Babysitting

This past week Dan and I have been watching my parents dog Tucker while they went on a mini vacation. Poor Tucker has been a sport with Dan. However, Last night he might have reached his max. This is a mask Dan picked up in San Diego and plans to wear for Halloween. Poor Tucker didn't see it coming.

Now every time you put that mask in front of tucker he starts chewing on it like he is going to kill it.

Tonight I had to the chance to spend the evening with our niece Alaena. She is almost 2 1/2 years old. We were very busy from the minute she came. Her favorite part of the night was the swimming pool!!! And again, poor Tucker didn't know what hit him till it was too late. Alaena thought it would be funny to dump a bucket of water on him while he was sleeping in the grass. Poor Tucker, he will never want to come back again!

Note:No music, just earphones

When I asked her what she was listening too. Her response,"Music Katie". Of course it is. Silly me.

Someone is pretty excited to be in the swimming pool (who needs a swimsuit anyways!)

Beast of a job

Dan and I decided that we would like to have a patio area in the backyard to enjoy fires and just sit and relax. Now we are not the handiest people around, but decided that it would be a good project for us to work on together. If only we had really thought this one through a little more... 

We found ourselves at Menards buying materials. The first clue that this project was huge should have been how heavy the blocks we were purchasing were (50 lbs each).  We were not able to get them all home in one load. We had to come back two more times so we didn't brake an axle on the vehicle. If putting them in car was not work, we then had to carry them down our hill to the backyard. This was finally done and we were excited to get going. 

We rented a tiller (8 horse power) to till through the area in the backyard. Dan did this part of the project.... this was by far the worst part. The area became very muddy fast and the tiller had to be cleaned off several times to even continue. We started to wonder if this was really a good idea, but we had started and so we continued. 

Next were the two truck loads of dirt that we had to get, bring home, unload in the front yard, wheel back to the area and then push the wheelbarrow up hill to fill it up again. Ohh, this is also where the wheelbarrow all full of dirt decided to fall over and pin me against the truck. I now have a HUGE hematoma on my leg and it kills!!  We were having a good time!!! Thankfully my Dad let us barrow a truck for this project. However, it was a manual and I have not driven a manual since back in 2002. I proud to say I didn't kill it once.

 Then we had to bring sand down, level it out, put the 50 lb blocks in place and then put a special sand over it to help adhesive it all together. Finally, we added mulch and our solar lights... and then to finish it off, the chairs and the fire-pit. 

Now, after all this work, we will have to see if the pond absorbs it. We are crossing our fingers that all the sweat we put into this project will not be in vein.Oh did i forget to mention it was in the 90's. For now we will just enjoy it. 

Next project.... pavers around all the landscaping. 

Turtle Crossing

As I pulled into the driveway yesterday after work, I was surprised to see some of the neighbors and Dan  staring at something in our yard. It was a VERY large turtle that was definitely unhappy to be stuck in the yard and not in the pond. It had crossed the street and headed towards the pond in our backyard. Dan had left the garage door open that afternoon to air it out.  Lucky for us the neighbor kids were watching and saw the turtle head into the garage and came over to tell him. So Dan "assisted" it out of the garage as it hissed and snapped at him. 

I must admit for its size, it sure was a scary thing! We were a little concerned that this moody animal might bite a curious kid-o... so we were trying to "encourage" it back to the pond. Made me think twice about what kinds of animals are living in that big pond of ours.

This moody thing was frustrated with Dan trying to get it out of the yard and decided to head over to our neighbors. Maybe they would be more welcoming. 

We decided to go work on some landscaping and came back to the front yard a little later  to see if it had gotten anywhere and we could not find it. Hope the neighbors little dogs are OK! 

Here is Dan trying to save us all! 

What do you stand for?

Last week I was given the privilege to speak in front of over 500 CEO's and upper management. You must know next that I  loath public speaking. In fact it might just be the number one thing I fear the most. I hate attention on me. I don't like people just staring at me and I really don't care for the pressure of having to come up with something enlightening to say while everyone is looking at me. However, it was an honor to be chosen and I respected that. I was chosen from hundreds of employees. Others from whom I am more than positive had more to bring to the table then myself. However, it was my "15 minutes of fame".  As I stood there in front of over 1000 eyes, I had one of those out of body experiences where I found myself thinking and freaking out about what  I doing there? What did I have to say that was so important? Would they even care or listen to me? Would anything I had to say today change things for the better? And then..... I was introduced and it was my time to shine. I am happy to say that I did make it through. I think that I did leave some impression on them (hopefully a positive one). After I was done speaking I was able to visit with some of the attenders. It was such an amazing experience for me to be part of. Not only professionally but also personally. 

However, as I reflect back on this day I think about what it must have been like for Jesus and his disciples. I am sure that as they shared the gospel those thoughts went through their minds. What it must have been like for them to share this message and if they truly understood how it would and did change our world. I am thankful for their fearless speaking and decision to speak out and stand for something.

 

My prayer for us all, is that we may have that courage with the people that we meet on a daily basis. After all, we don't need to be speaking in front of hundreds to make an impact. Just one. 

^{1 Thessalonians 1:2-10}

²We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. ³We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

 ⁴For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, ⁵because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. ⁶You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. ⁷And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. ⁸The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, ⁹for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, ¹⁰and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

Walk in my shoes

I was sent this by a friend of my mine who is also a nurse. I thought it did reflect what it is like to be a nurse or in healthcare in general. I wanted to pass it on. It was one of those weeks at work and well... I know there are some nursing friends of mine who would benefit from reading it this week.  

So HEFP girls... enjoy and thanks! 

Come walk in our shoes for a 12-hour shift. Come see the joy,the tragedy, the comedy, the 100 ways we are pulled and pushed, then rate my "pleasant greeting", "answers call light in timely fashion", "states name of patient."

 Use the bathroom now, because you might not get the chance again until your shift ends. Wear comfortable shoes. Don't worry if they're clean. They'll end up with blood and vomit on them.

 We are the patient's advocate, the doctors' eyes and ears, and everyone's scapegoat. We can page your doctor but we can't make that doctor magically appear. We check your stitches, wipe your blood, drain your pus and empty your bedpan.

 Nursing is a tough job, but we're tougher. We've been yelled at by administrators, supervisors and doctors. We've been kicked, slapped, punched, spat on, and sexually harassed by patients in various states of delirium, mental illness, arrogance, and intoxication. We've even had chairs and food trays thrown at us.We work mandatory overtime, weekends and holidays. We eat Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners with coworkers.

 We deal with families who ignore visiting hours, bring food to patients on restricted diets, and insist on staying the night even though it's not a private room. We deal with the Florida son who orders us around to show a parent he's neglected for years that he cares. We cannot be at your side every waking minute. We have 10 other patients. We cannot answer 5 call lights at once. We can't stop doing CPR on a patient because you ran out of tissues.We are not maids, beauticians, or cocktail waitresses.We are professionals with college degrees.

 We hate that we can't spend more bedside time with you. Swearing at us will not make us move faster. Taking better care of your health would help. Quit smoking.. Lose weight. Start exercising. Stop drinking.

 How do we survive? We ignore the nasty comments, the demanding relatives, the crazy staffing grids. We count to 10 before speaking. We pray every morning for strength and wisdom, patience and empathy. We drive home tired and frustrated, telling ourselves over and over , "I'm not the nurse I want to be, but I'm the best nurse the hospital staffing allows me to be." We fall asleep praying for the ones who won't survive the night.

 There is no finish line, ever. Nursing is demanding, fulfilling, and we can't imagine doing anything else. Nothing beats washing blood and glass off a car crash survivor , stabilizing a broken neck, saving a diabetic's leg, keeping a cancer patient in remission. The day we send a patient home we relish the unbelievable resilience of the human body and spirit.

 We did not become nurses for the hours, the salary, or the glamour of it all. We became nurses to make a difference. We don't ask for much. One sincere Thank You makes all the thankless hours worth it.

Summer is here...

For those of you who didn't know... I love planting. In fact, I just love plants/flowers all together. Dan is a good sport about having so many in our house (most days).  I have gotten the reputation around our neighbors that we used to live by in townhouse for having a "green thumb", I am trying to keep that up here at our house. Dan and I have enjoyed doing all the landscaping for our house. He does leave the flowers for me though. I decided to be a little adventurous this season. I saved my pots from last year's hanging plants and this year I made my own! So far they are doing pretty well, time will tell. The wind here  is a bit much at times. If these flowers make it, they will make it through almost anything. 

We still have a lot of landscaping to do around our house. We are going to put up a retaining wall on the front of the house and add pavers around the sides of the house next to the bushes. We also decided this weekend we are going to make an area in the back by the pond where we can put our fire pit and chairs down there. Should be a nice addition before we are able to put on a three season porch. 

(aka win the lottery!!) 

The weather has been pretty gloomy here in MN the past few days. We finally got the much needed rain, but the clouds do wear on ya. So, here is my go at brighting up your day! 

Blog Stocker

I have a confession to make.  I have started to get addicted to seeing what is out there in the blog world. I have been blessed by reading so many different blogs. It is amazing to see how some woman use their blog to better the kingdom of Christ. I am amazed. If you have anytime, may I suggest that you check out a few of my favorites.  

http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com/

http://www.mycharmingkids.net/

http://our-journey-to-parenthood.blogspot.com/

http://www.laurenbiggs.blogspot.com/

Also, if you don't have any plans for a Bible study this summer or are interested in a exciting new way to do a study with people from all over the states. Let me know. I am going to do this one with Beth Moore this summer. Check out this link 

http://livingproofministries.blogspot.com/2009/05/whats-up-for-summertime-study-siestas.html

Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend.