You Can't Handle the Truth!

My mama nominated me for a "Creative Writer" Award! Her blogging friend Lesa Holstine nominated her for this award and she is just passing the love along.

If you are nominated for this award, here are the rules:

1. First, thank the person who nominated you and link to their blog. So thank you, Mom at My Random Acts of Reading.

2. Copy and paste the logo for the award on to your post. Check!

3. Tell 6 outrageous lies and one outrageous truth about yourself.

4. Allow your readers to guess which one is the true fact. You hear that everyone, you need to guess! Don't make me look like the sad kid who no one wants to pick for kickball!

5. Nominate 7 others for the "Creative Writer" award and post links to their blogs.

6. Leave a comment on your pals' blogs to let them know that you nominated them.

So here are my seven facts. Six of them are false and one is true, let's see who can pick out the lie! Warning: Beware, some of these facts may contain elements of truth!

1. I received a call from the Governor of Texas to wish me a happy birthday!

2. I once delivered a baby in the Parkland ER waiting room when I was on my way upstairs to Labor and Delivery to start a shift.

3. I have been to New Orleans 7 times and I still feel the urge to go again about every 6 months. I am obsessed with cajun food and jazz bands on the street!

4. In college, I ran in a 5K race and came in dead last! It was okay though because the people who sponsored the race usually came in last and they were happy for the change.

5. I take my dog Hopps to a dog yoga class that where we do yoga together.

6. I once sang the Star Spangled Banner at a University of Texas basketball game.

7. I was once on an episode of "Maternity Ward" (a Discovery Health show about Labor and Delivery) when I worked at a hospital in Dallas.

Please post guesses as to which one of these facts is true.

Anniversary Getaway!

For our anniversary, Taylor and I are getting out of Austin and heading up to Broken Bow, Oklahoma where we are renting a cabin in the woods. I am so excited to be spending a few days alone with my hubby! Since we live in my in-laws house with my mother and father in law, sister in law and brother in law, plus about 8000 pets; we don't get a lot of time to ourselves. It's sad, but I think I am most excited about just getting to cook in a kitchen that is my own (if only temporarily). My mother in law is lovely, but I always feel a little uncomfortable cooking in her kitchen. I don't know, its just not the same as having your own space. I am also excited about just being on our own; sleeping as late as we want; and just having nothing we have to do for a few days. It should be fun! So, Happy Anniversary to me!

Oh, and here is a picture of our cabin.

Hello Old Friend!

Okay, I know everyone has probably stopped even checking to see if I have been blogging, but I have decided to actually make an attempt at returning to the blogging world. So, since it has been 6 months, here are the top 5 big updates in my life. Don't get too excited, it is nothing too monumental.

1. After my last blog post, we did move in with my in-laws and I have become my father-in-law's live in nurse. It is going well and he is hanging in there. We have our good days and our bad days with so many people living in one house, but so far, no one has gone postal.

2. My dogs, Barley and Hopps have started dog training. They are doing a basic obedience course and even though it is a lot of hard work, we are enjoying working with the dogs and they seem to enjoy learning. Soon they will be very well-mannered dogs...I hope.

3. We are doing a family photo shoot next week. The Reid kids are doing this for my in-laws as a Christmas gift. Hayden and Jen thought of the idea and I think it is going to be really nice. We did some shopping for the boys today for new clothes to wear and the girls are planning a shopping trip on Sunday. We are going to try to go to Mayfield Park in Austin, which is actually where my in-laws were married so that should be really special!

4. My new winter hobby is cross stitch. I have done it in the past but I am really getting back into it now. Look out friends and family, there could be some framed cross stitch pictures or cross stitched baby blankets (Holly) coming your way soon! I am also trying to make exercise a hobby, but it is not quite as much fun as cross stitch.

5. I have recently fallen back in love with musicals and old movies. I have purchased Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Calamity Jane, Grease and Grease 2 (which I owned on tape but have now updated to DVD), and a Rock Hudson/Doris Day Collection which includes Pillow Talk, Send Me No Flowers, and Lover Come Back. If you have never heard of any of these films and feel like watch some good old romantic movies, I would highly recommend picking one of these up.

I guess that is about all I have time for tonight, have to hit the hay so I can start fresh again tomorrow. I will try to write again soon. Hope everyone is doing well!

My Life is a Blur....

Wow, I have really neglected blogging for about a month now! Sorry all, life has been a little crazy. Let me just give a brief synopsis of all the changes in my life right now.

First, we are moving in about 2 weeks. We are moving in with my in-laws the weekend of June 26th to help out and help us save some much needed money. With Taylor and I, our two dogs and one cat, this will make 6 adults, 4 dogs, 3 cats, 2 fish and 1 bird in a now 6 bedroom house. I feel like we might need to add a partridge in a pear tree just to make the whole picture. Life is about to get very interesting and much less private on the home front.

Second big change, I quit my job. Taylor's parents have asked me to become Spencer's (Taylor's dad) private nurse. They have long term disability insurance that will be paying my salary. So, as of July 1st- ish I will start my new role as live-in, full-time private nurse. It is going to be a big job but I really feel like God has placed me in this family for a reason and maybe this is it. I just hope that I can make Spencer and Royce's lives a little easier. I have a lot of ideas on how to improve his quality of life and make him stronger and more independent. A lot of the things I want to do are things that my mother in law just does not have time for or might not be comfortable doing. She has done a great job taking care of my father in law, with the help of her children, but I am hoping that one more person added to the mix with some knowledge of nursing care will make things even better. I am really excited to get started, which has been somewhat thwarted by complications in quitting my current job. I may have to stay and work an extra week, which I am really not excited about. I feel like once we are living in the Reids home full time, my job will be starting whether I am ready or not. But, we will see what can be done about the work situation.

Also in my life, we just got back from a family vacation to Hot Springs, AR. My grandmother was nice enough to give the Reid family two condos at her time share in Hot Springs Village. We had a nice vacation with all the kids and Taylor's parents. Taylor and I took over all of Spencer's care while we were there with some much needed help from my brothers in law, Hayden and Duncan. I think my mother in law really enjoyed having some time off from all her "Spencer" care. She got to just spend time with him and enjoy talking and hanging out. Also, some of Royce's family who live in Arkansas were able to come and visit, so that was nice. Also, big shout out to my sis in law, Jen, for keeping our condo sparkly clean. I don't think that my kitchen has ever been that clean. Thanks Jen! Anyway, we were able to go to the baths in Hot Springs, do some shopping, see Star Trek (which I loved!); we went to Crater of Diamonds and dug for diamonds; and we just had a great time hanging out and walking, playing tennis and swimming at the condos. I think that everyone got to do at least one thing that they wanted to, which is great with a group of 9 people. We also got to get Spencer out quite a bit and he and I even went to the Mountain Tower by ourselves. We were able to get up there and get him out of the car and take his wheelchair up to the top and then put him back in the car. I think he only got a mild concussion but bumping his head on the roof of the van. All in all, it was a great trip.

Well, I guess that is all the updating that I have time for right now. I will try to post some pics from Hot Springs when Blake gets them to me. He was our official picture taker on the trip, which was great, but I feel like there are a lot of bad pics of me. I know he took at least one when I ran across a road to the Shipley's Donuts to get Spencer some Maple Iced donuts. Such a great shot, fat girl has to run for donuts. Oh well, at least I know that they were not for me. Although I had already had some Shipley's earlier that day. Anyway, I will try to be better at posting and keeping everyone up to date.

Middle School Confessions

So this Friday, I am going to speak at Career Day. I am going to Walsh Middle School where my friend Kathi P works. I will be talking about my job as a nurse and the nursing profession in general. In writing up what I am going to say (because I am a little OCD and need copious notes), I began thinking back to my own middle school days. I shudder to remember... I have often said that middle school is the most awkward phase of a person's life. I mean, seriously, your hormones are raging, you usually have acne and body hair and body odor. You face and hair are greasy and you usually have appalling fashion sense. Is anyone else with me here? Or have you all just blocked out the memories. Here are five confessions of embarrassing things that happened to me or that I did in middle school. It's a wonder that I survived...

1. When I was in 6th grade, my grandmother Elaine took me to the mall and bought me makeup. Yeah, no $1.99 makeup for this girl. I started with Clinique. Everyday, I would leave my house with a "naked" face and every morning while I waited for class to start, I would put on my mascara, blush and lip gloss. I felt so grown up... Except that I was a goober, who didn't think to wash off the makeup before I went home. My mom figured it out in about a week, I think. Maybe sooner. She was nice and let me continue wearing makeup since it wasn't really that much and looked awful anyway.

2. My family moved to Portland when I was in 6th grade and it was right at the beginning of the "grunge" era. I sadly, was taken in by this fad. I used to buy XXL Eddie Bauer men's t-shirts, khaki or colored jean shorts, flannel long sleeved shirts over my t-shirt, and Birkenstock sandals with socks. I bow my head to the fashion gods in humble apology. I don't even keep any pictures of myself in this time period around. Did I mention that I also had braces? It a wonder a man ever married me.

3. When I was in middle school, it was the first time that I had ever had to change clothes for gym class and I used to keep a hair brush in my locker at school. Now, we all know that they tell you to not share your hair brush with anyone. I tried really hard but one day this girl I knew forgot hers and I let her borrow it. And what happened....I GOT LICE! YUCK! Worst of all my hair was still pretty long at that point. Mom and I did one home remedy and then also Rid-x or whatever that lice shampoo was. It was so gross. Then, to make matters worse, my mom took me to get Glamour shots for my birthday a few weeks later (shut up, you know you loved Glamour shots too) and the girl who was doing my hair found more lice. I was SO embarrassed that I started crying in the middle of Northcross Mall. Mom was so nice, she took me for ice cream and then for a manicure. I did get rid of the lice after that, but I was traumatized. I don't think I have every let anyone use my brush again. I even cringe when Taylor uses my brush sometimes to comb his hair.

4. In 6th grade I went to public school in Portland. The schools at that time in Portland were not all that great. They had this thing called New Math. I am not really sure what it was supposed to be, but I remember they were always trying to have us count with beans in egg cartons. I don't know. But anyway, we had all these projects that we had to do. One was a probability project where you were supposed to have 10 red dots and 10 blue dots in one bag. You were then supposed to draw 10 dots out of the bag and see how many were blue and how many were red. It was a really stupid project and I did it just how the teacher stated I was supposed to. I made this pretty little poster board where I wrote up my results and I even pasted the bag of dots to it. The teacher gave me a D. My mom, who had seen that I had done the project to specifications, called my teacher to ask why I had received such a low grade. The teacher told her that I hadn't put all my work on my write up. My mom said that I did. The teacher said that I didn't make enough mistakes. How are you supposed to make mistakes by pulling dots out of a bag? Not eat them? The teacher told my mom that the school was more interested in students experiencing the process more than getting the right answer. Did I mention that my mom has a degree in accounting? That is about the time that my mom decided to start homeschooling me. This one might not have been so embarrassing. I just thought it was a good tale.

5. This story is not so embarrassing as just weird. Before we moved to Portland, I started 6th grade at Deerpark Middle School in Austin. I was only there for six weeks but I knew a lot of kids since we had all come up from elementary together. However, there were lots of new kids too. I met a boy... He sat next to me in Pre-Algebra class and would always talk to me. I was just sure that he was going to "ask me out" (whatever that really means). Then, my dad got a new job in Portland and away we moved. I was so sad secretly because I just knew that I could have had a boyfriend. Later, in high school, amidst all those student-teacher relationship scandals, there was a teacher at McNeil High School who was rumored to have had an affair with one of her students. I had a friend who went there at the time and he told me the boy's name. IT WAS THE SAME BOY I HAD ALMOST DATED IN 6TH GRADE. I mean, it probably wasn't that weird since he was like 17 and she was in her early 20s but still. Those student-teacher things gross me out. I am so glad that we never got together. I am sure that it would have lasted anyway, as so many middle school relationships do.

I am sure that there were more embarrassing things. Middle school was a really tough time for me and I am glad that it is over and I don't have to go back. Tomorrow, talking at career day will be close enough.

Adventures in Nursing, Part 7

I have been having a lot of trouble lately coming up with exciting things to write about. Our lives just haven't been that thrilling lately. However, at my office, we do have a nurse practitioner student who is working with us now, who also happens to be a labor and delivery nurse. She is really nice and we fall into patterns of talking about old war stories every time she comes in. The other day we were talking, and I remembered this tale. I realized today that I had neglected to share it in my Adventures in Nursing series. So, I have resurrected the series and will share this tale and hopefully a few more if my memory will work with me...

LIFE IS A HIGHWAY

When I worked in Minnesota, it was very cold. I mean, very, very cold. One night in February when it was about -15 degrees outside, we got a call in L&D to come down to the ER because this woman had delivered. One other nurse and I grabbed some blankets, bulb suction and cord clamps and ran downstairs. When we got to the ER, there was this woman wearing a t-shirt and really stretchy pants lying on the stretcher with a baby lying between her legs. The ER nurses were starting IVs on the woman and trying to get her into a gown. The baby, was laying there, practically blue and cold as can be.

Apparently, this woman had gone into labor and decided to drive herself into the hospital so as not to disturb her husband or her four children. On the way in, she stated that she felt the urge to push. Did she pull over or drive faster? Nope. She just delivered her baby...while driving...with her pants on...ON THE HIGHWAY! Then, once the baby dropped out of her pants leg onto the floorboard, she picked it up and sat it on the bench seat next to her (She drove an old pickup) and continued her drive into the hospital. Once she got into the driveway of the ER, she tried to call a security guard over to help her. He thought she might be crazy so was reluctant to come over and help. Then he heard the baby crying from the truck and walked over. He saw the baby and ran inside to get help. My favorite part of all of this was that the baby came into the world and wasn't held or even given a cover of some kind. Then the ER was so concerned about the mother that they were completely ignored the baby. That baby was alive for about 20 minutes before anyone gave it any attention. Plus, the baby was freezing! Um, it was -15 and no one could even bother to give that baby a blanket or wipe off the amniotic fluid. The baby was fine after I cleaned him off, bundled him up and rushed him up to the nursery where he was promptly placed under a warmer.

Poor baby. It would be nice if when you were born, somebody at least said "Hello". Luckily, the baby did not suffer any ill effects. And this story was not meant to make the ER people seem incompetent. We all have our areas and most ER people react the same way to a pregnant woman as I would to someone in cardiac arrest. It is just sheer panic when you are outside of the norm. They did a great job taking care of mom and to their credit, the patient didn't reveal that she had just stuck the baby on the seat next to her until we were down there and taking over the situation. I will be the first to say that I am not good in most nursing crises beside a baby being delivered and, now that I am office bound, probably not even that. Well, hope you have enjoyed this tale and I will try to rack my brain for a few more interesting adventures to share.

My Top 5 Fictional Characters

I have been listening to Janet Evanovich's "Hot Six", which is novel #6 in her Stephanie Plum series. I really love the character, Stephanie Plum and this made me think about my other favorite fictional characters. So, I have put together a list of my Top 5 fictional characters. Some you may know and some you may not.

5. Daisy Miner from Linda Howard's "Open Season"- Daisy is a librarian who, on her 30th birthday decides that she is a boring, dull librarian with no love life. She then sets about changing her image. She moves out of her mother's house, dyes her hair blonde, gets some fashion sense, buys a big puppy and begins a relationship with the town sheriff. She is just so fun! She is so innocent and naive, but she is still really smart and capable. I mean, she must be smart if she lands the town hunk and foils a band of criminals who are smuggling illegal immigrants in to sell as sex slaves, right?
4. Mrs. Emily Pollifax from Dorothy Gillman's "The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax"- This is a series, but I started with the first book and have jumped around since then. Mrs. Pollifax just wakes up one day and decides to become a spy. She walks into the CIA and asks for a job. Her first assignment is in Mexico City. Her assignment seems to be fairly simple, but she, of course, ends up in a whole mess of trouble. Mrs. Pollifax is so surprising as a character, she is just this sweet little old lady who plays bridge and has grandchildren, but she is also a black belt in karate. Her best attribute is her ability to talk to people. She is just one of those people who you feel like you can tell all your secrets too. She actually reminds me of my mom. She is such a good listener that people just confide in her all the time. I feel like Mom could definitely be Mrs. Pollifax when she gets older (not right now, Mom, you are still WAY too young).3. Miss Marple from Agatha Christie's Miss Marple Mysteries- Another series of sorts, but you doesn't necessarily need to be read in order of publication, each novel can stand on it's own. I have actually only read a couple of the Miss Marple series, but I have watched the entire Miss Marple collection with Joan Hicks. Miss Marple is just so smart and such a puzzle solver. You feel like she solves a murder the way she would do the Sunday crossword. You would think that solving murders all the time would make her hard and uncaring, but she is so friendly and good-natured. She is just a gossipy old village lady, through and through.

2. Amelia Peabody from Elizabeth Peters' "Crocodile on a Sandbank"- This is the first of a series as well. Amelia is a wealthy single woman who decides that she will travel to Egypt. She is very scholarly, friendly, and loves to take care of others. Her generosity is what allows her to meet her new companion Evelyn, who is found jilted by her lover in Italy. Once she and Evelyn arrive in Egypt, they meet the Emerson brothers, Walter and Radcliffe. I love Amelia's spirit and her sense of humor. She is so unaware of her own physical beauty, but is totally secure in her intelligence. She is a wonderful character and I have loved all of her books.

1. Stephanie Plum from Janet Evanovich's "One for the Money" - Another series. I think it must be really hard to come up with characters that people love throughout an entire series. It is easy to love a character in a stand alone novel, but when you read story after story about their lives, it is hard to keep people entertained and enchanted by a character. I love Stephanie Plum! She is my favorite fictional character. She is the perfect combination of dorky and cool. Stephanie is a bounty hunter and her first book follows her as she tries to apprehend Joe Morelli, who is wanted for murder, but is rumored to be innocent. Joe also happens to be the guy who deflowered Stephanie in high school and the guy who she plowed down with her father's Buick in college. Stephanie is a typical, tough New Jersey girl. She has big hair, short skirts and a lot of attitude. She is not exactly brave, more like she does heroic things by accident. If you have never checked out these books, I highly recommend you do.

So there you go, my favorite fictional characters. These may not always be my favorite, but they are for the moment. Please feel free and share some of yours.