Come On Irene!

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Hurricane Irene is making its way up the coastline and should hit by tomorrow morning, lasting all day.

Our small city has already declared a state of emergency.

I’m concerned, but not fanatically so!

Our prep:

–closing all of our windows on the front porch

–bringing in out frog yard decorations

–buying some extra bread, peanut butter, jelly, crackers and chips

–doing all of our laundry

–lowering the temp in our fridge/freezer

That’s it!

In the stores people have been a little crazy–no bottled water left and the peanut butter and chip sections were pretty bare!

It’s all supposed to start tomorrow at around 5 am with potential flooding and high winds.

My only concern is getting Izzy outside to pee and then back inside so she can hide under the bed 🙂

It’ll be interesting to see what actually happens…they are predicting power outages.  Thankfully I don’t have to worry about getting to work!

Plans for the rest of the night…a  movie and then bed!

 

Girl’s Night

Friday, August 26, 2011

Today was mostly for lounging around 🙂

I can’t complain.   I needed it.

In the evening we had a long-awaited Girl’s Night.  Only two others showed up but it was perfect.  We sat on the porch and talked/gossiped, drank, ate and laughed!  One of our friends brought us some beautiful sunflowers…so thoughtful!

It was a LATE night…bed by 2:30.

Vacation begins!

Thursday, August 25, 2011

I made it through another very busy night at work.

Even though I was only there for 8 hours.  I was cancelled for the first four hours of my shift.  And when I was cancelled, I asked what the likelihood of being cancelled for my whole shift was and there was a good possibility!  But then it got busy and of course I was not cancelled…so disappointing…I was hoping to extend my vacation by one more day.

Because yep…

….now I’m on vacation 🙂

First things first…no coffee at work and no stomach-ache.  Much better.

Second…I had my first ICU code last night.  No details because of HIPPA.  However, I do have to say, it was a good code–meaning very organized and I was glad I got to participate.  It’s still confusing, but at least I know there are lots of other people who are there to help.

We were full up in ICU…four nurses and 8 patients.  I don’t think I stopped moving until I went home.

After a glorious day of sleep I got up and we celebrated the first night of vacation with PIZZA!

So yummy!

A movie (Tomb Raider) and then off to bed.

Earthquake!

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Done with my first night of two.  All I can say is “I should have known better”–I actually had a coffee at work last night and ended up with a stomach-ache from about 3 am til the end of my shift–NO MORE COFFEE AT WORK.

And yesterday I FELT the tremors from the earthquake that stuck near Washington D.C.–I was sitting in bed, watching a DVD, relaxing before work when all of a sudden the bed started shaking like when Izzy is underneath, trying to get out.  But she wasn’t under the bed.  And then I start seeing the fan in the corner start to shake, and then the whole house feels like it is shaking.  CRAZY.  That was the weirdest sensation!  Weird though, because Kimm’s parents, who live in Feeding Hills, less than ten minutes away, didn’t feel a thing!

Off to bed.  I’m exhausted and still have a stomach-ache.  Hopefully 8 hours of sleep will cure it.

More inspiration!

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

I guess when you are feeling down, inspiration appears from all over 🙂

Both of these blog entries made me think again that anyone can feel overwhelmed and in a slump and that it’s okay to feel that way, but then you have to take a step back and determine…how am I going to use this to make my life what I want it to be?

I hope you are inspired as well…

You Decide Where the Chain Stops on Roni’s Weigh

and

How the Book Came to Be on Peas and Thank You

It’s a gorgeous day!  Feels like fall in the air 🙂

 

 

Out of My Way!

Monday, August 22, 2011

OMG.  Just reading that blog post title really makes me laugh 🙂

Let me explain…

So Sunday night Kimm and I decided to get our ice cream for our monthly ice cream treat.

We headed out to Stop and Shop to look there, even though I was kind of leery that they would have my favorite ice cream there (Haagen Daaz Caramel Cone) because they hardly ever do.  As we got up to the freezer case, I started looking and there it was, I could see it, and I was so surprised!  However, I couldn’t get to it because Kimm was standing in my way, so I LIGHTLY pushed her, and said, “Out of my way!” and grabbed my ice cream.  After the fact, we were both laughing so hard because my ice cream was of such importance to me!  So now every time we say, “Out of the way!” we burst out laughing.  I love those “you had to be there” jokes  🙂

Anyways, the weird thing was, Kimm’s favorite ice cream was NOT there (Ben and Jerry’s Peanut Butter Cup).  So we had to stop at the gas station on the way home and pick it up there.  Of course while there we were completely annoyed by all the Six Flags traffic that was leaving.

It’s been a good two nights off…we watched a movie each night–What Lies Beneath Sunday night and Lara Croft Tomb Raider tonight.  Plus tacos for dinner each night…mmmm!

Busy!

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Boy, I haven’t had a crazy, busy night like last night in a while!

For the first four hours I was in the ER where it was painfully slow…hello max of 7 patients.

At 11 pm I was back in the ICU and there was a patient who was going down hill fast–low blood pressure.  The doctor was there, putting in a triple lumen catheter and an arterial line and we were going to initiate Flotrac (for nonn-invasive hemodynamic monitoring).

Let’s just say, the set up of everything, and then labs that were off and that necessitated multiple meds and blood products made for a VERY busy night.  There was barely a moment to chart.  Somehow I managed to get out by 7:30 am, which I am considering a miracle.  I charted briefly, and I hope succinctly.  Once it was over, I felt like I had really had a night of CRITICAL care!  Kind of exciting.  I just can’t wait until all of this stuff is like second nature.  I’m sure that will take another couple of years though.

Two off then two on before my next vacation 🙂

12 Hours in the ER

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Just when I was having one of those slumps and really just wanted to work on my own unit, OF COURSE I get floated.

And not just for four hours.

12 LONG hours in the ER.

Hopefully I won’t have to float tonight.

The good news is that I have heard rumors that other nurses are getting trained to work in the ER.

To bed.  Eyes will not stay open!

Slump

Friday, August 19, 2011

I seriously feel like I’m in a slump.

I don’t really know how to explain it, but I just feel down in the dumps and it seems like any bit of activity or planning or doing saps all of my energy.

Of course I just read a post that put things in perspective…isn’t that something how that happens?

I mean, sure I feel left out of things and feel like I don’t have a lot of friends, but how often do I really reach out and try to do things with others?

I also can feel left out when Kimm is involved in her passions (hello Little League baseball and the release of the Memphis Three), but really is my happiness tied to hers?

I think I need to switch attitudes.

I CAN focus on me.

In fact, that is all I can focus on.

And I also need to remember…don’t just react to life, act.

 

My Best Pizza!

Thursday, August 18, 2011

We’ve been making our own pizzas for quite a while now.

Besides fighting with the dough (seriously it NEVER wants to behave…always stretches back…GRRR), I make a mean pizza.

We do a lot of plain cheese, but this combo of veggies is our absolute favorite and what we enjoyed tonight.

One pizza dough stretched into the pan, with cornmeal on the bottom to prevent sticking to the pan

A generous spread of Ragu homemade style pizza sauce…the best!

A light layer of mozz cheese

Thinly sliced tomato slices

Thinly sliced onions

Thinly sliced mushrooms

Another layer of mozz cheese

Pop that baby into a 450 degree oven for about 12-14 minutes, until the cheese is starting to brown

Cool for 5 minutes and then stuff your face 🙂

Pre-oven pic….totally didn’t get a pic of after cooking because we were so impatient to eat it!

Just looking at it makes me hungry again!

It’s our once a week treat!