Updates

Blog:
Updates:
Chelsie’s house hunting is still underway. The one for 59,000 that we were so excited about was bought with a cash offer that Chelsie couldn’t compete with. But she hasn’t given up. Her and Michael are still out there most weekends looking at fixer uppers of the most extraordinary kind…one such house we all went to take a look at was filled floor to ceiling with junk…little pathways through the house, just like those crazy hoarders you see on Oprah. (Ok I’m exaggerating just a little but it was pretty amazing).

They have put an offer in on one that seems within reach if someone else doesn’t snatch it up, 75,000 for a three-bedroom 1400 sq ft house in a halfway decent neighborhood. It has a full basement and a huge back yard. It looks to be a ton of work, I mean a TON of work. But the upstairs is mostly livable with a few little details like finishing the kitchen remodel that was started and putting in a working bathroom. Other than that, it’s only a matter of a few windows. Oh, and the hole in the ceiling and the leaky area under one wall. But it has a new roof! And this awesome (I mean it) gazabo thing outside built with log poles and a fireplace. So, at best a mixed bag. But it’s an opportunity for growth and learning to say the least, and a hell of a cool house when it’s done to say the most. I’ll post before’s and after’s if they get it.

Pop tarts: Just kidding, I promised no more pop tarts.

Chickens: sadly no chickens yet, but I did see this Dateline special about how these huge chicken farms are polluting America’s waterways and causing “dead zones” in the water where fish and plants can’t survive. Just another reason for everybody to have a few chickens in their back yards.

Laura:
I can’t believe Laura only has three more weeks with us, and then she’s on to a different clinical site. She’s been great to have around. As an example of how awesome she is, tonight she’s making tortilla soup and a layered dip for Cinco de Miyo (however you spell it) and we are all watching Dancing With the Stars and A-MER- ican Idol together while we eat. I got to sit and watch her participate in an online chat with her classmates last night…too funny. It brought back a lot of memories of school for me. She’s going to make a great anesthetist.

Work:
Wow, it’s so weird to have my schedule. I end up working about 40 hours a week but I have a ton of time off too. This last weekend, I worked Saturday and Sunday nights and slept both nights in the call room…no cases except for a labor epidural. But my schedule gave me yesterday and today off. I don’t even know what to do with my time. I should probably still be studying but I got so burnt out in school that cracking an anesthesia book is almost the LAST thing I want to do. I did look something up the other day though because I needed a refresher.

I am sitting in Barnes and Noble (my old haunt when I was in nursing and anesthesia school) typing this to just feel a little more comfortable in my own skin…a little more familiar than sitting at home typing this. Besides, the cat will NOT leave me alone for a second when I’m at home. He is the neediest cat I’ve ever seen. You know how cats are supposed to be all aloof? Not Mafia. He will YOWL at the door if you shut it against him. I was upstairs a little while ago and he didn’t know where I was so he wandered through the house crying until I called him. He probably spends his days crying when I’m not home, poor little thing. (Notice, this did not make me feel bad enough to stay home with him).

I am heading down to Arizona in a couple of weeks to spent time with my mom and sister. We are going to do fun stuff like eating at this cute restaurant that serves breakfast food and getting jamba juices in the mornings. We may even run up to Sedona for a day or something depending on how mom feels. She has Parkinson’s and it’s hard to predict how she is going to feel from one hour to the next. But we’ll have fun just sitting around talking so it doesn’t matter.

Well, that’s it for updates. In the near future, I may be mentioning a kitchen remodel with some pics…we are getting our cabinets redone and maybe a new countertop.