~HALLOWEEN COWBOY AND GIRLS~

Oh how I love these little cowgirls and this little cowboy!!! They came over tonight for dinner to show us their Halloween costumes and what fun we had taking pictures and trying to make them show off just a little bit. Not hard for Cole and Maddie but Bella just wasn't having any part of it. Did I mention that I am already feeling like I should be staying home? I really feel bad that I am going to be missing the little ones all dressed up for Halloween. I really don't miss the BIG kids coming to my door scooping up handfuls of candy but, I LOVE the little ones! Remind me not to plan a trip over Halloween again! In the meantime...I will do a bit of Halloweening in NYC! Sounds like fun doesn't it!

~LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR!~

We had a busy day yesterday! Gage and Ali were here so we played in the leaves, caught bugs and went to lunch all before they had to go home. They are so full of energy. I sometimes wonder how I kept up with five when I am around these two! I love having them come to visit and hate it when they have to leave because I know that it will be a while before I get to see them again. They are growing up so fast and getting to be so smart!

After they left, my phone rang and it was Steve asking me if I wanted to meet Cami and Clark for dinner because Abbie wanted to show us her Halloween costume. We are going to be in New York for Halloween so I will miss out on the cute little trick or treater's this year. Hopefully, someone will take pictures for me...Hint!

Tonight we are having "Dinner in a Pumpkin" with Cole, Maddie and Bella...okay their mom and dad can come too. I will post that event before I leave if I have time! Don't you just LOVE this time of year!

~JUMP IN A PILE OF LEAVES~

Look what is waiting for the grandchildren! It is getting bigger and bigger. I haven't been able to find grandpa lately, do you think that maybe he is lost in the leaves somewhere? Maybe you should all come and see if you can find him!

~LIFE IN THE OR~

Wednesday's are my plastic's days in the O.R. Today was no exception I had O.R. 4 with Dr. "Tardy". A gifted surgeon but quiet unaware of time or schedules...Today it was decided (without my knowledge) to start his surgery 1 and 1/2 hours late because that is when he normally shows up. I of coarse was there at 0600 setting up the room, pulling out all the equipment for the day and drawing up all the medications for a 0700 start! I knew that Dr. "Tardy" would be well, tardy, he always is but, we just deal with it. Everyone but me came in at 0800. Today, he was there before the patient and his crew...fuming, wondering why everybody wasn't ready to go!!! I wonder if he will be on time in the future or if he will just be that much more determined to show all of us that he really doesn't care that we are all sitting around waiting for him. He sure didn't like waiting for us so maybe he will be a little more considerate...Doctors! I have to say that many, many of our docs are great. They show up on time and are kind and so very easy to work with. It makes what I do at times quite pleasant.

Things are starting to come together for me in the" back". I am still not sure that I like it but, I still have a lot to learn. Learning it is a lot of trial and error and practice, practice, practice! I will get it and I can tell you right now that one day I will be very good at what I do. It's just how I am. I hate that I am the one that the doctors don't really want in the room right now because I am new and don't anticipate their every move or read their minds yet. But, one day, they are going to be begging for me! When that day comes, I might just have to ask for a very large raise after all, "mind reading" is in high demand!

~CABIN WEEKENDS~

I really hesitated going to the cabin this weekend because I had so much going on. I was helping with a race for HART on Saturday that took a lot longer than I had anticipated because of a bridge that they were moving into place on I-15...Yes, I missed the start of the race by 20 minutes. Fortunately they still let those of us that came from the south run, we just started 15 minutes after everyone else! We were just getting started as the winners were finishing up! CRAZY! As I drove home I considered not going to the cabin because I was tired and I really didn't want to drive another hour to Scofield but, then decided that I would really miss seeing my cute grand kids if I didn't go. I am so glad I did. I always have so much fun when they are around. They are so full of funny things that they say and do! I am always sticking a camera in their face and they just let me...Maddie doesn't like it very much but she puts up with me, and sometimes I even catch her doing something really outrageous like putting a diaper (clean) on her head!!! Then there is Bella. Like Cole, I don't think she could take a bad picture. They are so much fun. John and Lore really have their hands full with three little ones 4 and under but they do an amazing job. I get tired just watching them try to manage all three. I know that it isn't easy to pack all of them up and come to the cabin for the weekend but, I am so glad they do. It is so fun for grandpa and grandma and hopefully it will be something that they will remember for the rest of their lives. One thing is for sure...Grandma will have enough pictures to remind them of every weekend spent there :)

~BACK ON TRACK~

I returned to work yesterday after spending the previous week pretty much in bed with "swine flu". Honestly, I have never had to stay down in my life like I had to with this bug... It felt almost good to be back in the trenches again. I am not sure if I am all the way better yet, I still have a lingering cough which they tell me could hang on for a month.
WHAT!

Cabin Fever hit hard as I started to feel better...We are just not supposed to spend our lives in bed, couped up indoors! That in itself is almost as miserable as having the FLU! I am so grateful that I have my health and that when I do get sick I can bounce back and be well again. I am certainly one who takes that for granted much too often. In fact, I rarely get sick so, when I do I am a little ticked and out of patience with the whole idea. You know what they say, nurses and doctors make the worst patients...it's true, we do! We know how to "take care of sick" but we don't know how to "be sick". So, here's to not having it happen again. I won't be needing the vaccine. I seem to never end up needing the vaccine! It's like some one out there is telling me..."come on Joey build that immune system"! It will be a good thing in the long run right. I can nurse all of YOU back to health when you come down with it because you know you will eventually after all it is a pandemic :)

(* There is now one extra vaccine out there somewhere...).

~H1N1~

Well, it finally caught up with me! H1N1...Let's just say that it isn't pretty and no one really should have to go through it if there is any reason not to. I am on day 6 and just starting to feel like I may survive! I was told by some of the people that I work with (doctors and nurses), that they were not testing for the virus so there was really no reason to go in if I felt like I might have it so...I didn't go in and waited too long and did it ever hit me with a vengeance! The really bad thing about this virus is that you don't feel all that bad at first...it takes a day maybe two before it has you. Don't let it fool you! NOTE TO ALL OF YOU OUT THERE... They ARE testing and get yourselves in there if you have ANY of these symptoms: Sore throat, cough, runny nose, fever, head ache, body aches, nausea with vomiting and or diarrhea DON'T wait. There IS a drug that will make it so much easier to handle. The test is a simple nose swab. Painless. NO SHOTS! I promise. Then if you have it, STAY HOME! It will last from 7-10 days with or without the medicine but it will be much easier on you with the medicine! It works best within the first 12-24 hours after the onset of symptoms. It hits the age groups the hardest from 30-60, pregnant women and babies so be very careful and make sure that you wash your hands and cover your mouth when you cough...you know all that good common sense stuff. Honestly, I don't remember being this sick! If I can keep anyone from making the same mistake I did, I will feel like maybe something good came out of me being really stupid!

~OCTOBER-CONFERENCE WEEKEND~

"Every family prayer,
every episode of scripture study
and each family home evening is a brush stroke on the canvas of our souls." Elder Bednar


I have to admit that I was never a great example of any of the above. When people ask me how I managed to raise such great kids I simply answered by saying: "They came that way." And then I think to myself..."man if they only knew."

As much as I failed in the areas that might have left brush strokes on the canvas of their souls there was one thing that Elder Bednar talked about that I have always been good at. "CONSISTENCY". My kids will testify of that! Maybe that is the key to raising good children. The other stuff is the icing on the cake. Sometimes it is all we can do to "bake that cake." It's okay if we can't do it all but, if we are consistent in what we can do it is possible that we will have taught our children to create their very own "brush strokes!"

~LIFE IN THE OR~

I came home from work today still thinking about my day at work...not always a good thing. It is Friday and I have two days to gather myself, my thoughts and my feelings before Monday hits and I have another week of "Life in the OR." I am thinking of changing the title to "Strife in the OR" What do you think? I have tried not to complain too much the last couple of weeks about my job change and try and just deal with it and be positive but, it is challenging to say the least. Because things can be incredibly intense and I feel SO inadequate right now. Here is one of the things I thought about a lot this week:

Where does "nice" come from? Are we born with it or is it something that we are taught. Do some of us have more of it than others or is it that we just choose to be "nice" or not to..."Nice" makes such a difference! It makes everything a little less threatening in those everyday lessons that each of us is required to learn. "Nice" is ageless, no one is too old or too young to reap the benefits of "nice". It gives and receives equally yet, so few take advantage of its double reward. There are varying degrees of "nice" but, the person that is genuinely "nice" has learned that the world and their place in it is a BEAUTIFUL thing.

Hooray for conference weekend...I can use a good talking too and a little inspiration!