Strangeness...

I'm not sure what it is about 2:00 a.m. around here, but it seems to be the magic time. As I posted here, we got a knock on the door from the police to tell us the garage door was up about that time earlier in the year. Well, last night at 2:00 a.m. the smoke detectors in the house all started going off. It lasted for only a few seconds, and then stopped. What the heck?! Fortunately, after searching the entire house, there was no fire or smoke to be found. But, man, talk about a rude awakening! Not to mention, just plain strange!

Best. Commercial. Ever.

I love it! Cracks me up every time. And on that note, here are my other 2 kiddos as they start out their school year today in 6th and 2nd grades!





I've taken their pictures in front of the fireplace before the first day of school for the past 3 years. As I look back through the pictures, I'm noticing my fireplace is definitely shrinking.

Sniff, sniff!

My oldest child started high school today! How on earth is that even possible? I am not nearly old enough to have a kid in high school!! Sigh. :/

Here she was this morning around 6:45 getting ready to head out to the bus stop:

Another Book and Back to School!

I have another book to add to my summer read list. Over the past few days, I read A Bend in the Road, another book by Nicholas Sparks. I have another one of his books lined up to read next, unless I find something else that interests me more before I start it.

On a side note, just a few more days until the kids are back in school! My oldest goes in on Tuesday. Since she is a freshman this year (wow!) she goes in a day earlier than the rest of the school, for a partial day, to figure out where all the classrooms are. The other 2 go back on Wednesday! I have already taken them all out with their supply lists and finished that up, but looks like I'll be doing a lot of back-to-school clothes shopping over the next couple of days.

The Help

I went with a friend yesterday to see The Help. I really enjoyed it about as much as the book. It pretty much kept with the story line, which makes me happy.

On another note, I have applied for several nursing jobs, but haven't heard back from any of them. I know I haven't even taken boards yet but, I 'm beginning to think I need to move to a state with a nursing shortage. :/

Baby!!

One of my besties from nursing school had her second baby last night! So, another friend and I bought a cute little picture frame and facebook stalked, to get a picture to put in it, and went in to visit them today! Here is a picture of me and the new bouncing baby boy!



And a picture of the picture! :)



Aw, so sweet!

Nap

Well, I got a nap, but I'm still sleepy. Hopefully I will be able to get back to sleep! Think I'll lay down and watch some TV and see if I can make that happen!

A list of what's on my mind:

(Well, at least some of it...)

- I really, really need to go to the grocery store.

- I really, really don't want to go to the grocery store!

- I want to find a new book to read.

- I want to take a nap!

- I should really be folding laundry right now instead of blogging.

- I hope I get my ATT number soon for the NCLEX.

- I hope I pass the NCLEX. The first time!

- I hope I can get a job in labor and delivery or NICU.

- I want to take a nap!!

- I would like to take Bella to the dog park, but it's probably all muddy from the rain yesterday.

- I need to finish the kids' back-to-school shopping soon!

- I can't wait for the kids to go back to school! :o

- I hate my van.

- I want to take a nap!!!

Reading

I really need to keep a list of the books I've read. There are 1 or 2 I've read this summer that I cannot remember! :( The ones that I do remember are:

Running Hot by Jayne Ann Krentz - This one was ok. Not really my favorite, but ok.

Nights in Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks - I liked this one. Nicholas Sparks is a good writer. I've read a couple of his books in the past and have enjoyed them. I also got the movie for this one, which, as I stated before was ok, but not as good as the book.

The Ghost by Danielle Steel - This one was decent. A little different than what I expected, but it ended well.

Room by Emma Donoghue - This was interesting. Told from the perspective of a 5 year old boy.

Currently I am about 80% done with:

The Help by Kathryn Stockett - I am liking this one, and there is a movie on it coming out this month that I'm excited to see!

Like I said, I know there was at least one other book that I can't currently think of, but so far, this has been my summer reading! :)

Just for fun...

I have seen these all over, but have never made one, so I decided I'd make one just to see if it works.

Ode to Sleep

My dear, sweet, precious sleep! I so desire to be one with you. I lay in bed each night begging you to take me into your embrace and fill me deeply with all that you are. Yet, each night, you push me away. Why, oh why must you always resist me so?

Being sick is no fun!

I think I'm starting to feel a little better. Since Monday, I have been feeling less than well. It started on Monday with really sharp upper abdominal pains, like I have had in the past. I am not sure if it is gallbladder related or just gastroenteritis. Either way, it's not fun! I haven't thrown up since Monday night, but I've still had some stomach pains, though not nearly as bad. Hopefully I'll be back to normal soon!

On another note, I'm trying to get my resume all put together and fill out some job applications. Can I just say that I really, really dislike doing all this? I know it's necessary, but I just want to be done with boards (which I still have no idea when I will be able to take) and have a job. I reeeally want a new vehicle, so the sooner I can start saving up for one, the better!

Girl's Trip!

I just got home from a nice little get-away with my girlies! I took them, along with a friend of mine and her daughter, to Kings Island. We left Monday afternoon, went to KI all day on Tuesday, and then came back today.

It was hot as Hades, but it was still a good time. We had to take lots of breaks and find a place to go inside and cool off a bit, but since it was a Tuesday, the park wasn't crazy busy and we got to ride every ride, some more than once. There were a couple of rides that we would have liked to ride (Vortex and The Crypt) that were closed the whole time we were there, but that's okay.

I left Bella with another friend of mine while I was away. She did really well, but she'd never spent the night away from home before, so she wasn't really sure what was going on. My friend told me that Bella was really missing me because she was pacing around her house looking for me and she didn't eat hardly anything at all. :( She sent me this picture of her looking pitiful:



And posted this pic on fb saying that she had finally fallen asleep:



AWW, my poor little baby girl dog! She thought I abandoned her. :( She was super excited to see us pull up to get her!

Oopsie!

Sooo, I may have tried to trim the bushes in my front yard last night, and I may or may not have made them look worse. :/ They are out of control. I really want to just have the three majorly ugly bushes that are in under the front window (that actually look like one crazy, large bush) removed completely. My thought was to just take my hedge trimmer and trim them across the top and in front to make them look like a rectangle. At least it would look more orderly even if they are still hideous bushes.

However, it is not as easy as it sounds or looks! I got the front half trimmed down and then realized...I can't reach the back half of them! There is a huge lilac bush on one side, and the porch on the other, so I can't get behind them or in between them at all.

On top of the ugly bushes, the lilac bushes need trimmed back as well. There is another one on the other side of the house that is growing out over the driveway and in front of the garage door. I really wish I knew what I was doing or had someone to show me how. But, I suppose my only option at this point, other than leaving them to look like crap, is to hire someone to landscape them for me. :(

Nails

Just ditched the french mani/pedi for some fun summer colors. I love the look of the white tips, but it's a lot of work to do and I just didn't feel like dealing with it tonight, but also didn't want to let my piggies go nekkid. So, I did a blue-green on my toes and a bright pink on my fingers. I was going to go with the same color for both, but then decided to mix it up. May go back to the tips when it's time to redo!





**UPDATE**

I guess didn't get away with not messing with the tips after all. My 11 year old has been begging me to do hers, so I did. At least it didn't take nearly as long as it does to do my own.

Yum!

I really like me some eggplant parmesan, but I've never tried making it myself before. So, I decided, why not? Tonight, I made it for dinner and it actually turned out really well. Especially for my first time making it. The kids, however, are split. One likes it, the other 2 don't. Oh well. I thought it was quite tasty!!

It's Friiiii-day!

Well, my younger daughter is heading around the block to her friend's house for the night. Tomorrow they will be going to an amusement park and staying overnight, so she will not be home until Sunday sometime.

This, of course, means she won't get to play with her softball team in the first game of the tournament. But, she's ok with that (and so am I). She will then have a game on either Monday or Tuesday evening, depending on if the team wins or loses tomorrow's game. I think her team will go pretty far. They've only lost 1 or 2 games all season. Last night they came back at the end of the game from being down 3-1 and winning 4-3.

However, my older daughter is more than making up for her sister's absence by having 2 of her friends spend the night here tonight. Three 14 year old girls in my house at once? I think I might just hide out in my room for the night and read or watch movies!

Tired!

I am all messed up with my sleep pattern lately. I can't seem to get to sleep before 3 am or wake up before 11 am. Grrrrr! Even now, I am laying in my comfy bed, crazy sleepy (as I've been for hours now), but I just can. not. fall. asleep! It is quite frustrating to not be able to get to sleep when you're so tired! I think my main problem is not being able to turn off my thoughts which prevents me from drifting off. My brain needs a power button. *sigh*

Games

Baseball is finally over for my son as of last week, but my daughter still has some softball games left. One tonight and then tournaments starting Saturday. Now, I guess it's time to figure out what they're going to keep me busy with in the fall!

Doggies!

So, when I originally thought about getting the kids a puppy, I had a chihuahua in mind. They're so tiny and cute and can be carried around anywhere we go. But, I also like boxers and have wanted one since I was a kid and one of my friends had one.

Well, as you know, I ended up getting a boxer. I love her and she's so cute and lovey, albeit very energetic and excitable. She will cuddle with me, and I can even get her to sit on my lap sometimes. The problem with that is....she weighs 60 pounds. Which just so happens to be more than my 7 year old son.

Now, don't get me wrong here, I do NOT want to get rid of my Bella, but I do want to get her a buddy and, at the same time, myself a lap dog. I know it's not gonna happen. It's hard enough trying to juggle three kids and ONE dog, let alone adding another. But, I can't help it, I still want one.


Image found here: http://www.lefkimmi.co.uk/web/content.php?page_id=27