Monday - It's Christmas!

...to all!  We fly out later this morning, so I'm going to wish everyone a safe, happy, and 

De

Sunday - Christmas Eve

...or should I say has been to town?  Santa came early in my house because he found out we were going to Texas and knew some little boy would be driving his parents c-r-a-z-y if he didn't, lol.  So, Santa being the wonderful and giving person that he is, came last night while we were all sleeping snug in our beds and we opened gifts at 8:30 this morning.  Stephanie, Tony and Diante came over too and we all ate a hearty breakfast cooked by moi (shhhh...don't tell anyone I cooked).

It was funny.  I got off work yesterday morning around 7:30am, picked up the kids from Stephanie's where they were spending the night, and then we all went to Denny's for breakfast.  After that Hannah, Caleb & I went shopping at the mall.  I know, we were brave, but actually it wasn't bad at first, then we walked out of one store about 11:00am and it seemed like the mall had literally exploded people.  I was like, "uh, where did all the people come from?"  So we tried to hurry (not possible) and get out of there.  Then we went to Target to finish up.  I tell you I made a point of saying "Merry Christmas" to everyone.  I got some back, but about half either didn't say anything or said Happy Holidays.  Whatever, I'm still saying it.

I slept about 2 1/2 hours then got up, jumped in the shower and we went to the Phoenix Coyotes vs Anaheim Mighty Ducks hockey game.  We won! 2-0!  It was about 6 minutes left in the game and David said, "do you want to go ahead an leave?"  "No, let's stay a little bit longer" I said.  Well at 14:58 in the third period was goal #1 by Shane Doan.  Then just 13 seconds later came goal #2 by Fredrik Sjostrom.  Whoo hoo!  That was great! 

On the way home we stopped off at CVS to pick up some bags to throw some presents in and then finished wrapping and threw presents under the tree around 3:00am.  I was stupid tired, lol.  I think I still am.  I had to clean up and then laid down to sleep but was so tired I couldn't sleep.  Don't you hate that?  Finally around 5:00 this morning I finally fell asleep until 8:00.  So in the last 48 hours I've slept 5 1/2.  Ugh.  Oh well, Christmas only comes once a year, right?

Gotta make cookies for David to take to work.  Then it's packing.  I'm doing laundry right now.  We fly out in the morning.  So...

...I hope that Santa brings you exactly what you are wishing for, and Merry, Merry Christmas!

De

Tags:

It just barely Friday Morning

Look...the sun is just rising over the mountain.  How do you like the view from my back porch?  I love it.  It's what sold me on this house.  It certainly wasn't the sticker price.  I'm still choking on that one, lol.  Seriously, how'd you like to wake up to this and go "another day, another darn mountain sunrise"?

Seriously, where has the week, month and year gone?  It is just a mere 3 days from Christmas.  Yikes!  Okay, most of the shopping out of the way.  Gonna take Hannah to pick out a couple of things in the morning when I get off work.  Waiting on some packages to come in the mail so I can wrap.  Gotta get two more gift certificates for Dirty Santa.  And that is it, finished!  Let's just see if I can get it all wrapped before Santa comes early on Sunday morning!

How is everyone else holding up?  Don't let the holidays stress you out.  Just go with the flow!  We have to remember the true spirit of Christmas.

Well, I'm off to bed (yes I know I just said the sun was rising).  I've got to work tonight.  It's my last shift before Christmas, then I'm not back for a whole week.  So enjoy your time with your family!

Oh Deb, are you okay up there in the Mile High State?  I hope you aren't buried under all that snow and can get out and enjoy it some!  Be safe!

  De

Monday, Monday

      Okay, so I had this whole entry typed up last night to enter and my darn cable went out right as I hit save.  So what do you think happened?  Ugh.  You know, ten years ago I didn't even know what an Internet was, and now I'm so freakin addicted.  So basically I just gave up and decided you didn't need to hear my ranting anyways.  Lucky you, lol.

Got out this morning with my DH and went and did a little Christmas shopping.  Gotta take the kiddos out so they can buy for Daddy, and get some gift cards for Dirty Santa, but other than that done.  That got me to thinking.  How do you feel about the whole PC Happy Holidays thing?  Makes me just a tad bit irritated.  To me there is no holiday without remembering why we are celebrating in the first place.  So, it's Merry Christmas in my house.

My friend, Tina had a thought or two about this subject:  "Here is the way that I see it.  Being a Christian is not always PC.  There are areas in the world that being a Christian will get you imprisoned, tortured or killed.  And we as "Christians" worry about saying Merry Christmas?  I am going to say Merry Christmas to everyone I see, because my Grandfathers, Uncles and Brothers put their lives on the line for me to have the right to do so.  Even if others want to exercise their right to not do so.  I think that if someone in China, Africa, Pakistan or wherever can put their life on the line to worship Christ, then I can risk someone getting offended at my say Merry Christmas."

So what are your thoughts?

Hugs, De

Find out about The True Meaning of Christmas

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Just wanted to ask if you guys would pray for Betty (lv2trnscrb).  She recently lost her mother and the funeral was today. Betty may be absent from AOL Journals, but she is still in our hearts.  Love you, Betty!

Tags: christmastruemeaning

Is it Saturday Already?

Oh my, the week has flown!  I've worked 3 of my 4 shifts so far.  I'm not sure I've slept.  I know I didn't yesterday.  I was up puttering after laying down with Caleb (where I slept for 3 1/2 hours) until 10:30am.  Then when I laid down I couldn't sleep right away.  I think it was about 11:30 when I finally fell asleep only to have to get up at 2:00 to get Caleb from school.  Talk about being a Zombie!  I would have just gone back to bed, but David was sleeping because he worked all night and plus, we had plans.

What plans you say?  Well we met some friends and went over to the Phoenix Zoo for the annual Zoo Lights.  It was really fun.  The lights were really pretty.  We saw a few animals, not many.  We saw a Zebra who posed very nicely.  And then we saw a couple of wild boars.  It was really funny because this lady standing next to us said "Look at the hyennas".  Then someone said "Lady, those are pigs".  And without skipping a beat so as to look highly intelligent the lady goes "I know.  Hyennas are a type of pig."  We all just laughed out loud. 

Then there was Jengo the Talking Giraffe.  She said "Hi Caleb, I see you there.  It is so nice for you to come see me tonight.  I see you brought Maddison and Meagan with you.  Are you having fun?"  Then she said "Oh wait don't go yet, I have a joke for you.  What do you get when you cross a cat and a fish?...and don't say catfish.  What?  No...not catfish.  It's a Furmaid!"  Ha ha ha!  Wow!  Do you believe in magic?

I'd like to thank everyone who popped over and read my  CarnivAOL entry whether you commented or not.

Well, tonight is shift #4 and then Hannah comes home on Sunday!  Yea!!!

Have a great weekend!!

 De

Tags: zoolights

Glorious Sunday

 and   Hey guys and gals...I'm working tonight and tomorrow.  I'm working a lot this week, 4 days.  This is because we are taking off the last week of Dec.  So if I'm not on too much I'm not ignoring you!  I hope you guys have a great couple of weeks and the best Christmas ever!

Hannah comes home next Sunday!  Yea!!!!

 

Hugs, D

Tags: work, hannah

Saturday Night & The Saturday Six

Well, where has the day gone?  Oh I know...I slept it away, lol.  I went to bed around 9:00 this morning after working all night.  I thought I was going to be nice to David and let him sleep in and I would stay up with Caleb for a while, but when I got home this morning at 7:45am they were both up.  It was funny, I opened the door trying to be quite and I hear "Mom's home!"  I probably can't sneak in at all with Mr Brown anymore now that he's a big 1st grader and all.

 

Anyways, I slept until 6:30 this afternoon!  I hate sleeping that late, but I didn't set my alarm so I guess David was thinking about how I only got about 3 1/2 hours yesterday before work and was letting me play catchup.  But there went my idea of cooking dinner because they had already gone to McDonalds.  Yea, how nutritional.  I think I'm going to cook anyway and use an idea from my friend Jan and cook a roast in my crockpot.  Should be good for the guys for lunch/dinner tomorrow.  I've got to work Sun and Mon.  I found out yesterday that David isn't working either one, though.  Oh well, we'll save on childcare expenses.

 

Work was really interesting last night.  I swear, if all the students at ASU are as dumb as the ones that come in, then we are doomed.  First of all the other night I triaged about 5 or 6 kids who wanted doctor's notes not to take their finals the next day.  Dumb, dumb, dumb.  Don't they know that the makeup is going to be that much harder?  Then last night they were all drunk and beating each other up, and 90% of them were underage, of course.

 

One of the more interesting cases was this 19yr old kid that said he got a laceration on his face from falling while skateboarding.  Not an unusual complaintin itself unless you had seen the guy.  He was 6ft, approximately 250lbs, and clean cut.  Okay, right there it should ring alarms in your head that this was not a true story.  Then add to the fact that he looked more like he had been in a fist fight than an accident.  Then add another ingredient that he had a whole posse of friends with him that looked close to him.  And not a skateboard in site.  Several things I've learned about skateboarders, they dress all emo, are very thin, have long hair, and never, ever, go anywhere without their skateboards.  So I'm like "right....".  But I continue to check him in.  All of a sudden about 10 guys burst into the ER lobby and my patient's friends all jump up and they all start yelling and pushing each other around.  It was as close to an all out gang fight as I ever want to get close to.  Made me think of West Side Story.  The only thing missing was weapons, and I wasn't ruling out that someone had something, KWIM?  So then my guy stands up and starts taking off the blood pressure cuff and I yell "sit down!"  I call 911 and say "get over here now!"  Course by the time PD shows up everyone is outside (thank goodness) and running off (PD did catch a few).  So I look at the guy after all the commotion has calmed down and go "skateboard huh?"  He goes "What?...I'm athletic".  I say "Dude, you are so NOT a skateboarder!" and then die laughing.

 

Then about an hour later this car pulls up and deposits their friend who "only had 3 shots of tequila" (one tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor) but yet she is "unconscious" and they "can't wake her up".  Funny how she was able to put her feet down on the pavement to keep from falling and able to put her feet up on the wheelchair steps.  What kids do for attention.

 

Okay then, just when we thought it couldn't get any better, these two guys show up around 5:00am all beat up about the head with these lacerations.  Supposedly they were "innocently" just walking down the street when this gang of other guys jump them wielding combination locks tied onto ropes and beat them profusely.  Of course no one knew anything.  Another "right....".

 

Oh be afraid...be very afraid!

 

Hope everyone gets some sleep and has a wonderful Sunday!

 

De

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Saturday Six - Episode 139

Much of the country is under an arctic chill. So rather than go outside, why not stay indoors with some comfort food and a new list of questions!

But first, Gabrielle of "A Metamorphoself of Gabrielle" was first to play last week! Congratulations, Gabrielle!

Here are this week's "Saturday Six" questions. Either answer the questions in a comment here, or put the answers in an entry on your journal...but either way, leave a link to your journal so that everyone else can visit! To be counted as "first to play," you must be the first player to either answer the questions in a comment or to provide a complete link to the specific entry in your journal in which you answer the questions. A link to your journal in general cannot count. Enjoy!

1. Do you send Christmas cards? If so, do you write any notes inside the Christmas card or include a "newsletter" about your family, or do you basically just sign your name?  Depends, sometimes I just sign, sometimes I sent a newsletter, and sometimes I do both.

2. Are you more likely to shop in a store that has returned the phrase, "Merry Christmas" to its holiday signage?  No.  But it is nice.

3. Do you buy your pets Christmas presents?  I did when I had pets.

4. Take the quiz: Are you more cat or dog?

You Are: 30% Dog, 70% Cat

You and cats have a lot in common. You're both smart and in charge - with a good amount of attitude. However, you do have a very playful side that occasionally comes out!

No surprise here...

5. Which have you owned more of during your life, cats or dogs?  Cats.

6. If you had to come back as one or the other, and assuming you'd belong to an owner who would treat you well, would you rather be a cat or a dog?  Naturally, a cat.

Is it Friday Already?

 

Grrrrrrrrrrrr!  I took Caleb to school Wednesday morning and when we were walking into the school yard, Caleb goes "I hate being dropped at the gate."  I'm like what?  And he said "I hate being dropped at the gate."  Okay..."Who drops you at the gate?"  "Stephanie does."

 

Double grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!  Stephanie knows that she is to walk CMB through the gate and INTO the school yard because he has to walk in behind the portables to the back of the school and to the playground, so a secluded area.  Not surprising she is doing this though, considering her lack of respect and caring for anything that has to do with a request from Davie & I.  But to treat your brother like that is too much!

 

Okay, Lindsi is watched Caleb Wednesday, almost all night for the first time.  It would have been all night but I ended up leaving at 3:30am.  Last week went so well that I decided to give it a try.  But you want to hear something funny? Stephanie called David on Sunday night just yelling and screaming about me while he was at work.  One of the things she said was "I don't know why DeLana scheduled herself for Wednesday night when she knows I have clinical's!"  Well, first of all David told her not to ever yell at him about me and especially when he was at work.  Then he told her that I didn't need her Wednesday night as I had someone else to watch Caleb.  "Oh...is she in place of me or instead of me?"  David said "You are acting like you want it to be in place of you, aren't you?"  Good one.  I'm sick to death of her attitude!  You know what Stephanie was mad about?  I griped her out because David & I came home Sunday morning after working all night and had to take care of Caleb & Dionte (her boyfriend's son) WHILE SHE SLEPTON THE COUCH (David stayed up, I went to bed after 1hour)!  I told her she had better never do that again and that she had better get her butt off the couch (we told her not to sleep on for the last 6months) and take care of her boyfriend's son or get up and leave when we get home.  No exceptions.  Both David & I had to work that night so not much sleep there.  So she was just a little miffed that I dare talk to her like that.

 

It is such a difficult position to have your step-daughter as your employee.  We've been using Steph for a Nanny because it was a mutually benefical thing, but it is definitely time to move on.  I want David and Stephanie to have a father/daughter relationship and I know this employer/employee relationship is not working out and may ruin whatever else is there.

 

Okay...enough of my mood.  I've got to work tonight so everyone have a great Friday and weekend if I don't check back in.

 

Ciao!

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Unconscious Mutterings

Week 200, 5 days, 6 hours, 23 minutes ago

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Hello :: Goodbye
2. Flinstone :: Fred
3. Corn :: On the cob
4. Interview :: Famous
5. Deviant :: of Society
6. Concept :: Invention
7. Bridge :: Over Troubled Water
8. Karen :: Carpenter
9. Encounter :: Close
10. Biological :: Father

Tuesday - What Was I Thinking?

Just what on earth was I thinking?  Man am I all worn out, shaky and feeling weak.  Yesterday morning I got off work at 7:30am and drove home.  I had a 10:30am doctor's appointment so I just stayed up.  It was noon by the time I got back home and I had to pick up CMB at 2:25pm so I thought "I'll just stay up because DH hardly got any sleep yesterday."  It really hit me last night about 6:30 and then by 7:00 I was really woozy.  So I laid down for about 30minutes thinking I would just get back up.  Ooooo, did I feel sick.  So I just got ready for bed and was asleep by 8:00 and slept until 11:45am this morning!  Woooo!  You'd think I'd feel all rested, but I don't.  I feel like I'm coming down with something.  So I think I'll go to bed early tonight, too, since I have to work tomorrow.  What do you think?

Signing off...

Ms. Dumb & Dumber

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Okay, a few quizzes before I retire...

You are The Empress....Beauty, happiness, pleasure, success, luxury, dissipation.The Empress is associated with Venus, the feminine planet, so it represents, beauty, charm, pleasure, luxury, and delight. You may be good at home decorating, art or anything to do with making things beautiful.The Empress is a creator, be it creation of life, of romance, of art or business. While the Magician is the primal spark, the idea made real, and the High Priestess is the one who gives the idea a form, the Empress is the womb where it gestates and grows till it is ready to be born. This is why her symbol is Venus, goddess of beautiful things as well as love. Even so, the Empress is more Demeter, goddess of abundance, then sensual Venus. She is the giver of Earthly gifts, yet at the same time, she can, in anger withhold, as Demeter did when her daughter, Persephone, was kidnapped. In fury and grief, she kept the Earth barren till her child was returned to her. What Tarot Card are You? Take the Test to Find Out.

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I am 38% Asshole/Bitch.

You may think you are an asshole or a bitch, but the truth is you are a good person at heart. Yeah sure, you can have a mean streak in you, but most of the people you meet like you.

Take the
Asshole/Bitch Test
@ FualiDotCom

 Okay that was a little off the Christmas spirit beaten path...

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Which Dr Suess Character Are You?
You are Mr. Brown, who can moo! Take this quiz!

Saturday

Oh man, is it Saturday already?  Where has the week gone?  Do you feel the same?

How about that winter weather that is blanketing the at least half the country or more?  I thought it was bad here on Wednesday when it didn't get much above 50 for the high.  It's a nice balmy 63 right now.  I know Deb over at Frosty Thoughts said it was feezing in Colorado and they are trying to stay safe and healthy.  Penny over at Penny's Pieces of Ohio says the wind has been blowing 50miles per hour or so.  And my darling daughter, Hannah, said they actually had enough snow in Oklahoma City to build a snowman.

So, do I miss the midwest?  Nah!

Well I'm off to get ready for a night at the ER.  Have a great weekend!

De

Thursday's Almost Over!

I'm so glad I'm not in Kansas, errr, I mean Oklahoma anymore!! Geez, it's cold here too!  It was only in the upper 40s or low 50s for the high today, but tomorrow it is supposed to be 68.  Is that possible?  I was so cold driving home this morning.  That makes me not look forward to Christmas in Texas, among other things (like flying!). 

 

I was talking to Hannah today and she told me they got 6inches of snow in OKC overnight and today in between the ice and and rain.  She said everything was closed up.  Even Elizabeth had her clinical canceled, and it's got to be the end of the world to do that!  Oh man, watch the skies, lol!

 

How about you?  Are you keeping warm wherever you are?

 

 De

Early Tuesday Morning - Playing Catch Up

Hi guys, sorry I've been absent so long.  Been busy!  How about you?  How was your Thanksgiving?

 

Let's see how my last week went:

 

Monday: Slept in and then went to work.

 

Tuesday: Kathryn came flew into town.  She was supposed to be here at 10:45pm, but her flight was delayed and by the time she got here, picked up luggage, got home, it was midnight.  Whew!

 

Wednesday: Everybody but Caleb slept in, and that was because he had to be at school.  So I got up and picked the boy up at 1:55pm,  headed to Wal-Mart, did my Thanksgiving shopping, got home, put up groceries, and jumped into the shower for work.

 

Thursday: Stayed up a little bit after I got home from work and chatted with Kathryn and the boy.  Slept a little bit.  Got up around 3:30pm.  Cooked David something to take to work (never can tell if the hospital will provide a dinner, and they didn't).  Hopped into the shower.  Went to see Happy Feet.  Now I've got to recommend this movie to all age groups!  It was so good!!!  Okay, so after the movie got the boy to bed and Kathryn and I got a head start on baking and putting some dishes together for Thanksgiving dinner on Friday.

 

Friday: Slept in a little bit.  Jumped into the shower as soon as I got up.  Kathryn and I got our hair cut and colored and boy were we beautiful! ;)  Took CMB to the game store and Blockbuster, but first we had to go to Target because Kathryn killed my mixer while preparing the cheesecake.  And since I was in desperate need of cheesecake, I was only happy to buy a new mixer, lol.  Finished putting Thanksgiving dinner together, sat down and ate, just the four of us since Stephanie was too tired to come over .  Had way too much food and dessert left over since I prepared for 7 and not 4 and plotted ways to get rid of all the food.  David was tired and didn't feel good so he went to bed, and CMB went with him.  Kathryn and I stayed up, girl talked about her new man, and watched Grey's Anatomy.  Off to bed for everyone!

 

Saturday:  Up earlier, jumped into the shower, and got Kathryn off to the airport.  Awwww!  Going to miss her!  But she was really missing her man who was sick, so she had to go and play nurse, ha ha.  Hung around with the boy after I got back from the airport and then David & I went to see Casino Royale while CMB went over to Stephanie's for fun and putt-putt golfing with Diante.  Home, but the boy to bed, and puttering around the house.

 

Sunday:  Slept in waaaaaay too late.  Jumped up, tried to do 50 million things in 1 hour before jumping into the shower to get ready for work.  I was running around in my sock feet and slipped and fell.  Didn't parentally damage anything, but I wasn't so sure at the time, lol.  And then it's off to work I go taking with me the yummy cheesecake, because if I didn't I would have eaten the whole darn thing! () I made David take an extra pumpkin pie, and I had Stephanie take hometons of food, too.

 

Monday/Today:  Got home from work, puttered around a little bit andthen went to bed around 9:00am.  Had my alarm set for 2:00pm in order to get CMB from school, but I woke up in a panic around 3:30pm and ran through the house.  David wasn't home and neither was CMB, so I figured David must have turned off my alarm, as my clock was turned all funky, and got CMB and was running errands.  That proved to be true as I finally got up around 5:30pm..  I was so tired because of all the running around I did last week and only sleeping 4-5 hours a night.  Geez!  Holidays are hard work!  So tonight I just bummed around, did some dishes, laundry, and am going to go to bed here in a little bit, but first I've got to get on the stationary bike as I gained back the 2 pounds I lost before Kathryn showed up.  Yikes!

 

So...now that I've bored you to tears, I'll sign off for now.  I don't know what I'm doing today.  Probably more of the same, whatever that is.

 

 De

PS: 

It's Saturday

Thought I would throw out an entry for the Saturday Six before David & I head out to the movies for a date night.  Hope you are having a great weekend with your family!

 

Saturday Six - Episode 137

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, or that you're going to have a great celebration of the holiday this weekend if your schedules haven't previously allowed it. Since most of us are still working those calories out of our system, I thought I'd give you a Thanksgiving-related mental exercise. (It's better than hitting the treadmill, right?)

But first, Cat of "Sweet Memes" was first to play last week! Congratulations, Cat!

Here are this week's "Saturday Six" questions. Either answer the questions in a comment here, or put the answers in an entry on your journal...but either way, leave a link to your journal so that everyone else can visit! To be counted as "first to play," you must be the first player to either answer the questions in a comment or to provide a complete link to the specific entry in your journal in which you answer the questions. A link to your journal in general cannot count. Enjoy!

 

1. Take the quiz: What was your Thanksgiving horoscope?

Thanksgiving Horoscope for Sagittarius

You're the sign most likely to really enjoy the holidays with your family. Your signature dish: Jello salad Your signature dessert: Cranberry tart This holiday: Spend time with everyone's least favorite family members. You have a knack for getting along with anyone.

 

2. Did you have either of those two dishes on your Thanksgiving table? Of the two, which would have been your choice?  No, nothing like either of these on my table this year.  Probably the jello salad of some variety would have been presented over the cranberry tart.

3. Which single food do you blame most for your weight gain?  Dessert in general because I can’t pick just one, obviously.  Ha ha!

4. Take the quiz: How thankful are you?

You Are 74% Thankful

You are a very thankful person - for both the big and little things in life. Your optimism is powerful. Getting through hard times is fairly easy for you.

5. Which are you more thankful for: your family, your friends, your career or your possessions?  Family, they will outlast all the others.

6. Did you do any shopping at all on "Black Friday?"  Just a little bit.  We didn’t celebrate Thanksgiving until Friday, so there was too much preparation going on to do much shopping, darn it.

 

Friday - It's My Birthday!

Don't tell me...it's that time of the year again! 

Oh well...I might as well eat cake...

 

No, I didn't see any cake! Did you?

Ha ha!  And it's someone else's birthday too.  That would Hannah and my Uncle Fred.  Happy Birthday to each of you too!

And, since you asked, I'm 29!

Early Wednesday

How was your Monday & Tuesday?  Busy here.

I worked Monday night and then when I got off this morning I went by Dream Dinners and fixed the Thanksgiving side dishes, Parmesan Crusted Chicken, and Peach Caramel French Toast.  All three things sound yummy.  If you've never checked out these dinner helper places, you should.  They are wonderful!

After the Dream Dinners thing, I went to Caleb's Thanksgiving Play.  He was so cute and just knew all his lines, and was telling everyone else theirs.  It was great!  I then came home and just crashed having been up for 23hours at that point.  Ugh!  I did have plans on Thanksgiving meal shopping, but instead I just slept for about 4hours.  I couldn't sleep any longer but I was too tired to get up, so I just laid in bed for 2 more hours.  I then got up, got a shower and went and got Kathryn from the airport.  Yea!  Kathryn is here!

I tell you, sometimes I get so frustrated at work.  Like Monday night.  I was in triage and try to tell doctors when I feel there are patients who need to be seen right away.  There were two that night, and right in both instances.  But things were so busy and they didn't get seen real fast, and then when the Doctor/PA saw the patients they were running around because the patients were really sick.

One was a little 2yr old boy that had been bitten by an "insect".  I didn't initially think much about it because there was hardly a mark on the little boy, but he just wasn't acting right.  I kept asking the mom all sorts of questionslike did she see what bit him, but she didn't.  Finally she said "I got bit too, do you want to see it?"  I'm like "uh...yeah!".  So then I look at her bite and I said "Did you see a scorpion?"  "No"  I said "I think your son got bit by a scorpion".  Now for most people being stung by a scorpion isn't that big of a deal except that it hurts, but in young children they can have severe reactions with some pretty serious neurological symptoms.  To me that little boy fit the bill.  So I tell the doctor and he says "tell the PA I'm in the middle of an admit".  So I tell the PAand he's like "oh great, I'll see him in a little while" and never did.  He left!  So then it's an hour later and I didn't know the little boy had just been seen when I hear the other nurses talking about transferring him to Children's.  I'm like "what's wrong with him".  The doctor said "oh he got stung by a scorpion and he has serum sickness, he is going to have to get the anti-venom."  Oh really?  The good news is the little boy got the medicine and went home that night.  But damn it!  These are the times I wish I had gone ahead with my Nurse Practitioner program!  Instead I am just the lowly nurse who can only do so much.

I work tonight.  I hope each of you are able to spend the holidays with your loved ones.  Enjoy the time together and be safe!

 De

Sunday News/The Saturday Six/The Sunday Seven & Other Memes

Hello everyone.  How was your weekend?  Mine was spent either at the ER working or sleeping.

 

Friday night was c-r-a-z-y!  Two hospitals close to us were "closed" or on "divert" because they were critically overloaded and didn't have admit beds.  So guess who got 36 ambulances Friday night?  We did!  Count them, 36!  I knew it was a lot, and I even joked around that it was over 30, but when I actually got the number I was shocked.  I don't think I've ever worked when we got that many ambulances in one shift except at the OKC bombing.  Now I know that there wasn't any terrorist activity, but I do know that there were a lot of stupid drunk people out and about.  We ended up seeing 58 people between 7p and 7a.  That is 4.8 patients an hour.  The American Society of Emergency Physicians (ASEP) has determined that a safe number to be seen in one hour is 2.5.  We almost doubled that.  Thank goodness a lot of what came is was minor, although we did admit over 10 patients and filled up both telemetry and med/surg.  Thank goodness we got all our admits up.  I just hate having to hold patients, and they really hate it too because the beds are very uncomfortable and it can get quite noisy in the ER.  Half of our rooms only have curtains, no doors.  So...nothing to close off and shut out all the noise.

 

Last night wasn't as bad, although it does seem as if I have a black cloud hanging over me (fondly called a "shit magnet" by my co-workers) whenever I go to work.  The tech last night asked me "how come you are always the busiest person here, why do you always get the sickest patients no matter what rooms you have?"  You know, I've thought about that.  I've even gotten bitter about it too when a bunch of people are sitting around doing jack nothing and I'm running around sweating.  I've come to a determination that has saved my attitude and sanity...I think God gives me what He knows I can handle, and what my patients need.  I don't mean to sound like I'm bragging here, but I'm a darn good nurse.  I have 11 1/2 years of experience with 10 years of that being in theER (minus 3 months in CCU).  I know what I'm doing, I just don't say I do.  I have a bachelor's degree vs an associates, which better prepares you by giving a more well founded knowledge base.  The AMA has determined that mortality and morbidity decrease when RNs over LPNs are placed in patient care, and are greatly reduced when an bachelor prepared RN is placed in critical care areas.  So it just makes sense to me that since I'm the only BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) on the night shift, that I should get the sickest patients.  I don't always think positively this way, but I try to because it helps me get through the night. 

 

Did I tell you I was in charge on Monday?  I kind of freaked out about it when I first walked in and I was the only staff person.  So no matter that I hadn't been charge there before, here I was, lol.  Oh I could do it and have done it multiple times, I was just worried that I do the paperwork right so no one would gripe.  Here I go bragging again, but I did a darn good job.  I charged, had my own patients, answered all the ambulance patches, triaged all the ambulances, and after the 3pm nurse went home did all those triages too.  New charting system and all, I kept up really well.  There, now I really am bragging, ha ha!

 

And I'm sure you are all thinking...

 

Okay, okay!  Enough about me and my greatness, tell me how your weekend went.

 

 De

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Saturday Six - Episode 136

I'm just about over that bug that was going around. I'm back to about 95%, just in time for Thanksgiving week! Couldn't miss the big feast! Anyway, it's time for another round of questions.  But first, Nichole of "My Two Cents" was first to play last week! Congratulations, Nichole!

 

1. When a bill arrives in the mail, what do you do with it: pay it immediately, hold it with others and pay at once, or put it off until the last possible minute?  I hold all the bills and pay them at the end of the month when my husband gets paid.  Everything taken care of at once and nothing more to worry about until the next month.

2. Which actor makes the best James Bond?

Hands down, Sean Connery.

3. Of the foods you enjoy, which one are you least likely to try cooking yourself?  Oy…just about anything because I don’t cook very much.  Okay.  I love my Mom’s smothered pork chops, homemade mashed potatoes and butter beans.  The last time I tried to cook this was when my sister, Kathryn, was out last year.  Let’s just say it’s going to be a very long time before I try cooking that again!

4. Take the quiz: What does your birth month reveal about you? November  Has lots of extraordinary ideas. Difficult to fathom. Think forward. Unique. brilliant. Sharp thinking. Fine, strong clairvoyance. make good doctors. Dynamic. Secretive. Inquisitive. Know how to dig secrets. Always thinking.Less talkative. amiable. Brave. generous. Patient. Stubborn. Hard-hearted. Determined. Never quit. Hardly become angry unless provoked. Love to be alone. Think differently. Sharp-minded. Motivate self. Don’t appreciate praises. High spirited. Well-built, tough. Deep love, emotions. Romantic. Uncertain in relationships. Homely. Hardworking. High abilities. Trustworthy. Honest. Keep secrets. Can’t control emotions. Unpredictable.  Hmmmm….mostly true I’d say.

5. Of the results you just got, which one seems the farthest from the "real" you?  Homely, of course!

6. Will you see your extended family on Thanksgiving Day this year?  No, not even Hannah and we share our birthday.  But we are supposed to all get together at Christmas if the schedule and airline gods deem is so.

 

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Sunday Seven - Episode 64

Film buffs will love this week's question! Imagine those wonderful movie moments helped by just the right thing said at just the right time, and you'll be ready to tackle this week's challenge!  But first, Nichole, of "My Two Cents" was first to play last week! Congratulations, Nichole!

 

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:
Name seven of your all-time favorite lines from the movies.
1.      “Oh Snap!” Chicken Little

2.      “I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.”  When Harry Met Sally

3.      "Sell crazy some place else, we're all stocked up here.”  As Good As It Gets

4.      “Inconceivable.”  The Princess Bride

5.      “Hasta la vista, baby.”  The Terminator

6.      “The needs of the many, out weigh the needs of the few”.  Star Wars - The Wrath of Khan

7.      And from Vacation:

“Real tomato ketchup, Eddie?”  “Oh, nothing but the best.”

“This is crazy, this is crazy, this is crazy!”

“Roll 'em up!”

“Well am I gonna eat, or am I gonna starve to death?”

“You’ve been speeding for 1000s of miles!”

 

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Unconscious Mutterings

Week 198 - I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Teacher :: Instructor
2. Fifty :: Dollars
3. Crossword :: Puzzle
4. Stuffed :: Animal
5. Family :: Unit
6. Purr :: Kitty
7. Toad :: Frog
8. Cocktail :: Drink
9. Insecurity :: Social
10. Magical:: Kingdom