Rodeo

I haven't written in awhile.  I guess it's because I think that I have nothing interesting to say.  I'm going to try to change that.

I went to my first Rodeo yesterday with my friend Stacey.  We had a blast!

Stacey and I would cheer every time the cowboys wouldn't get the cow/bull.  This was when the cow “won.”

Afterwards, we went to the fair a little.  I always like seeing the animals.  It's interesting to try to imagine what they are thinking.  It was over 90 degrees, so most of them were probably thinking “It's so hot!!”

I love it when the animals would look at you.  

Stacey and I decided that we want to go to a professional rodeo.

What's new...

Breakfast before we left Florida

I thought I would do a post to let you know what was new in my life.  For starters, I went down to Florida in July with my sister, her two children and my mom to see my brother, Kris and his family.  I haven't seen him since I was in high school and we've never met his wife or his three children.  We had a wonderful time. 

Giordano's, where we first met Kris and his family

I am also going back to school this fall to finish my BSN - Bachelor's in Nursing.  I am taking Intermediate Algebra class and a basic computer class.  I had forgotten how expensive college can be.  The algebra class I am taking as a review because I haven't taken algebra since I was in high school...and that was a long time ago.  I have to take Statistics for my degree and it relies heavily on algebra.

I am a little bit excited to be going to school again and a little anxious at the same time.  I go to see my councilor on Monday to see what classes I need to take to finish.  I know that I was only three or four classes away before and I hope that it is still the same.

I am enjoying work.  I like working at the hospital that I currently work at.  It is refreshing to actually work and get a steady paycheck.  I looked at my taxes for this year, however, and wasn't too happy.  They are outrageous!  Hopefully, I won't have to pay too much and will get some back.

My colleague, Kilah and I put in to go to a seminar in Las Vegas in October.  It would be so awesome if they sent us to that.  We are anxiously waiting an answer.  My boss was the one who suggested it to me.  He has been to this seminar before and says that they are really good.  That helped Kilah's boss in making the decision to let her go.

Otherwise, I am going to a seminar in September that is put on by a local hospital.  It is on Cardiovascular Care.  That is one thing that I like about nursing - you have endless opportunities at continuing education since it is required to renew your license.  As far as I know, there is only one required subject for Michigan and that is pain.  You have to have one credit in pain.  Other states have different required ones.

So many things have frustrated me lately.  Number one is my house.  I am tired of it.  I am tired of doing renovations and things.  It is tiring and endless.  It seems that I will never get to the point where I will get to do the things that I enjoy with it.  Now, we need a new septic system.  I knew this was coming, but never had the $6000 to get it done.  I need to get it done because even if I were to sell this house, I would have to replace it because our current system would never pass inspection.

There are other things that frustrate me, but I won't go into them on this blog.

I've been reading a lot on the internet about your identity and how important it is to keep it personal.  I have been trying to follow some of the recommendations I've read and hence, I am thinking of making this blog private.  I will let people know before I do.

Me, Ilana and Jamie

The picture on the left was taken in our rental house in Florida with my mom's camera when she left it out.  You can kinda see my braces in it.

My braces have been going well, I guess.  I get put into the SureSmile system in late September.  They said they would do that when my treatment was half over.  If that is the case, I am ahead of schedule.  It has only been four months since I got them on.  I've noticed a drastic improvement in my teeth.

Well, I guess that it all for now.  I will try not to make it so long between my posts.  Sometimes I just don't know what to post.

Here is a photo of a calendar that we have at work that I liked.

Braces

I've been having some problems with my teeth lately.  More specifically, I still have a baby tooth with no adult teeth underneath it and it has been causing me problems.  The dentist recommended pulling the tooth, but wanted to see what the Orthodontist said about it first.  So, I went to the Orthodontist and I got braces on Monday.  My mouth is still sore and I wonder if it is going to be like this after every adjustment.  I still have to get that tooth pulled, but I thought I should wait a bit before I subject my mouth to more trauma.

I have these two bite planes on my inner teeth.  I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to tolerate these.  In the picture, they look much smaller than the ones that I have.  I have a hard time eating and talking with these in there.  I talk with a lisp.  I don't like it.  If I have to wear these for the full length of the treatment, I don't know what I'm going to do.  Well, I do know, I cannot do it for 18 months.  I wonder if they can put smaller or different ones in.

Maybe someday I'll post a picture of me, but I am just not feeling it today.  :(

Update

It has been a long time since I have updated my blog.  I guess it is because I haven't felt like I have had to much to say.  I mean, work has been the same.  I work, I read and that is about it.  Okay, that is not all, but I have no other excuse as to why I haven't updated this blog.

I have decided to give up on trying to do a Project 365 blog.  I just cannot do it.  I give kudos to Allison and all those who can, but it just doesn't work for me.  Why?  The only explanation that I can think of is that I work nights and my days and nights always get messed up.

I have made great progress on my book review blog, however.  Young Adult Book Reviews has surpassed all the goals that I made for it when I started it last June.  I can hardly believe that it has almost been one year since I started reviewing books.  I have been to a few conventions and book signings since I last blogged. 

The latest being the RT Booklovers convention in Chicago.  It was a lot of fun.  We only went for Teen Day, which was Saturday, because that was the day that they had over 100 authors signing books.  Since RT stands for Romantic Times, it was heavy on the romance authors, but they had Teen Alley which had a lot of YA authors.  It was a lot of waiting, but a lot of fun, nonetheless.

Us on the balcony of our hotel

I have enjoyed my new job and have learned a lot.  I am working in the ICU for two nights as Resource RN (meaning charge) and then one night out on Med/Surg.  This is good because there is some different skills that you use in the different departments and I don't want them to get rusty.

Spring is here and there is a lot of things that I want to do to my house.  I have great aspirations and I don't know if everything will get done.  I am kinda depressed about the state of the house because it needs SO much work.  Remind me never to buy a fixer upper again!