Awe, how nice!

I had my first appointment with a new dentist today.  I hated my old one and there is a new dental office literally walking distance from my house so I figured I'd give it a try. They are awesome!  The office is brand new and the waiting room feels and looks more like a living room.  Everyone there was super nice, too.  I got at least 3-4 compliments on my jacket (which, oddly enough, people compliment me on frequently), 2 compliments on my shoes, one compliment on my purse, and about 10 compliments on my teeth.  The hygienist kept telling me how "boring" it was to clean my teeth and that she was trying to find something to do because if she was done too soon the dentist would think she wasn't doing a good job.  Then she told the dentist that my mouth was "disgustingly healthy".

I am not so gullible that I believe that was not at least partially due to their trying to "win over" new patients and get good word of mouth going on, but I'll take whatever I can get. Oh, and they did good work too! ;)  Whatever they were pulling on me worked because I will definitely recommend them to people!  :)

Yay!

Proud of my baby girl and her bff!  They both made their school's 7th grade softball team!  Here they are celebrating (and being silly) at DQ after their last day of tryouts this afternoon! :)

Busy day today.

My kids were off school for President's day, though my oldest had a 4 hour practice instead.  After dropping her off, my other 2 kiddos and I went to the gym, grabbed lunch, and ran a couple errands.  I walked Bella then took Molly to the vet because she somehow got a scratch on her belly that she kept licking and it got infected.  Then it was back to pick up my oldest and go to the grocery store.  I got home and made dinner, ate, cleaned up the kitchen, did some laundry, got a shower, and just finished up reading with my son who couldn't stop coughing the entire time. :(

Now I am sitting here thinking about how the sore throat I woke up with seems to have gotten worse throughout the day.  Uggh, I really hope this junk doesn't get worse and passes by quickly because I have to work the next 3 days!

That time again!

I just realized today that I'm only about 3 months away from the Race for the Cure.  I guess that means I need to start adding running back into my workouts.  I kind of got away from it and haven't done much running since probably last fall sometime.  So, I hit the treadmill today at the gym.  I walked about .25 mi then decided to attempt to jog .50 mi at 5 mph.  Well, I got to .50 and decided I'd keep going and try for .75 mi.  In the end, I ended up making it an entire mile before I gave up.  I probably could have pushed myself to go longer, but ehh, maybe next time. ;)  At the end of my workout, I also managed to run a couple of laps around the mini track.  Hoping to do well come race time.

On a side note, 6:1 protein bars = yuck!  I had the cookies and cream one for lunch today after my workout.  Not good.  :(

Another Teenager!

Yep, my baby girl is 13 today!  That means two teenagers (girl teenagers, eek!) in one house. The daily fighting over their shared bathroom has already begun.  Sigh. :-/

Today, she and I are going to go spend some time at the mall shopping, then later it will be dinner at the restaurant of her choice (which, I think, will be The Cheesecake Factory), then Sky Zone for her birthday party!  Should be a busy, but fun, day with my girly! :)

Awww

They love each other! :)

I made it!

I finished up my orientation period at my new job.  Starting next week I'm on my own.  Of course there will always be other nurses around at this job so that I can ask questions.  The last office I was at was not really my favorite of the ones I've been to, but it wasn't awful.  I am still waiting for my schedule though, so, I don't even know where I'll be next week.  The awesome thing about being contingent is that I can make my own schedule.  For example, I know the kids will be off school for MLK day next month, so I can choose not to pick up that day.  I'm also looking forward to only working 2-3 days a week. :)

I did not end up finishing up my Christmas shopping as early as I would have liked, but I got all finished up yesterday (mainly taking the kids out to shop for presents from them).  Today, I will finish up my wrapping.  I haven't had a whole lot of time to devote to it yet.  I spent some time last week while I was sick getting started, then wrapped a few last night.   I will be done before Christmas Eve, though, that's for sure. ;)

Work...

I enjoyed a nice 4 day holiday weekend, but it's back to work tomorrow. I'll tell ya what, though, I do not like this working full-time business.  I didn't like it 10 years ago, and I don't like it now.  :(  Four more weeks of Monday through Friday.  I did, however, really like the people I was working with for the past 2 weeks.  They were all very nice and made me laugh every day.  Tomorrow, I move on to another clinic and I really hope the people there are as nice to work with!

Hmm...

While I was out walking Bella tonight, I noticed no less than a dozen houses in my neighborhood that were already decorated for Christmas.  I understand that this past weekend was a good opportunity for people to get a head start on this since the weather was nice, but at least half of these were actually on. Maybe it's just me, but I like to get through Thanksgiving before I start decorating for Christmas. In fact, I still have scarecrows in my yard.  Now, the day after Thanksgiving is a whole other story.  ;)

On another note, I am liking my new job so far.  I don't love the fact that it takes a good half hour to get to my car after waiting for and riding the shuttle  or the 45-60 minute drive home (depending on traffic), but I much prefer this job over the nursing home!  I am, however, looking forward to having a day off tomorrow!  Yay!

This was me today:

Due to lack of parking, downtown hospitals are forced to spread out their employee parking among (seemingly random) parking lots throughout the city and shuttle employees in from different lots.  My assigned parking is in a very small, gravel lot.  There is literally not enough space to back out in one smooth motion unless you happen to luck out and leave after everyone else so that there are empty spots beside and/or behind you.  Not to mention that people park horribly, taking up 1.5 spaces in the already crowded lot, but that's another rant.  This was totally how I felt today trying to get out of my parking spot.  It seriously took me a good 2-3 minutes of maneuvering...

Christmas shopping?

Yep, this weekend, I officially began my Christmas shopping.  I only purchased a couple of things, but hey, it's a start!  I am usually not one to start until the day after Thanksgiving, but I would LOVE to get done early this year.  It is always my goal to not still be wrapping on Christmas Eve, but it usually ends up that I have at least a few things left.  There has been only one year that I have been completely done shopping and wrapping by December 1st.  And, I don't see that happening this year with my upcoming work schedule, but if I can be done by mid-December, I'll be happy!

I just rechecked my schedule tonight, and looks like I have a couple of short days this week.  I think Wednesday I'll be out a couple of hours early, Thursday will be a half day since I don't need to renew my CPR for another year, and Friday, I just have a meeting at 1:30.  Not sure how long that will take, but at least I won't have to get up crazy early.  :)  Then, unless my schedule changes, I will have next Thursday off completely.  Woot!  (I will be off for Thanksgiving and the day after, as well. Yay!)

I am certainly glad to have had an extra hour of sleep last night, but it still feels an hour later than it is tonight. I am sleeeepy.  Think I'll lay down and watch some t.v. until I fall asleep and get ready for another early day tomorrow!

Er Mer Gerd...Rercer's Curps!

I braved the cold, wind, and rain for over an hour with my son for trick or treat tonight. Now, I'm sitting here pigging out on candy! I am powerless to resist the deliciousness of all this chocolate! Sigh.

Day One Done

Well, my first day of orientation for my new job went pretty well.  I got my training schedule and it looks like I will be working either 7:30 am- 4:30 pm or 8 am - 5 pm (depending which location I am at that week) Monday - Friday through the week before Christmas.  Of course all of the locations I'll be at are at least 45 minutes away. :-/  I just need to make it through the next couple of months of a full time schedule then I'll be contingent and can make my own schedule!

Random

The other day, my younger daughter and I went to the garden store near our house to pick out a couple of mums for our mumkins.

Image retrieved from: http://www.foertmeyerandsons.com/fundraising/mumkins/

Anyway, the older sister of one of my daughter's friends happens to work there and when she saw my daughter, she came over to say hello.  She was going on and on about something while looking back and forth from me to my daughter.  When she finished her story, she barely took a breath before blurting out "wow, you two look a lot alike".  I seem to hear that a lot from people about both of my girls.  I always take it as a compliment, of course.  They, perhaps, don't as much. ;-)

Last Saturday was homecoming for my oldest.  Here are a couple of pics she was able to get before the dance with some of her friends.  The second one is kind of blurry because it was taken with someone's crappy phone camera:


She is growing up way too fast for my liking!

14 miles...not too bad, I guess.

I've been pretty lazy about getting to the gym, but I've been doing a lot of walking and bike riding instead while the weather is still nice.  Today I walked 8 miles then came home and rode my bike around 6 miles.  Once the weather gets too cold I'll have to make myself get back to the Y!

Tomorrow I'm working the flu clinic again and then I may do a little shopping.  I really want a fuzzy North Face jacket!  :)

Boys will be boys, I suppose.

Yesterday morning, I had to go pick up my son from school because he hit his head on some playground equipment and got a big goose egg on his dome.  He didn't fall, which I was originally told by the school.  Apparently he and some of his friends were playing a game and they were tackling someone and his head got banged against the thing (for lack of better terminology; not sure what it's called).  Anyway, this morning, it looked much better and the swelling had gone way down.

Today I am going with him and the other third graders on their field trip to the library.  It is only about a half of a mile from his school, so we are walking there.  Should be fun.

Tomorrow is my daughter's volleyball tournament.

Monday, I am working my first event with my per diem job since last spring.  I'll be back at the big company we did a lot of events for last year that I thought we were no longer working with. Apparently I was misinformed. I think it is a flu clinic, which will mean giving flu shots for 4-5 hours. That's okay though, it's super easy money. Almost makes up for having to get up early and be there at 7:30 am.  ;)  I just got an invitation to work it again on Tuesday.  I'm still deciding if I'm going to accept that one.  Christmas is coming though, so a little extra money isn't such a bad thing!

Serving

This week is the last one for regular season volleyball.  Saturday, tournaments begin.  Last night, my girl served.  She isn't one of the team's regular servers because at the beginning of the season, she had trouble getting her serves over the net.  She has come a long way this season and I am very proud of all her hard work.  Here she is serving the last 4 points to win the first set for her team.  (The last one comes back over and hits, but the other team faulted in sending it back over, so it didn't count.)  They lost the second set, but came back and won the third, for the game.  It was definitely a good game to watch. :)

Bring on the tissues!

I seem to have a bit of a cold.  My nose is stuffy and runny at the same time and I keep sneezing. Hopefully it won't get any worse than this.

This afternoon, I have to make tacos for my oldest daughter's color guard team and then pick my younger daughter up early from volleyball practice to take her to the high school to warm up with her middle school band who will also be performing during half-time at the football game tonight.

Before that, I need to work out and go to at least three different stores.  I need a few things from the grocery store, I have to pick up special make up for my oldest daughter (for color guard), and it would be awesome if I could find a pair of jeans that fit me!

Busy day for me! :)

Not my best of days

My son missed his first day of school for the year today.  He has had redness around his eyelid for a couple of days and has been complaining that it hurts.  This morning it was looking puffy too.  So I took him to the little clinic inside of a Kroger because the doctor has, in the past, not been available to see us on the same day and I wanted it checked out today.  Well, after going down there, waiting, being seen, the nurse practitioner there said it is not pink eye, and it looks more like an injury or infection and she would suggest seeing his pediatrician...

Okay, so, I called the doctor's office, and (as I figured) he had no available appointments today, but they could get him in to see their nurse practitioner.  So, I took that appointment because I didn't want to have to keep him out of school for another day if I didn't need to.  She mentioned thinking it is a chalazion, which is similar to a stye.  From what I have read since, chalazia don't generally hurt, but I guess we will see if this treatment works.  At least it's not contagious, and he can return to school tomorrow.

Before we left Kroger, I went through the self check out and got $20 cash back.  My daughter has a game tomorrow evening (every Monday and Wednesday, actually) and I knew I would need some cash to get in.  I figured I'd get that out of the way.  Well, somehow between the time I selected to get cash back and actually getting the cash, my son distracted me and I walked off without it.  In fact, it wasn't until about two hours ago that it even clicked in my head that I had forgotten it.  I called the store and, of course, no one turned it in.  So, I'm just outta luck.  And $20.  :(

Then, just now, I went out into the garage to get something from my car and killed my knee on a bike pedal.  Sigh.  I'm ready to just go to bed and call it a day.  Hoping my daughter's team can win tomorrow.  They came sooo close at last night's game!!

I survived

I made it through another weekend at work.  Saturday afternoon, around 3 pm, the nurse that was scheduled to come in at 7 pm called and said she couldn't make it in until 11 pm.  Well, after calling around and finding no one else willing to come in for four hours, I told her I would stay until 11 pm if she would work until 11 am today.  She agreed, so I worked from 6:40 am to 11:10 pm on Saturday.  It was a long day, but at least it wasn't crazy.  It was actually nice not to have to get up crazy early again this morning.  Fortunately, the nurse that came on tonight got there on time and I was able to leave right at 7.  Today would have actually been pretty awesome if I hadn't had to do an admission, but oh well.

Next weekend, I'll be off work and spending time with lots of family that will be in from Missouri and Virginia. Looking forward to seeing an aunt and cousin I haven't seen in a couple of years. :)