Oct. 19, 2009 - Monday
It is simply beautiful outside! The sun is shining for a change. The leaves are turning gorgeous colors, and the temps are decent enough to enjoy being outside.
I am enjoying the day off. I made pumpkin squares to take into work tomorrow. When I told dd what I was doing, her response was, "Oh, so you're s*cking up to your new coworkers in ER?" She's got such an ornery sense of humor, but I love it. (Probably because I have the same warped sense of humor!) 
We got SO busy yesterday in ER. Three ambulances came in at once, 
and that didn't count the other 6 places I needed to be at that moment! 
Thankfully, a coworker from admissions came down to help me get caught up. Needless to say, I was very thankful that 3:00 was fast-approaching, and I could go home. 
OK, I'm off to enjoy watching a DVD. I think I'll pull out our Highway to Heaven DVD and watch an episode or two of it and enjoy munching on some snacks 
and enjoying a cup of 
at the same time. 
• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Oct. 6, 2009 - My day today
Now, if you wanna hear what happened today, keep reading.
I was to continue my training in ER today. Got there and the gal who was supposed to train me is off sick. My original trainer from when I first hired in was covering for M until I got there. She informed me that the boss wanted me to cover ER on my own once I got there. I was because I haven't been fully trained. Very quickly, I told K what I *did* know how to do. She quickly gave me notes on what I *didn't* know how to do.
And she headed back to the floor.Things started picking up quite a bit, but I felt like I was getting a rhythm to what I was doing down there. Suddenly, I got swamped with needing to do 4-5 things at once.
Another gal called me and said she would come down to catch up ER. I was to go to admissions and do her job. At 3:00, I found out that the afternoon operator called in sick. This meant the afternoon ER gal (who was supposed to train me from 3-7), had to cover the phones.
So I'm still stuck in admissions and not getting more practice in ER. 
My boss came to me and asked me why I was in admissions again instead of ER.
When I told her what transpired, she said, "Well, I guess I'm happy that your coworkers want to help you when you're swamped in ER, but that's not going to help get you fully trained now, is it?" 
Once the day shift people were gone, we started getting inpatient admissions. I went to peds to do an admission, came back to the floor, got an admission to ECU, came back, got an admission to OB.
It was one right after another. This evening, I had a possible exposure to H1N1 (again) because the doctors are not following protocol.
I had to fill out an exposure report to send to employee health so they can follow up on this and let me know if I need to be tested for it.It's been quite a day! As I passed employees from other depts., I'd ask them if they were having a
day, and one said, "Isn't that all we get anymore?" Umm...yep. I'm beginning to think so! 
• 1 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Sep. 16, 2009 - New Kitty
We just walked in the door with a new 
. For those of you who are in our local hs group, this is the stray kitty from Angie's classified ad. Right now, we are trying to let him get acclimated to his new surroundings. Here is a photo:
We named him Casey. The funny thing is -- our names now rhyme. Dean and Stacy, Rachel and Casey. 
And a big to Angie and her triplet girls for letting us know about this sweet, cuddly .
• 3 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Sep. 2, 2009 - Update on dh's wrecked truck
Supposedly, the father has now reported his truck as stolen.
DH heard the kid when he called his dad, and the conversation was nothing like he was in trouble for stealing the truck. All he said was, "Dad, I wrecked the truck."
I guess we get scr*wed in this whole deal.
(Yes, I am really struggling with my attitude in this. I'm finding it VERY hard to trust that something good will come of it.)My brother had an identical thing happen to him and the perp got away w/it because his parents reported their car as stolen.
Yet the person who stole it, brought it back to their house, and backed it into the parking area behind their garage. • 3 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Aug. 30, 2009 - Dh's truck
This is his work truck -- the one dh uses if/when he has a job out of town. We cannot afford to buy another truck w/how slow his work is. I don't know what we are going to do. 
Thankfully, he now has the Lord in his life, so that isn't his theology any longer. 
• 3 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Aug. 16, 2009 - Sunday praise!
Dh stayed home this morning to work on our plumbing problem. It is *temporarily* fixed. A friend is coming over tomorrow to help him completely fix the problem. Not only that, he cleaned the entire kitchen/family room area, including cleaning the sinks, countertops, etc. Plus he cleaned the bathroom countertop and cleared that counter of its clutter. Now he is working on the tub and the grime that is between the doors. The house smelled so wonderful when we walked in after church. I am going to tell him that I now delegate all the housecleaning to him since he does such a good job! 
It felt SO good to be in church after missing the last two Sundays while working. What a refreshing time! God simply amazes me with how He can speak so clearly to me through all that is said at church. Plus, He started out the service with them singing one of my very favorite songs. What a loving, caring, compassionate, and awesome God we serve!
I had a "bump" with the asthma this morning. I started feeling like I was having trouble breathing last night, but my peak flow said I was fine. I decided not to use the albuterol inhaler (the rescue inhaler). When I got up this morning, I still didn't feel "right," but the peak flow meter said my levels were OK, so I opted again not to use the albuterol. However, by the time we got to church, I was really struggling to breathe. I felt like a vice-grip was squeezing me. Thankfully, I remembered to grab my inhalers out of my lunch bag. The albuterol kicked in very quickly, and I was able to relax and enjoy the rest of the class, plus the service.
• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Jul. 11, 2009 - Rachel 13th Birthday
• 2 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Jun. 21, 2009 - Sunday
I am feeling much better today. I didn't start the day out too well though. I had an adverse reaction to the antibiotics shortly before we were to leave for church. I stayed home and rested while the others went to church. In fact, I took TWO naps today! 
That felt heavenly. And I still feel like I will sleep really well tonight.
While dd and dh were at church, I spent quite a bit of time in prayer. I laid hands on my chest and prayed over myself. While praying, I could hear (and feel), my voice getting stronger. I believe today was a major breakthrough where my health issues are concerned. I haven't been coughing or having to blow my nose nearly as much either today. What a huge relief.
This week should be interesting at work. Instead of working 7-3 each day, I will be going in at 10 and working until 5 or 6:00. It will be nice to sleep in a bit. We will still get up early enough to get a bit of schooling done before I have to leave.
I vacuumed this evening so the house will look nice first thing Monday morning. That is always a nice way to start out the week. I decluttered the kitchen countertops a bit this afternoon too. I had so much medicine out that it was beginning to look like a pharmacy! 
DD created her own invitations for her 13th birthday party. She wrote a clever poem, and also created several pictures on "paint" to insert into the email invitations. She is really looking forward to having a slumber party with her friends. With me working, it has been a long while since we've had friends over to the house.
• 1 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Jun. 20, 2009 - Today's to-do list
I was able to sleep last night. Thank God for that! I do feel very jittery today though. I know it's due to the steroids. Thankfully, I only have 3 more days to take them, and each day will be a reduced dosage. I hate feeling jumpy and jittery. It tends to make me very cranky and impatient, and it is compounded when you add the whole female hormonal thing to it. 
Done:
- Washed the bedding and made the beds
- Took my shower
- Wrote two business-related letters, made necessary copies to go with the letters, and put them in the mail
- Cleaned up clutter from everyone's scurrying around, trying to get out the door this morning
- Checked email
- Paid the bills
- Sent dh to run an errand for me
To do:
- Make banana bread
- Make granola bars
- Get church clothes ready
- Check menu plan for adjustments for next week since my hours got changed
- Plan menu for the next couple of weeks, if possible
- Make grocery list
- Get things ready to go to the library
- Take dd to the library so she can get her weekly prize
- Write tithe check
- Take time to refresh myself (in other words -- READ THE WORD!)
- Take a nap since I'm sure my body still needs lots of rest to recoup
- Take dd and her friend to Taco Bell for some freebies today
- Write up invitations to send for dd's 13th birthday.
Well, it is now 7:18, and I have ALL of the above list completed, and then some! I even sat down and wrote all what I want dd to accomplish in her schooling this next week. We will still be flexible enough that if she has a chance to have a play date with a friend, she can skip school on that particular day. It will just help both of us to have a plan laid out that can be loosely followed. This way, I don't have to sit down every night and write out the next day's assignments. She knows where the list is, so she can find it on her own. That should make things work a bit more smoothly for us.
• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Jun. 15, 2009 - My day off
I have been keeping very busy today while I have the day off. In between coughing and blowing my nose, here is what I accomplished before 10:30:
- Washed and dried a load of laundry
- Washed dishes
- Cleaned the bathroom
- Got my clothes ready for work
- Did the ironing
- Went to the grocery store
- Helped dd w/her home ec lesson
- Called the doctor's office about the bill for when I smashed my finger in the door
- Fried some sausage to use to make sausage and cheese biscuits for breakfast this week
- Made coleslaw
- Cleaned out the fridge
- Cooked some chicken to be used in meals later this week
- Made iced tea
- Made ice cubes
- Got some things organized for when I work tomorrow
On a whim, I decided to call our auto insurance company to see if there was any chance they would cover the injury on my finger. Surprisingly, the answer was YES! PTL for that huge blessing.
I am not coughing nearly as much today and my head doesn't feel quite as full. Hopefully, the extra rest and using the steamer yesterday helped me to get over the "hump" in how I feel.
I was so proud of dd this weekend. When I got home Friday, she told me that while playing with her neighborhood friend, a man from the friend's church was going house-to-house talking about their church. Anyway, they have a bus ministry where they will pick up kids on Saturday morning and take them to church for age-related activities. She wanted to go. Being that she is an only child, she is usually hesitant about doing new things, especially if I'm not with her. Instead, she asked, "Can I go?" We let her, and she enjoyed her time there.
This week, the local park across the street has some kind of activity going on each morning for the kids. Though this was my day off, dd still wanted to attend. (That was when I got my list above completed.) She came home with a couple of handmade crafts. She didn't bother telling me until afterwards, but the crafts did cost a little bit of money to do. She never asked for money. Rather, she got her own money, and included enough extra for her neighborhood friend to complete some of the crafts. What a generous kid! It does my 
to see her be so generous toward this other girl. She was abandoned by her mother and lives with her verbally abusive father. She is a precious young girl whose smile can light up a room. It breaks my heart to know that her father treats her so badly. I am thankful the Lord has placed us in her life to be a light to her and to show some care and concern for her.
• 2 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Jun. 14, 2009 - Last night
Since I am still trying to get over the bronchitis, I went to bed at 8:00 last night. I didn't get up this morning until 11:30. I have been taking some really strong cough meds to help me rest. Evidently, after working full time while being sick, my body finally gave into it last night since I don't have to work today or tomorrow. It felt good to get that extra rest. While I feel loopy from 3 nights on strong meds, I do feel a bit better where my cough is concerned. I did put some Vick's on my chest last night, and that seemed to help the cough a bit. Now if I can just get my sinuses to clear up.....
I posted last week about listing some garage sale purchases on Ebay. I made a $27 profit, and one of the items hasn't even been listed yet. That is a pretty good turnaround. I will take that money and add it to my homeschool fund.
Well, dh and dd just returned from some shopping, so I'm off to see what we can make for lunch. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
• 1 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Jun. 5, 2009 - MIA
Sorry I have been MIA where my blogging is concerned. With working full time, plus the fact that my work is spent in front of a computer all day, the last thing I feel like doing when I get home is getting on the computer. The only reason I'm on here right now is because I've gotten all of the things done this evening that I wanted to accomplish over the weekend, and no one else home right now.
We got our schedules for the month of June, so I was able to sit down last night and map out a tentative menu plan through the end of the month. This afternoon I came home and spent about 1/2 hour with dd on her school work. Next I mixed up my pizza spice mix since it was getting low, I made fabric softener and body sugar scrub. I followed that with vacuuming. Cooked some leftovers for dd and I since dh is at the hospital visiting his grandma who has shingles. After that, I made banana muffins and washed all the dishes from today.
I plan to attend garage sales in my mom's neighborhood tomorrow.
Work is going very well. I'm beginning to get a "rhythm" to the process of admitting patients. It is unbelievable how much work is involved in processing each person, and the more insurance cards they have, the longer the process. I am enjoying the job. I love working with the public. Yes, I know --- there can be serious drawbacks to that when you get a person who is being very rude or crabby, but I always look at that as a challenge to be extra sweet to them.
When I got my paycheck yesterday, I discovered another surprise. When you work the weekend, you get paid .50 an hour more. Since I am hoping to work a lot of Saturdays once I get trained, that was a nice surprise!
I hope you have a blessed weekend!
• 1 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
May. 31, 2009 - Full time
I just found out about a possible full time position. Please pray that the Lord will grant me favor and open that door for me. We really need me to work as many hours as possible as well as have the perks that come with being employed full time. I can't post details of what this position is due to the local competition. I will post details when it is safe to do so.
• 1 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
May. 31, 2009 - Sunday
Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's off to work I go. 
Ok, I know -- now you will have that song in your head the rest of the day.
Ok, here we are a few hours later.......I got off at 10:00 because it was so dead in the admissions office.
Here are pictures of some scrubs I bought on Ebay last night:
mCk3)Sw~~_1.JPG)
• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
May. 29, 2009 - Today
Since I have to work the weekend, I have today off. The weather is absolutely gorgeous and the temps are just heavenly. I am and 
to be home with my family for the day. As we often hear, "There is no place like home." 
Back when I first started looking for a job, I went out and bought some new clothes. All I could find in dress pants was black and blue. How boring. 
When I first got the job at the hospital, and discovered that wearing scrubs was mandatory, I wasn't too happy. But once I went shopping for them, I found all of these cool colors! 
I have pants in black, light blue, turquoise, white, royal blue, and hot pink. I have some really colorful tops to match them too. 
And if that wasn't good enough, they are all so comfy to wear! 
And we all know that when our clothes feel good, that makes US feel good too!
• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
May. 28, 2009 - Work
Things are coming along well at work. I am actually processing patients on the computer now, so that helps make time go by quickly. The flip side of it is that when I am home, I rarely want to be on the computer. 
I basically check email and post occasionally on my blog, but that is about it.
I got to meet the coroner this week. He is a very nice man. Unfortunately, he is way too busy in his line of work. He did comment that he believes he hasn't seen the worst of it. We know the nightly news tells us things are getting better for our nation, economically speaking. However, in this city, we are still in a deep depression (not a recession), and many of us feel it will get MUCH worse before it gets better. Because of the stress of these difficult times, we are seeing many more suicides than we used to in this town. And that doesn't even cover the numerous deaths due to accidental drug overdoses. 
I will be working 7-3 through the month of June. It is nice to get off work and still have several hours of daylight. 
Things here at home are going pretty smoothly. The real test will be when school officially starts up again and dd has to do several subjects a day w/o me being here with her. Right now, she is doing home ec and health. Hopefully, she can manage to get those completed by the end of summer so her course load won't be so heavy this fall.
Dh isn't getting any work. Unfortunately, I think it is time to close his business and find another profession. That won't go over well because having his own business is something he has always wanted to do. However, as I have stated over and over to our family, life in these difficult times is no longer about what we WANT to do, but what we NEED to do to survive. There is a world of difference between the two.
• 1 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
May. 24, 2009 - Update on my finger
When I went to church today, I decided to go forward for prayer for my finger. (For those of you who missed that story, here are the details.) It had still been hurting so much and was very stiff. I was even wondering if it might be broken because now that the swelling has gone down quite a bit, something just doesn't feel right. Shortly after I returned to my seat, I could actually feel the stiffness leaving my finger! 
It had been excruciating to try to write for any length of time. However, I managed to take two pages of notes during the sermon, and I did so pain-free! I am able to move my finger much easier, with just minimal amounts of pain. I was finally able to wash the dishes again with no problem. Prior to this, I either didn't wash them at all, or I did so, trying to keep from using that finger because it was still so painful to put any pressure on it. Needless to say, dd was to not have to wash the dishes today.
To all of the military families out there, I salute you. May God bless you richly for your sacrifice to keep us safe and protect our freedoms. 
and . I deeply appreciate all you do for us.
• 1 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
May. 20, 2009 - Work
It looks like I will be working 7-3 through June. It also appears that I will be getting about 37.5 hours per week, not per pay period. I don't know how long that will continue, but I'll take the hours as long as they want to give them to me!
I had my first day in admissions today. I cannot believe how many screens you must go through to process admissions (even for something simple like an x-ray). It will take a long time to get used to the process. The gal who is training me is wonderful. I think we will get along really well.
One thing that is a huge blessing is that when I come home, I am not exhausted and hurting from having been on my feet the entire day. I cannot overstate what a huge blessing this is! I love having energy to work on the house, make cookies (like I did tonight), and take care of other things that need to be done.
One thing that may also be helping is that I bought some Energy Vitality from Sunspot to help with my energy levels. I don't have access to the coffee caffeine at work like I did here at home. I also haven't been sleeping well at night for many weeks, so I also got some Stress Relief, which should ease a lot of the stress I've been feeling. My stress level has dropped a bunch, simply because I know we have some money coming in. Now I just need to get my body to revert back to sleeping all night.
Tomorrow will be the first day I go in at 7AM. I will have to be up around 4:50. That will be a stretch. However, with not sleeping well, I have been waking up between 4-4:30 for several weeks, and I rarely get back to sleep. I think perhaps the Lord was prepping my body to adjust to getting up that early so that it won't be such a jolt to my system. Isn't it grand how God sees things in advance and prepares us for them, even when we have no idea on what is taking place?
FYI -- May 21 will be our 21st wedding anniversary.
• 1 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
May. 20, 2009 - Homeschooling while working
My friend Yunie in Indonesia asked me about how we are homeschooling since I am working outside the home. Thankfully, our school for this year is done. However, dd is currently working on her home ec course. We started that a week ago. Providing that the lesson isn't something which requires my help (like cooking an entire meal), she can do the lesson while I am at work.
At some point, I will be working full time while taking a course on medical terminology. Other than that, it is supposed to be 37.5 hours per pay, which is every two weeks. However, my supervisor told me that based on need, she can schedule me up to full time hours (80 hours per pay), any time she sees fit. Since things are so tight economically, and we don't see any signs of dh's business picking up, I will work as many hours as I can, just to try to keep us afloat.
Once my training is done, if I am working mostly days, as well as mostly full time hours, we have decided that dd will just have to go to public school. With an only child, we just don't feel it would be healthy to have her home alone, every day for 8-9 hours. If it turns out that I am working mainly afternoons, then we would continue to homeschool because if she would be in public school, I'd be off to work every day before she got home. The thought of only seeing her on the weekends doesn't set well with this mama's heart. 
Everything is basically up in the air as to what is going to happen this fall when school starts up again. We will just have to wait and see. In the meantime, I'm petitioning the Lord to grant me favor on my job, as well as granting me the hours that would work for us to continue homeschooling.
Dh and I have talked about how, in these hard, economic times, it is no longer about what we want to do. Rather, it is about what we need to do. And there is a world of difference between the two. Thus, all the more reason to be pounding the doors of heaven for the Lord to make a way where there seems to be no way.
UPDATE ON MY FINGER: I got the stitches out Tuesday. Immediately, it began to pull apart, so the doctor put "glue" on it that will remain there for a week. Hopefully, it will be much better in another week.
• 1 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
May. 19, 2009 - Cheap Photos
It is that time of year to get dd's annual pictures done. Yet, money is so tight that I don't even want to take her to Walmart for their special because I know the temptation would be so great to buy the extras too.
We decided to do some photos here at home. Here is what we came up with:
My mom bought her the outfit and the shoes, so no $ out of our pocket for those either!
For those who haven't heard the news: I got the job at the hospital. I will be working in admissions. I had to go out and buy scrubs for the job. I tried to find some at Rural King, but it was mostly mismatched stuff. They have some of the cheapest prices in town. Next, I went to the Uniform Shop which is owned by a former coworker of mine. I found several items on their clearance rack which were actually cheaper than Walmart's prices. My receipt said I saved just under $80 on the items I bought. Only two of them were not from the clearance rack. Lesson learned: Don't always trust Walmart to be the cheapest!
Another tightwad tip -- take a child with you who is old enough to run back and forth and change sizes for you when trying on scrubs! DD was a great help to me, as scrubs are sized quite differently than regular clothes, so it required a lot of running back and forth to look for different sizes.
If you think of it, please pray that I can get some sleep. I haven't been sleeping well for many weeks. Also pray that dh's truck doesn't break down while he is out of town. It is a very old truck, and not too dependable, but it's all he has to carry the heavy equipment he needs to complete the job. It will be very frustrating if he works all those hours out of town, only to put most of the money into that truck. 
• 3 Comments
• Post A
Comment!
• Permanent Link
Last Page | Next Page
