WHUCK is over my head and why does it feel like I need an umbrella??

I called off from work today. Yep. I had it yesterday. 5 different patients:

2 transfers out to the ICU,
1 discharge,
1 admission from ER who clearly should have been ICU not stepdown but, "we know you can take good care of her*" and "putting her in the ICU will just make her less of a person" are the comments you get from the MFDs (referring to physician's degrees - I'm sure you can all decipher) when you question her status, and
1 transfer from med floor with a whopping 160 heart rate, SOB, clammy and hypotensive

REALLY??? WHUCK is over my head and why does it feel like I need an umbrella??

So, I got home, ate, showered, took a muscle relaxant b/c I couldn't stand hearing my back yell at me any longer and went to bed. UGH.

But, here I lay now, in bed, after 1100am, awake less than 1/2 hour and pondering what to do with the day. Here's what I've come up with:

1. Nothing
2. Start up on the laundry since DH is having a bad week and you do have an unexpected day
off after all
3. Watch more Doctor Who
4. Pack for this weekend's BHI trip with my girls
5. Nothing
6. Finally finish up that damn book so that you can start this month's book club selection
7. Work on the girls xmas gifts which you are to present them with this weekend (see #4)
8. Finally put out this week's flex team newsletter for work so that you at least make SOME pesos today.
9. Nothing
10. Work on DH's felted clogs that were due to him since last Fall

I think I like 1, 5 and 9 the best. We'll see how those go and then decide from there. Hey, 3 out of 10 ain't bad right?

*So, BTW, this is a blog written by an actual, practicing, 4 year degree, registered nurse with over 20 years of critical care experience under her cap (just kidding, I hate those damn things) so, let me give you all a piece of advice. NEVER, EVER, EVER ask a nurse to "please take good care of Grandma, Mom, Son, Cousin, Hubby, Sister, Priest, self, next door neighbor, WHOMEVER!" Why you might ask? Well, would you tell a chef at a restaurant to "please be sure to actually cook my meal correctly" or a Salesperson to "please scan my item the right way" or to the dentist "please drill the correct tooth" or to your doctor "please give me the right prescription" (OK, you might have a point with the last one but you get what I mean).......

It's an insult. If a nurse wasn't going to take good care of your X,Y,Z she wouldn't have shown up to work. OK, sometimes there are nurses that might make you question that but DAMMIT, not all of us and that sure as hell better not come out of the mouth of some snot-nosed, yet to be independent, I've been a nurse almost as long as you've been alive, just out of internship, I've saved your ass on more than one occasion resident who thinks they don't sound condescending as they say it to you.

I'm not sayin', just sayin'.

Back to taking care of 1,3 and 9. Isn't it great to be productive?

Why Migraines SUCK!

I woke up at 2 am with one of the worst migraines I have ever had. I contemplated cutting off my head a variety of times but then decided that it would make a huge mess either 1) on our relatively new bathroom floor, 2) on our freshly cleaned carpet or 3) on our new set of sheets (let alone on the hubster). So, that idea wasn't going to work.

I then thought of shooting myself in the head but, because of the same reason as well as the fact that we do not own a gun, that wasn't going to work either.

In the end, I took migraine medicine (for all the good it did me), threw up a variety of times (gross I know but if you have migraines, you'll understand. If not, deal), used my trusty migraine relief set (LOVE IT), and suffered through it. I woke with a milder form of the migraine and took, yet again, more migraine medicine.

I have spent the day in bed with icepacks and trying to keep my mind on the nuclear holocaust that is my head. UGH.

Anyhow, I thought I would post because I have the time and I've been a slacker. I wanted to review a new knit shop that opened nearby, Downtown Knits. Michelle has opened an absolutely gorgeous shop in downtown Apex, NC which my friends and I have seen and love. It is a very open and well organized shop. The selection of yarns is still limited but vast enough to suit any knitters needs. Michelle is working on increasing her inventory and is very good about asking knitters in the shop their opinions on what yarns to carry next and in what colors. One thing that I loved about the shop is that she carries many unique yarns from local yarn vendors. For those of us who love to buy "souvenir yarn" this is EXACTLY what we look for when visiting yarn shops while on vacation.

Michelle is lovely, friendly, quirky and a great hostess. She holds a weekly knit night on Fridays and welcomes knitters to BYOB (yeah). I've yet to attend one but once the craziness that is my summer simmers down, you can bet that I will be making the trek out there. If you are in the area, you should definitely give it a shot. I don't think you will be dissapointed.

What else is going on in Chez Knittingnurse you might ask? Well, we are on the final countdown to the BIG TRIP! Paris is t-9 days away and I can't wait. DH has diligently been working on looking up everything that DS and I have asked for and has written things down for our information while we are there. We aren't an "itinerary" vacation kind of family but DH is very good about researching things in the areas we visit so that when the mood strikes us, we can look over his notes and know where to head. He has found a myriad of shops for me to do some souvenir shopping at and I've looked them over to decide which will be the best to visit while we are there. Do any of you have any fave shops that you have been to in Paris? Any suggestions?

We will also be visiting Bruges, Belgium and Normandy while there. I am planning on bringing home some sand from Normandy's beaches. Although I do not have any direct family that fought at those battles, it is an amazing part of American history and I am expecting to get emotional when I am there.

I also am planning on visiting the memorial at the Velodrome d'Hiver since, ironically, we are arriving on the anniversary of the roundup. I had no idea about this dark page in French history until my bookclub read Sarah's Key a few months ago. I really liked the book despite it's dark topic and I was amazed that the trip we had booked last year had us landing in Paris on the morning of the anniversary of this horrible event. Needless to say, I felt compelled to pay my respects at the modest plaque left to remember this tragedy.

What other things are we planning for the trip? Eating, drinking, walking, Fat Tire Bike Tour of Versailles (highly recommended by a coworker) and just 'being'. We recently found out that our hotel for the first leg of our trip recently started providing wireless internet service to guests so, hopefully, I will be able to make some quick posts during our stay.

Lastly, have I told you all that I am now taking my love of photography a bit more seriously? No? Well, I am. After photographing a friend of mine and her boys last year as a Father's day surprise for her husband, I got an amazing response from friends in the neighborhood and recently did an engagement shoot for a coworker. I am actually going to be shooting her wedding as well! AACK!

Here are a couple of shots from the engagement shoot. Let me know what you all think.......

The agony of defeat. . . .

Yeah, I didn't finish my ravelympics project. UGH.

I'm treading on with it and WILL finish it. It's my first sweater for DH so, it will be done. Plus it's coming along so lovely and DH seems to like it so. . .

we'll keep on, keepin' on.


Hey, my book club is coming along lovely and I have finished every book so far. Just read The Seduction of Water and it was great.

We are now reading Eat, Pray, Love and so far, it's good.

Are any of you in a book club? Do you all love to read? What are you reading right now?

Look Ma! No Cancer!

OK, OK, so I suck b/c it's been longer than a week and I haven't posted any other info. Y'all probably thought I died in that time (or something close to it). Thankfully the initial round of tests showed no cancer. I think that's what we are going to end up with and I finally exhaled a week ago today. However, I still need more procedures done, specifically a LEEP procedure. Doesn't sound like fun but, at least I've had a "no cancer" diagnosis so far.

Still nervous about this whole thing. My maternal grandfather and all his siblings have died of some sort of cancer or another. Plus I have a great aunt who had breast cancer as well. So, I've always felt as though "it's coming". I was sure that this was IT but, so far so good. The leep will be next friday, the 22nd. I'll try to post sooner rather than later this time, kay?

OK, onto other news. Can I say just two words to you? OLYMPICS ROCK!! We have been glued to the coverage since last friday. Woo hoo! The olympics were always a magical time in my home while growing up. My parents and grandparents would all be into it and we (my brothers and I) would get to stay up late for the opening and closing ceremonies as well as for the major events.

Can I say that in all the olympics I've ever watched, this opening ceremony was by far the best. EVER. Of course, nothing could go this well as demonstrated by this and now this. Really? Not "pretty enough". How does a 7 year old EVER get over that one? Of course, I don't buy it for one minute that all their gymnasts are at least 16 either. Honestly there are a couple that I would say are 13 at the most. Sigh. Oh well, I'll just enjoy the show and not try to focus on the politics of the whole thing.

Speaking of Olympics, I am participating (snicker) in Ravelympics for Team Hopelessly Overcommitted. I am participating in three events ("freeforallfreestyle", "holidayhandball" and "sweatersprint") with the knitting of this beauty for DH. So, I'm into the body of the sweater and I am desperately trying to work on it as much as my poor little carpal tunnel wrists will allow. I also have to try and squeeze in some reading time for my book club. We are reading "The Seduction of Water" by Carol Goodman. So far, it's been a good book but I just don't have the time to do it all.

AAACCCKKK!!

ooh, I wonder what's on the olympics right now ???

Have you seen this?

THIS is a great site and an amazing way to "recycle" books. So far, I've 'mooched' 2 books (one of which is next month's selection for my book club - SCORE) and now sent 3.

If you are like me and have many books which you've read and which need good new homes, go check it out! By the way, my bookmooch id is "knittingnurse" - SURPRISE!

Knitting continues slowly but surely. Still working on the SOTS-II and some other previous WIPs. I'm trying not to start anything new without first finishing somethinig old. We'll see how that goes. . . . .

Health front: at least 1 week before results come back . . . . . . .

Things I've done since falling off the face of blogger

1. Recuperated from that REALLY bad accident.

2. Dealt with a ruptured hot water heater (heater in attic - water coming down through second floor and into kitchen on first - fun times)

3. Joined a book club (Woo hoo)

4. Dealt with broken A/C (yep!)

5. Visited my friend for her 40th birthday up in Cleveland!

6. Drove down replacement car for hubby on the way back from Cleveland

7. Got sick on said drive down (on side of road and not in new car - Thank GOD)

8. Helped friend here in NC deal with dog behaviour issues and having to give dog back to breeder (EVERYTHING was tried)

9. Got hooked on "In Plain Sight" and "Swingtown" (hey, I'm allowed some guilty pleasures)

10. Knit unknown quantities of dishcloths (at least 8 or so)

11. Knit this tunic in bubblegum Cotton-ease (ravelry link)

12. Planned a girls weekend away craft extravaganza for August with 3 buddies from my 'hood (ha ha, I said "hood")

13. Dealt with the death of 4 fish (they made the trip all the way down from OH and everything!) - abou 1/month or so - they were old

14. Knit my very first Baby Surprise Jacket (and gave it away without a picture)

15. Got 4 new fish (our pleco was getting lonely)

16. Knit some more on my SOTS-2 (ravelry link again)

17. Bought new living room furniture!

18. Lost 3.5 lbs on Wii Fit!

19. Got hooked on Facebook!

20. Didn't feel guilty about not blogging (well, maybe a little. I DO miss you all)


I will try to get some pictures up of some of my knitting (except the dishcloths - those are already given away)

Not really a quiz but still. . . . .

69 words

Speed test

So, I've been consumed with that time sucking addiction that is Ravelry especially the Ravelry Games Group. Sigh. I'm such a geek. I have so much fun with word play games though and that's what this group is all about. DH thinks it's a hoot to see me on the forum. Oh well.

I'm all into AI again this year. I have to say though, I don't know what the fuss is about. Randy, Paula and Simon keep speaking about how "it's the best season of American Idol ever!" Really? Huh, I just don't see it that way. I am also really surprised that there are so many contestants that have had other singing careers and yet they are in the competition anyway. I mean some of them have had recording contracts before. I guess it's within the rules but, I think the opportunity should be given to people who have never had that chance. Oh well, what do I know?

I must say though that David Cook's performance last night was one of the best performances I have ever seen on the show. I think his vocals where spot on and his arrangement/interpretation of the song was so current and, as the judges say so often, very very relative to today's music scene. Missed it? Well, here ya go:



He's a bit of a hottie in that song, dontcha think? I don't know what Simon is thinking but he definitely had charm and charisma with that performance. Do you all think they will release a full version of that song on iTunes or just that little bit from the show? I hope they do the full version because I really want to get it. Even DH thought that he did really well with the song's arrangement and performance. So, there ya go.

I guess I haven't done my "who's going home" predictions this year have I? OK, better late than never. From the guy's last night, I think that Luke and Danny should go home but since Danny is this year's Sanjaya, then Luke and maybe Michael will go. It's a toss up for me between Michael and Jason. But I hope I am wrong and Danny goes.

My neighborhood just started a book club. We are meeting on our first book next week. We read "Nineteen Minutes" by Jodi Piccoult. Wowza! Good but intense read. I want to read some of her other titles but I need to stay on course with book club so I might use another of her titles as a "between" book. We haven't decided what we are going to read next but among the ones we are talking about choosing are:

The Glass Castle; The Next Thing on my List; Water for Elephants.

I'm also going to suggest 1000 Splendid Suns as that was recommended to me by a friend.

What are you reading now? Do you belong to a book club? Can you read and knit at the same time? If so, how? Do you take your knitting to your book club meetings?

OMG!!!!!!!!! I loved it!

Don't worry - no spoilers here:



I just finished HP and the Deathly Hallows! I can't believe all that just happened. The story weaved by Rowling is amazing. Looking back at the whole series, it's amazing how things from book 1 matter (and come up) in the final book. It's an incredible book and although it took me longer to read than it took others - it was the quickest reading of any book EVER for me. EVER!

What do we all read now?

It's about time don't you think???

I am 69% Addicted to Coffee

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BTW, I'm locking myself away for the rest of the day with Harry. I worked yesterday and I didn't get to spend as much time with him as I had wanted to.