I HATE TRAVERTINE

Who the hell decided that putting a tile that is porous and full of thousands of little to pea-sized holes onto a floor was a good idea? It took me four hours on my hands and knees today scrubbing with Dawn dish soap and a scrub brush just to get the ugly yellow floor in my kitchen clean enough for me.  All those little holes sure do hold a LOT of dirt compliments of the dogs, the cats, and the humans in our household.  And yet even clean, all those pits in the tile make it look dirty. WTF?! I can't wait to get rid of the stuff! Oh, but wait.... Until we can save up the cash, I still have four bathrooms full of the crap to scrub! Grrrr!

Ron spent most of the day cleaning his RC car stuff out of our workout room, so the good news is that once I can get in there and clean it up, after I work the next three days, I'll be able to actually USE it. THANK YOU, RON!!! Of course, as I say that I'm simultaneously wondering if I will be angry with him for it later. When my legs hurt so badly they keep me up at night. Oh, wait, they already do that! I did actually sleep last night, though, for the first time in about a week. Heavenly! And speaking of, it's time to head to bed, since I work in the morning. Tomorrow's another day in the wonderful world of being paid a little for a lot.

Hard Day's End

It's been a really tiring day. Today was wound care day, and lemme tell you, this one was a really strange day.  For those of you who don't know, I am a nurse. A career Med/SURG nurse. I sloth and toll in the world of bedpans and call lights. It's not out of the ordinary for me to hear about the color or texture of bodily fluids on a daily basis. But last year my manager came

Hello again

As usual, life got in the way of my wanting to do a single thing about this blog. Sorry! All I can say is that I will try to get on here every once in a while and write a bit about the happenings in our life.

This has been a really crazy year so far. Not a lot happening outside of work, except that whenever we are off we try to jam as much stuff into our time as we possibly can. Did I tell you that as soon as we bought the house here, the military told him that they could not give him the civilian job they paid to move us here for? It was horrible! Evidently, thanks to Congress and the damn government not signing a stupid budget, they did not have any money to pay his salary. So Ron started

Heartbreak for the Nasons

We woke up today to find that Chloe's eye was nearly swollen shut, and the swelling was all the way up  into the top of her head.  So, being the responsible pet owners we are, we called a local vet and loaded her up and took her in to have her looked at and get some antibiotics for the eye infection we were sure she had.  But we were floored when the vet told us that it is a tumor behind her eye that is pressing against her eye from behind, and not only that but she has questionable spots on her lungs and underneath her heart. And possibly in her breasts.  The vet said

Last night was GREAT!

I know it's hard to believe (sarcasm intended), but guess who bowled a 211 last night? CODY DID! It was good to see his enthusiasm about it, even as he tried to act nonchalant about it. Ron and I were both really proud of him. I guess the apple really doesn't fall far from the tree.  We were really starting to wonder, what with the teenage-boy hygiene we have going on around this

First Page of our "New Home Album"

I'm off today, thank heavens! So I'll be spending most of my time cleaning and doing laundry. I do plan on going down to Lake Worth to buy me some new workout shoes, but that's going to be later. I've been looking at the dust in this place long enough.  Well, that, and the fact that now there are Halloween candy wrappers everywhere. I forgot about that little

DAY 2: 157.6 LBS AND BOWLING NIGHT

Okay, so for day two I actually managed to be down a little from yesterday's weight. It was a good start, I guess, but the dieting part is the worst. Especially since last night Ron made some pretty good guacamole dip which I definitely enjoyed too much of. And the tortilla chips. Today, too. So I hope that the mile I went on the treadmill last night and bowling tonight will help.  What's

Day 1: 158.8 lbs and a Long Road

Well, y'all, it's that time again. We set up the treadmill today, and it is now officially day 1 of my second attempt at weight loss.  After losing the 25 pounds in early 2010 and feeling so great about myself, it turns out that somehow I have gained back 35 pounds since then. So after a few weeks of screaming and yelling at all my clothes that no longer fit, again, I decided that it's time to try again. So I am starting out at nearly 60 pounds, and my hope is that I can get down to about 125 pounds. Doable, right? Last time I was able to lose a pound a week, so I am shooting for 2lbs a week this time. We'll see!

Long time since

Hmm, interesting....

I haven't touched this blog in a long, long time, and someone has been looking into my blog just days before I decide to pull it up and see when the last time I blogged was. And it really HAS been a while!

So much has changed for us since the last time I blogged.  Damien has moved out into his own apartment in Wichita Falls and the rest of use have moved on to greener pastures in the Fort Worth area. It's been a real long road getting to where we are now. I didn't even blog about my surgery I had to have done, or Ron's more recent one. Yikes!  Time sure

Disillusioned? Or just exhausted?

I've finished my training period at work. I've passed the NCLEX examination. I'm a nurse for real, and have been for a couple of months now. The problem is, I am completely and totally exhausted. Beyond words. I get up at 5, leave the house at 6, and don't get home until 8 at night, sometimes later. Is this what being a nurse means? Really? Somehow I guess I never really put two and two together when it came to planning my career. I figured that I would go to work, save lives, and be home to cook dinner. Or, at least, to EAT dinner.  But I'm so exhausted by the time I get home all that I want to do is sleep.

I thought

Been a Long Time Coming

Finally, FINALLY, I have graduated from Nursing School! The family all came out for a really nice visit, and the graduation ceremony went along pretty smoothly. We had a lot of fun and good times together while they were here, and then it was back to reality when everyone left. The good thing is, I NOW HAVE A JOB! I start hospital orientation on June 7th as a new nurse on the Medical-Surgical floor at United Regional hospital. I am VERY

A Poem for my Father

For those of you who are not aware, my father passed away on the 3rd. His burial was yesterday, and I have spent most of the last week in deep thought about what "could have been" and what "should have been."  I'm sorry that this is such a downer, but I had the urge to bare my soul. Read on

Exhaustion and Disarray

Tonight as I sit here writing this blog for you I am surrounded by a huge mountain of clean laundry covering nearly every surface of our living room sectional that I just haven't had the time to put away yet.  I don't think I've cooked a real dinner in a couple of weeks now thanks to all the cooking and freezing I've done lately, but all that is quickly coming to an end - we're nearly out of EVERYTHING I precooked now.  And we just can't seem to get caught up with ANYTHING lately.  Ah, nursing school... the time when perfectly normal people become overnight slobs and irresponsible billpayers due to lack of time or energy for anything not

Got Some 'Splaining To Do!!

I know, I know.... it's been FOREVER since I posted a blog! But can you really blame me for not writing when I finally got my husband back? Had LOTS of catching up to do, after all!

We've thoroughly enjoyed being together again. I almost missed being there at the airport when his plane landed, for two reasons: One, I forgot to print out directions to the airport, and ended up going (just a little bit) out of my way trying to find it; Two, his plane landed early. He called from the runway as they landed, and I was in the middle of going up a parking ramp at the airport. Ended up driving up over a curb a little bit trying to get around the curve, but it was

Day 200: March 15, 2010

Quote of the Day: "In each of us are places where we have never gone. Only by pressing the limits do you ever find them."  -Joyce Brothers

Sorry about the last few days and my not blogging a couple of them. Things here have been running along pretty crazy with trying to get things ready for the love of my life to come home.  Yesterday I finished picking up the house and did some grocery shopping, then last night I had a cook-a-thon, so that the kids would have food here at the house.  I made them a pizza casserole (yummy!), a baked omelet (watery, but yummy), some cheesy ham and potatoes (out of this world!), and  I made deviled eggs for Ron.  I had to make enough that the kids would have some here, too, so it literally took me three hours to peel all the eggs. I'm not sure if it's because I'm so slow at it, or there were so many of them, but MAN, was I tired of standing on my feet in the kitchen.  By the time I crawled into bed my feet and knees were hurting so badly that I felt as if I'd been on a 10k walkathon or something. This morning they're a little better, but still... I have to stay off them a little bit and let them try and heal.

Ron gets in to DFW tonight, so I'll be leaving the house in a little while to go down there and meet him at the airport.  I am SO EXCITED about that I can hardly think straight.  I'll be picking Damien up in a little bit to come home and watch his brother for me.  The kids are pretty excited for Ron to come home, too.  Mostly Damien, though, I think Cody is a little worried about Ron coming home with all the crap he's been pulling lately and his whole "phone" problem. Not sure, exactly, because he also just doesn't seem to care about helping me clean the house or anything.  He has given me nothing but a hard time every time I ask him to help me out. And it is REALLY grating on my nerves. I have to ask him at least thirty times every time I want him to do something, and then he finally gets angry at me for continuing to ask and throws a fit.  I swear, it drives me nuts!  It's no wonder parents just decided that it's easier just to take care of it ourselves.  I can't wait until he moves out on his own and Mom isn't there to do things for him anymore - it'll be interesting to find out just how bad he really is! His poor future wife!

Anyways, gotta go, got a busy day getting ready to leave for Fort Worth.  Have a great day, y'all!

Day 198: March 13, 2010

Quote of the Day: "Earn your success based on service to others, not at the expense of others." - H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

I just realized, Ron will be back in Texas on day 200 exactly. Isn't that funny?  I can't wait to go down to Dallas to pick him up at the airport! I spent most of today picking things up around the house so that it will be nice and clean for him when he gets here.  You know, because he's been living in a third world country.... with a bunch of guys.... in a tiny little closet.  So I figured it'd be great for him to have his giant house all clean so that he can just stretch out and relax.  Of course, Cody may have destroyed it again by the time we get back here from Dallas, but you never know.  Maybe I'll get lucky this time and nothing will go wrong.  Yeah, right!  Just tonight Cody came in from playing outside to tell me that he had his (3rd) new phone in his pocket and fell, and it broke.  And guess what? He's gotten so many insurance replacements that they will no longer cover him. Go figure!  So I had to call and have the OLD old phone activated... Damien's old Razr.  You'd think the dang kid would learn something, but he doesn't.  That's okay, though, becuase MOM sure has learned. NO more new phones for Cody. He will be getting a used phone next time if I can swing it, or whatever phone they have on sale. No exceptions. I am not going to keep throwing away our money like that, no matter WHAT he thinks.  I am NOT that patient a person!

On the plus side, though, things are really starting to shape up around here, and the warm weather has me feeling pretty happy.  My flowers are looking great, as you can see, and I could not be happier about that.  The flowering quince is a surprise... I had no idea that all the flowers would be down at the base of the shrub and not on the tips of the branches like on most flowering bushes.  So I'm a little disappointed in that, but hoping that it's because they're such young shrubs.  And my magnolias are in really poor shape, so I'm just hoping that they will make it.  I really need to get moving on finding them a spot that will be better suited to them.  GRR!

 

Oh, well.  At least I get my wish, Ron may get to see the flowering quince at work.  The sage bushes, however, have no leaves left on them, and I'm really wondering if they are even alive.  I'm going to give it a little bit, because for all I know it could just be that the cold zapped the leaves but left the branches alive. Not really sure, but I looked at them really closely and don't see any signs of new leaves or buds or anything. 
 

And I'll be putting my rosemary in the ground as well, since if they made it through all that Christmas snow and all the really low temps we had this winter, as well as the fact that they made it through all of last summer.  I figure they're pretty good for around here.  The hibiscus are both dead, so I'll have to dig them out, but that's okay because Ron and I actually intend to turn that area into an extended patio sometime.  And in the meantime, we have to till it this spring thanks to Chloe and her stupid digging habit.  The grass will all need replanted anyway, because that crazy dark green grass that keeps creeping in everywhere seems to be spreading like crazy this spring. It'd be a really great grass, if it wasn't such a fast grower. You'd have to mow three times a week to keep it looking good.  Love the color, love the texture, HATE THE MOWING!!!! But once Ron comes home he will be taking back over yard and pool duties, and he doesn't seem to hate it as much as I do.  Must be a guy thing.  I'd rather be sitting on the patio WATCHING him mow.  Something about a dirty, sweaty guy covered in grass clippings! HAHAHA

Day 196: March 11, 2010

Quote of the Day: "We are all here for a spell. Get all the good laughs you can." - Will Rogers

Today was an AWESOME day at clinicals! It didn't stop me from getting exhausted by the end of the day, but I honestly believe it's mostly the stupid shoes I have to wear to clinicals. My feet and legs are killing me! But I was definitely right, I LOVE postpartum care! I spoke with Ellen this afternoon, the manager of the postpartum area, and she said that she is expecting to be able to call on Monday with news regarding whether I am hired or not. I can't WAIT for that! Now I'm not only excited that my baby is coming home on Monday, but also that maybe I'll have some great news to give him when he lands. And if for some reason they don't select me, then I'll at least have someone to console me about it. So either way it goes, Monday will be a good day!
 
I invited my classmate Lillian to spend the night here at the house tonight because she didn't want to drive home to Dallas and turn right back around in the morning and drive back up here again for class tomorrow.  She was planning on finding a hotel after clinicals, and I just told her that I have plenty of room and to come on over.  It was good having someone else around that I could talk to that was actually an adult, and we had a good time. She LOVES Tiger. I think she'd love to take him home with her, too.  But of course.... EVERYONE loves Tiger, he's just so darn cute! LOL  Tomorrow she'll have to go back down to Dallas after class, but at least she was able to save money on gas and on a hotel, which is awesome. Plus, we were actually able to sit down and watch a movie (somewhat.... I kept falling asleep).  Maybe tomorrow I'll be more rested and ready to get started on cleaning this place up for Ron.  I am nearly jumping for joy already, and I still have 4 whole days left! UGH!  Soon, this will all be a bad dream.... not soon enough, unfortunately, but soon. Can you say.... FINALLY?!
 

Day 195: March 10, 2010

Quote of the Day: "The best way out is always through." -Robert Frost

Today is one of the last few days that I will be writing my daily blogs for Ron, and while it's kind of sad that it marks the end of something that I have stuck with and didn't give up on, I'm really happy that it's coming to an end.  Ron will be landing at DFW airport on the 15th, which means you'll only have 4 more days' worth of what I have been calling "Ron's Blog".   I haven't planned to completely remove my blog from the net, though. I think (mostly because poor Tiffany won't EVER know what we're up to if I quit the blog altogether) that I'll keep writing blogs, just more random and varied than I've been doing.  Probably not every day, though, but we'll see. Come May 15th I'll have a lot more time on my hands, and a lot LESS stress. And I might even get a life again, which means that I'd have MORE to write about!

All day long I've been thinking about Ron coming home, and it's been Ron this and Ron that the whole day long.  I took my third test in my Mother/Baby class today, but I'm not sure how I did. I found that it was pretty hard to concentrate. For one thing, aside from the fact that I have Ron-itis going on, they keep the stupid classroom so hot that it's miserable in there.  I actually start getting lightheaded and dizzy after the first hour. It's really sad when you can actually feel a ten degree difference just walking out of the classroom into the hallway.  I wish they would prop the door open, or turn off the heater, or something! I don't have very high hopes for that, but still... it is actually so warm in there that it makes me feel physically ill, like I have a high fever. And poor Laurie agrees... her face turns bright red in there!

I started packing my bag for Dallas tonight, but am having a hard time figuring out what to take. What do you want to pack when you are seeing your husband for the first time in six months, and you are 25 pounds skinnier than when he left? Do you want jeans and t-shirts, or skirts and blouses, or dresses? Hmm. I can't seem to wrap my mind around a concept of what to pack. I stuck with jeans, but every time I turn around I'm second-guessing myself. LOL You'd think we were newlyweds or something! It's kinda funny.  But the one thing I HAD to pack for sure..... slippers. There's no smoking in the rooms on the base, so we'll have to walk out to the smoking area to smoke. Plus, I just really love slippers. I'm weird that way! LOL

I have clinicals tomorrow, so I'd better sign off here and try to get some sleep, even though I know I won't. Tomorrow is my postpartum clinical... you know, the one I'm trying to get hired for.... the one I absolutely loved!  I can't wait to get there and get started! Maybe I'll impress them so much that they'll make their decision right then and there and hire me on the spot!!!! I've already had all three interveiws, so why not? LOL Yeah, I know, other people to interview.  Still.... a girl can dream, right? I mean, really.... I really, really want it!

Day 194: March 9th, 2010

Quote of the Day: "Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation." ~Kahlil Gibran

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RON!!!!!

If you were here, I'd have been making you a special dinner tonight, but as it is I'll just have to do that once you're home. I'm looking SOOOOO forward to being able to have my other half back! Just a few more days, and I'll have someone to call to jump for joy with when I get good news, or someone whose shoulder I can cry on when the bad things happen.  I've been so lost all by myself, I can't even remember when the last time I felt like that was. I have been forced to stay really busy during this deployment thanks to nursing school, but I still think that I've had too much time on my hands to be miserable. So as a result of that, I am SUPER GLAD that Ron's coming home finally.  My countdown has begun! YAY!!!!

Today has been a really boring day for the most part. I'm still not feeling well, but I guess I'll just have to get used to that. I had to go to WalMart and buy some track shorts for Cody.  He had a meet today after school, and loaned his pair out to his friend Nathan, whose clothes got soaked. So..... I got three pairs for him, which should be MORE than enough. Except that he likes to wear them all the time, so I'm sure that they will be all worn out soon.  While I was at Wally World I went ahead and pulled in and had them change my oil so that Ron wouldn't have to mess with it when he gets back. And I had them add air to my tires too, which were REALLY LOW.  So while I was waiting I found a couple pairs of shorts that would fit me, and now I think I should have just enough clothes to make it through the summer. Maybe not as much as I'm USED to having, but hey... it's all good. You don't wear a lot in summer, anyways. I have plenty of shirts and tops, so there will be plenty of different outfit choices. For whatEVER I decide to do. And boy, am I looking forward to it!!!

I didn't get out there and fertilize the plants today because of the WalMart trip, and then cleaning out my closet and putting away all the clothes that don't fit me. By the time I was done with that (which took about 6 hours because of me not feeling good) I was pretty much wiped out.  But I had to go to Cody's track meet, which took FOREVER. And poor Cody, he didn't do too well tonight. He was jumping too high and not spending enough time running, so he took like 3rd or 4th place.  He said that is the last time he runs that particular race, and will stick to the 110's from now on (or something like that.)  He also said that maybe he just would quit, but I hope he doesn't. It'd be good for him to finish what he started, even if he doesn't like it.  I just took him to Burger King for dinner, and he enjoyed devouring a triple Whopper, king size fries, and a king size soda.  Not sure if he'll be able to sleep tonight with all that caffeine in him, but hey, who knows. As for me, it's now time for bed. I have a test in the morning which I have to get some sleep for, followed by sitting in class all day long. Sigh.

Day 193: March 8th, 2010

Quote of the Day: "No objects of value are worth risking the priceless experience of waking up one more day. "  - Jack Smith

Spring has sprung in Texas. I have little bunches of flowers in the front now.  At first, the blue anemones came poking their heads out, and now I have both blue and pink ones. And they're soooo pretty after all this horrible, nasty weather we've been having.  My hydrangea is starting to leaf out, too!  And the roses have all started getting their new red leaves, so they'll be all bushy real soon.  I think I should probably go out and put fertilizer on my magnolias and my azalea here real soon, to give them a fighting chance this year.  I don't know what to do about the magnolias, though... they do not like the spot they're in for some reason.  They were really dark green and thick when I planted them, but within a month the leaves started yellowing, and then over this winter they have lost all their leaves but the outermost. I may have to move them, but where is a whole different ballgame.  Not sure if they need more sun, or more water, or less water, or what.  Since I've never grown them before, it's going to be like playing Russian Roulette with them.  I'll do some research over spring break and see if I can figure out what to do with them. 

Today we had a small little thunderstorm come through, just enough to make it interesting. I really have missed those, and it was warm enough to NOT have to wear thermals under my clothes, which was even better. I'm thinking that we're in for a wild spring, though, after our wild winter we just had. Isn't that usually the pattern?  The way I see it, for the past three years I have taken spring photos of funnel clouds that don't touch the ground and become tornadoes until they are past us, so I'm going to have the windows cleaned and the tripod ready so that I can do some more this year. I'd love to be able to take pictures ( and video ) of an actual tornado, but I really doubt that will happen here. We just don't ever seem to be that lucky.  Although most people would actually say that's a good thing. I'm sure they're right, too, but there's always that part of me that has been fascinated with them for like forever.  So as long as it doesn't go near anyone or anything, and stays out in a field somewhere, I say BRING IT ON!!!