Back to the Real World

Well I'm back to the real world after two weeks of fun. The bast part of my trip was being with Chuck all day for 15 days and being able to watch him play with Leland so much. I think Leland got spoiled by being around so many people and new things to play with, now she's home all alone with just mom. I had a rough day with her yesterday and today I am sick. I got a flu shot but I still have the flu or cold or something.

Leland has two little teeth poking through the bottom and her hair is thicker. She wants to crawl and move so bad it gets frustrated that she can't quite do it.

I'm so busy trying to catch up on work right now. So I'll write about my trip later.

Love ya

Ashley

Thanks

I was planning on posting on my disasterous day & dinner yesterday (ceiling starting to leak in the middle of dinner, garbage disposal explosding, rude dinner guests etc) but, I felt really bad complaining on the day for thanksgiving, so here are some of the things I am thankful for this year:(in no order of importance)

• My patients, who each and every day teach me about being a better person, nurse daughter and friend
• Cozy hats and gloves, to keep me warm on my chilly walks to and from work
• My family, for always reminiding me who I am and where I came from
• Technology, for keeping me close to those I love who are far away.
• My cats, for ensuring life at home never has a dull moment
• My charge nurse who stood up for me when the radiologist yelled at me.
• Martha Stewart, for teaching me that if you make things look pretty enough, it doesn't really matter how they taste.
• My friends, for being the fabulous, strong, intelligent women they are.

I love you guys!

results?

Ok Liz, so you scared me, I'm sure you are more scared (are you?) you said you'll know what the results are and the treatment plan on Monday? Let us know, no point in worrying until then.
So I am going to california in two weeks! (eek, I need to get to the gym) Troy has been in a better mood latley, but he has to take a test the last day I am there, so he needs to study while I am there. This is the type of senario where we usually have problems, but I made plans to hang out with my friends on tuesday so he can study, and he promised not be stressed out durring the time we have designated as "our" time. We'll see how it goes. I am excited to see him, it's been just over 3 months.

One good thing about working on the weeknds, the attending doctors bring us breakfast, and thsi one knows shere the good french bakery is, yummy.

a REALLY crappy day.

Well I have had some medical problems lately. I just found out that my prolactin levels are through the roof. I haven't had a period in forever and my boobs leak more than Ashley's probably do. Any way i just found out my bloodwork results this afternoon and my doctor wasn't in so i have to wait until monday.

I will most likely have another MRI done and go from there. There is a good chance that it is a benign (spelling?) tumor. If it is they will either give me drug therapy, radiation, surgery or a combination of all. So time will tell. Yeah!!
I just needed to vent. Thanks.

The pictures of lauren are from her 10 month shoot. Isn't she cute!!
Miss you all-Liz

Post It's

camera or troy? Toy or boy? I guess the boy is more versatile. But the camera I can play with whenever I want, and troy, only every other month or so. Tough decisions.

I asked Rick out, again at institute tonight. Counting my invite to Thanksgiving that's three! Don't worry, I'm not a total pathetic loser, he said yes last week, but I messed it up and had to cancel. This time he is picking up his sister at the airport. Valid excuse I guess... But I'm done for now, maybe in 12 months after I have made my rounds through the ward, and he and I are both still single I will try again. For now I have exhausted my efforts.

I'm in the mood to try something new for Thanksgiving this year, any suggestions? Wait, neither of you have ever done a turkey have you? Lucky bitches, always having people willing to cook it for you. Must be nice, I have to bribe other hungry souls with food to even have people to eat with! Oh well, I have fun.

Oh Ashley, don't worry, you are definitely in a better climate than me! It got soo cold today. Now I am rethinking my commitment to walking to work, the wind blows right through scrub pants! I really think I am starting to lose some brain function, three times in the last month I have forgotten where I have parked my car (it's been 5 days since I drove it) earlier in the month I found this mildly amusing, but wandering around for half an hour in bitter cold wind is NOT fun, and then I have to explain why I am late to everything. Now I leave post-it notes on my fridge reminding me where my car is. I think I have Alzheimer’s.

I don't suck-It is Melissa's fault!

Hello all i am back from the dead
everything is okay and busy here. Lauren fell and cut her lip the other day. She had to go the ER and get 6 stiches. it really sucked but i healing well. She is a busy girl running all around everywhere. Parker is enjoying preschool very much. He has made great friends with the ministers son! -it is at a baptist church hehe.

So ashley are you going to be moving for sure? I guess it has been too easy on the three of us to have at least two of us in the same area.

I started an excercise boot camp about a month ago. It is going well-kicking my butt but getting used to it. It is three times a week at 5am for about an hour-some days i walk for 45 min. after class.
But the results are good-i have needed to do this for years.

I have blogged-now get off my back!!

Liz Sucks!

No, just kidding, I love her. But I have warned her, she has 5 days (Novermber 20th) to get on the blog, or she will be forever banished from the Blog and it will be used soley for making fun of her. hehe.

It is freezing in our house, 1) because I just opened up the kitchen window so the kittens could hear the big cats fighting outside (they need to know it's not just a playground out there) and 2) I don't turn the heat up becasue Devin and Bob still sleep with their wondows open, because they like their rooms to be cold. No sense in trying to keep the house warm then.

I don't think I can ever get married. I get bored too easily, I am already bored with Troy again. He has realized that life is not so grand in cali when you have no real friends there, no real job and it's very expensive. He's unhappy again and I lose my patience with complainers. I'm not sure if I am still going out to visit or not, I have to decide by friday. Harry Potter opens on Friday and although I am not fanatic I think I am going to go with my roomies and maybe invite someone from the ward. Hmmm.

Tomorrow is my day off so yes I will be doing my usual Wednesday activity of scrapbooking, but alas, I will be all alone. (sniff, sniff) but I guess I had better get use to it come january (sob, sob) sigh. I should be done with my India scrapbook tomorrow. yay! hmmm, need to decide where to go next. CostaRica? London? Savanah GA? or Cali to hang out with Mr Grump, what to do?

Angles

I came into work Thursday morning to learn my dear angle, Mrs. P passed away on our neighboring unit early Tuesday morning. I am heartbroken. She was my primary patient, meaning whenever she was an in-patient I took care of her. She was first admitted my second day on the unit, stayed with us for two months and then spent the last month being followed daily in our out-patient department with two other short admissions. I knew she was not doing well and would most likely not make it much longer, but seeing her two weeks ago I never would have thought it would have come so quick. I am left with so much confusion, what went wrong? Why was she not on our unit? And so much unrest from unanswered questions, did she known she was dying? Had her and her husband discussed ending treatment? Last time I took care of her I knew she was tired and did not want to continue with treatments, but I didn't talk to her about it, I didn't ask her if she wanted to go home, I didn't talk to her about the other options. I was here for a class on Tuesday and passed her husband in the hallway, I thought he saw me and then looked away, avoiding me, and knowing how emotional he is I figured she had be re-admitted and was not doing well and he didn't want to talk to me about right then, so I let him walk by. She had died only hours before, and I let him walk right by. Were her children with her when she died? Does her son know that the last thing she told me she wanted to do was go home and bake gingerbread cookies for him? Did her daughter know how much she cherished her and worried about her? Will they grow up to be as strong as their mother? Is she at peace now?

There was nothing we could have done to save her, her transplant did not engraft and her leukemia came back stronger than before. She spent nearly the last 100 days in the hospital, 3 hours away from her family and children. We thought we had one more option for her, one that is rarley sucessful and just gives most people a few more weeks or months of life, but she developed sudden complications before we were able to try. Back in September I had a bad feeling that she would not do well and asked why her children didn't vist her, she stated she didn't want them to see her in a hospital bed, weak, thin and pale. How do you tell someone that they may never make it home again? Although I do not feel responsible for her death, I feel responsible for taking Shelly and Brian's mom away. She should have been home with them.

Omlette

I had the best (and easiest) omlette ever this morning!! Thanks Martha!

hot out of the oven

I have found new hobby; bread making. It's fun. And yummy. So far I've only attempted regular white bread (you have to have a firm foundation in the basics first) but the possibilites are endless! I want to make yummy herb or cheese breads like you get in resturants, but those are round, and I only have bread pans, do I make round loaves on a baking stone? Anyone know? It is true, I do have a bread maker, but I only use it for half of the process, so I feel I can take credit for some part of the baking. I might attempt stickey buns this weekend. Yummm.

Initiation

Well I think this evening I passed through one of many initiations into official motherhood. I was feeding Leland and she fell asleep in my arms. She was being so cuddly and sweet. After about 20 minutes she started to wake up and she let out a huge burp and i stunk so bad. But then - she puked all over me and down my shirt. It stunk so bad and was dry heaving. I took off all my clothes and threw them in my sink. I could not get the smell off of me, I finally had to just take a full shower. Leland's totally fine. It seems like for food just didn't settle right becasue she had fallen asleep.

I gag just thinking about it again.

Fun weekend planned

This weekend we have a fun weekend planned. tonight we are going to Tony Romas (Kiki do you have fond memories of Tony Romas?) Then tomorrow night we are getting a baby sitter for Leland and we are going Swing dancing. I hope it turns out fun. We are going to DC to a swing club. Chuck has had a pretty stressful week. Followed by a pretty crappy day today. He was in charge of an event today with the Governor. Well, the Secretary of planning (Chuck's boss) made her speech and then was supposed to introduce the Gov for his speech and she totally forgot!! She just skipped right over him then ended the event and said good bye. Chuck was pretty pissed.

Hopefully we'll have a fun weekend. I'll let you know.

daybreak

ah, 4:30am and time for bed. I'm switching back to night shift for a few days, fun stuff. I have only one more episode of lost left, but I decided it would be more fun to watch it with someone else, I don't really feel like meeting the "others" all by myself. Devin was sweet enough to come downstairs and sleep on the couch so I wasn't compleatly alone. Isn't that sweet, I have the best roommies, well, I'm mad at Bob right now, he wouldn't help me jump-start my car today, told me to call AAA instead! Anyways, it's starting to get light outside, so that means it's off to bed for me.

Fun Day

Hey - thanks Kiki for setting this up. Today i had such a fun day at the park with Kiki. Liz we missed you. It reminded me of our fun picnic at Ft McHenry when Liz came to visit.

Here's an update: Chuck interviewed for the home Builder's Assoc. job today. They have their final round of interviews next Thurs, where there are only 3 finalists (chuck being one of them). Now we have to decide if there is any amount of money that they might offer that will keep us from moving to NC and chuck going to Law School. Decisions, decisions.

Liz I don't know if i've told you this - but we are going on a Carribean cruise nov 12 - 19, then to the outer banks now 20-26. The cruise is with chuck's immediate family and the beach is with his cousin and aunt's and uncles. fun times! Two solid weeks with my mother-in-law, I think my head might explode, actually I think chuck will be the first one to go nuts. I'm sure all you still think of when I mention my mother-in-law is clowns feet and blow-up instruments.
:-)

I hope all is well. Love ya
ashley