Sunday, August 31, 2008

My crazy Monday

I had one crazy day last Monday. I started my day waking up at 0700. I was wanting to sleep more but Phoebe needed my attention. I took care of the furbabies and then made me a smoothie and toast. I am loving these strawberry smoothies!!

Luckily, I had slept 8 hours and was going to stay up for a few hours, watch a movie, let Phoebe play and then go back to bed for a few hours till I had to get ready for work. My plans got changed at 0747 - the time on the police report of the incident. A watched a big truck drive down my street, then all of a sudden I saw blue flashes of light and a pop. I had no electricity. I step out on my front porch to figure out what just happened. I saw power lines on the ground Of course, I wasn't dressed!

I was talking to my dad on my cell phone when I stepped outside to figure out all the damage - still in my nightgown- when the police came up to me. I just saw that the main power source to my house was cut. The police took my name and told me they would be back to talk to me. I got off the phone and then got dressed!!

Wild day

Then I have a guy from my electric company telling me I needed an electrician as they couldn't re-hook my service back up. My mast (or whatever that thing is called that your power is hooked to) was bent to the point it needed to be repaired. He said if he hooked my power back up it could cause a fire. So he gave me a name that he recommended. I call this company and tell them the situation and she said it was considered an emergency. I got a call back right away and they were at my house a few minutes later. He took a look at the damage and then got supplies to fix it. I was impressed that they actually got all this taken care of that quickly!!! I actually got power back at 1315.

I didn't realize that I didn't have phone service till I remembered that I still had 10 hours of dial-up service a month through AOL. I was going to pay bills online this morning and really needed to get that done. Then I didn't have enough battery power in my laptop as I forgot to turn it off after I was dealing with everyone being on my front lawn! What is a girl to do that has no internet, no TV?? She cleans!! While I was cleaning off my dining room table, I still have my old laptop there that was plugged in!! Score!!!! After I got it all hooked up, that is when I realized I had no dial tone. I started making phone calls to the phone company. I was glad that I had charged my cell phone the night before!!

Wild day

After I called the phone company, they said I didn't need to be home for them to repair the line. I went ahead and got dressed for work and went to the Mudhouse. I had a little lunch, my fave frozen coffee and used the free wifi! I was able to get my bills set up on my bill pay. Phew!! When I arrived back home, the phone company was at my house and they got my phone/internet working again before I had to head to work.

I had one of my neighbors afraid I had been robbed. She came over to make sure I was okay. I am so glad that I did get 8 hours of sleep last night as I have to work my normal 12 hour shift tonight and won't get my normal nap time in.

The cop told me it was my lucky day as it just affected my house. I was glad that I was able to get everything back in working order before leaving for work. I was exhausted that night at work! I was so ready for bed when I got home the next morning.

Now, I am just waiting for the insurance company to call me. I have already notified them and they said they would be in contact. I think I need to call them this week so I can get a fax number to send them some receipts.

I had originally planned to be in Europe the week this happened and glad that I was home to take care of this situation.

I keep looking at these power lines that connect to my house that run across the street. I see big trucks drive down my street occasionally and I am puzzled on how this really happened.

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Friday Fill-in



It is actually Sunday, but here it goes!!

1. When I'm sick I'm _grumpy_.

2. When I take a walk, I think about __things I want to do or need to do__.

3. Money can't buy happiness but it can _make traveling the world easier__.

4. Cotton makes me _comfortable__ and leather makes me _want to hide it from my puppy_.

5. The strangest person/character I've had lewd thoughts about was __I don't know___.

6. My favorite color these days is _pink__ because _it has always been my favorite color_.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to _nothing, I had to work Friday_, tomorrow my plans include _relaxing_ and Sunday, I want to _go see a movie_!



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Paris and London here I come!!!


After a very wild week, I ended it with something exciting!!! I still need to share about my wild week. Maybe later today when I hang out at the coffee shop!!

After a year of talking about planning a trip to Paris and London, I finally booked my trip!! I am soooo excited! I didn't get to as many days as I wanted in Paris but I decided to take what I could get! I am spending 5 days in London and then 3 days in Paris. I was able to google my hotels I am staying at and see what they are near. I am going to start planning what I want to do in each city! If any one has tips for me, comment me!!

I also want to get me a camera bag that I can also use as a purse. I have a Canon 40D and it has to go on this trip!! I don't want to carry my purse plus my camera bag. I want to combine these!! I also can only have my carry-on and one personal item for my flight. I have thought about getting a crumpler camera bag. I can't decide from the 5 million dollar home or the 6 million dollar home. I have some research to do! I might find another camera bag that would work better but I love the looks of the crumpler bag!

My allergies have been in high gear lately. It is ragweed season and that is my worst season!! I was doing find till last night I drove with my moonroof open. Then I couldn't breathe! I still feel that way today. I have got to get my yard mowed with or without these allergies! I might have to get my mask out today.

My pup Phoebe has fallen asleep next to me! She has finally worn herself out and has decided it was nap time. She has sooo much energy and it takes her a while to poop out!

I need to take my allergy medicine, let it kick in and then start with my fun day!!

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Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Lazy weekend . . .

I was looking forward to my 4 days off and I really haven't accomplished much!!! Thursday I did sleep most of the day. I couldn't seem to keep my eyes open. I did get up at a decent hour on Friday and got some errands and a little shopping done. I couldn't stay awake that evening and fell asleep around 2030 in my clothes and my contacts. I woke up at 0200 and got ready for bed. I did let Phoebe play for a couple of hours before heading back to bed.

Then Saturday, I woke up around 0930 and took care of my furbabies and actually got dressed to go mow the yard. I was feeling quite sleepy so I decided to take a little nap. I should know that my naps don't turn into little naps!!! When I woke up, it was to late to mow the yard and get done the things I needed to. So, I thought I would mow the yard on Sunday.

I woke up this morning and my nose was running and I couldn't stop sneezing. Great!! My allergies are acting up. I took some Claritin and tried to get some sleep. I finally just got up as the sneezing was keeping me from sleeping. I finally took a Benadryl and that helped. I took a shower and I just had to lay down! My allergies always make me more tired and then adding my night shift sleep schedule. It just wears me out!! I ended up sleeping till about 1700 and finally got up and dressed.

I am currently at the Mudhouse just relaxing. I will be heading home soon as my furbabies will want my attention. Phoebe is slowly getting potty trained. I just wish that dogs were as easy as cats are. I have a puppy pad in my closet in my extra bedroom and she has figured out that after she gets out of her crate, that is where she is to go. She will run down the hall!! But if she is playing for a while she doesn't run to the puppy pad, she just goes where ever she is. That is where I need to work with her!!! I did get her signed up for intermediate training at Petsmart. I am looking forward to getting started with that next month.

I have been trying to get my Europe trip planned and I am a bit frustrated about that. My original plan was to spend one week in Paris and one week in London. It was getting to expensive. I moved my trip from August to October to help with the cost. Then my travel agent told me that I could decide how many days I wanted to go. I sent her an email in regards to going only 5 days in Paris and London. She gave me a price and it wasn't that much cheaper as I was hoping. Then she could only get the company to do 3 days Paris and 5 days in London. I really just want to see the Eiffel Tower and ride the London Eye. She said for me to call her and she would explain some of this better to me. I am going to call tomorrow and hopefully have a better insight on what I might do. I might just go ahead and do an 8 day trip. I just know I need to hurry up and decided as October will be here before I know it!!!

I am not looking forward to work tomorrow. I have to work with the nurse that I have take a non-liking for. I even had a fellow nurse call me to tell me that she was talking about me and what she said. It just proves my point she can't be trusted. She told me that she did leave out the part that she kept going into my patients rooms telling them that she was there and if they needed anything, let her know. It makes for a long night when I have to work with her anymore. I don't trust her as she always turns things around to make her look good. She is still trying to kiss my behind though which makes it hard to mind my own business!!

S & J

I have been having a little fun playing with the photoshop actions I downloaded a couple of weeks ago. I am loving this one pic of my nieces I took the beginning of August. I keep adding different actions to it and printing it. I might work more on that tonight or I might actually scrap!! I really need to get my pics more organized so I can find them more easily. I am learning some of the tricks of Adobe Bridge. I am excited that I ordered Adobe Lightroom 2.0! I should be getting that this week. I was able to get this at a student rate since my activation is less than a year old.

S & J

S & J

I am starting to sneeze again so I think I will head home. I will add the pics I have been playing with today!

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Monday, August 18, 2008

Memories . . . .

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This LOL cat pic made me laugh so hard when I saw it!!! It reminds me of a friend of mine that now likes overseas. He loves Michael Jackson and would follow what he was up too. Michael Jackson actually lives in the country that my friend lives in. Or at least the last I heard he still was there. My friend would come over and would do the moon walk in my living room all the time since I have hardwood floors. He would always make me giggle! Then one morning he stopped by for a visit and we started taking pictures and he was making funny poses and one was something Michael Jackson would do! I kinda miss those fun little visits that he would make. I hope that someday he can make it back to America!! I actually need to take some pics of the town for him to show him some of the differences in the last year since he left. I realized some of the changes that he might not be aware of. That will give me a chance to play around with my camera! I hope to do that this weekend!

I am off to the post office for a bit and then back home for a nap!

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Sunday, August 17, 2008

An icky week needs LOL cats!!!

I have been working every other day for a week now. I am have been exhausted of all the events from the last week and haven't been able to do my plan of sleeping all day and staying up all night. I have been sleeping a few hours and then sleeping all night. *sigh* I am sooo ready for my 4 day weekend!!!

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Last Tuesday was a great day! I had to work the night before so I got a few hours of sleep and meet up with some SJ friends! It was great evening reconnecting with my SJ friends!

Events that happened on Wednesday has got me furious!! There is a particular nurse that I work with that seems to want to socialize with people more than be a nurse. A few weeks ago I had an incident with this nurse going into one of my patients rooms and I overheard her say that she was there all night and if they need anything to let her know. She wasn't the nurse, I was!!!! I was upset but I didn't say anything.

Then last Monday night I was rather tiffed at this same nurse. She kept going into my pts rooms again and not taking care of her own. She had one of her pts furious because she was in pain and she wasn't bringing in the pain meds. The pt came up to me but then she heard it and made it sound like no one had told her. We are always telling her that her pts want something and she takes forever to get them pain meds or whatever they are asking for. Every time she tried to talk to my pts or the family, I would jump in and let them know I was the nurse and what could I do to help them? I finally made it through that night and thought nothing of these issues.

Wednesday night comes around. I ended up with a new team because that nurse had my team. I thought to myself that might be good since she kept wanting to take care of those pts the other night. But she had also had a few pts that I had which I didn't know. So here we go again with her talking to my pts and my pts family members. Every time I turned around she was in one of my rooms. She came up to me and told me that one of my pts husband wanted her as the nurse. I just looked at her and then walked away. I hadn't had any problems with my pts all night till she started talking to them. I had never meet that husband for him to be able to compare me to this other nurse. He just stopped by to see his wife on his way to work. Then it all hit the fan when another one of my pts - which she had been talking to the family of this one - asked if they could have her as the nurse as they didn't know me that well. I blew up and I was talking to another nurse in the hallway about this situation that she is causing me. And guess what?? She was in one of my pts rooms when I was discussing her with the charge nurse that evening. She might have heard my frustrations but I was trying to be quiet and not cause a scene. I had a talk with the family of the one pt and she just told me that they had her the night before and just wasn't familiar with me. They still had me as there nurse.

Later, the charge nurse told this nurse about the situation that she was causing. She tried to come up to me later and pat me on the back. I told her to leave me alone. All night she was kissing my behind because I was mad at her. She was trying to get me to go to lunch with her. No way was I going to have lunch with her after that!! I don't trust her as she has been in trouble before for things and tries to turn it around on someone else.

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Thursday, I had a dentist appointment which went good. I had only had two hours of sleep!!! My pup, Phoebe wasn't letting me sleep that day. I am just glad I didn't have to go to work that night! I of course slept that night.

Friday, was a busy night but I ended up with a new team again. This is one of the downfalls of working every other day is that you end up with a new team almost every time. It has worked out for me that way! It started out with a bang!!! I was told I was getting a pt from PACU and then found out I was getting another. Then while I was getting report from day shift, PACU was wanting to call me report. I was finished up with the day shift nurse, the second nurse from PACU called to give me report on my other pt. I got on the phone and told who ever the lucky nurse who got me first that I was the nurse for the other pt too and to tell them to just hang up and talk to me when she was done. That is what we did. I almost asked to bring them up at different times so I can get each pt settled. But I didn't, and I should have. They both came at the exact time!! They both wanted the nurse at the bedside. I announced I was the nurse and whoever gets in bed first, I will be in that room and then will go to the next one. It actually went quite smoothly and was able to get everyone settled.

While these pts were getting settled in there rooms, the roommates weren't happy that they were getting roommates. a family member of one made a scene at the nurses station because they wanted a private room. Then the pt of in the other room stormed out of her room because of the new pt. She wouldn't go back into her room and the charge nurse took care of that situation while I got my surgery pt settled. We had to move her to another room because of her attitude. I had a difficult time with her later also. She was just rude! Then she decided she was going to be good she told me. I was thankful for that!!! I didn't have anymore problems after she said that.

I finally got everyone settled and happy! It was a busy night but it wasn't a bad night. I had pts happy I was there nurse and telling me that they liked me. That always makes me feel good after night like Wednesday!!

I really need to take a nap so I can get prepared for my night shift at work!!!


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Monday, August 11, 2008

Ready, set, ACTION!!!

Yesterday I finally sat down with the latest issue of Digital Scrapbooking and went to the websites to get actions for photoshop. I have never used actions before but have been wanting to learn since I finally got Photoshop CS3. I had no idea that they would be free!!! I have found a ton more that are free! Now I just need time to load them on my desktop and actually play around with them some. I might get to that Tuesday evening!

I got my Blackberry delivered from Fed Ex already!! I am attempting to restore my old phone into my new phone. It seems as if the program has froze or something. I really hope this will work!! I just figured out how to separate my emails from my text messages. I hope I can get back to working order soon!!!

My lists notebook

I actually need to ge getting some more sleep. I only slept about 4 hours and then Phoebe wanted up! She is actually taking a nap at my feet so now would be the perfect time!!

I am finally getting around to posting my a little notebook I made for my list I like to make! I saw this on the cover of Papercrafts magazine and had to make one!!






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Sunday, August 10, 2008

Relaxing Sunday

Today is a nice and relaxing day! I love days where I can do what I want - no appointments or anywhere to be. I can just go along with my business without worrying what time it is. It seems like these days don't come often enough!!!!

Lighting and exposure

It relaxes me to know that school is starting up and I don't have to go back!!! It makes me feel like I have really accomplished something. I have enjoyed being able to take continuing education classes for no credit. I am learning things that I want to learn. I really love photography and want to learn more!! I am planning to sign up for a portrait photography class later this year and just got my work schedule fixed so I can. I really want to take intermediate photography but I will have to wait on that. I would love to take a photoshop class but they are all in mac format. I don't have a mac so I am not sure if these classes will benefit me.

This week I have a CRAZY work schedule!!  I am working every other day for about 1 1/2 weeks.  When you work the night shift, that is hard on you!  I also have a hard time getting anything done since I am sleeping all day and don't arouse till late.  I am going to try to make the best of this and maybe stay up and scrapbook or something.  I have a few challenges off a few MB that I could work on.  I really want to start on Phoebe's album.  

Yesterday, I woke up and decided I had better get my yard work done.  I had a tree limb fall in my front yard from my big tree.  This limb was more like a smaller tree!!  I realized I wasn't going to be able to move this thing on my own!!  I worked and got the smaller limbs trimmed off and mowed around it the best I could.  I called my Dad to see if he would be able to cut if up for me so I could get it out of my yard.  He came over later and cut it into smaller pieces for me.  I am glad that this limb that has been in my front yard for over a week is gone!!!!  I got my yard work done just in time as it started to sprinkle when I was finishing mowing my lawn and then it rained the rest of the day.  The clouds made for it being much cooler to mow!  

I have been working every so slowly getting my house more organized.  I am trying my best to get myself back on track of how I did things before I went back to school.  I wasn't totally organized then but I was much better than I am now!  I am almost done getting things looking more organized.  I just need to finish with the kitchen.  I tend to lay things on the counters and my dining room table to look at later and before you know it, it has piled up!  I am tempted to opt out of some of the mail I get.  That would help out a lot!!!  It seems like I shred most of my mail I get!

I had a little mishap with my Blackberry Pearl on Friday.  The trackball has quit working.  Or it won't scroll down!  I can only access the first 4 icons on the phone but then I can't scroll down to select anything.  So frustrating!!!  AT&T wouldn't let me get insurance on this phone since they consider it a data phone.  I am glad that it is still under warranty or I would be out of luck!!!  I called and they are sending me a replacement phone.  I am not sure if it is going to be refurbished or not but I just hope nothing else happens!!  If this happened outside of my year warranty, I would have to get a new phone.  I really really want the iphone but trying to hold out till I can upgrade!

It has gotten a little quiet in the Mudhouse.  Soon, the colleges will be back in session and it won't be as quiet!  I need to enjoy it while I can!


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