That's it! No More... CSI or L&O

So last night I had more yucky dreams about people being shot, hurt etc. I think it has to do with how much L&O and CSI I have been watching. Time to stop that, thats for sure! I need to go back to watching things like Charmed and Reba lol.

It drives me insane how what I do/see during the day really affects what I dream about at night.

Now & Then

This morning I was getting ready to head out for errands and happened to look up at the TV and saw a screen shot of a house with a pile of bicycles in front of it. Just from that one screen shot I knew exactly what movie it was "Now & Then". One of the movies Andrea, Hilda and I watched over and over for years. But now its been years since I have seen it. The things we never forget...

Sleep and Nightmares!

Ugg! Last night I fell asleep at 630p so I slept kinda fitfully after 12. I rolled around finally got up and slept on the couch then on the floor...dang back.

And even worse than that I had a horrible nightmare about my family and I NEVER wanna have that dream again.

Which is why I stayed awake at 4am when I woke up from that because I very commonly wake up and go back to sleep in the same dream and I didn't want to so instead I stayed up and returned emails that I have been putting off due to my exhaustion from work and computer problems.

Well now that Ive been up for an hours Im ready to go back to bed lol....night all!

Still in Disbelief

I've now worked 2 days on the NICU floor and I still really cant believe I work there! It's my dream job. The exact hospital and floor I have wanted to work on since I moved north and now I'm there. It still feels like a dream. Maybe when I get my first check it will feel real?

I'm looking forward to getting used to being on my feet for 12 hours because the first day my feet hurt sooooo bad. Yesterday wasn't quite as bad, but its amazing how bad they can hurt when I finally get off them.

The nurses that I have been working with so far have been really nice so far. The nurse I was with yesterday was very supportive and said she thinks I'm ready to take on 3 level I babies at a time. That's pretty quick in my opinion but I feel like I can handle it. Hopefully I can move on to level II babies soon since they are more interesting and less like babysitting. Though level I babies are fun cause you get to hold them a lot more than the level II or III babies. Level III are probably 6 or more months away at this point. I guess that's the way they work it now so that we can get really confident with the 'easy' things before we move on. I'm really looking forward to being able to work with the micro preemies and those on vents....but that's gonna be a while.

One day at a time!

Trying to figure out what days I work? Keep an eye on my Google Calendar link.

Friends!

I just wanna give a 'shout out' (lol) to all my friends. There are times like today when its just so obvious who my real friends are. It's great to know what I mean to my friends...

I love you all...

Why oh Why?

Really WHY?? Is it that when you want to change your background here on blogger that you lose all your widgets? How annoying is that! I like to change my background frequently and that leaves me no choice but to re-add widgets all the time. Bah Hum Bug!

One way or another my page will still get updated lol, I was SO sick of looking at that boring background. Now I get to look at purple for a while.

I'm off to bed (thanks to Flexeril).

Workin' Girl

This week I started my general orientation for work (SHMC, NICU). I'm pretty sure they couldn't have made it any more boring if they tried! It definitely doesn't help that I went through almost all of the computer training before since I spent so much time there as a student.

And shock of all shocks they gave us homework for heaven sake! Thank goodness its almost over. Only 2 days left (tomorrow and Monday). On Monday afternoon I meet with the unit coordinator. Hopefully we will learn some interesting stuff then. Like when the classes I want to take are offered.

My first actual day of work is on Wednesday. It's going to be interesting to work days since I did my clinicals on nights and my actual schedule is nights. I work 4 weeks on days and then switch over to nights. See the link to my Google calendar to keep an eye on my schedule.

I'm excited about starting work...and even more excited about getting my first paycheck! This first few should be pretty good since there are more hours on there then I signed up to work so thats good.

Coming soon....SCHOOL!

15 Minutes at a Time...

So normally whenever I have big changes going on in my life (like now, starting a new job) I tend to try to make big changes in my schedule. This time I decided to not do that. I decided to try a new way this time.

Im trying to change things '15 mins' at a time. Each week Im going to try to change something new. This week Im working on cleaning everyday (ewww) for a minimum of 15mins. Taking it in small increments is helping, I feel like I accomplish a lot more when I can see how much I can do in 15 min.

Today in my 15 mins I put the laundry away, loaded the dishwasher, put my scrap paper in the correct places, and went through some of the papers on my table.

One other part of my 'big plan' is NO GUILT. If I dont get things done exactly as I plan Im just going to move on and try to do better the next day. I think getting frustrated because I cant follow through is what puts me on the path to giving up so Im trying to avoid that this time and see how it goes.

I Made It!

I did it! Im so proud of myself. I managed to make it through this vacation without contacting M. During the last few weeks it has been so hard not to. I had to talk myself out of 'just driving by' soooo many times.

It only got worst after my car accident. Family is great but there isnt anything like that 'special' hug that only one person can give you. I kept expecting him to contact me while I was there because usually when Im thinking about him a lot he ends up contacting me...we must still be on the same wave length. But not this time and that was worse (thought its a good thing cause I never could have managed to not talk to him this time).

I get very frustrated with myself that I still feel that pull but there really is no use denying it (though I continue to do so). I really cant imagine ever going back...but like the song says "If I didnt know now what I didnt know then". I may have been living in a dream world but I was much happier in that dream than I am now. Most of the time I manage to pretend like I dont care and that Im not thinking about him but so many things in my life we spent hours talking about. Including my new job that Im getting ready to start...just about every time I put on a pair of scrubs I think about him and his opinion of them (he loved them).

Hopefully now that I have taken the time to blog this I can quit thinking about it and move on.

Wee's Birthday

Natalie turns 2 on July 28th. Lex had her birthday party last night. The girls had tons of fun. They are so cute together. I have never since 2 kids that are happier to see each other. When we first got there I insisted that Kayla eat before she go play (she was still waking up) and poor Wee I thought she was going to have a heart attack before Kayla was ready to play with her, she kept saying "Kay Kay Kay" over and over and Kayla was just ignoring her for a long time (until she was awake and fed).

The girls swam together for a while and played in the jumper and just generally ran around like silly little girls laughing and playing.

As for presents Wee really didnt care much about opening them. And it was so funny because when she got clothes she would take them and hand them to Kayla (apparently she knows how much Kayla likes clothes!). Kayla even picked out her own present for Natalie. We were at Nordstrom Rack and they had a few different Hello Kitty shirts and she picked the one she wanted and insisted I buy it for 'Alee'. She's so funny, she knows that Lex likes Hello Kitty and so she associates it with Natalie and if she sees it she thinks Wee has to have it, lol.

Texas!

This summer I went to Texas to see my BFF and her family. It was nice to see everyone. Its been a while since we have all been together.

We went to Dave & Busters twice. And silly girls that we are we got matching shirts with our tickets. I thought the shirts were cute because they said Dave & Busters in pink with the year 1982 (mine & Hilda's birth year).

Hilda was the best she made a special trip to Hobby Lobby just for me since I dont have those at home and I wanted to check it out so bad. I had fun and got a bunch of loot.

The hardest part was going home...I miss Hilda!

I didnt really take a whole lot of pictures but it was fun!

My Grandpa

My family hasn't spoken to my grandpa (my mom's real dad) in about 10 years due to family drama. We have been hearing for a while that he had cancer. We heard that he really wasn't doing well and that he was in a hospital about an hour from my mom. She went back and forth for a long time trying to decide if she wanted to see him (and if he would even want her to come). On Wednesday of last week she decided to go and see him. It sounded like they had a good visit and got some things off their chests.

He went home on Thursday with Hospice care (though not everyone believed he was really dying). On Friday my family went to see him. Im really glad I did, I could tell he was really happy to see us all. He was hugging us all over and over which was very unlike him.

He took a turn for the worst on Monday-though I didnt know it until Tuesday afternoon. My mom stayed the night over there to be with him. Last night she called me to ask me a question about his meds. I offered to go out there and meet with the Hospice nurse so that I could administer his meds through his port since he could no longer swallow pills. Between the time she called me and when I was supposed to leave (about 30 minutes) he ended up passing away.

He went through all the stages of dying very quickly. Im just glad he was able to go peacefully. Now the family is working on the funeral arrangements, which Im assuming will be on Friday or Saturday.

Death is always sad, but Im glad he is no longer suffering

Lazy Day with Nina (what number are we on??)

Kayla and I spent the day (again) just hanging out at Brandons. I scrapped a bit and she played with her new cash register. This was her face when she saw it (guess she forgot since the day before).

She's such a ham!


I was surprised that her favorite part was the scanner since she like the credit card stuff at the store so much. The scanner is cool though, each time you squeeze the trigger it says an item and a price, if you point it at a 'price tag' it will read what it says, but even if you dont it will still read out a price.

This is Kayla having a snack...with the toys all around. Sitting on the floor watching some PBS show.


I got a few things done with my scrapping, even more after she left...check out my scrap blog.

Toys R Us

Kayla did not forget about going shopping like I thought she would. I was feeding her dinner and she asked about her 'toy'. So I took her to Toys R Us and let her have fun. We played around in there for over 2 hours! Of course I took pictures...

Playing with the Thomas the Train set

I pushed her on the swing forever... we had to make sure to leave room to for 'Alee' which Im beginning to wonder if its really her cousin Natalie or if she has an imaginary friend.

She was determined it was raining inside and wanted us all to have umbrellas.

One of the Power Wheels she drove....also with a place and a buckle for "Alee"

Using 'money' in the Barney toy. She would ask me for 'money' and to swipe. She calls credit cards money. Im gonna have to work on that one! She's not going to know the value of a dollar if she doesnt learn early.

Talking into the Crayola bank...has anyone NOT had one of those?

Dancing with Elmo

We also read books

As you can see we had fun...her with the toys and me with the camera phone. Of course she picked up a few toys and I got her cousin's birthday present so thats done.

Now the question is....what are we going to do tomorrow? I have my scrap stuff out, Im hoping she will play with her new toys and let me do that....Im not holding my breath though.

Two Year Old Shop-a-holic

This morning I picked up Kayla and we had breakfast at Denny's. On the way out she let me know she wanted to go 'shopping'. When I asked her what she wanted to go shopping for she said clothes. Oh my goodness! I told her we were going to Brandon's house and she said "no Brandon's, shopping". I dropped the subject then asked her a little bit later if she wanted to go shopping for clothes or toys and she said "clothes".

What a crack up! I managed to turn a 2yo into a shopping fiend!

Fourth of July

This year we had a very 'un-traditional' fourth with my family. Fireworks weren't even on the list for me at all.

I spent the day with Brandon and Kim just hanging out until 5 when Brandon and I went to go see my grandpa who we haven't seen in about 7-8 years. Due to a falling out (love the family drama!), of course the falling out was among the 'adults' so I had no issues going to see him. He has many health issues and came home on hospice which is why fences were finally mended. I hate it when that's whats necessary for people to come together.

My brother and I had only planned to stay an hour but we ended up staying 3. I'm really glad I got to go. My grandpa was really glad to see us I could tell. Plus being a nurse I was able to offer a few suggestions to make him more comfortable. Including encouraging him to use his pain medicine rather than trying to be stoic and not use it. When I was in nursing school one of my instructors said something that I have continued to repeat to my patients "you don't get a special badge in heaven for not taking the meds". It never fails to make people smile and generally helps them feel better about using their meds appropriately.

After we left there (we had to go pick up Kim who had managed to lock herself out of Brandon's house without her keys so she couldn't leave) we saw a few illegal fireworks on the way home but they weren't something we really cared about.

We were supposed to go to my brother's friends house but we left to late to make it over there. So we ended up going to the movies and seeing Hancock. What a crazy movie! Its nothing like we expected from the previews. I'm still not sure if I liked it or not. I didn't hate it but I didn't love it either.

What a strange holiday! But for me fulfilling since I got to go see my grandpa that I otherwise wouldn't have gotten too. I also offered to go sit with him if the family he is staying with needed any help.

My Blog...

I feel like my blog is so far behind I dont know where to start! AHHH... My days are so full that I have at least one thing to blog about everyday...guess I should get started! Hmm gonna do my 'scrap blog' first I think....wait for it!

Today Was a Busy Day!

While still in her ice cream pjs Kayla went out and played on Matthew's tractor. She has sat on it lots of times out in the yard but this was the first time the battery had been charged so it was a whole new experience for her.

After playing outside she got dressed-in her cute new purple Gap outfit (more recent shopping yay!) :)

Kayla wanted peanut butter for a snack after nap, I was surprised that she asked for that. I wasnt sure how she planned to eat it but I put it on a spoon (small amount) and gave it too her. She loved it...

Later on she even had time to color before it was time to go home...exactly how do we pack so much into one day?

Oh...and look how I managed to do her hair. It took 3 tries to get both sides done but smart Nina turned Barney on for her to watch while I worked on it. Im sure it didnt stay too long after I dropped her off at home but it was cute anyway.

I love french braided hair, I even where mine like that sometimes, even though it takes forever to do it.

"Thank You Ice Ceem Jammies" (Nina's Day 23)

This morning when I woke up Kayla was still sleeping. I laid there next to her and just enjoyed her being with me while it was quiet. She must have been having happy dreams because she kept smiling really big in her sleep and once even let out a little laugh.

When she woke up she was so happy (as always). I told told her that I liked her new ice cream jammies and she reached out and put her arm around my neck and said 'thank you ice ceem jammies'. How sweet is that?





From way before Kayla could talk her mom would tell her to 'tell Nina thank you' and always tell me she would learn to say it. For a while now she has said thank you when prompted but now Maria can relax with a job well done, she knows how to do it on her own which is so sweet. I almost cried. Here are the ice cream jammies.

While I have been sitting here blogging Matthew and Kayla have been playing Ring Around the Rosies or as Kayla calls it "pocket posies" Here is Kayla singing.

Here is Matthew singing.

I saw Alayna's bubbles blog and I thought Kayla would love it so I decided to pick up a bubble blower for the kids too play with. Too bad it wasnt exactly what I thought it was-but they still liked it.

On CafeMom I have pretty rediculously addicted to the "Beach Hunt" game all to Kim. she asked me what it was and to show her I added to to my page and I have been playing it ever since. I have been playing it so much that Matthew took a turn! Here is him playing...

While Matthew and I played on the computer Kayla played cards with Corrina

Kayla sat on Matthew's back to watch him play Leapster

Mary playing with Matthew and Kayla

Swimming Lessons

Today all we did was swimming lessons....Mondays are exhausting!

Here is her cute 'after nap' clothes for the day

Nina's Day 20...Swimming Lessons

I am working very hard to distinguish the difference between 'swimming' and 'swimming lessons' for Kayla. So that she can understand that we play while we are 'swimming' and we have to listen while we are at 'swimming lessons'. I think she is working on getting them straight. She love both anyway.

Today instead of sleeping in until 930 to make her lessons go smoothly she was awake at 8am anyway. So I got less sleep :(. Because of that swimming lessons didnt go quite as smoothly. She didnt really want to participate in anything but we were able to do it. We also learned if we cant get her to kick her feet that if we 'get' Corrina or race her we can make her kick and have fun. So we did that a few times.

We also make her 'swim' by laying her flat on her belly and pushing her through the water one to the other (are hands are off less than a second). We make her put her face down just for a second too, she handles it all amazingly well. Im so proud of her!

Failure!

Today I took my History CLEP test. I totally didnt think it was going to be hard at all. I studied a little bit and went in to take it. Too bad it was HORRIBLY hard!! Yep I didnt pass it...thank goodness I wasnt really upset. Now I just gotta take an online History class sometime before May 2009. Not hard, just frustrating cause seriously what does history have to do with Nursing? Plus I already took all the history I needed for the school in CA...I feel like its such a waste of time.

Life goes on right?

Today Kayla & Nina We Did....

...abosolutely NOTHING!!

This is what Kayla's day consisted of



I picked her up from Maria's work at 930 and she was asleep. She slept all the way to Brandons house and through me putting her on the couch. She stayed there until noon sleeping away. First thing out of her mouth was "hungry" lol.

After I fed her I took her to Kohls and bought her a few new outfits cause I couldnt deal with the clothes she had played outside in, lol Im such a freak! I even found a cute pair of shoes for her, too bad they didnt have them in half sizes :(.

and that was our whole day...