I do not like being on call, never have never will. It's stressful in my orderly world, I always need to know when, how and why - on call to me is the chaos of nursing. But aside from a very busy Saturday and some issues with the actual on call service -plus our telephone service through Windstream decided that this week - of all weeks!! - to have the long distance go down nation wide. "Long distance" meaning anything past Mount Morris. Since the cell service out here is sketchy at best it has made it very interesting On the super upside we get paid for it! so that will be more yarn money to squirrel away. I had my 52nd birthday yesterday and got the Kobo Mini reader I've been after - it's so cool. It's really tiny, about 5 inches high by four inches and I can tote it around in my purse. I'm not officially celebrating til this weekend when I'm off call. David had offered to take me out to dinner but by the time I get home I'm tired and if you want to invoke Murphy's Law try going somewhere while you're on call, you're just asking for trouble. David bought me my favorite sundae from Dairy Queen so it was a good day. I'm moving along on my two at a time socks, I've finished the toes and feet and currently am knitting the leg portion up. I did find a pattern I liked that wasn't too hard to keep it from being boring. Reuben is still recovering and has a big hole in his leg from where he pulled the staples out. But it was not cancer so we're glad about that - I can NOT go through that twice!
Reuben is driving us crazy with the stinking cone! When you go downstairs in the morning he can't really see so you end up racing down the stairs with The Cone pushing your butt down the stairs as fast as you can go. He randomly bonks everyone - the cats, Molly, me - and uses it as a weapon when they race around the yard. Molly retaliates by either grabbing the edge and yanking him around or more hilariously - barking down it thereby ringing his bells. We have a blow up collar on underneath that! - we've found he can reach his staples even with the cone on. He had them bleeding the other day and after all the money we've spent this week we certainly don't need to make anymore trips. The staples come out theoretically in two weeks but we'll see how far we get with them. Hopefully it will heal before he sneaky works them loose. We had the tumor bioped but have not gotten the results yet, I think the vet did it as a precaution as it as was much more vascular than expected. All of this has not slowed him down just in case you're wondering. The weather has turned warm again and my thoughts go back to my garden, I've already had to weed it and there's no plants in it. My seedlings are going to have to go in soon though, some of them have roots bursting out the bottom and the rest are squeezing tight. The stinking deer have been lurking around already, maybe they need a little Bonkeroo with the Subaru to keep them out of the yard and out of my garden. Not much coming down the pike - I am on call for the first time this coming Saturday. I do not like being on call, no one does but it's part of the package so off I go. I am pretty disappointed that I will not be getting a day off for working the weekend as I had been promised when I signed on - that REALLY blows big time. It would not have been a total game changer but I certainly would have thought about and discussed it more had I know it was going to be like this. But everywhere you go it's something. I am finally getting the hang of the android I think and will be off of orientation tomorrow. I have actually been on and off orientation since I started, but it worked out. I continue to work on my two at a time socks, I turned the heels (that took some real thought, especially with the short rows and turns) I have two more rows before going back in the round. I have to stop after I do a few rows in the round to make sure the heels are OK, it's the first time I've done them and not totally sure about it. I'll try them on and hopefully they'll be OK as I would hate to have to restart. But the yarn is so expensive it would not be worth it to make socks that no one can wear. So that's all the news for now!
David needed a cap for his truck and after searching the Internet found a shop out in Canton Ohio. A new cap would have been over $1200 - a used cap was about $350 installed. Since I've never been to Canton Ohio I was invited to ride shotgun, a three hour ride through back roads mainly. We left around 8am so we would have time for me to take pictures and if we saw something fun we could do it. The ride was really fun, it's been awhile since just the two of us have doodled around. We stopped many times to take pictures, we saw a truck cap that was the same color as his truck but when we pulled in we saw it wouldn't fit. They had one of those jockeys in the yard that are politically incorrect, I took a picture but didn't post it. I've seen them other places but most people paint them white which in my opinion is just strange, what difference does it make? I will have to google it and let you know. Anyhoo - off we went again and stopped at a barn sale which was freaking freezing I might add. The temps never got out of the 30's and it actually started stinking SNOWING at one point. We found nothing at the barn sale so off we went t the Cap Store. They had a nice lounge area with Net Flix and Free Coffee - it was supposed to take 45 minutes to an hour as they not only have to fit it on but have to do the wiring. There was some sort of issue with the wiring so it took closer to two hours, arrgh! Arrgh again! Triple Arrgh! I did not go to the magical land of Ohio to sit around a car shop! When we were finally released I had the names of three yarns shops. The first one was closed and I might add, a bit on the scary side. It was in a rather shady run down area and had YaRn painted across the window. Eek! The next one was in a swankier part of town, but closed and turned into a bicycle shop. Rats! Third time is the charm and I got to shop in My Sister's Yarn Store which was lovely and I got some sock yarn that I super don't need and a yellow duck tape measure. We started wandering home and about 4 stopped at King's Diner in Steubenville. I had a Hand Breaded Fried Fish on a roll which was suspiciously looking like a not hand breaded fish. But it was what I wanted as it had little to no taste, was fried past the point of Ickyness and was cheerfully buried beneath bread, cheese and tartar sauce. We had pie for dessert and then another two hours to home arriving back at 7 pm. Adam was home with the hooligans all day since Reuben is still post op so he was more than ready to dart off when we got back - had enough of Them. We are having issues with Reuben, he can lick the staples past the cone of shame and nothing else seems to work so we're down to Shrieking Intermittently which seems to be working. Sort of.
I have often said how lucky I am to live on the border of West Virginia - in the spring it gets amazing around here and being out on the road is something else. But it's more than that, I just love it here. I love where I live, my pesky dogs, my silly 1950's bathroom with the homemade plywood cabinets painted a cheery yellow, my patients that are fascinated by the nurse from New York. I'm used to people telling me to be careful when I leave, kicking off my shoes during mud season no matter what policy is ( you want to explain policy after you slogged mud all over some one's clean carpet, you go right ahead!). I know what ramps are and have eaten them on more than one occasion. I did a visit where while speaking to the family had a generous preschooler piling(real) bunnies behind me on the chair and have in my travels admired my fair share of livestock. People here are more generous I think - if we've ever needed anything we have never done without and we share the wealth in return. It's a kinder, gentler pace. Of course there are problems, there's no zoning so someone can pop a trailer and have a dozen rusty cars sprinkled throughout, you can fire your gun off in your yard and sometimes neighbors do get into it. But overall, it's a fun place to live and the only place I feel like I'm home. If I get too far I get homesick beyond belief, I don't know why either but I'm just glad to have somewhere to call my own. We are going to Canton Ohio this weekend, David is getting a cap for his truck so I'm going along for the scenery and to see what I can scope out. My birthday is the 29th and I know what I'm getting already. A Kobo Mini! Super excited yessireebob! It's so tiny you can stick it in your pocket and cart it around. I have a few more rows on the socks and will be turning the heels this weekend, then starting the leg portions. I'm probably going to make at least one more run at the yarn shop that's closing, I'm waiting til next week though. If it's really cheap I'll buy, if not I'll pass it by - it's not like I"m going to run out of yarn anytime soon. David is taking the crew to the vet tomorrow, Reuben has to get the growth taken off his leg so David is dropping him off at 8am. Then at 11:30 he'll bring Molly for her check up, then bring them both home. Better him than me!
Old picture of Pearl - David is holding her favorite toy, an old horse rope she had found
I was on time for my visits yesterday - one of the problems of getting back into the swing of things is being able to schedule all my visits so I have enough time to get from Point A to Point B without losing my mind. One patient was far but I timed it right, well until the deer and I had a cosmic run in. I was calling a doctor and the reception was in and out - so I decided to drive closer to town and went not an eighth of a mile when two deer jumped out of the woods right in front of my car. Thank goodness I wasn't going that fast and managed to stomp the brakes but one bounced off my grill and then fell over the guard rail - I have no idea where the other one went. I put my flashers on and drive to where I could pull over - it really scared me. My car was fine - aside from tufts of fur sticking out of the grill there was no damage. I drove back but there was no sign of the deer at all - I was fine too so I drove back near town and pulled over again to make phone calls. One to the doctor to report the lab results, one to the office and then the last of my patients to let them know why I would be late. It certainly livened up the visits, especially the one where everyone was hanging in the garage and came over to give my car a look see and then I had to give an account of Current Events before going in to see the patient. In other news my hand is recovering from the incident at the vet's last Saturday when Reuben split my hand open. I've had it covered and butterflied since and today it looks like the edges have healed together. I'll probably keep it covered for a few more days to make sure it's healed and not going to reopen - but I'm pleased it healed so well. David is back from Ray's, they had a great time of course. Ray has decided to get a new car so they shopped for that, a new air conditioner and a new TV that David hooked up before he left. Ray found some old pictures he'd taken of Pearl from when we lived in Maidsville, we still miss her greatly, there is a picture of David holding that silly rope she loved. She would toss her head so it looped over her nose and run around the yard like that - you could throw it a million times and she would race for it every time. I love both Molly and Reuben to pieces and I know someday we'll say good bye to the too, but Pearl I have to say, was the hardest of all to lose. And speaking of Molly and Reuben they have both been bad with the running off. Part of the problem is the giant dead deer in the ditch - it's siren song of Stinkiness is too much to resist and once they're in the front yard it's a free for all. So we will be going back to the electric collar for now. Socks are progressing in knitting news, I am getting ready to turn the heels and I'll let you know how it goes. Not a huge fan of the magic loop so far. It's OK but I am missing my DPNs really.
David has gone to NJ to see Ray for a few days - he decided to go this weekend as he has a brief lull and I want him here when I go on call at the end of the month. So it fell on me to Reuben The Ever Car Sick to the vet today for his check up. You have to feel bad for him - he is not having a good time, but you have to feel bad for me too - I REALLY don't have a good time. He won't get in the car so I slid the kitchen door open with one foot, shooed Molly off with the other and carried stiff as a board Reuben out to the car. I slid him in the back seat on a blanket where he laid there like a wilting violet. He drooled buckets but no barfing which I with the Fairly New Car was grateful for. When we got to the vet's I opened the door and leashed him, he panicked and in doing so slammed my hand so hard against the edge of the door he split it open. I went to the back of my car where it became apparent a HUGE advantage of being a visit nurse is you can apply your own pressure dressing from the trunk while the person at the next car is looking a bit queasy. Suck it up sugar pie - really, it was not that bad! We ended up having to wait almost 45 minutes but I had stopped bleeding by then and it gave Reuben plenty of time for hysterical pooping. I have no idea why we brought a sample, after half an hour they could have had their pick of samples. Dr Hyde still loves Reuben Boobin though and we got to see his new yellow lab puppy Mayhem who kept sneaking in the room. Dr. Hyde is very fond of this breed and had nothing but good things to say about Reuben - he said there was no reason to give the nutrition talk since he was a very fit and athletic looking dog. He said he was actually perfect for the breed and he was quite pleased with him. He said he was a very good looking dog and was in perfect health. I have to say Reuben behaves well and allowed a temp, multiple shots and dye in his weepy eye to see if the duct was blocked. It is but they are doing nothing for now, Dr. Hyde said unblocking it would involve anesthesia and other stuff and right now it's not a big deal. He does have to have the growth on his leg removed so I made an appointment for next week to have that done. Reuben is going in at 8am and when he gets picked up at 11:30 Molly is going for her exam and shots, then they both come home. After the vets Reuben was once again inserted into the back seat and commenced drooling but still nothing UNTIL WE GOT TO THE DRIVEWAY. I backed in and as we rolled up towards the garage Reuben barfed up about 3 days worth of food, filling the new leather backseat up and getting everywhere but on the blanket. Sigh.Oh well, at least it will be David's turn next week.
For some reason I was wondering how long exactly I've had this blog - so I went back to the beginning. Can it really be nine years in July? That we've spent the past ten years dorking here and there before landing in sunny Pennsyltucky where the sun always shines and days never end? In Gerards Fort where all the popular people live? All six of us! In July of course I'll do a synopses of the past ten years but time does fly when you don't know how to stay put. I am working towards being (officially) off orientation at work which will be a relief. I do not like being on orientation anywhere, it just makes me feel unsettled and fretting. It's going a bit better this week I think, you know I figured I'd just step right back into my old shoes and off I'd go. But it's been almost four years and some things need some time. Doing labs and wound vacs came back fast, using a INR machine weirdly enough did not. You need a drop of blood not too big not too small and it took a few tries, eek!! But it is coming together and more importantly I'm enjoying myself again. The two at a time socks are rolling along - had a little bit of a scary time when I tried to switch needles for a longer circular. It took me a couple of tries to get it straight and then the new needles I bought - they stunk! They stunk ALOT. The yarn kept catching on it and I ended up having to put the socks back on the shorter needles. Bastards!
I finally got my magic loop socks started after a week or so of false starts. I was busy doing other things - like working for money - so it was hit and miss. I was getting very frustrated, it's hard to figure it out from a book no matter how well it's explained and illustrated. I tried the step by step pictures by figuring out which way the yarn goes and where my hands should be - hopeless. And I knew once I figured it out it would be clear, but figuring it out - arrgh!! I went back to my old stand by YouTube and after peering at a few tutorials finally figured it out (other things I've figured out on You Tube is how to use a cough assist on a ventilator dependent patient and how dialysis works. Love You Tube)I started on a size two and downsized after a few rows rather than restarting. It took me so long to get it going I was afraid to frog it and start again. I am pretty much off of orientation of work, I was home early one day - and pretty late on Friday. I had a lot of patients and of course a lot of things going wrong. Nothing major - couldn't find the first house, left the plug for my android at the office so by the last couple of visits I was going as fast as possible before it died, the last visit of the day could not find the house for love or money. Then I had to go back to the office to rescue my plug, then home. But not too late and it does happen. I went to the Craft Barn on Saturday morning to pick up my replacement needles from the ones that Molly sat on but didn't buy yarn because I was heading for the one that's going out of business which is pretty sad. This is the third yarn shop that's closed in the past year. A new one opened but it's up near Pittsburgh and it's hard for even me to justify that. So I got some beautiful alpaca lace weight yarn and will most likely be back if the prices drop again, she's down to 50% off but it's a catch 22. I'm sure the price will drop but when it does there won't be much left. My seedlings are starting to grow but I think it's still to early to plant them, isn't it? The weather finally warmed up for real today, but it's windy and overcast so it's a mitigated, but I'll take when I can.
Do you realize in just a few weeks we will have lived here, in this very house, for TWO years? That's right! We bought our home on my fiftieth birthday which was one of the finest birthdays I have ever had. This year, for my 52nd birthday I will be hoping for a Kobo Mini. You can't get a house every year you know. Two years have brought a lot of changes. We got a new dog Reuben. Our beloved Pearl passed away. We got another very unexpected - but very welcome and loved - dog named Molly. One son moved home to start college, the other got married - both forging new paths. David took the giant leap of buying a foreclosure to resell. And I left management and went back on the road as a visit nurse. My job is going fun if you're wondering - it's stressful at times but over all I enjoy my new co-workers. One of the other nurses and I were coming back from a job (I was learning admissions) and we were laughing so hard I couldn't breath - it's been a long time since I've had the opportunity to laugh like that. Working with my former and now my current boss has been nice, new day, new world. She's been there a year as of last week, time passes. So I am busy, happy sort of days. I stopped at a yarn store today that had opened last year, sadly they're closing already. I think it was the location personally, most people didn't even know she was there and Morgantown already has a yarn shop down town that's been there for years. I like that store better, it's in a little hole in the wall store and you have give the big door a push to get into the foyer. My replacement needles are there so I have to stop by - when I was making my shawl Molly sat on one of my interchangeable needles and refused to get off so we tussled a little. Actually I tried to get it back and she thought it was a game so she did most of the tussling. In the midst of all those hijinks's the needle broke. Dammit. But I emailed Cecilia at the yarn shop and she ordered me a new set which I will pick up either Friday or Saturday - this is why I try not to shop at a chain store. You just don't get that kind of service. I have made a couple of attempts at two at a time socks - not going well, not going well at all. I'm giving it a couple more attempts though, it's driving me crazy that I can't do it. Arrgh.
