Winter

Beautiful, Lovely, Wonderful Winter is here!
Actually it's been here for a while but it's been miserable, cold, icey roads, frozen pipes, runney nose, howling wind winter.
The sun is out. It is over 32 degrees today(34 to be exact). I just went sweater shopping. I have new snowshoes. Koko and I just got back from the park. Winter couldn't be lovelier right now. Here are some pictures of my and Kokos morning adventure!

UnMaternal Me...

I had come off of the night shift on Friday morning and slept for a few hours before waking up to go and help one of my best friends do some last minute baby shopping. Her husband and I are good friends, I consider him a brother and we were room ates before they met and got married and we still live just down the road from each other. A year and a half ago they had their beautiful daughter, whom I absolutely adore, and watch often-for 2 or 3 hour stretches. Basically they are my makeshift family, we spend lazy weekends, holidays and dinners together, and I am their socialite single friend that they live vicariously through. Well it wasn't long before baby number 2 decide to show up. As her due date drew near we were all pretty much playing the waiting game...
So I must have drifted off pathetically early for a Friday night...like at about 7:30. Anyway I was deep asleep when suddenly my cellphone,on full volume next to my ear, starting blaring "It's a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll...", (which for obvious reasons is my "close friend category" designated ring tone). I looked at my alarm clock thinking it was 2 or 3am, actually it was 9:30pm. I answered and it was M telling me that they were in labor. I groggily got out of bed and cursing myself for not thinking to back a duffel bag ahead of time, threw some random clothes into a victoria's secret bag, found some boots, got into my freezing cold car (where the temperature read 9 degrees) and headed over.
L looked clearly uncomfortable with the whole being in labor thing, it has been about 5 years since I did my maternity rotation and it still haunts me to this day. My god daughter was already in bed(On a side note when L was pregnant with her, the three of us were all living together, just before they bought their house, and we tried to convince M to name her strawberry, which thankfully he refused), and so M&L quietly left for the hospital, leaving me with a dog, a cat and an 18 month old under my care for an unknown amount of time.
Baby girl slept quietly through the night until 6am when she woke me up asking for "a snack". I consulted the manual (the list of instructions that M had written out for me) for breakfast plans. All she would eat was blueberries.
Overall the weekend was fine, the hardest part was that every time I had to take the dog for a walk I had to bundle up in the frigid below freezing temperatures, then I had to bundle up baby girl, and then I had to put the maniac dog on the leash, and then I had to carry the baby since the sidewalks were not plowed for stroller use and the snow was too deep for her to walk, while the dog pulled us all over the heck and back. The other near disaster was when we ran out of blue berries and after going through every other food in the house, I eventually made some popcorn, thinking myself brilliant because she couldn't get enough of it. My mother called just then and I told her we were having a snack. When she found out what we were feasting on you would have thought that I was feeding the child small toy parts or nuclear weapons. Apparently young kids don't do well with popcorn, its easy for them to choke. She didn't, but how was I supposed to know? It wasn't in the manual.
Anyway long story short, I'll just cut to the end; Baby boy Grady was finally born this morning at 3am, nearly 30 hours of L went into labor. Baby girl Strawberry and I have survived and once she wakes up from her nap we are going to see mommy and daddy (whom she misses very very much) and meet Baby brother.

In other news, Early tomorrow morning I'm off for a lovely 4 day ski/snowboarding trip with 10 of my favorite girls from work. I'm sure there will be more drinking, kareoking, and foolishness than Skiing, but that is just fine with me.

Happy New Year!

Initially I wasn't going to make a new years resolution. What would be the point of making one that I wouldn't keep? Then I would just feel bad about not keeping it anyway. Feeling bad though, finally 5 days after New Years I sat down and made a whole list of, not resultions, more guidelines for 2010. Here goes;


I will be more honest with people and tell them how I feel.
I will drink less and less frequently.
I will eat healthier.
I will sleep more.
I will have less inappropriate relationships with less inappropriate men.
I will have a genuine relationship.
I will not continue toxic friendships.
I will be less moody.
I will not let others tear me down.
I will be a better dog owner.
I will be a part time vegan.
I will clean more.
I will shop less and be less materialistic.
I will be better at saying no and setting limits.
I will go on a monthly detaging and defriending spree.
I will learn how to cook.
I will finally use the sewing machine my mother gave me.
I will read more books and maybe join a book club.
I will go to the gym or finally cancel my membership.
I will have less clutter.
I will take better care of my body.
I will be happier.

Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas...

Through the years we all will be together, as the fates allow...
If you're young and unattached and crave even the smallest bit of adventure the holidays are a time for mini vacations and trips with your girlfriends. Out of my 5 bestest and closest friends only 2 of us live in the same state which means that we spend a lot of time on skype and frequently jet set around the country to spend time together.
This past weekend I flew down to DC to spend a few days with a couple of my college girlfriends. Had an amazing time. Celebrated Christmas, went out, shopped quite a lot, cooked, ate, drank, explored, gossiped, lounged, loved every minute. Its funny how as your get older your friends become your family. I wouldn't have it any other way.
I promised my 3 year old neice that I would read her a Jolly Christmas Postman and someone is getting quite impatient so I'm off.
48 more hours until I set off on a long and snowy road trip to spend a few days at home with my real family for Christmas, much packing to do. Yikes!

Song of the day

Today is a good day to listin to "Girl from the North Country".
It always reminds me of this time of the year, Sung best by Bob Dylan or Johnny Cash

Well, if you're travelin' in the north country fair,
Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline,
Remember me to one who lives there.
She once was a true love of mine.


Well, if you go when the snowflakes storm,
When the rivers freeze and summer ends,
Please see if she's wearing a coat so warm,
To keep her from the howlin' winds.


Please see for me if her hair hangs long,
If it rolls and flows all down her breast.
Please see for me if her hair hangs long,
That's the way I remember her best.


I'm a-wonderin' if she remembers me at all.
Many times I've often prayed
In the darkness of my night,
In the brightness of my day.


So if you're travelin' in the north country fair,
Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline,
Remember me to one who lives there.
She once was a true love of mine.


In other very unexciting news I'm headed into work today for an afternoon of meetings and interviewing candidates for a position we have opening. I don't beleive that only 3 1/2 years ago I was sitting across a table being interviewed by someone with the same position that I am trying to fill today. My how the tables have turned. After I'm heading to happy hour with some colleuges anbd girlfriends that will likely turn into a 5-hour-happy-hour. No complaints.

Dumbdumb.Dingbat.Dumbass.

One brief rant of the day... I consider myself fun, lenient, understanding and "chill". I have even been called aloof which I am fine with BUT I consider my job fairly important. I know that I am young and take my position as staff nurse and charge nurse on a very busy very acute very intense medical unit very seriously. I do not think that all of panic over the current H1N1 pandemic is necessary but I do know how dangerous it is. We have had many patients with it and I have seen people die from it. I have even seen people die from it after acquiring it while in the hospital for something else. Like most hospitals we have changed our visitor policy this winter to exclude any children under the age of 18 from visiting except in extreme situations only. 2 days ago I was doing the rounds and discovered a woman visiting one of our patients in isolation for H1N1 with her two teenage sons, none of which were wearing a mask despite the signs plastered around the bedside. I gave them each a mask, reminded them of the visitor policy, told them to finish up their visit and asked to them to leave. The woman gave me a fair amount of attitude but I just blew it off, people usually aren't that nice to us when we need to limit set with them and rarely understand that we do it for our, the patients and their protection.
Well the next day, yesterday I was yet again doing my afternoon rounds and checking in with all of the patients and nurses. Once again I noticed the same woman visiting her father, in serious condition with the H1N1 flu and this time she had her even younger 7 year old son with her. I once again stepped into the room and asked her, this time not so nicely, to leave. She again gave me a fair amount of attitude and admitted to me that she had INTENTIONALLY snuck her young son into the hospital (through the stairwell to get past security mind you) to expose him to the flu because it would be good for him.
Seriously Lady? This isn't chicken pox. Do you not understand that people die from this? And also if you want to endanger and expose your 7 year old that's one thing, but then your going to send him off to school to sit next to my 7 year old nieces and nephews which really ticks me off.
Why are some people such Dumbasses?

Accomplishment

Go me! Being the responsible, modern, intelligent, single(though I prefer the term independent), young woman that I am I just accomplished the ultimate feat. My bedroom window has been broken since I moved in a year and a half ago. Living in New England, where its not uncommon to be below freezing or below zero for that matter for several months a year this just will not do. I have asked my landlord approximately once a month to please fix this, this has yet to happen. Today, I had had enough. I fixed my own window. I actually went to home depot, I bought myself some plywood, I found a hammer and nails and I boarded up my own damn window. I know that probably sounds borderline pathetic that I count this as my biggest accomplishment this weekend (lets not mention the man’s life I saved yesterday after he cardiac arrested out of no where), but I think that this is a big deal! Maybe there is hope one day that I can actually buy my own house without having a panic attack or even accomplish greater things! Also I can't wait for my landlord to see my handiwork and I dare him to say anything about the holes in the wall. Ha