Knight Adventures

New pics for those not on FB.... Nathan loves Bubbles in his tub. Go dawgs. Nathan and Bully on the MSU Campus. Grammie and Nathan and Bully on the MSU Campus. Jay and Laura in New Orleans for our anniversary. Nathan at Roosevelt State Park.

Ok, I am so shocked that i remembered my password after 3 months of neglecting my blog. Well, I thought night shift was tough, not really. As any new nurse might understand, the first year is really hard especially if youre working on the floor of a hospital. Since I am still learning the basics of cardiac care (surgeries and new meds), I tend to get upset if I can't do something by myself since that means I don't know everything (the perfectionist know-it-all coming out in me). But I am learning it's ok to ask and usually my instinct was right. I am reminded of a song that keeps coming back to me, reminding me that God is always there leading us through... "Had to walk the rocks to see the mountain view, looking back I see the lead of love". So true. On the homefront, Jay and Nathan are doing well. Jay is also learning to enjoy his new job. Nathan is growing by leaps and bounds. He is speaking in almost complete phrases and is a pro at climbing and pus...

Jay and I are trying to enjoy our last week in a fully furnished house in Tupelo. We are moving out next weekend and betting on the troops to show up to help. We have a house rented near downtown Brandon. Reminds me of Papaw's house, with all the original hardwood floors showing and a little bigger and two full bathrooms(one is renovated to be full off the master bedroom). It even has the two back bedrooms with another 'bedroom' that opens into the kitchen and an outdoor laundry room. It has big beautiful old windows in the living room letting all the sunlight in but since the front yard has plenty of big old pine and hardwood trees, it is very nice. The house is old and was an old 'family' home and has been a rental for a few years, so it does have a little wear and tear but the landlord seems to be keeping it up just fine. The house comes with a fenced in backyard and a 1car carport (which I'm sure will cause Jay a little frustration since it just isn't bi...

We went to the Memphis Zoo yesterday. We intended to go first thing in the morning before it got too hot, but you know how that usually works out. Nathan seemed to enjoy running around but he wasn't too interested in animals who were laying in the shade where he couldn't touch them. We will probably try again this winter/fall, i hear the zoo is more fun then. Anyway, this is the zoo entrance after a 1.5 hour drive to memphis. This is inside the bird zooarium(or whatever they call it). These tropical birds fly around and you can buy these little food pod things which you hold on a stick and the little birds land on your head and fight each other to get on the stick. Nathan loves birds, but he didn't want them on the stick, he wanted to hold the stick. He kept trying to swat them off the stick so Jay had to hold it out of reach. By this time, we were all hot and tired. We walked through 'the farm' area where they have horses and cows and goats and ducks and chickens w...

mls 09-2350 The house is posted for sale. We had our first showing yesterday afternoon. The realtors are not very proactive, in my opinion. They wanted to get the house but don't seem very pushy. And well, we need/like pushy for a realtor. Maybe pushy is not the word, maybe encouraging and full of suggestions. Anyway, after we 'staged' the house a bit better, jay took new pictures and emailed them to the realtors in hopes that they will soon replace the terrible pictures they took when we signed with them. In comparison to other people, we aren't really pack rats, but in the process of boxing our clutter up, I realized that most of this stuff is mine and I don't need it. So I've been making trips to consignment and salvation army and the library. Anybody need an ironing board? Or little boy clothes? Work at the hospital is going better for me. That is when I get to work. The floor I work on is under construction and that limits the patient # whic...

Jay and I have decided to accept the job at Thermoprobe in Pearl which means we will be moving again. For many reasons, I/we don't want to leave Tupelo, but you go where the jobs are. The position involves a fairly small business that designs and produces mostly thermal sensors for a variety of uses. Jay's job will be to assist production and keep the company up to date on licenses and training and certifications - at least that's mainly it from my understanding. He should start his new job no later than October. So we plan to put our house up for sale this week. We want to rent in the Jackson area before we buy another house, so we want to rent a house preferably with a fenced in yard or room for the dogs (we have 2 big dogs and one small blind dog). The rental will probably be short term, like 6 months, since I have to stay on Jay constantly about jumping into buying another house. We will need storage units, probably several. Anybody know a good moving company?...

Becky and Jim gave him this Lion scooter walker thing for his birthday. He loves to mash the nose to make the music play but he hasn't figured out what else it is for yet. He will push it around but gets mad when it gets stuck in the corner. Nathan is learning and discovering every day. He watches everything we do and tries to copy us. He has spent a great deal of time trying to turn doorknobs which he can't quite get a good hand hold of yet. He watches me very closely when I vacuum and wants to either help or do it himself because he is always getting in the way. His leg seems to be doing good because he is back to climbing in and over and around everything. We have had to scoot things back from the edge of the dining room table because his reach has expanded. I guess we will have to start putting things up for real now. In preparation for a possible move, I have taken to cleaning out and boxing up stuff to give away or take to consignment (i'm not up for a yard sale, plus...

Since Nathan continues to limp on that right leg and shows signs of continued sensitivity (still improving). We got a referral to see an orthopedic pediatrician associated with LeBonheur in Memphis/Collierville - since evidently there are no doctor's around here that know anything about kids =). The doctor looked at Nate really good and glanced at the xrays we had taken in the beginning and said 'i know what it is. we could do another xray but i don't think it is necessary because it looks to be healing straight. It's a toddler's fracture, nondisplaced. he might limp for another couple of weeks, but he doesnt need a cast.' He said that the toddler's fracture doesn't show up really good on xray until at least two weeks later. He asked if he ever ran a fever, no. So finally a diagnosis that makes sense! yea! And of course, I google the whole thing. And the xray examples look just like Nathan's! I guess it isn't bad enough to warrant a cast. ...

Jay finally got a classic fixer-upper. He has at least one buyer for his little Nissan pickup so I agreed he could go ahead and get this one. 1977 Ford F100. Automatic. Actually runs (he drove it back from Middleton, TN). Bonus: it has a stainless toolchest!

Well, Nathan is walking/limping on his leg now. He doesn't like to have his shoe/moccasin put on his right foot but once it is on, he doesn't seem to mind. If this continues, we should take him to an orthopedic doctor who might be able to tell us how to help it heal better since we don't know what is wrong with it. The 2nd visit to the general/urgent care doctor could not confirm a fracture and they suggested we see an orthopedic doctor. Gee, we should have done that to start with anyway.. I guess you live and learn, especially in the world of kids. If you didn't know already, I am a big grump when I'm tired which seems to be at least 50% of my time awake now. It is so hard to be nice and friendly when I just don't feel like it. Lord, help me to show my Happy side to people who don't deserve to see the Grumpy side. Right now I look Dopey. I need to go put some makeup on and brush my hair.... Jay and I are spending the day together toda...

People keep telling me that my job will get better. I'm not sure what better really means. Nobody told me that the first year would be REALLY hard, emotionally, physically, psychologically. I knew the first year would be full of learning experiences but I was not prepared for this. I remember being told that it's better after you get out of school. Again, what does better mean? One big stressor is getting it all done in one shift - documenting, meds, orders, chart checks, and direct patient care on up to 8 patients. I notice I am a lot slower at doing things on the computer than the other nurses, so I assume I'll get better in that way eventually. I have needed a good teacher, and I got a good schooling a few nights ago, someone who reminds me of me in about 20 years, hopefully not as extreme. Anyway, someone who is more of a type A personality, probably more by necessity than by genetics - I learned so much more about prioritizing and documenting that nigh...

Nathan came home from day care yesterday (tuesday) refusing to walk on his right leg. No bruising no swelling no warmth. He can move all joints but when you squeeze his shin, he cries out. We hoped it would get better today but not really. Everything is about the same. Since we are technically still between insurances, we are hesitant to rush to the doctor, especially if he/she is going to say 'yeah, sprained ankle, get plenty of rest' and send us home. We watched him at home today, he will crawl around carefully with that right foot held up off the ground. when he does stand up, there is no weight on the right leg. We will probably take him to the urgent care clinic in the morning to be sure it isn't a fracture that might need a cast. I called the day care today and they said they did not notice him refusing to walk and did not see him injure himself. Who knows?! Why are kids so complicated? Wait, now I sound like my dad.... =)

Well, as many of you already know, I am married to a talented busybody. Not a busybody as in being nosy or gossipy, but a busybody as in He gets bored pretty easily especially if the sun is still up. So, what do I do..... keep his 'honeydew' (honey do) list full of fun things to do. And now that he has some more free time on his hands, he can start on something new. He is pretty good at fixing and building things so I don't mind trying to help him stay busy. The entertainment center was his last major project (my idea, his design). And as a reward he got a new LCD Samsung TV. Here are a few pictures before during and after. First stage. The walls in the living were/are a dull deep brown above the chair rail then below the chair rail they are a dark brown/black. We have beige carpet. So we chose white, big shelves and cabinets to cover one wall. Of course, Jay designed the center to fit up to a 52 inch wide screen TV. We compromised with a 40 inch. =) The books on the top sh...

Nathan went for his first "Stroll" in the Mall. (that is versus a 'stroller'). I bought this doggie backpack thing which he seems to like just fine. I hold on to the tail and he just toddles along. We stopped, that is he stopped, outside of Abercrombie and Fitch where they are blaring the music as usual. He strolls in the front door and immediately starts dancing. He danced through at least two songs before he decided to leave. Too cute! He also went for his first carousel ride and coin operated car ride. I enjoyed watching him try new things. After about two hours of walking, playing on the 'playground' and eating, he was wore out.

Here I am... awake at 3 am. Considering I slept 6 hours today and another 6 tonight, I guess it's ok. As long as I can remember, I have always needed a lot of sleep. Even when I was in high school running 5 miles a day, I remember coming home and falling asleep on the couch or doing my homework. In most of my dreams, I have super powers! I can fly (although sometime not so well). I can zap people with lightning. Tonight was a first though... I dreamed I had magical makeover powers! I think I watch too many TLC shows. I was in a mall and I would stand back and redo people's hair or change the style and color of their clothes. This is truly strange since my own closet has no styles to speak of. Later on in the dream, I would stop people and tell them their style was terrible and take them into a store and tell them what they needed to wear.... like I was some sort of expert or something! Maybe this is a metaphor for my current job, i have to act like an ...

When I finished school (for the second time), I thought the stress would decrease at least gradually. But lately, not so the case. I remember Ms Hurst saying "ok, are we worried?" referring to a patient situation. The answer usually was " yes, we are worried sick!" I smile because she always put humor in it, in her southern belle way. Being a newbie at this job, the trick i find is to get the doctor as worried as I am and to do something significant about it. I am also learning how to deal with the emotional stress that I carry home. I think I'll go to Walmart..... See what I mean....

I got 'called off' tonight. Meaning they didn't need as much staff tonight. Which is fine, but you don't get paid if you don't work. Nathan is doing good after his ear tube surgery yesterday. His gait has improved up to practically a run now. He's quick. He seems to be more sensitive to sounds now like birds singing. He walks in more of a straight line, more like a bee line. On my way home from work this morning, I stopped at a few yard sales. I used to think that I hated shopping, but I believe that I love to bargain shop like a treasure hunt. I only brought a limited amount of cash so I had to quit shopping once I spent it and I spent every bit of it. =) I believe I found some good christmas presents, so I can't tell you everything that I found. Actually, I bought Nate some shorts and tshirts(they grow so fast, and he's got a big gut). I found some big blue jars to put on our entertainment center (that aqua sea blue is the 'accent' color in our...

I took tonight off so that I can stay home with Nathan tomorrow/today/inthemorning. He is running a low grade fever. That is, he is on tylenol too, to keep the fever down. We assume it continues to be ear infections which we hope to remedy this friday morning by getting tubes put into his ears. He is on a new antibiotic today. In this new job, I hate to take off for several reasons. Of course, I will share them with you because what else should I write about? =) When I don't show up the team is short one person (i'm still in orientation) and if they have a night like last night then it will just be that much harder. I have already taken time off for vacation and for nathan being sick and too much time off is not good for any job. And lastly, I am missing out on learning opportunities (like last night and any night for that matter). I feel ok about taking off because it is for the good of my child and my family. Jay took off today/yesterday so it is my turn. Hopefully by wednesd...

Kids... well today I figured out that one of Nathan's vocalizations is actually him trying to say 'no'. It comes out as more of a 'nah'. And he says it in a disrespectful tone, if a 15 month old can do that... Sometimes I would love for him to come out and say, "Can I have something to eat, please?" or "My butt is mushy, will you change me please?" but then I see him starting to backtalk me which is probably more of a mimic than actual meanness. You know I have heard that kids watch and hear everything you do. Actually I wish someone would have told me that I need to behave better toward other people. Especially at work, I see how small things I do or say, even the tone of my voice can make a huge difference in someone else's day or even their life. Being nice is not always easy, especially when you're tired and the other person is being just plain ornery. Nathan learns through watching us. We will open the door and now he knows how to do...

My first post. What else am I supposed to do all night? Can't make too much noise. Could go shopping but limited in my options... also could lead to spending too much money. Could go workout.. probably the best idea for later on in the night because I will probably be tired and require a shower. I'm working on Zoo tycoon and folding clothes but then comes the whole ironing thing. The ironing board happens to be bolted to the back of the bedroom door. I need a more portable one for the living room, maybe I would get more ironing done. Have you noticed the maybe's multiplying in this post? Maybe I should just get a journal, but that ranks up there with reading on the 'make me sleepy' meter. I'm not sure how much info I want to put on here, the whole 'big brother' knows too much already thing. But we shall see.... The journey has begun.... welcome aboard.