A Good Day

Today has been a really good day. I got up early and enjoyed some coffee before DKK got up, then we went to the little restaurant in town and had breakfast. Then it was off to Wal-Mart and the grocery store to finally get some much needed groceries. I absolutely hate to go to the stores, it cost way too much money these days. I must be getting tight (or just cheap) in my old age! A little later I met Holly in the big town of Summersville to do a little shopping. There's a little store there that carries the enamelware so I got a new small colander (green, my fave). Also a community of Amish have moved into that area in recent years and they have a little basket stand alongside the road at one of their homes. It's amazing what they can do with nothing but their hands and a few basic tools. The baskets are really beautiful, handy, and very sturdy. I got a casserole basket and a small decorative red, white, & blue one. Both baskets were only $33 and they look and feel better than my Longaberger baskets that I have paid three times the amount for. Needless to say--no more Longaberger for me--I'll be visiting the Amish again. Really it's been years since I bought a Longaberger basket but I'm sure they haven't gone down in price, probably the opposite. Anyway after I got back home DKK and I went to a couple local flea markets on a hunt for a chair for our front porch. I wanted something that could be painted and that would be weather-proof. I found the perfect little chair--it's metal and has an unusual shaped back. DKK will have to do a little work on it before it can be painted but for $15, I can't complain. I'm anxious to see it done. Tonight I plan to just relax here at home where it's cool.

I've got a new toy!

Well, I finally caved in and got a Blackberry. I've wanted one for a long time! When I got my phone bill for last month there was a coupon in it for 500 bonus minutes but it had to be taken to the store before 6/26, so after work tonight I stopped in just to get the bonus minutes put on my account. I got to talking to the rep (of course I told her of my desire for a smart phone) and she did some checking (on our minute usage, etc..) and said they had a new plan available where I could get my smart phone and still save $5 a month on the bill. I had to sign a new contract (naturally) but I had no plans to change carriers anyway. After thinking about it for all of about 2 seconds I jumped. They were able to transfer all my numbers and pictures, but not the ring tones, so I'll have to do that myself (and it's gonna take some time). It took a while to get everything set up and I hadn't told Doyle I was stopping so when I got back in the car I thought I would call and let him know where I was--after some fussing and fumbling I figured out how to make a call. I felt really dumb and thought "what am I doing with this thing?". The rep told me that it would take some practice but not to get discouraged, that when I get everything figured out I'd love it. Until that happens I'm sure there will be some f bombs flying! Tonight I'm trying to get all the accounts, passwords, etc set up for my email, facebook, etc. Fun, fun, fun--I really am a gadget geek at heart!!!!

Bonus--two posts in one!

Today I start my 3 day hiatus from work. I slept in til after 7 this morning, which is not what I typically do on my day off (although I seem to do it more often these days). I usually get up around my normal time and start on things around the house. I just couldn't drag myself out of the bed this morning. I've been really tired this week, not sure if it's the hot weather or what. I had all these plans in my mind to get done today, but now I wondering if I'll accomplish anything other than get the laundry done. I need to, cuz I'll be watching the little ones tomorrow. Chely is going back to work officially on Monday but she needs to go in for a little while on Saturday to get some things started for Monday. This will be the first time that I will have little Cameron without his parents there, hope I remember what to do!


Now, I'm going to tell a story--I know nobody knows these people but I need to get this off my chest to someone other than my coworkers!! As you all know I work in a in-patient hospital Pharmacy, and it's pretty close quarters (like cramped, crowded, and NO windows), so other than the IV room there's really no getting away from people in the Pharmacy. Well, one of our tech's quit and moved back to Oregon around last Feb/March (not sure of the exact date). We hired a new tech about 2 months ago and she got started a few weeks ago. The problem is she's driving us all crazy--she NEVER shuts up. She always interjects herself into any conversation or discussion that might be going on. You can be carrying on a conversation with someone and she will just start talking over you. I'm to the point that there's not one thing she does that doesn't irritate me, that's sounds so mean but I just can't help it. Bad thing is everyone feels that way, so much so that we have begun plotting how to get rid of her. Now that sounds really mean, doesn't it?? It's just that when you work so close with people you have to get along and although we might not be best buds we have all learned each other's little quirks and have adjusted to each other, I'm just not sure if that will ever happen with her. Her 90 day evaluation is coming up, we'll see what happens!! Thanks, I fell better now, I still feel a little dirty and evil, but better. Remember, I'm not alone in this, I have 8 other conspirators.

A fun Saturday was had!

Scrap-a-palooza was great!!! I had a really enjoyable time, I plan on going back to the one that's already scheduled for September 12th. I got several pages done and I learned a few new tricks from the demonstrators. I also ate way too much, they had lots of food and drink. The chocolate fountain w/fresh fruit was probably my favorite. There was also an on-site store and needless to say I spent some money (they let you run a tab and just settle up before you left--good for them, bad for me). Holly and I didn't stay for the entire 13 hours, we left around 6pm and treated ourselves (well, I treated myself--Kurt treated her) to pedicures. Then we ended the evening with Mexican food and after spending some time at their house, I headed for home. I got home about the same time as I would have had I stayed for the entire crop, so all was good. I had planned in my mind to be up that long so I didn't even get sleepy on the drive home. One thing that I did learn was that I took way too much stuff and then didn't have some that I needed so I will be more prepared next time since I have been once and know what to expect.

Scrap-a-palooza this Saturday!!

I'm really looking forward to this Saturday. I'm going to my first "real" scrapbooking crop. It's called Scrap-a-palooza and it's in Springfield. It's 13 hours of crop time, classes, food, etc... I've only been to friends houses to crop before, and they have spots for 200 people at this event, so this is totally new to me. I've been getting my supplies gathered up to take with me and I hope I can remember everything. That's the only drawback--you have to take your own tools and supplies. I'm a messy scrapper and I like to drag out a lot of stuff when I scrap so I hope that it works out.

HGTV and TLC lie!!!

Today I planned on re-doing our bedroom, well in true Jessie fashion anything that could go wrong did. I tried to save a little money and dye the table covers from plum to chocolate brown--after washing them according to the dye package and rinsing them numerous times I finally put them in the dryer and lo and behold they came out PLUM. What a waste of a couple hours and gallons of water not to mention the money spent on the dye. In the end I have to buy new table covers anyway. I had Doyle put the curtain rods up a while back in anticipation of the new curtains (the old ones hung there until today) and after washing, drying, and ironing the new curtains I hung them up only to find out the rods were too high for these curtains. I thought I had ordered the same length as the last ones, but I guess I measured them wrong or just didn't get the order right. Doyle will be fixing that little problem tomorrow after work. Then I move on to the new bedding believe it or not that part went rather smoothly considering how everything else in the make-over went. I still have some things to finish up and some clutter to get rid of but I was just done with it for the day. I couldn't take anymore disappointment--I had been looking forward to this for quite some time and it just didn't live up to my expectations. I should have figured something like this would happen when it took me over 2 months to get everything that I ordered. Let's just say it will be a while before I tackle another home improvement project--it just never goes like you think it's going to. At least it doesn't for me!!!

Family vs. Friend

A comment on my last post really has me thinking about the difference between family and friends. This probably pertains more to the in-law or distant relatives more so than immediate family. My sisters are my sisters and you feel a special bond with them (even when you're pissed at them over something small and unimportant). My relationships with the in-laws are different for each side of the family. As with a lot of families we live nearer to my side of the family than my husbands so we have a closer relationship with the in-laws from my family. My brothers-in-law seem more like real brothers to me and I can joke around and truly be myself around them. Maybe because in the 30+ years I've known them both they have seen the best and worst of me!! As far as sisters-in-law I only have one on my side of the family, and she lives quite a ways from us, so we don't really have much to do with each other. My ex-sister-in-law lives in the same town as me, and I will always think of her as my sister-in-law (I can't help that my brother screwed up and divorced her) and friend. My third brother has had many wives and I gave up getting to know them years ago, why go to the trouble when they won't be around that long. My husband's family all live in Minnesota, South Dakota, or Texas. We don't get to see them very often and have never been able to spend more than a week together. We never have holidays, birthdays, anniversary's, etc.. together, so it's hard to have a "real" relationship with them. It's not our fault and certainly not their fault, it's just a fact of life. Everyone goes out of their way to make us feel comfortable and welcome and we always have a good time when we visit. I do have a special relationship with one of my sisters-in-law in Minnesota, we are very much alike and I think it helps that we can both relate to being in-laws in such a big family, I look forward to spending time with her when we visit. Problem is there's always so much going on that it's hard to get very much time together. I sometimes feel guilty that Doyle has missed out on a lot of his family through the years, but we made a choice years ago to live where we live. We made our life here and it has been a good life for us (for the most part anyway). Moral of the story is: I think no matter if someone is family or friend the relationship is what you make of it. I, like most people today get busy with my own life and tend to neglect some of my relationships and I truly feel bad about this. I don't want to be one of those people that are looking back someday and wondering "what if". I need to be a better family member on both sides of my family and a better friend to all my friends. Wow, I feel like I've just had a good talking to and I promise to do better!!!

Shopped til we dropped!

Today was spent with Chely and Chelsea (and all 3 little ones) in Springfield. We left Patrick and Emily with Holly's girls at their house and Cameron went with us on his first shopping trip. Boy, am I beat tonight--I just can't shop all day like I used to. We got the kids some cute summer clothes and I even found some for myself.

On another note--I think I've lost my best friend!! Guess I'll have to settle for Aunt-in-law from now on. I keep telling myself that it's hard to stay close when you live away from each other (and there's such an age difference), but I feel like something else has happened to change things. I'm not going to fret about it though, I'll just have to be there when she wants me or needs me. That's all I can do--that's what friends do!! Maybe I'm reading more into things than I should--maybe I'm just really tired and need to rest. Now I need a day off from my day off!!

You just can't make this stuff up!!

Whew!!! What a weekend, where do I start. Around 5:30am on Saturday morning I received a text from Chely saying that she was in labor. Brad had gone to work, Patrick was still asleep, and Emily had spent the night with a friend. She said she was going to take a bath and then start getting the kids around to come to our house for Doyle to watch. So I get around and start getting myself together and before I knew it she was calling and Brad had gotten home, the kids were in the car and they were heading out. Doyle met them at Hillbilly Junction and got the kids and they went on to West Plains to get checked into the hospital. By the time Doyle got back to the house with the kids, I was ready to leave. I wanted to stay home a little longer and feed the kids but decided I better head on over to the hospital. I didn't want to miss this birth, I was finally going to get to be in the delivery room. So Chely was checked in and hooked up to the monitor by 8:05am and I arrived about 8:30am. She was dilated to a 3 but her pains were pretty intense already. By 9:30am she was wanting an epidural, but Anesthesia requires that the mother have a bolus of fluid (1 liter) before they will give the epidural. So she has the bolus of fluid and is really starting to want that epidural and calls the nurse in and asks again, and also asks if her doctor has been called (and he has), so the nurse goes and calls for the Anesthesiologist to come up. Finally at about 10:45am the guy gets there to do the epidural, only one person can stay in the room while they do it, so I go to the waiting room and Brad stays with Chely. I'm sitting there and I hear the nurses call to the front reception area and asks for the Surgery Tech (who has left the unit for a bit) and tell the unit secretary that they need help--I think to myself, I hope that's not Chely they need the help for. About that time Brad is in the hallway motioning for me to come with him (I just think that the epidural is in and I can come back into the labor room), he's practically running back to the room, and I ask what's wrong. He tells me Chely is having the baby, NOW. We get in the room and there is the delivery nurse, the nursery nurse, and the charge nurse, (the surgery tech came in at some point), but no Doctor. The delivery nurse is trying to get Chely to hold back but she feels like she needs to push. Finally the charge nurse comes back in from talking to Chely's doctor on the phone and says "If you feel like you need to push, do it, we're just going to do this. They are hustling around trying to get the bed ready and get the tray and everything they need to do the delivery. So Chely has another pain and they say go and with one big push Cameron is popping out like a champagne cork. All I could see was a little purple butt as he flipped into the nurse's hands. The cord was around his neck but it fell away and he started to cry and peed all over the nurse. I got to cut the cord, Brad didn't want to, he thinks it feels too weird (you have to kind of saw away at it). They rush him over to the other side of the room and weigh and measure him. 5lbs 8 1/2 oz and 19 inches long. As the nurses were waiting for the placenta to delivery in walks the doctor. He checks on Chely and Cameron and then gets gowned up and delivers the placenta. Then he says "I got behind an elderly person who caused me to catch a red light, or I would have been here". Which was just too funny, haven't we all been there? Turns out that when they were trying to get the epidural in place Chely kept feeling like she needed to push so the nurse stopped and checked her and she was fully dilated and could see Cameron's little head peeking out. They think that when she leaned forward that caused her to fully dilate that fast. So she never got her epidural and delivered him all natural, no drugs at all. Luckily everything turned out great and I have a new respect for the OB nurses at our hospital. They always rank very high (99%) on the patient surveys and now I know why firsthand. The rest of the day and Sunday were spent back and forth from home and the hospital, just enjoying our new addition. He's a really good, sweet baby. And he's just so darn cute. Chely is doing great, she was up moving around less than an hour after she gave birth. Her and the baby were released from the hospital this morning so they are all home together. Once again our family has been blessed with a beautiful, healthy baby, we couldn't be happier!!!