Everything in its place!

Saturday, February 28, 2009

It’s hard to believe that this is the last day of the month and that tomorrow will be March already!  We had a few nice days this week (in the 50s!) which means that spring is on its way.  But of course, winter will not give up easy I’m sure–in fact I looked at the forcast for this week and saw that we are due for some more snow 😦  Hopefully not too much.

I made the decision to call out of work last night.  First of all, I was SO excited about the new bedroom set and wanted to sleep in it for the first time the same night as Kimm.  And secondly, I have only called out twice so far in the 1 1/2 years that I have been at the hospital–since we don’t ever get that accrued sick time paid out to us, if we don’t use it, we essentially lose it (they don’t take it away, but if you are never sick, you don’t get it paid to you).  So I decided to take a day for me.  And I’m glad I did.  I was wicked tired from not sleeping well the night before and had never gotten a nap in so I would have been really tired at work if I had gone.

So after much anticipation of sleeping in the bed–I was NOT able to get much sleep!  This had nothing to do with the bed, or the new bedding (which is ultra comfortable), but rather with the fact that Madeline, after being so good for about a month, decided to bother us again last night with her scratching on the door.  It was so frustrating!  Just when we were about to fall asleep, she would scratch.  Scratch, scratch, scratch!!  GRRRR…

And then finally I got up and put her in the downstairs bathroom.  I hate to do that, but I really needed some sleep.

But I never was able to get back to sleep because then I started feeling stuffy and couldn’t fall asleep.  So I got up about 8 am and have been up since.  I’m actually suprised I haven’t taken a nap yet!

But once Kimm got up and we had lunch, then I attacked the bedroom–as far as putting clothes back into the closet and into my chest.  And surprisingly, it all fit.  We still have a bunch of laundry to do tomorrow, so hopefully after that’s all done, I’ll still be saying the same thing 🙂  I don’t know why it is, but I always feel really accomplished when I organize everything into drawers 🙂

I think tonight we are going to just relax.  I know that a pizza from Pizzaria Regina is definitely in the plan!

“Grown Up” Furniture

Friday, February 27, 2009

It’s here!

The drop off time was 7 am to 10 am and so we got up an hour earlier (6:30 am) to take showers.  And good thing too, because they came at 7:30 am.  Took them about 45 minutes to put it all together.

Wow!  It all came together so nicely.

First of all, this is the FIRST real bedroom furniture that either Kimm or myself has ever bought.  Everything before this has been second hand.  It all looks so new!  I’m almost half afraid to use it!  Second, it’s a tight fit–these bedrooms in the older houses are small!  But I like it–it’s not too crowded for us.  It’s cozy.

So without further adieu, here are the pictures.  Please keep in mind that they DO NOT do justice to how it really looks (why is that??).

The bed and nightstands…

LOVE.THIS.COMFORTER

Close up of the headboard–this will be so nice to lean up against while reading before bed 🙂  ALSO–these are the chocolate brown 300 count sheets, whoo-whoo!!

The bureau–Kimm’s–see Mr. Man walking by on the bottom!

The chest and mirror–mine (see Charlie’s little tail)

Charlie REALLY likes the new furniture!!  Look at him stretch!  Oh, you can see me too!

I have to say we feel really proud.  The color of the wall, with the dark wood furniture looks great and the shade of blue we choose goes so well with the comforter.  It’s just so relaxing.

We have just a few little things we want to do now–a tall plant in the corner between the bureau and chest, some art work on the wall, a vase with some flowers for the chest, and some knick-knacks. And we still have to transfer our clothes into the bureau and chest–hopefully it all fits.  We’ll be doing that tomorrow.

It’s going to be so different actually sleeping in a bed tonight.  I just hope we get some sleep.  I only say that because MADELINE, who was being so good for almost a month, WOKE US UP last night when we were in the master bedroom.  So not much sleep last night.  Not sure why she decided to do that after all that while.  Let’s hope it was a one time thing.

Last night on the floor!

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Yes, you heard right, we are FINALLY getting the bedroom furniture delivered tomorrow!  So that means tomorrow night we can begin sleeping in an actual bed again–it’s going to feel so different, not being able to just roll out of bed 🙂

Just to recap, the reason why we had to wait so long for the set to be delivered is because of all the snow and ice we had in front of the house.  But with a few nicer days, a good portion (although not all) of the ice has melted.  Kimm put sand down on the rest this evening and we can only hope it will not be a problem.

So tonight we moved the bed back into the master bedroom and moved our two old dressers into the room where we had been sleeping.

Oh bed on the floor…I will not miss you at all!

So we got our call today telling us what time to expect the drop off–and I guess I’ll have to get up EARLY tomorrow.  The window is from 7 am to 10 am!  Hopefully not so close to 7 am, closer to 10 am!!

New food find–I found these while shopping the other day and had a coupon, so I decided to try them.

Morning Star (FAVORITE brand of meatless products) Asian Veggie Patties

The review:  I really liked the taste of these burgers, but Kimm thought they were too hot (spicy).  They do have a little kick to them, but not too bad.  I like a little heat!  Ate them similar to our other veggie burgers–on toast with lettuce, tomato, and American cheese.  I guess I’ll have to just buy these for myself 🙂

I’ll leave you with a few pictures…

“Guarding the CDs”

“Naptime…everyone in their place”

p.s.  Going to be soooo glad to have new living room furniture.  Not having to have a sheet on the furniture–I don’t know what that will feel like.  Also excited–got some new curtains for the living room to match the new couch that we’re eventually getting.

Wednesday eats…

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

SERIOUSLY, where does the time go?

I can’t believe that this month is almost over.  Although, thankfully that brings us closer to spring!!

For breakfast I had a bowl of oats again (but no picture!)

For lunch, since I won’t be seeing Kimm for dinner because I have to go into work, I made us an onion and cheese (Montery Jack and Sharp Cheddar) quesadilla with sour cream and some guacamole (just doctored up a 100 calorie pack that I found at the grocery store with some tomatoes, onions, garlic, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime).  For dessert I made drop biscuits with sweetened strawberries drizzled with honey yogurt.  The biscuits could’ve been sweeter for my taste, but I’ll remember that for next time (I had gotten the recipe off of allrecipe.com)–but their consistency was so good–crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside–would be wonderful I’m sure with butter and honey!

The yogurt honey was just a bit of plain yogurt mixed with honey til it was sweet enough for my taste.

Planning on making mac and cheese with some veggies on the side for dinner (just because it’s easy for Kimm to heat up when she gets home).  And maybe a girl scout cookie or two for dessert!

***I’m sure not everyone knows this, but it is National Eating Disorder Awareness Week.  Eating disorders (anorexia, bulemia, binge eating disorder, compulsive eating disorder) affect so many people, especially young women, distorting their relationship with food.  Show your support for those who struggle every day with eating and body image by wearing purple, the color of recovery***

The Dollyrots!

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

This is going to be a quick one just because I’m tired!

A busy and productive day, accomplishing many of the goals I had yesterday.

Kimm and I just got back from the mall.  First, I stopped at A.C. Moore to pick up some floss for the window cross stitch I want to do.  I was a bit disappointed because they were out of about three colors I needed and they didn’t have the proper size/color of fabric–this is the only craft store at the mall so now I have to try Michael’s or Joanne’s, which means another trip–ANNOYING when I wanted to start this tomorrow.  Then off to Sears–Kimm finally got her cordless drill!  I have to say it is a nice one–a Craftsman.  So now we can do some of the stuff on the “to do” list for around the house.  And lastly was Target.  We got a few things there–curtain rods and curtains for the living room (so soon no one will be able to peek in!), a magazine holder for the downstairs half bath, a container to hold recyclable paper in the office, some hair products, and I found some Bare Naked granola (another favorite on the blogs…it was nut and fruit–can’t wait to mix it in my yogurt).

When we were driving to and from the mall, we listened to The Dollyrots.  This band is seriously one of my favorites.  I love the upbeat, pop feeling of the songs.  And there’s a funny story that goes along with this…when Kimm and I were painting the bedroom, she had put this cd in the mix of the ones we were listening too and when I first heard the music I had said to her, “Do we have to listen to this…I don’t really like it.”  Well, after listening to it a second time, and then a third, I really started to like it.  And then when Kimm made me a copy for me to listen to in the car on the way to and from work, well I was completely hooked.  Some of my favorite songs on the cd Because I’m Awesome are: “My Best Friend’s Hot,” “Brand New Key,” “A Desperate S.O.S,” “This Crush,” “17,” and “Watch Me Go (Kissed Me, Killed Me).”  Now I just found out that they have another cd called Eat My Heart Out that I’ll have to get!  So check out their sound and maybe you’ll like them too.

So now I’m actually going to relax before going to bed!

A better night

Monday, February 23, 2009

So last night at work was much better.  Still busy, but definitely less frustrating.  Probably because I already knew what I was getting into.  And also because one of my difficult patients was not my patient that night (the day nurses had switched them so that one nurse did not have a heavier load–I was so glad they did that–it makes it more fair, and more tolerable, and I was much less grumpy!)

This morning I attempted another bowl of oats, trying to find that perfect combination.  And I think I did a really good job.  I definitely (I’m using that word a lot in this post, aren’t I?) liked these better than the other two bowls.

NO PICTURE because I was just too tired and kind of forgot!  But in the bowl was:

1/2 cup old-fashioned oats (which I’m beginning to like the chewier texture more and more now)

1/2 cup whole milk

COOK for two minutes in microwave.

Then…

1/2 small box of raisins

1 spoonful of brown sugar

MIX together and let bowl SIT for approx. 5 minutes (those oats are really hot when they come out and the taste is not as good when you eat it immediately)

LASTLY…

1 spoon of White Chocolate Wonderful pb on top (remember how I said I really wasn’t a huge fan of this peanut butter on toast or by itself because it was dryer–well, it’s perfectly fine when it melts in your oats–very flavorful)

I really really enjoyed this bowl of oats and it satisfied my hunger.  In fact, I’ll probably have it again tomorrow.

Today was my first day off and as usual, I tend to feel a little discouraged that I don’t do too much.  Slept from about 9:30 till 1:15, got up to make lunch for Kimm and me.  Then back to bed from 2:30 till 6, made dinner for us.  Then reading and catching up on the blogs.

Tomorrow I hope to get a lot accomplished.

First and formost I need to call UMASS and inquire about a “final” notice I got that I owed close to $3,000 by March 13th.  I know this is in regards to the classes I took this fall, before I dropped out.  But first of all, I have never received any notification prior to this that the money was due, and secondly, I vaguely remember calling about this bill because it was originally placed on a school loan and when I dropped out I had called my loan place and asked about it and they said I didn’t owe anything.  So now I need to find that information somewhere in the clutter upstairs by my desk.  So I guess I will be organizing some paperwork, by necessity 🙂

Then I want to clean the bathrooms.

Organize my finances.

Try a new recipe.

Unpack some more stuff.

Tomorrow night we are probably (?) going to Target because we need to get a cordless drill to do some work on the house.  Also to look for blinds for the living room so our neighbors can’t look in anymore!

That’s all I can think of right now, but I’m sure if I can accomplish even HALF of that, I’ll be in good shape.

Hope everyone had a good start to the week.

FRUSTRATED

Sunday, February 22, 2009

I had THE worst night of work last night.

First of all, I had the admission from hell.  A patient well known to our hospital system.  Known for being very demanding.  Cannot support his body weight, yet insists on standing to go to the bathroom.  Which wouldn’t be too bad if you had enough people there to help because he is a two person assist–kind of hard to do when there are only two people on the floor.  Oh yeah, it was just me and another nurse when I first got on.  They had taken away our aide.  Of course.  They tend to do that to our side first.  Because we only have nine patients total.  It can’t be that bad, right?

ARRRGGHHH!!  I hate that kind of thinking.  It is all about acuity and difficulty of patients.

Not to mention that I had another patient, 25 years old, who had a medical history longer than some 80 year olds who was calling for pain med every two hours.

And we are still having to go and get our patients from the emergency room.  Can I just say that is SO stupid.  I mean, you take two people to go get your patient and most of the time when you get down there they are not ready.  Take yesterday for example.  We went downstairs and the patient was not ready.  Because the wife insisted that the patient needed to be changed up before going upstairs.  Well, he is not the easiest person to get changed up.  So we waited.  For about five minutes.  Then another five minutes to get all of his stuff together.  I mean, really.  What if something was happening to our patients on the floor.  Patients I hadn’t even had a chance to see before I went to get this patient.  What if that were your mother or father?  It irks me to no end.

It took me TWO hours to get this patient settled.  He was that demanding.  I really need to learn how to deal with difficult patients better.  And the worst thing is, he should know better.  He’s a former doctor.

It used to be that I needed to deal with difficult co-workers and subordinates, when I was a supervisor.  Now I have to learn to deal with difficult patients, the ones that I have to be “happy” towards when I am in their room.

I really know that I do not have the patience for this.

Sorry for the rant.  Just had to get it out.  I know it was kind of jumbled.

And to make it worse, it is now snowing and we are supposed to get about 6 inches, AND I have to go back to the same mess tonight.  Hopefully tonight will be better than last night.  The good thing is that this is my last night on, then two off.

That will be my mantra all night long.

Breakfast Oats

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Since so many people love their oatmeal for breakfast, I thought I would give it a try.

First attempt–followed the directions for making the old fashioned oats right off the package (1/2 cup dry oats, 1 cup water, and pinch of salt).  I added in about half a small box of raisins as well during the cooking process.  Cooked for 2 minutes in the microwave.

Well, when I went to open the microwave–DISASTER!  The water had boiled over the sides during cooking, creating quite a sticky mess.  The oatmeal seemed kind of thin to me.  But I let it sit for a few minutes, wiped down the microwave and the bowl and then added my topping–which was a spoonful of Peanut Butter and Company Mighty Maple Peanut Butter.  Have NEVER had peanut butter in oatmeal before, but again, I see it lots in the blog world so I figured I would give it a try.  I had these on Thursday.

Oatmeal with raisins and Mighty Maple pb

My thoughts:  I REALLY liked the pb mixed in the oatmeal–so flavorful and I loved how it melted.  The oatmeal was too thin for me, and kind of too creamy.  The flavor was pretty good, but better where there was lots of peanut butter.  I tended to save those spots to eat last 🙂

So, being determined to give the oatmeal another shot, I did another bowl on Friday.  This time I decided to use less water.  So I did 1/2 cup oatmeal, 3/4 cup water, and pinch of salt.  No raisins.  Not sure I liked them when they were warm.  Cooked in the microwave for 2 1/2 minutes (didn’t go over the side this time!)

To the top I added two chopped dried mission figlets (never had them before but picked them up at the store on a whim–not bad, I’ll have to have them a few times to see if I REALLY like them), a tablespoon of brown sugar, and a tablespoon of the Peanut Butter and Company White Chocolate Wonderful Peanut Butter (a new purchase).

Looks pretty good, huh?

My verdict:  This one was definitely less watery, but still not as thick as I like it.  Maybe I’ll try it with 1/2 cup water next time and maybe with milk instead.  I’m not sure if that will make it thicker.

However, it was pretty good.  The pb was the best part–nice and melty (although by itself it is a little dry).  It really doesn’t taste like white chocolate to me!  Definitely not as good as the Mighty Maple.

I will still continue to work on the oatmeal bowl and try to get it more to my liking!  When I do, I’ll post the perfect bowl 🙂

Lights, camera, action…

Friday, February 20, 2009

We just got back about a half hour ago from the movies.  We had received a card in the mail from Peter, our real estate agent, inviting us to a movie night (turns out he does a few promotions throughout the year to thank his past customers).   What a nice thing to do!  We just love Peter.  I have to say, he was the one that made our housing search so easy.  We only got to talk to him for a few minutes because there were so many people waiting to talk to him, but we did make tentative plans to get together for coffee at our house so he can check it out.  So I guess that means we really have to call about that bedroom furniture and do a few other things we were meaning to do!  Nothing like having someone come over to give yourself a little kick in the butt!

The movie we saw was Confessions of a Shopoholic.  I would rate it as “good,” but definitely not one of the best movies I’ve ever seen.   They really deviated from the book–A LOT!  But the movie still flowed and if you never read the book, you would never know.  But, I found the book to be better–much more detail, and funnier 🙂

What we really couldn’t believe was the number of people at the movie theater!?!  WHOOAA!  Is the economy in a downswing?  Before going to the movies tonight I would have said, YES!  But you would never know it.  The people, mostly teenagers, were pouring in.  They must be the only ones with disposable money!  And not only that, they are getting much more rude these days.  Seriously.  I mean, in our movie, there were at least two groups of kids that were making noises and being EXCESSIVELY loud.  I hate that.  I mean, you go to the movies to enjoy yourself and you pay money for that (well, not tonight, but STILL!) and then some stupid kids annoy you.  GRRRR….

But it was still nice to get out and do something.  If only it wasn’t so cold out!  Where did that warm spell go to?  I want it back.

So tonight we are just relaxing watching some TV and having a pizza.  I’m such a homebody 🙂

Late Night Thursday…

Friday, February 20, 2009

I think I’ve been doing pretty good about posting every day–which I’m actually AMAZED I’ve been able to do.  It wasn’t that I didn’t have anything to post about yesterday, it’s just that I wasn’t home from 5:15 pm-12:30 am!  Yep, that’s right, I had a night out.  I just didn’t know it would be THAT late, or I would have posted something prior to going out.

So where was I?

I met up with Kimm, Chris (a friend we used to work with), and Sarah (a friend I work with currently) at Paper City Brewery for their weekly tasting.  The brewery bar is two flights up in the building where Kimm works (she works for a small beer distributor in Holyoke called La Resistance).  We’ve been meaning to go to the tasting for a while, but we’ve been waiting for a day I have off from work, and for the weather to warm up a bit, since it can get chilly in her building.

Okay, chilly is an UNDERSTATEMENT!!  It was freezing there!  I mean, I was bundled up, but my legs, feet, and nose were still cold.  But most people didn’t care, because they were busy drinking beer!

Now, I am not a beer drinker.  In fact, I NEVER drink beer.  But I had four small cups (when it’s the only thing to drink, you drink).  Three cups were the One Eared Monkey (peach flavored–I really couldn’t taste it but then maybe it’s because I’m not a beer connoisseur).  I also tried the Triple XXX (not sure what it was supposed to be like–it’s a new one, a little lighter taste than the Monkey).  And I had a sip of some kind of Watermelon beer–didn’t really care for that either.

But my fellow companions, who all like beer, thought the tasting was great.  Basically it’s from 6 pm to 8 pm–you pay $4 (I think!–Kimm actually paid for me) and you get a cup that you can have refilled as many times as possible.  Then when you leave at 8 pm you get a four pack of different beers.  Pretty cheap evening out!

We stayed a bit past 8 and then decided to grab something to eat so we went to a bar in South Hadley called Stoneys Pub, that I never knew existed when I lived in Holyoke.   Just a basic hole in the wall, where you can get a few drinks, play some pool, and get some food.

We were starved at that point so we got a large fries and a large cheese pizza to share.  The fries were excellent–crispy, hot and salty.  The pizza was fair–basically tasted like a frozen pizza–needed more sauce, the cheese was substandard and there were too many spices.

We played a few rounds of pool.  None of us are very good, but it was just fun.

We left around midnight–which was a good thing because Kimm and Chris had to work the next day.

I wish I could say I slept good, but I tossed and turned all night.  So today I’m pretty tired.