HOORAYYYYY!!!!!

A brief update to all of you who read my christmas tree decorating debacle.....

The section of Domestic Violence Central that live in the apartment above me are

MOVING OUT :)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's right people, the moving people ( their families) and required vehichles are here. Lets hope the next tenants are quiet and friendly.........

A New Year is Upon Us

Christmas is over and the New Year is upon us. School will be starting soon and before I know it, the summer will be upon us.

Christmas was fun with my entire family together, a feat that only happens one or two times a year. Santa and the elves were good to my house, with lots of books, a new ipod, good movies for me and cat toys and a cat tower for Princess P. I was unsure how she would react to the new digs and contemplated putting catnip on the tower to entice her. Oh me of little faith. I brought the tower into the living room and went to change out of my work clothes. By the time I came back out, this is what I found......

She has not left the tower since except for food and water and her bathroom needs. This was last night....

As for me, I can be found at the address of Amanda's apartment, living room couch with a cat and a good book, until January 14 when school resumes. Of course, I will need to make time for that pesky activity called work- How Inconvenient!

In the meantime, I would like to wish everyone in bloggerworld a Happy Healthy New Year!

fondly,

Amanda and Princess Piglet

HO HO HO

Merry Christmas to all.

And to all a Good Night.....

Here's wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy New Year!!!!

The Christmas Spirit

I was feeling a bit like scrooge. Bah Humbug and all. I needed something to get me going.

What did it? My upstairs neighbors being arrested for domestic violence. Thats right- both the male and female of the couple were arrested and their child taken into the custody of social services. Merry flippin' Christmas.....

In an effort to distract myself from the screaming and banging going on upstairs, while the police did their job, I did this:

This also managed to distract the cat from screaming at the front door her disgust of the situation.

We then watched the Wizard of Oz in this glow:

Semi wordless wednesday.....

Who needs a man when you have this type of devotion? I took the picture with my cell phone, which accounts for the grainy quality. That is my stomach she is holding onto........

Another week done

I have just completed the philosphy paper on C.S. Lewis and should be studying for my philosophy final. Instead, I am blogging. I have just spent the greater part of an hour visiting my blogger friends and am in awe of their christmas preparedness. Trees are up, gifts are bought and wrapped, and I am acting as if it is still october. Minimal gifts have been purchased. The tree is still in the closet (fake) and I still have a week of school left. The tree may make it up by the week before christmas.......

I need to get in the shower and head to the library to study for this blasted exam but instead I am staring at this.

Tonight- I shall be her........

Date nightmare

I have ventured back into the world of dating. Pure loneliness has led me here..... Blind dates are hard. I hate meeting people in bars. I have, instead jumped into the online dating scene. Again.

My first foray into the online scene was with E harmony. I started chatting with a gentleman my age who lived not far from me. On the phone, he seemed nervous but so was I. After talking on the phone a couple of times, we agreed to meet at the mall for dinner. I had a nagging feeling prior to dinner but chalked it up to nerves. Nightmare #1: he chain smoked through dinner, he was 5'5" (he had told me just shy of 6"), he was missing his front top teeth, and within 5 minutes of sitting at the table- I learned he was bipolar- his brother had been bipolar and committed suicide in jail- his sister was bipolar and had committed suicide- his niece was bipolar-and his father had been bipolar. But he wanted to have at least 7 children. NOT WITH THIS UTERUS!

I waited some time and then tried Match.com. Almost immediately I was emailed by a seemingly nice gentleman from my town. He sent me a picture and he was attractive in a burly way. We tried several times to get together but had problems coordinating our schedules. We finally met for a drink and seemed to have a good time. We continued to talk on the phone and had made a date for several nights later. Prior to the date, he called me and told me he needed to share something with me. He then said "I am bisexual, is that a problem?" UH, YEAH!

In a moment of desperation, I tried match.com, again. We met for a drink on thursday. He was a good 2 inches shorter than I was- he said he was 5'10", in actuality- closer to 5'3". Height is not everything, I said, give it a chance. He did not take his jacket off the entire time we were together. He told me he did not like curly hair ( I have naturally curly hair). He does not like bold or assertive women (check, check). Big families are all crazy (did I mention that I am one of six children). Final straw, he did not bring money with him and seemed to expect me to pay for him. He seemed put out that I expected him to pay for himself. For someone who does not like bold or assertive woman, he sure seemed to expect me to pay for the drinks when he said he did not have cash. He insisted on walking me to the car and then asked if I would consider getting my tongue pierced because he had once kissed someone with a tongue piercing and thought it was "hot". I believe my answer was F@#* NO! I don't plan to pursue this potential relationship.........

Anyone know a nice mid thirty something male in the Philadelphia are looking for a well rounded, rubenesque, independant, assertive, funny female to love?

Somewhat Wordless Wednesday

I am working my way to extra crispy in the deep fryer. I have just finished a 35 page paper, a senior project (including a poster presentation), I have a paper and final next tuesday, and a paper due the week after that. Then..... I am off from school until the 14 of January.... I have a headache in the base of my skull and neck.... I think I might be a little tense. All I really want is to crawl up in bed with my favorite ball of fur (hence the picture). I am almost done the semester, I am almost done the semester, I am almost done the semester..........

I want to be Thin!

I had my gallbladder removed three years ago. Since then I have put a whopping thirty pounds on my already "more to love" frame. I have tried to steel myself to strictly diet but I love food and I have no willpower when it comes to good eats. Additionally, somewhere in my 30's, my metabolism came to a shuddering halt. I have found a solution (maybe).

This lovely place, is a place of torture. However, my willpower has gotten me there every day this week. I am scared to get on the scale because if my weight has not changed, I may attack the muscle bound stud at the front desk. Every muscle in my body is screaming, I am exhausted.... Add the final insult- I spent 1 hour on the treadmill walking very briskly- 4.5 miles per hour..... with a skinny (90 pounds soaking wet) chikadee running rapidly on the treadmill next to me. Is it bad that I wanted to trip her?

Auuggghhh!!!!!

I have been writing the date all day and have just now realized that it is already the 15th of November. Seriously people, where has the time gone?

As I drove into work this morning, it was pouring rain and foggy. The combination made the leaves really pop and I spent my time in traffic admiring the lovely colors. I tried to capture them on my camera phone but I am afraid that I have failed....

It really was gorgeous....lots of oranges, reds, yellows, and greens. Unfortunately, my job is demanding my presence and I am leaving the blog at this. I am having a minimeltdown that Thanksgiving is next week..........

5 Boring things you may not know about me....... (Yawn)

1. I am sister (the youngest of the three) to cats, books, life is good and HHG.
2. I would much rather read a book or sleep than socialize. Most men are not worth the effort- can you feel the years of losers ringing through your computer?
3. I am not nearly as competitive as my sister, Mary Beth. (See her post for Sunday 11/11). My mind actually wanders during board games and card games.
4. I am fascinated by cooking shows and new cookbooks. I even watch the shows about fish- I am highly allergic (refer to my first ever blog).
5. The thought of cleaning my bathroom most days will bring me to tears, as will the thought of doing laundry- hence the once a month extermination that happens in the bathroom and my recently (over several months) purchased 46 pairs of high leg briefs......

Rainy Tuesday Morning

It is early morning and I should be getting ready for school. Instead, I am posting a blog after the cat has tried all of her tricks to put me into a coma and stay home in bed with her.... I am leaving her in bed as I head out into the cold and wet. Sigh.............................

Tommy

On Halloween, I was fortunate to see one of my favorite patients who had, unfortunately, been admitted to the hospital with a reoccurring pneumonia. Tommy is a 45 year old Downs Syndrome patient that I have become very attached to. His sunny attitude is contagious and often he is found singing along with the soundtrack to the Sound of Music. Additionally, he hugs everybody and smiles all the time. (Need I say more?). He has been living at a group home for the disabled since he was 25 because his mother was worried that he was isolated living with her. She visits him daily and brings him lunch.

I was upset that my friend had been readmitted again but happy to see him. When I walked in the room, I found him sobbing. I asked him what was wrong. "I am missing Halloween, I was supposed to go trick or treating in the offices with my friends". My heart broke. Tommy had been watching the TV that someone else had put on in his room and heard the mention that it was Halloween. He would never have known had someone not turned the tv on. All they had to do was put a movie on his portable dvd player and he never would have known. (Short term memory is not his strong point...) He was devastated and inconsolable. I brought him candy, the nurse gave him her cat ears- it would not do. His friends weren't there and he couldn't go see his friends that work in the office. I kid you not when I say that he almost came home with me that night to go trick or treating..... I found out later that his nurse took him to every floor in the hospital trick or treating with devil horns that someone had given him. He couldn't eat the candy but he got to go trick or treating......

Halloween in Montclair, NJ

On Halloween, I escaped my work confines to drive from PA to North Jersey to hand out candy to the trick or treaters with my mother. I have done this for several years running as I get no trick or treaters where I live. My mother and I dress up as Tigger and Eeyore and hand out candy to the hundreds (literally) of children who come to the door.

This whole escapade started the weekend before Halloween. We realized that we did not have pumpkins. It is not Halloween without Jack o lanterns..... After searching places at the shore, we came up only with little pumpkins. This is ok, we thought, we will just carve alot of them..... Sunday evening, we lined up my brother and father to help, and found that we could not make a dent in the pumpkins. Maybe not ripe??? Either way, we were back to step one. My father, Christopher Robin, came to the rescue and found a farm stand on Monday. He carved three glorious pumpkins and we met on the NJ turnpike for the handover...... Here are some pics- kind of blurry being from the cell phone.... In any case, it was a beautiful night with lots of little ones. We started at 430p and ran out of candy at 9p. I am tired from all the driving back and forth but will do it again next year in a heartbeat.....

7 things you may not know about me......

I have been tagged by Painted Maypole to do my first Meme- so here goes....

1. I am very allergic to cats- I know, the love of my life is covered in fur. I am fortunate that she does not have fine fur- her fur gets to me but that is what meds are for.
2. I hate silk sheets- I get cold..... I am all about 100% cotton flannel sheets and a big down comforter- nothing sexy about my bed linens.
3. Despite how my sisters describe me in their blogs, I am actually horribly shy and dread walking into an event by myself- I have to prepare myself and force myself to walk in the door.
4. I hate the movie The English Patient- I could not get past the first fifteen minutes.
5. My favorite movie is The Wizard of Oz and the Wicked Witch and her flying monkees still scare me.
6. I hate football- I would rather be home with a good book and a cat.
7. I am not a huge fan of diamonds. Much prefer those pretty rubies, emeralds, and saphires.

Not entirely earth shattering but fun......

Wordless Wednesday

Maddening Monday

As I mentioned before, I work as a nurse in a Pulmonary office. October is a busy month for birthdays, 3 out of 8 our staff- myself included. My birthday passed with little pomp and circumstance- just a nice lunch and cake, as I only turned 34. Dee, our secretary, turned 50 on the 9th and we made a big deal for a big birthday. We had signs around the office- all hail Queen D, the Queen is 50, etc. She wore a crown and a boa all day, we had a great lunch and a fabulous cake. The patients loved it. The final birthday is this week and it is one of the doctors. She has made comments since my birthday about not forgetting hers, she is turning 40 after all. I had no intention of doing anything but then she made such a stink that we felt obligated. What would we do? We finally came up with Holy Cow or Holy Maceral Dr R is 40! We ordered a nice lunch and a fabulous cake. We had only one day to do it when all of the staff were there- monday. She had taken wednesday through friday off.

All weekend, I made posters and put together cows. I bought enough cows to have 40 throughout the office. There were cows in every exam room, office, waiting room, and lunch room. The doors all had hangers with Holy cow. The patient occurrence forms all had cows on it. I made a door hanger for her door that said Happy Birthday and one for her lab coat hanger that had a sheep on it that said "Don't be Sheepish, 40 is just a number". It was a riot. I got to work early and decorated the office before getting signout from the doc who covered for the weekend. The office looked great. And then Dr R arrived.

At first she was quiet and then asked who had done it all. Who indeed, the male docs certainly hadn't. I laughed and said just wait- there are 40 cows throughout the office. "I think I like Dee's theme better". I was speechless. You ungrateful BITCH!!!! The day only got better. Ten minutes later as we were goiing over the intensive care patients, she told me that she had scheduled physical therapy over lunch just in case we had planned something. ARE YOU JOKING, YOU MAKE A HUGE STINK FOR THREE WEEKS AND THEN THE ONE DAY YOU ARE HERE, YOU ACT SUPRISED THAT WE MIGHT BE DOING SOMETHING!!!!!!!! She repeated her dislike of the whole cow theme several times to the office staff. My office manager finally looked at her and said "You couldn't be the Queen, there can only be one Queen!!!" "Why do I have to have the cows?", she said.... (Fortunately for all of this exchange, I was up seeing my hospital patients....) She continued through the day- "my patients know how old I am, why do I have to be the cow????? The complaints just kept coming. I bit my tongue. We are talking serious bleeding. Seriously, though- Someone clearly put a lot of time, effort, and expense into decorating the office for you birthday. It was not forgotten. And you have the gall to complain and complain?????? It was bad enough that the two male docs apologized for her ignorance at the end of the day. I am telling you this- the cows are staying up until the end of time. I have enough cow stickers to put cows on her occurrence sheets until the end of november. Never again. Her name is mud................................................

Tireless Thursday......

I think this cat has no idea what stress is - Sadly this was her begging for food..... She swipes at my ankles as I go by......

Wicked, Wicked Woman

So after practicing as an RN for the past ten years, I decided that when I grew up I wanted to be a Nurse Practitioner. With this thought in mind, I enrolled in an RN to BSN program at the lovely Immaculata University. With this venture, I am determined to graduate and walk with honors and am managing to keep an average that makes me giddy with pride. I am almost done the program and am in the middle of the final nursing class as we speak.

Have you ever had the instructor that you thought was possibly not human, sans sense of humor and any shred of personality? If you have, I have the clone as my instructor. Two weeks ago, I missed class secondary to car catastrophe but spoke with her that morning and explained the situation and contacted her regarding making up missed work. No problem, she said, just do the reading and come next week. Last week we had a major presentation, power point and all. As I sat down, she said- great job, great power point, great information. Sounds awesome doesn't it?

This week, she handed out the grades for the presentation. B+. The only explanation given, was that I missed the class the week prior. Has Halloween come early? This woman clearly is a vindictive evil witch..... Maybe if I get her a nimbus 2000 prior to the end of class, she might grace me with a B for the final grade..........

Thunderstorm Thursday....

So the weather is dreary and cold- I feel I should be in a moor in Ireland somewhere- and all I really want to do is stay in bed with a good book. Instead, I am at work taking care of the sick and downhearted. My patience level is at a minimal level and the rain is not helping.

Traffic was abysmal this morning and it took twice as long to get to work (made somewhat more tolerable by the fact that I was driving a beautiful new car). I was flicked off by no less than 4 people during said drive, the last occurring in the hospital parking lot. Clearly everyone has woken up on the wrong side of the bed......

Inside the hospital most people are chipper, if you have to be at work- make the best of it must be the motto of the day. However, the patients and families are miserable. I walk into my first new patient of the day and find that the family member at the bedside is the same individual who flicked me off in the parking lot! What a miserable individual she turned out to be. You gave my mother Lung Cancer! she screams.... I can only assume that we diagnosed her with lung cancer is what she is referring to. Doing my best to control myself, I calmly explained to her that likely the lung cancer could be caused from the 3 packs of camel unfiltered her mother chose to smoke for the past 45 years. The day has just progressed from there. I have seen only the mentally insane and mean patients in the hospital and the drug rep that gave me hives was back.... Seriously, anyone want to buy a house with me in Australia- I am going to become a large animal vet and treat kangaroos......

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Last year, I undertook the task of fundraising and walking for the Susan G. Koman Breast Cancer 3 day walk in Philadelphia. This grueling task involves walking 60 miles in 3 days and fundraising for a minimum of 2200$. This makes you ask why would you do that, doesn't it? I did it for the patients I have seen suffer and die from the disease and I did it for woman, in general...

This was the initial thought anyway and then I began walking. The first day was cold and raining. The terrain was lousy with no sidewalks, mud and wet shoes. Midday we stopped for lunch and to change socks, shoes, and for a general morale boost. Feeling sore and generally miserable, I sat down for lunch with my team and began looking around. I was surrounded by women of all shapes and sizes, varying degrees of health, but all walking for the same cause. We continued on that afternoon- in the rain, up hill and down until we reached our camp ground. As we walked, we talked the people around us. "Why do you walk?" was asked time and time again. I walk for me- I had chemo a week ago, I walk in the hope that someday there will be a cure, I walk for my daughter, whom I lost to breast cancer 2 years ago. I walk for the mother I never got to know, I walk for my best friend- the stories are heart breaking and they cry as they tell you and you cry with them...... I will never forget these incredible individuals and forever, their cause will be mine.

I initially signed up for the walk thinking that the training would be a great weight loss program.... I ended the walk walking for all these incredible woman who have lost their fight and those who continue to fight a horrific disease. I signed up to walk this year but school and life got in the way... There is always next year. Below are the pics from the walk- I am the frizzy haired, bespectacled one. I normally do not look so disheveled but I was walking 60 miles........

the team the first morning........

Me, the second day......

Another Year Older

It is that time of year again and another birthday has passed. The day has been spent with my sisters- eating good food, watching the baseball playoffs, and knitting. Added to this is the discussion of my buying a new car (see the previous post).

This past year has one of ups and downs (too trivial to post here) but I am looking foward to a new year with new experiences. I will graduate from Immaculata with a bachelors of science in nursing, with honors. This is a rather anticlimatic as I have been a practicing registered nurse for ten years. However, i will have met my goal of graduating with honors and being nominated to the nursing national honors society...... Maybe added to this will be meeting the love of my life:)

Sorry that this is a little dry- will try to be funnier tomorrow. Can only imagine- I am going to look at cars with my parents in tow.....

really bad day and christopher robin

The day only continues to get worse. The car is demolished- new engine needed. Me reduced to tears with the cat clambering for food- I am sure she is terrified of never having anymore food. Car is gone, how will I get her food???? We are definitely moving to Australia......

Christopher Robin (aka Dad) bringing out his car for me to use until I get a new one. Good egg, lucky me. However, still distraught over my car....

No good, very bad day, moving to Australia

Like every good student, I left for my long day of school yesterday with plenty of time to get to the university. All was going along with the plan- traffic was light, weather was beautiful, and the cat had not escaped as I left the house. (Her new diabolical plan to keep me from leaving the house....) Most importantly, I was going to have enough time to grab a bagel and diet coke prior to class.
I was happily driving down the beautiful route 401 admiring all of the farm creatures, trying to ignore the newly grouted road service, when all of the sudden traffic stopped. This still was not a catastrophe- I had planned ahead, I had plenty of time. Life was still good,with a small irritating thought about road grouting. Traffic started to move but my little car did not- it coughed, vomited, and then rolled over and died. (not really). Prior to Nicholas the Neon's dramatic coma, I managed to pull the front end over to the side of the road- it's rather ample rear was still hanging out in the road. Blinkers on, I call AAA. My rear end is in traffic, I say. No problem, says Rafika (the AAA operator), you are now a high priority- someone should be there within 20 mins. This is not so bad, 20 mins- I can cope. 3 hours later, the tow truck arrived. ( I kid you not- 3 hours) In the meantime, AAA has called me for landmarks- I am on route 401 heading eastbound between rte 100 and rte 113 (this is only a 3 mile stretch)- I am the purple neon with its rear end obstructing traffic. This should be relatively easy to see. No, says the operator, the driver cannot find you- Are there any distinguishing buildings? (Do you remember the farm animals?). I say, in the spirit of my mother, There is a big red barn. You are not helping me she says. Are you understanding the title, yet? I tell her that is the only landmark aside from the 40 cows staring at me and blades of grass.......... Oh yeah, now I am thinking that I probably should have visited a ladies room prior to leaving the house. The tow truck arrives and as he pulls my poor car on to the flat bed- the car vomits antifreeze.
3 hours later, the car was towed. An hour after that, I received a phone call from Ryan at Midas. The good news, he says, is your engine is not dead. The bad news is your timing belt and water pump are. Thanks Ryan....... 900$ later, a missed day of classes, and a slightly larger bladder- i still have my lovely car. I think it might be time for a new one. In the meantime, Princess Piglet and I are moving to Australia........

Catastrophic or Celebration in PA

My sister's blog spoke to the absolute disastrous end to the New York Mets baseball season. Catastrophic for the Mets but what a season for the Philadelphia Phillies. Yesterday, while I was assessing the community of Coatesville for a senior nursing project, the Philadelphia Phillies won the National League East title. One would have thought the world was coming to an end. From the outside one heard cheers, horns honking, and pans being pounded. It was a good day for phillies fans and I look forward to the post season. Here's hoping that boston and new york implode and the off season is one of underdogs and fun.......

HIVES.....

As the only nurse at Pulmonology Associates, many of the undesirable jobs become part of my everyday routine. One of these, unfortunately, is entertaining the tenacious drug reps that come to the office. This is not to say that this persistant fellows come empty handed- hardly. The latest appeared on thursday to persuade the docs that their drug truly was the BEST option for our breathing impaired patients. He came well armed with lunch, diet coke, and chocolate chip cookies. Unfortunately, it would appear that he came armed with food that I would be allergic to. It has been thought that I might have a seafood allergy but I had never had a true reaction......

Lunch begins with Brian latching on to my side, as if I am his best friend in the whole wide world. (Not likely, he is a Red Sox fan). I choose my chicken ceasar wrap carefully- there is a lot of tuna on the plate. I find that my sandwich has a touch of tuna on it- so I cut it off. I manage not to yawn as a I barely pay attention to Brian nattering on when all of the sudden he yells at me- "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOUR FACE????" Yes, it would appear that I did not get all of the tuna or there might have been anchovies in the ceasar dressing. Either way, in a matter of 20 minutes my eyes were puffy, my face was blotchy, and my feet were not fitting in my shoes. Once Dr Lustine stopped laughing at me ( this is the wonderfully caring physician I work with) he got me the meds I needed.

Now, it is three days later- I am still blotchy, itchy, and swollen. Did I mention that my cat has a sudden need to be sitting on my lap at all times???? This borders on unbearable. I went to the grocery store yesterday and a little old lady asked me if I was contagious- I almost said yes.... Back to the office tomorrow with hopes of looking a bit better. Needless to say, Brian and his lunches have been banned.