Hi, my name is Janet.  I’m a purse-O-holic.  I love purses.  I have about 20 in my closet.  Expensive ones, cute ones, cheap ones.  I don’t care.  I love them.  See my trunk?

I see five, 5!!!! Purses, and a back pack.  And a basket.

Here’s my newest baby,

And here is her sister,

I’m in LOVE!!!!!!!  And with that, I must restrain, my wallet and bank account it now empty.

Sigh.

Monday was the first day of school!  I felt funny sending Brennen to school with an empty backpack, but the school district had figured into the budget school supplies for kids in kindergarten through 12th grade.  That’s a bunch of kids, and a bunch of crayons!

Again, my camera is broke, so here are some not so great pics of Brennen on his first day of school!  We woke up early, put on our Lakeside Colors polo, stopped at Starbucks, a trip and hello at the hospital to see my Mother in Law, and then to school.

I AM smiling mom!

Superman!

First Grade!

]]> http://lifewithbeansandweenies.wordpress.com/2008/08/20/my-first-grader/feed/ Life With Beans And Weenies http://lifewithbeansandweenies.wordpress.com/2008/08/20/last-day-of-summer-vacation/ http://lifewithbeansandweenies.wordpress.com/2008/08/20/last-day-of-summer-vacation/#comments Wed, 20 Aug 2008 21:12:00 +0000 Life With Beans And Weenies http://lifewithbeansandweenies.wordpress.com/?p=694

I know, I’m late.  Does that really surprise you?  If it does, then SHAME ON YOU!  You don’t read my blog enough!!!

So Sunday was Brennen’s last day of  summer vacation.  We spent the day doing family things, play time in the park, lunch, some putt putt and dinner on the lake.  It was great!

This is in front of the hospital, when we visited Mike’s Mom.

Timothy                                                                     Brennen

Zachary                                                    Michael and Brennen

Mike and Me                                                      My Men

Putt Putt                                                       Zachary the Golfer

Mike                                                                 Dinner on the Lake

So this morning I began the daunting task of saving my pictures onto photobucket.com and kodakgallery.com from my hard-drive (what’s left of it).  I got maybe 1/10th of the way through and needed to leave.  While I was out, I decided that I would just get some CD’s and save the pictures on there.  Well, FRICK FRACK!  They are G-O-N-E!  I cannot find them anywhere!  I am so PO’D!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I’ve been on my own for a month now.  A few things I’ve come to realize:

1.  I love my job.

2.  Yes there is a nursing shortage.

3.  I have great organizational skills and time management skills.

4.  I need to say no.

Let me explain.

1.  I really do love my job.  Being able to teach people, talk to them, change a dressing or two, it’s great.  My paychecks are wonderful!  Better than I had planned.  I love only working 3 days a week.  I really do love it.

2.  Let’s skip this, I’ll hit this one on number 4.

3.  I’ve always been this way.  One of my first jobs was a waitress at Shari’s, which is like an IHOP.   We would have 7-12 table sections, do our own drinks, taking orders, salads, service, etc, and even bussing/cleaning our own table, and many times seating our own guests.  I was really good at it.  I’ve worked as a server and a bartender for many years and am really good at it!  As a manager, I’d be able to to the money count, inventory count, or whatever much faster than others, because I was more organized.  Now that has carried over to my Nursing job, which is really helpful when you have 15 patients.  Sigh, number 4.

4.  Most of our hospital is team nursing, meaning 1 RN, 1 LPN, and 1 PCT (CNA) take care of a group of 10 (sometimes 15) patients.  It works ok, if you have a good and helpful team, and if the other team is also helpful.  One floor does primary nursing, which during the day time they have 5 RNs and 1 LPNs (making 5 patients each) and a charge nurse, and at night it’s 4 RNs, 1 LPN, (6 patients each)and a charge.  The charge nurse opens the charts for the LPNs.  Meaning, they do the assessment and documentation for the first of the shift.  Any other thing that needs to be documented can be done by the LPN.  Of course ER and ICU are all their own entities, so I’m including those units here.

In the last month we have lost our travel nurses.  I believe there is one left on the cardiac unit.  The hospital spent so much money on them, they decided not to renew their contracts.  One bad thing about them, is that most of them live within an hour or two drive and still get paid travel nurse wages.  Well, being in a rural area, most of our nurses travel to get to work anyhow.  So many of them have signed up with travel companies, and we have lost nurses.

So one night, I was put on the primary care unit, and made charge nurse.  Ok, fine.  But due to a shortage of nurses, staffing pieced a staff together.  Which meant there were 2 LPNs, 1 experienced RN, and 2 new RNs (one of which graduated with me).  Ok, fine.  So I had to chart on 12 patients, plus deal with any other issues.  Ok, fine.  But I had to do it all by 11 P.M.  when I would be moved to the oncology floor.  Ok, fine.  I managed to chart on 11, helping a newer LPN with some skills she hadn’t done yet, calling the doctor for the new grad, among other things.  At 11, I went upstairs and received 15 new patients.  The nurse leaving had charted on 5 of them.  One room was empty, and two patients were new and needed to be admitted. That left 7 patients to see.  This is where I began to think it’s crazy.  Thankfully, another nurse (the 3pm to 11pm charge) stayed until 2 am admitting the two new patients.  I had another who was really ill, and had to have his bed changed every 30-45 minutes (not to mention he was in isolation), and be given three units of platelets and some chemo.  Thankfully I did not have any blood to give.  I ended up seeing my last patient at 6am, right before shift change.  Crazy!  I also had to draw the morning lab and get two patients ready for surgery.  Thankfully I had a good LPN and PCT, who were experienced and knew how to get a job done.

Good ol’ hindsight says I should’ve said no.  It’s my license to protect.  My job line.  My family’s income.  I am not superwoman, and I need to say no.

Oh, the week before the night above, I worked on the senior behavioral health unit.  I’ve worked there many times and a PCT, but never a RN.  The paper work is COMPLETELY different, including the three times more paper admission packet.  So two weeks out of orientation, I was sent to the pysch unit.  No problemo.  Except that I had three new admits.  UGH.  Now in this unit, there are 14 patients, 1 RN, 1 LPN, and 2 PCTs.  Great.  So the day RN stayed and did one admission, leaving me two.  I managed to get them 90% complete.  Again, thankfully my team was experieced and worked on that unit, so I didn’t have to follow up on them very much.  The day after the charge nurse/oncology floor experience, I was put back on the psych unit (no, not as a patient), again, with 3 admits.

This past week, I worked on the pysch unit (again).  Except, now they opened 4 more beds.  18 patients, TWO RNs, ONE LPN, and 2 PCTs.  IMO, still not enough staff.  These patients have schizoprenic disorders, depression, combative agression, dementia, etc, etc, etc.  So after a rough start, and somewhat quiet middle, around 4 am, the most ambulatory patient on the unit fell and broke her hip.  Of course she was my patient.  Nice.  I had to call doctors, the house supervisor, get her transferred to the med/surg floor.  What a mess.  Now, I’m not saying that wouldn’t happen with more nurses, but I do think that once again, I should have said no.  NO, NO, NO!

I’m learning, I do love it, we’ll see what the next three nights have in store for me!

WHY OH WHY?

My sleep schedule is messed up!!!   I know work nights, but the other four nights, I should be on a normal schedule.  UGH.

Why am I up do you ask?  Well that would be due to the 2.5 year old that is up in his room playing.  Yes, it’s 4:30 A.M.  He is up.  Why?  I don’t know.  He stayed up until 3 am yesterday, and woke up around 9 am (I got up a little after him).   I can hear him talking into the door, “Hello!  Hello!”  What a dork.

UGH.

I really hope that you are enjoying these.  I really am!  It makes me stop and think about my family.  I know they are special, and I know I love them.  But making me think of these things and putting out in front of me lets me see the big picture.

Here’s Part 8 from Jarrett.

I love his Shrek and Donkey game!  I bet my boys would love it!  This comes at a great time, since the boys started school this week.  Actually just Brennen, and Zachary starts next week.  Sunday we went miniature putt putt, AKA Pirate’s Golf, a favorite of the boys.  We hit the park and played, then went for a walk around the water’s edge.  We ate dinner at Doe’s and sat outside.  The boys were able to feed the ducks, turtles and fish while we waited for our food.  It was a great relaxing family day.

Other things we like to do  (that doesn’t destroy the house):

1.  Make a tent over the dining room table

2.  Take the boat out.  I Love watching Mike get in (hmm, he’s sexy) oh, focus, and watch him play with the boys in the water.  They have so much fun!

3.  Already mentioned, putt putt

4.  Bowling, they boys FREAK over this.  They LOVE it!

5.  The park of course.

6.  Washing the cars (odd huh?)

7.  Brennen likes to read a book to his brothers.

8.  Snuggling with 10 blankets and all of us on the couch, watching a movie.

9.  Going to Target (what good boys I have!)

10.  Helping me cook, they love to be helpers!

What does your family like to do for fun?

I was tagged by The Virutal Voyeur.   So now you must learn sever obscure facts about me, and then I will tag 7 other people to do the same about them.  Be forewarned, I’m pretty boring!

1.  I majored in band in high school.  Nine times.

2.  I love trauma.  Blood, guts, open cuts, bones hanging out.  Oh so cool.

3.  The day after Michael and I had sex for the first time, his lung collapsed.  Damn, I’m good!  Oh, it collapsed 2 more times after that, requiring surgery, attaching his lungs to his chest wall, so they won’t collapse again.

4.  I never have to shave my legs (ok maybe 4 times a year).  But my underarms get a 5 o’clock shadow around 10 am.

5.  I have a butterfly tattoo on my back.   I want another one with three suns (sons) but can’t find a design I like.

6.  I want a Harley type bike.

7.  I’m a picker.  I pick my nails, zits, my kids nails, thier scabs (ewww), my split ends, pick pick pick.

Now, seven people I pick from my blog roll  (choosing those not already on the VV’s list):

http://beehivetales.wordpress.com/ 

http://www.notperfectparenting.blogspot.com/

http://newsfromnola.blogspot.com/

http://driftwood-collector.blogspot.com/

http://backwardslifeliving.blogspot.com/

http://toporbottomoftheworld.blogspot.com/

http://whereismyfreakinmind.wordpress.com/

Ok, maybe not a dell.  But I can tell you, having the first laptop issues I’ve ever had, it sucks.

I bought a used iPod off eBay.  Yeah real dumb.  I know.  Then to add to it, I bought one from a seller with ZERO feed back.  Real dumb.   I should know better.  No, I DO know better.  Back in the day, I used buy and sell Beanie Babies.  Yes even back in the day I was into beans.  My ex worked as a manager for Cracker barrel and would get the new ones in, and I sold them before they were released.  Real sneaky.  People got fingers broke over those things.  I think they were backed by gangs, maybe even terrorists.

(GRRR, my laptop just backed up and deleted all this and now I need to retype it!)

Ok, SIGH, BREATH.

So the iPod didn’t work.  I kept getting error messages on my iTunes and the iPod.  Crap.  So after some good googling, I found a link to a download that won praises from other cool people like me who kept getting the same errors.  Thiers worked.  So after I downloaded it, within a day I lost my wireless drivers.  FREAKIN’ A.  No biggie.  I use the wired method, a bit old school, but it works.  Oh and I have to sit in the kitchen now.  GRR.

A few nights later, I decide that a chat with hp.com support would be cool.  We chatted and Harold gave me some instructions that included deleting what was suppose to be my old wireless drivers, and reinstalling a new one.  No problemo.  Until I reboot.  When I do, I get a message saying I need to download service pack one.  If you have Vista, you know what I’m talking about.  If you don’t know what I’m talking about, here is a hint:  DON’T GET WINDOWS VISTA.  Hence the reason for service packs, it sucks!

So I download the thing, and now I can’t get past an error screen to log into my desktop.  GRRR.  So tonight I call HP and get transferred once.  The man has me turn it off, turn it on, and hit F8 a bunch.  Then turn it off and on and hit F10 a bunch, which takes me to a testing screen of sorts.  I run a test and tell him I have error 1-07.  “Ohhh, THERE’S your problem,” he says.  “What?”  “Your hard-drive crashed.”  No fucking shit.  I didn’t need to hit a button a bunch of time to realize that.  That’s why I called you.  Now, I can do some stuff on my pc, but I don’t know anything about hard-drives and whatever.  I was hoping I could send it off, they easily fix it and send it back.  He said that is very unlikely  and it would be at least $200 for a new hard-drive.  Of course he offered to sell it to me right then and there.  Ugh.

I call Mike, who said he’ll take it to Daniel, who is suppose to be good at computer stuff.  So as of right now, Vista is gone off my pc, I have windows XP, and am trying to find a easy and cheap way to move my pictures and songs off this laptop.  Daniel said he looked and from what others say it will crash again, and he may not be able to save anything.  Hmmm, wonder if he got that information from the same place I downloaded the iPod stuff from.

So dude, get a dell!  Actually, I think we will be looking at an Apple Desktop here soon!

While feeding my children a wonderful meal at the mall, at the glorious Corn Dog Store, who has a menu consisting of corn dogs, hot dogs, chili dogs, nachos, french friends and funnel cakes.  Delicious.  I’ll accept my Mom of the Year award tomorrow, I need to get some clean yoga pants first.

So I hear this LOUD mom, telling her LOUD sassy teenage daughter to shush it after she yelled out to some boys.  So one of the three teenage girls says, “I want a funnel cake.”  Loud Mom says, “NO!  This is DIN-NER!  Not a snack!  You will eat a corndog!”

hehe, I too would’ve rather had a funnel cake over a corn dog.  I will honorably step down and let Loud Mom accept my award.