happy new year!

i have been a blogging slacker for the past bit.  life's been busy and i've been uninspired.  how many times can you all read a post about my dogs or us moving?

but beginning very soon, and as a resolution of sorts for 2012, i promise to blog more!  (and as soon as i can locate the memory card,) i will have a post about how to make some yummy, easy party treats- great for holidays, baby/wedding showers, or just to have as a snack.

so happy new year, if you are still checking in and reading my sorry posts.  there is much more to come this year.  pinky swear!

stream of consciousness.

movers come on thursday!  i am in the "if it's not in a box yet, it's gonna be in one soon" mode.  i don't care if it came from the bathroom or the kitchen.  okay.  i do care.  i will not mix those items!  but if it's laying around it's gonna end up in some cardboard.  or the garbage can.  or the recycle bin.  and wow, pat sajak's hair is super fake blonde/beige.  yep.  wheel of fortune is on.  i am getting hungry.  the dogs, i'm sure, are hungry.  they are always hungry.  and bored.  i have a couple of new bones stashed away for them to keep them occupied later and they are going to sparky's wednesday through thursday.  dave goes to his new home tomorrow.  sounds like he's gonna be an indoor/outdoor cat.  we'll see how that goes... he's a bit spoiled.  haha!  i'm sure he'll let them know where he wants to be.  :)  i am less of a pack rat than i used to be, but good Lord, between jay and myself (and our furballs), we have accumulated a lot of stuff in the last 3 years.  at least moving helps to purge some of the junk.  it's hard to believe we were the first people to live in this house and we've only been here 3 years.  it's great to start fresh in a fresh place.  we are so lucky that they renovated our apartment for us at school.  fresh paint, a new kitchen and guest bath await us there.  there is so much to do and i guess i should get up and keep moving.  make some dinner.  feed the dogs.  fill up some more boxes.  take some more stuff over to our new place.  watch the bachelorette and see who ashley chooses!  (i love cheesy tv reality drama!)  that's what's on my agenda.  one day at a time, too.

it's the little things

you know, i never give much thought to the things we have, that we use every day without thought, until i don't have it to use. our street has been having trouble with our water pipes- bursting and such. so we spent Christmas day without running water. our neighbors had their yard dug up and part of their driveway, too. thanks to the men who worked on Christmas, we had water again by 1am Saturday morning.

we were driving home from our friends' house down the street tonight and noticed the all-too-familiar site of a heavy flow of silt-laden water running down the street and realized another section of the pipes have busted. so now, at 12am Sunday morning, we are without running water again. (and we are so glad to be heading to kingsport for a few days...)

all of that back story to say... you never think about the simple things we do every day that require water: washing your hands, flushing the toilet, taking a shower, filling up your pets' water bowl, making coffee or tea, doing a quick load of laundry, running the dishwasher... almost everything we do day in and day out requires water. what would we do without it?

we never seem to think about how blessed we are until we are without. you can show me countless commercials about third world countries, well, i've seen enough poverty in person to know about it. but i don't really think about it. my friend jen gash is in uganda right now, showering orphans and other children with beds and mosquito nets. beds. a mosquito net costs $8- it's not only to prevent itchy bug bites. it prevents malaria and death. $8. two cups of starbucks you-name-it lattes. we are blessed to live where we live.

so, as it is come back to my attention, i would like to bring it back to yours. find a cause in this coming new year (and decade). it can be local or global. (it might even involve clean water, which i learned about here, on jess's blog. i don't know jess personally, but having been following her story, and praying, for almost the last year, i feel like i do. and if you venture over there, grab some kleenex before reading cora's story.) it can cost a lot or very little. set a little aside every week or paycheck. but find a way to give back.

⁶Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. ⁷Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

2 Corinthians 9:6-8

it isn't always easy to give. i make excuses not to do so all the time. but next time i want some starbucks, i'll make myself a cup of coffee or tea at home and set aside $4 for someone else instead.

that's my goal in this new year. well, besides losing 10 more pounds. but that's another blog post for another day.

(my first official) "not me! monday"

so, what is "not me! monday?" it is many things... cheap therapy for one. as it states above, it is being brutally honest and living to tell about it. it is a way of admitting things you have done by saying you've never done them. this began with mckmama, and has spread through the blogging world like wild fire. so this is my first monday... let's see how it goes.


just a few minutes ago, i totally did not almost start this post instead of taking my dogs out to the bathroom. and it was not because my one dog had just started to whine, which meant she needed to go out and poop. and it totally did not mean she would still take at least 5 minutes to do her business outside. i could have finished this post and then taken her out and then the time from door to "business" would have been almost immediate. i never would think of making her wait. not me.

and, because everyone who knows me knows that i keep my house spotless 24/7, knows that i would never ever let dishes pile up in my sink. i would never leave clean dishes in the dishwasher instead of emptying it and letting the dirty ones sit in the sink for days while i work. and i would never think that my sweet husband might get the nice idea of emptying the dishwasher and reloading it so that the sink wouldn't be so full, since i was sleeping all day and working all night. i would never leave them in the sink on purpose, just to see if that would happen. never.

and i would never ever complain about having the worst work schedule between last week and this week. never. my schedule is so normal. now, yes, i do work nights, so that takes the normal out of it already, but this isn't the issue. the issue is that after working last thursday, friday, and saturday night, i was off sunday, had to swap days this week so i work tonight (monday), tuesday, then off wednesday, then have a mandatory recertification class thursday and then work thursday night. who would complain about that? not me. and who might get a bit snippy and grumpy with friends and loved ones? most certainly not me. (although i think i warned everyone that that might happen, and if not then i truly am sorry about that.)

see how that works? it is good therapy. try it sometime!

shift work

there are many new studies that suggest that working the night shift can adversely affect the health of nurses and other individuals who work in the dark hours of the night. while working nights obviously interrupts normal sleep patterns (which genious figured that one out, right?), the lack of sleep and interruption in circadian rhythms can make us dislike our jobs, at increased risk for depression, and is a "probable carcinogen," which places it in the same category as asbestos and cigarettes. one article i viewed stated that the effects of night shift on a body were the same as smoking a pack of cigarettes per day. now, i am not sure i believe that, but they do relate the increased risk of cancer to the disruption of melatonin secretion. anyway, all of this is to say that night shift can take a toll on the body.

do you know what i realized the other day? because i work night shift, i have seen more sunrises than most. it is so difficult to get up early enough to watch a sunrise, but i am able to see them while at work or driving home. here in the mountians, they are quite beautiful. the other morning, while the moon was just past full, it was still up as the sun was rising. i could not see the sun from my back porch, but you can see it shining on the mountain, as well as the moon in the sky on its way down. i realized that if i did not work night shift, i would miss many of God's gifts and visual displays of His Creation.



3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? -Psalm 8: 3-4

a day for projects

we have had a lovely weekend. part of the lovliness is in part to the lower temperatures outside. (i am sure those of you in tn are enjoying those, too. i am happy to say ours will be lasting all week...) the other part was because it was filled with family, friends, and progress.

saturday

okay. so no painting happened this weekend- for a few reasons. 1. i personally thought that $25 per gallon of paint at lowe's was way too much. 2. you can get your paint colors matched at wal-mart and save about $10 per gallon. nice, right? 3. no. the paint guy/girl/person never came to the counter. kelly was with me and she used the phone to overhead page someone to paint at the desk 3 times. then after one of the numerous employees who walked by actually stopped, she overhead paged with a very loud, angry tone in her voice. no help. finally, some lady comes and i ask her if she can match paint (since the codes to match the colors are in a notebook somewhere). she said she didn't know how to do it. at this point, we had been there for about 30 minutes. i decided it was just not in the cards to paint my house. project abandoned.

larry, jay's dad, came down for the day to help out with some projects. they were very busy in the yard. they cleared off our back bank of the mostly dead sod (although it would have come out next year). then they cleared out the front landscaping bed, and as they put down some weed blocking fabric, they pulled up the juniper bushes that windsor-aughtry thinks looks nice for landscaping. (not so much). so it is on the back bank to make some nice ground cover. we also bought some decorative grass to plant in between the juniper. and that is also where grandmama's trumpet vines will find their homes. the outside is shaping up.

so what did kelly and i do with our day? we finished sanding the rust off of a wrought-iron table given to us by kelly's (step) father-in-law, kenny. after sanding we spray painted it. in between the sanding and washing it and painting it, we took time for some pedicures on the back patio. we painted lots of things! :)

the evening finished itself at matt and alicia's house for a cook-out. we had hotdogs, potato salad, baked beans... typical cook-out food. and their across-the-street neighbor, joyce, made a delicious banana pudding (like my mom makes). it was a great day and a great night.

more snow?

seriously. we have snow in our forecast for sunday night and monday. how crazy for one weekend. oh well. mom and dad (anita and jerry) are leaving at an early 6am tomorrow for their weekend visit. jay will be working on the ambulance from 7a-7p tomorrow. i plan to come home and nap for 4-5 hours and should be getting up around the time mom and dad roll into town. we are planning a trip to the biltmore tomorrow. dad has never been there. we really are hoping the rain holds off b/c the tulips are blooming and the gardens should be beautiful tomorrow. we are planning a "behind the scenes" tour and also plan to tour the winery. saturday will entail brunch at mayfel's and going down to the house. mom has seen the lot and dad has seen only pictures. everything should almost be done so that is nice that they will be able to see the almost finished product. and i'm sure mom and i will find a little shopping that can be done. :) and sunday will just be sunday. we are continuing to make a little more progress with packing. we plan to use movers for the furniture and appliances and tvs and such... all the heavy and bulky things we don't want to carry up these stairs ourselves! but we plan to move the little things ourselves so that we can save some money. and we don't have to be out of the apartment for 2 weeks after our closing date, so we have plenty of time to get things done. but for this weekend, at least, we are looking forward to some family and fun and maybe some snow! we will have some pictures to post later on this weekend, too.... i think we get carpet tomorrow!! hope everyone is doing well. email/call/write and update us on you soon.

family updates

jay passed his first big nursing test. yeah!!! so that is exciting. i took a class at work yesterday, so i am now officially a "preceptor" and "validator." all that really means is that i can officially orient new staff to the unit and can also check people off on unit competencies. yes. a bunch of big words and stuff. but on the days i do that i can now get a bit of extra pay, so that is always handy. we are getting back into the swing of things and are getting back into the good habit of consistently going to church. it is the lenten season now so, of course, it is a good time to get back there. good times for reflection. we are still disliking our apartment and are excited every day when there is progress on the house, which now is pretty frequent. i am slowly breaking into studying for a course i am taking in legal nurse consulting. it is a self study course that i have a year to complete. it is interesting and reminds me of how much i enjoyed my business law class in high school. the animals are doing well. (just for those who wonder!) and i think that is about it for us. keep checking back for house updates. we should have more soon!

a month of updates... all in one day

ok. so work has been busy and i have been tired. jay has been busy working. not that he updates this. but when we do have time off we spend it together. and we have had some busy and fun weekends. i just haven't sat down here to write about anything in much detail. well, today is your lucky day. it is post central here. enjoy.

life as usual

hey there. not much has been going on this week, after a busy month. so it has been sort of nice. well, i take that back. it was not a normal week... we drove to kingsport on tuesday to have the roof rack placed on the new fj. so we stayed with mitos and larry and visited with mamaw conkin. then our friends chris and cori needed a place to stay while driving through to south carolina, so the two of them and their cute little baby boy, harlan, were the first official guests to stay in our little apartment. it was cozy. i worked this weekend and so didn't get to see them very much, but did enjoy their visit when i was awake! the dogs enjoyed it a lot too. i think their belief is that anyone who walks in the door is here to see them. but i digress. oh... i have not given up on weight watchers. i have lost about 6 pounds and have been able to maintain that over the last month. but before losing too much more, i wanted to see how easy it would be to maintain healthy - semi-healthy eating choices without tracking points. and i have been able to do so, so i think next week i will try to start back to lose just a few more pounds. i feel better after just losing the few that i have. so i will hopefully continue to have luck with that. but this week is just back to normal now. i think. we are staying here all week. and working most of it. fun, huh? life as usual.

why can't mondays be fundays?

let's change the name. it wouldn't seem so bad if monday was called "funday." maybe then it wouldn't have such a derogatory connotation. like, "oh it's muunnday." it may as well be called mundane the way we act about mondays. but if it was called funday then it would imply that it would have to at least be a halfway good day. like today, i am cleaning. not my favorite activity. but if today was called funday then cleaning wouldn't seem so bad. following? "i'm all jacked up on mountain dew" right now so my brain is firing off random thoughts like no other. and i have no one to share them with besides the dogs, and dave, so i figured i'd jot one down. speaking of the dogs, and dave, here are some recent pictures. in a couple of hours, barley and i will be at the vet for her pre-surgery consult/first visit appointment. it is time for her be to surgically altered, if you will. spayed. so soon we will know how big she is. about a month ago she weighed in at 55 pounds. cotton is 71 and done growing so we shall see where barley ends up. and tell me, please, how do cats know when you don't want them to lay on your freshly washed sheets? and then why do they lay there?


barley: "maybe if i put my head next to cotton's, i can be smart like she is."




cotton: "maybe if i hold her head with my feet, she will quit trying to steal my intelligence."



both: "mom, can we please have the knitting needle you are teasing us with?"



dave: "just thought you needed some fur on your clean sheets."

life lesson and random babbling

so, you can learn a lot by watching others, correct? well, here is what i have learned today.

*before putting on a skin-skimming knit dress, make sure your thongs don't hug your fat and make rolls in your knit dress. looking like a sausage is not flattering. on anyone. why? because SPANDEX IS A PRIVILEGE, NOT A RIGHT!*

so, that is the lesson for today. and this girl was not fat. but any clothing worn the wrong way can make you look fat.

oh, and i fixed things on here so if anyone desires they can easily add a comment!

i started my first week of night shift last week. it was very nice. i feel like i am back in my world again. when you look out the window and know the world out there is asleep. that is normal and comforting.

i made watermelon lemonade today. interesting flavor combination. if it sounds intriguing, i will share the recipe.

and remember, the most important information you can get from this blog is that 2 weeks from today is my birthday. i will accept gifts from now until the end of august, in case time slips by you. haha just kidding. (well, not really.)

speaking of birthdays, mamaw conkin's birthday is july 13. she will be 90!!!

and, just for fun, i will leave you a picture of a very sweet baby named harrison. he is now 4 months old. and, by looking at his picture, quite ready for summer :)