Slept in until 6:30 am and it was FABULOUS!

That's right, no clinicals this weekend. And I've done NOTHING...it's been GREAT! I'm even (shhhh, don't tell) going to ditch Church. I took my final on Friday and got an 82 (boo hoo) and this was after serious studying...the funny thing, I actually got all the ECG readings correct and that was the part I thought where I would do the most poorly. So, with that 82 I averaged 83 on all the test scores (remember I was high on one of those...flexeril -- not so great for test taking) but my class work and clinicals bumped me up and so I am squeeking by with a B (the scale is 85-92 for a b). We did lose four students with that last test--I'm tellin' you, it's not that easy. Speaking of finished up classes and grades....congratulations to Colleeno on the A + in a MASTER"S level teaching course -- not easy to do with two little ones, a job and a hubby working all sorts of strange hours. Even being surrounded by such brilliance in my neighborhood, I'm still pretty darn happy with my painfully earned B.

I start OB/Peds next week. For which, I am uber excited! I want to be a Labor and Delivery nurse and so this'll be right up my alley.

Wordless Wednesday -- Just in case you want to know where Isaac gets his attitude

1974--Jason, his dad and his grandad

Such a Mean Mom

This morning Jake starts moaning about a stomach ache, he mentioned that it felt like someone was stabbing him, he was doubled over in pain and whimpering....so I say, "oh, honey you don't have to go to school" He positioned himself in front of cartoons, made a lame, albeit pitiful, request for the "big bowl" and quietly watched TV while Isaac got ready for school. About 9 am and lots of cuddles later (the best medicine for stabbing stomach pains of the most dramatic kind) I say to poor pitiful Jake, "Hey, I know, let's go to a movie!".
He asks, perking up quite a bit, mind you, "The Spiderwick Chronicles?"
"Absolutely," I answer.
He threw the covers off of himself and dashed up to his room to get dressed...A MIRACULOUS recovery...so I shout up to the speeding bullet that he has become, "Great, we'll go after school, be sure to get your back pack"

HAHAHAHA
The look on his face when he came back down the stairs....

wordless wed/thought I'd get some new nursing shoes

Castro's out

WOO HOO, Castro's out! YAY. And when they were talking about it, they filmed a reporter in front of Versailles, on Calle Ocho, in Miami, my very very favorite Cuban eatery! Yummy Cuban sandwhiches and pastilitos, if you ever ever make it to Miami...oh, wait but more importantly, Castro is out!

Jake comes up to me the other day and tells me he hopes Hillary or Obama wins (does a mother proud -- did hear hubby mutter something under his breath about me unfairly indoctrinating the children). I ask Jake why.

He says: “Because it’ll be historical, it’ll be the first woman or the first black man as a president”
So, I ask: “What about Romney, he’d be the first Mormon?”
Jake: “Are Mormons black people?”
Me: “Ah, no, they’re all colors, it’s a religion”
Jake: “Is Romney black?”
Me: “No.”
Jake: “Well then it doesn’t count.”

I thought about teaching him that that’s not why we choose, we choose because we want the best person for the job. Also thought about explaining what a big deal it was that Kennedy was a Catholic and he being elected was historical because of his religion and in a country that values religious freedoms it’s a big deal. I thought about explaining that we should overlook religion when deciding as well as color and gender (or even party)—as long as we know that religion, color or gender won’t interfere with the person’s decisions.

But he’s 8 and I barely understand that stuff myself.

Sitting in Silence wants an OB story….I’ll tell the happy one (there was a sad one, I’ll tell that later when I’ve let it settle a bit).

A woman was having her third C-section (oh and she was a year older than I…hmmmm, maybe there’s a chance after nursing school for a third…JUST KIDDING). Anyhow, she was beautifully round, her husband wonderfully attentive and the surgery went off without a problem and when that beautiful baby appeared and cried out to the world that he was here, I burst into tears of happiness – for the mother, the father, life in general. The staff in the operating room were laughing and congratulating and telling the mom and dad how beautiful the baby was and I stood in the corner crying, trying not to sob at the happiness of it all. Later, the mom asked how it all was for me (she knew it was my first time observing a C-section...had one myself, but didn’t do much observing at that time). I told her it was beautiful and it moved me to tears. She grabbed my hand and thanked me.

WOW

Med/Surg has been a great learning experience…complete with learning about changing rectal tubes (don’t ask, you really really don’t want to know), giving meds, enemas, cleaning up barf and explaining to the alcoholic who is detoxing that no, there is nothing flying around the room. BUT there’s nothing like that feeling of watching a baby being born. Even the sad experience was fulfilling -- being there for that woman in her hour of need…those are the experiences where I felt at home, I know that’s what I want to do.

No I'm not dead

Oh my gosh, my last two weeks have been insane….I should be studying and cleaning the house but thought I’d update, really really quickly.

Clincals -- totally awesome. Love my instructor. She does demand the best from us (which is cool, but hard) but also gives us the best. She asked which ones of us want OB and so she scheduled half our OR observations in the OB/GYN department. She has gotten us an ICU observation day and an observation day with the IV nurse. These are all experiences that you don’t normally get, she really has gone above duty in her teaching.

Bombed my last test….could be because I had so many extra clinical hours I had no time to study, could be I was taking Flexeril and was in a foggy haze…could be I’m just that much more stupid then I thought. I have more time to study for the next one, stopped taking the Flexeril so I’ll know if I bomb the next one whether or not I’m stupid.

My house is a mess.

I haven’t dyed my hair in like a hundred years and I’m amazed how really gray I am…yikes.
Ok, that’s about it, not much time to really do much…but now for the exciting part of my day, I’m going to catch up on all of you!

Small world, the nurse I'm following (not instructor but the actual nurse), his wife is a teacher at one of the schools over here, and Colleeno followed her a couple weeks ago for one of her observations...small world!

And hey, Ms. Martha must understand because I did not get an email reminding me to update....but I bet it was coming...

oh yeah, and I got new windows and doors...yay, now I when I sit in the family room, I don't feel a draft.

A Meme

I got tagged by Danielle for a Meme on useless trivial habits I have...hmmmm, well almost all that type of information about me is useless and trivial, but I'll go for the most trivial....

Here are the rules:
(1) Link to the person that tagged you.
(2) List the rules on your blog.
(3) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
(4) Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
(5) Let each random person know they have been tagged.

1. I can't sleep with my feet uncovered -- it's a hold out from when I was afraid of monsters under the bed (a couple weeks ago...hahaha, JK)

2. I have a paper due on diverticulitis today and instead of working on it, I'm reading blogs and doing stupid memes.....In other words, I'm a procastinator.

3. When I was a child I liked peanut butter and sweet pickle sandwhiches.

4. If it wasn't so impractical, I would have gone back to school to be an interior decorator rather then a nurse....I really love to decorate.

5. I'm a practical person...in a flighty, artsy, procastinating way.

6. I can't think of anything really interesting, but probably in the middle of my lecture of the lower GI tract I will think of tons of things and want a redo...

OK, Danielle already tagged the people I would tag...Dodi
Aimee and yes, she does need to update more, Colleeno, Ms. Marfa and Scott -- so if you want to read more on this line, check out their blogs and if you want to do this meme, let me know and I'll come read your blog!

And....oh my gosh, spell check is out, so I have no idea how badly I've done here....

Now, for the more serious stuff....I went to the Caucus (again, have no idea how that's spelled) for the first time ever. I had no clue what it was all about and it was so neat to be a part of the political process at that level...you really feel like at that level your vote means something -- like you're at the heart of the whole process. And there was such a camraderie (again, wish spell check was on). I even saw someone I knew...My first words, "Oh my gosh, I had no idea you were a democrat" she said the same to me and we hugged. I met some other neighbors too. You see in a red state, and in the suburbs, it's hard to find other dems...and ever since liberal has become a nasty word (and why is that?) it's not like we want to shout it out to the roof tops. I mostly keep my opinions to myself. Along with choosing a candidate, we also decided we should wear blue D's on our shirt in Scarlet Letter fashion.

So here's my opinion...
Romney? Really? Why?

Obama, Hillary? It was hard to choose, mostly because they're both a little left of the whole party line (I'm a middle of the road, fence sitter myself) I went with the majority (Obama) but still not sure who my fave is.

Really, really, I would like to tailor design my own candidate...some one down to earth, who really has, not only the country, but the individual man and woman who works to keep this country going, in mind...not so much big cooperations and the people who can afford to lobby. A candidate who cares about the earth and our resources....whether or not you believe we're in for a heat wave, ice age or nothing's going to happen, it does make sense to use renewable sources of energy...like say, solar, wind....It makes perfect sense to take care of our poor, our sick, our young and our old. I know that how we do that needs to be tweeked (I'm not about a free ride) but give me a break...and single mother trying to make it on her own, needs some help, if dead beat daddy isn't going to cough it up....and blaming her for getting into the mess, well that's just not helpful.

You know I just thought of something, maybe Jim Fay needs to write "Love and Logic for the politician" hahahahah (ok, for those of you not parents, Love and Logic is one of my favorite parenting books, it's about parenting out of consequences...like, 'If you choose to go out of the house without a coat you'll be cold, and if you make that choice you can't complain" I love it and the kids love it too).

anyway...I'm just saying.

Wordless Wednesday I CAN'T WAIT!

These pictures were taken last May--only four more months to go....

Apparently with Alzheimer's, some men get a little....ahhhh...hmmm..frisky. So, would you be taking their vitals and happen to lean over them you need to protect your boobies.....and never never bend over. I was thankfully warned and was able to move quickly, and I nicely held his hand while listening to his heart and lungs. He got some attention with some hand holding and my cleavage went unfondled.

My other patient has this seriously low blood pressure and pulse and he slept through me taking his vitals. I tried to wake him with a nice quite, "Mr. so and so", he didn't arouse so in a loud voice I yelled, "MR SO AND SO" he startled awake and asked me what was going on. I said, "oh nothing, I just wanted to make sure you were okay, you kinda scared me with your low BP" Thank goodness he laughed.

Today I got to observe in the O.R. I got to see some brain surgery...how cool is that!

woo hoo

Yesterday was awesome....a 94...woo hoo. It's a great feeling when you get to a test, read the questions and actually know you're not guessing (well except for a couple). THEN, I got stopped for speeding and I didn't get a ticket -- ok, so I've actually never gotten a ticket for speeding and I've been stopped a couple of times, Jason HATES that. This time, he didn't even go back to the police car to check my ID, he didn't even ask for insurance and registeration....why? I think because I was in my scrubs. He asked if I was on my way to work, I explained I was a student and going to clinicals. He thanked me for becoming a nurse and tried to talk me out of wanting labor and delivery. When I told some of my fellow students , they told me they've heard that a lot of times medical people get out of tickets...not really a perk they mention in the shiny nursing catalogue at school.....have any of you heard of that?

And I just can't stand it if you think I'm this speeding freak, normally, when I am speeding, it's because I'm unaware, I'm just following traffic. So my fault is in my checked-outedness (which is probably also really bad).

Yeah the time stamp is correct, it's really really early or really really late...but I have to write out all of the information on my patient for this weekend. Lucky me, he's combative.

Anyway...a 94 woo hoo, yay me.

and ps....the spelling check option isn't working, so this post and last post may be full of spelling errors! I know they're full of grammatical errors...but until they get a check for that, I'm out of luck....and to think in my first life I was an English major...bad me.

oh geeze, it's like I can't get away with just being happy about something...ok again, yay me.

Jake

Hmmm, he's in a 'stage' and I think it's a funny one....sort of.

Isaac was sick last week, so he stayed home, Jake had the choice, but he really likes the school day care, all his friends are there and he gets to play dodge ball, and it was paid for so I took him. I went to pick him up and I left Isaac in the car, doors locked, instructions not to open the doors, covered in a blanket, in a safe suburban neighborhood and right outside the door. As we are walking out of the door Jake asks where Isaac is, I tell him, he says "Mom, do you really think that's a good idea" I think, yeah, it's 1 freaking degree outside and he's hacking up a lung, I think it's a great idea to keep him in the car....what I say is, "yes, honey, I try to make good decisions when it comes to you both, I thought about this and figured it was the best thing to do, given he's sick."

So, we get into the car, Jake feels Isaac's head, and reports to me that it feels warm and asks when I last gave him medication....I assured Jake that Isaac's meds were on schedule. Then he spots a Starbucks cup and asks what it was. I explain that we went through the SB drivethrough after dropping him off that morning and Isaac had a vanilla milk...then my EIGHT year old says, "Mom, do you think it's a good idea to give a sick child milk"....

OH Geeze...

And this is where my fantastic parenting becomes apparent....and I say, 'JAKE, WHO IS THE MOMMY"

and he pauses...yes, he pauses and thinks about it.
"ahh, you?"

I have another test today...I'm off to Starbucks to study for a couple hours...I have no idea what to think because I thought I was prepared last week only to get a really low C (yikes). So we'll see....but here's the hard part...my schedule next week...let me tell it to you so you can feel sorry for me:

Sat, Sun 6:45am to 7:30 pm at the hospital
Mon, Tues 5:30 am to 2pm at the hospital
Wed, off but I have study group
Thurs, Fri Class
Sat, Sun 6:45am to 7:30 pm at the hospital

then next Monday? blubbering idiot and in bed all day? Maybe Jake can take care of me because he suddenly now knows everything....and I'm NOT going to tell my mother this particular Jake story because she'll only laugh and think it perfectly deserved...

wordless wed/archeological remains of the first politician

OH MY GOSH!

So my Friday test....BOMBED IT...and I'm not talking, "oh poor me I got a 90" I mean I really bombed it, I got a 78, which is still passing but with very little wiggle room (anything below a 77 is failing). It could be worse, half the class failed it and no, they don't curve.

Then I had my clinicals this weekend. 13 hours on my feet each day for two days straight. My clinical instructor is ....hmmmmm....a hard a**. I'm actually OK with that, because she's very good at what she does and expects the best from her students and I think you learn the most from people like that. I, of course, dropped one of the meds...on the floor and the look on her face...well, won't be getting a satisfactory on meds my first weekend out. My patient was great and she loved me, told me I was going to be a good nurse. Her family was awesome too, the daughters even invited me out for beer (which I didn't do -- because you're not supposed to develop a personal relationship with your patients or families -- and for someone with boundary issues...ME....I even get that....but it was nice to be invited). Here's the scary thing about my clinical...the thing that made me spray every inch of the house with Lysol (and I don't need the lecture on super bacteria now, I know, and after I tell you you'll understand why I was so liberal with the anti microbials) every other patient on the floor had VRE or MRSA. I am so going to find a place in the garage for my nursing shoes and start disrobing in there and going straight to the showers....BLEK.

And on top of it all, Isaac is sick, so I've been getting up at odd hours of the night, Jason's had to take off work, I have to read my book, snuggled next to him while he's watching Sponge Bob...so we'll see how I do on my test this week.

Even with all my complaining and my apparent academic retardeness, I LOVE IT. It's so much fun. Half the students in my clinical rotation are questioning themselves and I didn't do that once. Whew, because this is a lot of time, money and stress to wonder if I'm doing the right thing.

I need to go catch up on you guys now!

Wish Me Luck, Pray for Me...whatever, any nice thoughts are welcome

I have my first Med-surg test today. Rumor has it that the average score on this test is a 68...keep in mind, in this program anything below a 77 is failing. There are three people in my class now that failed last semester (the other three that failed, decided not to come back)Needless to say I AM FREAKING OUT....here's what the test is covering:
electrolytes (normal values, what your signs and symptoms are if they are too low or high and what do you do about it)
acid-base balance
blood disorders
blood transfusions...and what can go wrong and what to do about it
Immunity, humoral and cell mediated and know all the antibodies and which ones do what...
Hypersensitivites
Autoimmune
Immune deficiencies
and
Upper and Lower respiratory problems and what to do and what to recognize.

So, around 8:30 am Mountain Standard, please please send prayers, good vibes, well wishes, Buddhist chants this way....there's only so much reading, studying, hitting my head against a wall I can do...

I'll let you know how I did later...oh, but my clinicals start tomorrow at 6:30 am....so I might not update until Monday....yeah, I got the short straw...12 hour shift clinicals Saturday and Sunday (hope God understands---I'll be doing a lot of praying, given how hard this class is, but won't be visiting for a few weeks...).

Wordless Wednesday

napping kiddo (not feeling that great)
A match made in heaven

(as I've mentioned before, fixerupper, nasty tile will be gone sometime this summer)

pictures to go with yesterday's post

On the way up...we were up at 5am and just got the kids in the car with couple pillows and blankets. They slept most of the way up.
0 degrees F....that was on Berthoud Pass, it was about 5 degrees in Grand Lake (a virtual heat wave) And Sitting in Silence (who is in Australia and uses the metric system...I think?) that would be -17.77777 & -15 degrees Celsius
Shoddy pictures--sorry... I'm a chicken so Jason took turns with the boys 'catching some air' in a meadow.
Don't be fooled by his grim look (he's going through a phase where he doesn't want to smile when told) the boys are toasty and warm and filled with hot chocolate and ready for the three hour trip back to the flatlands with the requisite stop to Beau Jo's Pizza in Idaho Springs. And because they have a jar of honey on each table the kids look forward to eating their pizza crusts.

And and OH MY GOSH MOMENT...my mom's birthday was yesterday---I think she's now officially younger then I am, since she lies about her age, and I do not....so forgot to call her...bad daughter, bad daughter. Better go call her now before it's too late...that eight hour difference (she lives in Spain) can really mess you up when trying to call at a decent hour for both. I bet my perfect brother didn't forget...speaking of perfect brother, I finally figured out what to give him and his lovely wife for Christmas...I mean it's been so long since Jason and I were a hip, young, childless couple -- oh who am I kidding, we were never hip...So we got them beer of the month (but for only three months because, oh my gosh that could get expensive) but you get some neat microbrews from around the states. If I were a better wife, I'd give my husband that same gift...instead he got a saw. So who am I kidding the 8 hour time difference means nothing, I just suck at birthdays and holidays...again, speaking of which - a confession: perfect brother's and lovely sister-in-law's birthday presents from last July are sitting on my desk as we speak....I really do suck. Oh but, not so perfect sister and not so perfect other brother, more then likely forgot too, so if I call today I will still be among the favored....(tongue in cheek here, my mother loves us all equally).

It's offical Being Dramatic is Genetic

I come from a dramatic family...well on my mother's side (my dad did have his moments, he tried, but those firm WASP tendencies took over for the most part)....now the latin side, well drama drama drama....I'm somewhere in the middle (thus my husband's coined term of waspina)...I enjoy a good story, can even tell a good story, but I don't normally have to create drama in my own life...my job is to be the audience for the dramas created by my family (ok, mostly my sister).

Now my youngest doesn't spend a lot of time with my family so it was quite the shock when he threw the scenes of all scenes last Saturday when we went snowmobiling. We had fun the first half hour but then he got cold. I'm not without sympathy and don't mean to sound callous, but OH MY GOSH...did he need to scream all the way back down the mountain the following:

"I'M SO COLD"
"OH MY GOD"
"MAMA MAMA MAMA" (at this point beating my back with his well gloved fists --- think hysterically crying starlett and buff star in some black and white movie from the Forties and me having to stop and ask him to hold on to the heated handles so that he wouldn't fall off the snowmobile).
"I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE"
"OH MY GOD, I'M GOING TO DIE"
"I'M SO COLD"

All the above, repeatedly, without stop, for the 30 minutes it took us to get back to the rental lodge. The people there gave us a blanket, we got Isaac down to his long underwear, wrapped him up in the blanket and put him in front of the fire, where he whimpered for the benefit of all.

I got those 'looks' from the few adults around....the ones between, 'bad mom, you aren't attending properly to your very forlorn child' to 'bad mom, you aren't beating the disturbing behavior out of your child' I shrugged my shoulders to both ends of the disapproving spectrum...because one thing I've learned...doesn't matter what you do, somone's going to think you suck as a parent.

He warmed up, Jake and Jason got another hour on the snowmobile and Isaac and I colored pictures and drank hot chocolate. In the end everyone was happy and now we know two things:

1. There is a drama gene.
2. We're going to wait a couple more years before reintroducing winter sports to the youngest.

oh and to those of you who haven't been reading this blog for long...a waspina is a cross between a WASP (white anglo saxon protestant) and a Latina...I think of it as balanced.

Wordless Wednesday

My dad, March 1939-Jan 1988

Every year I get into a funk at the beginning of the year. Then I realize -- oh yeah my dad died(many many years ago) around this time and even though it's years and years later, there's some part of me that remembers that pain and I feel sad and grumpy and can't seem to pinpoint why until a couple weeks into January when it hits me, it rises up to the surface, I have a good cry and return to my happy self.

my dad as a small child
Shortly before he died...

My dad was one of those people that most people liked and everyone respected. He was tall, articulate and uber smart...he was the kind of guy you'd want on your team during trivial pursuit, I mean he knew what color underwear Mary Queen of Scots wore to her execution (red). He wore hushpuppies, corduroy pants and plaid shirts most days. He was the typical college professor and enjoyed learning and teaching but in the same tradition he was not the most practical person....like, say, deciding to move to Greece for a semester my last year of highschool so he could write a paper on the expulsion of the Jews during WWII. He would pull us out of school on a whim to travel, or go to the museum for a new exhibit, anything he thought would enhance our learning experience. For an educator himself, he had little respect for the schedule of learning. He was an advisor at the Museum of Nature and Science so my sister and I spent tons of time there, we even got to go into some of the exhibits while they were being built and got to touch the woolly mammoths, stand next to replicas of historical figures and see what went into building an exhibit from the ground up. That was one great play area for a little kid.

As a young man

I'm lucky I met Jason in highschool and my dad was able to meet the man I eventually married. I am sad he never met my children, or my sister's children. He didn't get to walk me down the aisle at my wedding. He didn't get to see me graduate from college (the first time) or see what kind of a mother I've become or see that, like him, I enjoy learning and am returning to school later in life (although in a field he would not enjoy...he was a liberal arts guy through and through). I miss having his advice, he always put thought into a problem, he wasn't reactive (as I can sometimes be), he didn't take sides and never gossiped. He was a good guy.

This year I have lived half my life with out my dad and still I miss him.

this and that

Not to be outdone by Colleen and btw...who does she think she is? Superwoman? I have also made a list of my accomplishments:

I've logged in about 15 hours of HGTV

Probably just as many hours of looking up bathrooms on 'rate my space' ...come on, it's research, we are redoing our bathroom

I have 'opened' my nursing text book and have 'glanced' over a couple of the pages.

I've caught up on my favorite blogs, even commented on a couple.

I've rearranged the dirty dishes in the sink in order to 'soak' some more dirty dishes and I have opened the dishwasher in order to get out clean spoons because we seem to have run out of the ones in the drawer.

My Christmas decorations are half put away.....

So there you have it...a list of my very productive week...now go read Colleen's blog and then you can see what a real slacker I am.

I kinda feel like commenting on New Hampshire right now and how the people that live there seem to have a great bit of common sense....on both sides. But, I so don't want to get into a debate...does it really matter? 48 more states to go....I just hope they don't interrupt prime time programming again to say...2 more people just voted and the front runners are exactly the same...it's okay to wait until there's actually SOMETHING TO REPORT.

Then there's Dr. Phil and Brittany.....(rolling my eyes right now), who is the prima donna here? And then there's the spokeswoman for Jaime and Lynn (have no idea how their names are spelled and only just now realized that their names make up the name of the pregnant teen daughter...I don't normally follow this stuff, but hey it was on the news, it must be blog worthy---right?) anyway....spokeswoman, asks America to pray for the family, and yeah they do need prayers but frankly they need help of the earthly kind, preferably with a PhD or an MD behind the name of that help.... and yes they have been vilified by the media and the public because their children are acting like idiots! and it's great that daddy prays before work every day....but really should I excuse what a mess the family is because he prays? I'm all for faith and prayer, I rely on both myself...but there's also the whole take responsibility for your actions and how your kids turn out.....and as I write this, I'm saying a little prayer that my kids turn out okay because I'd hate to eat crow later...hahaha.

That was one long run on sentence...whatever

Oh my gosh, I'm having a bit of a snit....

OK, fun stuff, there was a great read in the most recent issue of Wondertime (a fun parenting mag) about moms that blog. You can check out the author's actual blog here.

And so you don't think I'm just about making snotty comments about celebs and politics....I have to relay, what I think is a cute story, about my youngest...

We passed a jeep with antlers on the front (fake, fuzzy ones for Christmas) and I pointed it out to the kids (mostly to distract them from their bickering---funny thing, I HATE the sound of bickering) and Isaac pipes up..."I know why they have those on there". Curious, I ask him why and he answered "So if the car goes off the cliff it could fly" I LOVE THE WAY THAT KID THINKS....and you should have seen his little face (through the review mirror, I was in the car), it was so earnest, so sincere....so I agreed with him.

OOOOH....look what we did the other day. The Dainko and Dobson kiddos came over and we made candles. It was a project we found in the Family Fun magazine. You melt some wax, throw in a crayon for color and crush some ice. You pour the wax over the crushed ice and when it melts it makes this lava rock thing...very neat and the kids enjoyed it. I didn't have my camera available so check out Colleeno's Blog for more pictures (thanks Colleen for being a good mom and bringing your camera! -- it's always good to have proof for the children that I did do fun things with them) -- and aside here, we bought a fixer upper and these rooms haven't been fixed up yet...thus the avocado green wall with the framed red silk glued to it --- don't ask, I have NO IDEA what the previous owners were thinking...

Oh and what a segue...my favorite new website--rate my space on HGTV.....I guess it's not my new favorite website, it's a new section of an old favorite. A friend turned me on to it and now I'm hooked.

Jason's been working on the bathroom, finally got the electrical all hooked up to the breaker box and it's not working...he says it's an easy fix....we'll see. This DIY project is a lot more involved then I thought it would be.

Other than that, not much new...2008 has so far been uneventful.

Happy New Year....

First off, since so many of my readers (two of maybe 4 or 5) didn't know what a butter braid was, I thought I'd link you to a description of their buttery goodness . They're really one of the better fund raiser deals out there.

Well it's the new year, what can I say about it so far? How about it's cold cold cold. We took the boys ice skating today, they had a blast. Isaac fell every two seconds and would hoot and holler with joy each time. I swear that kid did not stop laughing the entire time. Jake also had a great time. I find it humorous that the skating rink is sponsored by a nearby hospital....are they trying to drum up business?

Last night we went to a friend's house, chatted a bit and came home. We all fell asleep before midnight. In fact, Jason and I have been together about twenty-two years and maybe we've stayed up six times. But except for one year (I was in Greece the last part of my senior year in high school) we've been together on New Year's Eve (yeah, yeah, either ooh and aah or barf, it's great being high school sweet hearts!).

So, do I have any resolutions.....yeah...anything creative...no...
lose weight
get the house remodeled
get organized
be a better mom...

blah blah blah
I had ice cream, yelled at the kids and didn't do anything around the house today...so far not doing well on the resolutions...bad me

The kids are excited (and surprisingly so) about our family resolution -- no fast food for the year -- okay, Chipotle, Tokyo Joes are okay because they're relatively healthy and fresh...the main criteria is if it has a drive through (except for Starbucks, do you think I'm insane) then it's a no-go.

I have a ton of pictures to post....but can't seem to find my camera...and I can't find the cord in order to recharge the other camera so I couldn't take pictures of the kids ice skating today...see why "getting organized" is on my list!

But, just in case you think I'm a total slacker....I've been studying daily for my class that starts on the 11th. Rumor has it, that the teacher has a pop quiz the first day of class and I plan on being prepared!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!

Carpe nappum

Seize the Day? More like nap it away.....

Some one woke up way too early on Christmas morning and had one too many slices of butterbraids at the inlaws....a big thanks to my brother-in-law for forwarding...not sure Jason's gonna be too happy with Glenn....but oh well.

Teenagers with attitude should NOT be working at Wallmart

OMG.....
So I go to Wallmart tonight to get some sterno for our new Smores making machine and some olive oil, I'm making a tortilla (Spanish Omelet, not a Mexican flour tortilla). While I was there I picked up all sorts of, "oh I need those items, I didn't know I needed", a cast iron crepe pan, a folding cutting board (how cool is that, you cut your stuff, then fold it and pour the cut up stuff in the pan, or whatever), a DVD for walking with these arm bands....this was because I went to open my new Yoga DVD only to realize Overstock sent me Grandes heroes Y Leyendas de la Biblia, instead....and I do feel sorry for the Spanish speaking family who got a Yoga DVD instead of their bible lesson but I'm feeling more sorry for myself, thus the impulse buy at Wallmart. I was even able to pass on some sale info on some really nice TV's on to Martha (trying to pay it forward for the awesome Wii deal she found me a couple months ago)....So all in all I was feeling pretty good when I got to the check stand...oh, and I was second in line....I mean, really, how often does that happen at a Wallmart....The teenage boy (Joel) starts ringing me up (um...no hello by the way), I swipe my card and I paused for a minute before pushing the 'no cash' button and it asks for my card again...I say, "oh, look at that it needs my card again", I swipe it, he says "Yeah, it's time sensitive" As I'm swiping my card again. A message flashes that I'm supposed to tell the cashier that he needs to push debit, so I tell him. (And by his attitude, I'm thinking I really wasn't supposed to tell him....but how am I supposed to know that? The machine flashed, I complied). He says, "I do that at the end of the order" so I ask, "Oh, ok, will I need to swipe my card again?"

Him: Sigh...do you want me to ring you out right now?
Me: Ah...no, I just want to know If I can put my card away.
Him: It's time sensitive (referring to the machine)
Me: So, I may have to swipe it again?
Him: Do you want me to just total you up right now? (most of my purchases still on the conveyor belt)
Me: No?
Him: Ok, then.

apparently my question was answered? Did you see the answer above? Oh and his tone of voice was one you use with really stupid people with whom you are frustrated (I know because I've used that tone before) I kept my credit card out (got to hear him sigh when it took me the whole 10 seconds it takes to put it back in the wallet and the wallet back in my purse)....

This isn't the most egregious part....
He gets to my impulse buy....the DVD with the hand thingies that are supposed to increase the workout somehow. He opens the box and looks through it, takes the video out and really looks deeply into the box and then reads the box to see what's included.....it then dawned on me HE THOUGHT I WAS STEALING SOMETHING.....

I so wish I was the kind of person who could say something in a case like this. My mouth did gape a bit (just looking at me, open mouthed, probably justified his talking way down to me). I paid for my items and walked out....seething, because I really really wish I could have asked, why me....Was it the dark hair, olive skin that just shouted thief? The Crepe pan? The frozen chicken breasts? What the hell?

It's too bad I'm a wuss....but you know, I REFUSED to return my cart to the cart station in the parking lot....that'll show them!

Guys are so weird....

I'll get to why my title is what it is in a few seconds...but first, my ornament exchange party was a blast. Should you like to see pictures (and I wish mine was never taken) you can see them on Aimee's blog and most likely in a couple of days or so (she has had a sick one at home and isn't as Martha as she normally is) you can catch some more pictures on Martha's blog I didn't have my camera on hand and didn't take any pictures....thank goodness I have friends who take lots of pictures and who blog so I can safely be LAZY.

This morning, Jake wakes up and declares that he is 'done dressing cool' he explains that it's just so much work planning his outfits each day. He goes on to explain that I couldn't possibly understand the stress he's been under to make sure he looks so cool. It's just been too much for him so he's just gonna put on any ol' thing he has in his drawer without much thought at all because it's just so much easier that way.

Bwahahahahah, that kid cracks me up!

One of Jason's co-workers came back from China recently and told Jason this really funny story (thus my title)....
Apparently in the Shanghai Hooters (I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and hope they were at a Hooters for some American food???) the men's bathroom attendant massages the guy's back as he is using the urinal (I wonder if that's in the travel brochures?). Well this buddy of Jason's offered the guy double his tip to STOP (Jason, bless his soul, would have most likely stopped peeing and then would not have been able to pee again for a few days). Then his direct report came in and so he offered the attendant an extra 10$ to go up to the direct report and start on him. Direct report called Jason's buddy some name when he came back to the table.....

And yes this was funny--in that weird practical joke way that always gives me the giggles....but what I really find amusing is that women don't do things like this to each other. I swear guys play the most gay jokes on each other. Guys are just weird!

AHHHHHHHH

I have so much to do....so I'm blogging instead. First, I'm so over Hotmail right now...I can't seem to get the 150 junk mails deleted so I can sort through the real mail (mail I haven't gotten to in a few days) It takes me three tries to send out an email and sometimes people get three emails or sometimes they get none. But the pain it would be to transfer everything over to another provider fills me with dread!

Oh, done whining....so, I'm giving a party on Wednesday, it's an ornament exchange party and it's lots of fun....I'm trying to make it easier on myself and I bought premade appetizers from Sam's Club. I'm almost done with my baking but now I have to clean clean clean, but I don't even want to attempt it because it feels like once a room is done the kids gravitate to that very room and mess it all up again....it makes me want to crawl out of my skin!!!!! Under my breath, I remind myself it's their house too, blah blah blah, BUT GIVE ME A BREAK....PLEASE.
Oh, I guess I'm not done whining...

I bet, if I lived in this one house on the north side of B street my life would be perfect. This house has the third car garage, it's the end of a cul-de-sac in the MIDDLE of the subdivision, four bedrooms and a main floor study (with a bay window) and a porch the length of the house. How more perfect can you get then that? I drove Jason by last night and said, "if that house goes on sale honey, we're buying it" He said okay, but only because he doesn't think it's going to happen.....I know, I know moving to a house in the same neighborhood may sound funny, but it's a great neighborhood (and it's been done before, wink wink nudge nudge, MARTHA). Jason and I were joking that we should put speakers around the house that whispers ghost noises 'get out now'; 'sell to the Zimmers'; 'sell for $200.00' ....I don't know why that' s funny but we were giggling...

ok, ok, we don't live in a great house, just one with potential (although we don't have that third car garage and wouldn't be able to add that on). But it still needs to be cleaned...after I make the lemon bars and raspberry linzer bars...ok ok, I'll go now and work!

oh and if it passes the neighborhood taste test, I'll post the recipe for Velveeta peanut butter fudge....

Something Accomplished, Not on my list....

Grabbed that last garbage bag from a last minute sweep of the upstairs and ran down the driveway, in the snow, in my flip flops to be able to catch the sanitation engineers (or whatever) before they left and fell and then fell again trying to get up. Yeah, guys hope you liked the laugh...that could be your Christmas tip...

OK, I'm not really a scrooge, I'll give them their tip.

I've been trying new recipes for my neighbor's cookie exchange party and so far everything's been dismal. Chocolate cookies, blah, sesame cookies looked promising but I think I put too much flour in them and they turned out too cake-like. A couple years ago I made these cookies and although not Christmasy, way yummy, I'll share the recipe...

Amaretto Chunk Cookies
From Oct 2005 Good Housekeeping and tweaked by Tracey Zimmer

Adjusted for high altitude…. reduce flour by ¼ cup and oven temp. to 375° should you leave Colorado for some unfathomable reason.

· 5¼ cup of flour
· 2 tsp of baking soda
· 2 tsp baking powder
· 1 tsp salt
· 4 sticks of butter, softened
· 2 C of brown sugar
· 1 C of sugar
· 4 eggs
· 2 Tbsp of Amaretto liqueur (and heck a glass of that stuff for the cook)
· 4 tsp of almond extract
· 2 C of semi-sweet chocolate chips
· 2 C of milk-chocolate chocolate chips
· 2 C of sweetened flaked coconut
· 2 C of sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 380°.

Beat butter and sugars until creamy. Beat in eggs, amaretto and extract. Throw in the soda, powder and salt and mix. Add the flour slowly (you know because if you do it too fast you get flour all over the place) until it’s all well blended. Add chocolate, coconut and almonds….and take a spoonful and try it….raw cookie dough - what could be better?

Drop dough on cookie sheet, to get the actual amount of cookies that the recipe says this will make you have to do teeny-weeny spoonfuls….yeah right, so what if you have less cookies you’ll get bigger ones so take a heapin’ spoonful and plop those puppies down on an ungreased sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes…more like 12 if you do the heapin’ amount. Cool on pan for a couple minutes ----only because you’ll burn your tongue if you eat them too quickly…then if any left, put on a rack to completely cool.

Enjoy
Makes about 8 dozen cookies…hahahaha, who are they kidding? Maybe 5 dozen if you’re really chintzy


Right now I'm trying a Paula Dean Peanut Butter Fudge recipe that calls for Velveta...hmmm, I just had to try it --for that reason only, I mean if it's good, can you imagine the looks on people's faces when you tell them there's Velveta in there? And in Paula Dean fashion, there's a stick a buttah (or two) in the recipe too.

fa la la la

I'm feeling a bit better, still have a low grade fever and it hurts to swallow, this is one stinker of a bug...So for now I'll catch up on pictures....The day after thanksgiving we go to a tree farm and cut down our own tree....it's sort of in between heading to the mountains and buying it prewrapped. Next year we decided to brave the real forest but for now, this is good.

My intrepid tree hunters (and how did the youngest end up with the saw? that's an accident waiting to happen)
It was really really cold, 19 degrees F (see below picture for proof) so this was the first year we didn't march all over the place looking for the perfect tree. We just drove around a bit, and from the car, saw this one and thought, good enough!
This morning the boys decorated their gingerbread houses. They talked about how much fun it'll be to eat them after Christmas, but I started this tradition where Santa takes the very best ones on Christmas Eve to be houses for the elves. The boys were very excited about that, once they were reminded, but Jason was kind of upset about it. I whisper to him, "Hey, Christmas Eve at midnight when we're cleaning up from our Christmas Eve bash and putting presents under the tree you can go to town on them....honey".
No, that's not a hearing aid in Jason's ear, it's his phone that is permanently lodged there.

I've been sick...and it really really sucks. Yesterday I had a fever of a 103 and barely made it out of bed, today the fever's down but everything I do takes such effort. At least I took a shower and brushed my teeth, then took a nap. I ventured downstairs for breakfast at 11, had ginger ale and toast and a sucked on a throat thingy...then took a nap,

Anyhow,
I'll catch up on funner stuff later, but I just wanted people to feel sorry for me! I'm feeling very pitiful!

I'm gonna check my email and take another nap, maybe make it to the store for some soup.

Cool know thyself test
I'm a benevolent creator...doesn't that just sound yummy?

Why I'm becoming a nurse

I'm up ridiculously early to write a paper for my clinicals today. We had to write about our 'journey' in becoming a nurse....so I figured I would blog it:

Journey Paper

How does one write a paper about the emotional path in a decision to become a nurse and describing experiences relating to that decision thus far? It’s been such a roller-coaster, kaleidoscope, mind blowing, confusing, focused, humbling and confidence growing experience, almost impossible to put into words, even for me, who can talk and talk and talk. As with most stories, good or bad, I’ll start at the beginning.
My husband lost his job during the whole dot-commer crash. My perfect housewife, stay at home mom, a position I loved, also was jeopardized by what happened to my husband’s job. It was at that moment I realized I needed some kind of career to rely on. I had no skills, my bachelor’s was in English, with a History minor, I was qualified to make great small talk at company meetings or flip burgers at McDonalds, neither of which was going to help our family in a financial crunch. I needed to get something lucrative that still fit into my role of being a mommy and wife, the two positions that are most important to me. I also wanted to be a good example for my children. This is what went into making my decision to even think about moving out of my cushy life into something else I don’t want to say “move forward” here, implying that being a mother and housewife is not fulfilling or enough, I just wanted another dimension to my life. The two career paths I thought of were nursing and teaching. Nursing, frankly, was the more terrifying of the two (see bachelor choice above). Having had good nurses who were inspirational and bad nurses who made me realize, ‘wow, if she can do it, I can” and having seen some of the women in my life give birth, other people in my life dying or being sick, I realized how wonderful it would be to be a part of someone’s life in a caretaker role, however briefly, in some of the most intense, precious, scary moments of his or her life. I called around, looked at programs and started taking prerequisite courses at Arapahoe Community College. I took some courses here and there starting about five and half years ago and three and a half years ago I got on the wait list. Toward the end of the wait list I waffled and even started investigating a master’s program in teaching and then, I got the letter. It was kind of a “God” moment. Here I was waffling between two decisions that would fit my criteria, I figured the letter was a prayer answered. I had to finish my pre-requisites in two semesters, meaning I took A&P II and Pathophysiology in the summer. If I could make it through those classes, I knew I could make it through nursing school. I’m still experiencing Post-Traumatic Stress from that summer.
Orientation was fantastic. I know we were supposed to be terrified, but I found it exciting and exhilarating. I was there; I was actually starting nursing school. I was bubbling up with emotions and some fears, but fears of the unknown, fears of not being good enough, but nothing at orientation indicated I was in the wrong place. The main lesson from that day is the nursing program owned us for the next two years. It spurred me to have a long talk with the husband about how our lives were going to change, how he needed to take a more active role in the daily lives of our children. My husband is a fantastic guy, he didn’t even blink an eye; we were going to make this happen together, as a team.
The schoolwork has been challenging. At times, I have questioned my intellectual ability to do this work. Here is where I get terrified. What if I kill someone, or make someone worse? It’s a daunting thought, especially because I’m doing this to help make people well, or at least make their journey less painful. I’m not sure how to overcome this hurdle. Most likely, I just need more practice and more learning. In small doses it can be very motivating to keep on top of things, but for now, it’s something I need to address. I have found that I’m a wee bit more competitive than I assumed. Competing in this program is no easy matter, there are some very talented, smart people in these classes and to even be in their midst and considered an equal of some of these people is a blessing. I’m learning to be okay with not being the best at all things and just knowing I studied and did well enough.
The clincals have been a great experience. I’m learning how the hospital functions, caring for actual patients and getting over the hurdle of trying a procedure for the first time on a real person and realizing it’s not as terrifying and impossible as it sounds. This is another hurdle I need to pass in my own personality. I get so scared of trying something new; it can paralyze me from continuing on. I’m learning to just do it, because once I do, it makes me realize that I can. I remember thinking that giving an IM injection seems easy enough, but when I saw the skin and realized I was about to poke it with a needle, I froze. With some prompting from my fellow classmates I stuck the needle in, took it out, capped it and was done…then I breathed. I’m learning that I can talk to so many different types of people. The sick just want to be heard and have some control over their lives. On the flip side, there are times when they have no control or very little control and that can be terrifying to them. I’m learning how to talk to patients, not only to put them at ease but to also ‘encourage’ them to do things that are in their best interest but not something they may like (for instance an enema). I’m also learning, I can’t share some of the details of my day over the dinner table (again, for instance, the enema). I’m learning to be comfortable with body parts, smells, and bodily fluids. I’m still not sure about puss, but so far have been able to deal with everything else.
There has been nothing yet that has made me think I’ve made the wrong decision. This past Thanksgiving my husband’s cousin, a nurse in the ICU and I swapped stories, people would wander over and quickly leave during more of the graphic stories, we barely noticed. She gave me advice, she listened, and she told me about her job and her school experiences. I felt part of the ‘club’. My children rarely complain about day care, they ask about what I’ve learned; they’re curious and supportive (in an eight and five year old way). My husband is proud of me and supportive and has enjoyed taking on a more active role in parenting (still doesn’t cook or clean a lot, but there’s a learning curve there too). All in all, my journey so far has been great. I’m learning so much about myself, my family, my husband as well as nursing. I am so blessed to have finally found a career choice that is suited to me personally as well as to my role in my family.

My family, why I’m doing this.

Enchanted...

Enchanted was such a cute movie...but what was cuter...my youngest, Isaac, crawled into Jason's lap during a fabulous costume ball dance scene where the hero and heroine were looking longingly into each other's eyes and said..."Dad, is that how you feel about mom?"Jason answered yes and Isaac sighed and said, "That's nice".

We had a fun weekend of family, tree-cutting (pictures to follow another time), decorating for the holidays, movies, friends over for dinner....but now I have a paper due tomorrow and two full days of clinicals.....I'm not ready for reality to rear her ugly head....I was having a fun time in denial.

Such is life.

We have the best conversations in the car sometimes...

Jake: How old to I have to be to start dating? (out of the blue and way too scary to even think about)
me: about 35
Jason: after you're married

silence

Jason: oh, that didn't come out right.
me: ya, think?

Doing What's Right

I got an email forward about Sears and how they are helping out their military reservists in their employ by paying the difference in their salaries at Sears and their salaries while on active duty. The story was verified in Snopes (one of my favorite websites).

Bravo Sears. Thank you for doing the right thing. It's a warm-hearted story when you hear about a company that takes care of their own -- our own.

I am thankful

I'm thankful that I got to volunteer in Isaac's class yesterday. They had a round about what the kiddos are thankful for and there were lots of toys, food, the Mountains, etc, and Isaac pops up his hand and says "I'm thankful for my Mom and Dad"

Love that kid!

I am so thankful for both my fantastically beautiful, funny, rambunctious kiddos. They are my heart!

I am thankful for my great, loving, wonderful husband....he is the BEST (and cute too).

I am thankful that my sister in law and brother in law are cooking Thanksgiving dinner and I just have bring the sweet potatoes and beans.

I am thankful to live in a great neighborhood where I've met and become friends with the most amazing women and families.

I am thankful to live in a country with amazing freedoms and opportunities.

I am thankful!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

wii is out of the bag

At lunch today...

The kids are rambling on and on about what they want for Christmas and the Wii thing comes up over and over and over again. They are absolutely CERTAIN Santa will bring them one. Frankly, in their young lives, Santa has been great at fulfilling a couple of their big wishes (see last Christmas time postings of me paying double the price for a spy car on EBAY). Hubby tells the kids not to get too excited about a Wii since we really don't know if Santa will bring us one or not. The kiddos aren't listening (or so I thought...I'll get to this later).

So I say to Jason:

M: Oh, I think Mrs. Santa may have already gotten one.
J: Shouldn't Mrs. Santa have talked to Mr. Santa first?
M: One of Santa's elves (Ms. Martha) found an awesome deal and got it for Mrs. Santa (we don't want a wait 'til the last minute and pay double on EBAY repeat)
J: Mrs. Santa's kinda turnin' me on right now

and that's when Jake yells: "Dad, that is so gross"

I have no idea how much he heard or what he understood about the Wii, but he will probably need therapy regarding the last comment...

On the other side of the money spectrum...one year we had a very lean, lean year(paying two mortgages and a super large pay cut) and I read an article about getting the kids sugar cereal for Christmas...what a great cheap idea, especially because that's a serious treat in our household. Each get a box of lucky charms and coco puffs from Santa...they will even stop opening presents to get a bowl down before opening more. Sounds so hokey, but they LOVE it, and yay for me a total cheap present! About this time of the year when we walk down the cereal aisle, the kids will look at all the cereals and try and decide which one to put on their list....

I get the strangest looks from the other grocery store patrons.

I am so NOT ready for Christmas.

Pictures, halloween and other stuff

Death, Annikan Sky-Walker (OK, probably misspelled his name..not too worried about it, but if I offended at Star Wars fans out there, I'm sorry) Our very own 'watch' dog...you can't see it but it's a clock on her back...and my favorite...the Enron Exec (he has a tie on underneath and he carried a brief case which was filled with candy, how cute that our neighborhood families give candy to adults dressed up as well as the kids) I'm not pictured (big freakin surprise) but I wore my scrubs, a lab coat and a witch's hat...I was a WITCH DOCTOR...get it, get it...no one else did and I thought it was so obvious!

Hannah playing with the kiddos
Sleep over with cousin Bridget, They bring cushions from the living room, blankets from the bedrooms and fill the family room with them and make one big bed and watch movies all night.
And this is why I sometimes can't sleep when hubby is away. The boys will 'snuggle' and then we all end up falling asleep and somehow they both end up with their feet in MY ribs. They're too heavy now for me to get them into their own beds so I end up on the couch.

--------------------------------------------------------

Nothing to do with pictures: The other day I was in the car with the kiddos and that song by Colbie Caillat, "Bubbly" came on the radio and I told Jake to be quiet because I like the song, it reminds me of his dad....so he listens for awhile and says, "oh she says, 'child' and dad acts like a child--that must be why it reminds you of him"

hahahahaha, that kid makes me laugh

here are the lyrics in case you haven't heard the song....and frankly, how lucky am I that my hubby of 15.5 years (together for 22 years) can still make me feel this way:

V1: I've been awake for a while nowyou've got me feelin like a child nowcause every time i see your bubbly facei get the tinglies in a silly place

C: It starts in my toesmakes me crinkle my nosewhere ever it goes i always knowthat you make me smile please stay for a while nowjust take your time where ever you go

V2: The rain is fallin on my window panebut we are hidin in a safer placeunder the covers stayin dry and warmyou give me feelins that i adore

C: It starts in my toesmakes me crinkle my nosewhere ever it goesi always knowthat you make me smile please stay for a while nowjust take your time where ever you go

B: What am i gonna saywhen you make me feel this wayI just........mmmmmmmmmmm

C: It starts in my toesmakes me crinkle my nosewhere ever it goesi always knowthat you make me smile please stay for a while nowjust take your time where ever you go

V3: I’ve been asleep for a while nowYou tucked me in just like a child nowCause every time you hold me in your armsIm comfortable enough to feel your warmth

C: It starts in my soulAnd I lose all control When you kiss my noseThe feelin showsCause you make me smileBaby just take your timeHoldin me tightWhere ever, where ever, where ever you goWhere ever, where ever, where ever you go…

Oh And thanks Ms Marfa

Yup, a same day posting even...
I just want to say, I live in the greatest neighborhood with the greatest sister-wives. I put an email out there that if anyone saw a Wii for a great price to buy it for my Christmas Stash (hubby doesn't read my blog so this is safe to post...and bad hubby by the way!) and Ms. Marfa (ok, Martha, but son #2 calls her Marfa) found one and called and brought it right over! Which is wonderful because I was shopped out (didn't actually know that could happen) after spending three hours at Home Depot. Did I mention we're remodeling our bathroom? We're doing most of it ourselves...hahaha, Ourselves? more like hubby is doing it most of himself). Mostly, because we're too cheap (OK, not we're, but he's too cheap)to hire it all out and frankly, we want a nice bathroom without overpricing our neighborhood....I hate it when we're practical and he's right.

Stop me before I continue rambling....It wasn't supposed to be about my cheap, handy husband and our remodel but what a great sister-wife Ms. Marfa is and how I lucked out to move into a great neighborhood!

Blogging Again?

I guess I'm on a blogging binge... and I didn't even agree to this whole nablopomo challenge I'm seeing on other people's blogs. Maybe I should? Maybe not, because as soon as I think someone, even myself, is telling me what to do, I stop doing it. I'm quirky like that.

This is why insomnia can be expensive. I've stopped keeping my credit card at the bedside table because at two in the morning, the idea of freshly grown herbs, lettuce and tomatoes in the middle of winter is too much to overcome! I should also remove my phone from the bedroom...but not the TV, it keeps me company when the hubby travels (which is why it's on at 2am. I can't hear house-sounds when the TV is on--yeah yeah, I'm a 'fraidy cat).

So here's what really excited me last night (and I KNOW I need a life). I hid pureed cauliflower into tomato soup. I saw Jessica Seinfeld on Oprah the other day and have been making an effort to get more veggies in our diets (my kids are actually pretty good at veggie eating, but hey, it's not going to hurt to get an extra helping). Because, I don't like people telling me what to do and that, sometimes, involves following a recipe, I've been doing my own thing. So far, I've put sweet potatoes into sloppy joes, cauliflower into boxed mac and cheese, spinach into chicken burritos (oh and sweet potatoes into the sauce). I've been having way too much fun! My niece is now asking what 'secret' ingredient I'm putting into my dishes. My own children are not quite as impressed with my amazing culinary creativity.

Another bad mom moment, I was helping son number one with his spelling words (2nd grade) I misspelled one of his words and taught him the wrong spelling....oooops, another dollar in the therapy fund.

This week of only one NCLEX review test, one math class and no clinicals has made me realize, I miss being a housewife and mom --- not that I'm not enjoying nursing school --- I'm just torn between both worlds because I love them both.

Conversations with the Kiddos

son #2: I'm going to marry Abi and we're only going to have one or two kids (in response to son #1 saying he wanted a million kids).
me: Well, don't you think Abi might have something to say about that? (son #2 has a way of declaring his love and insistence of return love and I'm trying to avoid a stalking charge later in his future).
son #2: Mom, we love each other.
Hubby: You haven't even been on a date with her.
son #2: (eyes rolling) Dad, we've been on a million PLAY DATES.

ok then.

And then...in the same car ride....

Son #1: When you guys die we want to live with Colleen
Me: Why not Aunt Shaina and Uncle Glenn, or Ya Ya
Son #1: nah
Me: Ok, what about Uncle Jose and Aunt Gina?
Son #1: Oh, do they have a trampoline?
Me: No, they don't have kids yet.
Son #1: Then no, I want to live with Colleen, she has a trampoline.
Me: Glad you've put a lot of thought into this.
Son #1: heh heh

....
Yesterday I took a standardized test on fundamentals, a precursor to the NCLEX and I did horribly. That just sucked big time! I hate standardized tests! It was a good kick in the rear though. I think because I was doing pretty well in class I started slacking a bit...time to push forward and kick it up a notch! After we remodel our bathroom, that is....

Hubby is in DC (oh, sorry G&J, he's working like 12 hour days and so decided not to call to tell you he was in town....it's not because you don't have a trampoline) and I can't figure out how to hook the camera up to the computer...so will have to procrastinate posting Halloween pictures, yet again.

Who are you voting for?

I really don't care who you are voting for. I live here in the burbs, chances are I'm not voting the same as most people here and I still get along with my highly conservative neighbors and fellow church goers....we have spirited, eye-opening and respectful debates about issues. I'm even in a 'mixed' marriage. When asked, he says, "I'm a republican and my wife is just wrong". OK, he makes me laugh even when he's dissing me (is that how you spell it, I'm so bad at gangsta rap).

That aside, I thought this LINK , to take a quiz to find out which candidate is the best fit for you, might be interesting. It was an eye opener for me. I actually haven't heard of the candidate I should choose. Which basically means that chances are the way I WANT THE COUNTRY RUN isn't going to happen until we most likely get a mom and housewife in there...one who can balance the check book AND get the kids to get along (oh oops, tangent). While I was taking the quiz I actually got scared that I might see more eye to eye with my neighbors, fellow church goers and hubby. But true to my form, the majority of issues I saw eye to eye with where the more conservative donkeys and the less conservative elephants. Which leads me to re-solidify my position that we should just start a new party called "The Common Sense" party.

OK, my, very fence-sitting, middle of the road, don't want to make anyone mad, rant about politics is now over. Happy End of Day Light Saving everyone! An extra hour...woo hoo. What are you all doing with it? I'm apparently blogging. Did you know it's Saving, not savingS. I didn't. If you're looking for something to do check out this right/left brain test. I am so right brain and hubby soooo left brain, anyone surprised?

And by the way, I know I ended a few sentences in prepositions...but really who says, "For whom are you voting?"

flu shot anyone?

This is an email forward I got from my cousin in Naples, Fl. I thought it was pretty darn funny so added it here in case any of you needed a laugh.

I gave about 100 flu shots today. After my first initial, 'Holy Cow, I'm about to stick someone with a needle" I had a great time. Following is a conversation with one of the patients:

Patient: Great Job, I hardly felt it.
Me: (glowing....) I guess this is a good time to tell you I'm a student.
Patient: Yeah, and I guess this is a good time to tell you I'm a nurse.

hahahaha, I would have been so scared if she had mentioned she was a nurse before the shot! But a compliment from a nurse about a shot on your first day...not bad!

Did not have one unhappy person today, it was fantastic. Oh and even got a little strip show by a very over eager well built (I might add) guy. It's funny how some people hear rip off your clothes when you actually say, pull up your sleeve -- go figure.

6th Truths

OK, I've been tagged by Ms. Martha

Here's the plan for this type of tag: A. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves. B. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names (OK, I'm not going to do this because no one ever does my meme's...whine whine whine)

1. I'm competitive....I actually did not know this about myself until recently because I always thought it a bit negative. Here's the deal, I am so happy for those who do better then I do (especially if I like them). I just want to do well for myself and I want to be comparatively high on the whole grade thing in school....whatever, it's just who I am.

2. If I had to do it all over again, I'd be an interior designer and would so have tried out for Design Star

3. Even though I should have done the whole other career thing before and really, designing rooms and stuff is my first love, I am loving nursing school and I do believe I will be a good nurse.

4. I ADORE my husband and children. Even when I'm mad at my hubby I know he is the only man out there for me. I really do think my children are amazing even when or maybe particularly when they are messy, dirty, talking back and wrestling...they're just great!

5. I am addicted to television. Are there any 12 step programs for that? It's what keeps me from getting tevo.

6. I HATE CLEANING THE HOUSE. I want a maid. I will eventually get one, but my house is in between fixer-upper and demolition mode and it's hard to know what to even ask someone to clean.

OK....if you like this tag and plan on doing it, just let me know so I can read it!

and a note on real life...
finished fundamentals (most likely a B----booo hooo, see number one above), pharmacology an A (woo hoo---again, see number 1 above). And a thank you to Ms. Martha for putting things in perspective. I was able to get a B in a really hard class and still be a mom (soccer practice, some volunteering in the school, a couple of play dates), a wife and a friend.

Halloween shenanigans to follow in a couple hours? few days?