Always look on the bright side of life

It's been a rough few weeks and though I generally prefer to bitch and moan (seriously, it's my nature) - I decided to take a lesson from Life of Brian and look on the bright side.

While it's true that we've had two major Gremlin illnesses since he started daycare and have dealt with what appears to be a neverending fountain of snot, he has been adjusting really well. We have been very pleased with the facility and the caregivers and though he was throwing a nice fit every morning at drop-off, we were reassured that it didn't last long. The first two weeks, we just did half days and picked him up before naptime. We have now progressed to full days and he has been taking his naps and in general having a great time. This week, he even gave up the drop-off drama and happily waved and said "Bye Bye!"

So yes, the germs and sickness which are inevitable in a group care setting have been irritating. Even worse is that I am normally a very healthy person, but I have managed to catch both illnesses which seem to strike during my stretch of time off. Right now I'm practically high on cold meds but I'm going to focus on the positive .... yes, positive Jenn!!! Gremlin is doing well with daycare and because of that, I can now get a full days sleep after I work the night shift. This is the first time since pregnancy that I haven't been sleep deprived - yeah me!!

As for the job, it's been a bit of a stressful transition for me. I was happy in my world of little children, it's all I've ever known since finishing nursing school and I was in my comfort zone. Sure I worked with adults when I was in school, but when you don't do it all the time, you lose that comfort. Most of the assessment stuff is the same, listen to breath sounds, check for murmur, listen to bowel sounds, feel for a pulse. The vital sign numbers are different but that's not hard to relearn. The hardest part for me is the specific stuff you have to deal with after having a baby. (Warning!! anatomical nursing stuff ahead!!!!) You have to press on their belly and find a fundus which is the top of the uterus. You have to make sure it's firm and that it's where it's supposed to be. It is a very important part of the assessment and I have to admit, it can be hard to find it, especially on those women who have a lot of *extra* flesh in the abdominal area. That means you have to push down even harder while trying to find it and shockingly this is a tender spot after giving birth so some moms aren't too keen on you mashing down. I am already preparing myself for the inevitable plea to a fellow nurse to come check my patient because I can't find their damn fundus.

The other thing is you have to look ... down there. Let's be honest, no one goes to school with the hope of looking at vaginas all day, but if a baby comes out of there, it really has to be looked at. I don't really mind and it's not like it grosses me out or anything, it's just the reality that I sometimes don't know exactly what I'm seeing or if I'm even seeing it. Folks, there are lots of different types of bodies out there and I can assure you that no one's nether regions look like a textbook, especially after birth. Did I mention the hemorrhoids? I also have to check for those while I'm looking down there. Again, I don't remotely mind this part of my job, I honestly want to be sure I know what's going on so that I can start helping them heal with the appropriate medicine or therapy. It's just a whole new experience for me to deal with an adult, introduce myself and shortly thereafter look at the part of their body that they find quite private. I've never had to explain myself to a baby, I just do it. I'm still trying to find the script that works well for me to put a woman at ease during examination.

The other issue is that it's been busy at work - REALLY busy. My first week there the unit was full, we were short-staffed on nurses,and everyone was taking a very heavy load. Obviously, if everyone is taking a heavy assignment, it's not the best time to learn. I basically followed my preceptor around and asked occasional questions when I could. I have been in her position with too many patients and needing to train someone, so I was very sympathetic. It was just stressful because I felt like I was in the way and due to my lack of knowledge, I really couldn't help. On my fourth night, they were so short that I volunteered to work in the nursery. Babies are something I know and at least there I can be helpful with taking vital signs, drawing labs etc. It still wasn't a very great learning experience, but at least I was easing the load for the team. My second week was better and I now feel like I'm learning. I really want to be good at this job and I am my own worst critic, I need to remind myself that I have four more weeks to learn what I need to know.

On the bright side, I can already tell that I am really going to love the job. I have enjoyed the patients and the opportunity to work with happy families. I will also appreciate being able to teach on a regular basis as part of the job. For the most part, the staff I have met are very friendly and competent. I just need to get more comfortable in my role and cut myself some slack.

Ooooo, and the best bright side is that I now make more money!!! Wheeee!!! So nice to get a raise!!!!

Ch- Ch- Ch- Changes

I've never been very stressed about changing jobs, likely because I've done it so many times since finishing college. I left my first *real* post college job, after 2 and 1/2 years to move to Denver. Then my I left my position in Denver after almost 3 years to attend nursing school. Since nursing school, I've bounced around a lot because it's easy to do that in a high-demand field and it suits my personality because I get bored and/or frustrated at jobs after a while. Truthfully, the idea of career mobility was one of the things that drew me to nursing - the myriad of directions you could take with one degree.

So it's not a shock that I'm changing things up yet again. After spending the last 6 years doing pediatric nursing (most of them Neonatal Intensive Care) it was time to see what else was out there. My current work situation was becoming a bit unstable with absentee management, a pending closure of our unit on the weekends, and some generalized uneasiness amongst the mostly excellent staff. When casually looking at jobs, I noticed a position in the Mom/Baby Unit at Big Popular Birthing Hospital. When I went back to work after Gremlin, I was told by recruiters that jobs rarely opened up in the women's services at Big Hospital because when they had occasional openings, they were filled from within. When I saw that opening, I knew I had to jump and apply.

I had a great interview, though to be honest I ALWAYS interview well. I'm very comfortable with the process and I think I do a good job at representing myself and my abilities. From the hiring manager's demeanor, I could tell that I had a very good shot though she did tell me that others were interviewing for the one available position. I think my interest in being a breastfeeding educator and my extensive NICU experience were the biggest selling points. Speaking of NICU, I had to spend the first 20 minutes convincing her I did not want to work in NICU anymore (that department also had an opening and she wanted to be sure I wasn't making a mistake). After telling her that I most certainly did not want to work in NICU anymore, we had a great time discussing the job.

I've had a major interest in maternity nursing ever since my experiences as a traveler in Colorado when I was floated several times to their post-partum unit. It's such an awesomely, unique place to practice nursing. For one, it's generally a very joyous time in a family's life as opposed to my years of working in very tense "sick baby" situations. It also provides a lot of opportunity for education which is my favorite part of being a nurse. Whether it's teaching how to change a diaper or swaddle or breastfeed, a great deal of supportive education happens in that brief hospital stay after a baby is born. I had Gremlin at Big Hospital and even though I was a professional baby wrangler, I was so thankful for the breastfeeding support and education.

My new job will involve taking care of pairs or "couplets" of mommas and babies. It will truly be acting as a nurse for the whole family. I am incredibly excited by it though a little nervous about dealing with adults again. I have had occasional teenage patients in the past year and a half, but I haven't routinely worked with adults since my student gig as an extern in the Trauma/Burn ICU. I'm sure it will all come back to me with a bit of practice.

This job is also a full-time position so I will be back to working three 12-hour shifts a week. I really was liking my part-time gig, but decided that I wanted this opportunity even more. As a result, Gremlin will now be going to "school" starting next week. In the end, I think it's going to be a great move. I'm excited about a new phase of my career, I'll be able to get quality, uninterrupted sleep while Gremlin is at school, and hopefully I'll regain the joy I used to have in my work.

Job Hunting

Since I am currently without job, the time has come to commence with the job searching. My plan is to start sometime in January which will have made me off work for 4 months! That's crazy! I've never been off for more than three weeks before this!!

The job hunt is usually something that causes great stress and trauma, but finding a job is pretty easy as a nurse and it's more a matter of finding the best fit for my needs. I've applied at two hospitals so far and have had one interview. My big thing is that I'm wanting part-time nights (defined by me as 24 hours or two 12 hour shifts) and I don't want to work straight weekends. If I was all about the money, I'd take a straight weekend position because you get a major monetary incentive for giving up every Saturday and Sunday night. A lot of Moms do this, but I don't think this is for me. My first complaint would be missing all of BJ's free time - weekends are our theoretical fun time (though with a newborn there hasn't been as much free spirited fun as of late!) Second problem is that all of the races I want to do are on weekends so I'd be constantly trying to get off for one thing or another.

As for type of job, I'm kindof feeling that it's time to try something different. I've done NICU since I've been a nurse (4 years) and I wonder what else is out there?? I'm kindof interested in doing labor and delivery or a post-partum/mom-baby unit job. I have some interest in adult critical care (I worked in a trauma/burn ICU in school), but I'm wanting to avoid jobs that have long term patietns. It's one of the things about maternity that appeals - you have the baby and then you go home. Is it wrong that I don't want to see the same patients over and over? Maybe, but it's the part of NICU that was starting to really grate on me, especially when you had "challenging" families.

Anyway, my one interview was for a part-time labor and delivery gig. The schedule would be perfect since it was no weekends at all unless I had an occasional call shift on a weekend night. My biggest concern is that they don't do a lot of business at nights so I think it'd be a lot of sitting around, and then maybe getting some inductions started late at like 5 a.m. I'm one of those people who likes a steady worknight and with a little Gremlin at home, there's no telling how low on sleep I'll be which makes having something to do all night long even more important.

Hopefully, I'll have some other interviews and options to choose from. I'd like to have a job confirmed in the next three weeks.

Thursday's Trip Down Memory Lane

I'm having a uneventful night at work, and BJ sent me an email asking if I was going to compose a memory lane post. Given that all of my patients are happily sleeping (for the moment) and my charting is already caught up (major shocker) - I figured why not?? The problem is searching for a topic .... hmmm, what to talk about??

Well I guess we can talk about careers and jobs. Thinking back, I honestly don't think as a kid I ever had the whole, "When I grow up I wanna be a ____ ." I was always one of the smartest in my class, always on the honor roll, but I grew up in a very rural area and I think it was hard to see what the big wide world offered. Most of the families around us were farmers or coal miners, a few maybe drove to Springfield and worked in some capacity for the state government, but it wasn't like we had career day at my school. I always knew I wanted to go away to college, preferably far away. I remember wanting to go to UCLA when I was in grade school which was funny because I had never been farther west than Missouri at the time. Los Angeles seemed so exotic and exciting! I hadn't thought about what I would study, just going there.

Even in high school, I didn't have a clear vision of what I wanted to do with my life. I was lucky enough to move to a more urban area and attend an excellent, private high school that emphasized college preparation. I had a lot of opportunities to take things like Chemistry, Physics, Anatomy & Physiology, Calculus and the like - I seemed to gravitate towards the science world, but I still didn't know what I was going to do with it. Unlike my grade school days, most of my peers in high school had parents who were doctors, lawyers, accountants, teachers, nurses etc. and most of my friends also seemed to have a clear vision on what they wanted to do. I still just kindof plugged away, got good grades, ended up with extremely competitive ACT scores that would have allowed me to go anywhere to college. I had little colleges from all over the US contacting me and offering me scholarships, but what do you do with this when you have no clue what you want to be???

I did make it through college, plodded through lots of majors .... Pharmacy, Medical Lab Technology, Middle School Ed (science & math emphasis), Chemistry, Biology ... contemplated even more majors, thought about being a doctor, lawyer, chemist, teacher, joining the Peace Corps. In the end I still didn't have a flipping clue, but as a second semester junior I was still undecided. I ended up in an environmental health major because it seemed interesting at the time and I knew I had to pick something and just get my damn degree.

Of course I obviously didn't have it totally figured out because after 7 years working in public health I went to nursing school, but at least it's in the same ballpark.

Though it's sometimes been frustrating as I've searched for my path (which is still ongoing), I guess if I look back, I've never really known what I want to be when I grow up. I just know I want to be happy, to enjoy the work that I do, and to feel that my work makes a difference in the lives of others.

If my kid ends up being clueless too, I'll just encourage them to go to a good college, take lots of different classes, and have confidence that they will eventually find their way.

So what did you want to be when you were a kid??

Keep It Confidential

I'm so sorry if my recent posts on various topics are boring anyone ... I'm just going through a stage where various subjects are compelling me to write or comment, and it's hard to ignore when I have this outlet.

Today I was surfing through the entertainment news (I'm sorry to admit that though I'm highbrow enough to follow NPR and the BBC, I also like to catch E! and People online) and I was particularly disturbed by this story. There have been several instances of celebrity medical treatment status being leaked, but this was particularly disgusting because poor Farrah hadn't even told her family yet AND was even being treated under an alias.

Even before the days of HIPAA where medical privacy and disclosure were bound tightly by law, it has always been an ethical mandate that we in health care keep private information private. During every hospital orientation I have had, there is always a section on confidentiality and how you can be disciplined or fired for accessing medical information that you do not need to do your job. It's sometimes tough because I can take care of a patient for weeks in a row, but when they go to surgery, despite how much I want to know how they're doing - I legally have no right to know anything unless I am assigned to take care of them. Now I'm not going to lie, amongst nurses we often have some professional consideration for these circumstances. I remember having to be off for a weekend and a baby that I had taken care of for two months since his birth wasn't doing so well. If you're not a nurse, I can't even explain how easily and quickly we get attached to our patients. When it's someone you've taken care of for weeks, you are very much invested in their outcome. I would call in to the night shift nurse to "check" on him - not necessarily ask tons of specifics like what are his vent settings, chest tube output etc. etc. - but how is he doing? Ethically that's pretty grey given that I'm not currently working that shift and taking care of the patient, but it's FAR different than looking up patients I'm not even involved with.

When I worked in Columbia, MO which is a smaller town, I was confronted with situations more often that dealt with confidentiality. We were the biggest NICU in town, so if an acquaintance of mine had a neighbor or a family member with a baby in the NICU, it wasn't uncommon to be asked. "so is Baby X doing OK?" It usually was asked out of concern because in smaller towns, people tend to know each other. Those were times where it would be easy to say, "oh yeah, they're doing great" or "they're pretty sick" but I'd have to stick with the whole, "I really can't talk about that."

Another job that provoked similar questions was working in the Burn/Trauma unit and having patients who had made the news for dramatic fires, car crashes, accidents etc. and people wondering, "how is that college student doing who got caught in the fire?" Even though I was just a student nurse extern at the time, I still knew what was going on and people knew where I worked. Those types of questions were not uncommon and it required diligence to keep your mouth shut. I was working in the NICU at the time, but when a young, female police officer was shot (in the end fatally) by a teen aged suspect, it was all over the news for two or three weeks and was quite a high profile local case. After she died, several employees were disciplined and even terminated for accessing her medical records without cause - all worked outside the Trauma Unit. It may seem harsh, but after reading about the recent Britney Spears and Farrah Fawcett cases, I see where it's a slippery slope and clearly people have no sense. Especially when medical records are computer based and the system logs EVERY person who looks at a file. I know that I would be very upset if I were a patient at my hospital and my co-workers heard through the grapevine what I was being treated for or something specific about my health, let alone the whole flippin' world. I am glad to see that UCLA is taking a harsh stand, and I hope Farrah sues that individual for disclosing her medical information, because doing it for money?? Even more despicable in my opinion.

Negativity is Thy Name

I'm going to make myself go for a run ... jog ... perhaps walk mixed with a touch of jogging here and there??? ... when I get off work. I've become a pathetically lazy couch potato as of late and I have some serious negative energy that I'm needing to burn off.

My personal life is pretty awesome, I mean I have a fabulous husband who adores me and sends me flowers for no particular reason (like this week), how great is that?? I am however sorely lacking in the social circle given that all of my close friends live in states far away. I haven't really been able to make a lot of friends since moving here, and the night shift schedule makes it particularly tough to even coordinate something if in theory I had a local friend. I do think it takes a while to find your niche when you relocate, but it's even worse here because I'm so different from most of the people I meet. I'm a flaming, open-minded liberal who doesn't go to church, while most people here .... aren't.

The other big issue is that I am suffering from serious job dissatisfaction at the moment. Unfortunately I'm making such good money that I can't afford to do anything else, but it is really starting to wear on me. I haven't decided if it's working in the NICU in general, or working in this particular NICU. I am so tired of dead beat, neglectful parents and jacked up babies with no chance of a quality of life. There's always a certain element of this in any unit I've worked in, but it seems to be the norm as opposed to the exception where I'm at now. I can't even tell you the last time I had a patient where the parent(s) showed up or even called routinely, it's been over three weeks for sure. It just blows me away because if they show no interest in their sick, hospitalized child, why would I think they're going to give a crap when they're home and healthy?? At some point, I'm guessing that the hospital will not renew my travel contract and I'll have to figure out what to do. It's going to be rough because no matter where I staff at, it's going to be a HUGE paycut. I'll also have to decide whether it's time to try something different and if so, what that will be. I'm kindof looking forward to the opportunity to work in a different realm, but the almost 50% cut in pay??? Not so much.

So yes, I think a walk sprinkled with moments of jogging is definitely in order ... if it stops thundering and lightning that is.

Is there a doctor or nurse in the room???

I'm currently at the airport in St Louis waiting for my flight home after a busy weekend of Pi Phi Leadership training. I recently assumed the position of advisory committee chairperson so I am now advising the chapter president which puts me in a very different leadership role. I was very excited about the opportunity to receive training as well as network with other Pi Phi advisers from across the country. It is always exciting to look around and see the incredible diversity amongst our advisers as well as our collegiate presidents (who also attended). I would challenge anyone who was at that hotel to say that we were a group of "blonde haired, blue eyed Barbies" because in our organization, those days have long been over.

I'm really excited about taking on this role because it's propelling me back into a world that I love (that of a Greek organization) and giving me an opportunity to showcase skills that I used in former careers, but haven't needed in my current profession. Another thing I have to mention, is that for those of you who have stereotypes of Greek letter organizations, I can say with complete confidence that we are advising and holding our girls to high standards in regards to their values, their grades and their service to others. The Presidents that I met were outstanding examples of young women and spoke about amazing programs that they are doing in their chapters and on their campus and I know that we are not the only Greek letter organization to emphasize these values for their young women.

So anyway, at dinner last night, one of the national officers comes to the microphone and asks, "is there a doctor or nurse in the room??" In my skirt and high heels I quickly stood up and offered my services. Sure I may be a baby nurse, but I'm well equipped to deal with any first aid or response situation - just ask BJ about the times I've made him pull over when we saw a car wreck on the road.

Luckily, there was no blood, gore or heart attacks, just two sick collegians far from home and not knowing what to do. After assessing their symptoms and realizing that they were in fact not needing any immediate medical attention, I sent them back to their rooms with instructions to take some Advil, drink plenty of fluids and get some sleep. It's always nice to provide some comfort and assistance when I can, hone those motherly skills, and basically rack up some brownie points for heaven :)

Job Woes

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.

A Bonus Hour!!

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 Hiro would 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!

An update on athletic endeavors

Since this was originally *supposed* to be a blog about my running and triathlon pursuits, which later turned into a discourse on my travel nursing, I should really get back to business.

As to the running ... my training for the Chicago Marathon has officially derailed. There's no point in beating myself up about it because it is what it is. I knew when I signed up back in March that training for a marathon was a serious undertaking that requires commitment to putting in the miles. I haven't kept up my end of the bargain, simple as that. Instead of making excuses or beating myself up, I'm going to look forward to what's next. Yes, I'm out the $120 registration fee, but I'd rather not run it, than run it and risk hurting myself.

With that in mind, BJ and I decided to turn our attention to a late year half marathon. It will be my third and hopefully an opportunity to break 2:30, and his first attempt at this distance. We thought about Tulsa, but then looked at the Las Vegas Marathon/Half- Marathon on December 2nd. It has an awesome course that starts and ends on the strip, tons of running Elvi, a run through wedding chapel at mile 5 (it's tempting, let me tell you!) and of course all the excitement that Vegas has to offer. So starting this week, BJ and I will be training for this race. We're going to try to do all of our long runs together so that we can find a good pace that works for both of us. This race will be my immediate goal with the overall plan of debuting as a kick ass marathoner at the Little Rock Marathon in March. Now that I've disappointed myself once - I don't think I'll let it happen again.

In travel nursing news, I started my assignment at Arkansas Children's and I've quickly gotten back into the swing of things. It's a massive unit and I've been surprised at how many people remember me! I've gotten lots of "weren't you here before?" which was a surprise because there are so many nurses there, I just assumed that most wouldn't remember me at all.

Regarding the sibling rivalry, I am happy to announce that all of the dog children are now getting along. There are still occasionally tiffs, just as you would expect amongst stepsiblings, but the days of poor BJ's dog getting a daily ass kicking from my spaniel seem to be over. I'm still not sure what the pecking order is among them, I have a feeling that the small terrier (nicknamed the "Great White Devil" by BJ) is actually in charge of everyone. In any case, they can now be unsupervised which has relieved a great deal of stress on my part.

The last fun thing to report is that BJ and I made our first big purchase together! We were at Dillards doing some pre-wedding registry research when we happened to see a couch that we had previously liked on clearance as a floor model. [Side note: who knew there were so many patterns of crystal and that he and I would each have such strong opinions on the vessel for holding the wine that will hopefully get us drunk for years to come?!?!?] Given how excellent the price was we couldn't' resist, and if we're getting a couch, we might as well get a chair right? So next weekend our new living room furniture will be delivered and we will finally start having "our" stuff as opposed to his and hers. It's an exciting time, let me tell you!! Now if we can just figure out how to keep the dogs off of it ...