Funtabulous T-Day Weekend!

How was ya'lls Thanksgiving?

Mine was great. We had it at my moms and it was just the five of us. Mom made the turkey, green bean casserole, and mashed potatoes - we brought the pumpkin pie, sweet potatoes and rolls. for just us it was a lot of food - but all good and now mostly gone!

Friday my BFF Nikki came into town with her two kiddos to spend the weekend with us. Wow did we have fun. They got in late that Friday evening, so we didn't do much but sit around and visit and watch movies, but Saturday we shopped! We got up and all headed to IHOP for breakfast, then home to finish looking a bit more presentable and check our bank accounts and off Nikki and I went with the three kiddos to Uptown Village in Cedar Hill. ( it's an outdoor mall... )

While there we went to Bath and Body works, and Old Navy where we found tons of great bargains. By that time we were getting a bit hungry again so off to Paciudos for some gelatto, then we went to Barnes and Nobles and spent even more money. After all that , the kids were getting tired so Nikki and I dropped them off to rest at home and her and I went out for some good Italian food , then off to the yarn shop that I always frequent.

All in all it was a great weekend. Nikki and her gang left very early Sunday morning. It turned cold and rainy throughout the day so we hooked up our brand new WII ( our family Christmas gift) and spent the better part of the day challenging each other in tennis, bowling, baseball, boxing and golf:)) ( btw, boxing is NOT my thing, but bowling is!!:)) lol)

I didn't get paid till this morning, so I just got home from finishing MOST of my holiday shopping, now its off to get a haircut.

Tell me how your turkey day went! and I hope everyone has a great week:))

R.I.P Cooper

Well, you know the old adage that Mondays always suck, well this one does for sure.

Yesterday Cooper got up but refused to eat or drink anything all day. She was acting a bit disoriented, and she slept 90 percent of the day.

I got her to take a bit of water last night and she pottied twice before we turned in for the night.

She got me up around 2am needing to go out again, then went back to sleep till around 5, when she woke up and threw up. After that she drank a lot of water and we went back to sleep. My alarm went off at 7 so that I could wake Chris up for work. I got up and went the bathroom, wasn't in there long at all, but when I came out Cooper had pooped , and it was almost nothing but blood.

I took her to the vet and after running some tests and doing an exam she determined that Cooper was in critical condition with kidney failure. We had to have her put to sleep.

I miss her terribly. She was my anniversary present 8 years ago. I found some old pics of her and thought I'd post them here as a mini tribute, some you've probably seen before, but just humor me, k???

Very Busy, A Concert, and a Welcome Home

Wow, this week has been nuts to say the least. I mentioned in my previous post just how crazy it was going to be. I'm so looking forward to resting this week, seeing family and friends and eating tons of good food.

Friday , after Nicole and I got out of school we came home to find Chris already home from work ( a BIG surprise), and he told Nicole he had made arrangements to take her to her very first concert that evening. So within the hour they took off for Belton, which is about 2 hours away to go see the Casting Crowns ( Christian Rock band). They got home around Midnight and had had an absolute blast.

We were supposed to get up mega early Saturday morning because the 2nd through 5th grades were going to greet the troops coming home from overseas between 7 and 9 am. They gave us a number to call the night before to make sure the flight was on time. It wasn't scheduled till 230 that afternoon, then 420, then 530. Finally they were due in at 9 pm and that was final.

Off Nicole, Chris and I went to the airport, with our big Welcome Home sign, and our school shirts on. Between all the classes, they had made over 300 gift bags to hand out , along with cards and banners.

That was one experience I would LOVE to do again, and now that I have the flight info number I will . Before the men and women started coming down the ramp from customs, they made an announcement to not try to hug or reach out to the men, unless they seemed receptive. We didn't know what they had faced over there and may not want to be touched. When they started coming down the ramps some indeed just walked on by like we weren't there. It was very humbling. Then others ran down the ramp trying to high 5 everyone.

One Lady soldier came down the ramp holding her daughter, with her husband behind her carrying all her stuff, and she was singing loud and clear " The Starts at night are big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas". Needless to say we all joined in.

Now I've been to the airport and flown since 9/11, however, I'd have to say I did get a bit freaked. Standing off to the side of the door where they were coming thorugh, was a police officer holding an assault rifle. When I pointed this out to Chris, he pointed out the other 3 discreetly placed around that area too. Wow. Guess I just wasn't ready to see that....

Anyway, I got TONS of great pictures, and if I can find our Bluetooth key to transfer them from my phone to the computer I will - they were fantastic. Our vice-principal was even there. The kids had a blast handing out the gift bags, and even if the soldiers didn't want to shake our hands, most of them made an effort to hug the kids and thank them for the gift bags. Most of the gift bags included some sort of chips, crackers, candy, and a handmade card from the kids.

Man I hope I can get the pictures off my phone!!!

Will write more later.

Pumpkin Pie

Whew! I've been so busy this week I don't know whether I'm coming or going. I will update ya'll tomorrow when we get home from school, as Nicole gets out early for the Thanksgiving holiday!

Until then, I will leave you with this insight as to how Pumpkin Pies are made...

I KNEW there was a reason I'm not a big fan of pumpkin pies!!!!!

Answers and Apologies!

So So Sorry I didn't post the answers to the fun brain quiz from my previous post! Nicole stayed home from school on Wednesday, took her to the doctor Thursday because she was still sick and turns out she got hit with a double whammie! She had strept throat and a sinus infection. Needless to say she stayed home yesterday too. I went up to the school and got her work though and she will stay busy this weekend.

ARGH, blogger is being weird today. First it wouldn't let me sign in, now its not letting me post the answers correctly. User error? I'm not sure. It IS early on a Saturday morning. Will try again later.

Got Your Thinking Caps On?

Good morning to all in bloggy land. My Aunt Betty sent this little brain quiz to Nicole and I thought I'd see how well ya'll faired. I'm not going to post the answers till tomorrow. Leave your answers in the comments section.

1. Why are 2009 dollar bills worth more than 2008 dollar bills?

2. Johnny's mother had three children. The first child was named April.
The second child was named May. What was the third child's name?

3. There is a clerk at the butcher shop, he is five feet ten inches tall
and he wears size 13 sneakers. What does he weigh?

4. Before Mt. Everest was discovered, what was the highest mountain in the
world?

5. How much dirt is there in a hole that measures two feet by three feet
by four feet?

6. What word in the English Language is always spelled incorrectly?

7. Billy was born on December 28th, yet his birthday is always in the
summer. How is this possible?

8. In California, you cannot take a picture of a man with a wooden leg.
Why not?

9. What was the President's Name in 1975?

10. If you were running a race, and you passed the person in 2nd place,
what place would you be in now?

11. Which is correct to say, "The yolk of the egg are white" or "The yolk
of the egg is white"?

12. If a farmer has 5 haystacks in one field and 4 haystacks in the other
field, how many haystacks would he have if he combined them all in another
field?

ANSWERS WILL BE POSTED TOMORROW!

I've worked the last two days, and am not scheduled for anything else this week so I'm gong to catch up on some housework and such. Next week will be tough and not sure how much I will blog since I'll be at school every day next week for some reason or another. I just know it will be crazy busy.

Last night Nicole was complaining of a headache, stuffy nose and had a low grade fever. This morning she said her head was pounding, so we let her stay home, in case its the flu. Please pray that it isn't.

You Know You're a Nurse When...

( This was e-mailed to me by my Aunt Betty. Although I was not a nurse, I was a Medical Assistant, and worked in a hospital, I understand these perfectly!!!)

1) the front of your scrubs reads "Nurses... here to save your ass, not
kiss it!"

2) you occasionally park in the space with the "physicians only" sign...
and knock it over.

3) you believe some patients are alive only because it's illegal to kill
them.

4) you recognize that you can't cure stupid.

5) you own at least three pens with the names of prescription medications
on them.

6) you believe there's a special place in hell for the inventor of the
call light.

7) you believe that saying "it can't get any worse" causes it to get worse
just to show you it can.

8) you wash your hands BEFORE you go to the bathroom.

9) you believe that any job where you can drive to work in your pajamas is
a cool one.

10) you consider a tongue depressor an eating utensil.

11) eating microwave popcorn out of a clean bedpan is perfectly natural.

12) you've been exposed to so many x-rays that you consider it a form of
birth control.

13) you've ever heard a patient with a nose ring, a brow ring, and twelve
earrings say "I'm afraid of
shots."

14) you've ever placed a bet on someone's blood alcohol level.

15) you've told a confused patient that your name is that of a coworker
and to call if they need help.

16) your bladder can expand to the size of a Winnebago's water tank.

17) you have seen more penises than any prostitute could dream of.

18) you believe that not all patients are annoying ... some are
unconscious.

19) your family and friends refuse to watch medical sitcoms with you
because you spend the whole time correcting everyone and pointing out upside
down x-rays.

20) you don't get excited about blood, unless it's your own.

21) you've sworn to have "do not resuscitate" tattooed on your chest.
Soon.

22) discussing dismemberment over a gourmet meal is perfectly normal to
you.

23) your idea of fine dining is anywhere you can sit down to eat.

24) your idea of a good time is a cardiac arrest at shift change.

25) you believe in the aerial spraying of prozac.

26) you believe that "shallow gene pool" should be a recognized diagnosis.

27) you believe that the government should require permits to reproduce.

28) you believe that unspeakable evils will befall anyone who utters the
phrase "Wow, it's really quiet, isn't it?

29) you have ever had a patient look you straight in the eye and say "I
have no idea how that got stuck in there."

30) you've had to leave a patient's room before you begin to laugh
uncontrollably.

Well, I hope that gave you a giggle to start your Monday off with! Hope everyone had a great weekend 'cause its back to the grindstone!

Saturday

Well its Saturday and I woke up to a drizzly morning. I hope it clears up enough for us to have a fun spa day for Nicoles birthday! Sue and I are taking her and her BFF Carson to the spa and we are all getting pampered. Then out to lunch and shopping a bit as long as the weather holds out.

Just FYI we DID NOT have Halloween candy for dinner Thursday night. Nicole was gracious enough to want pizza. I can live with that at ANY time!

Well, gotta go get ready! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Please don't forget to look at my previous post and donate to help sponsor me and my team in our walk for MDA! Each walker needs to rais e $82 - which only covers ONE MINUTE of research!

DFW Stride & Ride 2010: Marcy Able

DFW Stride & Ride 2010: Marcy Able

2010 Stride and Ride

As many of you know, I have a peripheral neuropathy and due to that I am taken care of by the Muscular Dystrophy Association ( MDA). My mother also has it.

This year I am a Team Captain for the Greater North Texas Stride and Ride to be held January 30th. I have an online donation center where you can email the link and such to friends and or family. So far I have 8 people on my team that will be walking with me on that day and I am PUMPED!!

I haven't attended in the last two years, but I did the 3 years before that and it is a blast! There are so many wonderful people that you meet, that all come together for one great day and try to raise funds to find a cure for over 40 different types of Neuromuscular Diseases!

If you want to read more about the type I have, you can Google Charcot-Marie- Tooth, or click here.

Please click HERE to go to homepage for my Stride and Ride Team.

Please help me spread the word and thank you in advance for any donations.

/sniffle - My Baby is 11!!!!!

Wow, its hard to believe that Nicole is 11 today! When I took her to the doctor the other day for a check on her knee, she measured in at 5 ft 1 in! No wonder she has been a bit achey - shes been growing so much!

I woke her up a few minutes early this morning so that she could open her presents before school.

She was happy with what she got! She will get a present from my mom on Sunday when she comes out for a birthday dinner. Speaking of dinner, I have no clue what we will be eating for dinner tonight. Since it is Nicole's birthday she gets to decide. We may be eating leftover Halloween candy for all I know!

Sue and I are going to go have lunch with her today at school, then take her for one more present when we pick her up. She wanted me to take her out of school after lunch but I wouldn't agree to that, so she wasn't real happy. Saturday Sue and I are taking her and her friend Carson for a spa day - we are all getting mani/pedis, then going out for a nice lunch. Afterwards we are coming back here for the girls to play for a while together and Sue has to get ready to go to a wedding.

Besides all that, I'm starting to finally feel like myself. I had such a great day yesterday. I was feeling a ton better, plus the class I was subbing for was 7th grade math and I understood it! it was Algebra, which I was pretty good at in school. I was able to help the kids and most of them finished it in class and didn't have any homework! Then yesterday evening I went up to the crochet shop. I have to buy more yarn, as I have 3 more lapghans to make!

Hope everyone is having a great week so far!

My Little Zombie

Ok, I know Halloween was this past weekend, but since I still was not feeling all that great, I'm just now getting around to posting Nicole's costume pictures. That morning we found a Zombie makeup kit at WalMart, complete with fake blood, and all that jazz.

She wanted to be a zombie baseball player. So when I went to lay down for a bit before all the Trick or treating fun started she decided she was going to do her own face. I have to admit she did a pretty good job. Judge for yourself:

The only thing I did to help her with her costume was spray all the black hairspray in her hair!

Quick Monday Update

As usual I'm running around like a chicken sans head... however I'm feeling much better and I thank everyone who has voiced concern, or get well wishes via facebook and my blog comments.

I went back to work today and am feeling sooo much better! I can talk and not get thrown into a coughing fit that makes me almost pee my pants! We had a fun Halloween day and I will post pictures tomorrow of Nicoles costume - she went as a Zombie Baseball player - she did all the makeup herself and it was great! We did two trunk or treats, a small haunted house in the neighborhood and then handed out candy till around 8 that evening. Even though it was almost 10 that evening I still had a few older kids knocking on my door for candy! No way was I going to answer them!

Some friends did NOT have a good Halloween though, like my friend Yvette - they woke up to a brick thrown threw the back window of her Suburban! There were random acts of vandalism throughout that whole neighborhood apparently.

Well I gotta go start dinner, but if you want to participate in Shannons Santa Swap , click on the following button , she is starting to mail out surveys of your likes and dislikes, so make sure to let her know soon!

Hope everyone had a great Monday!