Happy Halloween!!

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween from us to you!!

It was SO NICE to have off for Halloween 🙂  I only got it off this year because I had ACLS yesterday and they had to give me a day off to make up for it and it just happened to be the next day, Halloween!

I convinced Kimm to dress up while we handed out treats…I’d say we got about 25 or more kids.  Some really cute little ones.  But I have to say…most of the kids didn’t even say “trick or treat” — just stuck out their bag waiting to get filled!  And some “thank yous” but not from everyone!

Oh well…we did it for an hour and then turned the light off…we were getting hungry…ended the night with pizza and fries out and OF COURSE some leftover candy (hello Snickers and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups!!) while watching The Lost Boys.  (scary 80s vampires!)

It was a fun night!!

ACLS recertified!

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

**Thankfully Hurricane Sandy did not cause much damage to our area…part of our fence fell down (but that ALWAYS happens and is easily fixed)…my thoughts go out to the families who WERE affected.

I headed out bright and early this balmy morning to the hospital to get re-certified for ACLS (Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support).

As much as I wasn’t really looking forward to the re-cert I have to say that it was MUCH EASIER than two years ago when I did it…this year stuff made SO MUCH MORE SENSE!  I guess that’s what two years as a critical care nurse will do for you 🙂

Overall I felt like it was a great review and now I feel so much more confident in my skills and ability to perform well in a code.

I was home by 3:30 pm and had the night to myself!

Excited for tomorrow…Halloween!

 

One year since the infamous Nor’easter…now prepping for Hurricane Sandy

Monday, October 29, 2012

One year ago today we were at a good friend’s wedding when a  Nor’easter struck and we were with no power for 7 days and suffered lots of property damage along with many other people in our area.

Today we are prepping for Hurricane Sandy and hoping that we are not in for the same.

After work yesterday I stopped at the grocery store for some non-perishables…$40 later I felt like we had enough that if we did lose power, we’d be just fine.

We brought in all of our outside decorations, closed the porch windows, got out all of our flashlights.

According to the news, we should be getting rain and gusts of wind starting this afternoon…so far it’s been breezy and misty.

Crossing my fingers we’ll luck out this time!

 

New show!

Sunday, October 28, 2012

While I was working over the weekend, Kimm found a new show that she really liked and told me about to see if I would like it…it’s called Elementary and I watched the first episode online tonight and I LOVE IT!

The show follows a modern-day Sherlock Holmes (his actual name on the show!) who is a recovering drug addict with a remarkable gift for recognizing most of the things that us regular folk just look past…his skill is used by the police department to help solve crimes…his accomplice is Joan Watson, his sober companion.  Stars Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu. A really good cast!

After watching the first show, I’m already addicted and plan to watch the remaining three episodes to get caught up.  The show is on CBS, Thursdays at 10 pm.  Older episodes are online and On Demand.  If you are a CSI buff but just want something a bit different, I HIGHLY recommend this show.

What a great way to spend my first night off!

 

Work vs. Life

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Another night of work done.  Busy for the first four hours…in the ER.  Tons of patients.  One thing that I’m kind of getting annoyed with when I go to the ER is when I take on a section from an ER nurse who is now going to be the “float nurse.”  WHAT?  So basically I get stuck doing a lot of work, some of which I’m unfamiliar with and have to look stupid and ask questions all the time, and the other nurse just picks and chooses who to help.  I don’t think that is fair at all.  I don’t think it would have bothered me so much except that I was stuck doing a few things that I really didn’t know WHAT I was doing and because it was so busy, I felt like the charge nurse was getting annoyed with having to continuously answer my questions.  Okay, done with rant.  Thankfully it was only for four hours.

Back in the ICU for my final 8 hours.  Sad news tonight…one of my co-workers came in to work for 11 and then within a few minutes got a call from a family member…her sister had been found dead.  I don’t know all the details, and I wouldn’t share them here…but it just got me thinking again how…WE DON’T know how much time we have in this world…don’t ever take life for granted.  Life is often filled with not so fun stuff…for example, work, cleaning, home maintenance…it’s not all relaxing…BUT we are alive…and that is a gift.  When I get frustrated with different things, I need to really remember this…I want to see the joy in EVERY SINGLE DAY…because I don’t know how many days I have.  I want to be able to say my life was enjoyed…in the good and the bad!

Whew…heavy thoughts for so early in the morning…off to bed I go.

Disappearing day…

Friday, October 26, 2012

Ack!   I’m supposed to be in the shower like NOW.

Where did this day go????

We did manage to sleep in, which was VERY good for Kimm as this is the first good night of sleep for her in probably a week.  If only she could get a few more nights in a row.

Then we had breakfast and did our morning stuff (reading blogs, reading the New York Times, checking email, writing blogs…)  I guess we spent TOO much time doing that because we were really rushed this afternoon.

Had a bunch of errands to run and even though each of them seemed very minor, they sure added up in time.  Did manage to get them all done but didn’t have lunch until 2:45 and now it’s time to shower and start making dinner!!

Two nights on and then four off (although one day will be spent doing ACLS).

I’m crossing my fingers that the big wind and rain storm we are predicted to get is nothing like our storm last year.  It would really NOT be good to lose power again.

I guess we’ll just have to wait and see…have a great weekend everyone.

Better

Thursday, October 25, 2012

I woke up this morning feeling a lot better.

No sniffles.  No congestion. No sneezing.

Not 100%–but LOTS better.

My plans for today…not much.

I don’t want to jinx things!

Here’s my list:

Watch Survivor (already done…couldn’t wait to see who was voted off!)

Study ACLS (from the recommended site and also another super site I found last night while reading on my phone before bed)

Clean the bathrooms (SO NEED IT!)

Balance the checkbook and pay bills

Catch up on reading and writing blogs

Shower (yep, it NEEDS to be on the list!)

That’s about it…if I can do more, great, if not, I don’t want to be disappointed in myself!

I decided to make today another “no sugar added” day…so far so good…coffee with cream, scrambled eggs with cheese, and toast for breakfast…plan to have an English muffin with cheese/tomato and a big salad for lunch, leftover veggie soup for dinner, veggies and hummus/smoothie/apple and peanut butter are possibilities for snacks!

They are currently digging up our street down the way from us and our house is shaking!  Hopefully that will be done soon.

Hope everyone has a great day!

Sick

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Oh boy, I’m WAY behind on writing my blogs again.  Writing something each day doesn’t SEEM like a lot when you are just talking about it, but somehow, I always manage to fall behind and then I feel kind of like when I was in school and I missed a deadline.  I almost feel GUILTY about not writing a blog post.  As much as I love having my blog, I have to say, sometimes it gets in the way of simply LIVING life…BUT, on the other hand, I absolutely LOVE being able to look back and see what I did!  I guess I’m caught between a rock and a hard place…I just need to try to KEEP UP with writing 🙂

Anyways, here I go…I’m starting backwards, today first.

Kimm and I had to get up early today because she had a doctor’s appointment at 9 am.  We were up by 8 am, but we both slept rotten and still felt wicked tired.  Hate that feeling.

While Kimm was in her appointment I was able to do 2 and a 1/2 med cards…I’ve done almost 20 so far!!!

Right before Kimm came back to the car I started feeling very sniffly and stuffed up.  Of course I dismissed it as allergies.

After her appointment we were off in the opposite direction to the hospital as I had to get my flu shot…in and out!  Didn’t feel a thing.

On the way back home I remained sniffly and sneezy and just generally not feeling that great.  We stopped at DD to get a treat (yep we are those people who reward themselves for having to get up early and do adult things!)–another pumpkin muffin for me (with a maple frosted donut as well…super yumm!!!).

 The rest of the morning was very relaxing–watching DWTS and reading blogs and working on my Christmas list…but right now it is almost 4:30 pm and I FEEL MISERABLE.

Yep, it’s my first cold of the season.  Ugh.

I’m hoping with lots of rest today and tomorrow I’ll feel better to work this weekend (if I call out on my weekend I’ll have to make it up on the other weekend!)

Geesh…not exactly how I planned on spending my days off…blowing my nose and feeling exhausted!

And we had planned on going out to Barnes and Noble tonight 😦

Oh well…I’m going to rest up as best I can!

First night love–reiterated!

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

First night off again.

I am going to say AGAIN how much I LOVE my first night off…I sleep all day, get up and eat, and then just RELAX 🙂

It was especially nice tonight…the pumpkins were glowing on the porch, I was all snuggled up in a new pair of comfy lounge pants, I was able to watch the first half of Dancing with the Stars (LOVED the Call Me Maybe group dance!!), and ended the night with popcorn, Parenthood, and Chopped!

SO FUN!!

(Plus I did it all while finishing my first “no sugar added” day since I started my numbers challenge!  I have to say, “no added sugar” IS a challenge for me…kind of like low carb in a way, but with a few less restrictions…I started my “no sugar added” last night at midnight while at work…my snacks included celery/carrots/hummus/cheese slices/apple, for breakfast when I got home a spoonful of natural peanut butter and coffee with cream only (SO not a fan), slept during the day, for dinner tacos…no Ranch Dressing (!!)…instead I mixed up sour cream, lime juice and cumin to a dressing consistency…not too bad….lots of lettuce and tomato…for dessert an apple with peanut butter…REALLY was eyeing those peanut butter cups but I held strong…and as I said, popcorn for a snack!  I HOPE I can fit in nine more “no sugar added” days before Thanksgiving…I’m thinking it will be a stretch…but that is the reason this is a challenge!!)

One again…new rules

Monday, October 22, 2012

I had ONE patient last night.

There’s a new rule in the ICU…THREE nurses at all times, no matter what.  I guess there was some issue with having to get a supervisor to come and provide coverage for CERT calls and breaks.

So now, three nurses at all times.   We’ll see how long it lasts!

But we only had five total patients last night, and I was the odd one with only one.  No admissions.

My patient was pretty easy…slept all night!

So I spent a lot of time…doing med cards, thinking about things I need to get done before the end of the year, working on my Christmas list, listening to songs, reading blogs, reading magazines, cleaning up the unit, snacking, visiting with my co-workers 🙂

It was nice not to feel so busy, but on the other hand, the time went by pretty slow!

Glad to get home and go to bed.  One more night left, then three off.