pantyhose are the devil

Just FYI I think that satan invented pantyhose. Why else would anyone squeeze themselves into a spandex sausage casing and force themselves to endure many hours of pulling up, suffocating, and walking on eggshells to avoid runs. Ugh. I hate pantyhose. Long live the leg!!!!

Painting Flower Pots con't

I have made a discovery. Some of you will remember my earlier post about frustration with an art project gone bad and my dissapointment with my painted flower pots. Well today my sister came over and we sat and visited and listened to music and brought some new life into those flower pots that I had somehow ruined with a brush and some paint. As I was sitting there and painting those flower pots I remembered my earlier aggravation and the post I made on here about how I wasn't artistic,yadayadayada... However now I realize. It's not about how beautiful or ugly your flower pots are, it's the thought and time that goes into them. It's enjoying the process and the people you're with. Much like life. Yours may not be as attractive or stylish as someone elses but it's about enjoying it and the people around you. So I am going to proudly display my painted flower pots on my porch for all to see, and I will enjoy my ordinary life however glamorous or unglamorous it may be, and I will love those around me that make my life so rich and full.

Ordinary week

This has been a rather ordinary week so far, and I must say I am enjoying a little sense of normalcy in my life. I have been able to cook dinner, clean my house, spend time with my husband and sister, and enjoy a little bit of relaxation. I love this time of year when the weather starts to cool off a little bit and it's somewhat comfortable to be outside. Football starts up and you've got the fair coming to town. Halloween upcoming and then thanksgiving. I love this time of year so much. This is a time of year that I'm enjoying thouroughly. It's these ordinary times that I love so much that remind me of what I'm thankful for. Family, friends, food, beautiful outdoors, and just being with those that I love.

Chaos

Well it seems that another monster hurricane is barreling its way to the gulf coast once again, just 3 short weeks after Hurricane Katrina hit. It is almost unfathomable to me the thought of another hurricane with similar intensity hitting again this season. How cruel is it to have people go through 2 of those storms in a short period of time. Perhaps it is my twisted perspective but it seems to me that more bad stuff is happening lately. There's the war in Iraq, talks of North Korea not wanting to give up their nuclear power, the tsunami was last year and it devestated several countries, and now we've had several particularly bad hurricanes lately, most recent being the famous Katrina. So many lives lost, so many people whose homes, lives, jobs, etc. were destroyed, and so much chaos. With all of this discord, increasing violence, it's rather disheartening just watching the news. Perhaps it's just that we have more technology now and we know about things on a worldwide basis. One hundred and fifty years ago we wouldn't have been able to turn on the TV and watch the news about the tsunami overseas, and we certainly wouldn't have been so aware of what was going on in the wars overseas. Volunteer efforts wouldn't be able to be so widely spread and we wouldn't be as knowledgeable about the crime rates, or about the chaos in other places. Is ignorance really bliss? I don't know. I wonder if the world has changed so much that it has become a worse place or if we just simply know too much these days. I just know that for my sanity I have to turn off the tv, go visit my friends and family, remember why I started my job in the first place, and do things that I enjoy so that I can focus on the positive. No matter how bad things are, someone has to have them worse than you.

Grad School, maybe???

Just when you think you have had enough...you go back for more. Yup, you got it, Jamie and I are thinking about going back for grad school next fall. I've done my homework, found out the requirements (which surprisingly we both excede) and I am actively working to be admitted to an online nurse practioner program next fall. So now the search begins for financial aid, etc... Jamie, lucky dog, actually has a coworker who is interested in going to school with him so they can work together on their masters work. For those of you who know my husband I'm sure you can understand me when I say, who would have thought Jamie might actually go to grad school!!!! I'm so proud of him!! Just for expressing an interest and actively trying to improve his education!! Jamie was so bored in undergrad because he knew so much of the material that he was really not challenged in a lot of his classes. I believe though that this will be different. To me, grad school is nothing like undergrad. You're studying in your area of interest, you only have 2 years to complete instead of 4, the course loads are much lighter, and you have people of similar interests in your classes. So I'm kind of excited about it. Of course we have to be accepted, get financial aid, etc... but we're actively looking now so I'm encouraged. Wish me luck!!!

Loss and Love

It seems that when it rains it pours in life. Just when you think that things are bad, they get worse. I got a call at work today and it was my husband telling me that his grandmother had passed away. This horrible loss is not fully understood unless you knew the relationship these two had. Jamie's grandmother was in every way shape and form, except for biological, a mother to him. She raised him, fed him, taught him how to tie his shoes, started him off in school, bought him his first car, and encouraged him throughout his childhood. A constant pillar of strength for him, she held his family together. This woman survived through losing her first husband to World War II and then as a single mother she worked for the railroad providing for her son, until she met Jamie's grandfather, from whom he's named, James Alston Pepper. They were wed after the war and they had one son, Jamie's father, and then when Jamie was born she raised him as well. Always full of life and energy she brought an element to the family, which is still felt today. Her great life I will always respect and honor for she is greatly responsible for the man my husband is today. I know if she could see him now she would be so proud to say "that's my baby, my grandson".
Somehow I hope to learn from these life lessons that I go through each day to appreciate and love those around me. We are not promised tomorrow and it's so vital to let people know that you care.

Irate and probably out of line, but unable to refrain from commenting

http://music.msn.com/music/article.aspx?news=200558

I have to say that as I surfed the web today, I found myself rather angry at this article. I am infuriated to read about how the "jazz landmarks" are gone in New Orleans but no mention is made of the people who have suffered, died, and are still struggling as a result of this hurricane. I'm not sure how others feel about this but it angers me to see so many people focused on New Orleans and Mississippi is overlooked. I realize that New Orleans was a big city, many people visited there, and there was much history in that one city. However, there were many cities that were destroyed by this storm, many still feeling the hurt of the storm that wiped away everything they had from their homes, jobs, and all of their belongings. There are entire cities that simply aren't there in the coastal region of Mississippi. How spoiled a country are we that we will moan and complain about the jazz landmarks that are gone, but we are not concerned about the people that have DIED from this storm. Casually they toss out the fact that corpses float in the water but the facts are that those corpses are someone wife, mother, husband, child....How jaded are we that we see this loss and worry about the JAZZ LANDMARKS!!!

Surviving The Wrath

On August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina, a category 5 storm, made landfall and changed life for all residents of Louisiana and Mississippi for years to come. The entire coastal region of Mississippi has been wiped away, like a floor swept with a broom. New Orleans as we once knew it is now under anywhere from 8-20 feet of water. Bedlam has been unleashed in these cities with people desperate to be rescued fighting for their lives. Looting, murders, rapes, all rampant among the desperate survivors who fight tooth and nail to survive. Gas has become a rare comodity, electricity and water a priviledge for only the very lucky, and family you thank God to have by your side. In one day my entire reality has changed to a world that I am scared to go out into. Somewhere in all this madness I am fighting to find some sanity. A glimpse of light out there in all of this hopelessness. My belief though is that the glimpse of light is us, the people who care. Those who will reach out and help someone, anyone, who has less than them can be that light in the darkness for someone else. My challenge to all who read this is to be that light. Help someone. Even if you think that you have nothing you can help someone. The people who reach out and make the difference are what will help us rebuild the cities that have been destroyed.

You're going to do what???????

http://www.medpagetoday.com/ProductAlert/DevicesandVaccines/tb/1618

It seems that medicine has come a long way but still, mother nature sometimes has the best cures :) So what would you think about this kind of treatment?

There she blows!!!!!

Party at my house!!!!! I'm holing up waiting on Katrina to blow on through Jackson. I am thanking the good Lord right now that I don't have to be at work till Wednesday. Whew! Some of my friends are gonna come over and it's cards and homeade cookies for all who come! Here's hoping we all come out in one piece!

NRP

Well today it was made official that it is ok with the American Acadamey of Pediatrics if I have to perform life saving maneuvers on a neonate. I sat through a series of 7 tests, and 2 return demonstration check offs in order to prove that I was capable of handling any situation presented to me in the NICU or L&D setting where an infant is unable to breathe or their heart stops beating. Wow! It sounds so very professional to have this certification, but what it really means is that when the @#$% hits the fan they're going to turn to me and say, hey what do I do now?, and I have to know what to do. I will be officially out of orientation (meaning I will be caring for patients completely all by myself, with no help) in the middle of September, and I must say it scares me to death. To think that I will be responsible for these little lives, and I must know how to care for them and how to teach the families how to care for them is a rather daunting thought. I know that this is what I have worked for so long, but to actually have that responsibility placed upon me and to feel the weight of it is quite different from taking tests and performing skills in clinicals. I find myself thinking of the serenity prayer as I take on each new assignment and meet each new day.

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful worldas it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with
Him Forever in the next.
Amen.

--Reinhold Niebuhr

Doggy Dreams

My dog is so hilarious. Last night when I was laying in bed listening to her snore I leaned over to look at her and found her to be kicking in her sleep. She then proceeded to start licking her lips and rolling on her back and kicking her feet up. I laughed so hard!! I guess she was having her some good doggy dreams, about running somewhere and eating some good food, lol. I had to rub her belly because she made me smile

Manic Monday

Ah another Monday....It seems like the weekends are never long enough. I had a great time visiting with family and friends and relaxing, and now it's time to start over again. This week is my long week at work (5 days of 12 hour shifts) so it seems more daunting as you head into it. After today's day at work I find myself thinking of the bangles song "Manic Monday"


Six o'clock already
I was just in the middle of a dream
I was kissin' Valentino
By a crystal blue Italian stream

But I can't be late
'Cause then I guess I just won't get paid
These are the days
When you wish your bed was already made

It's just another manic Monday
I wish it was Sunday
'Cause that's my funday
My I don't have to runday
It's just another manic Monday

Oh well even though I'm starting off the week with another "Manic Monday" It will just make my time off that much more enjoyable. I'll look forward to sleeping in and going to the pool on my days off. If we didn't have the long days of work then we wouldn't appreciate our time off nearly as much. Like Yin and Yang. Balance. Whatever, I'm just ready for the next off day, lol.

My favorite moment

It is a wonderful feeling to wake up on a Sunday morning next to my husband. To lay in the bed and snuggle for hours, to have wonderful pillow talk in between falling asleep on and off again, and to lie tangled together after a good nights sleep. I thank God every day for blessing me with such an amazing husband.
It is so beautiful to me that it is possible for love to grow and change and abound even when you think that it has reached its limits. When I first fell in love I thought that it was impossible for my heart to love greater than it did at that moment, but now a year and a couple of months after my wedding I find that I love my husband so much more than I did even when we said "I do".
Moments of love sneak up on you and surprise you in life, and I suppose those are my favorites. When I lie here in the morning and watch him sleep. When I stand in Walmart looking at pants and complaining about my short legs and he says "I love your short little legs, they're sexy". When he hugs my mother and plays with my brothers, embracing my family as his own. The amazing way that he gives of himself to everyone around him. Times like these are when I feel as if a hand has wrapped itself around my heart and squeezed it, and I am reminded of just how much I love my husband.

The Unheard Cry

A new life enters the world
A chance at a start, thwarted by a mothers habit

Perfect hands, perfect feet.
Soft pink lips, black curled hair.
Struggling to survive against all the odds.

With grave predictions, and worried faces they come
White jackets, clipboards, and drugs.

Without the gift of love,
Without the sensation of touch,
Never being held, she gasps her last breath alone.

A sigh goes out, a small sound echos through the halls
Carefully listen and you might hear, the unheard cry.

Painting Flower Pots

The other day I had this "brilliant" idea about painting flower pots. I wanted to have an herb garden outside on my patio that I could go to and pick fresh herbs to cook with. Also, I thought they would smell good and be a fairly easy set of plants to keep alive. Well, as I was contemplating this idea of an herb garden I considered the pots I would use to keep them in, thus we have todays project of painting flowerpots. I love colorful flowerpots and I think they're very pretty, however the price on them can be rather steep. The terra cotta pots I purchased today were .59 whereas a painted pot was about 4.60 at Lowes. So I got a white primer, and some different colors of paint to see what I could create on my own little porch. It seems that there are many lessons to learn in every event, and I have discovered #1 that I am most DEFINITELY not an artist, lol. After spending all afternoon painting these pots, I realize why it is worth it to spend 4.60 on an already painted pot, rather than cursing the paint, pot, or paintbrush...whichever was bothering me at the time.

Cosby Show

THE COSBY SHOW IS OUT ON DVD!!!! I have loved being able to watch some of these shows that I haven't seen in years. Here's a couple of great quotes from the show....

Rudy: [about smoking] It makes your breath stink. It makes your lungs dirty. And then you die!

Heathcliff Huxtable: And you're going to do it because I said so! I am your father!

[it's Halloween] Cliff: Why don't we just call it what it is: begging!

Cliff: Right! No big deal! Now there's the key. You guys always say things like "no big deal." Some of the greatest lies ever told by you kids - "No big deal." "I forgot." "I'll pay you back later." "It was like that when I found it. I swear, Mom, Dad..." Cliff and Clair: It was like that when I found it.
Vanessa: [about the car she crashed] Mom, Dad, I just want to say that I'm really sorry.
Clair: Please add that to the list. "I'm really sorry."
Cliff: Yes, and the other one that's key - "What are you doing home so early?"

Shelby

We have been fortunate to have a wonderful new addition to our house, by the name of Shelby. She is an 85 lb creme colored labradore retriever, and she is an extremely affectionate animal. However I have come across a new discovery lately. THE DOG SNORES!!!! LOUDLY!! She lays at the end of my bed and snores so loud, lol. It's hilarious. Anyone have any ideas to help dogs stop snoring??????

fake n bake

http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/conditions/08/10/health.skin.reut/index.html

Seems like tanning beds are starting to take their toll long term. Perhaps its a good thing that I hate being sunburned so I stay out!

Gripes

I've got a few things that are on my mind right now and kind of bugging me, and i just thought I would post them on here and open up some conversation.

1. People who volunteer their time and offer to help, but then complain about having to help

2. People who give you grief about not hanging out every time you have something going on, I mean c'mon. I have a life that includes some things that I HAVE TO DO.

3. People who are mean to the new people at work and purposefully try to make things difficult for newbies.

4. People who don't take "NO" for an answer.

5. People who promise to get things done, but every time you ask them about it, there's some new excuse as to why it's not done.

6. If you don't have credit, you can't get credit, but if you have credit, 9 times out of 10 you don't need it. Where's the logic in that?

7. People who look down on others based upon their homes or cars, etc. I thought that kind of superficial nature went away back in Junior High...guess i was wrong....

Anyway, those are just a couple of my rants this week....It just frustrates me sometimes because I try to be nice to people and when the favor isn't returned then it gripes me sometimes. Common courtesy should be something we all should learn and practice.

updates

WOW its been forever since i've updated, I feel ashamed. Ok, a few big updates are as follows. I've taken and passed my NCLEX, so I'm officially an RN now, and boy does it feel good to have that over with. I'm working at UMC in their NICU and so far so good where thats concerned. It's hard work, but hey its a job. We've moved to a new apartment out on Lakeland and are really enjoying the new place. We got a dog, her name is Shelby, and we're really enjoying having the pup around. She's spoiled rotten, lol. Sooooo....to the people who still read this, hope that addresses some of the new changes.

almost done

I had my last class for community health and professional development on tuesday, yay!!! Next Thursday I'll finish up psych and senior studies and then it will be all through! I'm so excited about getting this done, and graduating. I feel rather proud of myself. I feel rather accomplished having completed what I started. I'll start my preceptorship after April 1, in the CCU at St Dominicks. Boy, so much accomplished and so much left to do.

moving home

Well it's official. We will be moving back to Jackson next weekend into a duplex we're going to rent. I feel like I'm going from motel 6 to the Hilton! Our apartment is so nice and I'm really excited about it. I'll take my last tests the week after spring break and then (hallelujah chorus begins) I will be done with my classes in my last semester of nursing school!!!!!! (crowd roars). It's amazing thinking I'm almost done and I'll be an RN. I'm so proud of myself for completing this astronomical task and really triumphing over difficulty. I feel like making a t-shirt that says I survived! Nursing school class of 2005.

finally!!

It seems that I'm finally getting a bit of a break in school. I've been doing really good on my tests this semester making a's and b's. Stuff has been going good and I'm taking a break this weekend to finally visit my friends and family. I can't wait to get to see everyone. Have a great weekend everyone!

update

We got some interesting information today. Jamie heard from a reliable source that the company he works for wants to keep him in the southern offices on a permanent basis so we finally know where we're going to be! We will be moving to Mobile in the next couple of months, or so we've been told. So wish us luck, this will be a big step for both of us. We'll both be working full time, and we'll finally move into a decent sized apartment! I'm really excited about it, but I'm nervous too. Another plus, we can finally get an animal!

the mysterious bug

Jamie is sick as a dog. He has been laying on the couch moaning and groaning with a fever that won't go away no matter how much ibuprofen or tylenol we throw at it. We're going back to the doctor tomorrow for our second visit in the past three days and we're hoping for at least a diagnoses as to what is wrong with him, rather than just "the mysterious bug". He had a flu test on Tuesday and it was negative, so that's a plus, but the bad thing is we still dont know what's wrong and so he's just horribly sick. Be praying for him and for me (he's very grumpy and even mean when he's sick). In the meantime I'm running around being a diligent little nursing student and making chicken soup and taking care of him in my spare time. Hope everyone else is considerably healthier.

school's back in

This past weekend was my hubbies b-day, and we had a fun little grill out here at the house. It originally was just gonna be the two of us, but somehow it blew up and we had about 10 people here at the house plus neighbors, and for those of you who know just how small my apartment is you know just what a feat it is to fit 6 people in, much less 10. People just showed up, and it was a surprisingly pleasant at home party. Apart from the cake falling apart (frosting covered up the mistake) everything was fabulous and Jamie is now 25 years old. You should all tell him how old he is and remind him that he's now a quarter of a century old. It gets under his skin real good :) I'm having a great semester and I think that things might just be alright with classes. So far I have had no nervous breakdown's or overwhelming assignments and I'm excited about the opportunity to breathe for a couple of months. So hang in there everyone, a couple more months and I might actually have a life again!!

lazy me

Wow, it's been forever since I've updated this thing. I should be very ashamed, and horribly I am not. I survived finals passing all of my classes, some better than others, but nonetheless passing. Following finals I went through an NCLEX review that will hopefully make me better prepared to take state boards. Then we had christmas, new years, and somewhere in the middle of that I have slept like I've never slept before. It's crazy when everything catches up with you just how tired you become. I would sleep 8-10 hours at night and then still take a 1-2 hour nap in the middle of the day. Now that I'm all rested I'm getting ready to start my LAST SEMESTER OF NURSING SCHOOL!!!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!! I'm super excited that I'm almost done. It's really amazing to think that I'm almost there, almost finished with everything that I've been working for. I've got 10 weeks of classes and then I start my precepting at a hospital. So once again in the next 6 months we will have to move. We're gonna have to buy another couch since ours is messed up, so if anyone knows about a good deal on a couch let me know. Other fun things that have happened over the holidays include my mother getting a new car, she's spoiled rotten now, and Jamie's finished with school. So that's what's been going on lately, and I'll be starting classes on Monday, so wish me luck! I only have to endure 10 more weeks and it's DONE!