Spring Vacation

Jackson is finally on vacation, as per him. He has been waiting for this all month and literally counting the days. I asked him what his plans were and he said to lay around all week - I thought that sounded boring but then he asked me "would YOU find that boring?". Hmm. I guess not. Today we're going shopping and out to dinner or a late lunch, with everyone off in all directions lately we just don't have time to do that anymore. Working full time has made me rearrange things, I still can't get over what a difference it is not having those two half days off a week. I didn't finish taking my personal time yesterday - the boss asked me not to as she hadn't been in the office and Susan was off for the day - so I'll be taking the last two hours of my leftover personal time next week sometime. And I was once again told no more hoarding. Susan laughs about that because she said her personal time is usually gone the first two weeks. I had the new visit nurse with me yesterday, we're doing visits together on Monday and then she'll be out in the field on her own. We're still having a little turf war in the office separating the private duty end from the visit but we're getting there. After I get the 2nd nurse out in the field I'll only be out doing the occasional visit and infusion which means I'll be in the office pretty much full time. After I get the Morgantown office under control then I'll be spending half the week in Bridgeport and hanging out with them which I LOVE - they're really fun out there too! On the home front we've already started mowing the yard, I did the edges the David did the pastures - now for the back! He's starting a big job out in Blacksville, we're going over there Sunday for him to work out when he'll start and the people he's doing the job for are curious about me so I'll be tagging along to meet them. We might even drag Jackson along if we can get Mr. Vacation out of his bed!

Spring Has Sprung

The temps are FINALLY in the high 60's low 70's and of course it will be too hot too fast. We don't have much a spring around here, we usually get a few surprise snowstorms followed immediately by summer. I think we'll get the pool opened late May, everyone tends to do that around Memorial Day so I'm thinking a week or so before that. Otherwise we'll be cooling our heels til July. Pearl has been spending a ton of time outside, yesterday I took 4 hours of personal time and went home for the afternoon. At our agency you're given 8 hours of personal time every three months and if you don't use - you lose it. That is a very bad thing for me because I am a natural Hoarder, I'll hoard it and worry about it, thinking if I use it I won't have it if something comes up. What ends up happening is NOTHING comes up and I end up losing it. I lost all of my personal time last year doing this and it proved nothing I might add. So there  I was again, 8 hours of personal time and now I have until tomorrow to use it all up. So I took 4 hours yesterday and am planning on scooting out early on Friday. Pearl enjoyed as I came home early and I sat outside and read while she romped around and played with the dog next door. Love those sort of days, don't you?

Spring is Here!

The ground occasionally dries up for a moment and then it rains again, but we don't mind. Everything is greening up beautifully, including the yard. David will enjoy it for about 10 minutes but I can see the grass already could use a mowing and he'll be carping about that this weekend. I'm busy at work, we're having a little bit of tiff at work, one of my coworkers keeps taking my phone calls for the visit patients and then proceeds to make a royal mess out of things. Yesterday I just lost it, she created this screwed up situation and she just kept right on going, making it worse and worse - it would've been amazing had it been someone else's problem. If I'd let it continue I would've been in the middle of nowhere starting an infusion last night around ten pm - I noticed she didn't volunteer to go! - but I got it worked out with the infusion company and the family, I have to finish tying up the loose ends at some point today. I know part of the problem is I'm now officially "in" the office so there is going to be some jockeying for position and I'm really not sure what this person's problem is because my job has nothing to do with hers. I just hate when there's one person that makes everything uncomfortable. Other than that, things are getting better. I still miss Charger Barger but don't cry as much so that helps. And David got my summer clothes down so I've been busy trying them all on - I LOVE getting down the summer clothes, don't you? It's like old friends or a favorite book you thought you lost but it shows up unexpectedly. And better yet because of all the weight I lost - IT ALL FITS!!

A Long Day Ahead

I had Monday under control for the longest time and recently, we are back where we started from. For some reason every doctor in the universe gets stuck on Monday Labs. Even if they're weekly or even monthly they want them Monday - this gets a bit rough when you've got a lot of lab patients in every direction and oh, did I mention they want them all before 3? All the labs also have to be driven from the patient's house to the hospital so that means every visit is actually two trips instead of one. Next week we'll hopefully have everyone up and running and I can start dividing up the patients so no one gets stuck with the whole kit and kaboodle. After my visit on Saturday I stopped by the office to drop off directions to a patient's house for the other nurse to save myself a trip this morning, but I forgot the doppler,etc so I have to go in anyhow. I've also found a home for the remainder of Charger's pain medicine since the bottle is still pretty full - Susan has a neighbor who's dog is on Rimydyl so I'm giving it to her. I wanted to get rid of it as I know it's just a matter of time before Pearl The Psycho somehow gets ahold of it again but it's so expensive (a dollar a pill) that I couldn't bear to throw it out so I figured someone could use it. I spent yesterday hogging down Easter Candy, this is a dangerous time of year for me. I can pass up Christmas, Halloween, even Valentine's Day candy but show me a Peep and a Coconut Cream Egg and I'm lost. It's only for a few weeks so I'll just up my exercise and decrease my fruit and vegetable intake (gotta cut the calories somewhere!) -there's probably something unhealthy about that way of thinking but whatever. Here comes Peter Cottontail, hopping down the bunny trail........ The other thing I did this weekend was I wrote a letter to Fred Huecker in Louisville, Kentucky. For the past few years I've been playing around with trying to contact my father's family in the midwest but chickened out after a couple of attempts - what would they think? But I think I would like to get a letter like that so I went ahead and sent it. If I don't here anything in a week or so, I'll hit the next name on my list - someone has to know something!

Goofing Off On Saturday

I had one visit yesterday but it was almost 50 miles so it took me the better part of the morning to get there and back. However, it's near one of my favorite places in the universe so I took my camera and my time and after I was done drove to Raccoon Valley Rd. I went to the old train station first, there's a gravel path you can drive down - if you go slow - and it's not too far. I took pictures from the ground and then started up the iron stairs on the side. The first couple were ok, but then it got a bit shaky so I changed my mind and came down. It's not on a well travelled road and although I wouldn't be there for days, I would probably spend a few hours lying in a twisted heap in the dirt so I used my Professional Nursing Judgement and got back in my car. (That term Professional Nursing Judgement was used by one of my fairly stodgey teachers and I've always thought it sounded hilarious so I try to stick it in conversations  when I can). I stopped at the stream further down and took more pictures - the Yellow Boy on this road is pretty bad - you can actually smell it in some parts. Here's a good article that explains what it is -

http://www.christiansforthemountains.org/Flyout%20Topics/Issues/IssuesFolder/Trout%20and%20Acid%20Drainage.htm

and when you see it for real, the bright orange is pretty unbelievable. On the way home I headed down Bull Run to see if I could find the giant the dip someone told me about -I drove til it got bad and then turned around. I'll have to ask Linda on Monday as I couldn't find it but I'm not sure if I was supposed to go down Bull Run - or go past it. While on Bull Run I got a call from the office to see if I would go to Marianna Pa and that would be a big NO as I would've broken 200 miles with that! We spoke to Ray last night and he's going to try and get here for Easter - I looked at the calendar and I'm on call that weekend. Oh well, what can you do?

Is It Monday Again??

Yes, I'm on call again - I only have one job (so far) this weekend so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. It's been a pretty quiet week here as you can imagine, thank goodness I have work to keep me busy. I'm feeling better about the whole Charger thing, in retrospect I am glad we put him to sleep before it got really bad. David and I have seen some people that just can't let go no matter how bad off thier pet is and as I've always said, I wouldn't want someone to do that to me. But the weather has gotten warmer and the grass is greening up and I wish he could've been here just for the spring, the dogs always get so much enjoyment out of the yard in that season. It's been raining tons for the past few days but the temps are getting into the sweater range so Pearl will stay out regardless and comes in covered in mud. The yard is so saturated at this point that you can actually see plumes of water in some areas fly up as she runs by. Work has been busy - I've actually been able to be in the office as of late for a few hours, the latest new nurse will start orientating Thursday - her last day at her other job is Monday but I told it was fine with me if she wanted to have a couple of days to goof around - I usually give myself a couple of weeks personally and I think you kind of need that down time to get adjusted. All of the infusions are done for now so I have a little breathing room. Our wound seminar was cancelled on Thursday - I was a little disappointed but it gave me the time I needed to really get things caught up in the office so I can't complain. Jackson has been fine, he's looking foward to his spring break coming up - after all the snow days he had you'd think he would be tired of being home, wouldn't you?

Not So Happy 25th.

If you want to enjoy your 25th wedding anniversary my advice to you is don't put your beloved Pooh Dog to sleep the evening before. David and  I tried to enjoy it as best we could, but it was an uphill battle. We went to Clarksburg to poke around our favorite stores, I went to AC Moore and David went to the tractor place, we went to the big shoe store there (WAY over priced) and just sort of sadly browsed. We went to Cracker Barrel for lunch, I cried a little over my pancakes and then cried all the way home. When we came in we found Pearl had somehow managed to do something to her leg - we have no idea, she probably fell off the refridgerator or something knowing her. She was limping but it wasn't broken or anything and David told Pearl she'd used up all her medical for the week -his version of a Canine HMO I suppose. We have seen quite enough of the vet thank you. She's been very quiet for her, I'm sure she'll  bounce back eventually but for right now she's not herself. We went out to dinner at Bob Evans - I figure during the summer when we're all feeling better we'll have a "Do Over" - there was just no way around it. We picked Jackson up from Becky's and that was about it. Pearl's leg is better this morning and I'm off to work. I have to do two admissions so my orientation class is cancelled and I'm just going to truck the orientee around with me today. Tomorrow I'm off to Pittsburgh again and then Friday I have no idea what is going to happen. I'm also on call this weekend. And I still miss Charger Barger Super Dog.

We Did Expect It.

And in my head, I did expect it. But you never do in your heart, do you? No matter how bad it gets, there's still that small feeling that the calvary will come and save the day somehow. Some way.  Charger has been getting progressively worse, the past few weeks it's like it sped up or something. But we've noticed he'd been having more and more trouble standing, he was unable to get up on the bed in the morning. This weekend it became glaringly apparent there would be no more second chances. He's been to the vet, we increased his pain meds, he had blood work and still he declined. Yesterday he could not stand on his own. We put his bed and bowls in the foyer to keep him off the stairs - he'd fallen down a few in the basement earlier and David had to help him up. He laid and barked when he couldn't see us, I went and sat with him for most of the afternoon, but there was nothing I could do for him but sit and pet him. Today I met David at the vet's, he hugged Charger good bye and handed me the leash. They tried to weigh him but he wouldn't get up on the scale so I asked them to use the weight from the other day, what difference does it make now? The vet was nice, he found the vein right away, I could've cried with relief when I saw that brief flash of blood before he started - I couldn't have stood it if he had to start digging around for a vein. Charger went peacefully, quietly with his head in my hands as he's put it so many times before looking for his ears to be rubbed or a kiss on the nose. Jackson and I stayed for a few minutes - he looked so calm and peaceful! - then we left. I'm so sad now, I miss him dreadfully already, I think of him sitting quietly by my side under the trees outside while Pearl the Pest raced around, but I'm glad he didn't suffer. I hope he finds his way to Copper and I hope  with all my heart they'll wait for me.

Sunday

We got a total of about 3 inches of snow, complete with mud underneath due to a melt a few days prior. You have to be careful where you step in the yard because any depression is filled with mud and you can find yourself up to your ankles. I was still sick for most of the day yesterday, I put on my crappy outfit that I've been promising to throw out for months. I don't know why I didn't  - the pants are too big and the shirt is stained - but I insisted on wearing it until David took a picture of me yesterday. Between being sick and all  I wasn't looking too great to begin with. I looked at the picture and realized it was time for the outfit to hit the big Closet in the Sky. David thought I should tear it up for rags but I just wanted it gone. I guess it's getting to be that time of year - spring cleaning and all. Pearl's new thing is to sit right next to me on the couch,  she actually sits up in order to be as close as possible. She's been a bit clingy, partially due to Charger, I hate to say it but I think we are coming to the end very soon. We've increased his pain medication but I don't think it's pain, I think it's something we cannot see. He's been having an increasingly difficult time standing, this morning it took him about 5 minutes and it seems to be his back legs. We yell at Pearl to stay away from him as the slightest touch can knock him down, but she doesn't understand - she just wants her friend. David wants to try some holistic thing which can't hurt, but I don't think it will help. He is old and we can't cure that.

Spring Has Been Cancelled.

I had another infusion Thursday and was looking foward to Friday as finishing up the last of ALL of my infusions which due to people not recieving thier meds, etc are now all in a space of 7 days. However, my patient's family called Thursday night to report he was sick - that would explain the queasy feeling I got starting Friday morning. I made it through about 2 hours at work - enough time to arrange visits and tie up some loose ends and then it was back to bed for me. I can pretty much tough anything out - I only missed one day when I had bronchitis but when it comes to throwing up and stuff it's time to go home. I didn't actually throw up - I was smart enough not to eat anything but  I spent the day running a fever and feeling icky. I feel run down this morning but much better. We got snow yesterday afternoon, an unwelcome surprise even for me - we've been teased with spring once too many times. It's snowing again this morning, but it's wet and truly unpleasant, like it could almost be rain but isn't. David finished the cabinets last night with a coat of varnish, don't they look great? They'll actually look better when we get the kitchen repainted and counters replaced as the dark stain really makes those tangerine counters pop right out now. The worst part about the counters is that for as ugly as they are, they're in PERFECT condition - there is not one faded area, not one scratch, nothing. Pearl is a busy bee this morning as she is every morning, her last adventure had absolutely no effect on her. And she's still after Charger's medicine, she stands as close as she can when he gets his morning pill to try and snatch it so we really have to watch her. And the bottle is kept high up ALL the time, we make sure it. I'm at the moment looking foward to Easter, I need Ray to give me a yes or no, because if he doesn't come this year we're invited to go with Susan's family to the buffet at the Holiday Inn in Fairmont.

O Is For Overdose.

David decided to have a Monday too and get in on the action. Yesterday he'd put the peeling stuff on the cabinets overnight and when I left to take the OASIS test he was starting to scrape them. He took Jackson to school and then came back to finish, he found Charger's pain medication bottle was on the floor - open and 3 chewable pills left. They're usually on  top of the refridgerator but he'd taken them down to do the cabinets over it. He did the math and realized Pearl The Pest had ingested roughly 23 pills - thank goodness he came back! He called the vet and they told him to give her a few teaspoons of peroxide to induce vomiting - David reports it made her burp and her teeth are very white now. So he packed both dogs up in the truck (Charger had an appointment for that morning) and off they went. They concluded Charger had not had any medications since Pearl does not share well so Pearl was the sole recipient of the Barf Shot. David said the vet  injected her and she walloped up everything she'd eaten in the past month right then and there. Charger had bloodwork and it was concluded he's old. And to add a little insult to injury David had to buy a brand new bottle of pills as we were out now. By the time he got back the peeling stuff on the cabinets had dried beautifully (sigh) so it was rather rough going but as you can see from the pictures he managed quite well. He's going to finish getting the rest of the varnish and whatever else is under there off this morning. He'd peeled them because they've been painted so many times the woodwork was losing definition and it would've been just one more layer of paint over many layers of dirty paint. He ended up doing the estimate late in the afternoon when he picked Jackson up from school so he did manage to get everything done despite the canine drug addict's antics. I did take that test and won't know the results for 6 - 8 weeks and I don't think I did very well. The pass rate is only 70% and it was VERY hard. This is one of the first times I've actually been there when they tell you to put your pencil down!

Day 597: It Is Still Monday

Yesterday was long and mind numbing - it was like most day long seminars. The morning you're all awake and interested, the afternoon your fighting lapsing into a coma and pounding down anything that can come out of a vending machine. I have a test today - it's about 3 hours and hopefully I'll pass it. The OASIS is a government form so most of it makes no sense at all. After the day long seminar  I stopped in AC Moores to scarf up the rest of the yarn which took me about 3 minutes to find it and half an hour on line. The cashier there was the slowest I've ever encountered and had difficulty with every purchase. And no she's not new, she's been there for awhile, I was going to move but the other lines were moving in a similar pace so I just stayed put and waited. I didn't do too badly when I finally got up there - it only took the intervention of 3 people for me to buy the yarn. I considered putting it back but it was a great price and on clearance which according to the Rules Of Yarn I must I buy all of it as it may be discontinued. Since I now have enough to make several outfits and I'm not even that fond of green it makes no sense but the Rules Of  Yarn are similar to the government. They don't have to make sense. When I got home David was stripping the cabinets which combined with the grout sealer from yesterday makes our house smell really Special. Of course now that the cabinets are all in various stages of peeling he has recieved two calls - one for an estimate and one for a job and he has an appointment to take Charger Barger to the vet's today. He's also been working intermittently on the room in the back off of the kitchen which was a hot tub room from the 70's. Hopefully he'll get finished this summer as it's going to be an amazing room overlooking the woods. I guess I'd better get going, I have to be in Bridgeport by 8:15. (why can't these things EVER start at 10.....)

Monday Just Keeps Coming

The problem with working so much over the weekend is there's just no end to things. I started off early to get labs and was on my way out to Preston county to meet Linda when the office called to let me know they no longer accept the gold tubes for the lab I was drawing. News to me. The infusion patient went well and I was able to leave after a about half an hour or so and go back to the office for a couple of hours and play phone tag. The boss is out of town until Wednesday and Susan's grandfather is ill so I was trying to get everything done and more in this very short period of time.  This week is just bad as all of my long infusions are all lumped together along with my visit patients along with all of my new duties and I'm just paddling like mad trying to stay afloat. On the home front things are going into a downward spiral. David's work has stopped entirely for the past two weeks, it's not a big deal but he is BORED and I come home to a new house everyday. Judging from the amount of ads in the paper I think he's not the only one with the slow down on work and most of it tends to be mud and weather related. It'll pick up in the next few weeks or so, I've been encouraging him to do stuff he normally doesn't have time for. The other bad thing is Charger Barger, remaining Super Dog. He is not doing well at all, David is taking him to the vet today or tomorrow but he looks like he's retaining fluid, he's having a very hard time standing up and he's very short of breath. I have to be in Bridgeport for the next couple of days for OASIS training (Outcome and Assessment Information Set) so he will have to deal with it on his own which sucks. David is just not good with these things.

Is It Monday Yet?

What a tiring weekend! I started off Saturday morning in Preston county and it was  pretty interesting  -  I got a history lesson complete with pictures. Pisgah is named after a biblical mountain by the way - established in 1881 and at one time during the height of the timber industry boasted 3 hotels, a store and a post office. Then it was off to Pennsylvania for a 3 hour infusion which was also fun as the patient has a houseful of dogs so once I start his IV then I mess around with the canine residents and knit. By then I was getting a bit tired, especially since I've been running hard all week - and my phone rang. Another patient was home from the hospital so off I was to another town and walked in the door around 5:30. I set up one appointment for the morning (this time down past Clarksburg) and then the second one - wrong number. I tried to map the address and it kept coming up it didn't exist. So this morning while heading out for visit #1 I was playing phone tag for visit #2. The whole upshot was I went to a similar sounding road and there the patient was. So I had the wrong phone number and the wrong address, BUT while waiting for everyone to call back I got some nifty Leaf Green mohair blend yarn on clearance so it wasn't a total washout. I will be back in Bridgeport Tuesday and Wednesday so I can scarf up the remaining skeins. If I bring too much yarn in the house at once the Yarn Hater gets all hysterical and starts going on about how much yarn I have, how I could quit my job and just knit and never reach the end of it, that we have yarn spilling out of drawers and closets, sigh - totally cuts into my yarn buying. So I bring it in a bit at a time and it cuts down on the Tramatic Yarn Syndrome someone has going. He is SO difficult sometimes. I think I'm going to ask to get paid for a few of the visits and then take the 20th off - that's mine and David's 25th anniversary - can you believe that? Especially since we come from two entirely different cultures - (he hates yarn and I love it!)

Am Not Living For The Weekend

The only upside of this weekend is it's a good photo opportunity. Well, then there's the shopping aspect also(A.C. Moores - whoo hoo!!). When going over my schedule on Friday I discovered the only feasible time to infuse my patient in PA was Saturday so I sucked it up. Then I got an admission in Preston county which I scheduled for the morning so I could shoot over to PA in the early afternoon. Then I got TWO more admissions for Clarksburg which is about 50 miles or so from my house and will be done on Sunday. I've got to take my new nurse to an infusion on Monday out in Preston county again but I have a drug level lab draw in town so I'll be out and about VERY early - then there's the two days of seminars and 3 more half day infusions - I like to think I'm running a tight ship but am very much aware all of this can explode (and probably will) at any time. I mentioned the other nurse to one of my infusion patients and was repelled immediately so that party will be staying on my dance card - it's ok, I didn't want to give them up anyhow. Some of the newer ones I can give away but the ones that I've been taking care of for a couple of years I may not be able to, at least for awhile. The home infusions are much different than the visits because you end up spending hours with the patient on a regular basis, most of them have dogs and family - this is thier home after all. And of course I've become very fond of them - I have one patient with multiple handicaps and the day that patient sang to me - three words out of a song - I cannot remember ever being so deeply touched or moved. The effort put forth was beyond anything most of us dream of, it was wonderful. As you can tell, I'm pretty attached to them too and since I'll be able to keep a few of my infusion patients it's not a problem. The agency is still looking for a nurse to be full time but I think given the time of year it won't happen soon. Things around here are a bit different - there are FOUR nursing schools and all of the hospitals hold interviews in January so that when the nurses graduate in May they're all hired. The best time around here to find a job or employee is after Sept when everyone is bored with thier job so I think I might be wearing two hats for a while yet.

I'm Missing A Crown

Last night I got home a little early and was eating dinner when I suddenly discovered an entire tooth missing! I lost a crown and since it was no where to be found - I'd swollowed it. I panicked right away (no sense in putting it off you know) - it was 5:30pm, I have two infusions lined up for tomorrow out in PA and to boot I've been avoiding the dentist so I don't actually have one. David tried to remind me that people are suffering in other countries so losing a crown is not a big deal - he was lucky I was so upset or other people would've been suffering in the dining room. David found the number of his and Jackson's dentist and called - Theresa (his office staff) called back in 5 minutes and told us to come right down and they'd put in a temporary crown. So an hour later I was back in the car temporary crown in place - and I'm making a dentist appointment to have a check up too when I get a free moment. I was just so relieved they could do it on such short notice and yes, I am terribly glad they were able to squeeze me in.  This coming week is going to be a stomach clencher - all of my infusions except for one are landing on the same week and I have two seminars (all day) to go to. One of my infusions called last night to cancel  - he had a good reason and that way I can get something done in the office today but I might end up going out tomorrow morning or Sunday as that's going to be the only time I can do it. The new nurse has started doing visits on her own and that is helping a lot - I spent most of the day yesterday in the office and waded through a ton of stuff. But I still have to go with her for some things - like handing over some of my infusion patients which is harder than  I thought it would be. I have a population of chronic people and most of them I've been taking care of since I started this job. They're upset, I'm upset and I know it'll be hard for Linda since they'll want "thier" nurse. That's not unusual, when I do Mickey's route up in Bridgeport I always tell her I'm going to wear a t-shirt that says "Mickey Is Fine, She Just Took A Day Off". I'm going to be keeping some of my infusion patients but I do have to start handing some over. Transisiton is not always easy.

And Now For Your Viewing Pleasure - Snow.

It started snowing yesterday and by the time I left for work it was coming down hard. When I hit the hill it was scary, the road under the snow was iced and my car actually slid almost halfway down before I was able to stop. I called David and told him not to even think of taking the truck out until they plowed - if my car slid his truck would be slinging. Jackson was home from school AGAIN of course, Tuesday the teachers all called in sick and then it snowed so he's only been to school once this week. They've been fighting over a pay raise - they want 6% and Gov. Manchin has approved a 2.5% so we get the pleasure of Jackson's company again next Wednesday. I took the new nurse out to a couple of visits in town that I knew I could do even if they hadn't plowed and then sent her home around 3pm. I've been making sandwiches at work for people, there is a sudden interest in soy so I made a sandwich for Tammy. Then Susan wanted one and now I'm making an extra for Sophie today. I'm considering just making a sandwich for everyone on Monday and being done with it. They're Tempeh Salad sandwiches - Tempeh is a block of fermented pressed soy beans and is way better than it sounds. On the home front David is almost done with the tacky blue bathroom - I put up some pictures, it looks wonderful doesn't it? I wish I could find some of the old pictures as you really need to see what it looked like before to really appreciate it. I think Pearl is finally coming out of heat thank goodness. It's pushed her whining to the limit and she can sit on the end of the bed and cry for hours in the hopes we will let her out so she can be a Canine Trollop. Nothing doing bucko we told her - so then she would lay under the bed and cry. I am so glad that's over with!

The Fireplace Is Still In Use

After announcing the weather would be getting warmer all last week the Crack Weather Team changed thier mind this morning and now it will be in the 20's with a winter weather watch all day today. Since everything melted a bit yesterday the yard is all brittle ice which makes it fun to walk around. And yes I am aware of how old I am, but I have few neighbors and if I wish to bounce around the yard because I like the noise it makes - well, who's going to see me anyhow? Work was a little stressful yesterday largely due to it being Monday and I also had to orient someone while dealing with all of the odds and ends left over from the weekend. The new per diem nurse is nice, she's from Maryland and lives out Preston county way. David has started working on our bathroom this week, he's tiling the floor as even he can't take it anymore. The floor was improperly laid vinyl curling up at the edges. After he repainted the walls - that was a bit of a task as it was sapphire blue - it looked a hundred times worse. So I came home last night to the toilet sitting elsewhere and all of our bathroom stuff in the bedroom. He's had a bit of lag time - here the work seems to slow down in March instead of February so he decided to get some of these projects done. Jackson is trying to get out of school again, there might a be a teacher's strike today so he thinks there might not be a point in going. I told him he is not staying home because there MIGHT be a strike. Good try though.

Greetings From Cambodia

I got a bunch of emails and pictures from Adam yesterday - they are back in Japan after being out at sea for a couple of months. Adam said Cambodia was a lot of fun, they were in port for quite awhile this time so he really got to see the country. He's still going back and forth as to whether he'll be staying in the navy or not, this month he is staying. Next month he'll be going, we just roll right along with him. I know part of his issue is possibly being transferred from Japan which depending on what's going on that week is either a good thing or a bad thing. But he's happy just to be back on dry land for now and obviously is looking quite well. Jackson is much better too - he still feels a bit dragged out but informed us last night he will be able to go to Applebee's today. Yesterday there was yet another 5 hour marathon of the Dr. Who series and we were forced to sit through the entire thing so we could see the Season Finale. Jackson fell asleep during the last Marathon and missed it - I too would pass out after being subjected to hours of that but I didn't say anything as that would force him to defend English TV. And after that they premired yet another british series based on the adventures of Robin Hood so I 'm sure there will be another marathon coming down the pike. We once again bid good bye to spring yeterday during the first snow squall and now this morning everything is all white and frozen again. I cannot believe I was starting to clean out the hot tub. My lastest project is coming along better than I had thought it would so I'm not going to frog it after all. I have a bunch of infusions for this week so I'll be resurrecting the afgan as I don't have to count the stitches with that.

Saturday

The wind was ripping last night, David went to let the dogs out and could barely push the door open. The upside is that the dogs were able to complete all of thier business in under 30 seconds. With the heavy rain we've had and the melting snow it is a worry, the trees on our property average about 25 feet so if one goes over, it's a big deal. We had one in the backyard go over the first winter we were here and it just barely missed the house - it took David a full day to cut it up it was so big. I've had the dogs out and it appears all of our trees are intact but it was too dark to see the barn so hopefully that survived as well. I've been pestering David about sheep lately, I pass a lot of farms and I know there's one down Baker's Ridge that sells them. Sometimes I think it's such a shame we have a barn and all of this property and no little animals. Sheep to me would be perfect - not only would they keep the pastures cropped but there is all that FREE wool to be had! And that stuff is expensive, we go to craft fairs in the summer and it can go for up to $40 a hank. If we got sheep I would just have all that free wool wandering around waiting for me to come get it. But David says No. He says sheep are smelly and they poop and he doesn't believe they can eat that much grass anyhow. He is such a party pooper. I have to drop my car off today, the never ending saga of the tires. I've noticed that when I start to drive over 80 my car starts shimmying so it's probably out of balance and it needs the oil changed anyhow so we are dropping it off this morning. The brakes are working just fine - I know this because I was standing on them yesterday when an entire herd of deer came leaping out of the woods down on Snake Hill. Spring is really on it's way. We have to do the weekly shopping and Jackson wants to come for that but we'll have to see how he is. He was indeed sick all day yesterday running a temp and so forth, but he seemed better last night so hopefully it's just one of those 24 hour deals. I'm currently working on Ray to come down for Easter, he's saying no of course but usually once I get him thinking of it he changes his mind. He keeps going on about the weather but Easter is a good month away.

Anyone Up For A Mud Bath?

The rain started yesterday - as I had mentioned previously the ground was already saturated so when I took Pearl out this morning you can almost sink into the ground in some spots in our yard. I haven't peeked in the sump yet but it can't be too bad as it hasn't gone on yet. Anyhoo, I did end up doing that class the other day on my own with not much in the way of how to do it. We have an enourmous orientation binder which I started going through with them - after about 2 minutes of that I ditched that - I think I was almost more confused than they were! I went and got the actual packets we use for the admissions and we went through that page by page. That went over well - I know with myself it's easier if I can see what I'm supposed to be doing physically. It took longer than I thought it would and I walked away with a better idea of how to do it the next time. Of course I got asked a few questions I had no idea how to answer but I told them I'd let them know later or they could ask Tammy. I'm taking one of them out on Monday - she has previous experience though so it won't be too long of a process. Jackson is home sick today, he has a virus or something - he was running a temp last night and was a bit gleeful about it. Considering all the snow days they had you would think he's tired of being home. He's also plotting to get us to take him out to Applebee's this weekend, he's let us both know he's pretty sure he'll feel up to it. He's now decided he's going to be a Navy Seal when he graduates, this of course thrills his father who would rather he work down the road at a safe job. I've pointed out that at the age of 17 I was going to be a writer in NYC with my best friend who was going to be doing the art work and we'd be temporarily sharing an apartment waiting for the boatloads of moola to come in. I have also in the past plotted to become a lawyer, baker, sheep herder in Australia and independently wealthy so in the greater scheme of things I have no problem with Jackson being a Navy Seal/psychologist/welder.