My vacuum is a CHAMP!!!!

i just spent an hour and a half vacuuming my car. To most this may seem a little extreme but Libby (my car) had about 6 years worth of Harper hair embedded into the carpet of the trunk space and floor board. So I kinda feel an hour and a half was a breeze to remove EVERY SINGLE dog hair! Now don't get me wrong, I have vacuumed my car many times since her purchase but nothing (including the industrial strength vacuum cleaners at professional car cleaning places) has been able to extract these furry nuisances. They were NO MATCH for my mean, green Eureka bag less vacuum! THis puppy is AMAZING! Libby is now fur-less and shiny like the day I bought her! I am no longer apologetic when new folks, or even old folks who are used to her fuzzy decor, hop in for a ride. YAY!!! I know Libby feels better too! She's like a new woman.. all clean and ready to ride... now, where should we go????

rain drops, lawyer meetings and light bulbs

Fay came through Saturday night dumping TONS of rain... and she's back again today doing the same thing! I love rainy days... but let me clarify. I love rainy days when I have no other plans but to stay home, chill on the couch and watch a Lifetime Television movie. There is nothing I hate more than being outdoors during a torrential downpour while trying to maintain a presentable appearance. I don't know about you but in the rain, my hair frizzes to unbelievable heights and my makeup melts to near disappearance. So imagine my frustration in having to attend a meeting this morning with the hospital attorney during the tornado warnings and blinding rainfall!! UGH!!!!

My meeting with the hospital attorney went well this morning. I think I blogged about this issue earlier. I am being sued as part of a lawsuit against the hospital I work for. I can't give a lot of details but I can tell you that my lawyer told me today that I have been ruled out as having anything to do with the reason the hospital is being sued. I had no doubt ;) It seems that the family's lawyer is just trying to get the family as much money as he can and there is no cap on how much money you can get by suing individuals like there is when you sue an organization like a hospital in general. Its a good idea... if the accusations were founded. But since they are not, my lawyer is going to file a motion on my behalf to dismiss this case. So that's good news! However, he said we may still have to present it to the judge and I may still have to sit through depositions. But that's OK. I'll do what I have to do to clear my name. All I have to say is THANK GOODNESS for accurate charting!

So since the rain has let up a bit... I ventured out to Wal-Mart because I had MAYBE 3 light bulbs in my house that were working and not nearly enough to replace them all. I decided I would try the new energy efficient ones...you know the swirly shaped light bulbs. I'm pretty excited about them. They claim to save hundreds of dollars a year on your power bill. My power bill isn't outrageous but who doesn't like to save money? So we'll see what happens. I can tell you that the light they put off is excellent! It's a bit like sitting on the sun in my apartment! WOW!!! I'll keep ya posted on my power bill savings!

So for now, I'm gonna put my frizzy hair in a ponytail, dry off, find a movie to watch, and listen to it rain... maybe I'll do some chore like laundry.. who knows.

Happy Monday!

There she BLOWS!!!

I'm listening to tropical Storm Fay blow through town! I LOVE IT! I only wish it were stormier. I know that is twisted (no pun intended) But there is nothing I love more than a good stormy day. I love curling up on the couch watching the rain blow in sideways while the trees hold on for dear life! Fay is not that bad right now though. Its just kinda grey, wet and gusty outside but my fingers are crossed for more... not displaced trees and ripped up rooftops but I'm definitely hoping for more drama from mother nature!

So Happy Saturday storm watching!

to travel or not to travel...

So as a nurse I have the option to stay around here and work and make pretty decent money and experience some pretty exciting things... ORRRRR I can contract myself out to other hospitals around the country/globe and make MORE money and experience exciting things in different surroundings, PLUS see the country. I've always thought that I would choose the latter of the two as my career path. During my college years I did a fair amount of moving around and now have a not so good taste in my mouth about living out of suitcases and not having one place to call home per se.

BUT... things at my current place of employment are not so good financially or administratively and I've been thinking and praying about trying my hand at travel nursing. I'm not 100% guaranteed that the hospital will renew my contract and I can't afford to live off the salary they pay full time nurses. Plus the management seems more concerned with dollar signs rather than patient care and I'm finding more and more that my values and work ethic clash with them.

However, I have some reservations about traveling. 1. My apartment. I don't want to leave my things unattended for 8-13 weeks at a time. And I don't know or trust anyone enough to sublet my apartment (and I'm not sure if my complex managers will allow it). And I don't like the idea or storing my belongings in a storage shed for who knows how long. 2. If I store my stuff, where will I come back to when I end a contract? I can't very well stay with my mom... my brother lives there and he and I do better when there is a LOT of silence and even more distance between us. 3. I'm nervous. I've gotten used to the doctors I work for and the procedures we take care of. I sorta know what I'm doing. I'm PRETTY sure health care is universal but I don't know. I'm afraid of looking dumb in someone else's playground. 4. I don't want to go by myself. plain and simple... I'm a social kinda girl and I want to do this with someone else. 5. I will miss my friends here SOOOO much. And that makes me sad enough to consider not going.

All that to get the real point of this blog. I've been talking to a friend of mine off and on about traveling together. She's on board completely but also has some of the same reservations. We've both been praying about it privately and trying to discern if now is the right time to go. I recently spoke with another nurse about traveling with us and she was interested going with us... turns out she is. Plus a friend of mine wants to get a place of his own and offered for us to share it with him so we could have a place to come home to and keep our things while we are away. So things look like they might be falling into place to go travel. There are still a lot of kinks that need to be ironed out and details that need to be planned. But the general consensus is that after the first of year, we'll shoot for all these changes. I ask for your prayers in trying to make sure this is a positive step in my life and career. God knows my concerns and I pray He will address them in no uncertain terms. He know me and knows I need CLEAR and precise road maps when it comes to directing the paths of my life. I need the courage to just take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves.

I'll keep ya posted.

Catching up...

I haven't written in about 2 weeks or so.. maybe longer. I've been kinda out of commission. I had a terribly emotional week at work followed by a 3 day migraine (no doubt stressed induced) companied by 4 or 5 days of insomnia. So needless to say i haven't had much to blog about. Things are going well otherwise. Nothing exciting. I am so enjoying the Olympics! I am so stinking proud of our athletes! I think I've teared up everytime I've watched a medal ceremony!

My week off hasn't been all bad. I did manage to make it to a play at the Shakespeare Theatre! WEST SIDE STORY to be exact! YAY!!! It was so good! I had the BEST seats EVER! I even saw a guy changing backstage...haha. Bonus behind the scenes footage! HAHA!

I saw Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. It was just a cute as the first one. Although WAY more despressing than I had anticipated. The ending left an opening for more. I could see Sisterhood of the Traveling Wedding Dresses on the horizon ;)

Its been raining ALL day today! The high temperature was only in the 70's today! Unbelievable for this time of the year in Alabama. I am so excited about fall. But I know this is just a tease. Just gotta enjoy it while it lasts!

I'm about to begin another 7 days on... I'm not looking forward to it at all. Things have been a little tense between the nurses I work with and we've had some really intense situations lately... the kind that stick with you. (example.. my last patient had to be defibrillated 137 times in a 24 hour period... and he walked out of the hospital!) I'm praying for enough work to stay busy but NO DRAMA!!!! No sudden train wrecks or prolonged drain circling. No combative and/or crazy folks. No demanding princesses. No out of control God complexes. Please Lord let this be an ordinary week at the "office".

I'm excited about a few things coming up on the calendar...
1. The beginning of AU football! WAARRRR EAGLE!!!
2. The start of the fall season of reality tv and reality based sitcoms! Grey's in particular
3. a trip to ATL to see the broadway production of Wicked! Happy Birthday to me!!!

To end this ho-hum blog... here's a picture of Harper trying her best to convince me that it would be in her best interst to have some of what I am eating...she almost got her point across....almost :)

BIG ol' from the belly...sigh

OK so I've been awake for nearly an hour. I have to go to work tonight and I can't make myself get up and get ready. there is nothing I can say to myself that makes me want to walk through the doors of my unit. I have had another horrifyingly emotional week at work and its only my Wednesday... I have 4 more days not including tonight to go. Normally I love going to work. I love being a nurse. I love taking care of people. I love being challenged by the unexpected. I have to distance myself from my patients a lot of the times in the name of self preservation and mental alertness. I have to try to block myself from becoming too emotionally involved otherwise I would not be able to perform my sometimes unpleasant duties. However the last two weeks, I have had patients who had struck me to the core and have knocked me to my knees by their situations. I feel certain it is God speaking through them and their circumstances to teach me things about Him and myself and life in general. I recognize that and BELIEVE ME... 10-4 I'm reading loud and clear. But it's leaving me emotionally drained. All i want to do is sit and ponder or just be with my patients and my Lord. Unfortunately I have other things I have to think about at work. I have to focus. I have to be alert and on my game. I feel like I'm in a fog, a daze and on the verge of tears. While I appreciate very much the lessons God gives to me and very much want to see Him in action, I need some time to think and absorb and repair my heart. I need a break! I don't want to be disengaged at work. I feel I owe it to my patients to be able to connect to the person who quite literally sometimes hold theirs lives in their hands. But I'm going to fall apart if I keep going like this. I have got to somehow find a balance again. But no time now... I'm running late now. Sigh....chin up kid...just do whatcha gotta do.