Goodbye February…

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Another month is at an end…

Not too much going on today.

I did manage to watch the Christmas Special of Downton Abbey (end of Season Two…now I’m all set to begin Season Three!), get a stair/arm workout in, catch up with an old friend for lunch, nap, study (pneumonia and respiratory anatomy) and make dinner.

Now we are about to have another game night…complete with wine and Pringles…QUITE the combination huh 🙂

 

Back on track!

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

The scale showed a loss today 🙂  I’m getting VERY close to the lowest weight that I was last year…kind of when I gave up, thought things were taking too slow, it was too hard…I’m DETERMINED that will not happen this year.

The other thing that was a nice surprise is that I was able to fit back into a pair of jeans that I bought a way long time ago when I was losing weight (they are a size smaller).  Believe me, they are not loose or anything, but they fit!

I know the scale is not the only way to judge weight loss, but there sure is something satisfying about seeing a lower number and it always gives me renewed motivation to keep going!

I did a stair/ab workout today.

Other tasks included: dropping books off at the library and picking up new ones, stopping in for a few things at the grocery store, studying pulmonary embolisms and aspiration, calling my mom and dad, and watching an episode of Downton Abbey — I’m through with Season Two and about to start Season Three!

So glad to have one more full day off 🙂

Wiped

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Whew, I’m really tired tonight.  Last night at work was a busy one and while they are generally all fairly busy, some nights are just non-stop.  It probably didn’t help that one of my patients was very mean, another had a lot of anxiety and another was very confused.  Two nurses with six patients and no aide meant a lot of answering call bells.  And people think that patients sleep at night in the hospital?!

Woke up and was still tired.  Dinner was tacos (very tasty) and after took a shower and watched a Downton Abbey.  Of course now I’m feeling sleepy, but I don’t want to WASTE my night.  Hate that feeling.  Just feeling tired and blah.  I truly hope that when I wake up tomorrow I feel renewed and ready to attack the day!

RAISE!!!!

Monday, February 25, 2013

Good news at work tonight…we are getting a 4% raise!!!  Starting March 31st!!!  Unfortunately because the government rolled back our social security taxes and we are paying 2% more each paycheck, this raise will really FEEL like only a 2% increase, but hey, 2% is 2%, which is better than nothing.  I am VERY happy 🙂

A long night…4 hours in ICU with 2 IMC patients, one who was very grouchy (!), then to the ER for 8 hours, where it was fairly slow, so slow that it made the time pass SO SLOW.  And then on top of it all I had a mandatory work meeting at 7:15 am and at that point I was so tired.  The information was fairly easy to comprehend, in fact I can’t believe that they made us come to a meeting for it…they could have just put out an email OR a memo in our mailboxes.  So annoying when that happens.

I tried to prepare for how tired I was going to be by taking 2 No-Doze during the night.  It helped somewhat, but it has all caught up with me now and so ready for bed.

Sunday’s Letter’s, 2013: Week 8

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Dear Sunday: Thanks for being such a relaxing day 🙂

Dear Survivor:  Fans vs. Favorites…you are already starting out good!

Dear Snow:  THANK YOU for not making an appearance…so glad to NOT be shoveling this morning!

Dear Scale:  You have hit a stand still and are holding hard…you will not beat me.

Dear Wine:  You tasted might-y fine last night (Sweet Red by Barefoot)…AND made playing Parcheesi MUCH more fun.

Dear Upstairs Bathroom Sink:  You are draining like a dream right now and that is making me incredibly happy.

Dear Sun:  It’s been quite a while, you can show your face again.

Dear Work:  Crossing my fingers for a good week.

Dear Co-Worker:  THANK YOU for your offer of a new stethoscope…so unexpected and gracious…here I was looking at spending at least $50, up to $100, and now I can sock that money away for something else.

Dear Downton Abbey:  Second season, just as gripping as the first!  Halfway done.

Dear Ice Cream:  You tasted SO good yesterday…why do you have to be so FULL of calories??!!

Dear Filing: UGH.  I must get to you this week.

Dear Week:  Let’s make it a good one…with some accountable goals…1) get through studying Respiratory, 2) finish going through all clothes (keep/donate), 3) file ONE hour, minimum, 4) put away Christmas/Birthday gifts still cluttering dining room, 5) sync iPhone and remove the majority of the over 1300 pics on my phone!!!!

Just another Saturday…

Saturday, February 23, 2013

And just like that, the day is pretty much over…how did that happen?

We slept in today till 9 am, since yesterday we had to be up early for the plumber…that took some time away right away.

Then I watched some Downton Abbey…always a good decision 🙂

I tried calling my parents, they were not home, so then I ended up baking in the kitchen to use up two very ripe bananas…unfortunately, I was doing some recipe experimentation for granola bars and I really didn’t care for how they turned out…oh well…everyone has to have some recipe flops in their lifetime!

Lunch was good — baked potatoes and a salad.

After lunch I FINALLY got my butt in gear and got a stair and arm workout in.

Showered and then went through all my shirts in my closet…got rid of three more that were too big.  Also happy to know that two shirts Kimm had given me last fall which had been kind of tight at that point now fit me perfectly 🙂

Made a new recipe for dinner which was good — Broccoli Rice Bake…will post recipe soon because OF COURSE I forgot to take a picture of the meal when it was plated!

Now I’m trying to catch up on writing my blogs…my procrastination at work again.

My reward: Downton Abbey 🙂

Bye, bye money…and Friday Favorites…2013: Week 8

Friday, February 23, 2013

The plumber came and went and we are now $552 poorer 😦

Turns out it was exactly what they thought.  The pressure coming in from the main water line was 160 ppi, whereas maximum pressure should be 80!  I guess they said Agawam is known for high water pressure.   So the solution was threefold: 1)  install a pressure reducing valve that changes the pressure when it enters the house from the high pressure, back to 70, below normal, 2) installing an expansion tank to the hot water tank, so that if the pressure gets too high, or the temperature in the tank gets too high, and the water in the tank needs someplace to go, it will go into this expansion tank until the pressure is decreased or the temperature decreases and allows the water to come back into the tank, and 3) replace the TPR (temperature pressure relief) valve on the hot water tank — this is the valve that senses if the pressure is too high in the tank, or if the temperature is too high in the tank, in either of those situations, it opens so that the excess water can flow into the expansion tank.  We had the TPR valve, it was opening before (doing the right thing), but because we didn’t have the expansion tank, the water was just flowing on to the floor.  Turns out that lots of houses have a small drain on the floor to drain away any excess water that might come out of the hot water tank due to this problem.

Oh well, everything was fixed, it took about an hour, and that was that.

On the upside, before the plumber left, I told him about how our upstairs bathroom sink drain was draining slowly AND smelling and wondered if he could take a look at it.  He said sure, and said that there was probably a build up of gunk and unhooked the drain so that we could take it out and SURE ENOUGH…it was full of this light pink slimy gunk.  SO DISGUSTING.  After he left, I scrubbed it all off with some Comet and also in the drain and once I replaced the drain, it worked like a CHARM 🙂  Here this whole time we kept thinking they had replaced the pipes poorly when they did our bathroom repair.  Now I am so happy to have a drain that works properly!  I guess it’s the little things.

Want to know the strangest thing though…when Kimm had noticed the leak in the basement, she had called our neighbor to see if she was having any problems and she had said “no.”  Well…she gave us a call this afternoon…her basement was flooded!  Turns out she was having a problem but had never gone downstairs to look.  So she spent her afternoon having her basement de-flooded and a new pressure relief valve installed as well.

CRAZY.

I’m just glad that is all taken care of and I can stop thinking about it.

Enjoy my favorites from around the web this week…

Favorite simple side…Italian Parmesan Potatoes!  Crispy and flavorful…these look like a perfect side to a veggie burger!

Picture and recipe courtesy of Jenna Weber, of Eat, Live, Run

Favorite inspirational posts…

So you’re feeling too fat to be photographed — your life is happening right now…do you really want to avoid seeing a life with NO pictures of you in it??

The Subtle Art of Starting Over — starting over may not be glamorous, but it still contains that sliver of hope

The 7 Habits of Calmness —  a way to create serenity throughout each day

Favorite “I Want!”…a juicer…this one looks to be a good starter (meaning not too expensive!).  A glass of freshly squeezed juice sounds SO refreshing and healthy.

Photo courtesy of Iowa Girl Eats Online Store

Favorite local…a fellow blogger, Aimee from Amazing in Motion, recently had a meal at The Farm Table, a farm-to-table restaurant in our area, and now I want to try it out!  The menu looks AMAZING!

Favorite noodle…Creamy Garlic Pasta…All I need to do is substitute out the chicken stock for veggie stock!  Butter, olive oil, garlic, Parmesan cheese…it’s a more flavorful Alfredo sauce!

Photo and recipe courtesy of Buns In My Oven

Favorite breakfast bite…it is one of my goals in life to make homemade cinnamon rolls (with yeast!)…this recipe for Overnight Buttermilk Soft and Fluffy Cinnamon Rolls looks SO GOOD!

Photo and recipe courtesy of Averie of Averie Cooks

Favorite funny…

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Stethoscope Break and Basement Water Leak

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Time for a new stethoscope…the tubing on mine broke in half last night at work.  I had a feeling it was nearing the end of its life as it was getting stiffer and stiffer.  Of course now I need to determine which kind I’m going to get as they are not cheap.  I’m thinking maybe the Littmann Lightweight, in a cool color!

Work was okay…ER for four hours and then back to ICU for the final eight.  It was my first night on again with the doctor that I tend to not like to talk to…OF COURSE I needed to call him…TWICE.  Thankfully no yelling tonight.

After waking up from my sleep, I was greeted by Kimm immediately.  She started telling me that we had a pretty bad leak in the basement from our hot water heater.  She was making lunch when she heard some running water in the basement and when she went down to investigate, she said the water was pouring out of the hot water tank.   Thankfully she remembered to turn off the water supply to the tank and it stopped.   She attempted to call the plumber that her parents had used recently (cheaper than our plumber) but of course…NO CALL BACK.  So she ended up calling our plumber and explaining the situation and just from her description, they seem to think that the pressure coming in from the main line is too high and thus tripped off the valve on the hot water tank that senses pressure, and then diverts the water out a little pipe on the side of the hot water tank.  Their estimate to repair: $500.  Ugh.  Why is it that just when you feel you are getting ahead, just a little, something like this happens??

So because the water was turned off to the hot water heater, there was no available hot water.  We decided to turn lemons into lemonade and order out for dinner!  Hello pizza and fries 🙂

And then we went out for our date night…Barnes and Noble it was again!  What can I say, we’re predictable.  We both enjoyed reading some books while sipping on a Coconut Mocha Frappacino.   We left in time to watch Elementary at home.

Besides having to heat up some water in the microwave before heading up to bed in order to rinse our teeth after brushing, our night was pretty much unaffected by the water leak situation.

The plumber is due out between 8-9 am so it’s an early alarm clock for us.

 

Clicking

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

I’m still smiling remembering that good meal last night 🙂

Today is all about catching up…laundry, studying, reading, exercising, Downton Abbey-ing 🙂

Laundry is just about done…all I have to do is put my stuff away and make up the bed.

Studying went really well–somehow today when I was reading and taking notes I had that A-HA moment where everything clicked!!  Love that.

I will do stairs and arms before showering.

Lunch is next — leftovers from last night (our friend was kind enough to send us home with lots!)

Then Downton Abbey!!! (I’m on to the second season).

Work tonight, but only one night which is TOTALLY do-able.

It’s a cold one out there…and windy…stay warm everyone.

New Friends…

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

What a NICE day off 🙂

I was initially a bit discouraged with a gain on the scale…but then remembered…life is full of ups and downs and I wasn’t going to let me this get me down.

After a stairs and abs workout, I had a lovely rest of the day…some studying (learning more about mechanical ventilation…with all the new nurses on my unit I realized I REALLY need to get my game on and learn my stuff) and then Downton Abbey!!!  I got through the first season and can’t wait for the second!

Tonight we just returned from our neighbors who are thinking of selling their home…no rush for them, which is good for us.  They are wicked nice and even though we always say we are going to get together we really never do.  But we did tonight.

We were invited for a meal which was SO GOOD–salad (spinach with red peppers, feta cheese, Italian dressing), bread with sun-dried tomato pesto olive oil to dip in, pasta with homemade sauce (!!!), wine (several glasses worth!), and amaretto, coffee and chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for dessert!  We were SPOILED!  We were there for about 5 hours!  Crazy.  They have the cutest two pups and an almost one-year-old daughter…we just found a lot to talk about.  It’s nice to be able to hang out with friends.

Izzy was sniffing me like crazy when we got back home…”where have you BEEN Mommy??”  🙂  So cute.

Just a little bit of relaxing and then to bed.  So glad that I have only one night on and then three off…makes me happy!