Wow!!!! I'm made the great 100!!!!!

This is my 100th blog. Wow....I never thought I was quite that "wordy"!

Kids are here. All is going great. We've been to Slitterbaum Waterpark at South Padre Island and today we are going to the beach at Isle Blanca Park. It will be so fun. I've had a good bit of rest too, which was much needed. I feel refreshed and ready to tackle another year of hard, but rewarding work.

The two grand-daughters are beautiful, and a joy to be around. The baby doesn't cry much, and is just starting to crawl. She will be walking soon since she turns 1 yr old next month! Her big Sis, Angel, is a sweetie who is willing to help with everything. She just soaks up the attention like a flower turning it's face into the sun. Yesterday she swam in her wading pool then we took a bike ride down the dirt road. She did good, but easy to tell she has spent most of her time indoors. The grand-parents were still going strong, and she pooped out on the bike. She will be 10 next month. Both of the girls birthday is on the same day...so wow...we will definitely be having a birthday party!

Well, I gotta get off this 100th blog and get stuff packed. The ice chest is ready. We are picking up Subway sandwiches....so I guess it's time to take my special man a cup of coffee and kiss him awake....so we can go!!!!

I hope everybody is having a great summer (so far)! I appreciate the comments and my blogger friends.

Post #99 or I had a crappy night...take your pick!

One patient, coded just before shift change...in ER....got her 1/2 way through report. Can we say 7 pumps equals 7 drips needing titrated. No BP, No pulse (pulseless electrical activity), no pee, no real temperature (93 degrees is not compatible with life for long). Intubated (not breathing on her own). Guess you can see where this is going....8 hours later I remembered to pee. Oh, and to actually look at my other patient a few times (she had 5 drips going and unstable BP), but her grand-daughter...who was a Veterinarian was at her bedside and more than happy to call me...frequently...but mostly I can say when I was needed. I figured out I hate arterial lines.....they can be a pain in the hiney when not working properly.

Left both of my peep's alive ... and if not stable...with titratable drips. Wow...I'm pooped.

So I'm headed to bed. Kids will be starting out from North Carolina for here today. Thank God it will take them two days to get here. I think it will take me two days to recoup from last night.

Giggles

Last night at work us girls were in the doc dictation room gabbing. We had moved the charting in there because the light is brighter (we are required to turn down the station lights at night... making it difficult to see and if we are in the dictation area it's quieter for the patient's...and we can pick up the phone calls there and still hear the call bells and everything.

We somehow got to talking about last Halloween....one of the girls had been going to a Halloween party in San Antonio and I was asking how her costume worked out for her. Now L had decided to go as a "Happy Hooker"...which was a long stretch of the imagination for me. L is not obese, but like me is carrying a few extra rolls around the middle. She is also usually very shy and I could not picture her in this costume. She informed us that she had changed her mind and went at "Naughty Nurse". I was giggling because on "Sex and The City" (the movie), Miranda quips that the only costumes for women are "Slutty Nurse" or "Sexy Witch". L assured us that not only did she go as "Naughty Nurse" that she had pictures. She described her costume: Her white Lab coat...and nothing else. I started laughing....well L....elaborated....She had on a black lacy cami, black fishnet stockings, a bra and undies (of course) and high high heels. Oh, and as she walked out of the room, she also quipped "I even found a condom and pinned it to my pocket"! WTF.

"Wait, Wait, come back.....what do you mean you FOUND a condom????" "Was this a new or used model?" At this point our very innocent and young aide P quipped, "Trojan?", "Magnum?" I ask....we started giggling. "Ribbed for her pleasure?" P asks. "French Tickler?" I ask...by now we are giggling so hard tears are running down our faces. P, with streams of mascara....then tops it all off "Chocolate or Strawberry flavored!?" She gasped!!!!!

Thirty minutes later we are still looking at each other and giggling....Everybody is walking by, just shaking their heads .... wondering what the joke is....and we cannot even say. How do explain condoms and work????

Beach

Nothing brings out the beach bunny in me like 98 degrees, 10 mph wind and dogs in the surf. I had so much fun. The only blight on the day was the teenagers next too us. They weren't noisy, they weren't rude, they weren't drinking alcoholic beverages. So what is the problemo???

Stupido~~!!!! They took a huge floaty Star shaped toy out...with 5 teenagers. A wave knocked them off of it...and they got pulled out by the rip-tide. I called 911, and a 24 year old guy nearly drowned getting them back to shore. I will say, our shore-patrol, EMS, Constables and all showed up very quickly...but if that 24 year old had not went ourt they would have been pulling out 5 bodies. Two of the teens could swim....they were able to help the two girls back to the Star...but they were exhaused. The 24 year old pulled them all out....then had to be carried out of the shallow water. I had them put him on his side in recovery position...and yes, he was puking sea-water up! The EMS basically checked his 02 sat's. He refused to go to the hospital...just needed to rest...he was having really bad cramps from swimming.

The teens stayed about 30 minutes, then left. They left their huge Star Shaped "toy" floater...guess they didn't want it anymore. We let the air out and brought it home. It will be perfect to take to the bay-side where there is almost no waves...and no rip's or under-tow.

Now I'm sunburned and waiting on the smoker to finish the meat. We stopped at the fruit stand and bought canalopes, watermelon, tomatoes, cilantro, cucumbers and blackberries. I've already made the pico-de-gio and I'm ready to dig in!

Wow...wet stuff falling out of the sky!!!!

I haven't seen this stuff in so long. It is cool, it is wet...it is blowing sideways....wait...it's rain. Gee I need an Ark...because I haven't seen this much rain since the floor (of Hurricane Dolly that is). My thirsty grass is getting a drink. The irrigation canal is filling up, the farmers will be happy.

Now if we can just convince the Cameron County Tax Assessor that our house doesn't exist in two different places at the same time so they can quit collecting double taxes from us...I would be totally ecstatic.

Houseguests?

My step-son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren are coming to visit from North Carolina. I have never met them. I am so excited that they are coming to visit. Excitement...tempered with caution. The visit has turned into them coming to live with us while they look for jobs in this area. My step-son D was recently laid off from his part-time job. His wife A still works part-time at Home Depot.

They both worked part-time so that they did not have to hire child-care for their 9 year old and 11 month old. They choose to do this for several reasons: one is the savings financially and the other is so they can have a closer bonding/parenting experience with their children. I really commend them for this. A is unable to pick up an extended hours...and they are not able to survive with only 1/2 of a paycheck coming in. They do not want to move in with D's mom, they have lived with her before. His mom uses illegal drugs and her husband is an alcoholic. This makes living together difficult at best. They do not want to move in with A's mom for basically the same reasons, except A's mom and step-dad are addicted to prescription drugs and they stayed there for one month while they were looking for jobs previously, and it was very chaotic.

We do want to help the kids, but we feel like it will have to be with rules. We feel like if they move here we need to limit how long they can live with us...that way they will feel pressured to actually get out and work at finding a job. (I had an ex-sister-in-law live with me for two years while she was "finding" a job. She wasn't even registered at the Texas Workforce when I took her in to "check-in" two years later. I kicked her out .... she had a job in a week!). We want them to have incentive's to better themselves.

Here the economy is still fairly strong...as long as you don't want to buy a car or a house! I think we could help them find somewhere to rent reasonably though a net-work of friends and family. If they stayed here two months and worked a least one month...saving their money...they should be able to find someplace to rent, and have enough to pay their utilities. We may have to help financially because of all the deposits needed for utilities and such, but I know we can swing it.

I am just a little worried, because I don't know if our personalities will clash, having never met them. Also there will be two little ones to help take care of and feed. That does put a little pressure on me, as I am the one who works shift work. Dave is disabled, and D has not seen his dad since before his accident. I don't think he realizes his dad cannot do everything and be everything like he was before his wreck. Also, I have been having my hours cut just about every pay-period...and that hurts financially. I also know that they don't have any savings, and if they move here we will have to finance the move...gas, truck, food...and that will eat up our savings. So...it's a two edged sword.

So, I commit my problems to prayers. I'll let God sort it out. What is to be will be. I will just be....."Super Granny....able to heft small children with a single arm...pink cape flowing behind me...home-made pan of cookies held on high!"

I got Square Pants...and I don't know Why???

I talked to my momma two days ago. Momma is handicapped since her stroke 6 years ago and walks with a walker. She also broke her left hip 2 1/2 years ago, even after rehab, that leg is slightly shorter than the other due to the muscle drawing up somewhat (of course she will never believe that and insists the doctor put the wrong size hip in her????) Anyway, momma has been falling. Her balance has been iffy for quite some time, and there is no measuring her stubbornness!

She is determined that she can still do everything...she loads her dishwasher, she folds her clothes, she cooks her breakfast...but she cannot open the kitchen window over the sink...her walker takes off without her (it does have wheels ya know), and my momma, having the personality of a pissed off viper...ie: rattlesnake... cannot wait 10 seconds for anyone else to come and help her, so she falls. She has fell so much in the last two years that she has a technique for "butt landings".

She was telling me of her latest "butt landing" on top of the last two this week, and I suddenly had a vision of that stupid Burger King commercial, where all those gals in red short-shorts are dancing with phone book shapes in the britches...and I started giggling...and trying to tell mom she needed to get her a square foam insert so she could have "square pants" (SPONGEBOB)...WELL the giggles brought on the coughing, choking, sputtering, tears running down my face (I could just picture Mom with the red short-shorts and the square insert pushing her walker down the hall...with the square rump going up and down.....). Ok, I know, she is a poor handicapped woman...but my mom used to be the hot-to-trot best dancer ever and her favorite song to dance to was "Wipeout". She could jiggle her bottom in ways I have never discovered the secret to! So...Mom...squarepant's.....

Yes, I have officially turned the corner, I am crazy.