More Snow Day

The kids built a couple of snowmen today. The oldest girl put this one together with minimal help from the youngest girl. Mostly the rolling of the base. I know, you're probably thinking there's not too much interesting about a snowman but...
take one look at that face!
He kinda looks like an angry old man...crazy hair, eyebrows, and beady eyes. She was pretty proud until her dad came home and added "enhancements" in the form of two size DD snowballs on her snow"man"'s chest. Don't worry, he comes by it honestly. He says his dad used to do the same thing!

Snow Day!

Yeah!!! School was cancelled today for both the kids and I! We are so excited! The forecast is calling for between 5 and 10 inches of snow! Right now, there isn't too much but it's still snowing pretty good. It's nothing like the snow that my friend Joyce has to deal with up on Illinois but it is a lot for us! The kids are ready to go out and play but we're waiting for it to accumulate a little better. Or maybe I'm just being mean. All they wanna do is ggoooo oooouuuuttttssssiiiiddddeee!!!!!! (Insert whine there.)
We have a little in the back...
and a little in the front.
We'll see how it is by the end of the day!

Fun in the Country

We went out and had dinner with Meme and GG this afternoon. We took the four wheeler out and the kids had fun. It was so nice to see the oldest being sweet to his baby sister!
The babies.
The oldest is entering a fine arts contest with church. We went out to take advantage of the late afternoon light. It's hard to see but my hubby and youngest son were playing football down in the right corner.

Oh, here they are!
The oldest walking through the field trying to find the best vantage point for his winning picture!
GG was nice enough to help instruct him on the finer points of photography.
We had a really nice time. Thank you for having us out, Meme and GG. We loved it!

Where did the apple fall from the tree?

These people are my parents. Don't they look great?! Often the phrase "the apple didn't fall far from the tree", is used to describe people who act like their parents. I know some people who hope the wind blew the apple off the tree, down the hill, through the creek, and into the woods. Not me, I hope that this apple landed somewhere in the middle. I tend to act like them both in different ways. This is their staff picture from church. I was so struck by how young they still look and how active they are. I just love this picture.

Welcome to the blogging world!

My cousin, Sheila has now become an official blogger! Sheila is my senior by four years and I am her name-sake. She's Sheila Jeanette, I'm Shelly Annette. We were frequently together until Sheila graduated high school and I moved to the "big city." I can remember following her with the devotion of a beagle while she would gnash her teeth in misery. As we've gotten older, we've gotten closer.
This picture is priceless (mostly because I stole it from her myspace). Note the matching bangs and lipgloss. Mmmm, pearly pink. Just lovely. I probably would have had the loop earrings and blue eyeshadow as well, if only my mom would have let me wear them!

What I was aspiring to...

Do you remember what your secret ambitions were? No, not what you wanted to do for a living. The things that daydreams are made of. Some girls dream of singing on stage, or being in a movie, or writing a great novel. No, not me. I wanted to be an American Gladiator!
NBC has brought this show back this season. We watched it tonight. Oh yes, I know. I read on the Internet that it is the epitome of white trash TV. I really don't care. It's great entertainment. Maybe I should start working out again. I wonder how long it would take to get into good enough shape to at least compete? ha ha ha ha

I've been tagged!

I've been tagged by Lisa. The last time I was tagged, I never completed it, so I thought this time I would- so here goes nothin'!

Four jobs I've had:
1. Secretary
2. Office Manager
3. Car Salesperson
4. Nurse

Four places I lived:
1. Oklahoma
2. Arkansas
3. Louisiana
4. Florida

Four movies I've watched over and over:
1. Hope Floats
2. Shagg
3. Dirty Dancing
4. 7 Brides for 7 Brothers

Four shows I watch:
1. Crossing Jordan (thank goodness for DVR)
2. The first 48
3. Medical Incredible
4. Trauma Life in the ER

Four places I've been:
1. San Antonio, TX
2. Seattle, WA
3. Atlanta, GA
4. Albuquerque, NM

Four people who e-mail me regularly:
1. Mom
2. Debbie
3. Angie
4. Aunt Betty

Four favorite thing to eat:
1. Mexican
2. Chinese
3. Grilled Chicken
4. Brocolli

Four places I'd rather be:
1. The Beach
2. Closer to the equator
3. Fayetteville
4. An art museum

Four things I look forward to this new year:
1. Changing schools
2. New career choices
3. Remodeling the basement
4. Spending time with my family

Four people to tag:
1. Mandee
2. Shawna
3.Britney
4. Kim

How Time Flies

Ahhh, look how sweet and innocent they look. This was taken in the summer of 2000. Back when they really were babies. My, how time flies!

15 Incredibly Stressful Hours

I went to work this morning at 0630, excited because I was sure that it was going to be a wonderful day. We have recently switched to primary care, which means that each nurse is responsible for the total care of each patient. In team nursing, one nurse gives medication while another does assessments, etc... I had eight patients today that I was responsible for giving medication, doing assessments, all of the charting, as well as treatments and all of the other hundreds of things that are required of a nurse each day. Our discharge nurse was out sick today. I discharge a couple throughout the day and then admitted a couple. Not only that but we had 4 nursing students until 1500 and a new set of 4 came in at that time. One would think that having students would take some of the workload off but in reality it makes things harder. With supervising most things they do and checking behind them, it makes the daily "routine" get off-balance. About 1700, after only sitting on my hind-end for about 15 minutes total (including lunch), I began to REALLY anticipate giving report and going home.
About that time the D.O.N. approached me with staying late because we had two call ins and our census was almost full. She let me know that she was staying late too. I couldn't very well say no when she herself was staying, now could I? It was strange to finish up a shift only to turn around and start another one all over again.
At 1630 a call came in over the radio that the ambulance was bringing in a male with end-stage CHF who was unresponsive. Come to find out it was a patient that I had recently taken care of that reminded me of my grandpa. I took care of him just last week and he was active, walking up and down the halls. He had lots of stories to tell. He really seemed to be on the mend. He is now on the vent and not expected to breath on his own when they take him off if it. That's the thing about working in a small town hospital. A lot of my patients become more like close friends or family. When they die it really gets to me.
Long, long day. I got home at 2200. I'm so tired.
One the positive side, I sort of got a new job. Well, I'll keep the one that I have a few days a month but on Wednesday's I'll be assisting Dr. S. in the GI clinic that he is starting in the hospital.

Those Crazy Canadians

NOTE: I mean no disrespect to any Canadians.
I finally invested in a CHI straightener a couple of months ago and I LOVE, LOVE it! Makes my hair so soft and glossy! This morning I noticed the warning label on it.
Now tell me, do you think that there is a Canadian out there who was trying this? eh?

Baby Girl

This is my baby. Doing dishes. We have a dishwasher that gets PLENTY of use but she likes doing dishes by hand. The strange thing is that with the youngest it is hard to let them do other chore type things that are required of the older kids. It's not that I favor her therefore she doesn't have to do hard chores: it is that the more she is able to do, the less she seems like my baby.

MALE Engineer Logic

This is a typical conversation with my husband and myself. Me being the curious type. He being the analytical, logical type.

Me: Honey, why is it that when something smells bad, it is called an odor but if something smells good, it's called an aroma?

Hubby: I guess the same reason that a touch is called a caress when it's wanted but most of the time you call it a grope.
Yes, he did say you. (Me)

This was really hilarious to me but that may be because I'm deliriously sleep deprived today. Everything is really funny to me right now.

What a load off...

This week was kinda crazy.
Monday - I was called in to work 7a-7p to cover for someone that called in sick. Kids had basketball that night.
Tuesday - I had class all day and one of kids had a basketball game.
Wednesday - went out of town to take ACT and writing tests.
Thursday - I had class all day. More basketball games.
Friday - I worked 7a-7p. More basketball games.
Saturday - Basketball practice and then I'll work 7p-7a. (Hopefully, my last night shift for a while!)
On top of all of this was dealing with one kid in band and practice for that, kids' homework, MY homework, and everything else that a family has to deal with.
My point in telling you all of this is that Meme did something very special for us this week. She came over and cleaned my house and did some laundry. She even took some of our blankets and quilts home to wash them for us! It was such a relief to walk into a clean house that I didn't have to clean! Plus, she's offered to do it on a consistent basis! Hallelujah!

Second Post Tonight

I'm so excited! I finally figured out how to make the link in my post show up as words or phrases! I know that everyone out there in blogland is probably thinking, "Where has she been?" but I figured it out on my own. I was too embarrassed to ask any of my blog friends how to do it. So now here I am, telling everyone. Oh well...
You don't think that's over-kill do ya?

This one's for Meme

Meme, my hubby's mom, bought the kids fleece sheets for Christmas. She washed them for us. Yes, washed them for us. No, not because we couldn't or wouldn't, just because she is nice like that! Anyway, it was too warm the last few days to put them on so tonight they are sleeping on them for the first time. Hopefully, they haven't had too much to drink!
So anyway, since Meme is my most faithful reader, I thought I would add a couple of pictures of the younger two as they went to bed all cuddled up in their new fleece sheets.

The oldest girl is still at her basketball game. I hate when they go to away games without us there. I worry about everything. The oldest boy is at home but he really wanted no part of taking pictures right now. The older he gets, the harder it is to get a picture of him; without a scowl anyway!

My Girl

This is my girl. Well, other than my daughters. The relationship with a niece is completely different than that of a mother/daughter. I have a couple of aunts who I can share anything with. Things that I wouldn't tell another soul in the world, I can tell them without fear of judgement or condemnation. I hope that is the relationship that I will have with Edana. (AKA: Addy or Ed, depending on who is talking to her.) I really enjoyed seeing her this weekend!

The "Cookie Bribes" are working!!!

A while back I posted a blog about my hubby bribing our nephews with his famous chocolate chip cookies. I was skeptical about his plan to win them over but I think it worked.

Last week, he proved it with his sister's baby.

I thought it was a coincidence until my sister and her husband came to visit this weekend. It worked on her baby too! He spent the whole weekend following his uncle Shawn around and grinning like a goose every time he saw him.

Snuggled up like bugs in a rug with my sister's baby.

Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy just looking at the pictures!

Nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.

I scheduled a couple of big tests for Wednesday the ninth. That's got me a little nervous. Just because that's the kind of person I am. I'll do fine and I know that but it doesn't help too much. I know it's strange but that's just me.
Classes start back Monday. Well, really I'm not too nervous about that. I'm becoming an "old hat" with that routine.
What's really gotten me worked up is switching from night shift to day shift. I'm a night owl. I've always had problems going to be early and waking up early. I'm not the type to be up at 6 am stripping the sheets off the beads and cleaning the baseboards. I'm more like the very fair skinned, long-toothed character in an Ann Rice novel. Well, besides killing people and drinking their blood. I don't mind drawing it into a vial though. I'm one of those people that will stay up all night long to go to the day after Thanksgiving sale just to avoid having to wake up that early. Crazy, I know. Then why am I switching? Well, my kids were really starting to miss me. Plus, I felt bad that every Saturday when they were home, they were having to be quiet in order to avoid "waking the beast"!
Hopefully, I will adjust quickly!
On another note, The Sooners are getting skunked. :(