This is me grovelling!

I know its been forty-forevers since I last posted. But I've been busy. I know...that's no excuse...you, my loyal fans have not been too busy to check my blog. But I have let you down. We'll here's my catch-up post.

My Christmas break has been anything but a break. Several of us in my nursing class decided we needed a Med-Surg refresher before we jumped into Nsg 5 (complex nursing), so we signed up for the Hurst review. It's actually a review class for the NCLEX, but is a great way to get prepared for our last semester of nursing school. The review was 8-3, Monday through Thursday. It was well worth it and I really enjoyed it. I definitely found some areas I need to study before taking Boards.
I'm also signed up for Advanced Cardiac Life Support on December 30. If I work with any cardiac patients in the hospital, they'll require me to have my ACLS certification. Several of us had the same thought and figured it was best to just go ahead and get it. That way, our resume has one more thing than some of the other graduates who are applying for a position. Bottom line: Padding my resume.

What time I haven't been in class, I've been a total bum. I'm craving sleep!

Dave and I will go to his parents next week for Christmas and then on up to my grandparents for a few days as well. I'm excited about seeing all the family! We'll take the "boys" with us and have a big ole' time!

Stay tuned for pics from Christmas!

Deck the Halls...or the doorway.

Every year, mom gets Emily and me a Christmas ornament. She started doing this when we were born and has continued the tradition each year. This year I struggled with what I wanted my Christmas ornament to be. But I finally came up with it. I got garland and red berries and gold glittery ball ornaments and strung some lights through it and Voila! I'm pleased with how it turned out.

More pics...just for funnsies!

Trevor found a friend over Thanksgiving--my cousin's Jack Russell named Lucy. Trevor and Lucy played for hours!

Trevor loves having his picture taken!

I love these kids!

Thanksgiving with the Fam (and the dogs)!

Don't ask how many shots it took to get a picture of me with both my dogs and all of us looking straight ahead. I worked hard for this picture b/c several people who will remain nameless (Sam and Derek) gave me a hard time for leaving Bama out.



Emily's kids (well, most of her kids) are skiddish around dogs. I don't blame them much considering the dogs of the past (and present) that they've been forced to endure. I've worked very hard to have dogs that her kids wouldn't have to be afraid of. Trevor is still VERY hyper, so he's got to calm down before they'll want to play with him, but Bama is another story entirely. If ever there were two dogs with opposite personalities, it's Trevor and Bama. Bama is as laid-back as Trevor is hyper. Nothing bothers him! Consequently, Emily's kids liked him! This is Jacob and Bama at the lake where we took Trevor to swim. I title this picture, "A boy and my dog"


Despite the many toys I've bought my dogs to play with (mostly Kong toys because my dogs are really destructive), Bama found a favorite toy at my mama and papas house--a Barbie head! Don't ask me where he found it, but he loved it. At one point, I took it away from him and put it in my back pocket. He jumped up and took it out of my pocket though. So I just let him have it.

What a yummy day!

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all have lots of things to be thankful for--if you think about it for half a second, I'm sure you could come up with one or two hundred!
Dave and I got to wonderful Tuscaloosa, AL (Go Bama!) yesterday and will be here for Thanksgiving lunch. Then we'll head north and hit my mama and papa's house!
I will be SO stuffed after today!

I'm enjoying my break from school. I've been a little sewing demon! I've made lots of clothes--for my sister. Emily is great at coming up with sewing ideas--for me and mom. Seriously, she's great at ideas. Mom and I discussed it and we think it's because she has no idea how hard (or easy) things are, or how expensive it could be. So she kinda comes up with no holds barred ideas. They usually turn out pretty good too.

Not much to report. Stay tuned...

Coffee should be its own food group.

I've become addicted to coffee. (Like mother like daughter) When I was a little girl, I remember my mom sitting in her recliner drinking her coffee. I always helped her drink it and thus at the ripe old age of 2 or 3, began drinking coffee. I've always like it, but haven't always been motivated enough to make it in the mornings. Until nursing school. Now, I set my coffeepot the night before to make coffee for me when I wake up. I love that Chinet makes 16oz. disposable travel coffee cups with lids, and after all...Nothing stands up to Chinet. I love that I can get individual sized liquid creamer that doesn't have to be refrigerated and makes my coffee French Vanilla or Hazelnut.

My DirecTV man came today to fix our satellite. For some reason, CBS East was showing the NFL channel and CBS West was showing Toon Disney. Several other channels were messed up too. He was supposed to be here between 8:00 and 12:00 noon. He got here at 11:55. It wouldn't have been that big a deal except Bama had a vet appt at 1:15 and I had to call and move it later because our lines, and box and everything had to be replaced. The repairman finally left at 1:30. Why do we have to rearrange our whole morning schedule for someone to come fix something. It is very frustrating.

My last day of clinical (for Nsg 4)

I said at the beginning of the semester that I didn't want to be a L&D, Post-partum or Peds nurse. Now that I have been through the semester and had experience in each of these areas, I am only that much more confident that I WILL NOT BE A MATERNAL/CHILD NURSE!!! Today stunk. It was boring, but okay to start with. Then everything went bad all at once. Long story short, custody with children is a big issue and one that I'm not sure I want to have to deal with often. At least with (most) adults, you don't have to worry about who makes their decisions. Children are minors and most of them are not able to make decisions on their own. So who makes the decision? And what if someone else in their life doesn't like that decision. Now what?
I will be SOOOO glad to get back onto the med-surg floors again.

Tonight is my next to last class in Micro--I can hear the choir starting to warm up to begin the Hallelujah Chorus! Really, I have loved the class. I have even liked that I had it at night, one night a week. I like getting lots of information all at once rather than small snippets over 3 days per week. I don't like that it is on Wednesday night. I miss going to church. My final is on Monday, so next Wednesday is my last night to miss. Yeah!

I have only 6 more days of nursing class (which includes the final exam) and the tension is so thick that you'd have to cut it with a knife! Many people are borderline passing or borderline failing. Others are losing hope of passing. Others (including me) are just trying to keep our noses clean, pass the next unit test and final and move on. This semester has been tough. I'm not even sure that I can say just why. The instructors are phenomenal--I have enjoyed each one. Clinical has been fairly easy. The papers weren't bad and were few. However, tests were a booger and somehow we always had one more thing to do, which kept our adrenaline up and tires us out.
This brings me to my next issue....
Why, when we are not good at something or we don't excel at it to the level we desire, do we try to find someone, other than ourselves, to blame? Why when the test is hard do we blame the instructor for writing bad questions or not teaching correctly or blame the book for being hard to read? Why do we always pass the blame, rather than admitting something like 1) I didn't study enough, 2) I didn't study the right stuff, 3) maybe I just messed up or 4) maybe I'm just not good at this. Over the past few weeks, I heard so many gripes from people in the class and I have had to bite my tongue to keep from saying something--oh wait, I did say something. I was tactful though, mom.
This week, I heard someone say to an instructor that she doesn't understand why they test on stuff that isn't in the book. You could have knocked me over with a feather! I have never (and I mean never) thought that the instructors tested on anything other than what was in the book. Granted, they do not always test on the things they stress in class, and maybe they don't mention some things in class that will be tested on, but the test ALWAYS comes from the assigned reading material. If I know the reading material--I can pass the test. I heard someone say that we've been told there are just things we're supposed to know. I can't imagine one of our instructors saying that unless it is the synthesis of information from prior semesters or prior tests. Technically, we're supposed to learn those things for good, not just for the test.
I know my posts lately have been ranting quite a bit, and I apologize. I just want someone to hear me say that I believe this program that I have invested the last 18 months in and plan to finish in another semester has been fair. The instructors have showed me concern and caring and have invested significant time into me as well. I want someone to hear me say that I believe these women are doing everything they can to make me a safe and competent nurse and help me pass NCLEX. Thank you for listening to me--I feel better now.

1. Gas is 1.79 at a gas station here in town. Who'd a thunk?
2. I got a new pair of nursing shoes because I washed my old ones and they fell apart. I had to have white shoes and New Balances were the only ones I found that were white enough. I've always tried on NB's when I shoe shopped, but never bought any because they don't fit my feet right. I prefer Nike's. I still prefer Nike's. I'm hoping these break in better than they have so far. We'll see...
3. I'm so sleepy. I really just want to go home. I want to go to sleep. Tomorrow is my off day, but I have to take Bama to the vet for his last round of shots and the DirecTV man is coming to fix our confused satelite box. No rest for the weary.
4. One more school day until Thanksgiving break.
5. When I get out of school, I don't ever want to see another pair of maroon scrubs again! I used to think scrubs were cool and though wearing them would be so great. I'm so tired of them. It's like eating a PB&J sandwich at every meal for 2 years. Blah.
6. Got another test tonight, so I must go study.

Stay tuned...

A few tidbits

1. Tomorrow is my first dressing (or stuffing, if that's what you call it) of the year. I love my mother-in-law's dressing and am making it for our church Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. I'm sure I'll be burned out on it before Thanksgiving is over, but who cares!
2. We got our actual tests back Friday and due to a keying error and vague question, we got 4 more points added to our test grades, so I made an 86 rather than an 82! Good news!
3. Fall is finally here. I took the dogs to the pond to play today, but the wind was howling and it was just down-right cold. I went inside and visited and the dogs played outside without me. It was nice though. Sam, tell your dad to go to the doctor.
4. We only have two more weeks of school. Those two weeks are separated by 1 week of Thanksgiving break. I dread the final, but all I have to do is pass!
5. I have no #5.

Stay tuned...

A kind of off day and some rantings...

Today is my off day. Why does my off day get filled with things I don't really want to do? I feel absolutely horrible for saying this, but it's the truth. Today is the church blood drive. As a nurse and concerned citizen, I am 110% in favor of blood drives. I just don't want to run them. This is a project I seemed to have inheirited as pastor's wife. I only have to do it 2 times per year, so it really isn't that big a deal. I think I'm making it a bigger deal (think mountains and mole hills). I don't need any of you to tell me that I should suck it up and drive on--I already know. I'm just not in the greatest spirits about it since, at 7:45 this morning, my blood drive rep misunderstood something I said to her yesterday and so, this morning at 7:45, she called me this morning at 7:45 AM (did you catch that she called me at 7:45AM) to tell me that we had to cancel the blood drive. I corrected the misunderstanding and assured her that the blood drive would go on. But for real--7:45 on my off day. NO ONE SHOULD CALL MY HOUSE AT 7:45AM WITHOUT A LIFE OR DEATH EMERGENCY!!! Personally I think it is just rude. If she had waited until 8:00, I wouldn't accuse her of rudeness, just bugging me. But 7:45--really.

Okay, I'm done with that little out of body experience.

I have a friend who wrote on her blog that law school = high school with a case book. I think I could plagerize her and say nursing school = high school with a stethoscope. Seriously, in the last couple of weeks, the back biting and na-na-ing and cattiness of some of these girls has really come out. I'm content to let them do their thing and just work on keeping my nose clean, but some of them should be cowboys--they are good at roping everybody in. Not to participate in the misbehavior, but roping them in by talking ugly about them to other people. Unfortunately, my name came up this week. Not for something bad that they thought I did, but for something that just happened. It was of no consequence to them at all. But they got upset by it. I labored over how to handle it and finally decided that I should not just let it go, I needed to confront this particular person.

***And here's the point of the previous paragraph.***

Do you realize how hard it is to confront someone? Some of you "non-confronters" really do, but I (by nature) am a confrontational person. Or so I thought. I really wanted to talk to this girl without getting any mud on my own face. The Bible says to first talk to this person alone, one-on-one. So that's what I determined to do. I didn't bring up anything that I didn't hear myself or experience myself from her, yet she denied everything. She apologized for giving me any false impressions. I guess now I just let it go. Following the Biblical model, if the situation isn't rectified, I take other people back with me when I talk to her, but although I feel she lied to me, she still apologized. I don't feel that I have any reason to go back to her about this. The ball is in her court. It still bugs me though.

1. We have one more week until Thanksgiving break. I'm ready for the break, but at the same time I dread it. I always have trouble getting my motivation back after break. School is always harder after having a break.

2. Ladies, can I just put in a push for a particular article of clothing that I feel is very under-used. The slip. It's just a flimsy, silky item that no one ever sees. But it is SO important. Although no one ever sees it, it keeps others from seeing things that they just shouldn't. So, here's to you, Ladies' slip maker! I remember my own mother being a slip checker every Sunday morning before church. Thanks mom.

3. My Microbiology teacher is making me a bacteria-phobe. Sour cream, cake batter, eggs over easy--I'll sure miss you!

4. I made an 82 on my last test. It was apparently harder than I thought. An 82 isn't failing, for which I'm thankful, but it wasn't the grade I thought I was going to get. Bummer. We only have one more unit test and the final.

5. I've had a wonderful opportunity this week to sew. I've missed sewing over the last few semesters. I just wish I had more time. I'm working on some skirts (church clothes) for me and Emily both. I don't have time today (remember, the blood drive), but maybe Saturday.

6. And what's a post without a picture...

Bama watching the big kids play! I think he's pretty close to getting in on his own (on purpose).

Stay tuned.....

A day on the lake (or maybe just in the pond)

Today I took the boys to the pond. Dave and I went over on Thursday and gave Bama his second swimming lesson, which he (Bama) cried about for the rest of the day. Today was pretty chilly, so I decided it would be mean to throw him in. Trevor on the other hand wouldn't stay out of the water. I've heard that Labs love water and Trevor proves it to be true.

We've been playing with the Wubba toy that I got them lately. It is a Kong toy made to teach your dog to fetch ducks. I got it so they had an actual dog toy. It has been well worth the money. I need to get another one as Bama gets older.

Trevor is obsessed with fetching in the water. If he even thinks he sees something out on the water, he jumps in after it. Today we were sitting on the deck and looked out and Trevor was swimming out in the pond after nothing at all, just swimming.

I'm working on getting some video up for you to see him, but my SLOW internet connection is making it difficult. Keep checking for some great video clips. But for now, some pictures.

Trevor swims FAST! Used to, we had to hold Katie back so that Trevor had a chance, now we have to hold Trevor back so that Katie has a chance. If Katie gets to the Wubba first, Trevor swims out and takes it away from her so that he can bring it in. Big Bully.

Bama got the Wubba toy for just a second before Trevor took it away from him again.

Look at those beautiful eyes!

How many sticks?

Do you remember the commercial for Tootsie Pops? How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? Well, how many sticks does it take to get good at IV's?
I got another opportunity to start an IV today. I missed. It was a hard stick though. There were patients today, but we were doubling and sometimes tripling up on them. That made today a SLOWWWWWWW day. I'm so tired. I just want to go home and go to bed. But I have Micro tonight and another test in there. So here I am, waiting for 5:00 to roll around.
It's too hot outside to try and take a nap in the car.

1. Election--no comment, except--the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, Gives it to whomever He will, And sets over it the lowest of men (Daniel 4:17). Praise God that He is still on the throne.
2. Why do people think that if they dislike someone that everyone else should too? Today someone tried to convince me to dislike another person. Her reasons for disliking this individual had NOTHING to do with me. They were very personal. I have my own reasons to LIKE this same person. Why do we feel wronged if another person disagrees on our personal likes and dislikes? I honestly think she was offended that I didn't jump on her bandwagon.
3. For whatever reason, I have been losing sleep lately. It seems like a different reason every night. It's getting old though. I'm ready to just sleep until my little heart is content.
4. My dogs are getting big! Trevor is big enough to jump into the bed of the truck on his own now. Bama has stopped crying all the time. Now he just cries most of the time. Trevor still thinks Bama is his toy, but Bama has started fighting back now.
5. When I leave the hospital after clinical, I smell hand sanitizer in my nose all night. I'm tired of that smell.
6. Dave's sister and brother-in-law are in Canada (Fort McMurray, north Alberta, specifically) doing mission work. They are ultimately trying to start a church there, although right now they are focusing on relationship building. Clay told a story in his mission report that I want to tell you all. A head-on collision took place on the 2-lane hwy that runs into their town. The driver of one car was killed instantly, the two people in the other car were pinned in. For 90 minutes, no one would stop to help them. The way his report read, people passed by, but no one stopped. I take for granted living in the Bible belt and around all the "good 'ole boys" who would immediately stop. Last year, we had tornados in our area and I (stupidly) was out on the roads. I hydroplaned and ended up in the ditch. I wasn't hurt, the car wasn't hurt, but before the wrecker could get there (about 30 minutes), so many people had stopped to make sure I was okay, I was mad. Every time they stopped, I had to get out into the rain to tell them that I was fine. I was drenched. I feel grateful now--they could have just driven by. Apparently there are people who would have.
Incidently, there are Good Samaritan laws in almost every state (possibly every state) to protect you from lawsuit if you are the first on the scene and stop to help in an emergency situation.

Stay tuned....

You can't have clinical if there aren't any patients.

We got to the hospital this morning for clinical only to be sent back to school because there weren't enough patients in the hospital. To be exact, there was 1 baby in the nursery, 3 women on post-partum, 3 kids on Peds, but one was being sent home and 1 lady in labor. There are 31 students there to do clinical--you do the math.
We ended up watching videos all day. Some were good, some were...not so good.
When I got home, Dave and I went to the polls to vote. There was no line in our little teeny tiny voting precinct, so it took all of 5 minutes start to finish.

This evening, Dave has been watching the election results and getting more and more concerned as the night goes on, and I've been putting a puzzle together. I've listened out of one ear, but am choosing not to get stressed out tonight. I cast my vote--that's all I can do.

1. Gas is $1.98. I didn't think I'd ever see that again!
2. I've thought a lot tonight about how things will change over the next four years. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus.
3. Did you know that Pepto-Bismol contains aspirin? I didn't. Did you know that children under 19 years old (yes, 19), should not take aspirin or products containing aspirin? The general consensus in class--we were all given "the pink stuff" as kids.

That's all for tonight. I have to get my scrubs into the dryer and get some sleep--I'm beat.

Stay tuned...

My pitiful scrapbooking efforts.

I'm choosing to share my scrapbooking efforts with you. Please no laughing. I know that there are much better scrappers out there. I'm just learning.
I'm putting a book together of Emily's kids. These are the pages I have done so far.


This is Anna. Emily's second child and only daughter. The caption reads, "Sometimes you wear a halo, but other times.... We love you though."

This is Jonah. These pics were taken just the other day on a field trip.

Thomas. The caption reads, "You love having your picture taken, but you close your eyes in anticipation of the flash."

This is Jonah with his hero, Gage, the son of some of Emily and Tyson's friends from church.

I love these pics of the kids playing in the sprinkler this summer.

A productive weekend!

I had a really productive weekend. When I got home friday, Dave met me at the door and suggested that we go ahead and get the house clean. We had a missionary coming on Sunday, so it was nice to go ahead and get it done and then not have to stress on Sunday afternoon. Once we got the house clean, we started putting up blinds in our front living room. That project had been in the works for a while. We've slowly been putting up plantation blinds through the house.

Saturday I had a meeting in Hattiesburg, so I took a truckload of stuff to the Salvation Army. I was glad to get it out of the house!

I also got a lot of sewing done this weekend. It feels like I haven't sewn in forever. I got a bunch of Taggies done and also this quilt top.

If you can tell from the picture, the solid squares are shimmery. Not sure what I think of this quilt yet, but I'm going to go ahead and follow through with it. It'll be functional if not pretty.

I also got some cooking done and laundry too! It was a nice feeling to do something other than school work.

Stay tuned...

It's a sad Halloween!

No candy. No trick-or-treaters. No costumes. What has Halloween become? I thought I would be helping at school with Treats in the Streets, but alas, that was last night--I missed it! There are never trick-or-treaters at our house either, but they "trick-or-treated" last night anyway! Why does the high school football game take precedence over Halloween? In fact, the school celebrated yesterday because of a Jones football game. This wouldn't bother me so bad if last year Halloween weren't on a Wednesday and did they cancel for church? NOOOOO!!! But they'll cancel for a football game! Where are our priorities?
Maybe I'll boycott Halloween this year--oh wait--I can't boycott it, they moved it to last night--I missed it!

That's why Dave found soap in the laundry hamper.

Yesterday we had 12 hour clinical--it was great! I actually started by going to an OB/GYN clinic, but there was only one doctor and he ended up going to the hospital pretty early, so I went to the hospital too. I didn't get to follow him, I had to go to my clinical group, which wasn't bad. We are doing post partum, which is my favorite of the three places we go this semester (Pediatrics and nursery being the other 2). I only had one patient, but I think our students had every patient on the floor. The day had it's up and downs, it's fast moments and moments when we had NOTHING to do, but it was a good learning day and I REALLY enjoyed sleeping in this morning.
I turned in my last paper of the semester yesterday and wanted to sing the Hallelujah Chorus when I did. I really don't care what I made on it (which is NOT like me), I'm just glad its done and it's turned in.
Today I think I'm going to spend some time with my boys and maybe take them to play with Katie at the pond. It's pretty chilly outside, so I won't throw them in, but if they get in on their own--so be it.

1. Did you know that if you suffer from RLS (Restless Leg Syndrome) that you might can get some relief by putting a bar of soap in the bed, under the covers, down by your feet? I have tried this and can testify to its effectiveness. I don't know if it is just psychological--and I don't care! It works! Who cares why it works! Just don't use Dial, supposedly it isn't as effective.
2. Tomorrow (on my real day off), I'm finally going to get some sewing done! I can't wait.
3. If you ever have an opportunity to have a student nurse while in the hospital--take it. We're really not so bad. We also do everything by the book--no shortcuts here!
4. My house has exploded. I guess that's what happens when you haven't cleaned it in a while.
5. I am loving this cold weather! I'm going to wear a sweat shirt today!!!!!

One more paper....

Several things to catch you up on. I went to the Mississippi Student Nurses' Convention this weekend. I had a really good time. I got to talk to recruiters from lots of surrounding hospitals. Still don't really know where I want to work, but it will come in time I'm sure. I was awarded the Mississippi Student Nurse of the Year (cool honor). Got lots of free stuff from the hospital recruiters (pens, CD cases, hand sanitizer, koozies, etc).

We had our church picnic Saturday and had a great time. Lots of food, football, and fun (and a little Phase Ten). And the most wonderful thing happened Saturday evening--Alabama beat Tennessee! ROLL TIDE!!

Today I had a test at school. After convention Thursday and Friday, church picnic on Saturday and church all day Sunday, I finally started studying last night. I hate that I had to wait so long and have so little time, but my other options were pretty non-existent. We asked to have our grades put online so we could know whether we had to do the "remediation" work required for a failing grade. The teachers were wonderfully accomodating and the grades are already posted. I was almost scared to look, although I didn't feel like I did too badly on the test. I made a 90! Hooray! I needed another A after that horrible midterm grade. What a relief! Now I have a paper due tomorrow. Blah! But its the last one! Yea!!!

Tomorrow is our 12 hour clinical, and then we have Wednesday and Thursday off (although I still have to go to Micro).

Today is turning out pretty good after all. I'm tired as all get out, but its been a good day!

1. I got home and my toes were SO cold. I grabbed a pair of socks from the drawer and they were cold too! Solution: I put my socks in the microwave! 30 seconds and they were nice and toasty!

2. The dogs are together in the fence now. Before we were keeping Bama on the runner outside the fence. They play like brothers--rough. But they're doing well. I think they just had to get used to each other.

3. Today we learned about colic. It brought back bad memories of rocking Anna when she was a baby. We all took turns until our arms were ready to fall off! We also learned about eczema--a topic I am altogether too familiar with.

4. I am LOVING this fall weather! I love sweaters and jeans and light jackets! However, all our trees are still green......

5. There were lots of cool tee shirts for sale at the Nursing Convention. Schools use them for fundraisers. Here's one that I picked up that was especially cute.

6. Nope that's not a spiderweb. It's what happens when a rock gets slung by a lawnmower through your front door!

7. My niece and nephew just had birthdays this month. It doesn't seem possible that they can be 9 and 10 already! I remember when they were born--and it seems like yesterday!

8. 5 weeks of school left (with Thanksgiving in the middle)! ....but who's counting?

9. Today I had lunch with Darci and Michelle, 2 of my very best friends. They are both so laid back and wonderfully dry and witty in their own respective ways. I couldn't ask for better friends.

10. I was so convicted by our Sunday School lesson yesterday. We are going through an Andy Stanley series on Discovering God's Will. Andy brought out a very important principle about God's will. God's will is not advice or His opinion for our consideration. When we seek God's will, we must be willing to say to God, "Your will is most important to me and regardless of what it is our the ramifications to me--I will do it. I want your will more than I want what I want." How many times have I asked God to show me His will, but then lived as though I only wanted it if it was in line with what I already had going on or what I wanted. How often have I considered God's will merely as advice? Ouch.

Stay tuned...

It's feeling like rush hour!!

I'm so impressed with the traffic volume on my site lately! I love it! It makes me want to blog every day! Some of you are still lurkers and don't comment--that's okay too, but feel free to comment anytime!

I'm so glad that our clinical schedule got messed up this week. If it hadn't, I would've missed Friday's class (which we had today) and would have missed A LOT!! Today we learned about congenital heart defects in children. It was really interesting--I enjoy cardiovascular lessons--but really difficult to get my mind around it all. By the end of class I understood way more than I did after reading last night, but still...

I have Micro tonight, which includes a lab test. I'm still shooting for a B in that class and am making high B's or low A's. I just don't have the amount of time or energy it takes to make an A in there. I'm learning a lot and retaining quite a bit too, but I just can't study enough to make an A. My priorities are elsewhere.

Miranda and I leave tonight for convention. It is in Biloxi, so we won't have far to drive, but we'll still be getting there late. I've been nominated for Mississippi Student Nurse of the Year and that will be awarded Friday night. I'll let you know if I get it. I'm excited about convention. There are always lots of vendors with free stuff. In the past (Nursing 1), I've gone just for the free stuff, but now that I'm about to graduate, I'm interested in some of the vendors and who they represent.

1. Did you know that to buy the $2.27 gas at Kash King, you actually have to pay with cash? I know that sounds stupid, but I waited in a really long line only to get to the pump and find I couldn't swipe my card. Who carries cash anymore? What gas station wants all that cash on hand?
2. I've had no time to work on my little scrapbook. I did manage to get to Walmart yesterday and print out some pics to go in it. This is going to be a slow go. Don't expect any pictures anytime soon. I'll get there when I get there. Maybe Thanksgiving break?
3. Alabama is undefeated this football season--ROLL TIDE!!
4. I'm trying to save money for a new digital camera (trying is the operative word). I've been doing research online and think I know which one I want now. It's going to set me back over $600. I have $40 saved so far. I used to have more, but I spent it.

Wow, this ten things list is getting shorter every day! I'm going to keep it up though.

Stay tuned...

We're painting the roses red!

Okay, so I wasn't painting roses, but today at clinical I had my first experience with triple cord dye. It's purple dye that is used on babies' umbilical cords after birth to prevent infection. Suffice it to say that it's tougher to use than I thought. I wasn't having much luck with it and squeezed the tube really hard and it went everywhere! Good grief!

We had a little time conflict today at clinical with the LPN students from our school, so to accomodate schedules, we have swapped our clinical tomorrow and our class friday. I'm not upset by that because the Mississippi Association of Student Nurses convention is this week and I'm going. Because of the convention, I was going to miss class on friday (which I didn't want to do). Now I'll miss a day of clinical, but won't miss the new material to be tested on Monday. We also have a 12 hour clinical next week rather than two days of 6 hrs. I'm excited about it.

Past that, pretty boring day.

1. I got a small scrapbook today. I decided that my best bet with this new scrapbooking idea would be to try a small project to see if I like it. I think I'm going to do a book about my sisters kids. If my pages turn out decent at all, I'll post pics of them.
2. I got my hair cut again today. Now that it is short, it grows SO fast. What's the deal?
3. I've decided that the more adult you become, the less you get to sleep in. Adulthood stinks sometimes. I'm tired.
4. Dave's brother and his wife just had a baby. Her name is Isabella Jada Roshto. I now have 11 nieces and nephews.
5. I'm beginning to see deer on the road every morning, no matter which road I take to school. I'm just waiting for the day when I have to post about hitting a deer with my car--knock on wood.

Okay, just 5 things tonight.

Stay tuned...

Routines--I love 'em!

This morning I overslept. I do it about once a year--"wake up" and in my sleep turn my alarm clock off. I haven't done it yet in nursing school--until this morning. God woke me up at 7:20. I was supposed to leave to meet Leslie at 7:00. Oops. I jumped out of bed, threw on clean clothes, brushed my teeth, brushed my hair and threw my contacts in. I forgot my phone (which made for a dull ride to and from school), but after some not-so-slow driving, made it to class with a minute to spare. I wasn't tardy---whew!

However, all day long, I suffered from paranoia that I stunk. I don't think I did, but still...no shower...yuck. My hair is not the type hair that can go days without being washed (like my sister's), so it was a little shinier (ie, greasier) today. My whole day was thrown off just because I overslept and didn't get a shower.

After class, I had a meeting with the blood drive people to plan a blood drive at the church. What a day to have forgotten my phone and have overslept! I had to go to the meeting unshowered! How humiliating. I don't think she ever suspected I hadn't had a shower, but the whole time we talked, all I could think was, "Can she tell my hair is greasy?"

I finally made it home and the first thing I did...yep, you guessed it...got in the shower! CLEAN AT LAST, I'M CLEAN AT LAST, THANK GOD ALMIGHTY, I'M CLEAN AT LAST!

Tomorrow is clinical, so I can't oversleep. I think today scared me enough that I'll set several alarms tonight.

I think I'm gonna try something new on my blog. There are often things I want to tell you all, but they don't really fit anywhere in a story. I'm going to try to do a top ten list on the bottom of my posts of the things I want to tell you. So here goes:

10. I made an 84 on my test last week. I don't care what they say, I still would think twice before giving po drugs to a woman who is violently throwing up.

9. I got gas today for $2.37 and wanted to shout for joy.

8. I'm trying my hand at scrapbooking. I love all those stickers and pretty paper and stuff. It's an expensive habit, so I tried to just hit the clearance rack at Hobby Lobby today to get a few things (6 stickers shouldn't cost 4.99). We'll see how this goes. I may decide its just too much trouble.

7. Tomorrow I'm back in the nursery. I still don't want to be a nursery, peds or L&D nurse.

6. They are retarring the roof of our nursing building and all the classrooms STINK!! (Maybe that's why no one could smell me today! Small blessings!)

5. This weekend, I got to spend a lot of time with my family. My mom thinks that you get Alzheimer's from eating out of aluminum pans. (I love you Mom!)

4. Halloween is coming and Emily's kids are suiting up. Anna will be a vampire girl (Em says she thinks she wanted to wear a long black dress.), Jacob is Jengo Fett, Jonah is, as he calls him, Flame On (to the rest of us, Johnny Storm from Fantastic Four), and Thomas will wear a Halloween shirt and jeans.


3. My dogs are learning to like each other. They're not there yet, but they have no choice. Bama still cries a lot and Trevor barks at him. I think Trevor still thinks Bama is his toy. I bought Trevor a frisbee this weekend, so I could teach him to catch it. I think Trevor would do okay, but my frisbee won't fly. It just falls and rolls on the ground.

2. I'm getting my hair cut again tomorrow. How come when your hair is short, it grows faster?

1. My friend Darci has started a blog of her own. She's a phenomenal writer and is dry and witty. Feel free to check her out! http://www.darcib.blogspot.com/

Wow, having ten things to say was easier than I thought!



Stay tuned...

I've been plagerized!

Okay, so Leslie and I often tell the same stories on our respective blogs since so many of our hours are spent together (she's in my clinical group this semester). I've even noticed that every now and then, she'll pull pics from my blog to put on hers--no big deal. But then the other day, she posted an entry that she took directly from my blog! Not just the pics, but the whole thing! She changed it so that it seemed like she wrote it and then published it! LOL!!!! The title of her post--A New Level of Laziness! How fitting!!

We've all be so exhausted lately! Leslie's comment about our clinical group the other morning was, "We all look like we've been drinking for a week!" All you other nurses who keep up with my blog can probably relate. I'm sure there were times during nursing school that you looked pretty rough too!

There is an end in sight though!!!

Stay tuned...

Introducing my boys!

I have been letting Trevor and Bama spend a little time together every day. Trevor thinks Bama is a toy I think. Neither one is very sure about the other one!

Trevor bites on the back of Bama's neck, but he doesn't seem to mind. Yesterday, I let them play together and had to bring Bama inside to get a bath afterward to wash off all Trevor's slobber. Bama wants to be wherever Trevor is and vice versa. It'll take a little time, but I think they'll end up being great brothers.

Dave is preaching in Alabama this weekend, so Leslie is keeping Bama for me. Trevor will be fine here, but I didn't want to leave the baby. Thanks Lez!!!

And the verdict is....

BAMA!!!

Ode to Romeka

There is a really cool girl in my nursing class. We met in Nsg 1, but I didn't get to know her very well until Nsg 2. She and I did our respiratory therapy rotation together. Romeka is so laid back--she's like the opposite of me. She's got a very dry sense of humor (which is probably why I like her so much)--she cracks me up!

Today at clinical, Romeka was going over her doctors' orders for her care plan and she suddenly read, "Hold hand 8 hrs q day." Now I know that our patients at this facility are often maximum care patients, but I never dreamed a doctor would write an order for hand holding!
As it turned out it was pitiful doctor handwriting and the order was actually to hold a certain med for 8 hrs, but the look on Romeka's face when she thought she was going to have to go hold her pt's hand for 8 hrs was priceless!!!!!

I think everyone needs a Romeka in their life--especially if you're going through nursing school! She makes things so much lighter!

A day of many posts.

Today at clinical (our last day at this clinical facility--hallelujah!), my patient was gone, so I got a new pt. That was fine b/c it changed my daily routine. The day was pretty slow though. At one point, we were all sitting around trying to think of a name for my new puppy. We were going through the alphabet (which is trickier than you'd think, as I just established in a another post) and Leslie kept throwing out names. I told her that I didn't want a sissy name, since New Puppy will be a big boy dog when he's grown. I also like 2 syllable names so that when you call the dog, his name fits just right. So she threw out several names...

Harley

Dobby

Chaco

Baxter

Cody

Barton

Clipper

Dakota

Then she said, How about Patch? I replied, "That's not a 2 syllable name." She laughed and said, "Sure it is, you can just yell, 'Paaaa-aaaatch'"

Only in the south can 1 syllable words become 2 syllables without even trying.

Feel free to keep the voting going. We also thought of:

Max

Ace

Durango

I'm open to any input you have, but sorry Sam, Rebel just didn't make the cut--I think I'd name him Princess first! :) It would be heretical (or something) to name my dog Rebel! :)

Stay tuned...

You hope your nurse knows the alphabet!

We're past midterm and I think our whole class would unanimously say--WE'RE EXHAUSTED!!! I was driving home from clinical yesterday and came to a red light in Hattiesburg. I thought to myself, "It would feel so good to just shut my eyes." I almost did, but decided if I closed my eyes, I'd go to sleep.
While Leslie and I were on our way home yesterday, I commented to her that I got a new backpack purse, but it's solid brown and I want to get it monogrammed to add some color. She suggested I put Lad on it instead of my initials. I thought it was a cute idea. The rest of the conversation went something like this:

Lez: Yeah, put 'Lad', L.A.D. It would stand for loud, obnoxious and......boisterous!

Lad: Boisterous doesn't start with a D!! **LOL**

We laughed for a minute and then it dawned on me...

Lad: Obnoxious doesn't start with an A either!!!

We've gotten the biggest kick out of this story. It totally didn't bother me to be called obnoxious since it didn't even start with an A. It somehow made everything okay.

I'm serious when I say we're all exhausted.

Stay tuned.

Our new kid is here!!!

I finally got word that the puppies are ready. (That's sounds so Cruella DeVil!) They are only 5 weeks old, but are weaned and have been away from momma for 1 week. I have a vet appointment Monday for a puppy checkup and 6 week shots.
Dave and I went and picked him out. He's so cute!!
We're not decided on a name yet. We're tossing out some ideas...Jack...Cosmo...Bama (just to torment our MS friends)...feel free to vote!
He's so small! He's just a little fur-ball!

More pics to come. Stay tuned...

What a day!

This week has been HORRIBLE!!!
Monday was midterm--yuck! That was by far the hardest test I've ever taken in my entire life. How can a multiple choice test be that hard? One of the four answers is right--you just have to pick the right one! Sounds simple right? WRONG!!!
We all left looking shell-shocked. There was stuff on that test that we never did talk about in class. The questions were fair since the topics were within our reading material, but a few of them were low blows. I haven't gotten my test back to see which ones I missed, but I did find out I made a 76! That's tied with my lowest test grade EVER! The whole class made between 60-85--and there was only one 85. That doesn't speak well for the test since there are several of us that normally make A's and high B's. Oh well, I guess its water under the bridge now. We'll get it back on Friday and I'll get to see exactly what I messed up on.

I'm so tired and I just want to go home, but I still have my micro class tonight. I think I left home without my backpack this morning. Hmmm... oh well, can't do anything about it now.

Night before last, I woke up at 1:30 in the morning, got out of bed, turned off the alarm (that wasn't going off) and went to the bathroom to start getting ready to leave for clinical. I realized I was very tired and it was very dark outside and thought I might should check the clock. By then I was awake enough to realize that I'm not supposed to get up THAT early. How frustrating! By then, I'd been up long enough to keep me from going right back to sleep.
I wish I could be a night nurse now. My body doesn't know how to wake up early in the mornings. Right now, my sleep schedule is rebelling!

stay tuned...

Super Trevor!

I love this picture--his tongue looks so big!! It isn't that big in real life.

Trevor has learned to sit. However, he sits whenever I say "Trevor" not when I say "sit". I think we're gonna have to work on that some more. He's also learning "stay".

Trevor is REALLY good a fetch now! Look at thoes ears! He's a really great dog!!

Tales From the Hike: Part I

Around our house (within a 15-20 mile radius) are lots of hiking trails. Seeing as how I spend a lot of time sitting down lately (with my 1 hour school commute and then study time when I'm at home--plus blog time), I thought I needed to find something active to do. I was discussing this with Lonnie (the guy who has the pond that I take Trevor to swim in--and Katie's owner) one day while we were sitting on the deck of the pond one Monday. I asked him whether it was safe to hike the trails. Specifically, was I going to run into any meth labs out in the woods. He said that he was pretty sure they were okay to hike. Then he tried to give me directions to them. My eyes glazed over immediately. On all the back roads around here, everything begins looking the same. So he told me when I wanted to go to let him know and he just take me over there and show me. Sounded like a plan to me. Wednesday after church, I went and found him and said--I'm ready to go hiking--tomorrow! He was free (He's retired, he ought to be free) and agreed to take me to the trail head. He asked if I intended to hike some too and I said I did. We planned to leave at 0730.



Aside #1: I feel the need to tell you a bit about Lonnie before I go on with this story. Lonnie is retired military special forces. He runs just about every day. He once floated the creek and a snake got in the boat with him and his wife, so he picked up the snake and ripped it in two. He's the kind of guy I want around when I find a snake on the trail! But there's another side of Lonnie too. He's honest to a fault, but he would just as soon climb a tree to mess with you than to stand on the ground and leave you alone. But he's a good 'ole guy. I really enjoy hanging out with him and his wife.



So the next morning, we set out. I took Trevor with me, just too see how he'd do. I wanted to know if I took him out and about would he stay with me or run off. I didn't take my leash, which could have been a disaster, but bless his little doggy heart, Trev stayed right with us all day. We went to the trail head to see if we could start our hike there, but after Gustav-the-Let-Down, the area was just a marsh. Lonnie was concerned that there would be too many snakes in that area (and he didn't want to have to rip them apart). So we went farther up the trail to higher ground. We parked the jeep and started out on our short hike (or we thought it would be short). We walked...and walked...and walked. There were several bridges (one that was broken) and lots of hills. The trail blazes seemed very new and we didn't have too much trouble staying on the trail. After a while, Lonnie told me that we could stop whenever I wanted to. I was afraid I was looking pretty ragged, but I didn't want him to think I was a chicken or sissy, so I plodded on. After all, this guy is ex-military, he still runs every day--He could leave me in the dust if he wanted to (or so I thought).

Finally, we hit a road. We estimated that we had walked about 4-5 miles at that point. The trail crossed the road, but we decided that we should turn back instead since we'd have to retrace our steps to get back to the Jeep. About halfway back, we began taking 5 minute breaks at the top of the steep hills. I was getting tired, but was okay. It was nearing lunch time, so my energy reserves had long since been tapped. Lonnie on the other hand was on the ground. At the top of the hills, we'd stop for a 5 minute water break. Then it got to the point that Lonnie wanted to stop at the bottom AND the top for a 5 minute water break. Then he wanted to stop at the top, the bottom AND THE MIDDLE!!! I began to see that all those times he told me we could stop whenever I wanted--he was begging me to turn around!!

To make matters worse, on the way back, we got in a pretty heavy rain. It didn't last long, but still... Being a rookie hiker, I had no hiking shoes, so I wore old tennis shoes. Because we'd had so much rain, my feet were wet by 30 minutes into our hike. By the time we walked 4-1/2 hours, my feet were drenched. I decided right then and there, before I hiked again, I'd get appropriate footwear (after all, who needs an excuse to get a new pair of shoes).

But back to my story...By the time we got back to the Jeep, I was afraid Lonnie would never hike with me again! He had dark circles under his eyes and wasn't moving as quickly.

We drove back to Lonnie's house to get my truck and I headed home. I slept good that night. We estimated that we hiked (not walked--HIKED) 8-10 miles that day. I got one picture of my hike. Keep in mind that this is after hiking a great distance and being rained on. It is not a pretty sight!! :) With my bandana (too keep my hair out of my face) and my camouflage pants (because they shed water easily and are breathable) Lonnie told me I looked like a South American guerilla. He has called me Poncho Villa a couple times too!







Lonnie's wife told me the following Sunday that when she got home, Lonnie was collapsed in the chair and looked pretty rough. She said he didn't move for the rest of the evening. She got a good kick out of him! Lonnie, Carol, Dave and I have since had several good laughs about our hiking trip. Dave and Carol aren't about to go with us, but don't mind laughing at our escapades.



Lonnie and I have planned to hike the second part of the trail this Thursday. I'm still debating whether to take Trevor. He needs the exercise and is really good, but that means I have to bring water for him too (that's extra weight). I'll probably take him anyway.

I wasn't kidding about that footwear thing either. Today, Leslie and I were in Hattiesburg and were going right near one of the outdoor stores. I talked her into going in and looking at hiking shoes with me (it wasn't hard--she's very outdoorsy).



Aside #2: Leslie has these sandals that she wears practically every day. I had never heard of this brand until I met her. They are Chacos. I'm sure all of you readers have heard of them before and I'm just shoe-sheltered or something. She has always told me that they are the most comfortable shoes/sandals.



We went into the store and I told the sales guy that I was looking for hiking shoes. He first showed me hiking boots. I didn't want boots though. They get too heavy after a while and I'm not hiking the Appalachian Trail or anything anyway. So then he showed me hiking shoes (much like tennis shoes). I really wanted something that would keep me from walking around in wet shoes again though. Leslie said, "Then get Chacos". I didn't think that sandals would be a good option for hiking, but Leslie, the sales guy and (per Leslie) her sister all hike in their Chacos. So I relented. They will be a great way to keep my feet from having to be cooped up in wet shoes. Here are my new hiking shoes. I plan on wearing them all night tonight and then after clinical for the next couple of days. Hopefully by then I'll be okay to hike in them. Leslie and the sales guy both thought it would.





Stay tuned for Tales From the Hike: Part II.

Spring Memories

Just playing around with a picture I took this spring when my azaleas were in bloom (for a week).

When I die...

I know my title sounds morbid, but I don't mean it that way at all. Over the past week, one of our pillar church members passed away and the father of one of our church members (who we've been praying for a lot lately) passed away. This has been a weekend of funerals. As I sat in the funeral service yesterday, I thought about a lot of things. The lady that passed away had a stroke years ago, and since we've been in Wiggins, she has been confined to a wheelchair and her communication ability has been limited. But her funeral yesterday was wonderful. Her family did a wonderful job. I left the funeral feeling like I knew her better than before.
When I die, I hope those people who attend my funeral that really didn't get to know me well, leave feeling like the know me better too.

How cool would that be?

And I repeat--I won't be a L&D nurse!

Today was my first day in hospital clinical. It was fine. Nothing was really wrong with it--I just didn't like it.
But I felt like there was nothing to do all day. That's not really true since I spent most of my morning in monitoring vital signs, keeping a baby warm and working with breastfeeding education. But my baby wasn't sick. He wasn't in pain. He wasn't getting any meds. He was just--there.
My instructor hesitantly told me that she wished we'd have a baby crash.
***She didn't mean it because she wanted harm to come to any baby. She just wanted us to have the experience of it. Don't think ill of her. She's not sadistic.***
She said everything speeds up then since when a baby crashes, it goes fast.
I don't want a baby to crash on me. I'm sure my adrenaline will kick in and I'll be able to cope, but I think I'd cry for hours after that.
There were many times today that I just didn't know what to do. I don't like feeling that way. I felt so out of control. I didn't do anything wrong. I was doing exactly what I was supposed to be doing. It is just different from all my other clinicals.
I have night class tonight, so I'm sitting in the computer lab right now wasting time before my class at 5pm. I really dread this class tonight. I like the instructor--she's great. I am even learning a lot in the class. But the class consists of copying powerpoint slides. I write faster than most of the class (b/c they think they need to write every word) and spend a lot of time just sitting there waiting. But I'd hate to like pull out a book and start reading or something. That would be pretty rude (and no mom, I'm not rude). So I sit....and sit...and feel like I'm wasting time.

But I have tomorrow off! I'm getting my hair cut again. I got it cut up to my shoulders, but I want it cut more. The Nursing 4 instructors are not sticklers on hair like the Nsg 1 & 2 instructors were. As long as its out of my face, they're fine. So here we go...

Stay tuned...

My mind map led to a dead end!

Today, in lieu of clinical at the hospital, our Nursing 4 class (and the Nsg 5's) went to a workshop on mind mapping. It is 8 mothods to organize any and all information--supposedly.
I really think the lady meant well. I think that she had some valuable information to give. That said, she spoke for 6 hours on it!!! I could have condensed it--without leaving any important things out in about 1-2 hours. Someone along the chain of command thought it would be good for us during our last or next to last semester of college to be exposed to a new way of learning! We all sat in that workshop today thinking that the speaker was on crack. By this point, we've all refined (or at least should have refined) our way of learning. I know what works for me as well as what doesn't. But she droned on anyway.
I'm afraid that if I tried to use this stuff consistently like they want us to, I'd fail.

I started feeling sorry for the lady though. By the end of the day, no one was listening to her anymore. The Nursing 5 class was all studying. A lot of the nursing 4's were working on other stuff (I was working on a daily plan). And when we weren't working on school stuff, we were talking to each other.
Today was a waste of a clinical day--period.

Bottom line: If it ain't broke--Don't fix it!

Trevor's new trick

Trevor now fetches a ball in the water. I took him to the pond yesterday and he played with Katie for hours. He and Katie will race for the ball in the water. Usually Katie wins, but Trevor is getting faster every week.



He's over 4 months old now--and getting big.
I think tomorrow we'll go hiking in the woods. I've been out of school from the hurricane all week. Well, actually, Monday was Labor Day and then I was out yesterday and today. Tomorrow is my regularly scheduled off day. I go back Friday right in time for a test--bummer. That said, I want to get outside tomorrow and give Trevor another opportunity to run around for a while. We'll see how that goes. It may blow up in my face, but I hope not.

Twitterpainted

Love is in the air--LOVEBUGS that is. They are absolutely everywhere! I can't even walk into the carport without them landing all over me. They are gross!!! Soon the front of all our vehicles will be black from dead love bugs.
For those of you who don't live this far south, this is what a love bug is:



Yes, they are doing what you think they're doing!
For those of you who have lovebugs at your house too--you feel my pain, I'm sure.
I wonder what purpose lovebugs have. Why did God create them? They have no shame, that's for sure!

Trevor's new brother is born!

Derek's dog had her puppies! She had 10 of them (6 chocolates and 4 blacks). Derek was a little (or a lot) off on his estimation of their birthdate, but oh well! Derek is out of town for the week, but I'll get to go over and see them next weekend. I'll get pics and then you all have to really get to work on a name for our new kid!
And yes...I know they're not really related, but they'll be backyard brothers!

So much catching up to do...and a storm

Wow, its been a few days since I've posted and then it was more pictures than anything else. So let me catch you all up on what's been going on. I think the biggest thing is...

I made it through the first two weeks of school!

They crammed a lot of work into those two weeks. But I passed everything!!! PTL! I made it through check-offs and starting my first IV. I passed my drug test with almost a 100 (I misspelled a drug name and it was too close to another drug to give me credit for it), I passed my math test, gave a presentation on obesity, and best of all in the midst of all the madness they gave us a unit test (on classroom lecture material) and I made an 84!!! I've never been happier for an 84! That test was the morning after my Wednesday night Microbiology class from 5-10pm. That means I don't get home until after 11pm. By that time, I was exhausted. I made myself read through my notes one time and then went to bed. An 84 turned out to be a pretty high grade on that test too!
Now class has calmed down some, which I'm so thankful for. Clinical has started now too. I missed going to clinical.
Last week though, I rotated to pediatric patients. I had a feeling about this, but I have decided--I WON'T BE A PEDIATRIC NURSE!!! I was so ready to get out of peds work. I hated it. The doctor I followed all day was GREAT, the staff was great, but I didn't like it at all. I can't really put my finger on why I didn't like it, but unless it's the last job on earth, I'll not be taking care of pediatric patients. I love babies and kids, but that doesn't mean I want to be their nurse.

The latest south Mississippi news--Hurricane Gustav! Everyone here is making preparations to be hit (either minor or major hit) by the (now) Category 4 Hurricane bearing down on the Gulf. it looks right now as though we're gonna be on the outside of the bad side of it, but you never know what will happen. We've got water, candles, TP and new batteries in our flashlights. Past that, I have a deep freeze full of food. If we need food, I'm cook that instead of losing it. I'm not sure what else to do to prepare. Now we're just waiting.

Stay tuned for new updates!

Trevor's Photo Shoot

Notice the new collar. He has QUICKLY outgrown the medium sized collar we got him when he was 6 weeks old. When we got it, we had to have it at the smallest size and it was still big. I took it off of him a couple of days ago because it was too tight (let out all the way). So last night, I went to PetSmart and got him a size Large collar. It is huge on him even though I have it taken up all the way. He'll grow into it. I also got him a tag--a cool tag. It's Batman. It was the only boyish tag they had. I wasn't getting him a pink one or just a boring round silver one. So, he's the Batdog. I love it!



He's the coolest dog ever! I was worried that I wouldn't like him as much as I liked Trevor the First, but I do. It helps that he thinks I'm the coolest girl in the world too!

We're getting a new kid!

Okay, so not a human kid, but a new kid nonetheless.

One of the guys at church has this awesome choc lab named Dozier. I've always loved Dozier--he's so smart and beautiful! Then he got a golden retriever and named HER Daisy. I guess he didn't think about, but before he knew it--Daisy is pregnant!
He's asked me before if I wanted a puppy and I said yes, but Dave would have a fit. Well, tonight at church, he said something in front of Dave and Dave's reply was that Trevor could use a friend. I jumped on that! Dave is serious though. He is totally okay with getting another dog.

Daisy is only about one month along (the gestation period of a dog is 62 or 63 days--Thank you Darci), so we still have about 2 months before we'll get it. Derek promised me first pick of the liter though since I have claimed one first. Hooray!

I'm taking any and all suggestions for names!

Trevor says hello!

I tried to get new pics of Trevor to post so you can all see how big he's gotten, but he wouldn't hold still. I'll post what I got, but I finally got tired of trying to keep him sitting.
We're still working on the "Stay" command, but he doesn't really understand it. He wants to go wherever I go.
What can I say--he loves me!

I caught a little baby bumble bee--Ouch! It stung me!

Trevor and I needed a break from studying and school, so we headed to the pond. One of our church members has a pond with a wonderful deck and also a German Shepherd named Katie. Trevor, Katie and I played for a good long while, but then I sat down to visit with Katie's owner. While we were sitting there talking, I felt something on my pinkie finger. I squeezed my hand and before I knew it--I'd been stung.
I haven't been stung in so long I can't remember. It hurts something awful though! The fiery pain radiated through my whole finger. In only about 15 minutes, my little finger was swollen up and looked like a little sausage. Praise God I'm not allergic! I don't know what stung me; I didn't get a good look at it. I think it was probably a yellow jacket though.
I'm fine now, no more swelling.

I'm an IV Leaguer!

Yeah, so that's corny, but oh well...I'm thrilled that I've made it through (most) of today. This morning I made it to school and sat around until time for my maternal drug test and check-offs.
I'm tired, so suffice it to say--I passed it all.

I have Microbiology tonight from 5-10, then I go home to study for my unit test tomorrow. After tomorrow, my life goes back to normal--sort of.
I still have a math test next week, but I'm okay with that.

I'm so sleepy!!!!!!!!!

There aren't enough hours in the day...

I am at another point where I have more to do than I have hours left to do it.

I started school again last Thursday--actually, Wednesday was orientation and we had work due for Thursday, so pick which day you think we started.
This week, I have skills check-offs (return demonstrations of required skills), a written test on newborn assessment, a unit test over 3 class lectures, a drug test (not to see if I'm on drugs, but to make sure I know the common OB drugs), and probably a pop test tomorrow.
I am SO swamped!

Needless to say, i don't have much time to update my blog. Sorry, but it is just going to have to stay this way (half finished) and I'm not even sure I like this background yet. We'll see. Please feel free to comment on whether you like it or not.

I'm so sleepy!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pardon my mess

The blog is under construction again. I got tired of looking at a dull blog. So, I'm working on it. Some of you know from my high school pre-engineering class that I stink at writing computer code, although html is much easier than Basic. I'm learning though. Lots of trial and error--more error than trial.

Hang in there with me and I'll have a new and improved blog up and running. Hopefully by tonight. Then I'll catch everyone up on what's going on with me.

Thanks and stay tuned...

Indiana Jonah

While we were at my mama and papa's last week, Jacob and Jonah were pretending to be Indiana Jones. I caught this great picture of Indiana Jonah right before they left going home. Little Indy has a busted up face from his last adventure. He took a face first dive right into the cement sidewalk. He had a huge goose egg of a knot on his head and skint (sp?) his face all up. He seems to be okay--and now he looks the part too!

Teen Leadership Camp

We took a group of teenagers to Teen Leadership Camp in Arkansas a couple of weeks ago. It was awesome! I think God worked on me as much or more than He did the teens. The theme this year was, "I am not, but I know I AM". Before we left, I picked up the book Boundaries that I had started about a year ago, but didn't finish when nursing school started. God really impressed me that it was time to read that book--and once I got to camp, I understood why (kind of). Both the camp speakers and the book focused on learning who I am, and who I am not. In the Boundaries book, it used the concept in terms of learning where to set boundaries. Since I'm a compulsive volunteerer, I really do have to work on being able to identify what roles are not meant for me and say no. The camp speakers focused on who we are not and who God is. I'm doing a horrible job explaining this, but suffice it to say, God is teaching me about boundaries--with other people and with myself. I'm not claiming to have it perfect (or even good) yet, but He's still workin' on me.

Camp was really awesome though. Our kids were great--and a lot of fun. One of our boys taught me to dance (as best as he could--he didn't have much to work with). We had rec time, which was lots of fun.


And worship services were great! The band was really good and did a fantastic job leading in worship.

I'm already looking forward to camp next year!

Funny Trevor

Trevor and I went to my mamaw and papa's house last week. We hadn't been there 5 minutes and I looked out the window and saw this white blob walking past the porch. I did a double take and realized--it was Trevor. I don't know where he found this milk jug, but apparently there was something in the bottom of it that he thought he just HAD to see! Bless his heart, he couldn't get his head back out though. Before you call PETA, I didn't leave it on him but long enough to take a couple of pictures. I thought it was absolutely hilarious!

Trevor's new look!

Okay, I didn't say he liked it. It lasted until he could manage to get it off! He's still a bit small for it. There was too much left over after tying around his neck for him to chew on. Oh well...he'll grow into it! He sure looks good in red though!



I thought this was just the sweetest face. We were playing tug of war and I caught this picture!



Trevor's favorite toy--an empty plastic water bottle. I guess he likes it because it makes noise, and he can bite on it. He is constantly chasing across the yard. He's just like a kid, buy himi toys and what does he want--a plastic bottle.




I cleaned his pool today and refilled it. He and I both got in it since the water was nice and cold! He likes it, but I don't think he knows what to do with it yet. He'll learn!

Happy 9 week birthday to Trevor

Trevor is 9 weeks old today! He's growing like a weed. He's totally codependent though. He is an outside dog and wants to badly to be with us ALL THE TIME!!!

We play everyday, but when he has to go back in the fence, he cries something aweful!

Today we have a vet appt for Trevors second round of shots. Poor Trevor! I have a good vet though. They are really sweet to the dogs.

I'm really excited because later this week, we're (Dave, me and Trevor) going to Mama and Papa's house for the 4th of July!! Hooray! I love the 4th at my grandparents!! Trevor will get to play with the other dogs and run around til his heart is content! My cousin Amber has a yellow lab that is just a bit older than Trevor will be. I'm sure they'll play very hard!! I'm also excited for Emily to get to see him!

Enjoy the pics. This is us outside today playing! He's great at tug-of-war!