I work nights and try to be a rational parent in the daylight hours. My kids see me as the "bringer of the donuts" when I come home in the mornings. I'd like to think I'm more than that ... I'm also an out of shape 40-something former triathlete and jogger living a progressive life in a very conservative part of the country.
Twas the night before Christmas and in the Arkansas fog not a creature was stirring, not even a dog.
The stockings were filled with plush squeaky toys that delighted the dogs and filled rooms with noise.
I needed my coffee there was no caffeine in sight Poor Jenn hates the morning cause she stays up all night.
We opened our presents stacked under the tree and examined them all as we smiled with glee.
Then we piled up the wrappings, to the trash they did go and since it's Little Rock Christmas I sure missed the snow.
The pictures were downloaded to the desktop with care and I posted them here so my blog readers could share!
Yes, I know it's the 28th, but this morning was our family christmas. I worked nights all this week and I just couldn't imagine it being a "Christmas" without getting out of bed in the morning and opening gifts. BJ and I both did quite well with Santa this year which begs the question - how good are his sources for determining naughty and nice? Not to incriminate myself ... I'm just saying.
We all had stockings on the mantle, but all I mean us and the three dogs. For their Christmas breakfast, they each got a special canned dish as opposed to their normal kibble as well as a new toy in their stocking. Each dog took his/her toy and did their typical thing.
Oakley just held his in his mouth for hours Cleo hoarded her's in her crate and Tosca killed her's as quickly as possible. The fur carnage will undoubtably be found in the carpet for days.
Of course the dogs weren't the only ones getting to play, we got some fun things as well. Some of the highlights include my furry dog slippers, BJ's new back massager, clothes for the both of us, candy, and a pretty red Kitchen Aide stand mixer!! (We've already used it to make cookies we were so excited to have it.) To see the rest of my album, click here. When it's all said and done, I feel that I've been very blessed this year by my family - including all the new additions!! - and my friends. It's been a very Merry Christmas indeed.
Can you name the movie? Come on, it's Christmas - it's almost a gimme!!! :)
I'm working nights all through the holiday, but I got up early this afternoon and BJ and I lounged on the couch and watched our TIVO'ed version of It's a Wonderful Life before I had to get ready for work. Nothing says Christmas to me like watching that wonderful, nostalgic, Frank Capra classic.
The ending reminded me of an excellent SNL sketch back from the days of Dana Carvey, Dennis Miller and Phil Hartman. Merry Christmas to everyone and please enjoy the "lost" ending to It's a Wonderful Life!!!
This is completely, utterly bogarted from JJM's blog, but I HAD to share! If only I had the money, I would totally send this to someone (one possible victim who would love the sheer genius is my cousin Travis). You've got to check out this ebay auction, it's the best thing I've seen in a while!
In traditional Jenn fashion, I've waited until the last possible minute to shop. This year my excuse is that we moved right before Thanksgiving and have spent a RIDICULOUS amount of money since moving. I kept wanting to wait until the next paycheck ... then all of a sudden realized there are no more paychecks. This weekend I'm at the in-laws to be in Fayetteville and BJ and I were quite pleased that it was relatively uncrowded at the new outdoor mall in Rogers. We've managed to finish all of our shopping - well WE have but I haven't. I still haven't got BJ anything, but in my defense we're not celebrating until the 28th and I'm thinking my money will go so much farther if I wait until the day after Christmas!
Sorry folks but today is a day that I have to vent. As a travel nurse, one of the benefits is that in general I don't get too involved in the local politics of a hospital, the staff vs. management conflicts, day shift vs. night shift, physician vs. nurse ... basically the nitty gritty that you are invested in when you are a staff member and that's *your* unit. I've worked at places that gave excellent care, places that the staff were awesome and friendly, and places that were downright scary (please for the love of god don't EVER take your child there!) with evil co-workers. As a traveler, I always have known that after my 13 week contract - I decide in the words of the famous song by The Clash "should I stay or should I go?" I had a list of places I wanted to see, and from talking to other travelers, recommendations of great hospitals to work for.
Now I'm in Arkansas ... and I'm getting married.
It completely changes the dynamic of my career.
When I started traveling, I was getting burned out on NICU (neonatal or newborn intensive care) and I thought that traveling would give me a fresh perspective. Most of my burnout was related to the environment in the unit where I was working - a very patriarchal unit with no autonomy for the nursing staff, and a very ineffective nurse administrator. Traveling really has been an awesome experience because I've learned a lot, incorporated new skills into my practice, and recovered some of the joy I have for taking care of my patients. When I get the chance to help a new parent learn how to take care of their baby, or am the first to sit down and actually explain - in words they understand - what is going on with their critically ill child, I can tell that I'm making a positive impact.
My current problem is that now I know I'm stuck here. Don't get me wrong, as far as personal life goes - I've never been happier. But no matter how hard I've tried in the past, I have a difficult time seeing my work as just a job to pay the bills. I am passionate about what I do and why I do it. Without going into details, we'll just say that my current assignment causes a lot of frustration. There are times where I'm able to just let it go and spend my 36 hours a week giving the best care that I can to my patients and ignoring the issues around me. Then there are times where all of the politics creep in, and I get frustrated by having zero autonomy and being treated like an idiot by the medical staff. If I were still just traveling, I'd be looking at the end date of my contract and thinking ... hmmmm, where to next? Now I'm geographically limited and even more limited by being in such a specialized field .
So I'll do my best to accept the status quo for the time being, but I'm sure one of these days I'll get myself into trouble, because when you know what's right, what's wrong and what's good practice - it's hard to just sit by.
Is it just me or has Christmas really creeped up on us? I kept feeling like I had TONS of time for shopping and all of a sudden I realize that it's next week - YIKES! Of course I'm working all through the holiday - scheduled for night shifts on Christmas Eve, Christmas, and the night after. In lieu of that, BJ and I are celebrating after my three shifts so that I can actually enjoy it without being bone tired and needing to sleep all day.
This weekend we got in the holiday spirit by traveling down to Hot Springs to see the light display at Garvan Woodland Gardens. It was perfect weather for it, a nice wintry chill but no wind. We have been there before, but it was very cool to walk around and see all of the amazing lights wrapped around the landscape. They even had marshmallow roasting (they're always best if burned in my opinion) and hot chocolate and cider. Afterwards we drove through downtown Hot Springs - the lights there were anticlimactic after Garvan - then headed home and made microwave smores. The roasted marshmallows put a taste in my head that had to be fulfilled! Nothing is better than an almost exploding gooey marshmallow from the microwave ... I swear the irradiation make them even better!!
If you want to see the rest of the light pics, click here
It was foggy and overcast most of the day, it's two weeks to Christmas and so warm that I'm wearing a t-shirt and flip flops, our icicle lights just can't manage to make their way onto our rooftop, I haven't bought one present yet, and BJ killed a ginormous brown recluse spider in our garage yesterday and now I'm fearing an invasion.
Despite all this, as I as lounging on the couch early this evening next to my love, I realized that I'm more happy and content than I've ever been ... and quite simply - life is good.
(Here's a favorite pic I don't think I've ever posted)
I'm sure I've mentioned at least once that I'm not much of a cook or baker or candlestick maker. What can I say? I never aspired to be the "little lady" or a stay at home type so I ignored Womanly Duties 101 in college. Despite this fact, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to take part in a holiday cookie exchange. I mean cookie goodness and an opportunity to socialize in my adopted home town with someone other than BJ? What's not to love.
**And to clarify, I thoroughly enjoy spending time with BJ, but I've been here four months and have had no girl time since I really haven't made any of my own friends yet. Some of BJ's friends and spouses are kind enough to tolerate me - but given my crazy night shift schedule and my overall terrifying fear of socializing with strangers, it makes it hard to meet new people. **
So given my shortcomings in the kitchen and the need for six dozen cookies, I stuck with what I know best - no bake cookies. This picture makes it look like I hardly took any, but this was the second tub and wasn't filled. They're a recipe from my great-grandma Sophronia that I've made a few times before and in my opinion taste fabulous! Even though they're not baked they actually are rather labor intensive. I was hoping that BJ would help with the process, but alas he was snoring on the couch when the cookie laboring was needed.
Though I was tempted to say "Screw you" when he asked for some of the cookie bootie, there really is no way that I could eat a whole bucket full of cookies on my own without injuring myself in some fashion.
And even though it was a "ladies" kindof outing, BJ came along because he's good friends with the esteemed hostess and her charming other half . He regaled BJ with tales of how awesome it is to have a brand new MacBook Pro and later on when the guests left, they showed their true ages. Just goes to show - simple minds, simple pleasures which is why I love him so much :)
I know I missed Thursday's trip down memory lane, but it was towards the end of three shifts in a row, and any nurse can attest to the fact that doing three 12 hours shifts back to back really sucks away your life. It's basically a matter of work, drive and sleep - and when you're on the night shift, it seems even worse. So I'll get it at it next week.
Today I'm in that completely lethargic mode that you have when you FINALLY have a day off. I got home about 7:50 a.m. this morning, hit the couch and then slept for about five hours and am still trying to wake up so that I can go be a productive member of society. I have stamps to buy, Christmas cookies to make, errands to run and all I can think about is curling up in my jammie pants on the couch and vegging out the rest of the day. It's overcast and has been raining outside which doesn't help the matter.
But I will resist the sloth!! I will actually put on real clothes and leave the house. For those not familiar, it has happened that I've been off a full two days and never once put on real clothes - I mean I do change my jammies and sweats - it's not like I'm hillbilly! but two full days can go by without me even leaving the house. That's the kind of exhaustion and anti-sociability that comes from saving lives. Or maybe I'm just a lazy ass?!?!?!
You know how sometimes I'm a vain blogger talking only about me, me, me?? ... though in retrospect isn't what most bloggers do? Write about their lives and their interests as a way to avoid irritating all of their friends and co-workers with banter that they don't care about?? It gives you an outlet to brag and expound and people only have to read it if they're interested.
With that in mind, I'm not going to feel guilty at all about this post ... Look at us, aren't we pretty?!?!? :) We just got our pictures from our engagement photo shoot and I am SO HAPPY with how they turned out! Since this is my first (and last) engagement, I wasn't really sure what to expect. I've seen some that were clearly done in the Sears Portrait studio and have that stiff, formal look which is totally NOT me - or us for that matter. We were very blessed that BJ has a good friend who is a full-time junior high teacher and part-time fabulous photographer! She was kind enough to offer to shoot these as a wedding gift and when asking us what we wanted, we just knew that we wanted it outdoors with Fall colors around. She suggested the train cars which are down by the Arkansas River at the Big Dam Bridge, a place we are very familiar with since we run the trail there frequently. It was very surreal looking at these pictures because I normally hate the way I look, especially on film. A few weeks back I posted a snapshot that I hated so much, it spurred me on to a weight loss and fitness transformation. When I saw these, all I could think was, "Wow, those make me look like I'm really hot!" I still don't believe I'm hot, or think it when I look in the mirror - but damn I LOVE these pictures! If you haven't already been bored to tears by all the ones I threw in this post, you can see more here. (broken link has been fixed ... sorry!) and to not be soooo vain, I think BJ is handsome and adorable and sexy as well!!
A HUGE shout out to Amy Cary of Amy Cary Photography!! She does all types of portraits, engagement, family, children, babies, bridal - is awesome, sweet and very reasonably priced. If you're in the Little Rock metro area and interested, the link to her website is here.
You might be thinking, "Wow, Jenn hasn't blogged about running lately. I wonder how her training is coming?" Well the short answer is that my training has been supplanted by unpacking, decorating and all other sorts of working around the new house. I'm sure it's not the smartest thing to take two weeks off, but it's just the way it's happened so no point in going on about it.
Yesterday, BJ and I participated in the Jingle Bell Run for Arthritis which is a national series of 5K events. I had signed up for it last year when I was living in Denver, but it was ridiculously cold and I had worked the night before so I skipped it. This time around, it was about 45 degrees and sunny when we left the house and by the end of the race I was wishing I hadn't worn long sleeves it was so warm! Since I hadn't been running lately I didn't approach it as a race. I went no watch, no heart rate monitor and in the end no timing chip (I lost it somewhere between my warm up run and the start of the race ... stupid zip ties!) I just wanted to go for a run, breathe the cool air and enjoy the atmosphere! Since I had no watch I had no clue how fast I was going, and I was actually shocked when I brought it in at just under 34 minutes on the finish clock. To be honest, I was going pretty slow and I didn't feel like running - if BJ hadn't been registered as well I would have stayed home.
I'm glad I went though, it was a pretty fun event with lots of costumes, santa hats and reindeer antlers. It was also one of the few family friendly races that welcomed jogging strollers and dogs. I didn't run in the hat because it's a little too loose, but we did have jingle bells on our shoes and my pony tail holders. So it was 3.1 miles of giddy up jingle horse pick up your feet, jingle around the clock. Mix and a mingle in the jingling feet, that's the jingle bell rock!
In keeping with the theme of Dancing week - here is a shot of your very own hot, hip, dancing blogger!!
In my hometown, all of the cool girls went to Marge and Becky's Dance Studio for the main purpose of learning tumbling. Well I couldn't tumble worth a sh*t, I think I was finally doing back bends around the time that the rest of my age group were mastering back flips. Of course I blame my parents, their genetic legacy produced a highly inflexible child, a point noted by my personal trainer when she tried to test my flexibility and I didn't even register on the little bend over this way and move this little thingee test. Anyway, though I couldn't tumble, I was one hell of a jazz dancer!! The majority of the class hour was devoted to tumbling with the last 15 minutes or so of dance. I really took to it and in retrospect I wish there had been some way to nurture that, but in a town of 750, there aren't a lot of options.
This recital was when I was 9 and the theme was country and western. We did a rousing tumbling routine to "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" and then a jazz dance to some other tune I can't recall. This was my last year of training at Marge and Becky's as I started to become embarrassed at my lack of talent in tumbling and moved on to other things I sucked at, like soccer.
The universe listened and Marie's butt was booted at the beginning of the show!! My cries of joy actually scared the dogs, but in the end if was the BEST SEASON EVER!!
I'm a Dancing freak!! That's all there is to say about it! I've been watching Dancing with the Stars since the middle of the first season and it's been amazing to see how much the celebrities have raised the bar. This season has been fantastic and has brought out a great deal of passion in this television watcher. While screaming at the TV one night I finally understood BJ's devotion to Razorback football, especially as I painfully yell and boo when craptastic celebrities get voted on past far superior dancers.
Now I'm dealing with a finale of two amazing celebrity dancers and one completely pathetic camera hog who really can't dance. If you're a fan of Marie Osmond and her pitiful attempts at dancing, I'm really sorry ... nah, I'm not 'cuz she SUCKS!! Now I'll admit that she's far better than some of the finalists in say season one or two, but compared to the talent this season??? She's a has been. Despite the fact that I *may* have once owned a Donnie and Marie doll set in the mid 70s and a Donnie and Marie soundstage, I do NOT appreciate her presence in the finals. Sidenote: as I recall the Donnie doll had an M-80 shoved down his gullet during a particularly exciting fireworks war at the farm when we dredged toys from the attic during one particularly awesome Fourth of July brought to us by my bachelor uncles and their truckload of illegal fireworks. I believe that was also the day that we built Lincoln Log forts and took turns shelling them with roman candles and various incendiary devices. I think I was about 8 or 9 at the time .... ahhh memories of childhood that are NOT supported by the Consumer Product Safety Commission ... but I digress. If Marie Osmond wins tonight - honestly I can't even think about it because it makes me sick, literally SICK.
On the bright side, I have LOVED Helio and Julianne from the first week, and Mel and Maks quickly grew on me as well. They have been my two favorites so I'm psyched to see them in the finals and if there is any justice in the world, one of them will proudly hoist the mirror ball trophy tonight.
First of all, my home state is NOT pronounced "Illi noise" - the "s" is silent!! I was just watching the local news and someone pronounced it wrong and it irritated me.
Second, GO TIGERS!! My Missouri Tigers are now ranked #1 after a resounding victory over Kansas! Hmmm, fried Jayhawk anyone?
BJ was very proud of me given that I watched the game AND actually understood a good portion of it. We did have to occasionally pause so he could point out what was going on around the line of scrimmage (you mean the offensive linemen and the defensive linemen are different players?!?!) and I learned a few new things like what the safety does and how overtimes work. I did fall asleep in the 4th quarter, but in my defense I had gotten off work at 7:30 a.m. and just slept a few hours that day.
Third random thought, I am so sick of credit card fraud. I had a really bad incident about 10 years ago when my wallet was pickpocketed out of my purse by someone I *thought* I had bumped into, and they charged over $10,000 on my cards at Best Buy and Circuit City within 2 hours. They had my driver's license and opened up accounts in my name at several stores and continued to try to buy things for several months. It was a flippin' mess! Earlier this year, someone used my Citibank card number to charge $300 of foreign purchases in Germany, and now this weekend apparently my debit card number was compromised. Of course in this case they used it to buy some things AND pay off a T-Mobile bill so I'm hoping the culprit is tracked down. At least when my wallet was stolen a decade ago, I KNEW that there was illicit activity going on. In both of my recent cases, the cards have been in my possession all along. I know that I'm not going to be responsible for paying, but somewhere, someone is having to eat these costs.
Fourth, I need to pass along a miraculous discovery! I'll never have to scrub a toilet again!!! Momma K works in the plumbing industry and she introduced us to the Sparkle and Clean device that you attach to your tank. Apparently those bleach tablets that you drop in the tank are BAD BAD BAD and they corrode out the flushing mechanism. This device adds the bleach to the water in the bowl only so it's not bad for your toilet. My toilet has sparkled this past week, it's the best thing ever!!! I can only comment on the bleach one (which my Mom uses as well) - don't know about the blue ones, but you can get them at any home improvement store.
Fifth, I had posted a while back that I wasn't sure about my wedding dress?? Well I tried it on for my Mom when she was here and we both LOVE it!! I think the purple rocks!! And since we're eloping and it won't be seen amongst our general acquaintance in person, the link here has a few sneak peeks!!
Last random thought, I have the cutest damn dogs in the world! BJ's Mom stayed over last night for a quick visit and the dogs thought it was the best thing ever. As she was leaving this morning, they sadly looked out the door....
I had briefly mentioned before that Momma K was coming to town and she had the distinction of being our first house guest! Since I was working all during the Thanksgiving holiday, she came out early and we had our holiday a few days early. She's not much for driving and my home town is about 7 and 1/2 hours away, so she decided to Amtrak it. At about 3:30 a.m. on Saturday morning she arrived for her first trip to Little Rock! We did some of the obvious things like went downtown to the River Market, drove past the Clinton Library ("that looks like a big trailer" - Momma K), went out for catfish and fried pickles, headed to the river and the Big Dam Bridge, visited the local tea shop which is fabulous and got stuck in Razorback football traffic ... though that was an accident.
One of her favorite things was her visit to the Bath Junkie. It's a Fayetteville, AR based bath product company and they have the best salt scrubs I've EVER found. The best part is they mix it up individually when you buy it and you get to choose the scents AND the color. I knew Mom would love it and she used her scrub and spray on lotion (called Body Dessert) pretty much every day she was here.
I think BJ was most appreciative of her cooking lessons. I'm a little apprehensive when I'm in the kitchen because I just haven't spent much time there in the past. So we took the opportunity to cook several meals together and I FINALLY uncovered the secret to cooking eggs ... hint don't have the skillet so damn hot! When it comes to Thanksgiving dinner, that's one area where I do have experience. I've hosted Thanksgiving on more than one occasion and can whip out a turkey, homemade stuffing, and mashed potatoes and gravy like nobody's business. I'm not a fan of pumpkin pie (I was thinking more of chocolate cheesecake) but BJ insisted and I made excellent use of my Uncle Dave's impossibly easy pumpkin pie recipe. Overall the meal turned out great and Mom and I had lots of bonding time in the kitchen ... albeit about two decades late since I had NO interest when I was growing up.
Momma K loved the house and quickly settled into our guest room and didn't complain a bit about the waterbed currently in there (it belonged to BJ and it was a condition of our living together .... NO WATERBED in our room!) The dogs always love it when "Grandma" visits and everyone was in good spirits. We were sad to see her go and sadly I haven't cooked since :(
I am a true child of the 80s and I have such an endearing fondness for the music, TV and pop culture of that era. There's nothing I love more than catching a rerun of an awesome 80s movie on TBS, you know one of those movies that you saw so many times that you can quote it as if you had the script memorized.
For me, the best examples of that would be the John Hughes oeuvre. As an adolescent red head who HATED my red hair, Molly Ringwald was my hero (though interestingly enough she's naturally brunette - though I didn't know it at the time).
While browsing my important news sites ... you know things like People, E! online, Entertainment Weekly etc. I came across this article debating which was the best John Hughes movie. Having seen all of them multiple times, I found this quite interesting. I looked him up on imdb and his resume as writer, director and/or producer is staggering!! Beyond the obvious Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink and Sixteen Candles, he was involved with Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Weird Science, Planes Trains and Automobiles, Vacation, Christmas Vacation, Mr. Mom, Uncle Buck ... all movies that I've seen and enjoyed.
Nothing takes me back to my youth more than seeing one of those pivotal movies that I so identified with as an adolescent. I HAD a crush on my own high school version of Jake Ryan, wanted to dance like Jennifer Grey in Dirty Dancing, felt the need - the need- for speed like Maverick and Goose, believed I could be crucial in the fundraiser to save Ferris, and truly believed that Buttercup and Westley were meant for each other. My love of movies started in the 80s and continues to this day, and no matter how cheesy, how dated, I can't not watch these shows when I catch them on cable.
BTW, if you're wondering where I stand on the greatest John Hughes movie debate ... just check out the shirt I'm wearing here :)
So despite our little set backs in the new home .... did I mention the leaking gas line to the fireplace?? ... I LOVE being a homeowner! Of course we haven't gotten completely unpacked, but it definitely looks settled in already.
BJ painted our boring white door a brilliant shade of red that looks fabulous! It was our way of saying "hey neighborhood, we're here!"
The flow of cash out of my checking account and to places like Lowe's, Target and Bed Bath and Beyond continues :) It's amazing how a new shower curtain, a few rugs and a cute accent towel can suddenly camouflage a hideous 1980s era bathroom. Did I mention our fabulous yard?? It's probably more weeds than grass but it has so much potential! It's going to be a challenge to figure out how to landscape given the massive trees in the area. When the satellite guy drove out he basically said, "Yeah this isn't going to work." When he was on the phone with Dish trying to tell them that we needed to cancel our service because there was no way to point to the satellites he told them, "it's so wooded I'm expecting Robin Hood to make an appearance at any moment."
Hopefully in a few weeks we'll be able to get our cars in the garage and be able to actually find the specific item of clothing we're looking for!
It's been a busy week hence the lack of blogging. I suppose it's time for an update as I await the plumber's arrival. Plumber you say?? Yes, apparently we do actually have some sort of a water leak in the wall behind the stove. After seeing the lovely puddle return under the cabinets yesterday we realized that this was no isolated incident. Luckily we have this wonderful thing called a "home warranty" so we'll owe the plumber $45 once he arrives and the warranty will cover up to $1000 of plumbing repairs (please oh please don't be any more!). I'm guessing that there will be a nice hole cut in the wall but they can do it from the other side of the kitchen which is the laundry room! And I could care less is I have unfinished drywall in there.
So other than the unplanned leak, the move has gone rather smoothly. Of course we didn't have everything packed, but a good 90% of it. I think I'll have one more load of miscellaneous crap to put in my car and then we can close the chapter on "M" Street. It took the movers 5 hours to do the task and regardless of how much it cost it was WORTH EVERY PENNY! The only thing I noticed was a ding out of the corner of one of my bedroom dresser drawers, but I'm sure the damage would have been worse, not just physically but to my own psyche if we had attempted to move ourselves.
There are of course things I'll be looking forward to upgrading in the new house - the late 1970s era bathrooms will one day have to go - but overall it's wonderful! It'll be days before we have things unpacked, but I can already see it falling into place. We went to Lowe's last night and picked up new deadbolts and a cool looking front doorknob, as well as a keypad entry for the front door. I'm beginning to love my little trips there, even if they all do seem to cost an arm and a leg.
Did I mention that Momma K (my Mom) is visiting this weekend? It will be her first trip to Little Rock and the first extended time she gets to spend with BJ. I'm thinking that we'll all have a blast!!
We showed up to the new house this morning planning on doing a few quick things, heading back to the old place to pack, and then getting our engagement shots done later in the day. Well that was derailed when we arrived to find a pool of water on the kitchen floor!!!
After some sleuthing on our part, our hypothesis is that the seller's had a water accident when moving their washer and though they cleaned it up in the laundry room, some water escaped and was living under our kitchen cabinets, only to seep out from beneath the caulking a day later. When we pulled the caulk and baseboards out of the kitchen we found nice pools of water. We soaked it up as best as we could and now have a heater blowing on the concrete subfloor. Some water also rolled under the parquet flooring between the kitchen and dining room so we mopped that up as well.
We're *hoping* that we were right and it's just pooled water that was hanging out for a few days trapped by all of the caulked baseboards as opposed to an ongoing leak. I guess we'll see tomorrow when we go back to either a dried out subfloor or another pool :(
I'm not much of a shopper - I actually really hate shopping, but I think I have found a new mecca ... a new outlet for imprudent financial purchases - yes, blog readers that would be the home improvement store!!
Now lest you think I've never stepped foot in Lowe's or Home Depot, let me assure you that I have on occasion purchased a bolt or a screw or a thingamajig at one of these stores. My visits however have always been highly focused, a quest for something I specifically needed, and usually something that would require a sales associate to translate what I *thought* it was called - you mean it's not called a "little flexy door stopper thingee?? - into what I was looking for.
Today, BJ sent me to the Lowe's down the road from our new house on a quest for door hinges, a peep hole, and a specific drill bit. In order to be an educated shopper, I had an old hinge with me, the old peep hole and the needed drill bit written on a sheet of paper. Of course despite all of this preparation I'm pretty sure I called BJ at least four times with various questions because once I arrived I was overwhelmed by the expansiveness of it all!! Now that I actually OWN a home, things like sinks and countertops, light fixtures, faucets and crown moulding actually matter to me. Who knew that there were 20 different types of bathroom vents with different levels of suckability and loudness?? I was wandering the aisles and making mental images of my dream bathroom and kitchen, how cool that chandelier would look over the dining table and WOW I've always wanted a decorative flag pole to put those cheesy seasonal flags with turkeys and Santas on them (Merry Thanksgiving?). I had to re-focus my efforts on the needed items because I could have easily gotten lost in all the grandeur of things that would make my new home hellacool!
Of course I suppose we should actually get moved in first, but I have a feeling that I will soon come to love spending all of my hard earned money making my new home pretty :)
1. I really don't know how to sign my full name with middle initial.
At work my signature is J. Lastname RN which is pretty much the only way I ever write it. I was told this was prohibited and I had to sign my FULL name. Though interestingly it never looked the same way twice.
2. Our interest rate was slightly better than my sister-in-law's which I know is driving her crazy! :)
3. BJ does not handle disorganization and last minute changes in plans very well.
Of course I already knew this - I mean he's an engineer and details and precision are his life - but this was my first time seeing it in action. I was wishing we lived in Colorado so I could have borrowed some of JCR'sxanax which always helps in such situations!!!
(author's note: of course as a professional nurse I would never knowingly take or encourage anyone else to take a medication not prescribed for them by a licensed practitioner. Though I'm not against spiking his coffee with Nyquil or whiskey)
4. The title agent has a daughter named Jennifer Jones and she has had issues with being confused with deadbeats who have the same name, which is another example of why I am choosing to hyphenate.
5. Our mortgage broker is disorganized and does things at the last minute causing unneeded stress in MY life (see #3).
For some reason he allegedly thought we were closing on the 14th, so basically our appraisal wasn't ordered until Monday, he was needing documents from us up until yesterday afternoon, and we weren't sure it was actually going to happen until this morning. We had also asked several weeks ago when we first started the process whether we'd need a specific affidavit signed and were assure "No" only to find out on Tuesday that we needed it completed, signed by someone else who lives out of town, and returned to the bank before closing.
6. You can get a $135,000 mortgage without ever walking into a bank or meeting your mortgage broker.
Yes, we live in an information age where everything was handled with online applications, emailed documents that we'd sign, scan and email back, and the telephone. Of course it might be a good thing that we don't actually know where his office is, because yesterday afternoon we might have been ready to rumble. And did I mention that it was just this morning that we read about the balloon payment on our second mortgage (we did an 80/15 loan) due in 15 years that was never discussed with us?
7. BJ is the first person the title agent has ever closed who wanted ALL of the documents up front (approximately 250 pages worth) and then ACTUALLY READ them before we showed up to sign.
8. Other than the aforementioned mortgage broker issues, buying a house was a remarkably easy process for us and took less than one month from the time we first started looking.
We had heard horror stories about fights and drama and stress for couples buying a home, and it's literally been a breeze. Of course I'll need to re-evaluate that AFTER we've moved and see if I can still make that claim!
9. It's VERY exciting to be able to say that we own a home!!
Today we're closing on our house and I'm more excited than I can say! The thought of having our own walls, our own yard, our own mortgage interest deduction, fills me with joy!! I was trying to think of a parallel from the past and I immediately recalled the first time I left home and moved into my "own place."
It was Fall 1993 and after spending two years at home going to community college, I was moving into an apartment at Illinois State University. I escaped the dorms (which in retrospect might not have been the best idea, I think I would have become connected with the school a lot quicker had I done the dorm thing) and I moved in with Spooky who was my best friend from high school and another girl I didn't know. We had a two bedroom apartment furnished with the most ridiculously cheap furniture you can imagine ... cheap wood with stained cushions, a rickety table and chairs and bunk beds. I'm thinking that between the three of us we were paying about $800 a month or so which was sheer highway robbery. Of course at the time I didn't care, I was so excited about being on my own. I could come home drunk, or not at all, sleep in as late as I wanted, shop for my own groceries and have my own address. It was incredibly liberating!!
My then boyfriend helped me move in before he was off to college far away in Cincinnati. Despite being "so in love" ... of course it barely lasted until Christmas break. But that first day when I moved in, ready to start my life in college away from home - I felt on top of the world!!
By the way, the last post was composed as I'm sitting in the office wearing my pajamas and my wedding veil. The kindly mailman delivered it early this afternoon and I of course couldn't resist putting it on right away. I'd probably be sitting around in my dress too if I wasn't worried about getting it dirty!!!
sidenote: thanks to the future in laws for hooking me up with the veil maker. I paid a whopping $27 for it!!
Sometimes in life you get screwed, and there's nothing you can do but grin and bear it. This weekend was a prime example ...
I was scheduled for my usual nights shifts (7 p.m. to 7:30 a.m.) all weekend and didn't realize until Friday that this was the dreaded "Fall Back" time of year for daylight savings time. If you've never worked a 12.5 hour hour shift and then been FORCED to relive 2 a.m. AGAIN - you seriously don't know what you're missing. It happened to be a particularly slow night for me anyway since I had an easy two baby assignment so it was completely excruciating. I know that it's only one extra hour, but seriously, I felt like time had stopped. I was wishing Hirowould show up and teleport me to the end of the shift ... instead I just had an extra helping of caffeine.
Then of course the stupid dayshift staff come in and talk about how they "tried to sleep in that extra hour, but woke up anyway." Like I want to hear about the extra hour YOU were given to sit in bed and read your Sunday paper. Have you no humanity?? I had to whack myself in the head to stay awake for my 13 and a half hour shift, so just shut it!!
While we're on the topic of work - I'll just say that IVs are the bane of my existence. I'm a really bright girl and I think I'm a damn good nurse. I can spot a change in my patient's condition, have a fairly good idea about what needs to be done about it, and even sometimes talk the idiot resident (OK, they're not ALL idiots ... probably about half ..... or maybe three-quarters???) into trusting my instincts. We'll just say that in the past, there have been some fairly life-threatening crises averted due to my gut instinct and hounding the doc until I got the x-ray or diagnostic test that was needed. When it comes to putting in IVs ??? I suck.
As a new grad, I worked at a hospital where our patients always had great access in place so it was rare that I had to even need to try to stick for a line. After about a year or so and having very few successful IV experiences, it started to become one of those things I'd obsess over because I knew I wasn't good at it. When I started traveling, I didn't worry too much about it because there's ALWAYS someone around who rocks at IVs, and every now and then I do have some luck. Unfortunately I'm now working at a hospital where it's less common to have a patient with what I'd consider *good* access (PICC line, Broviac etc), so I'm needing new IVs all the time. Last week, it was god awful and almost every patient I took care of had IVs that went bad, and had shit for veins since everything had already been stuck. Of course it wasn't just me, even the kick ass IV starters had troubles which certainly made me feel a little better, but didn't stop me from thinking "Jenn, you suck!" So I decided that instead of cringing every time I need a new IV, I will welcome it as an opportunity to try to improve. I mean seriously, you could probably teach a chimp to put in an IV ... though they wouldn't look nearly as cute as I do in my scrubs!
On this day after Halloween I thought I'd muse about several unrelated topics that all qualify as "scary things."
Scary Thing #1 - My wedding dress I went to the bridal shop yesterday and picked up my wedding dress. Remember when I said I was having the champagne colored satin dress trimmed in plum?? Well, believe you me - it's purple!! My first thought was "I LOVE IT!" but then the confidence was replaced by misgivings of "Jenn, are you seriously getting married with purple all over your ass end??" I think as I was surrounded by all of the white and ivory traditional concoctions around me, I was having some doubts about my own unique vision. Will my mom think it's hideous? Will BJ hate it?? As I tried it on, there were some people in the shop who clearly applauded how unique and personal it was. Betsy who sold it to me loved how it turned out and thought I looked adorable in it. Then there was the other shop worker who CLEARLY thought - hmm definitely a fashion don't. Of course I have to remember that when I started this whole wedding thing I wasn't even going to wear anything remotely traditional, I had wanted to get a red, green or purple dress and forgo the bridal look all together. Now I'm at least in a mostly white dress and planning on wearing a veil - so what if I have bright purple on my chest and my train?? Since when am I a cookie cutter kindof girl???
Scary Thing #2 - Wedding Vows Luckily BJ and I both agree on having a civil ceremony. I'm NOT the religious type though I would have been willing to have a religious based ceremony IF it were really important to him. The folks who are marrying us are basically letting us design our own ceremony so I have spent the last week or so researching various ceremony details like vows, exchange of rings, readings etc.
We already decided that we would find pre-written vows to repeat from the justice of the peace in lieu of writing our own. I think the whole composing our own is a tenuous situation for what is already a nerve wracking moment, as beautifully illustrated by one of his good friends who vowed in front of all those in the church to never "sperm" his wife as opposed to "spurn" her.
While looking up vows on the internethere and here, there are some things that are absolutely vomit inducing, either because of the whole misogynistic overtone or the ridiculously sappy, and then the strangely Dr. Seussian. Our favorite find thus far was this Celtic vow, seriously we'd bring the house down with this one ... "I pledge to you that yours will be the name I cry aloud in the night and the eyes into which I smile in the morning I pledge to you the first bite of my meat and the first drink from my cup ..."
Scary Thing #3 - Unity Candles Interestingly enough when we discussed the actual wedding, my deal breaker was having anything overtly Christian, while his deal breaker was having a unity candle ceremony. I assumed his objection was to the whole cheesiness of the unity candle, but actually he is very opposed to what it represents as he has seen it performed in weddings ... the two separate candles used to light the center and then the separate ones blown out ... to him that symbolizes that the individual identity is extinguished. Now when I've seen the unity candle back north, the Moms of the bride and groom light the individual candles at the very beginning and then during the wedding, the couple takes those individual candles and lights the center. There are then three candles that remain lit, sortof symbolizing the joining of the two families. I always thought it was cheesy but sentimental at the same time.
For giggles and grins, I did some research on the unity candle (here, here and here) and it's meaning and found that it's used both the way BJ sees it and how I have described. Even after discussing this with him, he is still adamantly opposed and cannot get the "traditional" symbolism out of his mind because he finds it so distasteful, especially to the woman. Methinks he's been to too many Baptist type weddings here in the south where people still promise to obey :)
Scary Thing #4 - Haunted Houses I'm not big in the Halloween scene and I hate scary movies and all things creepy in general. BJ though is a big fan of such things, so we decided to go to a haunted house last night. There are several options in the Little Rock area, but we chose the Haunted Hospital which had received the highest reviews on the Arkansas Times website. It was actually pretty good, they had lots of "actors" who came out to scare, and even touch the participants. I think BJ derived great enjoyment out of watching me steer clear of the creepy chainsaw guy who ran down the hall after us :)
This past weekend BJ and I were invited to a 2nd birthday party for one of his good friend's son. Now BJ is quite a fan of this little dude, but in all honesty we weren't thinking that it would be a swell time for us given that we're pretty much the only ones in the crowd without munchkins of our own. I assured him that we could show up, give our present and sneak out early if we were bored to tears and his friends would not take offense. When explaining this train of thought to another couple who were going (with their munchkin of course) we were told, "oh no, you'll love it! That place is fun!" Apparently the party was being held at one of those playland sorts of places with inflatable bouncy things - we were told most explicitly to wear socks or we wouldn't be allowed to play (seems a bit Fascist to me, especially considering the types of filth children carry about on their hands, but whatever)
Despite being still a bit skeptical about the fun factor, we put on our socks - I made sure BJ's had no holes, and I picked out a cute hot pink argyle pair from my dresser to go with my "Red Hair Gives Me Super Powers" tshirt. We arrived fashionably late at Party Central and that's where the fun began!!
We immediately started bouncing in one of the bounce chambers and it was a good one!! With all of the adults in there, I was getting some good air.
You can't see me well in this video since I'm in the back corner ... and falling down but we (me, BJ and two of BJ's friends) are totally doing the YMCA as we jump.
There was also a cool slide that you had to climb up .... whee!! and since when do BJ and I stand around and talk in a super hero stance??? Seriously, what's up with the Superman poses?? (though my pose is a bit more slouchey) and the most tiring part was the obstacle course. You climbed through tunnels, over small walls, between moving posts and then had to haul yourself up a wall to go down the last slide. This is me hanging "precariously" ... I think I was yelling "Save me, save me!" and BJ was trying desperately to save me from falling off the cliff (seriously, we have some good imaginations!) By the end of it, we were thoroughly exhausted, and the next day my arms and abs were sore. I'm guessing from pulling myself up things and stabilizing myself whilst bouncing.
I don't know what the birthday boy (pictured here) thought of the whole thing, but we had a blast!!
I can recall the exact moment when I first decided that I needed to lose weight and start to work out, it was after I saw this picture from my 32nd birthday and realized that my jeans hadn't shrunk, my ass had just gotten larger :) Of course that was September and it took me two months to actually take action, hire a trainer, meet with a dietician and get at it, but this was when I finally realized that what I saw in the mirror was not reality.
Yes, blog readers, I love you so much as to reveal my most unflattering picture. Don't say I never gave you anything.
There's no point in pretending, I have fallen off the training wagon ... again! I've had such a hard time motivating myself to run lately, despite the fact that I always feel so good after a nice workout. Instead of being something that I look forward to, it's just one other area where I feel like I'm falling short. I think part of it has to do with not getting together with my running club lately. My work schedule has conflicted with most of the group runs, but there have been nights where I just haven't gone. I was running well in the Spring when I was meeting up with the Hot Legs at least once a week - I think that I should really try to incorporate that into my running regimen.
Another thing that I've been pondering since moving back to Little Rock is getting back into cross training and back into tris. I had such a good thing going when I lived in Columbia and had the awesome university swimming pool and rec center at my disposal and areas to ride my bike right outside of my door. My travel nursing gigs have totally killed my cross training because of the constant moving and inability to get hooked up with a pool or a place to ride my bike where I feel safe. Now that I'm staying put, I really need to get back at it. I'd like to do some races in the Spring and I promised a friend of mine that I'd do a women's tri with her in Chicago next summer. I think that if I had a more rounded exercise plan, I'd be happier and more fit.
For the immediate future, I'm needing to find a goal to work on. I'm planning a half-marathon with BJ the first week of December, but since I've blown off most of my training thus far, I'm really not going to expect to PR or do anything exciting. I've learned the hard way that you can't "catch up" on your training and mileage - last time I did that I ended up with a sore IT band. So now I'm pondering a little more long term. The Little Rock Marathon is exactly 19 weeks from today, and my training plan is 20 weeks long. I wouldn't have to play catchup, I'd just be starting at week 2. I'm thinking that I need to just go for it and take it one week at a time. I just know that if I'm going to be serious, I need to put in my four runs a week and stop making excuses. Ever since I saw the big ass medals they hand out at this marathon (they're the largest in the world according to Runner's World), I knew that I had to have one. Since it's in my own back yard, I'd be silly to not take advantage of it. We'll check back in next week and see how my first week of honest training has gone.
This trip takes us to a time not so long ago .... me and BJ's first date part 2. (There was some controversy as to whether we had one or two dates the first time that we met, I still firmly believe that there were two separate and distinct dates). There is no photographic evidence from our true first date which was a lunch that ended up lasting SIX hours!! Later on that evening, I met up with BJ and two of his friends at Sticky Fingerz to hear an all girl's band that does a lot of 80s covers. There was a photographer there from a local "social" website that took our picture so now for all time we will have a picture of the first day that we met. This was of course before BJ nearly got us killed by taking me to a gangsta' bar where my presence was most definitely not wanted! But that's another story for another time.
In other news, the home inspection went well so it's full speed ahead to mortgage land!
I'm not a fan of football - never have been. I was raised in a town where the high school didn't have a football team so basketball was the major sport. I understand basketball, I was a cheerleader for basketball, I GET basketball. Now football is an entirely different animal. When I changed high schools I suddenly found myself in major football territory, as a matter of fact I would have been shocked if our men's basketball team could have beaten most of the women's teams in town. I spent four years in the marching band on the sidelines and in the half time shows at football games, but I never understood or cared what was going on. I cheered when others cheered, exclaimed in disgust when others did and basically just chatted with my girlfriends the whole time.
In college at Illinois State, football was not a big thing. I think I went to one or two games as part of a sorority/fraternity mixer but honestly I was in it for the tailgating and beer. In nursing school at Mizzou, I often had clinicals on the weekends as part of my program or I was working so again - no football, no care.
Now I find myself in the midst of football fanatics and apparently I'm marrying not only BJ, but his season tickets to the University of Arkansas Razorback games..... yippee for me ... NOT! Now before you give me grief, let me make it clear that I did NOT misrepresent myself in regards to sports. I am certain that we covered sports in our first lunch date which lasted 6 hours and my thoughts on football were not sugar coated. The only sport I enjoy watching is college basketball, if I'm plied with liquor I can watch hockey or go to a baseball game (I'd rather put my eyes out, however, than watch it on TV), when the Olympics come around I can sit and watch various sports for hours, but that's it. I have had many opportunities in my life to care about football - for example, my stepdad coaches my former high school team, my stepbrother played college ball for four years, I've been to more Super Bowl parties than I can count and still I don't like football.
All of that clearly has to change now because I'm in love yadayadayada and marrying into a family that not only watches their own personal teams, but has to watch ESPN and see highlights of every other important game going on in the country - UGH! Since I do want my marriage to work, and I was told that nothing gets a guy hotter than seeing his main squeeze dressed up in his team's colors and loudly disputing a crappy call, I boldly went to my first Razorback game this weekend. Let me be clear that I still don't really understand football, though I was making a concerted effort to make some sense of the madness on the field. I'm a pretty sharp gal so once I actually *sigh* started to pay attention and care, the downs, yards, penalties and strategy were starting to make some sense.
For those who don't know Razorback football, let me just say that these people are nuts! Grown women and men were passionately cheering for this team, booing the opponents, exclaiming loudly at the "unfair" penalty calls. I seriously would have feared for my life if at a quiet point in the game I decided to shout, "I think the Razorbacks suck ass!"
Another distinctly Arkansas tradition is to call the hogs. This is done prior to the team taking the field and as a type of cheer at all of the kick offs and other special moments. It had been demonstrated to me half- heatedly by BJ once and very enthusiastically by my future brother-in-law prior to the game (who interestingly enough is an Auburn fan). After seeing what it means to call the hogs, I told BJ outright that I was NOT going to do that, but I did compromise and wear a ball cap with the "hog call" on it.
So picture this, tens of thousands of men, women and children at the beginning of the game .... standing up wiggling their hands in the air "spirit finger" style yelling "WOOOOOOOOOOOOO PIG SOOIE!" Seriously the first time I saw it, I laughed so hard I thought I was going to pee. This video clip gives you an idea ... seriously the ENTIRE stadium was participating!
In the end, the football game was not a horribly painful experience, by the end of it I felt like i had some vague understanding of what was going on. I wouldn't mind going two or three times a season but I don't know if and when I would ever feel so moved as to want to call the hogs.
One other fun part of the weekend was getting to meet BJ's sister and her husband for the first time. She's a dyed in the wool Mizzou and Georgia fan while he can be found wandering around aimlessly shouting "War Eagle!" (click here for reference) They flew in for the game to sit in the Auburn section and we all had a rousing weekend of football together - and thankfully there was plenty of beer to dull the pain for Jenn!!
Cleo hoarded her's in her crate
and Tosca killed her's as quickly as possible.
The fur carnage will undoubtably be found in the carpet for days.
