Okay, everybody, so I have seriously dropped the ball, but I'm trying to get back in the game. I have begun mailing my Christmas cards (I know, I know, I should've warned you all to take a seat before I let that loose--take a deep breath and put your head between your knees if you need to in order to keep from fainting), but I did not print out an annual newletter to go along with the family photo greeting. My printer is acting up. I plan to use my blogspot to update everyone on our past year's events in the Wilborn-White household. Who knew a plain old first class postage stamp was way up to $0.44? Anyway...
The semester is almost over!! I have my final exam on Monday 12/7/09 and my final evaluation on Tuesday. I was just beginning Nursing care of children and families (pediatrics) when I last blogged. I have pretty much made up my mind that little people aren't for me when it comes to nursing. What an emotional 8 weeks, I am here to tell you. My first patient was a 6-year old little boy with pneumonia. I got to follow him down to surgery to have a chest tube placed--YIKES! It was grueling, and I wasn't even the one being cut, punctured, suctioned, drained, etc. The following week my patient went home a couple of hours after I got onto the floor, so I took another patient: a six-month-old baby girl who had suffered irreparable brain damage at the hands of her mother's boyfriend--subdural hematomas, fractured skull, the works. There was so much activity around her room-speech therapists working with her to see if she would be able to eat by mouth; occupational and physical therapists (baby girl couldn't even hold up her head), respiratory therapist for the rattle in her chest. My heart just broke into pieces for her. The nurses predicted that she would be a "vegetable" (that is, continue growing physically but never develop to her potential, cognitively) and eventually become a ward of the state. A couple weeks later found me in the Transitional Care Unit (or TCU) where babies who have been hospitalized for some time are about to "transition" home with all of their tubes, wires, bags, bells & whistles. One patient was a 14-month-old girl who was born with some rare syndrome with all sorts of cognitive and physiological complications. Her mom had a sign posted on the hospital wall showing tally marks for where baby had lived since birth. All but 23 of the marks were at Cooks Children's Medical Center. Baby was on a respirator and received tube feedings, and Mom was with her most of the time. Another patient in the TCU had been a healthy preteen up until several months ago when her mothers (nontraditional family) noticed a decline in her grades at school as well as her physical and mental abilities. She would have been a perfect case for "mystery diagnosis" because no one could figure out what was going on with her. You can't really treat what you can't diagnose. Finally, the third of my patients on this floor was a 4-month old little boy who was born with some musculoskeltal deformities. His rib cage was misshapen, he had a club foot, his stomach was up higher than it should be. Talk about the cutest baby, though! He smiled and laughed at me but made no sound because he, too, had a tracheostomy and was on a ventilator. They were trying to wean him off of it by turning off the respirator for one hour at a time twice a day. His parents had not been to see him in several days. I, personally, cannot imagine going days without seeing my baby, but I certainly understand that the cost of getting around and having other children to tend to at home and having to work can be quite the burden. At the TCU an important aspect of the baby's care is teaching the parents to use all of the equipment that will be coming home with their special needs children. When my instructor visited the unit to see how my day was going, I felt that familiar sting around my eye lids and broke into tears when I was trying to tell her about my patients. I told her I didn't think Pedi was for me (talk about an understatement!). My eyes are welling up now just remembering that day. I'm thinking I'll stick with labor and delivery, thank you very much! Anyway...
Next semester's schedule is already posted. It looks like I will be with some of my original classmates from Foundations (first semester) once again. I will have lecture from 8 a.m. to noon on Mondays and clinicals from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Tuesdays at Harris Methodist-Downtown. Mondays and Tuesdays will be tough because after lecture I'm guessing I'll have to swing by the hospital to choose my patient(s) and complete paperwork before Tuesday morning, but getting kiddoes to and from school on Wednesdays will no longer be an issue since I'll be available to do that. I'll still be able to do my lunch monitor thing at Alisa's school on Thursdays as well. My instructor for clnicals is one of the few male nursing instructors, Mr. McGraw. I had him for one of my skills check offs while I was in Foundations, and he seems pretty down to earth. I have heard positive reports about him thus far. I am looking forward to the home stretch!
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Saturday, October 17, 2009
I'm a survivor!
It seems that the times between blogs is getting longer and longer. Something I used to try to do daily gradually shifted to a couple of times a week to every couple of weeks. It's not that I don't have things to blog about. It's just that the whole "time management" issue with home, family and school has not worked itself out just yet. I'm trying!
I chose the title "I'm a survivor" because I just finished my 8 weeks of OB/Newborn...and passed with an A in clinicals and a B (as in barely) for theory. The clinicals were great. I actually witnessed two births and cared for newborns in the newborn nursery and neonatal intensive care unit as well as a new mom in Postpartum and an expectant mom in antepartum. The experience was just awesome if not way too short. The theory grade was based on two exams only. The first one covered "normal" pregnancy, labor and delivery plus the healthy newborn. It wasn't too bad. The second exam covered complicated pregnancy/childbirth, contraceptives, women's health, etc. It was a "bugger-boo" as my father-in-law would say. I came oh-so-close to not even passing the exam. Several of my classmates didn't pass the exam or the course and will have to move on to Pediatrics, but re-take the OB/Newborn segment in the spring. My heart, mind and livelihood are so set on a May 2010 graduation I don't know what I would do if I had to wait until December 2010 to graduate. I guess I'd do like everyone else and cope with it somehow. It would definitely be difficult.
So, this week it's on to Cooks Children's Hospital in Fort Worth for the remaining eight weeks of this semester. I feel like I've been printing paperwork all weekend long in preparation. No wonder the computer lab in the nursing building has banned nursing students from printing on campus. If 10 students printed out all of the paperwork for clinicals, they'd probably go through a ream of paper every hour. Imagine that times the 100 or so students per graduating class! I'm just looking at all of the paperwork coupled with the fact that the paperwork is due at the end of clinicals and I'm wondering how I'm going to do it. If anyone feels like praying or is looking for something to pray about, "pick me! pick me!" I can use all of the prayers I can get! I must close for now. It's after midnight, and we're planning to attend 8 a.m. mass then C.C.E. at 9 a.m. Good night. Until next time...
I chose the title "I'm a survivor" because I just finished my 8 weeks of OB/Newborn...and passed with an A in clinicals and a B (as in barely) for theory. The clinicals were great. I actually witnessed two births and cared for newborns in the newborn nursery and neonatal intensive care unit as well as a new mom in Postpartum and an expectant mom in antepartum. The experience was just awesome if not way too short. The theory grade was based on two exams only. The first one covered "normal" pregnancy, labor and delivery plus the healthy newborn. It wasn't too bad. The second exam covered complicated pregnancy/childbirth, contraceptives, women's health, etc. It was a "bugger-boo" as my father-in-law would say. I came oh-so-close to not even passing the exam. Several of my classmates didn't pass the exam or the course and will have to move on to Pediatrics, but re-take the OB/Newborn segment in the spring. My heart, mind and livelihood are so set on a May 2010 graduation I don't know what I would do if I had to wait until December 2010 to graduate. I guess I'd do like everyone else and cope with it somehow. It would definitely be difficult.
So, this week it's on to Cooks Children's Hospital in Fort Worth for the remaining eight weeks of this semester. I feel like I've been printing paperwork all weekend long in preparation. No wonder the computer lab in the nursing building has banned nursing students from printing on campus. If 10 students printed out all of the paperwork for clinicals, they'd probably go through a ream of paper every hour. Imagine that times the 100 or so students per graduating class! I'm just looking at all of the paperwork coupled with the fact that the paperwork is due at the end of clinicals and I'm wondering how I'm going to do it. If anyone feels like praying or is looking for something to pray about, "pick me! pick me!" I can use all of the prayers I can get! I must close for now. It's after midnight, and we're planning to attend 8 a.m. mass then C.C.E. at 9 a.m. Good night. Until next time...
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Wow, I can't believe...
...how long it's been since my last blog. There's no way I can possibly catch up almost a month of life events in a single blog, so I'll just focus on my birthday last week and go from there. My birthday was on Wednesday, 9/23, but Mike & the kids treated me to dinner on Tuesday, my sister-in-law Lani's birthday. It was a good thing because Aaron had a football game, Alisa had tutoring and Mike ended up working late on Wednesday.
I was exhausted from going to bed much too late on Monday night and waking up way too early on Tuesday morning for clinicals, so the grouch in me groaned when everyone shuffled in from football practice and Tia's house, etc. excitedly telling me to change out of my uniform because they had a surprise in mind. Aaron asked why I never answered him about my favorite restaurant. I told him I don't really have a single favorite restaurant; it just depends on what kind of food I'm in the mood for (or where I have a coupon for). So, he asked me where I'd like to go for dinner. I shuffled through some coupons on the table and found one for Red Lobster, so that was decided. Alisa went in my bedroom and laid out an outfit and some jewelry. All I could think of was how much paperwork I had to complete and how tired I was, but I forged on ahead. Why be a party pooper, right?
We went to Red Lobster and PaPa & Tia (my parents) joined us. We were seated promptly because we arrived before the evening crowd (which might not have even been that bad on a Tuesday night anyway). Mike, Aaron & Alisa ordered the all you can eat shrimp feast, I ordered the hardwood grilled tilapia topped with shrimp salsa. Mom and Dad split an order of the same. Of course, I was just about full after eating the cheese-garlic biscuits and my salad! My stomach hurt watching the rest of the crowd eat shrimp after shrimp: cajun shrimp, fried shrimp, shrimp teriyaki, garlic butter shrimp scampi, coconut shrimp (Forrest Gump come to mind?). I had peeped a cake from the Red Oven Bakery in the fridge at home, so I brought home most of my entree in an effort to save a little room for cake. Besides, I like to eat when I'm hungry and the food still tastes good. When you just keep going through the motions of eating when you're already full, you lose half of the pleasure of eating, in my opinion. Anyway...PaPa & Tia followed us home for the cake and ice cream, then PaPa watched some of whatever game was on TV with Mike while Tia, the kids and I visited at the table. Finally, I shooed little people away to get going with baths and homework. My eyes were heavy, and I was overstuffed to boot. The cake was Italian Cream with cream cheese icing complete with pecans and coconut-YUM! Mike had also bought Blue Bell homemade vanilla and my personal favorite, Moolinneum Crunch. I had to pass on the ice cream, though. I'd already wreaked havoc on my digestive system with everything else I'd consumed. There was a single message on the answering machine from Rodney (female with a male name), a friend of mine in Dallas. She sounded out of it, and the message sounded like she said her father had passed away. Never having met her father, and thinking he had been deceased since before I met Rodney, I called her back and got her answering machine after PaPa & Tia had left for the evening.
After I helped A & A with their homework, I didn't think I could go on another hour without a nap at least, but I knew I had paperwork due first thing in the morning from clinicals as well. I decided to catch about an hour nap, then forge ahead until I couldn't make it anymore, then get a couple hours of sleep before getting everyone off to school in the morning, including myself.
As soon as I laid down Rodney called me back (this was about 9:30 p.m.). It turns out it was her mother who had passed away (her father had been deceased for some years). I'd known Cynthia as long as I've known Rodney, and she never had been in the best of health due to a history of diabetes (not very well-controlled) and a stroke almost 20 years ago. Still, the news was quite unexpected. I allowed Rodney to explain all of the events of the past few days leading up to her mother's death, but I could tell I was nodding in and out of conciousness. After an hour she "let me go" so I could get on with whatever I was doing. The house was quiet. I think Mike was still up watcing television, but the kids were in the bed. I attempted to delve into the paperwork, but I was just too tired to focus, so I laid down around 11:30 and got up again at 1:30 a.m. and went back to the drawing board. I arose from the table satisfied with what I'd come up with on my paperwork only to find it was 5:45 a.m. I knew there was no going to sleep for fear that I'd oversleep since I normally get up at 6:30 a.m. Needlesstosay, on my actual birthday I was exhausted.
I got everyone off to school and made it to class myself. As tired as I was I stayed a while in the computer lab to print out some notes and review some online case studies. After I picked up Alisa from school and dropped her back off I made a beeline for my bed. I got a bit of a nap before I picked Alisa up and we headed to Aaron's football game at Ferguson Jr. High. Mike was working until 10 p.m. When Alisa & I were headed to the bleachers I couldn't believe my eyes. Those kids in pads & jerseys were huge! I thought for a minute that a high school game must have just finished up, but quickly realized that high school students wouldn't be playing on a junior high campus. Aaron's shoulder pads were at the waistline of the guy Aaron was supposed to be "blocking." Our Gators had some pretty big kids, too, but they lost their game anyway.
Then, it was home for dinner, homework, baths & bed. I think I made it to bed before midnight. I honestly can't remember a week later. So, that was my big day
I was exhausted from going to bed much too late on Monday night and waking up way too early on Tuesday morning for clinicals, so the grouch in me groaned when everyone shuffled in from football practice and Tia's house, etc. excitedly telling me to change out of my uniform because they had a surprise in mind. Aaron asked why I never answered him about my favorite restaurant. I told him I don't really have a single favorite restaurant; it just depends on what kind of food I'm in the mood for (or where I have a coupon for). So, he asked me where I'd like to go for dinner. I shuffled through some coupons on the table and found one for Red Lobster, so that was decided. Alisa went in my bedroom and laid out an outfit and some jewelry. All I could think of was how much paperwork I had to complete and how tired I was, but I forged on ahead. Why be a party pooper, right?
We went to Red Lobster and PaPa & Tia (my parents) joined us. We were seated promptly because we arrived before the evening crowd (which might not have even been that bad on a Tuesday night anyway). Mike, Aaron & Alisa ordered the all you can eat shrimp feast, I ordered the hardwood grilled tilapia topped with shrimp salsa. Mom and Dad split an order of the same. Of course, I was just about full after eating the cheese-garlic biscuits and my salad! My stomach hurt watching the rest of the crowd eat shrimp after shrimp: cajun shrimp, fried shrimp, shrimp teriyaki, garlic butter shrimp scampi, coconut shrimp (Forrest Gump come to mind?). I had peeped a cake from the Red Oven Bakery in the fridge at home, so I brought home most of my entree in an effort to save a little room for cake. Besides, I like to eat when I'm hungry and the food still tastes good. When you just keep going through the motions of eating when you're already full, you lose half of the pleasure of eating, in my opinion. Anyway...PaPa & Tia followed us home for the cake and ice cream, then PaPa watched some of whatever game was on TV with Mike while Tia, the kids and I visited at the table. Finally, I shooed little people away to get going with baths and homework. My eyes were heavy, and I was overstuffed to boot. The cake was Italian Cream with cream cheese icing complete with pecans and coconut-YUM! Mike had also bought Blue Bell homemade vanilla and my personal favorite, Moolinneum Crunch. I had to pass on the ice cream, though. I'd already wreaked havoc on my digestive system with everything else I'd consumed. There was a single message on the answering machine from Rodney (female with a male name), a friend of mine in Dallas. She sounded out of it, and the message sounded like she said her father had passed away. Never having met her father, and thinking he had been deceased since before I met Rodney, I called her back and got her answering machine after PaPa & Tia had left for the evening.
After I helped A & A with their homework, I didn't think I could go on another hour without a nap at least, but I knew I had paperwork due first thing in the morning from clinicals as well. I decided to catch about an hour nap, then forge ahead until I couldn't make it anymore, then get a couple hours of sleep before getting everyone off to school in the morning, including myself.
As soon as I laid down Rodney called me back (this was about 9:30 p.m.). It turns out it was her mother who had passed away (her father had been deceased for some years). I'd known Cynthia as long as I've known Rodney, and she never had been in the best of health due to a history of diabetes (not very well-controlled) and a stroke almost 20 years ago. Still, the news was quite unexpected. I allowed Rodney to explain all of the events of the past few days leading up to her mother's death, but I could tell I was nodding in and out of conciousness. After an hour she "let me go" so I could get on with whatever I was doing. The house was quiet. I think Mike was still up watcing television, but the kids were in the bed. I attempted to delve into the paperwork, but I was just too tired to focus, so I laid down around 11:30 and got up again at 1:30 a.m. and went back to the drawing board. I arose from the table satisfied with what I'd come up with on my paperwork only to find it was 5:45 a.m. I knew there was no going to sleep for fear that I'd oversleep since I normally get up at 6:30 a.m. Needlesstosay, on my actual birthday I was exhausted.
I got everyone off to school and made it to class myself. As tired as I was I stayed a while in the computer lab to print out some notes and review some online case studies. After I picked up Alisa from school and dropped her back off I made a beeline for my bed. I got a bit of a nap before I picked Alisa up and we headed to Aaron's football game at Ferguson Jr. High. Mike was working until 10 p.m. When Alisa & I were headed to the bleachers I couldn't believe my eyes. Those kids in pads & jerseys were huge! I thought for a minute that a high school game must have just finished up, but quickly realized that high school students wouldn't be playing on a junior high campus. Aaron's shoulder pads were at the waistline of the guy Aaron was supposed to be "blocking." Our Gators had some pretty big kids, too, but they lost their game anyway.
Then, it was home for dinner, homework, baths & bed. I think I made it to bed before midnight. I honestly can't remember a week later. So, that was my big day
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Just a quick note
Just thought I'd test my "quick blog" skills and see if I can really do this in 15 minutes or less. My day started just after 6 a.m. when my alarm went off. I woke up Alisa because her hair was the only reason I was up that early. We got hair done, ate whatever we could find for breakfast (cold cereal with milk, bagels, juice), dressed and made it to 8 o'clock mass. We stopped by a convenient store so Grandmom could get her Sunday paper and then delivered Grandmom back to her home before heading to ours.
Barrett was going to leave a little early for work so he could swing by the Albertsons on N. Collins and check out their "everything must go" inventory reduction sale and report back to me whether it was worth a trip across town. I took pork chops out for dinner and washed up dishes while intermittently checking Alisa's progress in her room. She wanted to go to Xavier's to play, but I reminded her of "first things first": homework, picking up her room, putting away clean clothes, etc. She was not happy about that and tried to bargain, but I finally convinced her to "just do it" and be done. Why is it that I wait for others to take responsibility and do the right thing without being asked, and nothing happens. I remind others of their duties/responsibilities, and I get the response, "I know!" AGGREVATION (on both ends, I'm sure)!
Aaron called Mrs. Monica to braid his hair, and she said to come on over whenever. I was torn between taking him on over to Monica's and coming home to nap or napping first. Then, I had to factor in getting Alisa to my sister's house across town. I finally dropped Aaron at Monica's then headed to Shannon's to drop off Alisa. I stopped by Wal-Mart grocery store on the way back home to get the items on my list. By the time I got into Wal-Mart, Aaron called to say Monica was done with his hair, so I asked her persmission for Aaron to hang out just a little longer while I shopped. In return I picked up some ground beef for Monica.
Mike was home from work when Aaron & I arrived. I ate a snack and laid down expecting to sleep from about 4 'til 5:30 or so then get up and start dinner before picking up Alisa from Xavier's football practice at a school down the street. I received 2 phone calls before I could finish my nap. One I was expecting. One I was not.
I started this blog on 9/6/09, and haven't been on my blog since. Lord knows I don't have any idea who the 2 phone calls were from at this point! Sorry, folks, we'll have to pick up with my birthday in the next blog...Until next time
Barrett was going to leave a little early for work so he could swing by the Albertsons on N. Collins and check out their "everything must go" inventory reduction sale and report back to me whether it was worth a trip across town. I took pork chops out for dinner and washed up dishes while intermittently checking Alisa's progress in her room. She wanted to go to Xavier's to play, but I reminded her of "first things first": homework, picking up her room, putting away clean clothes, etc. She was not happy about that and tried to bargain, but I finally convinced her to "just do it" and be done. Why is it that I wait for others to take responsibility and do the right thing without being asked, and nothing happens. I remind others of their duties/responsibilities, and I get the response, "I know!" AGGREVATION (on both ends, I'm sure)!
Aaron called Mrs. Monica to braid his hair, and she said to come on over whenever. I was torn between taking him on over to Monica's and coming home to nap or napping first. Then, I had to factor in getting Alisa to my sister's house across town. I finally dropped Aaron at Monica's then headed to Shannon's to drop off Alisa. I stopped by Wal-Mart grocery store on the way back home to get the items on my list. By the time I got into Wal-Mart, Aaron called to say Monica was done with his hair, so I asked her persmission for Aaron to hang out just a little longer while I shopped. In return I picked up some ground beef for Monica.
Mike was home from work when Aaron & I arrived. I ate a snack and laid down expecting to sleep from about 4 'til 5:30 or so then get up and start dinner before picking up Alisa from Xavier's football practice at a school down the street. I received 2 phone calls before I could finish my nap. One I was expecting. One I was not.
I started this blog on 9/6/09, and haven't been on my blog since. Lord knows I don't have any idea who the 2 phone calls were from at this point! Sorry, folks, we'll have to pick up with my birthday in the next blog...Until next time
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Wipe Out!
September 4, 2009
Alisa and I finally made it to Hurricane Harbor (HH) today (thanks, Lani, for the tickets!). It was actually a great day to visit the water park because it wasn’t too crowded so the lines weren’t all that bad, and the weather was nice: warm enough to enjoy the cool water rides, but not hot enough to fry our feet while marching from one attraction to the other. We rode several rides. Alisa was much more of a trooper than I thought she’d be. She even tossed out the idea of getting season’s passes next year since we’ve done the Six Flags over Texas passes several times. I guess that just shows how much she’s growing up. *sigh*
For any of you who may not have been to HH in a while, I must warn you to beware of the “Surf’s Up” attraction. Alisa spotted it across the park while we were standing in line for another ride and decided it looked like fun. It looked like hard work and skills to me, but, hey, who am I to deny my daughter who is finally branching out? So, we eventually made our way across the park to the ride. Alisa seemed not to notice the number of people who had lost their modified surf boards before they ever hit the water good. Of course, the long-haired teenage boys who obviously had some experience at this did make it look pretty easy. I wasn’t feeling so confident. Alisa went before me. She kneeled down on her board, tried to paddle to the water and skidded to a halt. Her surfboard was upside down and the slick side that should’ve eased her into the current was directly under her knees. She made some minute maneuver and was separated from her board and swept away. I was next. Okay, the things I knew so far were to place the slick side down and face the square end of the board forward. Otherwise I had no earthly idea what to do. I followed Alisa’s lead and kneeled on the board and headed for the current, which in lay person’s terms seemed like a huge toilet when it is flushed. I thought for just a moment that I had made it onto the “clearing” where I could simply kneel on my board and ride the calm waters in the center of the vortex. Was I ever wrong! That “moment” passed in an instant and the next thing I knew I was inside, outside and upside down. All I remember was tumbling around in a bunch of white water “rapids” and skidding to a halt on my back, feet first, left buttock completely exposed. My first visions were of some kids and younger women standing in line awaiting their turns peering over the rail at me snickering and whispering with their hands over their mouths. I can only imagine what a hot mess I must’ve looked like! I got up with what was left of my dignity and passed my board to the next person in line. Alisa’s comment was, “That was harder than it looks.” No kidding?
Another head’s up: when they say tuck you chin on the new Wedgie ride, they really mean tuck you chin and lean forward a little. This is a two person (figure 8) innertube-type ride that drops you straight down into a curve which propels you up the other side of a large “hairpin” curve. You then rock backward and forward (sometimes spinning this way and that) until you come to a halt in the “u” of the curve and dismount. I thought my chin was tucked until we were headed up the slippery slope and my head snapped back (gives a whole new meaning to “break neck speed”). That was truly uncomfortable. I can tell my neck will be stiff in the morning and maybe even in need of a chiropractic adjustment! The rest of the rides were a lot of fun. I remembered why the Kamikazee and the Black Hole are my two favorites. Alisa enjoyed the kiddie area with the huge bucket of water that dumps from the top of the play equipment at regular intervals. We took some pictures. Well, I took several shots of Alisa. I did ask one lady to snap one of us together. Hopefully, they’ll all turn out okay. We shared a funnel cake-Alisa’s half was sprinkled with powdered sugar and topped with whipped cream. My half had powdered sugar and strawberries. It was the best funnel cake I’ve had-fresh, hot and crispy on the outside but tender on the inside. Mmmmm!
We stopped by the hardware store for D.E. Powder for the pool and lawn & leaf trash bags on the way to PaPa & Tia’s to pick up Aaron. For whatever reason he decided he didn’t want to join us at HH. My nephew, Trey, and his mom and cousin were there visiting. We stayed only a short while. It was already after 8 p.m. and I had tonight’s dinner and Alisa’s hair to consider for church tomorrow.
I made ham and cauliflower soup for dinner served with toasted bagels with melted cheese and mint iced tea. It was after nine o’clock before we finished eating. Alisa washed her hair and blow-dried it as best she could, but I know I’ll have to wake her up super early to tackle it in the morning if we are to make it to 8 o’clock mass.
Luckily, I had washed up a ton of dishes (I even ran my dishwasher) this morning while visiting with Barrett who popped in for a visit since we hadn’t seen or spoken to each other all week. So, my kitchen wasn’t the mess it usually is. I tried to wash up some things as I went along while preparing the soup. The rest will have to wait until tomorrow. Sunday’s agenda: church, dishes, weekly menu, grocery shopping, dinner prep, nap and study, study, study. In actuality, it will probably be church, grocery shopping, nap, dinner prep, finish laundry, help A & A with homework, stu-*yawn*-dy (maybe tomorrow) and to bed. Speaking of bed…Good night. Until next time…
Alisa and I finally made it to Hurricane Harbor (HH) today (thanks, Lani, for the tickets!). It was actually a great day to visit the water park because it wasn’t too crowded so the lines weren’t all that bad, and the weather was nice: warm enough to enjoy the cool water rides, but not hot enough to fry our feet while marching from one attraction to the other. We rode several rides. Alisa was much more of a trooper than I thought she’d be. She even tossed out the idea of getting season’s passes next year since we’ve done the Six Flags over Texas passes several times. I guess that just shows how much she’s growing up. *sigh*
For any of you who may not have been to HH in a while, I must warn you to beware of the “Surf’s Up” attraction. Alisa spotted it across the park while we were standing in line for another ride and decided it looked like fun. It looked like hard work and skills to me, but, hey, who am I to deny my daughter who is finally branching out? So, we eventually made our way across the park to the ride. Alisa seemed not to notice the number of people who had lost their modified surf boards before they ever hit the water good. Of course, the long-haired teenage boys who obviously had some experience at this did make it look pretty easy. I wasn’t feeling so confident. Alisa went before me. She kneeled down on her board, tried to paddle to the water and skidded to a halt. Her surfboard was upside down and the slick side that should’ve eased her into the current was directly under her knees. She made some minute maneuver and was separated from her board and swept away. I was next. Okay, the things I knew so far were to place the slick side down and face the square end of the board forward. Otherwise I had no earthly idea what to do. I followed Alisa’s lead and kneeled on the board and headed for the current, which in lay person’s terms seemed like a huge toilet when it is flushed. I thought for just a moment that I had made it onto the “clearing” where I could simply kneel on my board and ride the calm waters in the center of the vortex. Was I ever wrong! That “moment” passed in an instant and the next thing I knew I was inside, outside and upside down. All I remember was tumbling around in a bunch of white water “rapids” and skidding to a halt on my back, feet first, left buttock completely exposed. My first visions were of some kids and younger women standing in line awaiting their turns peering over the rail at me snickering and whispering with their hands over their mouths. I can only imagine what a hot mess I must’ve looked like! I got up with what was left of my dignity and passed my board to the next person in line. Alisa’s comment was, “That was harder than it looks.” No kidding?
Another head’s up: when they say tuck you chin on the new Wedgie ride, they really mean tuck you chin and lean forward a little. This is a two person (figure 8) innertube-type ride that drops you straight down into a curve which propels you up the other side of a large “hairpin” curve. You then rock backward and forward (sometimes spinning this way and that) until you come to a halt in the “u” of the curve and dismount. I thought my chin was tucked until we were headed up the slippery slope and my head snapped back (gives a whole new meaning to “break neck speed”). That was truly uncomfortable. I can tell my neck will be stiff in the morning and maybe even in need of a chiropractic adjustment! The rest of the rides were a lot of fun. I remembered why the Kamikazee and the Black Hole are my two favorites. Alisa enjoyed the kiddie area with the huge bucket of water that dumps from the top of the play equipment at regular intervals. We took some pictures. Well, I took several shots of Alisa. I did ask one lady to snap one of us together. Hopefully, they’ll all turn out okay. We shared a funnel cake-Alisa’s half was sprinkled with powdered sugar and topped with whipped cream. My half had powdered sugar and strawberries. It was the best funnel cake I’ve had-fresh, hot and crispy on the outside but tender on the inside. Mmmmm!
We stopped by the hardware store for D.E. Powder for the pool and lawn & leaf trash bags on the way to PaPa & Tia’s to pick up Aaron. For whatever reason he decided he didn’t want to join us at HH. My nephew, Trey, and his mom and cousin were there visiting. We stayed only a short while. It was already after 8 p.m. and I had tonight’s dinner and Alisa’s hair to consider for church tomorrow.
I made ham and cauliflower soup for dinner served with toasted bagels with melted cheese and mint iced tea. It was after nine o’clock before we finished eating. Alisa washed her hair and blow-dried it as best she could, but I know I’ll have to wake her up super early to tackle it in the morning if we are to make it to 8 o’clock mass.
Luckily, I had washed up a ton of dishes (I even ran my dishwasher) this morning while visiting with Barrett who popped in for a visit since we hadn’t seen or spoken to each other all week. So, my kitchen wasn’t the mess it usually is. I tried to wash up some things as I went along while preparing the soup. The rest will have to wait until tomorrow. Sunday’s agenda: church, dishes, weekly menu, grocery shopping, dinner prep, nap and study, study, study. In actuality, it will probably be church, grocery shopping, nap, dinner prep, finish laundry, help A & A with homework, stu-*yawn*-dy (maybe tomorrow) and to bed. Speaking of bed…Good night. Until next time…
Friday, September 4, 2009
agony of defeat
Friday, September 3, 2009
Jamie and I went to the Arlington High vs Southlake Carroll High football game tonight and watched the poor Colts get donkey-stomped by the dragons. It was not a pretty sight! AHS lost possession of the ball in the first play of the game! It was pretty much downhill from there. We did manage to score a touchdown after half time, but I believe that was the only one scored for the home team. As Jamie and I were leaving at the top of the 4th quarter we heard the crowd erupt in cheers and saw the scoreboard change once again: AHS 7, SCHS 32. It was definitely time to go.
Although I only washed enough dishes to clear one side of the sink, I finally managed to get the fridge cleaned out--in time for garbage pick up, too (probably because the rain must have backed up the sanitation engineers). I cut up the watermelon and canteloupe that had been sitting around since my venture to Fiesta food mart last Tuesday and discarded the rinds for pick up as well. I was in the kitchen long enough to finish one book on tape and listen to the first 2 discs (about 68 minutes each) of another while piddling in the kitchen and fridge. I wanted desperately to stop and check e-mails or take a nap, but I made myself stay the course. Whew! I am glad that is done. I did manage to get about a 45 minute "cat nap", and was once again reminded of the 30 minutes or 2 hours rule for naps as I dragged myself out of bed to pick up Alisa from school. After I picked her up, we stopped by the public library. The automated system had called to tell me that I had items being held for me; and I wanted to check out a copy of The Giver, a book Aaron is currently reading for language arts class. Experience has taught me that it is better to have a copy around the house and not ever use it than to need a copy when the school copy is left in a locker and the library is already closed for the night.
From there I made lunch for Alisa & me. She had leftover "sloppy joe" Hamburger Helper and watermelon. I had pizza bagels. Mom called to ask if Costco had a coupon for the Lipton Green Tea bottles. I told her I was going through the coupons when she called and, yes, they did have one for what she was looking for. She decided she'd tag along with me to Costco. By this time Mike was home from work, so Alisa had the option to stay and snooze or go with me (and stay with Leyla and PaPa while Tia & I went shopping). She chose the latter, of course.
I gassed up my van at Costco ($2.32/gallon for regular unleaded) then headed to the Highlands to get to Borders Bookstore. I had a "save 40% off any one item" coupon, and I needed a maternal-infant nursing care plan book. It was worth a shot. They didn't have exactly what I was looking for, but they did have a "comprehensive" care plan book which had more maternity and pediatric plans than my present book, so I purchase it. I will compare what they have at the bookstore on campus when I return to lecture on Wednesday. Meanwhile, I will at least have something.
Then, it was off to Costco to shop. I knew I needed some basics: dog food, milk, cheese, eggs, and several more items like bath soap and vitamins for which I had coupons. I left there about $112.00 lighter, but with some much-needed reinforcements. I dropped off my mom and picked up Alisa once again. We made it back home just before Mike & Aaron returned from Aaron's football practice.
Mike was the one who really wanted to go to the Arlington High vs. Southlake Carroll High game, but neither Aaron nor Alisa wanted to go. (Actually, that was a blessing because the tickets were $7.00 each for general admission-no reduced price for kids or students. (I certainly tried to use my TCC student ID to no avail.) I offered to stay home with the kids so he could go to the game, but he told me to go on with Jamie so we could have some "catching up" time together. I called Jamie who had waffled back and forth about going, just like I had. We decided to go and support my alma mater in a unanimous "Okay, I'll go if you go"-type agreement. The weather had threatened rain, but nothing came of it and it was actually nice and "cool" out (well, maybe not cool, but not sweltering hot, either). I love to spend early mornings and evenings in the great outdoors this time of year! Good night. Until next time.
Jamie and I went to the Arlington High vs Southlake Carroll High football game tonight and watched the poor Colts get donkey-stomped by the dragons. It was not a pretty sight! AHS lost possession of the ball in the first play of the game! It was pretty much downhill from there. We did manage to score a touchdown after half time, but I believe that was the only one scored for the home team. As Jamie and I were leaving at the top of the 4th quarter we heard the crowd erupt in cheers and saw the scoreboard change once again: AHS 7, SCHS 32. It was definitely time to go.
Although I only washed enough dishes to clear one side of the sink, I finally managed to get the fridge cleaned out--in time for garbage pick up, too (probably because the rain must have backed up the sanitation engineers). I cut up the watermelon and canteloupe that had been sitting around since my venture to Fiesta food mart last Tuesday and discarded the rinds for pick up as well. I was in the kitchen long enough to finish one book on tape and listen to the first 2 discs (about 68 minutes each) of another while piddling in the kitchen and fridge. I wanted desperately to stop and check e-mails or take a nap, but I made myself stay the course. Whew! I am glad that is done. I did manage to get about a 45 minute "cat nap", and was once again reminded of the 30 minutes or 2 hours rule for naps as I dragged myself out of bed to pick up Alisa from school. After I picked her up, we stopped by the public library. The automated system had called to tell me that I had items being held for me; and I wanted to check out a copy of The Giver, a book Aaron is currently reading for language arts class. Experience has taught me that it is better to have a copy around the house and not ever use it than to need a copy when the school copy is left in a locker and the library is already closed for the night.
From there I made lunch for Alisa & me. She had leftover "sloppy joe" Hamburger Helper and watermelon. I had pizza bagels. Mom called to ask if Costco had a coupon for the Lipton Green Tea bottles. I told her I was going through the coupons when she called and, yes, they did have one for what she was looking for. She decided she'd tag along with me to Costco. By this time Mike was home from work, so Alisa had the option to stay and snooze or go with me (and stay with Leyla and PaPa while Tia & I went shopping). She chose the latter, of course.
I gassed up my van at Costco ($2.32/gallon for regular unleaded) then headed to the Highlands to get to Borders Bookstore. I had a "save 40% off any one item" coupon, and I needed a maternal-infant nursing care plan book. It was worth a shot. They didn't have exactly what I was looking for, but they did have a "comprehensive" care plan book which had more maternity and pediatric plans than my present book, so I purchase it. I will compare what they have at the bookstore on campus when I return to lecture on Wednesday. Meanwhile, I will at least have something.
Then, it was off to Costco to shop. I knew I needed some basics: dog food, milk, cheese, eggs, and several more items like bath soap and vitamins for which I had coupons. I left there about $112.00 lighter, but with some much-needed reinforcements. I dropped off my mom and picked up Alisa once again. We made it back home just before Mike & Aaron returned from Aaron's football practice.
Mike was the one who really wanted to go to the Arlington High vs. Southlake Carroll High game, but neither Aaron nor Alisa wanted to go. (Actually, that was a blessing because the tickets were $7.00 each for general admission-no reduced price for kids or students. (I certainly tried to use my TCC student ID to no avail.) I offered to stay home with the kids so he could go to the game, but he told me to go on with Jamie so we could have some "catching up" time together. I called Jamie who had waffled back and forth about going, just like I had. We decided to go and support my alma mater in a unanimous "Okay, I'll go if you go"-type agreement. The weather had threatened rain, but nothing came of it and it was actually nice and "cool" out (well, maybe not cool, but not sweltering hot, either). I love to spend early mornings and evenings in the great outdoors this time of year! Good night. Until next time.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Weekly business
Well, it appears that this blogging business is going to be a weekly affair vs. everyday updates. It is 10:15 on Thursday evening and both kiddoes are fast asleep in their beds (nothing shy of a miracle since the advent of the new school year)! I set out today with two goals in mind: balance the checkbook and clean out the fridge for garbage pick up tomorrow. I accomplished a lot (sort of) but the refrigerator still has some mystery sticky spots on a couple of the shelves, so I obviously didn't get around to that. The problem was that in order to clean out the fridge the sinks must be free of dirty dishes so I have somewhere to carefully wash the glass shelves before drying them and returning them to their proper spots. In order for the sink to be free of dirty dishes, pots & pans, someone has to wash them and put them away. In order for plastic containers to be put away, the cabinet containing them must be re-organized because some of the "help" just tosses containers in there any old way (without matching up the lids, mind you) when it's their turn to empty the dishwasher and there's an avalanche just waiting to happen each time I open the cabinet doors. In order for the cabinet to be rearranged, the floor really needs to be swept and mopped because God forbid some of the unstable containers fall on the nasty floor in the process of reorganizing. (In my next life the floors will be swept daily and mopped weekly or as needed!) I think you all get the picture. It's kind of like the children's book If You Give a Pig a Pancake only unlike the little pig in the book that eventually gets back to eating her tasty pancakes, I rarely get back to the original task I intended to get done. The container cabinet did get rearranged, and the checkbook reconciled but not balanced. The dishes and floors...well, not so much! I honestly cannot understand how my poor little kitchen stays so cluttered! My mom says I simply have too much "stuff" (her word choice involved 4 letters beginning with the same letter "s"). I contend that I use all of it (which is quite evident when you stop by and see all of it all over the kitchen). Anyway, my point was? I only had two major goals for the day, and I only half completed one of them. Should I consider that a good day? Of course I will because I did manage to bag up 2 garbage bags of dead weeds Mike chopped down about two weeks ago and left for dead in the backyard. While I was out there I tended the pool which practically turned green overnight when the water level was a little low and so the water didn't circulate and filter properly. I already mentioned the plastic cabinet. In addition I scrubbed the tile/grout in my shower just 'cause I couldn't take it anymore and I was already sweaty and in desperate need of a shower from being outdoors. I prepared the kids a hot breakfast and packed their lunches for them. Then, there was the checkbook business and picking kids and band instruments up from school and helping with homework and washing a few dishes. I'm half-tempted to head straight for the fridge and at least get the "old" food and meat packaging out of the way (there are still too many dishes everywhere to remove the shelves from the fridge for cleaning). The smarter half will probably just head for bed when I'm done with this. My allergies are kicking up a bit--don't know if it's from wrangling those weeds this morning or something blowing around in the air with the storm heading from Weatherford. The rest will probably do me some good. I didn't get much of a nap. By the time I finished with the checkbook and checking e-mails it was already after 1 p.m. and I had to leave just after 2 to pick up Alisa for 2:30. Mike must have come in around 1:45 and started with his incessant chatter. Has he not heard the saying, "Let sleeping dogs lie"? Not that I consider myself a dog per se, but you know what I mean! I know I certainly uphold the phrase while he's asleep.
Class went well on both Monday and Wednesday (lecture on campus). We had a substitute on Monday (for which I am thankful because my telephone started ringing shortly after she began her lecture, and guess who forgot to silence their ringer? I sit front and center -as in directly in front of the instructor. Had Mrs. Blue been there I probably would have been thrown out of class on my ear or at the very least been glared at disapprovingly!). The assignments that have to be submitted online are actually a pretty fun way to review material we cover in class to keep us on our toes and prepare us for the first exam.
Tuesday was a different matter altogether. We all met in the lobby of the women's services building at 6:20 a.m. (well, one student was late, again, but most everybody else was there on time). Mrs. Blue asked if we all had our paperwork for post conference. I almost fainted! What paperwork was she talking about? We hadn't seen any patients so I didn't know what paperwork we were supposed to have for post conference! I asked a classmate, and she responded, "She told us to to those 8 or 9 pages out of the CID (course information document, formerly known as a syllabus)." Sweet Baby Jesus, did she really just say 8 or 9 pages?!! A fuzzy recollection of Mrs. Blue going thru the CID and jumping around from one thing to another and telling us to get on the computers and watch this video or that one came back to my mind, but not "complete 8 or 9 pages and bring them to post-conference." I was in a panic mode. Many instructors will threaten to send you home if you're unprepared for clinicals, and how much more "unprepared" can you be than to not have completed 8 or 9 pages of assignments! I was all ready to 'fess up and go home ashamed and in tears, but I decided I would do what I could during our 30 minute lunch break (even if it meant no lunch) and any "down time" on my unit. I had my CID in my bag with me and my textbook was in the car. If I didn't finish a page or two I'd just say I overlooked them and take the "partial" heat. As it turned out, the assignments were pretty easy: a couple were matching and simple calculations like figuring a due date based on the LMP (last menstrual period). I had the charge nurse help me assign apgar scores to newborn infant case studies. And, I had a couple notes jotted in my spiral notebook in my bag. By postconference, I was good to go. I was so glad I hadn't crumbled and gone groveling earlier. I thought we were going to turn in the pages, but we went over them "around the table" style in postconference and then just put them back in our notebooks. One of my goals for this weekend is to get a roster typed up with everyone's name, e-mail and telephone numbers for clinicals. This way, I (and anyone else) can double check with more than one source about pending due dates, etc. I stayed up until 3 o'clock Wednesday morning finishing my care plan for the NICU I visited on Tuesday. I guess I'm going to have to break down and purchase a maternal-infant care plan book because it was difficult trying to find diagnoses, interventions and rationales for a tiny little baby who was stable but not yet ready to return home because she couldn't drink 2 ounces for milk on her own at each feeding. I did learn an interesting fact in the NICU: babies are only allowed to "nipple" or drink from a bottle/breast for 30 minute intervals because any time beyond that they're burning more calories than they are consuming. Wouldn't it be great if it worked that way for adults? We'd start burning off the calories we were consuming while eating after 30 minutes! I'll try to write a little bit more about the tiny little babies and my experience in the NICU tomorrow while kids are at school (after I clean out that fridge, of course!). Good night. Until next time...
Class went well on both Monday and Wednesday (lecture on campus). We had a substitute on Monday (for which I am thankful because my telephone started ringing shortly after she began her lecture, and guess who forgot to silence their ringer? I sit front and center -as in directly in front of the instructor. Had Mrs. Blue been there I probably would have been thrown out of class on my ear or at the very least been glared at disapprovingly!). The assignments that have to be submitted online are actually a pretty fun way to review material we cover in class to keep us on our toes and prepare us for the first exam.
Tuesday was a different matter altogether. We all met in the lobby of the women's services building at 6:20 a.m. (well, one student was late, again, but most everybody else was there on time). Mrs. Blue asked if we all had our paperwork for post conference. I almost fainted! What paperwork was she talking about? We hadn't seen any patients so I didn't know what paperwork we were supposed to have for post conference! I asked a classmate, and she responded, "She told us to to those 8 or 9 pages out of the CID (course information document, formerly known as a syllabus)." Sweet Baby Jesus, did she really just say 8 or 9 pages?!! A fuzzy recollection of Mrs. Blue going thru the CID and jumping around from one thing to another and telling us to get on the computers and watch this video or that one came back to my mind, but not "complete 8 or 9 pages and bring them to post-conference." I was in a panic mode. Many instructors will threaten to send you home if you're unprepared for clinicals, and how much more "unprepared" can you be than to not have completed 8 or 9 pages of assignments! I was all ready to 'fess up and go home ashamed and in tears, but I decided I would do what I could during our 30 minute lunch break (even if it meant no lunch) and any "down time" on my unit. I had my CID in my bag with me and my textbook was in the car. If I didn't finish a page or two I'd just say I overlooked them and take the "partial" heat. As it turned out, the assignments were pretty easy: a couple were matching and simple calculations like figuring a due date based on the LMP (last menstrual period). I had the charge nurse help me assign apgar scores to newborn infant case studies. And, I had a couple notes jotted in my spiral notebook in my bag. By postconference, I was good to go. I was so glad I hadn't crumbled and gone groveling earlier. I thought we were going to turn in the pages, but we went over them "around the table" style in postconference and then just put them back in our notebooks. One of my goals for this weekend is to get a roster typed up with everyone's name, e-mail and telephone numbers for clinicals. This way, I (and anyone else) can double check with more than one source about pending due dates, etc. I stayed up until 3 o'clock Wednesday morning finishing my care plan for the NICU I visited on Tuesday. I guess I'm going to have to break down and purchase a maternal-infant care plan book because it was difficult trying to find diagnoses, interventions and rationales for a tiny little baby who was stable but not yet ready to return home because she couldn't drink 2 ounces for milk on her own at each feeding. I did learn an interesting fact in the NICU: babies are only allowed to "nipple" or drink from a bottle/breast for 30 minute intervals because any time beyond that they're burning more calories than they are consuming. Wouldn't it be great if it worked that way for adults? We'd start burning off the calories we were consuming while eating after 30 minutes! I'll try to write a little bit more about the tiny little babies and my experience in the NICU tomorrow while kids are at school (after I clean out that fridge, of course!). Good night. Until next time...
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