Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Vacation!

What an amazing vacation! Amy, Karen and I had the best time - we needed the break from work and enjoyed every minute of our time off! We started out in Ft. Lauderdale the night before the cruise, and had an awesome view from our balcony on the 15th floor.


Karen is a wine aficionado and kept us drinking the good stuff all week! We went to a wine tasting near the hotel, and had a great supper of good cheese and great wine. Oh, and sushi!

Saturday morning we cast off on the cruise and spent all day at open sea. We stopped at Cayo Levantado in the Dominican Republic, St. Maarten, Antigua and Bahamas. My favorite was Antigua - the beach was gorgeous and the water looked almost green. It was so great just to sit on the beach and play in the water. We did some shopping in Antigua and took a taxi tour of St. Maarten, which was fun.

After we landed in Nassau, Bahamas, Karen and I got off the ship and flew to Freeport. We stayed right on the beach for an extra 3 days! It was so nice to wind down after all the parties and dancing on the ship!

Here are a few highlights from the trip!


Cayo Levantado, DR - see the ship in the background? It's huge!


The beach on Antigua.


Formal night on the cruise.


The pool deck on the ship.


Muster drill! Imagine 3,000 people all in life jackets! Hilarious.


Amy and I catching some rays.
At the resort in Freeport, Bahamas.

And now it's back to work. I picked up a few extra shifts since it's been so busy with the flu and everything. But today I was able to do a bunch of yardwork that I've been meaning to do for a while.
I planted some new flowers in the tree bed in the front yard - French Lavender and 'Tiger Eye' Rudbeckia.

And it was time for a little color in the backyard! I put new red mulch in the raspberries and hung 2 pots of pansies and geraniums. It looks so much better! Now if only the grass would spruce up...


And my favorite - a confederate jasmine! I put a trellis up and hopefully it will start climbing! I also found a few solar sun dial lights at Costco that look pretty cool, too.

Anyway, that's what I've been up to! Up next: building a dog run on the side of the house so the two pups stop digging up the yard! :)

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Birthday!

I have the best friends! They took me out for dinner for my birthday tonight, and we had a great time! We went out for sushi - yum. I don't think I've laughed so much in a long time.

Suz enjoying her pina colada.

Me, Sasha and Amber - I love these girls!

Bob and Amy (he's so cute!).

A birthday toast with Suz.


And the best part is, Bob was so great today! He bought me flowers - orange roses, my favorite! - and chocolate and a new sweater. He's such a great brother! There's a reason birthdays only come once a year - if it was more often they wouldn't be as special! What a great day.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Mea Culpa

Has it really been 3 months since I last posted? How ridiculous! And what have I been doing with all my time, you ask? Well, it's been a nice balance of work and play, and here are a few pictures to prove the play part.

In January I switched from nights to a mid-shift (10a-10p) which is suiting me much better. I'm sleeping like a regular gal, eating better and even getting to the gym on a more regular basis. Kinda makes life more enjoyable, too!

Jessica, Justin, the boys and I went to Steamboat for a few days of rest and snow. We got about 3 feet in 4 days - lots of good powder to play in! I got to be the nanny while J and J went out for their anniversary. Philip turned 6 months while we were there, and is oh-so-cuddly. I love when he squishes his cheek against your face and just holds it there. Quite cute.


So we took some pictures of him to mark the 1/2 year occasion.


He really is quite a sweetie!

And I love those big blue eyes. I'm a little jealous of those wicked-long eyelashes, however...

Benjamin being his typical "cheesy" self. He's pretty good, too.

We took a few walks in the snow - it was so beautiful! Philip stayed warm wrapped up next to me, and even fell asleep. The picture below is one of my favorites. Love the snowflakes on his eyelashes.



Jessica bought this cool little sled for Benjamin, but he wasn't sure about it in the beginning. Ok, so he cried for the first half hour, but then liked it so much he didn't want to get out! Typical 2 year old!
A week after that trip, I flew down to Anniston, Alabama for FEMA training at the Center for Domestic Preparedness. Another nurse from the ER went with me, and even though we learned A LOT we had a great time, too! We met a lot of people who do the same jobs that we do, and were shown just how much work we have to do for the hospital!

In the suites for decon training - it was cool enough that we didn't get all sweaty and overheated. And I felt very loved when members of my team put popcorn in my boots and hair gel in my gloves. Ewww!
The facility had the coolest patient simulators - anything that you can do to a real person you can do to the dummies. They even have syringes with barcodes on them, and when you "give" them to the patient, the computer reacts accordingly. It's pretty amazing! I learned quickly that it's a lot harder to intubate and start IV's when you're in a rubber suit with 3 layers of gloves and a ventilation mask! I guess that's why we practice...

And last, but not least, we have adopted yet another pet! Jack is my friend Joy's Border Collie, and for now we're long-term babysitting him because Joy's husband is not a dog person. Inu and Jack have become siblings already - being that they're both herders they chase each other around the yard all day! It's nice to have Jack around so Inu has someone to keep her company during the day, and they're both really sweet dogs!


So that's the latest from this neck of the woods! Sorry to have taken so long; hope you liked the update!