Nurse with attitude coming through -- make way, make way

Today, I ran into the "I've worked for over 30 years as a nurse, and I don't think you're doing a very good job, and I could do it better, and YOU DON'T EVEN LOOK LIKE A NURSE!!!" lady. *sigh* I made the mistake of going to get a resident's blood pressure while her daughter was in the room. I'd just gotten on shift and forgot my name tag, and was told very pointedly that she expected nurses to look like nurses. Ah well, I'm not a nurse, I'm a CNA. Then I tried to do the blood pressure, but was nervous, because she was right there, watching me, and forgot how to do it. Right, this is good. So she shows me how its done. Then the electronic device doesn't work, because I have it on wrong. But by now, I'm feeling like a real moron, because I don't know why its not working. So I use the traditional one. Which I haven't used/practiced for over a year. And I'm not too confident on yet. Right. I perform spectacularly; I do it wrong, and think the diastolic is the systolic and... okay, never mind. Anyway, the point is, the daughter complained that she didn't see why I had to get the vitals since they were going to the doctors anyway...

I was never so glad to leave a room. But I did feel better when I later found out that she (the daughter) had yelled at the *real* nurse at the doctors office when she was taking the vitals -- and made her retake the BP 3 TIMES!!!!

Whew... Okay, so I got the BP thing down quite exceptionally after today. I guess that's a good thing.

Things that go bump in the night...

I guess I just don't have luck being outdoors -- at night. Especially when I'm running. Yes, there's another story behind this, but its not funny. Really. I got a package from Sheila (she'd send me the marzipan I want to sample to see if I want to use some at the wedding); and, being excited, in typical Nora like fashion, I cheered and ran across the yard to the house -- to open my package. Except -- there was something in my way. I banged into it with my shins and flew into the air, yelling in surprise. A high pitched scared girly yell of surprise. I landed on my side with a thud. So I lay there, in the wet grass, mail scattered all around me, trying to figure out what the heck just happened. Then I see it. A old iron stake in the ground, by the trees, that I'd forgotten about. Its too heavy for anyone to remove, but it sticks up about a foot from the ground, and its completely usueless. Or, as Nick would say, its rubbish. So I held my shin and tried to think positive thoughts. My mom called out, "Are you okay?" I couldn't answer -- I was afraid I'd scream or something. Shin bones are quite sensitive... What ARE soccer players thinking anyway? So anyway, after the trobbing had lessened a bit, I limped into the house, and tried to look as though nothing had happened. Ah well... the marzipan was good, at any rate. And it was safely secured in bubble wrap, so my little jack and jill moment didn't hurt it any. I could be so lucky -- I got a few bruises from my little moment of fun. But the worst part is... I'm realizing that I'm not as young and limber anymore. Remember as a kid, how we would fall and then bounce back up, and the next day, it was forgotten? Well, not so anymore. I'm all stiff and sore, and walking like an old lady. I thought not being able to move like you used to happened in mid life crisis -- like when you were in your mid-thirties... (had to say it nick, lol) So much for that. I don't think I'll laugh at those old people jokes anymore. Its coming back to haunt me.

How embarrassing!!!

I couldn't find my check card anywhere, and I checked my purse and my truck twice. I even checked under the seat -- but no check card. Okay... this is not good. But then I remember the last place I used it was Wendy's, a hamburger joint. So I call 'em up. Sure enough, they have it. As relieved as I am to know that my check card is safe and sound, its a bit embarrassing to realize I'm every bit as absentminded as everyone says I am. And Nick says there's nothing for me to worry about at the airport?! :O Hmmmmm... Let's hope not. It would not be a good thing if I accidentally left my check card at an airport. Not good at all.

something to make your day...

on that note, I have some cheery news. We had our walk-a-thon today, the one I plagued everyone with emails for... anyway, thanks to those who donated. The total of allthe donations today was just a little over $38,000 dollars. Yes -- thousand. That wasn't a typo. That's so cool!!!! The walk-a-thon itself was very wet -- it rained all day. Oh well, I had the dog with me, and he looked like a drowned rat by the time the walk was over, but he was having a great old time and eating up all the attention lavished on him. He was in his element -- he didn't care if it was wet or cold. However, both of us took a nice nap when I got home.

WHOOO HOOOOO!!!!

I just got a letter in the mail saying that Nick's I-129F petition was APPROVED!!!!!! Yeah!!!!! So now, it goes to the Consulate in London, he'll get a packet, and an interview will be set up. We'll go from there!!!!! He'll definately have a visa in his hand in time for the wedding!!!! YAY!!!!!! So... he can get here any time after Sept. 6th, and be w/in the 90 day time period the visa allows to get married. Then, we'll be MARRIED!!!! AND HE CAN STAY HERE!!!!! YAY!!!!! As you can see... I'm pretty jazzed. My day is totally made!!! So anyway.... this means, when I leave England in June, we'll be together in just 3 short months -- and we'll never have to say goodbye again. :D

other than that...

I'm afraid nothing else in my life can top this news. :P
Which is cool. I've been VERY busy with work, did like, um... alot of hours between both jobs and I'm "shattered", as Nick puts it. But who cares about being tired. His petition has been approved!!!! YEAH!!!! Okay, I have Nick on the brain, I can't think about anything else right now... he isn't online yet, and I'm DYING to tell him -- and of course, my phone card has no more minutes on it. :P Grrrrrr... well, anyway, I'll write more when I'm not so hyper. :P

life's little suprises

The other day, we got the storm door put up on our kitchen door. Finally, we can leave the kitchen door open and keep the bugs out. The door is all window, in one big frame. Monty, my puppy, became immediately excited when he saw the kitchen door open, and ran for the great outdoors. Unfortunately, the storm door was still shut, and he ran smack into the window, and bounced back. Cocking his head in confusion, he stared at this strange new phenomnon that seemed to magically keep him from escaping to the great outdoors. He's pretty smart though; he's figured it out. He hasn't tried to go off charging through the door anymore.
Well, that'sgood.Besides stories of the pooch, I had fun at work today - being mischeivous. I was looking on the camera and saw the coworker pulling up, and couldn't resist having one over on him. He's usually teasing me about something. He works in maintenance, so I thought of something horrible that every maint. man would dread -- how about the sewer backing up in the men's bathroom? Muhahahhahahah! Well, anyway, I called, and told him with a straight face that it was a disaster in the mens' bathroom that something was wrong and the sewer had backed up and there was a mess everywhere. I tried to sound properly horrified. He was properly horrified, and resigned himself to the fate of cleaning it up.
He showed up about ten minutes later. Coincidentally, he was not laughing. "Very funny, Nora," he said, with an expression on his face that said something like, "revenge is sweet..."
So that was my day. Oh, well, I called people about coming to the Home Interiors Party I'm throwing and of course no one can make it as its a Wednesday night -- and since I told the displayer that weekends worked best but she doesn't like working on the weekends, there ain't much I can do. I know, I know -- you're thinking, "Home Interiors? Home Interiors? -- as in a bunch of people gettting together for a rather Martha Stewart-ishy kind of meeting? Right then. It really is fun though. :P

In which I break up a catfight and pay for it...

The dog, as usual, was chasing the cat round and round the house; the cat was mad and giving long siren like warnings to the dog. The dog only got more excited and more determined to catch the cat. His high pitched yippings and the cat's angry yowls were driving me mad, so I picked up the cat to rescue him. HE climbs on my shoulder and perches there gloatingly, swishing his tail tauntingly at the dog. The dog starts jumping on me. The cat decides that maybe my shoulders aren't high enough and attempts to perch on my head. This is too much. I take the cat and go to put him on the top of the armchair, only he doesn't want to get down. And he is fat and heavy, so he's hard to maneuver anyway. Because he's determined not to sit on chair, and I'm determined to get him off my head, we do this half compromise; I think he's on the chairback, and he thinks I'll give up and hold him. So when I let go, he does this mad struggle to get back in my arms and succeeds in digging a very sharp (and very long!) claw into my finger. He also scatters some papers that were lying somewhere in the process. I try to pick up the papers and get blood all over them.
So now, I'm walking about with a bloody finger, the cat is now hiding somewhere, and the dog is barking at the cat's hiding place; the hiding place is emitting angry warning signs. Mom is reorganizing the hall closet, where the bandaids are kept. So, I have to move all this stuff in front of the door, and finally get the bandaids.
I then realize that bandaids aren't made for people who have to do anything that involves water -- everytime you wash your hands, your band-aid becomes waterlogged, so that eventually, it resembles a miniature diaper wrapped around your finger.
The funny thing about all of this -- my cat is declawed in the front. So he has alot of talent. Perhaps it wasn't so much an attempt to stay in my arms; but more an attempt at revenge for putting him (as he would see it) in harms way. Hmmmmmm...
Are cats capable of devious thought? At this point, I'm rather unconcerned. It's the weekend, I know that I'm not capable of any more thought than a snail at this point. Way too tired, since I worked both jobs last night, finishing my new job at 7am, and then starting old job at 11am (also this wonderful morning). I did sleep in my truck for a couple of hours, so that helped. However I still need to find some coffee - somewhere.

wow

The dog decided to use his cage as a tree/fire hydrant, and the first thing I did when I woke up this morning was sop up dog pee and try (and fail) to catch the dog as he ran through the house with pee wet paws. So then it was my fun duty to run behind him wiping up yellow paw prints. Then, I put him outside, where he promptly got covered in mud. I got to give him a bath, but he would have needed one anyway, to clean up his great yellow paws.

I got online to talk to Nick (who wasn't on) but talked to another friend instead, who wanted to know about my walkathon I was doing for the Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance . TS Alliance is a non profit org that is raising money for research and finding a cure for Tuberous Sclerosis. By the way, if you want to donate to a good cause, email me for more info. :)

He said he'd help me out, which was pretty cool, and then Nick came on, right when I was about to leave to clean the house. Or should I say, rescued me. Then, when the conversation was getting interesting, Nick decides he has to leave. *sigh*

At any rate, I cleaned the house. I was feeling pretty good about my housecleaning workout til Amy called and said she'd just got back from a run. She wasn't even out of breath -- she was just running a bit every day to keep in shape for her wedding. *sigh*

Well, I'm keeping in shape... round is a shape...

I tried on some pants today - that I used to think were cool. Let's just say, I don't know what I was thinking. Okay, so they WERE several sizes too small at this point; and instead of being baggy and fitting on my hips like they were supposed to, the waistband of the pants barely fit around my waist, let alone my pear shaped hips. Perhaps I'm just used to hipsters and low rise jeans, but this was pathetic. I looked like Steve Urkel, my jeans up to my chin practically. I looked at the legs of the pants, that used to slouch cooly at my feet. Now they were about an inch above my shoes, screaming "flood, flood!!!!"

*sigh* When did I go from phat... to fat? But I can't ignore it any longer. I can't fit into any of my favorite jeans, and my old tank tops are so tight I look like I'm working Sunset Blvd if I wear them.

Perhaps I'm stressing about it a bit too much... the other night I dreamed that someone asked me when I was due (as in when is the baby due?). I said something clever in my dream and he had the decency to be embarrassed... but I don't think I'd be thrilled if someone asked me that.

So... I have this Pilates video. And, someday, I fully intend to use it. I would now, except my mother has a project going in the living room, right in front of the t.v. That way, she can watch Law and Order while she does her work. But this is most unfortunate for me, as the vcr/tv are right there -- and I can't do my workout w/o watching the video to see how to acoomplish the impossible looking work outs.

I mentioned working out with one of my friends - a friend who's Dad is hopelessly old fashioned. So, she's suspicious of anything that hasn't been around for at least 50 years.

"Pilates?! What's that?" she asks. "It's not satanic, like that yoga stuff, is it?!"

I explain that it has a wierd name because the guy who invented it had Pilates for a last name. That's okay. But then we have a conversation about yoga, and how she could always tell when there was something wrong with something, even if she didn't know there was anything wrong with it. I guess I'm not really paying whole-hearted attention, because "yoga" reminds me of "yogurt", and this makes me hungry. Guess that's why yoga's bad -- it makes you want to eat.

The subject changes from yoga to antibitocs, because her kids have the flu, and she was thinking about calling the doctor but hoped he wouldn't give them antibiotics and make their immune systems weaker. Antibiotics get boring and we go to prescription drugs, which gets me all the way to work (the conversation does, not drugs). Apparently, her husband has enough prescription drugs to run a pharmacy, and she fervently believes that all his personality quirks are the fault of drugs -- prescription drugs that is. He has migraines. She says he acts weird when he takes his migraine med. Personally, when I have a migraine, I don't care if the meds I took made me see Big Bird -- as long as the migraine went away, I'd be happy.

Actually, if I saw Big Bird, I'd probably have a heart attack...

Then I made the mistake of answering someone at work who said, "You're not voting for Goerge, are you?"

I then went into a long heated debate about George and Iraq; and why I thought Kerry was the scum of the earth asking us poor hardworking Americans for $25 to get us into office so he could no doubt tax the clothes off our back and starve our children... And if I didn't vote for Kerry, then I'd have to vote for Bush, if only to make sure that Kerry didn't win by default.

My co-worker left in a rather subdued mood. I think I scared him off - he's not for Kerry, but dead set against Bush and the Iraq war. Perhaps I shouldn't be so vocal about my political opinions, BUT...

Tha's what Nick liked about me; in fact, that's what he first noticed about me - my telling people off who were anti-war/anti-Bush. He liked that I spoke my mind.

Hmmmmmm.... I wonder if he'll still like it when/if we disagree and I speak my mind to HIM. Hehehehehe. :P

He said I could vote for George Nader. I told him it was Ralph Nader, but he could vote for Ralph Bush...

I think I'll run for president. Give the people more options. :)

either blogger is confused, or I am. What day is it????

I noticed that the date above my last blog entry was Sat, May 1srt, but I wrote it on May 4th, which is Tuesday. Well, I think it's Tuesday. How very odd.

now where was I?

This week has been hectic. Or weekend, rather. What day is it, even? I think its Tuesday. See, I'm off on everything because I missed about 24 hours of sleep this weekend. And today, I woke up at noon, felt like it was way to early, and went back to sleep (the construction no longer has the power to keep me awake). I woke up at 2:45 to the frantic calls of my mother.

"NORA, IT'S 2:45!!!!! AREN'T YOU SUPPOSED TO BE AT WORK AT 3?????"

Thus, I wake up in a hurry, get ready in a record 5 mins, and tumble out the door. I made it to work at exactly 3:20, and by then I had the mother of all headaches.

Why on earth was I still sleeping at 1:45, you ask? Well, it all started on Wednesday... no, wait -- Monday.

See, I had worked both jobs on Monday. So I worked from 7am to 2:30 at the new job and then from 3 - 11pm at reg. job. Then... on Tuesday I thought I could sleep in, but I couldn't, because I had something else going on. WEll, then i worked from 3 - 11.. and then Wednesday had to work from 7-3 at new job. Well, I was really, really tired when I got home and decided to take a nap. Well, I got up around 5 so I wouldn't be wide awake that night. But I was wide awake, so I re-organized my file cabinets. My life is so exciting.... not. That sounds like something an old person would do. Young people go out with their friends. But I wasn't... I was sitting at home with my pets, cleaning through files.

So... where was I? Thursday night, I trained for the NOC shift, and then slept Friday moring, but had to work Friday at other job from 3 - 11. Sat Morning I tried to sleep in, but could only sleep so long and then I went shopping and didn't have time to go back home, so went to work. THEN... after work (sun morn) I had promised Rebecca, Terry and Jen that I would go to church with them, so went to a cafe and ordered breakfast and vowed to stay awake. AFter church, I had to go to a bridal shower for Amy, so Di and I went to another cafe and ordered lunch, and then ran to the bridal shower. Then, I went to Becky's house to sleep at 3 cuz i was absolutely shattered, as nick says (when you are really tired). AT 5 I had to get up again, cuz I had promised Travis I'd go to his concert. Which was great. But then at 8:30, I couldnt' stay awake, so went to Dee's house and crashed for an hour before I had to get up and go BACK to work.

On monday, when I got home at 8ish, I slept til 1:30, then went to work from 3-11. Couldn't figure out why I was so tired until I'd thought about how little sleep I'd gotten. :P So... today, I thought I'd sleep in. I really did, didn't I? I guess I'm caught up for the week. :P