In Their Boots....

I find myself thinking about the reason I started this blog only 2 short years ago, and how much our lives have changed since then. In December 2007, Bre was active duty Air Force, having been injured and a member of the 319 at Lackland. We were finishing our first year as an Air Force family.

We are still an Air Force Family. And we will always be......

Breannas journey might have taken a short detour from honorable discharge with a re-entry code that will allow her to be an airman again, to surgery to repair her injury, to starting college and looking forward to the aspirations of commissioning in as an officer. No matter what we are given, the thread of military runs deep in our lives. I never knew how strong this connection could be.

Quite by accident, I found a website called "In Their Boots". This is a profound project, highlighting families of military and how the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan affects them. Please visit www.intheirboots.com and spend some time there, it will amaze you.

May God Bless these families and their soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen, you are all heroes to me.

Back in the house

I dont even expect anyone to be here reading my blog, since I have been absent from blogging for so long. But here I am... back in the house!!

I realized that I miss blogging and even if I dont do it every day, it is cathartic and I can bitch without anyone really complaining to me about it so here I am.

I have also decided that the hiatus from blogging has allowed me to open my blog again to people who are not subscribers, so I am back and not a private blog any more!!

WOOT!

SNOW!!!!!!!!

We woke up to at least 3 inches of fluffy, beautiful snow this morning! Just made my day!

I love love love snow. Unfortunately we have to fly to Oklahoma today. I hope it snows some more this weekend!

I remember when I was little we used to trick or treat with our ski jackets on, and sometimes we trudged through snow and didnt think anything about it. The winters have been so mild recently I thought maybe the weather patterns had changed. Maybe not???

Will post more when we return from the funeral.

Sadness...

We lost my dad yesterday morning. His battle with cancer is finally over. I am still numb.

Goodbye daddy, my friend, my teacher, my mentor, you made me laugh and cry and you even made me mad on occasion.

All of my life I have followed your footsteps, you have been my hero, I have looked up to you and you never disappointed me.

I will miss you, I love you.

Its a matter of time..

Sorry I havent been around so much lately, life has been crazy. As many of you know, my dad has been living in a transitional care unit at our local VA medical center since May of this year.

He has cancer that isnt being treated, (his wishes) and has really had quite a good go of it over the last several months. The wonderful staff at the VA have made sure he is taken care of and all of us girls and grandkids have been visiting.

Last week, he took a turn for the worse. On Friday he fell, and I believe, he suffered a stroke that caused him to fall. By Sunday, he was turning semi responsive and refusing to eat.

So now we wait...... we knew this was inevitable, but it is hard nonetheless. After losing my mom in February, we knew my dad would not last for very long. They were always together and so close.

I will try to keep you all updated on things as they develop.

Viva Las Vegas!!

Dana and I are taking off for a few days ALONE in Vegas! yay! We leave for the airport in an hour and hopefully will have some good days in the sun relaxing and deprogramming from all of the yuck and crap we have had to deal with at work and in real life!

Not answering cell phones and only checking facebook online.

Be back on Thursday!! woo hoo!

Some People Just Suck!

I dont know how far back to go to preface this post, so here goes...

Last year, actually about a year and a half ago, we obtained a new ER nurse manager. She was one of our hospital educators and a nice enough person. She had a lot to clean up with our dept that had not really had a consistent manager in over 2 yrs and she did do a few good things but then she started getting flaky.

She kept trying to get certain people to quit, tried to fire one of our techs who was being deployed and just pretty much kept the whole department in turmoil for the better part of the last 6 months. She left me alone because I think I was more valuable to her than other people, I knew the new computer program inside out and she needed someone who was knowledgeable to implement the conversion to the new system.

Upper management finally had enough complaints about her I guess and about 2 weeks ago, they asked for her resignation. So she resigned, and her successor has been named.

Today I find out that she actually joined facebook and friended me to spy on me and see if I was saying anything about her on freaking facebook! Are we in high school????? First off, I would never say anything about her in a public forum like that and secondly, anything that I did say was in private message to others and she couldnt see it anyway.

She must have found out today that I figured everything out. She deleted her facebook membership! I was getting ready to block her! LOLOL

What a mess, huh? For an adult professional in a supervisory position she really is acting like a child..... sheesh

studying forensics

I am gone for the next 5 days at a forensics training seminar in Colorado Springs. I am taking my laptop with me, hopefully will have a chance to post.

see you all soon!

Rocky Mountain High....

Today, Dana, Bre and I took a day trip. We headed to the mountains! Spent most of the day in Aspen, one of my favorite places on earth.

The leaves are changing, the weather is changing and winter is in the air!

We had a great lunch at Boogies, walked in the mall and saw part of a rugby match. The mountain air really cleared my head and I didnt think about work drama, or computer go-lives or upcoming forensic training once.

We saw statues of horses, pigs and even chairs made of old ski's.
Almost heaven, thats what it was.....

And before I go, this is the ridiculous statue that the town where Dana works bought. It is in the roundabout right in the middle of town. This would be the town who cannot afford to keep its ambulance service..... morons.

What has happened since I blogged last.

well lets see....

Dana and I have been very busy, work is crazy which is weird for the summer, at least we have jobs, huh? LOL

I have been on an implementation team to bring an electronic documentation module to our ER, I did this when I worked in PA, but on a much larger basis. We are set to "go live" with that next week. I am really looking forward to it. I have been training my co workers for the last 3 weeks, I partnered with one of our night shift nurses to do the training. It was so much fun, wish I could do it full time.

Dana is still working, we dont know for how long. In January of 2009, the psycho hose-beast who is the "town manager" for the little town where he works, has decided that she wants to discontinue having Emergency services for that area. So she gave them until December of 2009 and then she was going to shut them down. Several things have transpired over the last 8 or 9 months and we basically dont know what is going to happen. Now they have postponed shutting down the service until July 2010, so we have at least that long. What a freaking mess!! I dont know who died and made her the queen but she isnt getting much opposition so who knows...

Dana cannot work for the EMS agencies here locally because they are all firefighter/paramedics and they do both jobs. Not sure what the future will hold for him next year.

We are going on a cruise in January for our 10th anniversary! Neither of us have been on a cruise before and I am really really looking forward to it! We will be cruising the Eastern Caribbean, with stops in Princess Cay Bahamas, St Martens, St Thomas, and back through Grand Turks island. We are counting down the days!

We will leave January 9, fly to Ft Lauderdale FL and return on January 18. WOO HOO!!

Breanna is going strong, working and going to college. She is a Sophomore now, and enjoying it very much. We are very proud of her perseverance. Her major is Political Science/pre law and she still plans to commission back into the USAF. She usually does what she puts her mind to, so I have faith that she will be back in those dress blues again! And she is learning to speak Japanese!

Now that I have you buys brought up to speed a little, I will sign off. Have a great weekend, and enjoy the last days of summer!

Wait until you hear this!

Wow, cant believe that its Thursday already! I had a great birthday on Tuesday, in spite of the required meetings that I had to attend.

My middle sister and bil came over and we dodged raindrops on our deck eating cake and ice cream until we had to come inside. Fall weather in western Colorado is very unpredictable.

I worked yesterday, did computer training for 9 hours. I was the trainer! we have a go-live next week for our new electronic documentation module, I really love messing with computers and clinical informatics is a job that I would love having. When we started this journey back in June, I was asked if I would like to become a part of the IT department and be their nurse liaison, working with clinical informatics. I said, ummm YES! But it was 2 of the IT techs that asked me, no one with any particular hiring clout, so I doubt that it will ever be mentioned again.

So, back to the topic of this post. Wait until you hear this!! You all know that the one reason that I had to make this blog private was because of my moron ex and his idiot wife. Well, last weekend when Breanna was in Denver, she called and said she was posting on Twitter about how their weekend was going, etc. So I joined Twitter to see what was up with her. Thats about all I have done on Twitter, actually I forget that I belong most of the time.

But guess who is following me on Twitter???? yep! The morons idiot wife..... She is following me and one other person. Now why do you think she is doing that??? I guess she has no freaking life or something. I could block her, does anyone know if I block someone on Twitter will it notify them?? I dont want to be a bitch, I just want her to leave me alone. know what I mean? And I sure dont want the moron ex to have any clue about what is going on in my life.

I dont think I mentioned this before but I am on Nutrisystem. I have been on program for 7 weeks going on 8 weeks and have lost 17.9 lbs!! woot!

It is a really healthy weight loss program, and I love being able to just open a package and there is my meal. All I do is add some vegetables and fruit and I am good to go. Dana is really helping, he cooks his own meals most of the time, and Breanna usually does her own, so its all working well. Only problem right now is, I have a lemon cheesecake candle on the candle warmer and I am now dying for cheesecake. LOL Looks like I will have to go turn that candle off!

Have a good Thursday y'all!

Its so cool to see everyone

I am so glad that you all joined me here on my "private" blog. Hope its not too much of a hassle for you.

Lisa, you mentioned that now I can blog about whatever I want, that is essentially right. I dont have to worry about being censored or blogging about something that is taboo, especially where work is concerned.

Michelle, I dont think my ex or his wife has enough sense to even make a blog, they were posting my pictures and descriptions of things that we were doing with Breanna on his families blog. I guess someone in the family has enough brains to actually create a blog and send links to close family members. I viewed the blog once under a sign in that Breanna had, and it was a scary place! LOL

So, sadness hits our entertainment world again, we lost Patrick Swayze. I am sure you all are aware of that already and probably knew it before I did. I just found out when I got home from work. The news made me start thinking about all of his movies and just which one I liked the most. And I have 2 favorites, the first one is "Road House" and the 2nd one is "To Wong Fu, thanks for everything, Julie Numar". Dirty Dancing is my 3rd favorite.

What movie was your favorite?

Rest in Peace Patrick, your fans are mourning your passing tonight..

Its a private occasion!

I have made my blog private, I hope this doesnt add a lot of extra hassles to everyone but It nauseates me to know my ex and his wife were reading about my life, and Breanna's life here on the blog.

It never occurred to me that they would have the guts and the ability to find my blog and to steal stuff from it, but I guess you never underestimate the power of obnoxiousness.

So, I can now tell you a little about my ex, he was a controlling, obnoxious, big mouth, adultering asshole. Breanna has pretty much cut him out of her life, and I have been fairly successful in erasing him from my life. My regret is that I wasted nearly 21 yrs on a life of misery and anguish married to him. I still get anxious when holidays grow near because holidays were always the time that he picked to be extra mean and abusive. My birthday was his favorite time to be horrible. We always ended up in a huge fight and it was always my fault, funny how that is, especially when I am not a confrontational person.

I remember well how I would think "well there goes my birthday". As he storms out slamming doors, screeching tires and hitting walls, throwing pictures, you name it, he did it. Except hit me. He was afraid of my dad, thats what kept him from hitting me.

On a lighter note, lets move on to something less depressing. Breanna is loving life! She has a great job, great friends, and is loving college. She is taking her first year of Japanese and wants to continue with it until graduation. She has a chance to go to Japan and visit her "friend" who is stationed there in the Air Force, wish we could send her, but it is darned expensive!!! She wanted to go for Christmas, I would like to see her take some of her student loan money and go in the spring, I think she would be able to afford it then. Time will tell, I guess, its up to her.

Right now she and several of her college friends are driving home from Denver where they attended an "anime con", just what college kids should be doing!

Dana and I are great, we are looking forward to a trip to Vegas in 3 weeks, I can hardly wait.
So, I will now attempt to get back into the blogging world. I am not promising to blog daily, I think that really burned me out, but I am back with bells on!!

Thanks for reading.

On Hiatus

It has come to my attention, like I said before that most of the pictures of Breanna and all of the info that I have posted here have been stolen and reposted on another family blog as belonging to my ex.

Therefore, I am discontinuing this blog until another time in which I will make a new blog, probably a private one.

Thanks for reading, you can find me on facebook!

Happy July 4th!!

Happy 4th to you all! Please take time today to say a prayer for all of the brave men and women who are fighting to preserve our freedom. And for those who have fought in the past also.. We spent some time with my dad today, he is currently residing at a transitional care unit of our local VA hospital. It really makes me feel good to drive onto this campus and see flags flying. A flag for every state in the union accompanied by a US flag right next to it.

The only people able to take advantage of this facility are veterans. You see many different age groups there, even young soldiers who have lost limbs and are recovering waiting to go home. One thing I have noticed is that these men and women all have smiles on their faces, and the staff is always laughing, joking and chatting with the residents. What an amazing place. We are all so blessed for my dad to be able to be a resident there... thank you God.

Now some news from our neck of the woods. Bre is in California. She and 6 of her college friends are on a road trip to one of the largest anime conventions in the US. They are having a ball, and will start the long drive home tomorrow evening. I expect her to sleep for 2 days when she gets home. LOL this is a real treat for her, she has been working very hard in the last year and she deserves a break.

Dana and I are still working like slaves, I am working one week a month on an implementation team at work, and we are building an electronic documentation program for our nursing documentation in the ED. I LOVE doing this and would give anything to be able to turn my career away from patient care and into clinical informatics. Now I just have to figure out where I can work! LOLOLOL

I am scheduled for surgery on my hand on July 14th so we will have to see if I can type after that, I may be hunting and pecking without the use of half of my right hand for a week or two. LOLOL I just have to have a tendon release, nothing big, just an annoyance. So much for my vacation from work.

Have a great day everyone! Enjoy your weekend!

well here I am

I'll bet you all thought I had fallen off of the face of the earth, didnt you? No such luck, LOL here I am.

I have been active on face crack and even thought about deleting my blog because I keep thinking that I am not holding up my end of the deal by not posting here much anymore, then I realized that I built this blog to talk about Breannas journey with the Air Force, and since she is venturing that way again someday maybe I should keep it up.

I have had it brought to my attention though, that someone has "borrowed" a pic or two from my blog to publish on another blog online, so I wont be posting too many pics of Bre anymore because I would like to choose where MY pictures are posted.

I know the internet intimately, I know how easy it is to right click and "save" pictures, but It still makes you feel weird when you see your pictures posted on someone elses website...

I am still mulling around the idea of making this blog private, what do you guys think?

I got my answer!

Thanks to all who commented, I guess there are still some of us out there who read blogs. It was a great feeling to see that others are still reading.. Facebook has not completely taken over.

Just a few random things to talk about: We are trying to get my dad situated in a long term care facility. He is currently wheel chair bound and living in a transitional care wing of our local VA medical center. what an amazing place! it has been a real saving grace for us, since my dad's health is declining pretty fast and he cannot live alone.

His desire is to return to Oklahoma and live in an Oklahoma vets center down there, and we intend to honor his wishes. I think its important to be able to live in a place that you love, and he deserves to live his last days in his home state.

So, another trip to Oklahoma is probably in my future. unfortunately, we cant get him to fly..

Breanna is doing well, she is working hard at her job and planning a trip with 8 or 9 of her closest friends to Los Angeles in 2 weeks to attend a huge anime convention. What a fun trip this is shaping up to be! We are going to let her drive Dana's Escape, so she is in a more dependable car than her 12 yr old 150,000 mile used car. And one of her friends was raised in LA and he is used to driving their freeway system so he will help he with driving. All of the kids (their are 2 car loads) are staying in the same hotel and 5 of them have never been to California, so it should be a great time. I wish I had been able to do something like this when I was in college.

I have the next 3 days off from work, woo hoo! I hope to post a few blog posts so you all know I am still here! thanks for reading!

Is anyone reading blogs anymore?

Just checking, I have had so few comments from people that I am wondering if anyone is still really reading blogs. If so, let me know by a comment, even if it is a small one.

If not... maybe I wont feel so bad about missing posting now and then.

Where in the hell is Matt?

Breanna told me about this guy, who quit his mundane job to travel the world and dance.. 42 months in the making, all over the globe, let me introduce you to Matt:

Sooo.....

Here I am without a lot to write about. Life as I know it is pretty boring.

I have worked most of this week, with the little "mandatory" things that I have to do with my job, I end up in the hospital 4 or 5 days a week, which, to most of you is probably nothing. But since I work almost 40 hours in my 3 required days to work, anything else is added on.

And I live for my days off. I have worked way too many years in the ER to live for my job, thats for sure. I saw the new Showtime show "Nurse Jackie" and it is freakishly realistic. Someone on that shows production staff has actually worked in an ER, or at least they have a relative who has.

All I can say about work this week, is that is sure was a full moon!

Breanna is loving her job, and planning a trip to California around the 4th of July with a bunch of friends, they are going to attend a huge anime convention in Los Angeles, so all of you who live in CA, BEWARE!!

Dana is being considered for a new job here in Grand Junction, he has gone through 3 of the required levels for employment, please keep your fingers crossed for him. The company he currently works for is going to be closing at the end of this year and paramedic jobs are not very plentiful.

Ok! more to come! I will try to be more imaginative tomorrow!

Lets try this again..

I tried to post some pics last night of our trip to Moab Utah, but I am still learning how to do things on my computer so it didnt quite work out. Lets try this again.

Sunday morning Dana, Bre and I went to Moab to check out "Newspaper Rock", which is a large display of native american petroglyphs out in the middle of nowhere. It is pretty awesome, about 20 feet tall by 30 feet wide and literally covered with drawings. 

Can you see the face in this rock? It looks just like an indians face to me, I wonder if this is the reason why they chose to write in this area. Newspaper Rock is at the base of this formation.

Just a few pics of the Eastern Utah scenery...

Here are some examples of the petroglyphs. I love the ones with the footprints on them, all of the feet had 6 toes!

Some of the drawings are from different tribes, and include wagon wheels, and men on horseback. This one even has a buffalo in it.

Hope you enjoyed the little tour, stay tuned for more in the future!

I am an Apple head!

We went to Best Buy last night and I bought a new laptop! It is an Apple MacBook Pro, and the most amazing thing since ice cream was invented!

I am totally in love and never thought I would be an Apple Head, but I am. And I am learning quickly.

My Gateway is only just about 1 1/2 yrs old but the CD ROM just went out and the keys are almost worn off! I am going to wipe it clean and then sell it on ebay.

So, news from here? Not much. I worked 4 days this week, spent 3 in the ER and one in diabetic resource training. I even had to go and be "credentialed" in giving and reading TB tests! Ohhhhh Kaaaayyyy.... I have probably given upwards towards 1000 TB tests in my career and read probably double of that, but if the hospital wants to pay me to learn to do it, then I guess I will take them up on it. LOL

We are still experiencing a huge influx of unemployed patients in the ER. Its a sad deal, but most of the people arent really having problems with it, they pretty much seem like they enjoy not working. whats wrong with this picture?

Tomorrow, Dana, Bre and I are going to take a day trip to Moab UT and visit "newspaper rock", which is an area full of petroglyphs from the Ute indians. I am looking forward to it, hopefully it will be a beautiful day!

I will post pics as soon as I can! Have a great Sunday, everyone!

Random Thoughts

Just a few random thoughts for today.

For starters, I have something to say to "Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad". Just WHY do you think that you can drive up to a military recruiting office and open fire on our soldiers?? These men are serving their country, something that you are obviously too chicken-shit to do. You arent good enough to even breathe the same air that they breathe, you murdering sonofabitch. I hope you rot in hell. Or better yet, come visit me in our ER for one day, I promise that you will not forget your experience!

OK, now on a much lighter note. Dana has another job interview this week! Please wish him luck! I dont remember if I posted about this, but his job is ending this year, and so he is being forced to find a different job. This is not an easy task for a paramedic in Western Colorado, because the vast majority of the jobs are filled with "dual service" paramedics (these guys are firefighters and paramedics all wrapped up in the same package).

He was interviewed last week for one job, and he has a psychological eval this Friday for that one, and now he has another interview! WOO HOO!!!

We are thinking about planning a cruise for our 10th anniversary in January. Any recommendations for the best place to cruise to in January? we have never been on a cruise, so all suggestions will be appreciated!

And last of all, I am now a member of our local SANE program, its time for me to get back into forensic exams again. I have taken a break for almost 2 yrs and I am ready to go back. Summer is a busy time!

Have a good week everyone, I have to work for the next 3 days straight. I will try to post, but who knows how successful I will be. LOL

I have my own TV show!!

Bre has seen the premier episode of this new Showtime series "Nurse Jackie" and she has already told me. The main character is me. LOLOL

I am getting ready to watch the show, but after seeing this trailer, I think she is right. Take a look!

This afternoon at the mall...

Bre and I went to the mall to do some shopping for sunglasses. Since I am getting ready to switch to contacts (I got them last week but one of the trial pair was torn so I had to order another one) I want to get some real sunglasses.

We were standing in line at A&W for our lunch, and this older well dressed man, came over leaned in front of me and asked the clerk who was waiting on me "how much are your small sodas?". It kind of took her by surprise and she stuttered out $1.69... he said "WHAT? $1.69 for a SMALL soday? thats ridiculous!!! " then he turned to walk away. I told the girl "and how rude of him to interrupt our transaction!" she agreed, laughed and filled our order.

Fast forward to Breanna and I sitting at a table eating our lunch, when the same old man came up, grinning like a baboon, carrying a black book of some kind and he interrupted (again) and said "SO, do you ladies want to know the question of the day?" I looked at him, right in the eye, continuing to chew, and said... NO, we are eating. Then he said "YOU are eating, she isnt eating, and again I said "NO". He turned to Breanna and asked "Would you like to hear the ladies question of the day???" And I said a little louder "NO we do not want to be interrupted!!" I am thinking what kind of a freaking weirdo is this. And his response to me was "Well I guess YOU are some kind of control freak"... WTF??????

And then he walked away... where is that tazer when I need it?

New format

How do you like it? If anyone knows how to get rid of this black background here where I am typing please let me know. I tried to edit it under fonts and colors but it isnt listed there.

I finally made it through another week from hell in the ER. Had a hospital employee try to pull some bullshit and complain about Saturday when she brought her husband in and he declined to be triaged. These employees who are just a little educated and a lot stupid are really getting on my last nerve. I told my manager to get this persons ass down to her office and I will confront her face to face! My manager said no, she would handle it. LOLOL

The days are getting longer and the kooks are reproducing. I dont know where they are all coming from but we have had our share this week! I hope next week is better.

Not a lot of news on the homefront, Bre ended her first year in college, passed and will go on to her 2nd year. She missed finishing Freshman year by 1 credit, so she will be a one semester sophomore. She is working at a different pool this summer, same boss, but they just took on another pool. She seems to like it.

Dana had a job interview this week with the city for a paramedic job. keep your fingers crossed for him!

Gotta run, will write more later!

Taking it to a whole new level..

The internet has certainly changed our world. This story was all over headline news yesterday, apparently some elementary school girls decided to make a youtube video about how to "kill" one of their classmates. This video was obviously done as a form of cyberbullying.

Unfortunately, bullying has been around since the dawn of time. When I was in elementary school we had a "slam book" made of construction paper, where kids wrote something to slam another person. Cruel, yes. Childish yes, but was it too much different than what these girls did? With one exception, we didnt have a tool to communicate our feelings to the entire world like they do now.... (and I dont really remember anything about wanting someone dead, but I dont really think these girls want this person dead)

I am not sure this is a huge deal, especially since the girls have now apologized and are obviously in big trouble at school. What do you think?

Lets thank them all!

If you read facebook, you might have already seen this, but I am going to post it here for all to read. I heard this a couple of days ago on the radio. It was quoted by a mom of an Army soldier who had been killed in Iraq in 2004.

" Our flag does not fly due to the winds that blow past it,
Our flag flies due to the final breaths
Of the Marines, Soldiers, Airmen and Sailors
Who have died fighting to protect it"

When I heard this, it struck me right in the heart. There are many families in this US who are observing this memorial day with heaviness and sadness in their hearts. Many parents, brothers, sisters, husbands, and wives who are missing their loved one who gave his or her life for this country. For our freedom, so that our flag could fly with pride.

Lets thank them all today.

For those of you who pray, please say a prayer for the safety of our servicemen and women who are serving all over the world, and for their families who are anxiously awaiting their return home.......

Today we stepped back in time..

Dana and I took a trip to the desert again today, to do some petroglyph hunting. I LOVE petroglyph hunting, it is becoming one of my favorite pasttimes.

I really do need to get more informed on the meaning of the petroglyphs and learn how to tell the difference between Ute drawings and other tribal drawings, but right now, I just love the hunting and the finding.

Today we drove about 14 or so miles out of town and then went back into the mountains about 3 or 4 miles. This area is a bit out of the way, but very easy to get to. We even ran into 2 school buses from the Aspen area, they were on a field trip to float the river, not to see the petroglyphs so we went in two different directions.

After a little hike across an arroyo and into the mountains a little bit we ran onto this shelter. It has obviously been there for many years, look at how the rocks are meticulously stacked.

Around the corner, there lies a large wall of petroglyphs. This area was obviously an encampment of some sort, the river is close, and there are rock barriers to serve as a wind break.

The Utes would write on the walls of the canyon that are covered in "Desert Varnish" a dark coating that is penetrable with a sharp rock.

Enjoy the drawings. We have identified the obvious, mountain goats, men on horseback, bear claws and even a mountain lion. Can you find the mountain lion?


I am working 6 of the next 7 days, (no holidays for nurses) but I will try to post every now and then. And one more thing before I go.... ADAM LAMBERT WAS ROBBED!!!!! After the horrendous mistake (in my opinion) that America made on AI last night, I am taking solace in the fact that over the years with the exception of maybe 2 or 3, the AI winners all flopped and those who came in 2nd made it big. 'nuf said.

If They Had Just Brought Their Signs...

Saying "I am stupid", then we would know that they were stupid and we could have made plans to accomodate them. But they left them at home, I guess. Or in the car or on the bus or whatever means of transportation brought them to the ER.

On Monday, the patients coming to the ER just about did me in. It was a gorgeous Monday in western Colorado, the temperatures were reaching 90 degrees. A day to spend out in the sunshine, breathing in the mountain air and being thankful for the blessing of wonderful weather that we are given on a daily basis.

Did these people go outside and enjoy the day? NO! They came to the ER. Without their signs....

I swear I have never run into such morons in one place, as I ran into on Monday!!
We had people coming in for various reasons that were, I am sure, very emergent to them, but had our staff in an uproar!

Patient #1, pulls up with her boyfriend, gets out of the car with a 32 oz giant styrofoam cup of pop in one hand and a half smoked cigarette in the other hand. They are young (about 23-25) and walked AROUND the other side of the building and into our door with NO problem. She walked as steady and straight as anyone you can imagine, we watched her on our video screens as she made her trek, wearing a knee immobilizer, that was riding about 6# too low. She was here for her 4th trip to the ER this month...... for KNEE PAIN! Did she go to see her family doctor? NO, she doesnt have one, (she can just come to the ER and use it as a clinic, right?) Did she follow up with an orthopedist like she was told to do on her last 3 visits? NO, she didnt want to. It was easier to come to the ER on HER schedule. Did she wear her immobilizer like she was told on 3 other visits? NO, she doesnt like it. But she did wear it today to prove that she had it..... Here's your sign!

Patient #2- 28 yr old male with a sore throat. For 3 weeks. Did he see his family doctor? NO, they want him to PAY to be seen. So he comes to the ER to see the doctor, "he doesnt have to pay at the ER".. What???? Of course he smokes 2-3 packes of cigarettes per day, so he shouldnt have to PAY to be seen by the doctor, right?? .... Here's your sign.

Patient #3- 51 yr old female with chronic pain. needs prescriptions refilled. Why cant her medical doctor refill them? See patient #2's excuse.. she also smokes heavily, 1-2 packs per day. Now where did we put that sign???

So, this is my frustration! I have been seriously thinking it would be healthier for me to go to work at the VA where they can send people packing if they dont need to be in the ER. LOLOLOL

***disclaimer... none of these patients actually exist, they are a compilation of several of the patients that we see on a daily basis. Hence no HIPAA violation.
Just sayin'....

Time to start scratching!

WAF

WASHINGTON — The biggest bedbug outbreak since World War II has sent a collective shudder among apartment dwellers, college students and business travelers across the nation.

The bugs — reddish brown, flat and about the size of a grain of rice — suck human blood. They resist many pesticides and spread quickly in certain mattress-heavy buildings, such as hotels, dormitories and apartment complexes.

Two shelters have closed temporarily in Charlotte, N.C. , because of bedbugs, a Yahoo chat group dedicates itself to sufferers and countless bedbug blogs provide forums for news, tips and commiseration. State inspectors say that more emphasis may be needed to tackle the creatures.

Federal officials have taken notice of the resurgence. Last month, the Environmental Protection Agency held its first-ever bedbug summit, and now a North Carolina congressman wants to take on the insect.

Ok this is just gross!!!! We have seen several people in our ER with bedbugs, most of them from local hotels. Ick.

It all makes me want to scratch!

SHINGTe biggest bedbug outbreak since World War II has sent a collective shudder among apartment dwellers, college students and business travelers across the nation.

The bugs — reddish brown, flat and about the size of a grain of rice — suck human blood. They resist many pesticides and spread quickly in certain mattress-heavy buildings, such as hotels, dormitories and apartment complexes.

Two shelters have closed temporarily in Charlotte, N.C. , because of bedbugs, a Yahoo chat group dedicates itself to sufferers and countless bedbug blogs provide forums for news, tips and commiseration. State inspectors say that more emphasis may be needed to tackle the creatures.

Federal officials have taken notice of the resurgence. Last month, the Environmental Protection Agency held its first-ever bedbug summit, and now a North Carolina congressman wants to take on the insect.

Ramblings...

Hey Everyone! I finally have a day off, so I thought I had better get busy and make a blog post!

I am sure summer is almost here! The temps have been inching higher and higher each day and tomorrow it is supposed to be 90! Can we say WOOT??? I love warm days and cool nights, and they are now upon us. We can all be thankful for this beautiful weather.

My dad has now been transferred to a "transitional floor" that is attached to our local VA medical center. It is a unit for those who are transitioning home or to a nursing home. He is on hospice, and completely unable to walk. He is in a wheelchair and is accepting it. My sisters and I are hoping that he can stay there until the end. We are not sure how fast moving his cancer is, but he isnt in pain right now and I am thankful for that.

Breanna is now on summer vacation. Working as much as possible because she has a big trip planned in July with friends to an anime convention in California, so I predict June will be a big working month for her.

Work is dramatic as always, people leaving, people coming and I am trying to stay out of the drama. I do not want to get involved simply because I dont want the hassles that I have had in other hospitals. Wish me luck! LOL

My blogging goal is to be blogging on my days off. Lets see how it works! LOL

I want to leave you all with a question, that I have really thought about and the subject matter really pisses me off. Here is the question... WHY are the people who ride the scooters at Walmart always hugely fat??? Shouldnt they be walking to get some exercise? I think they make all overweight people look like slobs.

See you all on tuesday!

Still alive and kickin'

Believe it or not, I am still here! It seems like I have been running in reverse lately. Finding myself on Facebook for a short period of time and not taking time to come over here and really apply myself into writing a blog entry.

Sometimes I suck. Anyway, here I am, with an update on life as it is happening to me.. Breanna just finished finals, her first year in college. She says her grades are good. At least she is smiling and working and enjoying herself, as she should as a happy 21 yr old.

Last weekend Dana, Bre and I went to Denver for the weekend. It was AWESOME! we got to stay at a great hotel, with a hot tub and indoor pool. We got to shop at my favorite mall (Parkmeadows mall), we bought Mrs Fields cookies, sat and read books at Borders, saw the Denver Broncos drumline and Breanna had her pic taken with Miles the Bronco mascot.

We also had some great meals out, and saw the Rockies kick ass on the Florida Marlins! Even though the weather didnt cooperate and the temps were in the high 40's at game time, Mothers day and the Rockies game was incredible!

I am ready to go back to see another game!

My dad has been in declining health, and fell twice yesterday. He was transported to the ER last night and admitted to the hospital. He is going to have to face the reality that he cannot live alone any more. It is a sad situation, please keep him in your prayers.

I hope you all dont lose faith in me when I have these breaks in making posts, blogging has just fallen to the back burner for a while, but I am not giving it up yet!

Have a great week, see you next time!

A word from Frankie...

He wants to audition for this commercial..... He is a dreamer.

How did she know?

I got this in an email. It is supposedly written by a teenager with cancer. I didnt snopes it, I dont know if it is really written by this person or not. I dont even care. What I wonder is how whoever wrote this poem knows that I do these things?

I wish I knew how to slow down....

SLOW DANCE


Have you ever
watched
kids

On a merry-go-round?

Or listened to
the
rain

Slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a

butterfly's erratic flight?

Or gazed at the sun into the
fading
night?

You better slow down.

Don't
dance so
fast.

Time is short.

The music
won't
last.

Do you run through each day

On
the
fly?

When you ask How are you?

Do you hear
the
reply?

When the day is done

Do you lie
in your
bed

With the next hundred chores

Running through
your head?

You'd better
slow down

Don't dance so
fast.

Time is
short.

The music won't
last.

Ever told your
child,

We'll do it
tomorrow?

And in your
haste,

Not see
his
sorrow?

Ever lost
touch,

Let a good
friendship die

Cause you
never had time

To call
and say,'Hi'

You'd
better slow down.

Don't dance
so fast.

Time
is short.

The music won't
last.

When you run
so fast to get somewhere

You
miss half the fun of getting
there.

When you worry and hurry
through your
day,

It is like an unopened
gift.....

Thrown
away.

Life is not a
race.

Do take it
slower

Hear the
music

Before the song is
over.

A day off !!

Yesterday, Dana and I took advantage of one of the few days off that we have together. We packed up the cooler, grabbed the cameras and took off for places unknown. Well, really we had a place in mind but we didnt make it all the way there because the road ended. Kind of.

We were headed for a ghost town about 12 mi north of Grand Junction. It was built in the late 1800's as a town for mine employees and it prospered to the point of having a railroad built leading into town, then the founder died, and the mine closed and the town just fell down.

This is the road that we traveled on to get to where we had to stop.

I dont know if you can tell, but the ruts are about 3' deep in some places. We have some guys here who jack their trucks up about 6' off of the ground and then they put HUGE ass tires on them and then they go slide around in the mud.

This is what they have done here. Why they chose to slide around on a road that was passable before they ruined it, I dont know. There is 100 of acres of off road area that is just as good to slide around on, but oh well...


So anyway, this is the road ahead. Unpassable because of the deep ruts made by the aforementioned morons. We decided that the road can only safely be traveled by horseback, or dirt bike/ATV OR... my brother in laws Argo. hmmmmm

Anyway, this is where we want to go. Roughly 4-5 miles ahead up to the base of the mountain.


Anyway, we stopped, did some hiking and took the cameras and metal detector and looked around.

This is our valley from the north, Mt Garfield looks totally different at this angle.


The ground was covered with green grass and wildflowers. There are all kinds of rocks covered with lichen, many of them with nature-made holes in them..





Can you find the lizard in this picture??

This is an arroyo that can get filled with water when it rains very hard. I can imagine the ancient Ute Indians on horseback look out over this valley from here.


We also spent some time in Rabbit Valley in the afternoon, I will post about it later. enjoy!

Lets not panic!

The swine flu frenzy has hit the US, hasnt it? Everywhere I look someone is talking about swine flu and quoting statistics and talking about the CDC.

Here is a brief synopsis of what we (as medical professionals) have been told directly from the CDC:

1. The Swine flu is in epidemic proportions in MEXICO and only 105 cases reported in the entire world.

2. The cases of flu that have been transported to the US are all minor cases, because of a number of things. We have better overall healthcare here, we are immunized from a young age therefore beefing up our immune systems, and we deal with flu on a yearly basis.

3. The treatment for swine flu? Tylenol. You can take an anti-viral medication, but its just like Flu-A and Flu-B, it just treats symptoms.

4. NO ONE dies from the flu. People have died in the past from secondary infections related to an exposure and breakdown in their immune system from having the flu.

5. The paper masks are worthless. Dont buy them, dont use them. They make you look funny.

6. Best way to prevent outbreaks of the flu: METICULOUS HAND WASHING, AND COVERING YOUR MOUTH WHEN YOU COUGH AND SNEEZE.

7. Last but not least, it is much better that we are getting cases of the swine flu in May instead of in January and February. On the average, world-wide there are over 250,000 cases of seasonal flu each year. This is minor.

I remember when the swine flu broke out in 1976. People were less "excitable" about health problems then than they are now, and eventually we just eliminated the cases.

I beg of you, everyone, just wash your hands. It an prevent many many viruses from spreading!

And now, back to your previously scheduled program. ;-)

Fragmented Friday

I have declared today "Fragmented Friday". No real blog topic, just stuff that I havent told you all.

For starters I have spent the last 2 days in a training course for ER nurses. This course is taught by Emergency Nurse Association (ENA) nurses and is an accelerated trauma nursing course, which is required for my job. We have to take this course every 4 years, and its always a lot of pressure, we go over a 200+pg manual in 12 hours and spend 4 hours testing. First we have to take a written test then we go one on one with an instructor for a practical test. I have take this course 3 times in the last 15 yrs and its always been challenging because there is so much material to go over. 4 yrs ago, I barely squeeked by. In fact I had to take one of my stations over because I flubbed it up.

This year.... 2nd highest score in the class! YAY ME! One other person scored higher than I did on the written test by 2 points. There were 4 of us close together and the other 19 people scored much lower than we did. woot!

So, thats done for another 4 years. Now on to other news. Breanna subluxed her knee while running through an obstacle course at school 2 days ago. She is ok, wearing a splint and hobbling around. Its the same knee that gave her trouble in BMT, I think its just weak because she hasnt been working out. I think once it is healed she should start strengthening it and she should be ok.

Dana and I are working opposite shifts as usual, in fact he was scheduled to work every weekend this month, not good. Maybe in May he will get some weekends off.

I ran across this funny lady on XM radio, and when I looked her up I realized that I actually saw her live back in the mid 80's at a med-legal seminar in Tulsa OK. She was hysterical back then and she is hysterical now. I hope you enjoy.

I cant help it!!!

And I have to confess, I have been on facebook. Funny thing is, I think I have seen all of my readers there too. LOL

I have been struggling trying to think of interesting subject matter to post on my blog, and I have nothing. Nada. Zilch. Its a horrible situation. At least it is for me, because I love blogging.

I will continue to try to come up with witty, humorous blog posts, but unless I can break this block in my head, they may be farther apart than on a daily basis.

I have no excitement in my life, I am a pretty boring person. Tomorrow and Friday I have a trauma class that I have not been studying for. LOL and I work Saturday and Sunday, so my days are all taken up for the rest of the week.

Breanna injured her knee today while trying to run an obstacle course at school. I dont know what happened, other than her knee cap sliding off of the knee joint. So she is home on crutches. Remember all of the problems she had with this knee while at BMT? Well its baaaaaccckkk....

Our weather is gorgeous, here we sit with our AC on, next week isnt supposed to be as hot as this week so we might still have a spring.

Before I leave, here is a cute little video that Dana found on Youtube. It makes me smile...

Meet Rusty...

He is a dachshund with narcolepsy. He suddenly falls asleep even when he is running.

Frankie is not like Rusty.

Long time no see.... and a question...

Sorry for the absence, work has been horrible and when I get home at the end of the day, I just collapse.

We have had cold weather for the last 3 days and I think it is taking its toll on the citizens of our community! We have had lots of sick people in the ER, kind of like the middle of the winter, but worse. When the weather breaks, hopefully people will get better and get out into the sunshine and feel better.

I heard a question posed on CNN Headline news yesterday and it got me thinking. I know, can you smell the rubber burning? LOLOL

Anyway, the question was, "If you had the choice, how would you want your tax dollars spent in the year 2009?" Some people called in and said they would want their tax dollars spent to help the economy, stabilize the banks, or dedicated to secondary education, healthcare for the needy, etc.

I think I would like my tax dollars sent entirely to the US military. I want our soldiers to be able to be clothed without paying for their uniforms out of their paychecks. (how many people know that this is happening?) The first uniform is usually courtesy of the branch that they are serving in, but additional uniforms, including boots are purchased by our soldiers.

I am not sure about those who have been deployed. Maybe some of you moms of deployed soldiers can clear that up for me.

I also want out military to have the most advanced, state of the art, weapons, equipment and training options.

Wouldnt it be nice if we had a choice where our tax dollars are spent?

$632,000,000.00

632 million dollars. Thats what Citicorp has spent on building the new NY Mets stadium in Queens. This state of the art baseball stadium, is touted as the most luxurious stadium in basebal. Here is a description:

Citi Field will feature unprecedented sightlines, amenities, and comfort for Mets fans, sports fans and visitors to the New York metropolitan area. The open-air ballpark connects the Mets' National League heritage to the future and to the City through a number of unique design elements. Citi Field will feature natural grass and capacity for approximately 45,000 fans. A contoured seating configuration will bring spectators closer to the field on all levels to provide optimal sightlines for a more intimate and entertaining experience throughout the park.

A luxurious baseball stadium. Is THIS what Citicorps bailout was used on? Is THIS what OUR tax money was supposed to go for? Un-freaking-believable.

This almost trumps the $450,000 per person luxury weekend "retreat" that AIG sent their CEO's on after they received the bailout.

My question? Why didnt the taxpayers get the bailout money. We would have at least spent it on something reasonable, like home mortgages, healthcare premiums, or sending our kids to college....

What is wrong with this picture?

On a lighter note, I had 2 easter bunny visits yesterday. One from Breanna and one from Dana, and I love them both!!

Who knew I had so many Easter bunnies? LOL pics of my baskets are listed below:

From Breanna-she and I are sharing the chocolates. LOL
From Dana-


I think I have the best Easter Bunnies in town!!!! THANK YOU EASTER BUNNIES.....

Just when I thought I had seen it all....

This ridiculous commercial just proves that I havent seen anything yet...

Who else thinks the powers that be at Burger King need to rethink their marketing approach and fire everyone in their marketing department?

Boy its been a while!

I am not bailing out on my blog! Really, I am not. I have been slaving away in the ER since Tuesday and I havent had a break!

Today, I had a re-certification class for ACLS, it was an ok class, got kind of monotonous at the end but I passed and now its behind me for 2 more years. I have one more re-certification class on the 23rd and the 24th and it is even more tedious, but once its over, I can breathe a little easier until fall.

The full moon has brought its share of wackos into the ER this week, I think as the economy gets worse the people get stranger. I think we are all getting a little on edge because we cant please these people, no matter what we do. I am beginning to think we need some form of organized public healthcare just to help remind people that a sore throat or an earache is not as serious as someone who cannot breathe or who is bleeding profusely. And if the sore throat people have to wait in the waiting room until an exam room is open, that is just too bad. They will live, the other patients who seriously have an emergency may not.

SOMETHING has to happen, and sooner than later or our entire healthcare system is going to collapse...

On a lighter note, I am learning to be a farmer.. on FACEBOOK! LOLOL Blame Debbie A, she is the one responsible for getting me hooked on this. Its like facebook-farm-crack or something. LOL I just planted strawberries and tomatoes, if you belong to facebook and havent tried it, you should. No wait, on 2nd thought maybe you had better not, you wont get anything else done!

Happy good friday to you all, and have a blessed Easter! I am off to plow!