looooooong week

This week has been mentally and physically tough, thus is why I really haven't had the energy to post much at all.

Tomorrow is my last day to arise before the crack of dawn. Wednesday I start nights full time. Really I am excited. I am so not a morning person by any sort, and I think this is what has been my major problem the past few weeks, eh months. I suck at getting up early. I sleep through the alarm, 2 alarms! I can't sleep at night, at least not often, and hardly ever before midnight to 1 am, even if I am up with the roosters. I guess some people are just meant to work nights, even though it does make you crazy lol. Well, am already crazy, so no biggie there. :) Not to mention, I have no problem whatsoever sleeping in the daytime.


On a different note... what is it that makes the teenager's smile? hehe





Happy Birthday to my now 15 y/o child who says money makes him happy. Boy, doesn't he have a lot to learn? Am sure his bday $$ is already burning a hole in his pocket.


I am quite certain that he has already mentally spent that money.... and probably on something like this:




He is obsessed with shoes. Obsessed. I guess better with shoes, than with something worse!

Fave Xmas Present

Not mine. I haven't picked out my new digital cam yet... but my kids wanted to let me know that the best present they got this year for xmas is tickets to see:



You see, they idolize Lebron. So I got them tickets to an NBA game featuring the Cavaliers. My youngest son said if he got to shake Lebron's hand, he would never wash it again. I just smiled on the inside. Heck, my teenager even smiled. He never smiles. I am hoping it will be great fun! I prefer college ball myself, but I think that it is important for kids to experience things like this.

christmas shopping woes

Every year I think that I am going to get started early. Never happens. As of today, I have 0 things bought for Christmas, which is just over 1 week away. Why didn't I start earlier? Why? I do this every year. I know what happens. I guess I am just a procrastinator of the supreme kind.

Now, there is no way I am going to find any of the white/silver psp's. One child wants the white one and one wants the silver one. Now, I could potentially find the white one online, but the silver is to be found.... nowhere. So, can't get one for one child and not the other. I could order the nfl/nba jerseys they want from online, but now will they get here by Christmas? Doubt it. Sigh. (smacks self for waiting).

Not to mention, even going to the store for simple household items is a chore because of all the damn people out there shopping. Waiting in line for at least 30 minutes just to check out. I hate being in large crowds of people, especially the Christmas crowd. It sure does bring out the ugly in people. I've experienced it in the worst possible way.

Now I am going to go wallow in my misery a little more until I find something else to do. Like laundry. :)

er trip

oldest son 'partially subluxated' his right shoulder joint this evening playing basketball. supposedly, he 'packed' a shot, felt the shoulder "slip out" and couldn't move his arm. so being the tough dude that he is [he is almost 15 now], he decided he would try to put it back in himself. then he calls me at work because he is in a lot of pain. oh yeah, he was in pain. but he got the joint pretty much back in place, so the er doc had very little manipulation to do. for me, the mom and not the nurse, this made me pretty happy because i would hate for him to have to endure anymore pain than he has to. although i have to say, that my son is pretty stoic when it comes to pain.

now he has to wear a sling for the rest of the week and got a note to get out of PE. he was ok with that, but he really wanted a slip to get out of homework for the week because he is right handed and said he won't be able to write. KIDS. :)

i wish i could say that this was one of the few er trips that we have had to do. well for my oldest, this is one of the few. he doesn't get hurt often. he has broken a toe before, and that is about it, really. oh yes, once he broke out in hives but never did figure out why.

my youngest has been to the er as a baby for influenza, hydrocele blocking urine output (several times) until that resolved, rolling down the stairs (hangs head -- who knew he would roll over to the stairs?? lol), falling down the stairs in the walker (yes, those warnings were heeded, and yes we had a gate, but oldest son left gate open!). One of the sounds you will never forget is the 'thump, thump, thump' of your child going down the stairs. Oh and he has had broken a finger too.

now, those are about the only reasons that they have been to the er. tonight a whole family with 5 kids running around the er waiting room, jumping, laughing, having fun, acting like normal wild toddlers all came in for an 'overdose'. Must have been benadryl with paroxysmal effects or something. they were seen before my child with the dislocated shoulder. good thing it wasn't serious on either accounts.

ok off for the night. gotta work in the morning. sigh.

Much Ado about Nothing at all.

Well my 2 whole days off have flown by and again, I didn't get too much done around the house. I had to go out to my mother's house and fix their computer. I tried to charge them $50 for technical support, but all I got was a breakfast that you can't even get at the Waldorf (inside joke in the family lol).

My oldest son is very.. lucky.. to be alive. Got the cell phone bill and voila... he sent 775 text messages last month. I hadn't put him on the unlimited plan yet but you bet your ass that next month he will be on it. So he is grounded from his cell phone until then. I would so much rather pay the extra $10 a month than $100. Geez.

My last few days of work have been fairly uneventful. Nothing much to even write about at all really lately. I guess I need to get a real life. 'nuff said.

Pity party of sorts

Now that school is over, nclex is finished... I wonder what I plan to do to occupy my time. Other than cleaning my house, of course. That is never ending, with a teenager and tween and all. These boys can really, really make a mess. Of course, neither of them claim the mess.. so the blame goes to my invisible child... often called, "wasn't me", or "i dunno who did it". i know every family with children also has this invisible child as well, right?

Once upon a time, I used to be really, really good at working with computer graphics. I am not sure if I want to get into that again?? I used to know how to a lot of things that would occupy my free time for hours... but I am so just not interested in that stuff anymore like I once was. I guess I just need to find a new hobby.. hell maybe even a boyfriend after all of these years of being the single mom. I dunno??? Kinda confused. I am sure this is all part of the after-school let down phase that I was told I would go through. Kinda sucks, huh, if you have been through it.

I miss the internet friends that I haven't been too attentive of over the past couple of years. I am sure that a few friendships have just dissipated because of a lack of communication. It was difficult to manage school, work, and the kids as well as maintaining friendships with barely any free time at all for myself. Now I have this time, and well, I just don't seem to have the same things in common with these people anymore. A few I will always be able to talk with, etc, but others.... may as well just delete them from my messengers.

Ok enough poor, pity me stuff.. I must get in the bed so I do not oversleep in the morning. That would be.. well.... BAD. g'nite :)

Baseball & Committment

Today is my last day of a wonderful 4 day weekend. I have a few errands that I need to do.. like go pick up my OFFICIAL new badge that has my new title on it :) Also have to go to the grocery store :( I hate going to the store with a passion. My youngest is at baseball practice at the moment, and he will have to go again tonight. That is the committment of being an All-Star.. practices every day for 2 weeks, sometimes 2 times a day. Now he wants to play AAU baseball, which if you are not familiar with it... well it costs a lot of money, requires a lot of travel, and also is a huge committment, even moreso than what we are going through right now with the youth league & all-stars. Then my oldest informs me that he would also like to try out of an AAU team. I am one person.. how can I even make that kind of committment between working nights (which will come about probably mid next month) and being a single parent? I suppose if I had to do anything, I would allow the oldest to try out first, well because he is the oldest. He really enjoys playing baseball, but he doesn't seem to have the passion that my youngest has for the game. It really puts a person in a predicament.

It's not that he doesn't love the game, but I just wonder about his committment to that type of team. AAU is serious about it, and I guess all I could do is give him the opportunity to try out. If he doesn't make the team, then all of the worrying would be for nothing. Problem is: if he didn't make the team and the youngest did, then a part of him would most likely begrudge the youngest for getting to do something that he didn't get the opportunity to do. I honestly just do not know what to do? I suppose I will just start thinking about it a little more and then make a decision later on this summer. After all, most teams will not be having tryouts until after this all-star stuff is completed and nationals, for the teams that are good enough or lucky enough to make it there. Gives me a couple of months to think. Now I am off to get cleaned up so I can run my errands!

Finally!

The waiting has been.... painful, to say the least. Never did I imagine that I would have to wait 3 weeks for my eligibility letter from the board of nursing and my ATT. But they have arrived, and I have scheduled my test. phew.. makes me nervous just thinking about it! I am taking a review class offered by my place of employment.. well really they are paying for me to attend and it happens to be located at the facility. This will happen the week before I take the test. I really must crack down and study some more now! Playtime is oooovvveerr for me until then.

In the meantime... I decided to adopt this beautiful little baby :) Isn't he adorable? His name is TJ and he is a puppy through and through. He is a Papillon and I love him already, although my patience has been tried a time or two lol. He is full of energy and loves to chew! of course :)

Anyhow, not much else has been happening around here. Have to try on the uniforms that I ordered to make sure that they fit, do some laundry, cut the grass and finally.. go sign my papers at work. But first, I plan to spend the rest of the evening relaxing after being gone all weekend.

We are the Champions!

All-Star basketball tournament was today for the 11-12 year old league. And our team came out victorious! Wooooot!! Nothing like some good old competitive basketball. Some of the kids took some hardknocks on our team (including my own son!) But we fought hard and was undefeated in the tourney. I am so proud of our team for keeping their heads up, hearts strong, and finishing out a great season. Congrats!

Now that basketball is over, it won't be long until baseball starts full blast. Team drafts are next weekend and practices will start soon after that. My oldest son, who is in the 8th grade, made the high school JV baseball team and their games start next week too. I tell you, it will take some time management skills to be able to balance all of this running around, seriously. Good thing I am learning a lot of that here in my last semester of school. Truthfully, I can't wait for baseball to start. I love baseball. And I love the Cardinals... here is hoping for another championship season for my Redbirds :)

Christmas Shopping

I didn't realize how difficult it could be to buy items for a 13 y/o boy. Suddenly the shirts he wants are $50 and pants are $70 a pop. I understand though because I wanted name brand items when I was a teenager, but that certainly didn't start until I was well into high school, more like my sophomore year and beyond mostly. Now everything just seems to start much sooner. I told him that he has to understand if he wants the more expensive stuff that he will have to settle for less presents because even though he might have less to open, the money spent will be the same. Of course he doesn't understand that! (all kids think that money grows on trees, right??)

Actually, the biggest problem that I have found while shopping for christmas stuff is that most kids seems to wear the same size clothes that mine do because those are the sizes of all the cute stuff that is completely sold out! Go figure? Lots of all the other sizes but the ones I need. Anyhow, I need to go out and finish some of this shopping.

it's a girl!

I finally got to go to OB for the first time last night. What a refreshing experience!! And to go there and find a lady about to give birth. Since we are starting on our OB/Maternal-Neonatal rotation in the fall, I jumped on the experience as soon as I found out. It took 2 hours of grueling pushing to finally get the baby out.. a whopping 9 lbs! And her first baby... but it was so beautiful. Beautiful in the sense that a new life has joined the world and beautiful in that it was so nice to see healthy young people instead of our normal elderly patients on the regular floor. I really love to work in the unit, but I really enjoyed working with the moms and babies as well. I do hope I get to do it again sometime in the future. I am up way past my bedtime, but will add more to the story later when I can get my thoughts completely together. :)

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On another note.. my youngest son's baseball team won their first All-Star game yesterday. Congrats to all of the boys on the team and hoping for another win tonight in the tournament!
Unfortunately, they lost the next two games and were defeated :( I am so proud of my son for his outstanding performance though. It is really something when the coach of the other team comes up to tell him what a good ballplayer he is :))

Days off... RIP Jack

Finally finished 3 shifts in a row... not a whole lot of excitement within those days, and thank goodness mr. fists was gone. about the only thing that really happened was we had a confused little lady pull her foley out. ouch is all i can say about that. i know it must have hurt terribly, but on the other hand, thankful for the experience of getting to put it back in.

Today i start my second section of pharmacology. I am a little unsure about taking this class over the summer, mostly because it will be an intense 10 weeks with so much information to learn in not quite as much time. Will keep posted about how the class goes. I just know that I am tired and a little burned out on studying. I really need to stay focused toward my goal, no matter how difficult it is.

On a personal note.. my youngest son is "graduating" elementary school today. Fills me with a bit of sadness because he is my baby, and growing up so fast. Another sadness in my heart is the death of Jack Bristow. I loved Alias, and I loved his character.. and I hated it that they killed him in the end. Why couldn't he have just waited for help? Why? It was however a great end to a great show.. one that I truly hated to have to watch, because I knew that it was the end. Loved Syd and Vaughn finally on their beach in the middle of nowhere just living life... but with so many things coming to an end, yet the idea that some openings were left to be able to pursue if this show is ever revisited in the future. I will definitely have to rewatch all the dvds this summer, just to keep the whole series fresh. Anyhow.. I have to run to get ready for the ceremony... RIP Jack, you will be missed.