Miscellany | with one week left
A week from today, I have my final exam for this semester. Woohoo!
So, here are some random things from my life/brain.
I dropped the peanut butter into the pudding
I had some extra milk, so I made a double batch of chocolate pudding last week. I poured it into glass bowls and set them to cool on the counter.
Then I decided to have a snack of a banana + peanut butter. And when I went to put the Sam's Club size jar of peanut butter away, I dropped it.
Right into the pudding.
I had pudding in my hair, on my hoodie, and all over my kitchen.
Thank goodness it was already fairly cool; it had solidified enough so as not to spray everywhere (and it also was cool enough to not burn me!)
Also, I was grateful I hadn't showered yet; the pudding in my hair was no big deal. 😉
Scrambled Egg Auto-Pilot
I went to make French toast the other day, and before I knew it, I was grinding pepper into the eggs.
Ugh.
Because I eat scrambled eggs for breakfast so often, I went into auto-pilot mode after cracking the eggs!
I saved the peppered eggs in a container for the following morning, and I started over with some fresh eggs.
I do love me some black pepper, but in French toast, it would be a most unwelcome addition.
This leaf looks familiar
I spied this leaf out of the corner of my eye when I was walking.
And I thought it looked a little like Calcifer, from Howl's Moving Castle!
Also, don't these logs kind of look like they are sprouting fresh-popped popcorn?
I wonder what it's like to live in a huge house
Now that the leaves have fallen off the trees, I am seeing some houses across the creek that I don't usually see on one of my trails.
This one caught my eye the other day:
And I stopped to wonder what it must be like to live in such a house. It's HUGE.
I know I don't personally want that much house, but it might be fun to live there for a week, just to see what it's like. I would feel so fancy!
Thanks, Chiquita
She knocked over a pot of succulents the other day.
I repotted two of them, which is honestly probably something I should have already done because they were quite leggy.
So, I guess I appreciate the push from Chiquita. 😉
(She did not break the pot, thankfully!)
650 days of Spanish
I hit a 650-day streak of doing at least one Spanish lesson a day on Duolingo.
Am I fluent? No.
But do I know more than I would otherwise? Yes!
(Enough that I have been able to speak a little Spanish to my patients.)
I might hit the Spanish a little harder once I am done with nursing school. 🙂
I handled night shift slightly better this time
The only other time I've worked an overnight shift is when I was doing training back in June.
(If I am not forced, I will never work overnight. The only place I want to be at 2 am is IN MY BED, SLEEPING.)
At that time, I was still dealing with some post-Covid exhaustion, and also, I was not used to working 12-hour shifts.
But this time, I went in well-rested, and I am also very accustomed to spending 12 hours in a row at the hospital.
So, I was less miserable than before.
Also: I did three blood draws in a row and got all of them on my first try. Yay me!
Anyway, despite the fact that my shift went all right, I still will maintain my habit of choosing day shifts whenever humanly possible.
I know you get paid more overnight, but as I always say: I am too old and too financially stable to be tempted by the pay. Ha.
Some near- accidents - a sign that your body is in need of a bit of rest? You are doing very well, good for you that you can count down to your break.
I am also counting down and have planned the second half of December off - the darkest days I can spend quietly, and I can go for longer walks at the middle of the day in the sunshine. It feels a bit like hibernating, and then shaking off the hay when I get out of my lair in the new year :-).
We do not have big Christmas get-togethers planned, just some smaller family meetings and that is what agrees with us best. For one thing, we just cannot eat all those treats! I am amazed now at the dinners we had when we were in our twenties.
Autopilot is for real. I find myself turning to go to the kid's school at a certain intersection even if I need to go in the other direction.
@mbmom11, I did the opposite this week. I had to take my daughter to school after an appointment but I so rarely drive her to school I went right by the turn and had to go back.
@mbmom11, a few years ago we moved back to the same neighborhood where we first started our lives together 20 years ago. A couple times my husband turned into our old street without thinking about it, usually when he was talking. It cracks me up...we haven't lived there since 2012.
Did any peanut butter make it in the pudding or was it just the container? I love Reese's but never tried the pudding version. 😉
I'm trying to get things at home more in order/decluttered, especially changing to holiday/winter decorations. I know I am making progress, but part of me wishes I had more room (downsized to smaller house by 1000 sqare feet) to keep some of our items (especially holiday items). But I am enjoying less to clean.
Winter has just begun & I'm already ready for it to be done! Between the single digit temps & the white out conditions (our highway was shut down yesterday due to white out conditions & multiple wrecks all over highway which happens almost every year & makes National news) & the (seems like permanent) construction that drivers don't navigate very well I am really just wanting to stay home. Luckily I know bad roads/alternative way to get around. Took teen out to drive in teen vehicle (has only driven in winter in my vehicle) in the snow/below freezing temps to give guidance on & to see how handles winter driving in own vehicle. Did ok, but like most first time this year winter drivers who need to slow down to safely navigate the frozen/snow covered roads. Adleast we didn't get 4-6 feet of snow like areas north of us. Is it Spring yet?
@Regina, know back (not bad) roads/alternative way to get around.
@Regina, That was my question! Did The Frugal Girl save the chocolate-peanut butter pudding? Surely she, of all people, would not have thrown it away.... (But don't call her Shirley, says Leslie Nielsen. Name that movie!)
@JDinNM,
Police Squad.
(I think.)
@Fru-gal Lisa, AIRPLANE! Funniest movie ever made.
@JDinNM,
I immediately thought, AIRPLANE! So, so funny. Leslie Nielsen was hilarious.
@Liz B., I still think of the guy I saw that movie with ...
Kristen, your peanut butter/pudding fiasco reminded me of my lasagna disaster. One night in our RV, I pulled a tray of lasagna from the microwave, and it slipped out of my hands. It landed on the floor, but splashed everywhere - on me, the stove, the cabinets, the refrigerator - even on the toilet (which was about 8' away from the microwave). My sweet husband helped me clean the mess up, and we ate a very late supper. The next day, one of us happened to look up, and realized that we had missed all the spots on the ceiling. You are not alone, my friend.
@Mary ~ Reflections Around the Campfire, Me too! Last weekend I dropped a full tub of yogurt and it cannoned out onto the wall, deeply grooved shoe mat, cabinets, into my shoes... You name it. It took a long time to clean it up. Then yesterday I found yet more dried yogurt blobs, in the next room! Physics...
So yes, you're in good company Kristen! (Also thank you for the picture of Calcifer since I had no idea who that was - your leaf actually reminded me of your Duolingo fiery owl guy with shades - congrats on that hot streak, kept going even with everything else on your plate!)
@Mary ~ Reflections Around the Campfire, my messiest food disaster happened when I attempted to cook a butternut squash in the microwave. I poked a ton of holes in it and followed the directions from one of my cooking magazines to the letter. However, it blew up inside the microwave. The force was so strong. It blew the door open, and there was even butternut squash on the ceiling. I really didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
@Mary ~ Reflections Around the Campfire, I dropped a pint jar of mural paint a few days ago. Fortunately, I was outside. I scooped as much paint back into the jar (it is a plastic container) with my hands, then dug out the main rock it landed on, scraped the painted dirt and leaves into a trash bag, and returned the rock to its hole upside down. There are still light blue splatters in the area. Slippery, clumsy, and such a disruption!
@Bee, I once tried to boil egg yolks (saved from a previous recipe, I thought I could boil them and give them to my toddler for extra nutrition) in a cup of water in the microwave. I ran the microwave until the water boiled and it looked like the yolks had been cooked, then I opened the microwave and took out the cup...and got exploded egg yolks and vaporized boiling water in the face, on the ceiling and in my hair. Luckily I had closed my eyes in time!
The funny bit was my toddler (DS#1) was sitting in his booster chair, calmly eating his oatmeal, while this happened, and though he was a Chatty Charlie, never said anything about it. The next morning he asked for scrambled eggs, and while I was making them, I used the microwave to heat up my tea that had gone cold. The microwave beeped, and DS came into the kitchen and said, "Mommy, you're not using the microwave to cook my eggs, are you?" I said no, and he said, "Good, because you know what happens when you try that." HA.
@Mary ~ Reflections Around the Campfire et al., since we're exchanging food fiasco stories, here's mine: At age 18, I was working a summer job at a pizza joint in my old home town, and among my responsibilities was replenishing the salad bar (it was the early 1970s, and salad bars were all the rage). One memorable Monday night, I was alone on fountain/salad bar duty, and we had only one cook in the kitchen. But the Carpenters happened to be doing a concert in town that night, and approximately half of the sellout crowd came to our pizza joint after the concert. I was racing around the corner from the cold room with a giant bowl of lettuce when I slipped--and the lettuce hit the ceiling while I hit the floor. I simply lay there and laughed hysterically as lettuce rained down on me and everyone nearby, until two irate customers hauled me to my feet and told me in no uncertain terms to get on with my job!
@Mary ~ Reflections Around the Campfire, This is a little different because it was intentional and we were dumb kids but my brother and I were home alone (it was the 80s) and we wanted to see how crazy it would get if we shook up a 2 liter of soda and opened it. We thought we were being so smart because we had enough foresight to do it in the kitchen sink. But of course that doesn't matter when it sprays everywhere, including the ceiling. We were so scared because even standing on the counters, we couldn't reach the ceiling.
@A. Marie, re those irate customers: come on.. if you can't be mellow after a Carpenters concert, there's something seriously wrong..
@Suz, well, I can see those customers' POV: Here I am, LMFAO amidst the spilled lettuce, instead of getting on with the business of serving them. But, fortunately, most of the other customers were LTFAO right along with me. (And, hey, do I win the Acronym Award for the day?)
@Mary ~ Reflections Around the Campfire, Your story brought back memories of the night (a few years ago) I made a meat loaf but dropped the entire thing on the kitchen floor as I was transferring it from the oven to the countertop. What a mess! And we had no dinner! I think we had peanut butter sandwiches that night. It's one of those things we can laugh about now.
I always put pepper in my french toast. My dad taught me to cook and was a fabulous cook and it's what he did so I copied him. Pepper, cinnamon, and a little nutmeg.
@Julia, I was thinking that a savory French Toast, not served with syrup, sounds intriguing!
@Gina from The Cannary Family, similar to a Monte Cristo sandwich which used to be quite popular.
@Gina from The Cannary Family, I put a pinch of black pepper and cayenne pepper in with my cinnamon and ginger when I make molasses cookies. A nice little warming heat with the spices!
Hubs once said “hey there is a job opening for a Dietitian…what’s PRN?” Ha ha. I said that’s code for nights and weekends, no thanks! 🙂
@Ingrid RDN,
LOL, fellow RDN here....where I work, PRN means "fill in for vacations, PTO time others take, sick days, etc". Which can mean travelling to one of a possible 4 different sites, once of which is in the middle of nowhere, and none of which may be close to where you live. Nope! 🙂
At first I thought you dropped like a spoonful of peanut butter into the pudding, and I thought that chocolate/peanut butter pudding would actually be delicious. Then I looked it up, and it's definitely a thing that's all over online. Nowhere does it recommend the actual jar, though. 🙂
I bought some small Christmas lights, and they ended up being the glaring LED kind that hurt my eyes. Returning them wasn't really an option, so I actually figured out a way to put up outside lights on our house for the first time. I've wanted outside lights for years, but have been stymied by our lack of outlets. It's just some around a window, but I did make a star shape next to the window, which I am inordinately proud of. And that's the window that faces the road, so anyone driving by can see them (because LEDs are SO BRIGHT). This makes me very happy.
I also finally got a small nativity set. We hadn't had one before, and my children are enchanted with it.
I'm sitting here listening to the furnace run. I don't usually hear it in the morning because I start the woodstove first thing. This morning, however, I just did not want to deal with the ash and smoke and everything when I was already dressed for work, so I turned the thermostat up--from 55 to 58 :-)--and will let my husband start the woodstove when he gets up. I feel a bit guilty about this, but not too much.
I finally have a child big enough to move three-string alfalfa bales on his own into the barn. Yay.
Kristen, aside from having to be awake and alert in the middle of the night, do you find the night shift less stressful? Boring with less patient interaction? Just curious…..
Some of the early risers are pretty funny today with their comments about the peanut butter! I'll add, remember the Reese's commercial with peanut butter and chocolate? And the 2 people would both be walking down the street and collide and they would start yelling "you put peanut butter in my chocolate; no you put chocolate in my peanut butter!" Maybe your brain is tired, but not too tired to do a brain dump and count the days left!
We put up the outside decorations over the weekend and the tree up inside. So far the dog and the cat have been OK with the tree. I made sure to remove all the precious breakable ornaments as I don't want to wake up and see the tree on the floor.
Me, I'm moving along to 15 months left!!! And yes, to some 15 months might seem like a lot, but it's 1 less month than before is the way I look at it. And I've seen lots of part time jobs around at the local hospital, so there is stuff out there for me to do when I leave corporate America.
@Maureen,
Those 15 months will fly by! Ha ha, after a career working in a hospital, maybe I'll enter corporate America after I retire. (Joke - that's a big NOPE from me!). 24ish more months for me, fingers crossed.
Auto pilot found me driving to Meijer when I was actually planning to go to Sam's Club. I only went a couple of miles out of my way.
I love to look in old large houses but I am glad I don't have big house envy. The only house envy I have are for those cute little cottages that are tucked in the woods. A painter friend of mine had a cottage that backed up to a wetland area, when you walked in the house it literally said Ahhh to me.
@Mar,
Me too! The only thing I see are exorbitant heat,light and other bills.
I'd give my right arm for a tiny house!
@Mar, I adore our little house. We had to do some unique things to fit six people in it, like give up a study for one, but smaller houses are easier to heat and cool and clean! (As long as you don't let it get cluttered, ha.)
I think there are two types of medical people (specifically nurses) who choose overnight shifts
- the ones who need it for childcare purposes (so they can avoid daycare costs)
- the ones who just really LOVE it (less residents/ attending a bopping around, don’t need to deal with morning rounds, tends to be more peaceful - yet often still busy!)
I had on- call as part of a prior job, which meant working during the day, then having to hop out of bed and head into the hospital for a consult / problem or surgery. I never loved it. I’ll add it became increasingly more difficult in my 40’s than it was in my 30’s!!
Currently I’m 58 and want no part of an overnight anything!!
I absolutely cannot do night shifts.I’m retired now, but even as a brand new nurse, i could not.Luckily, my first job, there was a day shift opening on med surg. I cannot flip my sleep patterns..and I get sick,truly sick if I lose sleep. Stick to your guns and work days!!!!!I did miss an opportunity to work NICU because it was told to us that you MUST work a year of the night shift when you start..and wait in line for day shift. I simply can’t. So I stayed in labor and delivery and regular pediatrics and still had a great career!! I think it ended up being just the right choice!
YAY for the end of semester.. soon you will be A full fledged,employed R.N.!
Cats: They're always helping.
I am seriously considering ordering a sleep cap because Clark thinks it is helpful to try to wake me up by chewing on my hair. He doesn't bite DH's hair. Just mine. Maybe because it's long and Clark loves to go after yarn and thread?
In breaking news, Clark, not a lap cat, last night decided to burrow under my blanket and curl up on my lap! Naturally I couldn't disturb Mr. Fluffin, so DH got me my dinner while the boys worried about whether Clark was feeling well since he was acting out of character. I think he's been clingy because I've been dealing with a migraine.
@Karen A., it's also possible that Clark chews your hair because he sees you as his bio-mom. Our Dizzy--the kitten DH rescued out from under the hood of his Suburban on a cold day in December 1991--suckled my hair from the moment DH brought him in to me that day until the night before we had to put him down for fast-moving lymphoma. We concluded that he had somehow gotten separated from his mother too soon.
@A. Marie, That is possible! We don't know what his life was like before the shelter, only that he was brought in at around a year old (or younger) with a leg wound so bad he couldn't walk. He does follow me around a lot, though he likes everyone else too. 😉
Oooh...miscellany. I always have that!
*I'm going to spend some time today RELAXING into December. I have gift cards to spend, places to go, things to cook. I am looking forward to new books to read!
*I've been listening to my George Winston station on Pandora and it is so peaceful. My new car links up with my Pandora account and I find that instrumental music is just the ticket to a relaxing ride into work or doing errands.
*Snapfish bullied me into ordering something or they were going to put my photos into deep storage. While it was hard to trip down photo memory lane, I did pick out a 99 cent mug with four photos for my December coffee.
*I know that grief is always in season, but I am being present and mindful as I go thru my days and I will finish out 2024 with a grateful heart.
Of all the places for it to fall, the jar had to fall in the pudding. I hope you got the chocolate stain out of your clothes, Kristen.
Talking about cats playing yesterday brought a memory back to me last night of my calico cat that I got for my husband, who loved calico cats, but since he still worked out of town, ended up as my cat. She was one of the ones who disdained to play with toys, except for one thing - my daughters and I had made "candy canes" out of twisted red and white pipe cleaners, and that cat could not resist stealing them off the tree and running off with them. I stopped putting them on the tree, afraid she would pull the tree over getting to them and got rid of them, but I somehow left one in the tote of decorations. Don't ask me how, but that cat knew it, and as I opened that tote next Christmas and started emptying it, she sat by watching intently until I got near the bottom, when she leapt up and pounced into the tote, poked her head down and came up with that last "candy cane." She ran off, played with it a while then hid it. It became our game - I would find it where she hid it every year and put it up with the other decorations after Christmas, and she would steal it back when I started decorating the house the next year. She lived 17 years, so we played this game a lot of times. It's still in my decorations tote. I just can't get rid of it.
My father worked shiftwork in his mid-forties to his late fifties, but then he could sleep anytime. He always volunteered for holidays, because he got double pay. If the holiday fell on a Sunday, he got triple pay. We spent years having Christmas and Thanksgiving any time of the day because it was after he woke up and before he went to work, or as soon as he got home from work and before he went to bed.
On big houses--Mr. B and I go to a lot of open houses and the neighbourhood where we'd like to live has a lot of "monster homes." They make me feel a bit hollow inside, to be honest. The large spaces seem so empty, and they're often decorated in such a way to yell, "see how much money we have?" Lots of hard stone and shiny glass, with weird layouts that aren't really usable. It's kind of cold.
I find a lot early 20th century homes have a cozier feel that I like better. More wood, sensible layouts, rooms that don't have large swathes of space around the furniture...not that we can afford that either!
I can imagine that it would be fun to live in a castle for a weekend though! It would be like being in a resort.
1) Counting down until DS18 is home from college in a few weeks!
2) I spent so much time on the computer yesterday searching for & applying for jobs that I had a headache in the evening. Ick.
3) I raked & raked & raked & still have a bunch of leaves to clean up. But, I made a lot of progress in the yard, which I'm sure my neighbor's are appreciative of.
4) I love the subtle lights of our Christmas tree & candle (battery operated) mantle set. It's such a nice glow in the morning & evenings.
5) DS17 really needs a job, but his schedule is wild. Two school sports, lots of AP classes, plus tons of social activities. However, the reason he needs a job is his social activities. He loves to golf, for example & pick up meals for himself when he's between classes & sports. He did work in the summer, but spent all of that quickly. I'm torn, because we definitely want to encourage the right behavior (getting a job, paying for more frivolous stuff himself), but his schedule makes that so difficult.
@Hawaii Planner,
Mmmmm… maybe DS17 could find a job on the weekends at the golf course. Pay is usually just adequate, but good tips and free greens fees are the norm in Florida.
@Hawaii Planner,
One bit of caution: my mother was a high school secretary/registrar and saw all the students' grades. She said the kids who were A and B students as freshmen and sophomores often dropped down to being C students as juniors and seniors. Not because the courses became more difficult. But because they got after-school jobs. They would be too tired to do well in their classes, and their grades reflected this. Mom saw hundreds and hundreds of transcripts and she said it happened just about every time. Even if only one six-week period the kid's grade dropped, this would negatively affect their academic success.
Mom let me have summer jobs and I could babysit on the weekends (not every week, but as long as I had my homework done, it was OK to accept a sitting job.) But she told me, "School is your job! You need to concentrate on your schoolwork!" Sure enough, I got quite a few A's, bypassed a lot of the so-called geniuses in my high school class and graduated in the top 10%. Which, back then, meant automatic acceptance into any of our state universities. (No essays, interviews, etc.) I also got some partial scholarships -- not a great deal of money, but every little bit helps.
Anyway, that's another factor to think about when your teens are considering jobs.
@Fru-gal Lisa, I'm with you, and it's definitely top of mind. My older child didn't have to work during the year, because he worked in the summer & wasn't much of a spender. DS17 is... way more of a spender than his brother. I'm trying to walk that fine line of allowing him plenty of time to study & participate in sports, while ensuring that he understands the value of money.
@Bee, that is a really great idea! I'll have him check into that. Thank you!
@Hawaii Planner, when I was in college, my grades were higher during the quarters that I had a job. It's because I had to be more organized and disciplined, plan ahead, and not goof off so much.
Great montage of a life life - ing!
I am steering out of the doldrums through some solid actions. I am grateful for taking G.ood O.rderly D. Direction to find my balance again. ( My acronym for a high power.)
Tips for fellow trudgers:
1. Work with others. I met with a newly sober woman who is facing a first Christmas after enduring the trial of her abusive husband. It amazes me that working a 12 step program, sharing experience strength and hope give ample opportunities for laughter through tears, giggles and strength.
2. Hang out with only EASY family members. I am taking my mom to a small outpatient surgery procedure. She has been sober for 10 years now (began at 79) and I feel I have been given my Mom back. We will giggle and tease all the way.
3. Move. Yep. All the research, all my experience has proven that I can't think myself out of the blues. I must MOVE myself out of the blues. I did a TRX class which is short and demands my focus.
4. Learn something new: I bought a basic Yamaha keyboard to prepare for teaching the grand-littles music lessons. So fun. Who new tech had come so far. I played a simple melody of Greensleeves and it was fully orchestrated. WOW. I know I can incorporate this motivational tool while still maintaining comprehensive music curriculum.
@Mary Ann, I agree with your #3. I've been finding myself crying a lot lately and waking up in the middle of the night so I've been forcing myself to exercise. I think it's starting to work. I know this about me - I am less prone to dwell on the imperfections and sleep better when I work out so I just need to keep doing it.
I don’t think that I would be very effective if I worked an overnight shift. I do not function well when I’m sleep deprived.
Yesterday I had the Christmas party for one of the women’s groups that I belong to. I do this every year because it motivates me to get my house decorated earlier. However, it was hard this year because the first Tuesday of the month — our regular meeting day — was immediately following the Thanksgiving weekend. But now it is done.
My regular mammogram showed a spot that concerned the radiologist. I am having a sonogram on Friday. This has happened before so I’m not overly concerned. However, the hospital is trying to bill me $1250 in advance for the procedure, but they have not taken in consideration my insurance payment. This kind of thing is more than little aggravating.
Wishing everyone peace, good health, and prosperity.
@Bee,
Here's hoping the spot is harmless and the accounting department at the hospital gets their act together. I've had more trouble with medical billing than all other billings combined. I'm standing with you on this!
@Bee, Yes, echoing JD to say I hope the additional scan on Friday is clear, and I'm sorry for the billing grief - that's so wrong.
@Bee, best wishes both on the sonogram and on dealing with the hospital's billing department. I second what JD said about medical billing generally.
@A. Marie, @JD, and @Suz -
Thank you for the good wishes. I will have results by Friday. I was able to speak to someone in billing this afternoon who reviewed the file. It was a mistake. I owe $51.29 - $1200 less than originally quoted. It’s always good to ask.
We are mid-way through painting our kitchen cabinets in our new house (They were horrible - worn down to bare 1960s low-end wood and then years of grease built up on that). Very grateful for Kristen's step-by-step tutorial, including listing everything from the orbital sander to the paint. I doubt we would have gotten to the project at all yet without Kristen's info as we'd still be researching. Thank you!
Humans are meant to sleep at night. I just learned recently that we are also meant to have less light or light that is more effective for it's purpose rather than to be just glaring. Plants, animals, insects don't thrive w/o a certain light rhythm. A guy from Darksky International spoke to our Extension Master Gardener Club a couple of months ago and I found it wildly informative.
That said, I prefer working at night simply because I want to still work and feel useful and the load level (most of the time) is easier to handle. Now this past night and morning was very busy, as our acuity has jumped a bit.
I got an oil spritzer. True to form, I cleaned it and filled it and then read the directions. There is a fill line and when you go over it and put the spritzer part in, the oil goes over the top. I still haven't emptied out the surplus to be able to seat the lid. Olive oil is not easy to clean up.
I would love to live in a big house. I've done so before and if I could again, I would. We downsized to a house that's 1000 sq ft and I'd say it's more work than our house of 1900 sq ft because everything has to be kept very tidy and there seems to be constant need of getting rid of stuff or we completely drown. I thought I'd be great in a small house,I'm very organized and we own less than the average. But I'm not good here. This isn't our forever home (I pray) so we're not adding on. We live in a very HCOL area so moving isn't an option. Not sure what to do.
@Kara,
While DH and I built a smaller house than most expected us to build (just under 1600 sf) 25 years ago, I have lived in homes of less than 900 sf, first with my birth family of 5 and then my own family of 4. I understand what you are saying. I sometimes felt almost claustrophobic. I'm very happy with the size of this house that we built. It feels just right, to quote Goldilocks. I hope you soon find a way to feel more comfortable where you are now.
@Kara, I feel you. Our house with seven people is 1100 sf. I love this house and it will be perfect in 11 years when all the kids (we expect) will have flown. In the meantime, I really feel like we could use a project space. Need to do paperwork, fold laundry, assemble a puzzle, play some long Risk or TTR board game ... and have to put it all away to have dinner. Oy. But we will make it.
Miscellany is fun.
1. I refreshed a mural in our neighborhood on Friday. When I was cleaning up and putting the paints away, I dropped one of the plastic jars outside. What a mess.
2. Today 2 others and I are judging decorated Christmas trees for a retreat center in town. This is about year 8. The trees are auctioned for charity tomorrow night, a nice annual event.
3. I can't go to the auction this year because I have to go to the gallery where my show is for their Christmas open house. 31 days in December and the only 2 things that I would attend are on the same night!
4. The yellow leaves from the fruitless mulberry tree in the front yard are brilliantly beautifully bright.
5. If I can't keep a 1500 sq.ft. house clean, there would be no hope for a big house. But wouldn't it be lovely to have a library and a guest room? Dream on, Toots.
@Central Calif. Artist Jana, enjoy your show! Your art is beautiful!
@Marlena, you are so kind. Thank you!
I miss good, deep snowfalls.
People who leave the TV on all the time, even when they’re not watching it, mystify me.
Spending two weeks with different bits of family is nice, and I’m also glad I’m doing the family thing only at Thanksgiving and not at Christmas as well.
Puppies are adorable. The puppies of the dog of the family I’m staying with are about 3 weeks old. (Also: English is a weird language.)
@WilliamB, I usually turn the tv on about 8pm til 10. My parents, however, turn it on when they wake up and don't turn it off again til they go to bed. Makes me batty!
I took inspiration from FG and while the handyman was here patching up some walls, dipped a jar into the bucket of paint so I'd have an easily accessible bit of paint to do touchups around the house. This was supremely dumb. Paint all along the side of the jar and all over my freshly painted nails. Sigh. Oh well. At least I painted them myself and can easily refresh.
My A1C is WAY higher than I'd like it to be so I've been cutting WAY back on sugary things and it's so surprising how it's made me feel less hungry overall. I'm hoping this continues and between this change and exercising more, that I can also lose a few pounds. I'm at my heaviest (outside of being pregnant though I'm approaching that weight too).
I want to have a marathon sleep night where I sleep for 10 hours. I can't remember the last time that happened...certainly not since I've been a mom.
@CrunchyCake, "The Glucose Revolution" by Jessie Inchauspe has helped me immensely with getting that stupid A1C down. She is also Glucose Goddess on Instagram. I don't do I'Gram but most people find her there. Great tips on getting it the number down without drugs or crazy deprivation.
@Central Calif. Artist Jana, I read that one too and loved that she had concrete, easy to follow guidelines. I just have chosen to throw it all out the window the last year or so! Time to revisit.
Your mishap with the peanut butter reminded me of a very old Reeses cup ad. I was a little kid at the time. LOL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7oD_oX-Gio
I once managed to turn over a mixer while I was making a chocolate cake. The beaters kept on going, so batter landed all over the walls, ceiling, me, the dog...I swear I was finding clumps of dried batter five years later. More recently, I fried the sausage for our turkey stuffing last Wednesday and moved it to the back burner while I went to the bathroom. Then the phone rang...by the time I made it back to the kitchen, the Dane had stood up and reached across the stove and lapped up all the hot sausage and grease. The problem is that he has a tongue the size of a platter so when he laps up food or water, it goes all over. The stove top, the wall behind the stove, the counters nearby were all covered with grease. Several hours later he had diarrhea.
Ohhhhh the mixer!! I can only imagine the mess!
@Lindsey, OMG. Poor you and husband, and poor Clobber Paws.
Only two things and they're less misc-y because they stem from yours. 😉
One, I love to browse through old Sears, Roebuck and Montgomery Ward home plans. I personally like the way they're designed and organized with elegance and very little wasted space. Some of our modern-living expectations would have to be added to most of them but then they'd be great — like I don't want just a hoosier cabinet, freestanding stove and icebox, and freestanding sink cabinet. I would rather have a kitchen. Ditto bathrooms, closets. Ha.
Two, my husband prefers a savory French toast. He wants scrambled eggs soaked up in his bread, with salt and pepper. It's actually pretty good.
I am finding it more than a little difficult to handle the rage outbreaks that dementia brings to my Aunt as of late. I LOVE her but I do not like dementia at all. I have so many around me telling me that I have to let it go, it is the dementia talking etc. but my friends that is not always easy to do. Even harder to do is to find a space within where you can just sit with the feelings - this is a big leap for me as I for years ate my feelings or ignored them until they permeated my skin through hives, depression, anxiety, etc.
I realized today that Christmas is in 3 weeks. And it seems like it will be over far too soon and there is no real time to really enjoy all that the season brings. To that end. I may start holiday traditions like baking cookies, looking at lights, earlier so as not to miss out on all the magic.
Budgeting. I know this is a simple task for lots of folks but my oh my does it have me overwhelmed. Trying to determine what needs to go in each category to ensure we are successful and sinking funds to plan for vacation or the holidays or tires...ugh. I know I will get it together but right now it feels like trying to climb a mountain barefoot in the snow.
It is getting close to the end of the year. A time when I long for a break but work demands do not allow such a thing to be.
I am in love with Wood Wick candles in the scent Frasier Fir. They smell like Christmas and they sound like Christmas. Can't beat that.
Dementia is so so so hard. And even when you know it’s the dementia talking, it can still hurt. Sending love.
@Angie, I too send love and understanding. Is there any chance that you can address this problem medically? There are some drugs that can help with the rage. (Yeah, I know, Big Pharma and all that. But sometimes nothing else will work.)
And if you aren't already looking at the various forums for caregivers on alzconnected.org, please do. The forum for spouses and partners saved my sanity while I was caring for DH. No jazz.
@Angie, I am so sorry. I feel for you and know how hard it can be. My MIL was difficult when she had dementia. It was hard to separate the person she was from what she had become. Sending you wishes of love, strength, and peace,
@Angie, I quickly came to the conclusion that the mom I'd known and loved for years was no longer with me despite her still being on this side of earth. One could describe it as an emotional detachment but in my mind, there was no longer anything personal. Ensure she had proper care and make sure dad didn't burn himself out taking care of her was what I did.
I'd rather die of cancer than have dementia/Alzheimer's.
@Angie, ah, the "dementia induced rage", it can be pretty hard to deal with. I work on a secure unit for seniors with dementia and behavioral issues, I see it every shift. And they can switch really fast. It is not them, it's the disease, but this is hard to separate from the person when they are lashing out at you and trying to hit/bit/spit at you. Harder for family members for sure. My heart goes out to you.
Miscellany....
I don't like stress and the past two weeks and pretty sure until next Friday are ALL stress.
I have my 6 month angiogram on my brain next week to see if the hyperplasia is any better than it was 6 months ago (Praying it is! Then I can come off the main blood thinner).
My cat is not appreciating the new house. DH is working from there during the days so we've been taking the cat (like 90% of our stuff is moved), but Finn is not adjusting at all. He's just mad about everything.
I need to find time to put up a Christmas treed.
Our credit card was hacked. I saw the charge online so I put a temporary hold on my card until I figured it out (wasn't sure if it was mine or DH's). Forgot that I put the hold on my card and went to the grocery...remembered when my card was declined...thankfully I could go through the app and unfreeze the card for a minute.
I'm really not liking the 22 degree weather SC is having recently. Not a fan.
I'm glad not all the pudding was a loss! You deserved a treat once that was cleaned up!
@Marlena, ugh, rough times. Hang in there, because it gets better (as you know, but sometimes it helps to have someone else remind you.)
I spent some time in Slovakia working with educators and disability service providers. Some of them also came to the USA for continued training and to experience the cultural exchange. They were totally surprised by the sweet french toast offered at the hotel for breakfast. To them, French toast was a savory dish with salt and pepper in the eggs and topped with ketchup. I think that was as much of a shock to me as the sweet was to them. I did try it though just in case it was offered to me while I was in Slovakia.
I incorporated that example into my teaching to help college students understand different perspectives and expectations when it came to working with people from different cultures. And, I continued to learn! One of my students who was originally from India could not wrap her taste buds around our very bland cream of wheat for breakfast. Her solution … hot sauce!
I retired from my faculty position several years ago, but have continued to teach as an adjunct. I do love teaching! However, tomorrow, I will lead my last class and officially call it quits. It’s been a long, rewarding career. In my mind, though, I will always be a teacher.
@PNW Casey, I grew up in a household peopled by Eastern Europeans. I dislike sweet French toast, to me it is a savory. My husband was raised in California. He thinks sweet is the point of French toast. So, I make it plain and wrap mine around link sausages and he douses his with maple syrup (which I also dislike).
That leaf really does look like Calcifer! It's the colors and the two dots for the eyes. I love it.
I wouldn't want to work nights either, no matter how much I need the money. As much trouble as I have sleeping at night, it would be even worse trying to get enough sleep during the day.
I'm glad I'm not the only one dropping things and doing things on autopilot. I think in my case I'm just tired out after last week's holiday busyness. Maybe you're tired out from your current semester? Regardless, it's great that there's only one more week left.
New hires in nursing often get stuck on graveyard shifts because nobody else wants them. I hope you can find day work.
Night work really does mess with your circadian rhythm, particularly if it changes frequently. I think it's very hard on people's bodies. My daughter worked graveyard for nearly a year in her "gap year" between college and medical school and she was absolutely miserable. Likewise during residency it was terrible. She was a lot less stressed when she wasn't working nights.
This semester has seemed to go really fast (for me, I hope for you, too!). Soon you'll be on break and can enjoy the holidays. Then only one more semester for you. That's awesome.
You might really enjoy this Dr. Mike Podcast about how to fix healthcare to support nurses: https://youtu.be/MQqxHeGLDAc?si=tq36WcwTgMz34D78
Ah, night shift! When I got my first job, I had applied for the day shift on pediatrics. However, they gave that to one of my classmates who was a diabetic, and put me on night shift. I said no way--I had only been married 3 weeks, and this was 1971 and we did not live together before marriage. So they put me on 3-11 which actually suited me just fine, and occasionally I did a double shift, which was far easier to go from evenings to nights. I have actually done all the shifts in my nursing career, but the last 23 years was straight nights, some 8-hr shifts, mostly 12s. I really hated it when everyone decided it was far more economical to hire 2 nurses rather than 3 to cover 24 hours in the hospital. Even nights are more doable when it's only 8 hours. But my body and my paycheck took to nights fairly well. It wasn't til I retired that I realized how stressful it actually was, although it was months before I could go to sleep before 2 am. Now I see sunrises from the other side. Nice.
You would think, being retired, I would be able to enjoy the Christmas season more fully, get the house decorated early, bake, etc. Not so. Why is it every darned appointment leads to another and everyone else feels we need to get them done before Christmas? I think I'm going to declare Decembers a no-appointment month next year. And I may also join the Christmas Tree Up Before Thanksgiving Club. (Did I really just say that?)
I am one of six siblings and we're all married with multiple children. Once a year all of us, along with our parents, get together for a week at the beach. We all stay at one house together which means we have to rent pretty huge houses. Initially we've all been pretty excited about houses, it's cool to be able to stay in a house so grand occasionally. But honestly by the end of the week it gets a little annoying to have things spread out so much. I know it sounds petty, but it can get annoying to have a bedroom so far from the kitchen or the laundry room or the kids room. To go from one end of a house to another and down a few floors just to get a drink or grab something you forgot gets a little old. It also takes so much longer to tidy up or grab all the laundry. I feel blessed that I've been able to experience staying in some grand places, and I've also realized I definitely do not want an oversized home for my every day life.
At least Chiquita doesn't drag the succulents she "de-pots" elsewhere into the house. Had a kitten who would do that.
I can sympathize with the pudding incident. I was house sitting for my grandparents and opened a can of tomato paste which spewed tomato paste into my hair and onto my white shirt.
Hah! My dad used to pepper his French toast. Which was fine except he cooked French toast for the rest of the family in the same pan so we all had a pinch of pepper in our sweet breakfast.
Your pudding story reminds me of a gone-wrong batch of muffins. Instead of using Cinnamon I dumped in a whole lot of Chili powder (almost same color) in the preparation, oops. In the compost it went (and it was a biiiiiig batch, with gluten-free flour, boooooh!)
Oh no, the gluten free flour!!
Hi Kristen! So proud of all your hard work in nursing school!
I thought you might enjoy this story.
My daughter is a nurse. When she took a new job, the hospital shifts were either all days or all nights (not alternating as some do). As a newbie, she would have to work nights. Before she started, her manager called to ask if she would *mind* working days because no one else wanted to switch from nights! Um YES PLEASE! That was a huge blessing for sure!
I know some nurses actually prefer nights, but I’m with you! Night is for sleeping!
Thanks for this wonderful blog!
I would totally NOT mind working all days. Ha.
Your Duolingo streak is impressive. I am on day 165. Do you use the free or paid version? I'm using the free version but am contemplating the paid version.
I once dropped an unopened glass jar of salsa. It completely shattered and sprayed all over my kitchen, including the ceiling. Cleaning up chunks of salsa mixed with shards of glass was no bueno.
I can't have plants. My cat will ruin every single one. I'm surprised that Chiquita doesn't bother them more.
The pepper in your eggs reminded me of the time I thought I was grabbing cinnamon to put in my french toast eggs and accidentally grabbed chili powder instead! I didn't notice (I must have been sleepy) till I had already made the toast! Ugh! We tasted it, but then tossed it. There was no saving anything like you did! Both bottles looked the same and I wasn't used to that. I immediately put the chili powder in the bottle that I had previously used so there would be NO more mixing up those! We did have a good laugh!
Ohhhh that would not taste good!