Will the rain ever end?

Okay, it has been raining, raining, raining...and we haven't been able to start anything in the yard yet because everything is flooding. (The rain has been good for my fruit trees, however, and the blossoms are pretty!) My mom wants to 'till the garden a couple of times, but hasn't gotten the opportunity yet because of the constant rain. Our yard is a soft, wet yard, anyway. We have gotten all kinds of things stuck in the yard...trucks, backhoes, etc. One thing that is going for us is at least it is not snowing! I had to laugh because my sister Jennifer said "April flowers bring May showers" because we are wondering when it will be over! The forecast isn't looking so good!

I have worn my pedometer at work this past week or so and the average that I walk in a night is 8 miles when we are busy (which is like 95% of the time) and 3 miles when we are not. Both of them are not too bad. No wonder my feet hurt when I get home!

I must say a thank-you to Busi, a fellow nurse who works on nights with me. I had an interesting experience last night (Wednesday) where a pain medication rolled off the counter and into the trash in the med-room. (It was in a tube.) Busi helped me find it in the trash can. Luckily, they had recently emptied it. Now that's teamwork!!

Physical Therapy is going well and I have noticed some increase in strength in my back. Kudos to Courtney and Lyn for helping me.

This week I start my chemotherapy class so I can be certified to give it. I am kinda excited and nervous at the same time. It's something new, but there are a lot of good people on the floor who can help me out. I was going to sign up for a statistics class this term, but I just cannot afford it right now. I have to work on getting my house ready for winter. (I know it's crazy to already be thinking about winter, but it takes so long to remodel!)

Tomorrow, we are off to Wal*Mart again because mom needs to buy new wipers for her truck that she got at the slasher sale. She really hasn't been able to drive it because the wipers have no rubber and it has been raining ever since. She got a 1991 Ford F-150 that runs really good.

Updates...

It's been a little while since I've posted on my blog. I've been working and enjoying the sunshine (when we get some!).

It has been getting nicer lately...and I love that! I have been planning on what needs to be done in my yard. I did a lot last year, but there is so much more to do. I thought it was kinda ironic because I did so much to clean up the yard last year and then the value of my home went down a little. Not that I mind that much because it means that my taxes also went down, but it was just a little funny. Here is a funny picture of us (my cousins and uncle) working on my yard last summer.

My mom is excited thinking about what she is going to do with the garden. Our garden is normally 1/4 acre, so it is a big undertaking. We didn't have a good garden last year. The weeds were too outrageous. It was too wet. A lot of people I know said that their gardens didn't do well either. We usually can tomatoes; freeze beans, zucchini, corn, and carrots. The corn we don't even bother growing anymore because it hasn't worked for us. We can buy 5 dozen for around $20 so why bother with the headache.

A patient told me about a place in the town where I work where they can tomatoes and they will sell their "seconds" super cheap and he said they are good canning tomatoes, so it we don't get anything again this year, we might try that. He said that the tomatoes were better than anything he ever got out of his garden. That's a good recommendation and a good second plan.

I recently been wearing a pedometer at work because the new tower (designed with the patient in mind, not the nurse) is so spacious that we all have been saying that we walk miles every night we work. Well, the two nights I wore it, I walked 8.4 miles and 9.5 miles. Granted, they were crazy busy nights, but I wonder if that is the norm. I have my trusty pedometer in my locker at work, so I will be wearing it over the next few weeks to see what the average is...so I'll let you know.

My mom is going to this "slasher" sale this Saturday to try and get her a car for $88. She is going to be camping out Friday night at the car dealer to get in line. It is going to be crazy, but fun. I will let you know what happens!

I got low census at work tonight. When they called me (as I was about to leave, mind you) they asked me if I wanted to be off for 4 hours or 12 hours. I always say 12 hours because it is incredibly hard for me to come in at 11 p.m. By that time, I am already ready to go back to sleep. Even if I slept all day. If I'm not up actively doing something (starting to walk the 8 miles or whatever), I realize how tired I am. So, they called me at 9 p.m. asking me to come in at 11 p.m. I'm too tired to do it now, so I had to tell them no. I would never make it though the night. What else could I do?

I've recently been in physical therapy for my back so I don't strain it again. We are also going to work on some exercises to strengthen my right arm as well. Couldn't hurt! I have a wonderful therapist named Courtney who is working with me. It's kinda weird and nice because whenever I go into therapy, everyone knows me there.

It's Arch...not ark. :)

This week, everyone has been on Spring Break, including my friend Janette who works at head start. We wanted to do something since she has a "vacation," so we decided to go to St. Louis because it wasn't that far from our home. It actually was a seven hour drive, not that bad. Mom went with us too. We had so much fun. We were there for one night actually and stayed at Harrah's Resort & Casino because it was only $101 total for the night. We got to see the arch (which for some reason, I kept calling ark). Janette and I took the trolley up to to top. Here are some photos of our trip.

Gateway Arch


Mom & me sitting on a sofa in the lounge.


This really cool sink in the Missouri visitors center. You just kept your hands in the same spot and it washed, rinsed and dryed. Amazing. I felt like laundry. :)


The trolley that took us to the top


Me in the trolley


Mom & me by the arch


The top windows where we looked out

There are plenty more pictures that I won't post here but it was super fun to be up that high. What a fun short trip. Then it was back to the old grind and I was supposed to work Thursday but got Low Census, of which I was glad.

I Want Spring!!!

This week has been a little crazy at work. I have worked Tues and Wed night and have to work Fri, Sat, and Sun. I don't really want to go in the next three nights because the first two nights were terrible. It started off with me writing down my patient's information and having a family member screaming at me because the call light had not been answered. I didn't know anything about it, but he felt the need to vent. We have this "wonderful" new system call Vocera and how it is "supposed" to work is that the call lights are supposed to go the nurse's aide and if they don't answer it, it goes to the nurse. Then if the nurse doesn't answer it, it goes to another nurse and the call system. Well, it doesn't always work that way. Several times, I have received a notice for the call light after I have already been in the room for about five minutes, turned the call light off, and returned to the desk. It's "real" efficient.

On Wednesday, I had another patient who was breathing fast and had a rapid heart rate. I called the doctor and she gave me an order for some medicine (a commonly used med) to slow her heart rate. So, I go to our pyxis (a big stupid machine that we pull our meds from) and we are supposed to be able to pull emergency meds (like this one) from there and send the order down later. So, I try to override this med (which starts with an "m") and it's not there. I cannot pull it quickly. I call pharmacy and they tell me in order for them to put it in so I can pull it, I have to send an order down. I reply with "you mean I can pull Miralax in an emergency but cannot pull this drug." I was so mad. Apparently to them, being constipated is considered an emergency but your high heart rate/blood pressure is not. Hmmm...priorities.

I want Spring to come. I'm tired of winter. We're supposedly supposed to get more snow this coming up week. What a wonderful Spring Break it is going to be for my nieces and nephews. I did have some flowers in my garden earlier in the week and I need to do some work there...it just has to get warm enough! Here is a pic I took of crocuses in my flower garden. I just get so excited for flowers! I need some warmth...and maybe a vacation!