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Monday, December 29, 2008

Remind Me~

1.To never buy my doggies squeak toys for their stockings again. It is the most annoying thing in the world to be woken up by the incessant high pitched squeaks of a rubber elephant.

2.To not eat 5 zesty dill spear pickles in a row.

3.To not pick up a lighted lawn ornament that fell into a puddle....zap!

4.To not laugh when Chloe and Shae say, "Daddy needs Smooth Away for his hairy butt". While shopping at Bed Bath and Beyond they both saw it on an endcap and in a roar of laughter and shouting, kept repeating that statement while onlookers held back chuckles. Poor Brendan.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Whoa~



Ok, so I've been on a musical journey lately. I forgot how much I love this man. He is absolutely gorgeous and could sing to me anyday.......

Chris Cornell is getting better with age, he's 42!

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Something to ponder~

Why is it that when someone has a terminal illness and is a DNR (do not resusitate) they go to extreme lengths to prolong their life? I don't know why you would want to make a loved one suffer for your own selfish reasons and inability to cope with the finality of life. I see it everyday. Family members that have POA (power of attorney) and make all medical decisions for their loved one. What people don't understand is that every human being, if able, should die with dignity and respect. Not with people pushing on their chest, breaking ribs, sticking tubes down their throat, sticking lines into their arteries etc.... I have NO problem discussing plan of care or end of life care with families. I usually do it before the docs. So many people have guilt and remorse for "giving up" on their family member. There is a time when reality vs. miracles takes place. No one wants to give up that glimmer of hope, but quality of life is far more important than quantity of life. It is difficult to watch someone's heartbeat on the monitor drop from 50 to 30 to 10 to asystole. To be in the presence of a person when they pass, I feel is an honor. Sometimes their families are present, other times they are alone. It is bizarre to hold the hand of someone when they die or stroke their forehead. But that just isn't a patient. That is someone who was a full of life at one point. Who enjoyed the same everyday things you and I enjoy. That was someone's mother, father, sister, brother and soulmate... I always get a little more sensitive around the holidays when you find out your patient has cancer or other terminal disease. It makes me thankful every second that my family is healthy. I wouldn't trade my profession for anything in the world. I feel that God gave me the abilities to be a nurse. Well, that's my little story of the day...

Very cool website~














http://www.etsy.com/

Someone told me to checkout Etsy. It is so very interesting. I really would like this for my birthday..I have a mothers ring but this is personalized and very pretty.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

No need to desribe this one~

I know this is completely inappropriate - but doesn't everyone have days like this?????





My new favortie website~

I was ordering some catalogs when I came across this website called LAYLA GRAYCE. It is everything I absolutely love!! It's simply beautiful. If you don't like cottage chic stuff then you'll probably loathe it, but I love it!!! Mind you, it's very pricey and I could probably afford a switchplate....

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

~YUMMMMM~



Ok, so this is one of my favorite cheeses. It is beyond decadent and a total splurge. I don't spend ridiculous amounts of money on certain things, but bianco sottobosco is my splurge cheese. Some women buy shoes, handbags, jewelery...I buy cheese. I have looked extensively into cheese groups or other fromage fanantics, no luck. If anyone shares in my love let me know...

Whole foods has this and it's not priced too bad, a little goes a long way. I crumble it on asparagus or just eat it all by itself. Don't be afraid try it.

Monday, November 10, 2008

TIRED~

1. Worked like a mad woman this whole weekend.
2. Got a patient in uncontrolled atrial fibrillation with rapid ventricular response with pressures in the 70's who happened to be a prominent physician's father. Pushed Dig, Cardizem, started a gtt and still no rate change or conversion.
3. That physician was there the whole time.
4. My charge nurse was annoying as hell and tried to make me look incompetent. Didn't work.
5. Right before clocking out at 1 am, I got a call to our unit that someone needed an iv started on the oncology unit. It was on a man who was 530 lbs. Couldn't see a damn vein...but got it on the third try.
6. Am exhausted from mental overload and need these next two off.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

THIS IS SO TRUE YET SAD~~

The most unique baby shower to date~~





So this past Saturday was my sister-in-laws baby shower. It was Halloween themed and so interesting. It really was entertaining. I've been to showers that were so boring the people just sit around with a glazed look in their eyes. This one was so not the case. As you can see, this is my family. We won "best in show", like dogs, and took home a decapitated skeleton award. It is proudly displayed next to Brendan's Emmy in our living room. My mom (the gypsy) handmade Chloe's crown. I took an old flowergirl dress (look familiar Andrea?) and just built off of it. The tulle took forever to stitch with fishing wire on the dress! I think I went through about 20 glue sticks. Brendan's costume was made from felt scraps and thrift store goodies. I love the way his monkey cap turned out! Shae's costume was store bought, so that relieved me. My costume was from the thrift store as well. My family had trouble looking at me that day given my heinous face. Some latex nose and chin pieces with spirit gum did the trick. Brendan had a ton of fx makeup from film school, so we played around with that as well. Overall, this shower was so fun and Tori looked adorable. She had an all black catsuit thingy with the belly cut out and the earth painted on her tummy. Colin went as an astronaut. I hope these pics don't freak you out too much....

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Pics~~

Yes this is our one bedroom cabin
Yes I'm playing with an 8 mo. old black bear cub
Yes, I'm crazy.





Pics~

Just some more from our trip. Brendan took an astonishing 600 pictures....it was starting to get annoying as hell, but I can't complain when I look back at them. He is amazing. I'll be posting some of "nature" that are unbelievable and we will probably be selling some as well.




Vacation ~




This is of our recent vacation way up into the upper peninsula. We were literally in the middle of nowhere. One hour away from the nearest Wal mart or fast food (which was fine with me). During this particular day a bald eagle was flying right above us, we caught perch, bass and pumpkinseed fish and made such a wonderful family memory. There are very few pics of Brendan and I that I like and this is definitely one.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Tra la la~

So I've been thinking about Christmas lately and realized it's only a couple months away! We don't go overboard on gifts. It's very minimal. Ever since I was about 10 yrs old, my mom and I would go to the mall and take one of those angels off the tree. The angel was an underprivledged child who, through the salvation army, got presents since their family was too poor. My mom instilled in me, at a very young age, that doing things for people less fortunate is the best gift of all. Growing up, I always had wonderful Holidays and pretty much anything I asked for for Christmas was given to me. I am an only child so that helps:) One of my favorite things to do was to get a present for a child. I remember some of items were typical; cars, dolls, trucks etc...but the ones that really stick out in my mind were for socks, a pillow, winter coat and gloves. We always bought the essentials and of course toys! I always put in the gift a story of what the real meaning of Christmas was as well. I have carried on this tradition with my girls and they love going and getting an angel and shopping, wrapping and dropping off the gifts. Too many people get obsessed with the shopping and buying more "crap" that they don't need. I have a minimalist mindset when it comes to Christmas. I probably got that from my dad. He has always made me stop and think before buying stuff. Do you really need it? Are you really going to use this? My frugalness comes from him and I'm glad he brought me up that way. I was never a spoiled brat and had to work for a lot of my indulgences. He taught me that if you don't have the money you don't buy it. He raised me to be independent and through his hard work we had a very nice life and never went without. Needless to say Brendan and I haven't used a credit card in 6 yrs!!!! My point is that I wish people would get in the spirit of giving to those that are really in need. Don't get me wrong, I love getting a nice bottle of perfume or lamenator(what I want this year) but that's it. A couple of items is just fine. So before everyone gets all "crazy" about the holidays, stop and think about what you truly need and about the quantity of presents bestowed to you. Instead, ask people to donate it to a favorite charity or shelter. Then the true meaning of Christmas will make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Work~

Dear St. Mary's Medical Center,

Please do not call me at 5 o'clock in the morning like you did today. You can clearly see that it's my day off. I understand we are understaffed. That is not my problem. Maybe if you hired new people this issue would be fixed. Do you really think that if you call me at 5 am asking me to be there for a day shift, that I would leap out of bed, say " I was hoping you'd call...anything for my place of employment...I'll see ya in two hours!" No one does that. When you do call it wakes my husband, who is so sleep deprived that he looks like a zombie half the time. I then lay in bed awake, thinking of stupid irrelevant things like what should I make for breakfast and my list of items to get from Costco today. Unless someone has gotten into a car accident or other horrific ordeal....I will not be coming in on my day off. And you put me in a position where I have to answer the phone. If it continues to ring, then the kids are up WAY too early and if I answer it then I have to talk to you. To my boss- hire more damn people, be nice to the ones you currently have and stop asking us to work on our days off. I work 24 hrs a week for a reason! Have a good day.

Jessica

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Seriously~

So I bought the weight watchers book off of ebay around a year ago. It sat on top of my fridge (clearly out of sight) for a long time. I pulled it out almost two weeks ago and have been doing the point system. I know I'm not some morbidly obese or overweight person, but when I graduated nursing school i weighed about 134lbs. I get obsessed with my weight and can tell you how much I weighed on my 21st birthday, the day I got married etc.. I have come to the conclusion that I correlate the events of my life with how much I weighed at the time. It's clearly not normal...I have never been "fat" so to speak, but at times a little chunkier than I would like. I was the girl in 8th grade wearing a C cup bra with a bubble butt! I guess I should be thankful I don't have a "frying pan ass" as quoted by my fellow employee with one! Anyway, when I get into the mindset to lose weight I go bananas! I've lost 9 lbs in two weeks. Doing the point system SERIOUSLY works. Running on my elliptical also helps too. My point to this is I've realized around 30, it's very easy to put on weight. My goal is 135..but I'd love to be 130. I've got 6.5 more to go!! So, if anyone wants to lose a few, I'm telling you weight watchers works. The key is to be healthy. I try and tell myself that constantly. Will an extra ten pounds kill me? No, but do I feel better...most definitely.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

PUMPKINS

So we went the pumpkin patch today. Me, Chloe, Shae and my mom. Brendan is off shooting a commercial or doing work at the Chicago symphony orchestra. Needless to say, he wasn't there. It's the first time in like 5 yrs that he missed our yearly trip to Kregel's. He'll be bummed out.

So we get there and they have a small petting zoo with llamas, piglets, donkey, goats and my favorite calves. All the animals looked like they were being cared for well and had enough area to meander around. They also had pony rides....which were four dollars per child. Now every year before it was never that expensive. I had to pay eight dollars for my kids to walk in circle on a pony for five minutes. I commented to the lady taking my dough that they raised the prices and she agreed. Next, the hay ride out to the pumpking patch was two dollars per person. Then there was this "corn" maze that was two dollars a person. It got to be completely ridiculous. Why in the hell are they charging people to walk around in a field of corn? And people were actually paying!! I have a huge corn field in my backyard....kids if you wanna play come on over. By the end of it all it was too much money spent on the "naturistic" experience. An experience I could do in my own yard basically. I did score a weird looking pumpkin that is actually grayish green. I was the only person on the entire hayride that picked a unique pumpkin. Someone commented on it and I thought, " yes and yours is boring"....

My children loved it so that's all the really mattered. Then we went to the Halloween store and thrift store and I got my whole wicked witch of the west costume for like 8 dollars. Chloe's I'm making since she's Glinda and Shae is Dorothy. Brendan is a flying monkey so I have to make his costume as well. I'm super excited to do all this!!! I'll be sure to post pics later on.

Now, I better get some good, deep sleep tonight!!

Monday, September 29, 2008

~the weather~

So it's a nice comfy 65 degrees outside today. I feel the briskness and crispness in the air and know fall is coming. This is my favorite time of the year, when all things come to end and get ready to sleep. My magnolia trees leaves are turning yellowish brown and I can already see the fuzzy buds of spring there...waiting until april. All the harvest decorations are out and it's nice to not have the ac on all the time. I love sleeping with my windows open and me snuggled under my flannel bedding all cozy. Writing this seriously makes me want to go back to sleep!

I do wish Brendan was home more to enjoy the autumnal things I do with the girls. We used to go the orchard and go pumpkin picking, but his work is entirely too demading right now. It has to simmer down or I just don't know what...

So I'm off for the next three days with nothing really to do. I've cleaned, done laundry, cleaned all the bedding, bills, etc..... now I guess tomorrow I'll go to a place with Shae where we can enjoy this beautiful weather. Perhaps Chelberg Farm, Johnson's orchard? We'll see. I am blessed that I don't have a 40 hr week working 9-5 with the weekends being the only family time. I'd go crazy if that were the case!

Maybe when Chloe gets home from school we'll take a family bike ride and then enjoy some nice hot tea and cocoa.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

oh joy

So today I worked and for once in a long while it was okay. Last time I worked I ran my ass off trying to make sure my patient was hemodynamically stable...and then she was coded. I worried all night and couldnt sleep. It has been crazy at the hospital lately and I sometimes think I want to leave, but then I have a good day. Today was one of those days. Lets hope tomorrow is more of the same!

Also it's nice when patients appreciate all the work you do for them. A simple thank you goes far in my book. Feeling unappreciated is one of the most degrading aspects of nursing. It's not like in the commercials where everyone is all smiles and grateful. Family member are usually the bane of my existance. They drive me crazy sometimes. It's unfortunate when you are avoiding going into your patients room because you don't want to deal with the attitudes of family members, even though your patient is sweet as apple pie!


My mantra for the day is I love my job, I love my job, I love my job......

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Some of my favortie quotes on being a veggie girl.

If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian. ~Paul McCartney

Recognize meat for what it really is: the antibiotic- and pesticide-laden corpse of a tortured animal. ~Ingrid Newkirk


You have just dined, and however scrupulously the slaughterhouse is concealed in the graceful distance of miles, there is complicity. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson


A veteran USDA meat inspector from Texas describes what he has seen: "Cattle dragged and choked... knocking 'em four, five, ten times. Every now and then when they're stunned they come back to life, and they're up there agonizing. They're supposed to be re-stunned but sometimes they aren't and they'll go through the skinning process alive. I've worked in four large [slaughterhouses] and a bunch of small ones. They're all the same. If people were to see this, they'd probably feel really bad about it. But in a packing house everybody gets so used to it that it doesn't mean anything." ~Slaughterhouse 1997

Hello out there!

Is there really anyone reading this. I find that very hard to believe. Exactly how many people are on blogger? And why is that when I want to view the next post....I get it in a foreign language all the time? I guess I will be using this as my own personal soapbox, journal and venting outlet. At times I'm sure I'll be politically incorrect and offend. I don't beat around the bush or sugarcoat. I try to tell it like it is, with tact and thoughtfulness. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do....