Reminder

I cannot believe it's been almost a year since I have blogged! What a crazy year! Thanks to a couple of friends from work, I have decided to return to my blogging ways.
We'll see how it goes!

Baby Girl Harper

For the past year or so, I've been reading the sweetest girl's blog. Her name is Kelly. After struggling with infertility for some time, she and her husband finally conceived. Tonight she gave birth to a baby girl named Harper. Harper was born with pneumonia and was flown to St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa. Our family has experienced God's grace and mercy concerning sick babies. Please be in prayer for the stamps family that God will touch little Harper and that He will bring strength and peace to the family.

http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/

Crazy Smart Husband

Halfway through this commercial, my husband and I looked at each other and grinned. See, he's crazy smart. He is an engineer. When he's thinking about aerodynamics, I'm thinking about pizza. ha That's okay though. It's just how we roll!

Christmas Break Wrap-up

We all had a great Christmas. There was a lot of running and rearranging schedules but we were able to see family that we hadn't seen in a while.
The actress of our household was thrilled with her sketch book and pencils as well as her hula hoop. She spent lots of time during her break dressing up and fixing her hair. She if definitely her mother's daughter. She ended up receiving four pairs of boots for Christmas. She couldn't have been happier!
The athlete around here didn't really have a favorite thing. He got lots of hats and a couple of jerseys. I think he would wear one every day of the week if we would let him. He got to play with his cousins and play outside a lot with all of this nice weather.

The scholar. She got her first VS items this Christmas. She is becoming such a young woman. Very smart and thoughtful. She was able to spend some time with her Memaw over the break. During that time, I'm sure she probably consumed five gallons of coffee.

The rationalizer. All he wanted for Christmas was a cell phone. (He and the scholar have been sharing the same one for about a year now.) He got one and hasn't quit texting. He was able to stay with Memaw for a while as well. I'm not sure what he did while he was there... other than text.
The bill payers. Ha! We've had a wonderful break too. I got a long-awaited replacement for my original engagement ring. A ring that I lost the diamond out of seven years ago. It is too beautiful to describe. I was taken by complete surprise. The George Foreman grill that he got seemed really inadequate. Thanks to Memaw and Meme, we were able to spend a night alone. We even made the trip all the way to Tulsa and back home without any arguments!
By the way... as of today, only 133 days until I graduate!

Generational Dare Devils

Look at my baby! Can you believe the nerve! Leave 'em alone outside for a few minutes and this is what happens! First, I have a new oval four-wheeler dirt track running around my backyard. Next, they decide they are Evil Knievel wannabe's. She looks so tiny on that big o' four-wheeler.



This one is the instigator of the whole ordeal. He was so proud of himself for taking his baby sister under his wing and teaching her not only how to jump it but also how to, (as he put it) drift. Yes, that's right. My eleven year old understands how to make a motorized vehicle's back-end slide through the curves. I mean, where do these kids learn these things?
One would think that these children are being raised by irresponsible, immature, silly, crazy.... Well, you get the point. But really, where would they have ever learned such nonsense?


Hmmm, never mind all that stuff before....

Sendin' a Shout Out

Have you ever met someone and instantly bonded with them? That's the way things were for us three girls.

This girls came into my life with this crazy nursing program. I'll tell you a little about them. That's Shannon on the left. She's awesome. She works on a surgical floor, has a couple of kids with the same "kid issues" that mom's experience on a daily basis. She frequently threatens to gouge her own eye out with her pen. Okay so you all probably don't think that is especially funny but I do. And really, that's what counts, right?
In the middle is Cicily. She's the bomb. She never studies but has an understanding of anatomy and physiology that would put most physicians to shame. You wanna know exactly where the hepatobiliary duct is and what it does? Just ask Ciss. She can tell you. All the while, Shannon and I are looking at each other and thinking the same thing... "Is there a hepatobiliary duct?" Well, Shannon and I aren't quite that bad but next to Ciss, we look like it!
I was thinking about these girls today. (We took our last final today.) I've come to the conclusion that God puts people in your life for a reason. I truly believe that some of those people are destined to become like soul mates. They make you stronger, smarter, happier, and an all around better person. That's what my girls do for me. I only hope that I have been able to touch their lives in the same way.

Shannon, Shelly, Cicily
(The day we took our "senior pictures"!)

I Really Love My Job

I really do love my job. Lately, I've been very stressed out about school and my grades. Some of that stress has affected my job performance. I hope it hasn't been too bad but I know that I have let things get to me a little easier than I normally would. That being said, I think it is important that I let everybody in on my warped thought process.
Before I begin... I have permission from this patient (who shall remain nameless) to post these pictures and to talk about his case.
I go out to the waiting room and call the patient back. He (who is still a kid) walks in with this treble hook, with two of the barbs buried to the hilt, in his forehead.
The two marks in his eyebrow are where the back hook caught him and he took that one out himself.

So, I get him triaged. He is a really nice kid who was fishing at the pond with his little brother. He was behind the little brother and stood up just as the little brother decided to cast. Really not that uncommon. Right?

The uncommon thing is that this kid refused lidocaine. That's right. Now is the time to scroll back up and look at the way that hook is buried in his head.

I asked him if he would like me to hold his hand. His response was to stick his hand up and yell "Where are you at?" I was so nervous. This was a big kid. I just knew that he was gonna break my hand. At this point we had the patient, his mom, his brother, me, another nurse, the tech, the doctor, and one of the doctor's sons in our little suture/cast room.

Have you ever gigged a fish or a frog? It makes the most horrible tissue ripping sound. Really, if you've ever done it, you'll never forget it.

So, the doctor grabs the hook and pulls. I felt heat crawl up from my inner stomach and radiate to my limbs then to my face. I was sure that I would pass out. The sound was unbelievably sickening.

Let me tell you, that kid did not shed a tear! Not one! He didn't even want to take a Tylenol after it was all over! Wow! I was impressed.

I'm gonna have to restrain myself from laughing the next time I get a 40 year old man who cries when I have to give him a steroid shot!

All that being said, I love my job. I love the crazy, zany things that I may see on any given day. I love that I see every walk of life. I love that I love all of those people, even when I don't agree with why they are there. I understand that there are people with issues that cause them to act differently than I (or others) think that they should act.