Snippets

* We got Natalie's classroom schedule for the new school year. She's at the age now that her daycare class has a curriculum during the school year. I would love to trade places with her!

• 6:30-8:20 Arrive, potty, and free play
• 8:30-8:45 Calendar and story time
• 8:45-9:00 Breakfast and potty
• 9:00-9:30 Daily lesson (every Friday is a Bible lesson)
• 9:30-11:00 Free play
• 10:45-11:00 Potty and clean up for lunch
• 11:00-11:15 Story time
• 11:15-11:30 Lunch
• 11:30-2:30 Nap
• 2:30-3:00 Potty and snack
• 3:00-3:30 Afternoon lesson
• 3:30-6:00 Free play and go home

So, how about you? Would you like to trade places with my two year old?

* My office is an inner office on the ground floor of the building. I don't get great reception on my radio, or so I thought. Apparently my radio wasn't working due to user error. I got it working yesterday and found the most unusual radio station, and it's one of the few that comes in clearly. This station has dubbed itself the "official listen-at-work station", and these are some of the songs I heard before noon:

• "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"- Cyndi Lauper
• some boy-band song that I couldn't place...Backstreet Boys, maybe?
• "I Saw the Sign"- Ace of Base
• "Get Down Tonight"- KC & the Sunshine Band
• "I Can Only Imagine"- Mercy Me
• "Marry Me" - Train
• "Firework"- Katy Perry
• "1999"- Prince
• Add in there some Lady GaGa, Rhianna, Britney Spears, and LeAnn Rimes

I really thought radio stations were pretty straightforward- country, classic rock, rock & roll, hip hop, talk radio, etc. Evidently I was wrong!

* Friday we will be going to look for an apartment to live in while Nathan's in PA school. I'm so nervous about the extra expenses, but it's a cute little town pretty close to a couple of amazing cities. Having two homes will be odd. I'll feel like a celeb, having our "weekday home" and our "weekend home"! Ha!

* I know it's still August, but I'm SO ready to decorate for fall. Last week we had some nice days with highs in the low 80s and lows in the high 50s. Today we were back to the mid-upper 90s, but I may still pull out the fall goodies this weekend :) I love love love fall, but hate that it leads into winter. Brrr! I'm especially ready for fall TV!

* I'm so over hearing about Kim Kardashian's wedding. She's my least favorite of the Kardashian sisters. I love Khloe and sometimes Kourtney.

* I just saw an infomercial for SnapOnFeathers for hair. "A $60 value for only $10!" YES!! I think I shall order mine now. Ha!! What will people come up with next?

We spent the weekend in Springfield at my cousin's wedding. I left work early Friday so we could make it to Springfield before 10pm (it's about a 4.5 hour drive), since I still had to get a gift (talk about waiting till the last minute!), get my oil changed, and pack my suitcase. Natalie and I left town around 3:00. Guess what time we got to Springfield? 10 o'clock. My parents, Natalie, and I stayed at the same hotel as two of my aunts, who informed us that evening that our hotel was going to shut down the pool on Saturday. What?! Close a hotel pool on a weekend? Who made that decision?! Obviously we didn't want to be at a hotel that had no pool, so we cancelled our Saturday reservation and found a different, but comparable, hotel just a few miles away.

The wedding was at 1:30 Saturday afternoon. We made it there at 1:35. Apparently this weekend was all about running late! We had every intention of getting there early, but didn't realize the church was 20 minutes away; and it didn't help that our Garmin had us going in the opposite direction. At 1:30 my aunt, the mother of the groom, called to find out where we were. They held up the wedding for us. Whoops! It was a little embarrassing walking into the church when everyone was expecting to see the wedding party walking up the aisle. The priest, who has known my family forever and ever amen, said he was not starting that wedding until we were there. So sweet, right? The groom had no idea, and the sweet bride was cool with whatever.



The reception was at The Fox and Hound Bar & Grill where the couple met.







Who wouldn't want a pool table at their wedding reception?



A pool table and big screen tv's? What a lucky fella to have such a cool wifey!



Since we were all together, we reinacted a photo from 22-ish years ago.



Annnd the original :) Cute, right?

It was so great to see my dad's family. Since my grandparents have been gone, we don't get together like we used to.

Happy Monday!!









Happy Friday!

I work with the elderly population, and sometimes we hear some funny stuff.

Geriatric Quote of the Day:

"My eyes burn like a cat's butt!"

source

Happy Friday!!!

I'm heading to Springfield tonight for my cousin's wedding tomorrow. Hopefully Sunday or Monday I will have some great pictures to share.  Have a great weekend!

Family Weekend

We had a really great weekend with my mom's family. Saturday we went to my aunt and uncle's house out in the middle of nowhere. It's so beautiful and relaxing, and Natalie had a great time swimming, swinging, jumping on the trampoline, riding the Ranger, and seeing the cows and horse. She's already ready to go back!

It was seriously about 65 degrees in the house, so when I took the camera outside for pictures, my lens fogged up. Foggy lens = crappy pictures :(

We spent Saturday night with my parents and took some pictures after church on Sunday.



My dad requested a picture of Natalie on his deer target. "This deer is her childhood." Oh, Daddy-O!

*Nathan wasn't present for pictures, as he was lying on the couch, sick.
Hope you had a great weekend!

Darn, Mother Nature!

The church with which Natalie's daycare is affiliated rented out our local water park tonight for Family Night, so we were really excited. Even though we attend a different church, the daycare is a ministry of that church, so all the families whose kids go to daycare are considered part of the church family. It's been an absolutely beautiful day, and my MOPS group was going to meet tonight at the water park, since most of the moms in the group go to that church.

Then this rolled in:

I suppose it wasn't meant to be. Looks like we'll be having Family Night in the basement tonight. Hope there's a good movie on tonight!



Show Us Your Life- Wedding Showers

This week's Show Us Your Life is about wedding showers. I've never actually hosted a wedding shower, and don't have a lot of great pictures from mine. One The only things I had requested were a very laid back atmosphere and easy-to-eat finger foods.

The table set up. This wasn't all the food. There was more in the kitchen, but this was the "pretty stuff". The flowers in the arrangement were the same flowers (but not the same arrangement) that were used at the wedding and reception. They were latex roses and calla lillies I had bought at Hobby Lobby (on sale half price). The actually looked real, especially the roses.

Close-up of the table. Beautiful, delicious cake! The porcelain bride isn't my style, but it was a nice, sentimental touch the homeowner (one of the hostesses) threw in there.

The seating arrangement. No circle-seating, and lots of the ladies were visiting around the food in the diningroom and kitchen. The fewer eyes on me, the better.

Picture Post...Kinda

My grandma, who had a below-the-knee amputation a couple years ago, fell this morning. This woman is a tough little thing. She's been through so much in regards to her health, and she still lives independently in her own home, next door to my aunt and uncle. Anywho, at 3:00 am, she got up to get something to drink. She was in her manual wheelchair (she also has a electric wheelchair, which is her primary means of mobility...ooh, I feel like I'm writing in one of my patients' charts!), spilled some water on the floor, and in her attempt to clean it up, she fell. My aunt usually checks on Grandma every day, usually several times daily, but was out of town this morning. My poor Grandma was on the floor until the Meals on Wheels guy delivered her lunch. Yep, LUNCH! She had been on the floor for about 8 hours. The door was locked, and obviously she couldn't answer it, so he looked through the window and noticed she was on the floor. He's gotten to know the family well, so he went next door to get my aunt, who wasn't home. My cousin has a business on the property, so the sweet MOW guy tracked him down. They got my grandma back in her chair. Despite her pain, she didn't want to go the the hospital or to urgent care. Finally my aunt (not the one who lives next door) came over and convinced her to be evaluated by a physician. Off to the ER they went. I guess I should mention that Grandma fell right on her "stump". Turns out her knee and the distal end of her femur are crushed, crushed to the point that surgery isn't even an option. The doc at the ER put a cast on it, educated Grandma, my mom, and my aunts on the importance of ice and elevation, and sent Grandma home. Poor lady is in so much pain. My mom is staying with her tonight to help her out. I don't know how many more health problems she can take. If you pray, a little prayer for my sweet grandma would be much appreciated.

Otherwise, Natalie and I had a little photo shoot last night after Jillian Michaels kicked my tush and Natalie had a bath. For your viewing pleasure (I don't mean that as weird and perverted as it may sound)...



Post-workout





"Show me your funny face!"

 

"Anudder funny face, mommy!"

This kid's a hoot! I feel so lucky to be her momma.



Hmmm....

So my homemade laundry detergent didn't thicken up like I thought it would, but maybe I expected it to be too "gel-like". I will finish off my store-bought detergent tomorrow morning, then I'll start with the new stuff. *Fingers crossed that it works well*

I really have nothing to say tonight. Why is it that all day (at work, none the less) I think of things to post about, but by the time I have time to really sit at the computer at night, I'm blank?

I suppose I will continue reading blogs (I've discovered so many new ones lately) until I crawl into bed and hopefully get a good night's sleep.

Wonderful Weekend

This has seriously been a great weekend of doing practically nothing. It's a shame not all weekends are so laid back.

Nathan was off work Friday, so he picked Natalie up for me. A task so small can make a momma so happy! I tanned on my way home and still made it home to an empty house. Although I was only alone for 15-20 minutes, it was blissful! We decided to have McAlister's Deli for dinner, so after calling that in, we ran to the store for a few things (where we scored 24 ct Crayola crayons for $0.24 per box! I love that Wal-Mart price matches.) We loaded up on some snacks and rented Just Go With It and Hall Pass from the Redbox. Dinner was delish, and we got a few laughs from Just Go With It before we all fell into a not-so-great slumber in the basement. Natalie enjoyed her slumber party with momma and daddy!

Saturday, Natalie and I were supposed to have a MOPS play group at the local water park. Between the overcast skies and Natalie's upset tummy, we decided not to go. I really don't know where Saturday went. Before I knew it, it was 5:00! We did some grocery shopping before the new store ads came out today (I love couponing! I got some great deals), then came home to have leftover spaghetti and watch Hall Pass, which was pretty stinkin' hilarious. I fell asleep before it was over, so I need to watch the last 20 minutes tonight before I return it.

This morning I went to church by myself. Although I felt guilty about letting Natalie skip, it was kind of nice going alone. I got home to find out that Natalie slept until 9:10am! That is completely unheard of, but she was in a great mood! She and I made blueberry muffins while Nathan mowed the lawn.

Aside from homemade muffins, these are the best!



Natalie took it upon herself to add the egg :)



Though not all identical, they were delish!



I took advantage of Nathan and Natalie napping together this afternoon to make some homemade laundry detergent. I've been planning on it for awhile, and the opportunity presented itself today. I've heard this detergent works better than most store-bought detergents, and it's definitely a money-saver. That's a win-win, right?

I used this recipe.

The ingredients, plus water. I had the bucket, so that was free, but for the other ingredients, I believe I spent about $8, and each of them will go a long way!



Ivory soap grated into water



Soap mostly dissolved



1 cup washing soda

 

1/2 cup Borax



Ingredients dissolving.

After this, I filled the bucket to the top with hot water. And now...I wait.  Hopefully it gels correctly, and tomorrow evening I can update with that info.

And here are a couple of pictures from our relaxing Friday evening last weekend when we took Natalie out for ice cream.



Isn't she cute?



Cute little ice cream shop

And one from today...just because:



Ignore all the weird shadows...






What's the Future Hold?

I have mentioned before that Nathan got into PA school, and he starts in January. He will be in class Monday thru Friday from 9am-5pm, plus staying late for extra lab time, plus study groups, so he will hardly ever be home. Obviously school will be his full-time job for 28 months, and there will be no time for him to work, not even part-time. It'll all be on me. Yikes! That's a scary thought for me, that I will have to support our family on a nurse's salary, especially since the amount of our monthly bills will increase while he's in school. Thankfully he's eligible for quite a bit in federal student loans, but I believe we'll have to take out a private loan as well. Ay ay ay, money's going to be tight for 2.5 years! It will all be worth it in the end, though....I hope!

The average surgical PA salary is pretty nice, and the surgical group that he works for now realize how lucky they are to have him and say they really want him to come back after graduation; they would "do what they have to do" to get him back. Nathan met with the office manager last week, and we were pretty excited to have a starting point as far as job offers are concerned, seeing as how Nathan is very well known in the local medical community (the group works at both hospitals and the outpatient surgery center) and has multiple other unofficial offers locally, a potential job offer in Vancouver (yep, CANADA), and another potential offer with the chief of surgery that he worked for before we moved here. Boy, was the offer from his current bosses a total slap in the face! It makes us wonder how badly they really want him. Maybe they're just trying to play hardball and low-ball the offer at first. Maybe they'll come back with something better, but I don't know. We're keeping our options open, and though it's nice being relatively close to our parents right now, there's really nothing tying us down here. I am totally confident that he will have no problem finding a job. He has so much experience in what is probably the hardest specialty in surgery, and that's his passion, so he getting a job won't be a problem...but finding a job that he's passionate about and that pays adequately might be an issue.

When Nathan is working as a PA, he really wants me to be able to stay at home. That'd be great (maybe), but it will depend on where we live. I'd like to live in a relatively low cost of living area, but in or near a busy medical community. 

If you live in or have visited a city that would be great to live in, I'd love to hear about it! Some of cities I'm interested in looking into:



Nashville, TN

St. Louis, MO

Charleston, SC

Greenville, SC

Springfield, MO

Savannah, GA

I pray everyday that God will direct us in the direction we are supposed to go. I know Nathan will make a difference in many lives, we just have to figure out where those lives are.