Who Knew?

So, I would like to take a small poll....who knew that if you put Coke in pinto beans they don't make you fart? Is this common knowledge that has somehow passed me by in all my years? Why isn't there a jingle for this little tidbit like there is for beans making you fart? I was rather surprised by it and thought maybe I wasn't the only who didn't know. I am usually the last to know everything so I guess I wouldn't be surprised....

badabadabadabadabada......

That was a drumroll by the way......


I P-A-S-S-E-D, PASSED!!!!! Woohoooooooooooooo!! I am so excited and I am here all by myself!!! It's over! It's all over!! I can get on with my life! No more studying, stressing and freaking out!!! I hope you can all hear how LOUD I am typing right now!! I don't think Bindy and Nemo really appreciate how happy their mommy is right now!! Oh well! I am off to dance around my house and be excited by myself!! Hope everyone had lots to be thankful about!! I know what I am thankful for!!! :-D

Christmas is in the air...

I love the first day of listening to holiday music. I LOVE holiday music!! We got a cold front in last night so it is finally COLD outside! I guess I am a day early for holiday music (don't tell Jamie - she will have me arrested) but I have the house to myself and the kitties don't care!! And Bindy and Nemo's cousin Maggie is visiting with us for the weekend (they are not so thrilled) but I am happy to have her!! I can't believe tomorrow is already Thanksgiving! I don't know how it got here so fast. I am working tomorrow so it doesn't really feel like a holiday to me. But I can't wait to eat my aunt's turkey and stuffing!! Yummo!!!!! And there's nothing like a little Kenny & Dolly to get me in the holiday spirit! I hope everyone has safe travels and warm hearts to share to welcome in the holiday season!!

Idea

Hey all, so I was wanting to send out a spreadsheet that I made out with addresses and info so that I can get everyone's addresses and stuff all straight to send my Christmas cards. But I don't want to send out anyone's information if they don't want it sent. So here is my current list of names - and this would also be the list of people I would send it to - if you don't want your name and info on there that is totally fine. Just let me know and I will be happy to take it off. And I would also be happy to provide the list to any on the list who would want it. I imagine Mel has the most updated info since she just had a big mail-out!! :D So just let me know!!

Here are the names:
Jaime A.
Summer
Melanie
Melissa
Raina
Elisa
Christina - I for sure need your new info since you are back in big Tex!
Alison
Sarah
Jamie M.
Emily
Rachel

This is So Great

For all the moms I know......and all of us that have moms....this is just awesome!

"Because I am the Mom"

Spell-check

Maybe someone should say something to the people driving around with "Super Bowel Bound" in big huge letters on their back window.....as a nurse, I gotta say that doesn't sound like much fun....

Hands On

As we all know, I take state boards on next Monday. And we also know that I am not just oh so excited about it. Well, today at work one of the nurses pulled me aside and asked if she and some of the other nurses could pray over me. I was pretty stunned - more because it seemed like she was going to tell me something bad - but I really was touched. It struck me how much they cared and the kind words they said. I sat in a chair and they all put their hands on me. I think all of them attend different churches, as in different denominations, and I thought it was really neat. And I must say, I really do feel much better about it. So, I have some days off, which is nice since I have been working 60 hour weeks for a while now, and hopefully by Sunday night I will be so ready to go in there and kick some NCLEX butt!! Fingers crossed!!

Minor Oversight

Don't you hate it when you get home from a long day's work and realize that you can see your underwear through your pants? Well, I do. Guess I should do a "scrub check" before I leave the house, eh?

Going Green

So, I don't know if anyone has picked up on all the going green buzz around media, tv, etc. but I just caught a bit of an interview that kind of gave me a jolt. It was on MSNBC and it was a couple (American girl, Australian guy) that started a environment-friendly while still trying to hang on the the convenience of disposable diaper company. It is called GDiapers and they have a cotton outside with a flushable liner. Anyhoo - this is what shocked me. Disposable diapers take 500 years to decompose. Whoa. As someone who "changes diapers for a living" I don't know how I will be able to go to work tomorrow. I mean, obviously I will, but I will feel guilty every time I throw one away. And that is not to say I don't already feel guilty as it is - I made a post forever ago citing my pangs of guilt post-Europe about how little we recycle here in the states. And I must say the hospital I work at has got to be setting some kind of record for how much we can pollute the world. Every time I go into the OR my heart sinks a little watching everything get thrown away in the sake of sterility. I really do wonder how much of the earth will be left for our kids and grandkids. I hate feeling like there is nothing I can do to make a difference. People for the most part just aren't interested b/c it takes so much extra effort. And I can't say that I didn't have that thought as I was unloading my car a few weeks ago as a result of our small effort to recycle. Because it kinda was a big pain. But I am a lover of ziploc baggies. I have no problem putting my fruit in those little bags on a roll. I cannot imagine my life without plastic. I remember when I was in elementary school what a big deal recycling was and it seemed like there was this big push to be earth-friendly. I think they started Earth Day back then. What happened to all of our enthusiasm? I guess it is coming around again, like vests and leg warmers. At least going green is an idea to get behind.

How Full is My Bucket??

Anyone who knows me, and has known me for a while, knows that I am not exactly notorious for my cup-half-full-susie-sunshine-sort-of-outlook on life. (That is not to say that I can't be a barrel-o-laughs though) And just recently I have been trying to figure out why. Is this a nature or nurture outcome? Some of the other nurses have brought my less-than-I-can-do-anything-and-do-it-great approach to light. I am scheduled to take boards on the 19th of this month, and naturally everyone keeps asking me about it. But really folks, I am terrified. And I am not an anxious test-taker. But it's a big test - it's hard and it makes a lot of people cry. So, I won't give all the details of how it came about but I was basically guinea-pigged into reading this book called "How Full is My Bucket?" I haven't read it yet, but they are all dying to know if I have and if it has changed me into a positive thinker. But a part of me thinks that I am kind of wired this way. But then again, I am a fairly easy-going, chipper person and I love to laugh, so why do I always sell myself short? I believe a big part of it, at least in the past few years, was my experience in the Army - 3 years of never being good enough and humiliation can wear on a person. Will it ever be something I can truly overcome? Or will I always have that pang of possible failure lurking, filling my bucket with emptiness? I know no one likes to fail at anything, and I am a true believer that the biggest growth can sometimes come from a big failure, but somehow I need to find the strength to truly believe that I can do it, it being anything. And that I truly am good enough. I can't say that I have not at some point had thoughts like "I am single because I am not pretty enough" or "I am single because I am not skinny enough" and to say that seems absolutely ridiculous and trite. How incredibly selfish of me to identify myself as "the only one who didn't....." or "the only one who doesn't have...." It is actually quite ludicrous. But I really think that the heart of it is me being enough for me. I don't know that I ever had it, or maybe I have just lost it. But somewhere, somehow, I have got to be enough for myself. I have to fill my bucket. I can't fill it with money. I can't fill it with a man. I can't fill it with friends. I can't fill it with cats. I can't fill it with degrees. I can only fill it with myself.

Whoa. That's kind of heavy and not at all easy-going and chipper. Nobody ever said growing up was easy. (If they did they are dumb. :-D )