night shift, creepy story, toddler talk, and my credit cards!

Night shift and my creepy story...

Well, it's been quite some time since I've had the chance to post. Things have been pretty busy around these parts! I did my first two night shifts on Sunday and last night and tomorrow I work a day (classes). I was terrified of doing nights. I dind't know how I could possible stay up all night and function. It is pretty crazy how you can feel you body beggin you to go to sleep and the whole circadian rhythm thing become really apparent. I got so cold I had to wear a contact isolation gown around for a few hours. I got very sick to my stomach and dizzy but it only lasted for a few hours on the first night...and as we approached 7:30 a.m. I loss some serious brain power! The strangest thing happened last night/this a.m....First, I should explain that all the nurses in the hospital wear locators that have an emergency button on them that we can push at any time if we are in trouble (only work on our own floors) and they also are hooked in to a computer system that allows the unit manager to locate us if we are needed. For example, if i can't find my preceptor, i can ask the unit manager to look her up and the computer will tell her what room she is in by finding her locator. Anyway, that being said, my Preceptor andI were in the med room this a.m. (very early, like 3 a.m.) and we heard this strange beep (the emergency locator beep) but it wasn't either of ours. We opened the door and asked the unit manager if our locators were going off for some reason, like if some how the button got pressed (which would have been nearly impossible)...she said, "No, it's not either of you guys...who else is in there?" there was no one else, just the two of us. We told her that, and she said, "Well, there are two 'unknowns' that are locating in that room right now as well as you both"...It was very creepy, and we just had the feeling that someone else was in there. My preceptor said eerie things like that happen a lot on evening shift. She said she never believed in ghosts or anything like that until she started working there. And a lot of people have died on this floor which makes it even more unsettling. It was really really weird. Also, I had to use the bathroom last night but someone was in the one on our unit...so i had to walk to a further one off the unit. I had to go into an office area completely off our unit, so no one was around and the lights were all dimmed. I wasn't scared until I was walking back to the floor and thought someone was walking behind me. I looked, and no one was there, but i was just sure someone was there behind me. I kept feeling it, and then when I passed another hallway, the feeling stopped, like whoever it was turned to go down the hallway. But, still, I saw no one. That really creeped me out and I picked up the pace to get back to my unit. Very bizarre!

But, alas, I survived and it wasn't quite as bad as I imagined. I'm not looking forward to working tomorrow, but at least I just have to sit in classrooms. That won't be too hard. Plus, it's halloween so I get to look forward to trick-or-treating with the bean and Timmy.

Halloween....

Alex is going to be a lady bug...or part of one anyway. She won't wear the part that goes on the head, so I guess Tim or myself will wear that part so people will know what she is. We won't be actually going to the doors, just walking the neighborhood looking at the costumes. We did this last year at Tim's folks' and it was pretty fun. He blogged about it, I think, we had a funny run in with a crazy man. I will take some pics, but right now our hard drive is down on our main computer so I can't get my pics online for awhile. bummer. I will post as soon as I can, though.

baby talk...toddler talk....

So, sometimes I feel like Tim and I live with a foreign exchange student or something...Alex. Trying to decipher her words can be quite a challenge sometimes. It is like she has renamed common household items or tasks and given them her own unique word, sometimes just reusing words that already exist but just for different things...sometimes they sound like the American version...other times, they are clearly another language. And she almost always follows her sentances with "yup"--though i finally realized why she does that...sometimes when i've finally figured out what she's saying, like if she says, "poopy e-it", to verify i'll say, "coopy eat it, yup". So, now, my daughter thinks adding yup to the end of her sentances is just the way you do things. great. i only have myself to thank for that confusing tid bit! i now to say, "that's right!"For example:

Milk= "moop, yup"

Daddy do it= "daddy dooey, yup" or "mamma dooey, yup"

Blankie= "b-b-b-b, yup"

coopy= "poopy, yup"

play= "bye"

bye="bye"

drink="ish, yup"
spoon= "moon, yup"

and for nearly all animals, instead of going by their name she just uses the sound the make...i think that is common though? anyway, i could go on, but i realize, this is probably only interesting myself and to tim. ;)

Credit cards...

We are officially out of credit card debt! except for my gap and von maur, but those are very small balances and i'm not planning on closing them, so we aren't too worried about them. we had racked up some debt when i was in nursing school, and when i wasn't working when i was pregnant...but, I got my loan forgiveness check from work and we put it towards our debt, and the rest will go to fees for getting a mortgage for our house. While we still have umpteen zillion in school loans, it feels good to NOT owe money to damn credit card companies! we will no longer be using credit cards, except for emergencies---real ones, not shopping emergencies due to sales! ha!

conclusion....

well, that about covers it. i can feel myself getting extremely tired and it is taking me longer to type. i got up early this afternoon, allowing myself to only sleep about 4 hours after my night shift, in hopes that it will allow me to sleep through the night and feel ok tomorrow. here's to hoping!

tim's b-day is this weekend...i hope we do something fun. he's taking a half day off on friday and we are spending the day together, with alex, of course...and then maybe getting a sitter for later! fun times! after wednesday I have almost 6 days off! I only have a 3 hour class on thursday, and then a 3 hour class next wednesday! then i work nights through next weekend--when i'll make $10 over my hourly! that's worth it!. after next weekend, i go back to days for like 6 more weeks or until i'm done precepting...so, there are perks to this nurse business afterall!! ;) after i'm here a year or so, i'm hoping to transfer to hem/onc's day hospital/day clinic where I will work no nights, no weekends, and no holidays, and only three days during the week, and the emotional factor of this field will also not be so intense in the clinics! it will be a beautiful thing!

Such a crazy article!

You all have got to read this! It is really pretty awesome and sorta creepy...in a good way!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=470906&in_page_id=1770

wasp invasion

So, friday i noticed some uninvited guests making themselves quite at home inside our fireplace. I usually would not be too weirded out since there is no way they can get it (the fireplace is one of those fancy thingers that is all sealed off but still provides some asthetic appeal and some heat with a blower)...anyway, i saw two wasps crawling on the glass. the nerve! then, upon further inspection, i saw an army of them! they were literally lined up along the vent inside the fireplace as though they were in like an army trench or something. their little heads and antenae were sticking up over the top. The first picture is when we started to HEAT them up a bit. We decided our only option was to turn the fireplace on. I felt sorta sad about it, though i didn't want them in my house! Tim, on the other hand, really seemed to enjoy cussing at them as he did them in. Poor guys. didn't have a shot. They could have flown out, but I guess they werent' thinking of that option. Anyway, we are now wasp free...For now!

And i forgot this pic in the previous post! It's too cute to not put on here! And see tim peeking around the corner! hee hee! I'm telling you, "Boo" is our favorite past time!....though I did make some new pillows in my other favorite past time! yeah! my last pair to replace the last ones i wanted out~!

look at them all lined up! it was really creepy!

the weekend at our crib

Heres a few pics of the bean from the weekend! She was wild as usual! But fun, of course! We do A LOT of chasing and "Boo" wich seems to be a favorite game of hers lately. She is often playing "Boo" with her Little People toys, having them jump out and say "boo!" to her. It's very cute. Tim and I like spying on her when she's playing by herself. She does the cutest stuff!

Here is her in time out. She has been getting a lot of these lately. Not sure what is up with that. She likes to smack! Not cool! We are very strict with that. She doesn't even get warnings anymore. One smack/hit and it's time out time! It is hard to resist her large range of endearing faces she gives us during her time outs.

Here is another rousing game of "Boo" through the cupboards!

we enjoyed fine sushi and a bad movie (black snake moan) on friday eve! oh, and delicious slice and bake cookies! yum!

Here's my bean pie saying "rasberries" or just berries. It is usually how she refers to all berries (and bananas). She is a fool for berries! It is how we often bribe her! Better berries than crack or something as equally unhealthy!

Tomorrow the bean and myself and Tim are going to go to the zoo, i think. Though I'd rather be going when I can wear a sweatshirt and we can be cozy instead of 180 degrees! what the? Anyway, I may have to suck it up and just deal with it. I really want to go. Tim is taking a day off and we are going to have some family time and run some errands, etc. Good times! Maybe I'll have picks to post afterward.

cooper's toy messes, the coolest zoo, and a rambling of nothing too special

This is usually what I come home to. My pooch with ALL of his toys out (not all are pictures) sprawled from the living room to the kitchen to our bedroom, in the bathroom, office, etc! He must be very busy during the day! It's too funny! And there is almost always one on his bed with him!He makes more messes with his toys than the Bean!

Look at her enthusiasm! She is having the time of her life! ha!

These lions were so freak'n awesome! They were like talking to each other with really loud roars and then little grunts! It was really cool!

Here is my little wounded bird friend. He was so cute. Part of his wing was missing. He was a real trooper. I love him.

The Cinci zoo is probably THE coolest zoo I've ever been to. Alex wasn't really really into it, but in her defense she was really tired from school all day. she kept laying on the ground, in the middle of the sidewalk, and saying "nu-nie". ha! The zoo is mixed with the botanical gardens so there are amazing plants and flowers everywhere! I didn't get to see the whole zoo but I can not wait to go back! I loved it!

Work update is that I had my very own patient yesterday! I was still working with my educator but she really let me sort of run with it! It was nuts! I never stopped all day! I can't imagine having two or three patients! I got to hang chemo for the first time and I just had my class the day before yesterday (i definately did that with my educator because I was in no way ready to do that alone!). I am convinced that chemo (however, successful) is THE most barbaric thing we can do to someone's body! A lot of the chemo drugs have 'rescue' drugs that follow them and have to follow them in a very strict regimented way or the patient will die from the chemo within hours. It's INSANE! These kiddos are amazing! There's one little girl (about 2 or 3 maybe) that is always walking the halls with her mom. She is such a trooper but so grumpy! Everytime you smile at her or say anything to her she grunts or growls at yoU with her little face mask on! It is too cute, and I don't blame her one bit! I'd be growling, too! i did get her to smile at me once yesterday! that was an accomplishment!

The dad of my patient was a real trip! I think he has some psychological issues (i mean, i know he does). He told me to crush his daughters pills into a ball of whiskers! what? i think he was still half asleep and overhearing my educator and i talking about how the patient prefers to take her meds (crushed and put into capsules) so he thought he'd add his two cents. he then asked me for 30 dollars so he could buy some science and math books from some fair. when i said i didn't have any money he asked if i knew anyone in the hospital he could call for it. then asked if he could volunteer for us and clean out our refridgerators...it was all very strange! he was a hoot. he disappeared for most of the day though so our interactions were cut short.

well, that's all, i think. i was going to go do some yoga, but i'm thinking a nap may be in order. i picked the bean up early from school (threw up in her bed last night from coughing so much) because she didn't sleep well last night---thought a nap at home would do her some good. we are going to go to her favorite mall when she wakes up!

tim is making me some delicious sushi tonight and we are renting a movie! how fun! i'm really looking forward to a low key night after yesterday's work! However, i did enjoy my day! i met more nurses and i have yet to meet a grumpy one! what a relief!

work'n shmerk'n

so, today was my first day on the actual unit. i've been in orientation and classes so it's mostly been like school all over again. anyway, it went really well. i really like the girl i'm training with and my educator is awesome--that pic on the side is her! ! doesn't she look so sweet! ha! no, seriously, we laughed a ton today and that makes such a difference!

i think i'm going to love the patient population so that is encouraging. i think this will be an incredibly rewarding area. i met a nurse today who transferred to day hospital (linked to my unit but the population is a lot healthier---the success stories). she said she loved the unit but after a few years needed to see the other end of it....i made a mental note. ;)

i am learning more and more that my unit has a pretty high turnover (which i sorta knew) which doesn' surprise me too much. i'm mentally preparing myself for the inevitable that awaits me on this unit, and reminding myself that it is not my plan that decides the fate of these sweet babes but instead God's plan (or nature, or fate, or whatever you may believe). i am merely an instrument or a tool for the babes and their fams. I find quite a great deal of strength in these types of thoughts, actually.

i saw a bean who was alex's age today and it was pretty eye opening. but it also filled me with intense appreciation for each day i have with my bean and the health she has so far been blessed with. and just an overall sense of appreciation to be alive and so healthy.

not much else is new. just working a lot (though, enjoying it a lot) and spending time with tim and al. tim and i went mountain biking this weekend. it was a little disappointing. still trying t o find some sweet trails. on our first trail (we ended up having to carry our bikes a lot up stairs, etc) we saw a mamma dear and her babies that weren't more than 20 feet away from us! it was really awesome! i was definatley more excited about it than tim was. i was ready to call it a morning after that...i mean what could top that? but we'd only been riding for a five minutes! it was an amazing fall morning! though the trails were not too awesome, just out enjoying the morning was great! i sound so nerdy!

well, tomorrow i'm off work. I plan on catching up on bills and random phone calls i need to make and then spending time with the girl. wow, this is an exciting post! ha!

i just got a new yoga video i'm excited to try out. i'm really hoping i won't be disappointed! i got one awhile back that was really really new agey and i just couldn't deal with it past 5 minutes! i hate that crap! i'm pretty open minded but this was really creepy!

i'll take some new pics soon and pst some! i know my posts have been boring. they will get exciting...sometime! i promise!

seeing all these babes today made me want another babe! not really! but sorta---but not really! but sorta, but not! ahhhh! ha! no, i'm totally happy with just me, al, and timmy right NOW. if we can hold off just for a couple more years then it'll be all good! maybe just a puppy (a golden)in between then and now? ;) maybe santa will bring me one! santa? are you out there? i want a golden friend for coopie pie! i want i want i want!

to be coming: a post of me giving tim an iv--for practice! i have nearly all the material. just need to get some saline flushes and it's on! he said as long as he has a few beers, his arms are all mine! ha! should be interesting!

well, that's all. i need my bed! NOW!