Day 156: January 30, 2010

Quote of the Day: "A goodbye isn't painful unless you're never going to say hello again." ~Author Unknown

I had a really great day today! I was able to finish a lot of my homework and am now almost completely caught up for a while, and will be able to do some serious studying.  And then I got a phone call from my sister-in-law to ask for my help with the family genealogy. My nephew was assigned a genealogy project for his class, and the really great thing is that she thought of ME first! And it made me feel so good to know that there is FINALLY something I can contribute to the family! I know, it's crazy to think that way, but that's the way it is. I really appreciate the fact that she thought of me. And I did have all the information, so I was more than willing to pass it along. EVERYONE should know their family history, right? I just wish that I had more to offer. Like the family stories, which seem to be lacking. But that's okay. I've been trying to make sure that future generations won't wonder what went on in OUR times.  Somewhat. But that's a whole other story, right?

I still have some groceries left to put away. I was going to do it this morning, but I got up and started working on homework, and before I knew it I looked at the clock and found out that it's nearly 10pm. I'll try to put some of it away, but I'm not sure how much I can handle doing tonight, because I am literally drained from staring at the computer screen and books all day long. UGH! I think I need a new pair of eyes. Or the fountain of youth. But at least I did get to talk to Ron on messenger tonight, finally. The internet has been down on his end for nearly a week now, and it has been horrible not having that extra time to share with him! I can't wait until he comes home!

I also did a little research today on alternative power sources, thinking that it would be really great if we can come up with a way to save money on our electric bills. There HAS to be a way to do it. We have a lot of wind here, so I was thinking it would be nice to make a homemade wind turbine to generate some power, but Burk won't let you put them up if you live in city limits. Or, not the ones big enough to generate enough power. So I started looking into perpetual magnetic motors, and am thinking that when Ron gets home we really should try to build one, even if it's just to create enough power to run the pool pump. That would save us around $100 or more a month, and you can build them easily from parts you can find in any salvage or junkyard and items from the local hardware store. From what I've been able to find they are relatively cheap to build. HOWEVER, I can't seem to find the plans for one online, or testimonials from people who use them, or even the amount of power they can potentially generate. So I'll have to keep researching, I guess. If I can ever find the time again with all the studying I'll have to do. It sure would be nice to get rid of the $600 and up electric bills!

Day 155: January 29, 2010

Quote of the Day: "Never to suffer would never to have been blessed."  Edgar Allan Poe (1809 - 1849)

My student loan money was finally, FINALLY in the bank today! So I did what I have needed to do since... well, since Ron left, really. I went grocery shopping. And not just grocery shopping, either, it was GROCERY. SHOPPING.  LOL I was running so low on everything that I had to stock back up again. What was the bill, you ask? Only a measly little $643. Now I know, it sounds really really bad. But according to my receipt, I bought 275 items. And when you multiply the price by the number of items, I only spent an average of $2.34 per item. Not bad at all, right? But we were nearly completely out of everything: canned foods, meats, frozen veggies... so I bought some of everything. And Ron will be coming home soon, and is dying to BBQ steaks almost as much as I am to EAT his BBQ steaks. And I figured, well... the meat's on sale right now, why the heck not? So I bought rib eyes, and New York strips, and some others as well. Oh, and of course the top sirloin was on sale, so I got some of that too. He'll be plenty happy when he comes home. Right?  I had to laugh, though. Cody was so impressed with the size of the receipt that he actually pilfered it and took it with him out to his friend Nathan's house, where we left for after carrying in all those groceries and leaving me standing with a ton of groceries to put away. SIGH. He even had to text his girlfriend and tell her that the receipt was as long as she is tall (she's shorter than me.) And I kid you not, I held the receipt up to the wall and then measured it... that thing is 4 foot 3 and a half inches long, so it's not too far off the mark!



I saw the strangest thing today. In my opinion it was strange, merely because I've never seen it before. It may happen, but I've never seen it.  I was driving down the road, and right there on the side of the road was a flock about thirty cardinals!!! They were soooo pretty with the light dusting of snow in the grass! I've never seen more than two of them together at one time, so it really took me by surprise. But I was really, really wishing that I had my camera at that very moment, would have been one heck of a picture.

Day 154: January 28, 2010

Quote of the Day: "You are a part of me… a part that I could never live without. And I hope that I never have to." – author unknown

Okay, so I missed the midnight deadline... again! I was busily working along on my school stuff and did not realize how late it is. I'd better be careful or I'll get my night-owl syndrome back, and right at the beginning of a semester is NOT the time for that!

I realized today just how long it's going to take for this semester's homework. For just one class, one day's homework, I took four straight hours. And we have three classes with homework! Gimme a break, people! WHY do this to nursing students when they have so much riding on one single semester???  I almost can't wait to be done just to be done with homework.  Am I going to go to school for my bachelor's degree right out of ADN school? Um, no. I think I'll take at least a year or so off to get a feel for my new job and to actually ENJOY LIFE for a little while before I start up again with the whole school mess. Or better yet, maybe I'll just be a happy little Associate Degree nurse the rest of my life!  Who needs all that money anyways?  With a higher degree comes a higher degree of accountability and of potential lawsuits. I'm not sure I'll be any better off with more education. Have to think about that one.

We had a good amount of rain today, and some ice.  They say they're expecting more overnight, and the schools are on a 2hr late start schedule as of right now.  Me, personally, I think everyone is totally paranoid after the blizzard and they are overreacting to every little storm that comes through. I KNOW it won't get bad overnight, things are going to be fine, and there are going to be a lot of really embarassed people tomorrow when they realize that they changed all the schools in the area to a late start for no reason. Okay, well maybe I don't KNOW, but I sure do suspect it.  I just don't have that "worse weather is coming" feeling. Oh, well... I'm sick of cold anyways.  I wasn't, but that week without heat really did me in.  BRING ON SPRING!!!! (Not to mention my very own selfish reason to look forward to spring... that's when my love of my life is going to be coming home!)

Sadly, I did nothing but school work all day, so I don't have very much to say other than to gripe about how excessive that was.  But to be honest with you my eyes are really red and itchy from staring at the computer and the books all day, and I really just don't have it in me to complain very much tonight. So I'm going to bed, and I'm sure that for tomorrow night's blog I can come up with something halfway intelligent... I'm going to try and get to blogging earlier before I'm totally worn out!

Day 153: January 27, 2010

Quote of the Day: "A simple enough pleasure, surely, to have breakfast alone with one’s husband, but how seldom married people in the midst of life achieve it." –Anne Morrow Lindbergh

I am soooo unbelievably tired right now! I started out my day with a bang... went out to get into my car to drive to class, only to turn the key and hear "clickclickclickclickclick" instead of my engine starting. As it turns out, the truck battery dying wasn't enough, so my car decided that its battery wanted some attention as well.  So for the first and ONLY time in the entire time my husband has been gone I was thankful that he was not home to have driven his truck to work, or I would have been up a creek. I had to literally run over and get into his truck and drive IT to class. I barely made it in there with like a minute or two to spare, thankfully.  It was a very interesting lecture, a topic that I am always interested in... pregnancy and childbirth! I think that this part may come easy to me, because during both of my pregnancies I read every single thing in sight about what was going on with my body and the baby, and most of what she lectured on sounded familiar to me.  My hope is that some of that information from soooo long ago stuck in my long-term memory and I will have an easier time. No guarantees, but I am sorely tempted to go buy that book that I used to live by. You know. "What To Expect When You're Expecting." That book was my bible during both pregnancies, and it really did lay everything out for you perfect, in a timeline fashion. I think that I must have spent hours each day reading it.

After class we had to drive out to Vernon to get our photos taken for our graduating class portraits. Mine turned out really crappy, but that's okay. At this point, I am just happy to have survived this far! And who cares if that crappy picture is going to grace the Vernon College wall in the nursing department hallway for years to come.... not me. I don't really care who sees it, because for right now there are so many more important things to worry about. Like the fact that I may have to buy TWO new batteries now instead of one. And the fact that I really need to get started on my homework but am so tired that my eyes want to take three times as long to blink than they normally do.

Cody ripped his shorts during church tonight, playing football. He did a great job of it, too... from waistband almost to the knee! HAHAHA Thankfully a friend of his had been thinking that the weather was going to turn cool tonight and had brought a pair of jeans with him. Gotta love that kid! LOL Wish mine would plan that far ahead. So now we are one pair of shorts, um... short. And have a heck of a story to tell his children when he has them.  Everything else is pretty much at a standstill right now, because when I get up tomorrow I have some serious work to do on my school stuff. And I'm going to be starting my monster study sessions again, too, so I'll have even less time. Sigh. Only four more months of this, right? Easy as pie.  Well, for me, anyways, because I always learn better when I have something interesting to learn.

Day 152: January 26, 2010

Quote of the Day: "Is it fair that you occupy so many of my thoughts- and so much of my heart?" -Gayle Lapekas

YAY, it's been 152 days now since I've seen my favorite person in the whole world.  Not quite half a year, but man, it sure feels like a lot longer than it has been. I can't wait to get him home and have our lives get back to normal again. I miss so many of the goofy things, and so many of the better ones. I really miss having someone to talk to and share things with. I miss arguing over whose turn it is to order pizzas becase "I ordered the last time, it's your turn." I miss laying in bed getting irritated because he HAS to have the water running to shave, and HAS to bang his razor on the side of the sink when he's shaving, right about the time I get used to the running water and am almost back to sleep again. I miss getting frustrated when he's in a bad mood and being grouchy. I miss so many things! Not all of them the bad things, though. I miss being able to jump up when I hear his truck enter the driveway and meet him at the door, I miss being able to reach out and hug him. Aw, hell, I just miss him. I can't sit here all night and list every little single thing or we'd be here for days. Probably until he lands in Dallas!

I worked on the backsplash today, and I think that it's really looking good, finally. I definitely know what color I DON'T want when we get around to redoing the backsplash, though... anything that looks white or cream, or even yellowish. Because that's what it is now... and I hate it. I need COLOR in my life,  people! Lots and lots of color! The plain and boring does nothing but make me feel depressed, and I'm SO TIRED of feeling depressed. It's great to walk into the family room or my bedroom, because they're both just so colorful. Well, the bedroom is kind of a dark and dreary mix of turqouise and chocolate, but that's okay, they're not sad colors, just relaxing ones. But I tell you, the room that I can't stand now is the one room that I am working on... and I sure hope that we have the money to get the floors, windows, and doors done soon so that I can move on to redoing the stupid kitchen. UGH! Well, let me rephrase that... the backsplash and counters. The floor that I hate will be gone when we do the rest of the floors, so those are the only things I'll have left that I'm not happy with.

Damien had his friend Drew over today, and they sat in the living room for awhile and played Monopoly, so I took what was probably one of my last few opportunities while he's still living with us to take some pictures. It's going to be strange not having him living at home, but that's if he can ever find a job. We'll see how long that takes... in this economy it could be a LONG time!

Other than that, Cody is spending a lot of his time with his girlfriend, Mika has a little bit of a kitty cold and is walking around sneezing all the time, Tiger is feeling much better and has been playing with his kitty toys and leaving them all over the house, Tiny is also not feeling well and has relegated himself into the dogbed in my bathroom floor and has been hiding there the last two days, and Chloe and Mocha are being their normal, happy-go-lucky little doggy selves. Life's just one big picnic! Did I mention that I am now taking donations for the "Save Carmen from Boredom" foundation? hehehe

Day 151: January 25th, 2010

Quote of the Day: "Few delights can equal the mere presence of someone we utterly trust." - George MacDonald

I had my orientation for the mother/baby portion of my clinicals today. I will be assisting with  births during this rotation. That's not the scary part. The scary part is that we are to give the newborns their Vitamin K shots.... and those shots have the potential of being fatal, as we have had pounded into our heads since day one! Still, I am really excited about it. Having never seen the "miracle of birth" from the end that doesn't involve pain, maybe I will be able to appreciate it more this time around? You would think, anyways. They went over all the things that we are expected to do, and it is a LOT. We have to assess the mother and the newborn, so anyone working on an L&D unit automatically has two patients per room. Wow... who would have guessed. And they will be soooo different, with different norms and everything. There isn't a lot of homework for this rotation, thankfully, but the homework we do have seems to be really different from any we have had so far. Still, I'm thankful that whether I pass or fail, at least I am getting there. Graduation is within 4 months, and if I can pass the HESI test (which is the Vernon College exit test) then I'm home free until the NCLEX exams. Which terrify me!

I put the red onto the backsplash tonight after class so that it would dry before tomorrow. I want to do the almond when I get up in the morning so that I can get the epoxy onto the dang countertops before anything else happens to them.  I really have to, because not having the kitchen sink is amazingly crippling in the kitchen. I can deal with the rest of the counters being out of commission, because the stove and microwave are still usable, but the sink is desperately needed to do dishes. AS IN DESPERATELY!!!!!!

I can't wait to see what it will look like once I've got the almond paint on there... hopefully it'll look a lot less like I've been slaughtering chickens in the house. I'll put more pictures on here tomorrow once it's on there, and it'll be time to decide whether it's good enough, or whether to go to Lowe's and buy some wallpaper to put up on there. Right now, it's hard to tell what it's going to look like.

Day 150: January 24, 2010

Quote of the Day:

"What shall I do with all the days and hours

That must be counted ere I see thy face?

How shall I charm the interval that lowers

Between this time and that sweet time of grace?

~Frances Anne Kemble

Well, if I had a penny for every day that Ron has been gone, I'd have enough to get a few cups of coffee. Or maybe a soda, with tax.  But if I had a hundred dollar bill, then.... man, the options would defninitely increase! LOL

I started on the backsplash today that I've been planning to do for a year. And bought the paint for a year ago. But now, I'm not such a happy camper.  First of all, I wore latex gloves from Lowe's to paint with because it's oil-based paint, and you have to have hand contact with it if you want to sponge paint. I taped everything up all great, and had everything protected. Even my hands!  But guess what I learned the hard way?  Cheap latex gloves from Lowe's rip REAL easy, evidently. Without you knowing they have done it.  So now, three of the fingers and the thumb on my right hand look like I've dipped my hand into the paint can, the fingers on my left hand are just a little better,  and there are various other spots on my hands that have little spots of oil-based paint on them. And tomorrow is a clinical day!!!! Thankfully, it's not one where I will have to do patient care, so I therefore won't have to worry so much about it. Unless it doesn't come off by Thursday, then I'm up a creek without a paddle.  So once I discovered the glove problem I started wearing four pairs at once, and it worked much better.  But now.... I just don't like the way the paint actually looks on the tile.  It gets good coverage and all, but it was really difficult to do because the paint just wants to run and run, and the sponge starts drying out after a while and it doesn't do as good a job.  Sigh.  Not sure what to do with it, because I don't like the way the paint looks, but I can't take it off because it's oil-based. GRR! At least it was just a temporary fix until we have the money to redo the kitchen. And it's only the first of three colors, so maybe it will start looking better once I start messing with the other layers a little.  Here's hoping, anyways. But in the meantime, here are some in-the-process photos for you to look at. See if you can see what I mean about how bumpy it looks!

I also decided today that it was time to trim the dogs' toenails, which was a fiasco in and of itself.  Chloe wasn't so bad, because I'm used to doing hers and she's used to me doing them.  Scaredy-cat little Mocha, however, was a totally different story.  She just did not want me having anything to do with holding her little paws!  She let me trim her nails, but it was definitely a fight to keep her from yanking her paws out of my hand. And of course, she did her typical little constant whine that drives me crazy. I'd have thought that she'd have gotten over that little personality quirk by now, but she hasn't. Oh, and let me tell you ... that damn dog sheds more than any cat I have ever seen! I'd have thought that a short-haired dog wouldn't shed so much, but she is the exception to the rule. If you pick her up when you're wearing black it's all over... you'd better have a lint roller in your back pocket.

Tomorrow I have orientation for my mother/baby clinicals, which I was looking forward to until I learned that we are supposed to take our clinical calculations books with us, which means we'll be working on drug problems. UGH! I really hate math! I understand that we're going to have it on the state board exams, and that we will have to practice them all the time in order to remember how to do them properly, but that does NOT mean that I have to like it! LOL 

Day 149: January 23, 2010

Quote of the Day: "Everyone faces challenges and problems. Success lies in dealing with them promptly and thoroughly."

Well, I guess I didn't make the cutoff to have my post actually show up on here on the 23rd, but that's because I lost all track of time, as usual.  I got up this morning full of the intentions to clean my kitchen up. And I grabbed a really heavy-duty cleaner/degreaser and cleaned my countertop and tile backsplash, scrubbing the grout with a brush. Then I decided, what the heck. I'm really tired of these ugly countertops, but we aren't going to be replacing them any time soon, so I'm going to do something about it.  And I started painting. And painting. Until finally, eight layers of paint later, I have one completed countertop waiting for approval from the Big Man before I add a coat of the epoxy sealer.  Until that's on there I can still scrape off all the paint and take it back to what it was, just in case Ron doesn't like it.  But I really do, so I hope he does! It's definitely a LOT better than the outdated countertops that came with the house.

BEFORE

AFTER

Had a great talk with Ron today, too. We talked a bit about some of the things that we want to do to the house, some of the things we HAVE to do to the house, and just some things we want to do. It is always great to hear from him, but I sure can't wait until it's in person. That way, I can playfully smack his arm when he's being goofy, or I can just smile at him when he's being cute.  MAN, I miss that. But we're getting real close to the end, so at least it'll all be over with soon.

Day 148: January 22, 2010

 Quote of the Day: "A husband should tell his wife everything that he is sure she will find out, and before anyone else does." – Thomas Robert Dewar

HAHAHA Cody picked out today's Quote... he was sitting next to me in my office when I opened up my file with all my quotes in it, and I told him "Pick a number", and this is the quote labeled with the number he chose.  He got a great laugh out of it, though I'm sure he won't feel quite so happy about it when HE is older and married and has to tell his wife something he'd rather not.  Ron, you'd better have a chat with that boy! Just tell him to ALWAYS tell the truth, immediately, and quickly. You know... like you've been struggling with for YEARS! hehehe  You know... all the times you'll be talking about something, and my elephant brain gets triggered and I say "But ten years ago you said ______, not _______, so which one is it REALLY?" HEHEHE

Today has been a super busy day. I really deep cleaned the formal living room, the family room, and the dining room, and was working on the kitchen a little but am going to finish it up and the rest of the house tomorrow. I'm too tired to do much of anything else today. Oh yeah.... went and swept up the leaves in the breezeway to try to keep them out of the pool, swept up the leaves on the back patio to try and keep them out of the house, and cleaned the pool.  We had a dust storm the other night right before that thunderstorm hit, so the pool was almost completely a uniform brown color.  I've had the pool vac running all day long and it STILL has some spots in it that just haven't come clean yet. And the jacuzzi... I'm still waiting for it to get a little cleaner. I've gone out there like thirty times today to sweep off all the steps and inside the jacuzzi, but it doesn't seem to be helping. I've even backwashed the filter.

I think tomorrow morning I'll backwash it again, then just vacuum the jacuzzi and the steps by hand. I'll tell you, it is a royal pain to vacuum the jacuzzi because the stupid hose keeps either coming out of the wall or dragging the vacuum up and out of the jacuzzi. We really need to buy one of those vacuums that are self-contained, I saw it at the pool supply and it looks really, really nice. Just the thought of cleaning the jacuzzi without fighting that stupid heavy hose would be a godsend, especially when I am seriously considering draining the stupid thing and getting rid of it because of how much of a pain in the ass it is.  What good is a non-heated jacuzzi, anyways? AND the bubbles turn off after 15 minutes???? What a waste.

I am really looking forward to having the whole house clean, finally. It'll be really nice, I think. Who knows, maybe it'll stay that way for more than a day.   : )

Day 147: January 20, 2010

Quote of the Day: "It is loneliness that makes the loudest noise. This is true of men as of dogs." ~Eric Hoffer

Wow! I actually finally got all the inside Christmas stuff taken down, AND it's all put away where it belongs, too! Well.... almost. There is ONE bin that Cody and I just could not lift into the attic by ourselves, it was just too big, bulky, and heavy. So we'll get that one up there the next time Damien shows up here.  It's just hanging out in the garage right now, so it isn't in the way or anything. I figure it's as good a place for it as anywhere, right?

Had a great drive to Vernon this morning. The girls and I talked and joked a lot about this and that, and tried to avoid a lot of the more serious topics because we were all still half asleep.  When we got to Vernon we were a half hour early, so we decided to go to WalMart for a bit. It was kind of funny, because this older guy in a work truck was broken down in the entrance, and we offered to help, then as we pulled away we realized how absurd that was: a carful of four women offering to help. Just what were we going to be able to do, anyways?

Orientation was pretty good. I can't even begin to describe how excited I am about htis rotation! How fascinating the human mind is, and at the same time how fragile.  They did a very good job of explaining to the group how dangerous your time there can get. I noticed several people's looks of complete astonishment when it was mentioned to avoid hoodies with strings that can be used to strangle you. Not a lot of people think like that, so it was an eye opener. And, the things they can use to make weapons! There is definitely not a lack of creativity in the bunch.

I'm a little worried that because of my background I don't have enough fear like I should have. Why is it that it seems like everyone else is scared of this rotation and I'm excited about it? I'm not a brave person by any means, so is it that I'm stupid? Will I end up making some bonehead mistake due to my lack of fear? Or maybe that's the wrong choice of word, maybe instead of a lack of fear (because I'm always afraid of something), maybe I lack a healthy respect for it.  I just wish the rest of my group was as excited as I am  so that I wouldn't have to feel so isolated by my excitement. Or maybe I'm just a little crazy myself? After all... I AM going to nursing school!   : )

Day 146: January 20, 2010

Quote of the Day:  "I have learned to seek my happiness by limiting my desires, rather than attempting to satisfy them."  -John Stuart Mills

Well, day one is done of classes, but I found out today that we have to be back in Vernon tomorrow morning at the State Hospital for our orientation, so it'll be another early-to-rise morning, only earlier than this morning was. The good news is, however, that because of the "nature of our clinical requirements" at the state hospital  we will not have to wear our uniforms. We ARE however, on strict requirements as far as what we can wear, so that we don't trigger an outburst or a breakdown in one of the patients. And we have to wear solid shoes that we can run in if we need to. We have a mile long list, it seems, on how to avoid making the mentally unstable patient even more unstable, and tomorrow's lecture is going to include a long sermon on ways to avoid the aggressive and violent outbursts the patients can and do exhibit. Thankfully, they said that very few of the students have ever been physically attacked on this rotation. I personally am looking forward to it, because the mind is a pretty interesting topic. And let's face it.... you can learn a lot by talking to someone with a mental illness.

I haven't gotten that "I finally feel comfortable in knowing what I'm doing and what is expected of me" feeling yet. I would have thought that after today I would be a little bit more in control, but instead I think I'm just more anxious. And, of course, not having known that I have to go be in Vernon so early tomorrow morning, I told Ron that I would be able to be online to talk to him. And now I'll have to cut that talk short so that I can get even a little bit of sleep. Sigh. This semester is really going to be interesting, to say the least. Did you know that we are required to attend either an AA or NA meeting and write up a report on what we see, hear, and how they are organized? Yikes! But the good news is, most of these meetings have smoking at them! LOL

I'm also excited about the mother/baby class and clinicals, to a point. The teacher for that class is really cool. She went over the lecture with us today, and then we watched an episode of House dealing with sick babies. I thoroughly enjoy ANY class that lets you watch something as cool as THAT! LOL And she's the perfect teacher for the class, since if I remember right she has like six children herself. I wish they would have had this semester FIRST in the program, instead of last... although, it may have made it completely unbearable to have our last semester be as boring as some of them were.

I'd better get off here now, though, we're having one HECK of a thunderstorm right now, and the lightning and hail are pretty intense. I'd hate to lose my computer just because I'm being all long-winded. : )

Day 145: January 19, 2010

Quote of the Day: "Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall." -Confucius

Never, ever attempt to make split pea soup in  a crock pot! I had it cooking all day long, and the peas would never get to a good consistency... some of them are mushy, and some of them are still chewy. UGH!!!! At least they taste alright, that means that I figured out the right ingredients to use. NOW I just need to make it on the stove next time.

Today was spent mostly doing laundry and trying to get things in order to go back to school tomorrow. I don't feel like I did a very good job of it, though. I've been so tired all day that it feels like it's hard to keep my eyes open. I don't think I slept very well last night. And it's been really cloudy out, too, so that helps to make me tired as well.  They say we might have thunderstorms tomorrow, but we'll see if that happens or not... it's been sprinkling all afternoon. I guess there's a possibility, but it doesn't really feel like it. Then again, the highs have been in the 60s the last couple of days, which has been a welcome break from the freezing cold.

Incidentally, this happened when I was washing dishes this morning.... I just looked down and there it was. I figured it'd be a good thing to put on here in honor of the upcoming holiday!  Here's to thinking of you, Ron!!!

Day 144: January 18, 2010

Quote of the Day: "If only we'd stop trying to be happy we'd have a pretty good time." -Edith Wharton

Getting a late start to the blog tonight, I had no idea how late it was! I've been pretty busy today, actually, which felt good for once. All the Christmas lights are down outside now and ready to be put up into the attic. I would have done the inside decorations as well, but I got sidetracked by a sudden urge to put a whole lot of recipes onto 4x6 colored papers to put together my very own cookbook. So I spent most of the time doing that. 

During the day, I put the battery charger on Ron's truck to charge the battery, then drove to Auto Zone down in Wichita Falls by the base and had them test the battery. Twice. End result? The guy said that the battery tested out fine, and it doesn't need replaced. He said that the cold can drain a battery really quick, but that they usually come back from it. Not sure, though. I'll wait until tomorrow morning when I go out to start it to make up my mind on whether he's right or not.

I did put gas in the truck while I was on base, though, and boy was it a shocker to remember how MUCH gas that thing takes! It was close to eighty bucks! Ron, you REALLY need to go get a car to drive to and from work, no buts about it! Something that you can fill up for under $25 would be super nice. And I think I'm changing my mind on wanting an SUV now, although that one is more for being able to drive to the hospital to work when there's icy roads and snow. But if my car can get me there, then there really isn't a need. And I do know now that driving my car on ice, to Wichita Falls, only takes an hour and a half going 5 to 10 mph... so at least if a storm does hit once I am a nurse, as long as they don't close the roads again I'll just have to leave an hour and a half early.  This past Christmas when we had the blizzard they closed the roads, and a lot of the nurses got stuck at the hospital for three days, sleeping there and everything.  Hopefully they had a change of clothes or two in their lockers... I know I will!

Tomorrow is my last day before the first day of semester, and I am VERY anxious to just get it over with and be done. I can't seem to shake the feeling that I will feel so much more prepared once I am OUT of school and don't have that "studying" thing hanging over my head. I've learned in clinicals that it doesn't matter how "smart" you are, you're still going to have to ask other nurses' opinions. I've seen well-seasoned nurses doing just that. The trick is to find the ones you can trust to know the answer you need, and that can take some serious time.  Everything I have heard and read says that it takes at least six months to a year before you really get the hang of being a nurse, so at least I know that going into it.  The biggest phrase at the hospital that nearly every nurse has told me is "Once you get out of nursing school and get a job, you're going to swear that they taught you NOTHING in nursing school!" And they're all so happy when they say it, too... like they're trying to make sure that we don't come out thinking we know it all. I've seen a few of THOSE nurses on the floor, too, and they drive everyone crazy. I'm going to do my absolute best, and then some, not to be THAT nurse.

Day 143: January 17, 2010

Quote of the Day: "I was just thinking, if it is really religion with these nudist colonies, they sure must turn atheists in the wintertime." ~Will Rogers

HAHAHA Okay, I couldn't help it... that quote has absolutely nothing to do with anything, except maybe that it's winter right now and cold as heck outside. I just thought it was totally hilarious! Gotta love that Will Rogers, that man had one helluva head on his shoulders!!! Just to even imagine him thinking about nudist colonies alone, well... heheheheheehheheheehe.

Today's been a good day so far. I got up and weighed in at my lowest to-date so far, which means that I only have to lose around 3 pounds by March. I think I can manage that. HOWEVER, since I'll be eating pizza for lunch today, my weight will be up about a pound or two in the morning, from the water rentention that the high sodium level in pizza causes. Sigh. Oh well... I know it ahead of time, am prepared for it, and could really care less... it's PIZZA, after all... one of the four food groups! You can't avoid pizza just because of its high salt content! How many OTHER foods would you have to avoid if you thought that way??? Pretty much anything Italian, or Greek, or Mexican, or fast food... Hmm. Sounds like you're left with salad. And having to eat nothing but salad the rest of your life? No, thank you.... I'll munch on my pizza and happily accept the temporary weight gain! Without too much complaint, too!

I have got the dishes soaking right now in the sink so that I can "pre-scrub" them and put them in the dishwasher, since I've found that no matter WHAT an appliance company's claim is, you can buy a four thousand dollar dishwasher and it STILL won't remove all the food from the dishes. I just don't trust them. So I scrub them ahead of time, and it works for me.  Obsessive, yes, but I won't get an infection from eating off my dishes. I guess my mama raised me right! LOL Although, come to think of it.... SHE said that because they got so hot inside and then the water just sits on the dishes until you put them away, that dishwashers grow a LOT of bacteria on your dishes and are unhealthy. Hmm. Still... there's something about being able to leave them in there until you're READY to put them away, out of sight and out of mind.  Wonder what those rich people do that spend the money on those cabinets where your dish storage actually doubles as a dishwasher? THEIR dishes go into the cabinet dirty, and come out clean. THAT seems a little much for me, considering that if it were in MY house, I just know that someone would put away their dirty dish and forget to run it, so the next person would pull out a plate full of dried on, caked on food that's been in there who knows how long. GROSS! I think I'll stick to conventional cabinets, thank you very much!

Sometime today I have to take out the trash, vacuum the office, sweep and mop the kitchen floor, bleach the countertops, and re-organize the tupperware cabinet... Damien's been just putting them in there any old way, as usual. Also, I'm going to have to plan to have a marathon cooking spree tomorrow or Tuesday, since school starts up again on Wednesday and the kids have nearly flown through all the chowder and lasagna I made. Sigh.  I guess it'll never end. But I have to come up with some new ideas for freezer meals, so I'm going to do some Sheppard Pie, maybe some chili and cornbread, and I have no idea what else. A roast or a stew would be good. I really wish I had the money to buy those sectioned tupperware things, I'd make a full meal for everyone so that they could just pull out a plate, microwave it, and eat. Easy peasy, and not a lot of mess! But, alas.... those are expensive, and I'm not sure if they turn brittle in the freezer. So..... I have to stick with what I know works. Got any ideas for things to cook, PLEASE email them to me! Or call me... or whatever you can do! LOL


Okay, I have gone to Wichita Falls and have returned. All in all it was a really fun day. I decided that since we were doing lunch at Cici's Pizza I would resign myself to the fact that my weight will be up tomorrow, and have as much as I wanted.  Even though that only turned out to be a salad, 4 pieces of pizza, a brownie, and an apple crisp pizza slice, I still was satisfied with it. Usually I can eat twice that without blinking an eye.  Afterward we went on the "great journal search", which took us first to Office Depot, where we walked in and were shocked to find that they did not have anything we could use, or that we liked.  And their prices on the Post-It flags were outrageous! So onward we went to Books-A-Million, where there were so many journals to choose from that we had a hard time deciding which one would best suit our class assignment. It had to be the right size, and acceptable for a teacher to look at, so it was a rough decision. Eventually, however, we finally picked one and went to the counter, where I proceeded to completely and totally embarass myself by accidentally saying "Harry Potty" instead of "Harry Potter" to Laurie and the cashier. I MUST have turned at least ten shades of red.... it was mortifying and funny at the same time.... by the time I left the store I could barely walk I was laughing so hard, and I had tears pouring out of my eyes.  Been a long time since THAT has happened... I thought I was going to pee my pants I was laughing so hard!  And the biggest reason that I WAS laughing so hard??? The whole way I had this mental image going on in my head of this big, giant, hairy toilet! LMAO And people say it couldn't possibly be fun to be me! LOL

After I was able to breathe again and not laugh my ass off we were off to the Goodwill store, where I found a BUNCH of really cute things on sale. If I keep it up I may not HAVE to go spend boo-coo bucks on brand new clothes. There are some really great things to be had at Goodwill.  AND, I was also able to score a couple of bags of fabric scraps.... maybe a new crazy quilt in my future! THAT would be great, wouldn't it??? Not sure what I'll do with the computers, and the printer, because the only place I'll be able to sew when Ron is home is in my office.  Doing it in the living room won't quite work when I set up right in front of his normal spot on the couch.   At least it will contain the mess, though!

Tonight is going to be all about going to bed early, so that I can get up and outside early to take down Christmas lights. I brought Damien and Cody both home tonight, and told them that they will both be out there helping me tomorrow.  So hopefully it will go really quick, and it will stay somewhat organized still. We'll see... first we have to get down all the boxes and bins out of the attic to put the stuff into.  AND once I'm done with the outside, I still have all the inside stuff to put away... dangit. I was SOOOO close to being done quick! LOL

Day 142: January 16, 2010

Quote of the Day: "Sleeping alone, except under doctor's orders, does much harm. Children will tell you how lonely it is sleeping alone. If possible, you should always sleep with someone you love. You both recharge your mutual batteries free of charge. "-Marlene Dietrich

All I can say about today is that I finished the office.  It's funny, it doesn't really look any different than when I started working on it, when you just glance in there.  All my paints are still suspended from their board. All my school books are still on the shelves.  The computer, laptop and printer are where they belong.  The biggest change is that everything is now organized, the cabinets are a lot emptier, and there is much less clutter in the closet.  True, it may look like there's more in the closet now - because there is.  The file cabinet that was underneath my desk is now in there, as are my canvases and all the other things which are boxed up. So when school starts up next week, I am READY FOR IT. Finally. Well, at least my office is. I still have to power-clean the rest of the house and take down Christmas stuff between now and Wednesday, otherwise I will have to start school and THEN work on it all. And heaven knows I don't want to do THAT!

The kitties seem to finally be mostly back to normal, amazingly. Tiger and Mika are now both curled up together on my bed. I have no idea where Tiny the troublemaker is right now, but since I haven't heard any roaring, screaming, or hissing since early this morning I assume that the trouble should be over.  I know he has been walking around LOOKING for Tiger, I just don't think he has been bothering with attacking him.  Besides that, he seems to be a happy camper. He's sure being clingy still... they all are! I can't wait until Ron can come home and help give these guys a little attention, so that I don't ALWAYS have to be the one that does it.

I think I'm going to go ahead and go to bed early tonight, since I have so much to do tomorrow. I have plans not only to try and clean the house and tear down Christmas stuff, I'll also be meeting Laurie and we're going to be going to Office Depot to pick up a journal for our Mental Health Nursing class, and some minor school supplies. I have looked a little bit at some of the required work for the semester that comes in the course manual, and can't decide if it looks like it will be an extremely easy semester, or if looks are deceiving and even though there is minimal homework in there it will be the super-tough kind.  It doesn't have any instructions on what you're supposed to do with it, so I'm assuming they'll let us know in class whether it will take an hour, a day, or a week to do. Sigh.  I wish they gave instructions at the beginning of the nursing program. You know, like those really great "What to Expect When You're Expecting" books I read when I was pregnant.  Step-by-step, organized, and simple. Let us be PREPARED to learn, and you'd be amazed what people can do. I ALWAYS do better when I know what is expected of me.

But enough ranting for one night, my exhaustion is showing.

Day 141: Evening Post

Okay, since I totally blew it and had to write yesterday's blog this morning, I still have to write tonight's. So....

Things are running pretty crazy here right now. I've been in my office all day trying to sort through the junk and put away all the things from prior semesters to get ready for this semester, and MAN, WHAT A MESS!!!!  As you can see, in typical Carmen fashion, I had to tear everything out in order to put it back where it goes.  Sigh. One of these days you'd think I'd learn that the best way to do things is to plan ahead and KEEP things organized! Believe it or not, though, there IS a system to the way I'm doing things.  I have different piles set up for different things, like piles of "Ron needs to go through", piles of "House stuff", piles of "School stuff"... you get the idea. I'm hoping that I can get a lot of this gone through and taken care of by the end of tomorrow. You know, like shredding all my old Wells Fargo employee stuff. And the cell phone statements from 2004, which I'm not sure why I still had. I did most of that today. I had a shred pile built up that was about a foot high, and I wasn't even through yet! UGH!!! I didn't realize that I had become such a pack rat again... I thought I had that old habit under control, but I guess I didn't. So at the end of the night tonight I am left with about half of what you see in these pictures taken care of, with hopes of NOT waking up in the morning and being overwhelmed with the things that are left. You know how it is when you take care of all the things that you can pigeonhole, categorize and group, and then you sit there looking at the rest of it thinking to yourself that you have no idea what to do with all the stuff that's left? That's where I'm at right now. That's why I'm quitting for the night, before I pull out ALL my hair.

3-ring binders actually make up a lot of the mess.... well, that, and the miscellanoes piles have gotten close enough that they look like one giant pile.

 

I really do k now what every single pile is. Wouldn't you?

 

To me, it's organized... to the casual observer, it's chaos in the making!

How funny is it that the one clean place in the whole room is the closet?

Still haven't moved my desktop back into the office now that the heater is fixed, because I've been waiting to get the office cleaned out. It'll probably be back in its home tomorrow.

Too cute to pass up..... wish I could hold MY foot and look comfortable sleeping!!!

Day 141: January 15, 2010

Quote of the Day: "I never think of the future - it comes soon enough." -Albert Einstein

I completely blew it yesterday on writing the blog. I know it, I admit it. And the really horrible part of that is that yesterday was our 15 year wedding anniversary!  I did get to tell Ron happy anniversary through email, over Yahoo messenger, and also on the phone, but that's beside the point.  I had this big plan to put "Happy Anniversary" on here in big, bold letters. I was going to take a trip down memory lane with everyone. Instead, things were so crazy yesterday that it didn't get done.

Tiger came home from the vet's office yesterday. It was so sweet, because the vet's assistant carried him out to me where I was waiting in the office, and I had just started taking him out of her hands when I said hello to him, and as soon as he heard my voice he started purring like crazy. I couldn't even leave the parking lot for an extra minute because he had to meet-and-greet me and give me forehead rubs.  He purred the whole time.  Ever since he got home he has been pretty much his same old self, with the exception of the fact that both the other cats are hissing and growling at him now, I guess because of the strange smells.  Tiny has actually been initiating fights with him, which had been going on since a little before Tiger got sick, but had stopped  when Tiger started to not feel good and did nothing but lay there.  I have read up on it, and having two male cats in the house usually ends up with fighting, not so much if they are fixed, but it will still happen.  And the vet told me that I have to keep his environment as stress-free as possible, because stress can lead to his bladder problems. Great... tell me that repeatedly fighting isn't stressful? I honestly think I'm going to have to get rid of Tiny if he keeps it up.  We'll see... when Mika stops hissing at Tiger I'll know that the vet smell has worn off of him, and if Tiny is still attacking him at that point, it's off to the animal shelter for him.

Last night, I went with my friend Sherrie to a craft group and made a Valentine's Day block.  It turned out okay, and was pretty cute. I'll actually be able to keep it up year-round, if I have a room with pink and brown in it. Or if I just feel like leaving it up even in  a room that it doesn't match.  It was a lot of fun, though, and I really wish that I could go to more of them, but since school starts up next week I know I'll be pressed for time to do anything.  I'm glad that I had fun with it, though.  But the problem is that I was so tired by the time I got home, and busy trying to separate the cats and feed the cats, that I forgot all about the blogging. 

Soooooo...... HAPPY ANNIVERSARY FOR YESTERDAY, RON!!!!

 
Hopefully this doesn't start happening more often now that I'm about to start school and get super-busy again.

Day 139: January 13th, 2010

Quote of the Day:  "Absence diminishes little passions and increases great ones, as the wind extinguishes candles and fans a fire." ~Francois Duc de la Rochefoucauld, translated from French

I HAVE HEAT!!!!!!! Finally, the guy came this afternoon around 4 and fixed the heater. I was up in the attic with him while he did it, and if you've never seen what old heater coils look like, you'll have no idea what I am talking about when I say NO WONDER WE HAVEN'T HAD REAL GOOD HEAT!!!! The coils, which are essentially little springs, were deteriorating into dust they had been so burned up. One was completely disintegrated into small little pieces, and the other two were only a tad behind them.  Maybe having this fixed will not only allow the house to get warmer more efficiently, but also lower the electric bills because the heater won't be trying quite so hard to cool the house.  The guy did say that our unit is only supposed to heat and cool up to a 2000 square foot house, though. I'm not sure how accurate that is, but if he's correct we have a serious problem, because we're pushing three thousand square feet. THAT could be a problem as well. Maybe we should work on figuring out how to close off the bathrooms, and the office, and see if that will help any with the temps in the house?  Nah. Why bother. Too bad we didn't have that money that Cody spent on the cell phone bills, though, because he said that the home warranty people would pay to replace the unit and we would only have to pay whatever the cost is for bringing it up to present-day code.... which would only be around a thousand dollars. DANGIT!!!  Sigh. Oh, well. Lord knows it's going to break again, either the heat or the AC one...  this is the fourth time we've had it worked on since we bought the house... two years ago.  Cody and I are just happy as clams tonight, because we get to finally sleep in our own beds. HALLELUJAH!!!



I got to watch my show last night, finally. One of my absolute favorite love-to-hate characters is now deceased, and his wife was keeping him in the freezer! UGH!!! Not that I blame her for wanting to keep dear hubby around a little longer, but... eeew! How could you??? All in all, though, I suppose I should have watched the last few episodes of last season first, before watching this time, because I went through half the show trying to remember who did what and why this and that were happening, and all that. I had a hard time getting into it, but I'm sure a lot of that is sleep deprivation mixed with freezing my butt off for a week. Sigh. Maybe I'll have better luck on Sunday when I watch the next episode. I sure hope so, because I'd hate for it to go bad now, after three years straight of watching it.

Tiger is doing well at the vet's office.  She said that his urine is looking much better now, and she took the catheter out today.  She has to keep him overnight again just to make sure that he is able to urinate, and then he should come home tomorrow with his medications and the food she wants me to give him short-term.  I sure hope she has a list ready of all the can-and-cant's for us to feed him, because I don't want him to go through this again. We'll see what she recommends, though.  Oh, yeah... I asked her if she ran a BUN and Creatinine on him but she didn't because of the cost and she knew we were having a hard time of it right now.  She did, however, do a stick test and said it was within normal limits, so it looks like his kidneys weren't hurt too badly if at all. Still, better safe than sorry... looks like our spoiled kitties will be even more spoiled once we start feeding them the canned foods. Sigh... I really hate the way that stuff smells, too.  Not only going in, but also on the way out!!!!

GHETTO WAR-ZONE FRISBEE GOLF!!!

Updated House Images

It took forever to load all these pictures onto here, so I just left it uploading images overnight and got up this morning to finish the post.  I don't think I'll be putting any more images onto here, unless it's of the exterior because it IS very time consuming and Ron only wants images of the kitchen, master bath, and the living room. So, without further ado, here they are:

Here is the updated kitchen: I added a stone backsplash and did just a few small modifications, mostly to the island and the breakfast bar.

Looking into the kitchen from the living room.

The view of the kitchen from the breakfast nook.

The kitchen as if just entering it from the living room or the garage.

The master bedroom: I figured out how to do recessed ceilings on the program!

The view when entering the bedroom.

From the far corner, looking at the entry to the master bathroom.

A cutout view that shows the master closet. You enter the closet from the bathroom.

The master bathroom!

As seen when entering from the bedroom.  The black tile walls behind the tub are the walk-in shower.

The view when leaving the shower from the right-hand side, looking toward the toilet closet.

What you see when standing in the shower.  There is a sheet of glass in between the two pillars to protect the rest of the bathroom from the shower water.

The view when leaving the shower from the left-hand side, looking toward the master closet.

Another view of walking out of the shower on the right-hand side.

A cutout view of the master bathroom from the backyard.

A close-up of the shower area.

Well, that's it... hope they make sense to you! :)