Joy and sadness

My sweet grandmother passed early this morning around 3 am with her family at her side. She had made a turn for the worse on Sunday, and we knew we didn't have much time left with her. My sister and I went to AL on Monday and were so blessed to spend one of her "good" days with her. She was lucid, though medicated, and we were able to tell her how much we loved her. (As though she didn't know!) She worsened drastically on Thurs., and we had planned on going back anyway. She was still somewhat alert and talking at times, but we knew she was much weaker. On Friday, we all knew that it wouldn't be much longer before our Lord took her home. For 12 hours she hung on to those last few moments with us. When she passed, she had her husband of 66 years, her daughter, her son, her daughter-in-law, me and my sister, her caregiver Penny (who was sent from God to us), and the most wonderful hospice nurse, Claudia. That woman is an absolute saint and was so selfless with her time, words, hugs, and reassurance through this entire period. We are so grateful that our grandmother was in such good hands. Although I still cannot control my emotions at times, I am so happy that she is now free from her physical ailments. If you knew her situation, then you would understand how this can be a moment of sadness and still be joyful at the same time. Before her health started to fail, she was such a lively and active woman. She kept her quick wit and sense of humor until the end. Now I take comfort in knowing that she has been reunited with her parents and siblings again. She can walk again, eat again, and use those hands free from her horrible arthritis. I thank God for those precious moments that I had this week with her when it was just the two of us, and I was holding her hand. She will be greatly missed, and I look forward to seeing her again soon.

On another incredibly sad note, my sister's sweet English bulldog, Lola, was hit by a car early this afternoon and killed. We came back to Memphis early this morning to be with our spouses and to return with them tomorrow. Jenn's friend's husband came upon Lola after she was hit and was so sweet to take her back to their house before telling Jenn and Steve about her. They are completely devastated, as are we all. She was quite a dog and was always so happy to see you. She was my sister and Steve's first "baby" before they even married and had children. They are having a tough time figuring out how to tell my 3 year old nephew about grandmother and Lola. I can only pray that Carter will be okay with all of this and not be too confused.

God has been so good to our family and gave us almost 83 years of the woman who inspired me to follow in her footsteps and become a nurse. I can only hope that I can be a fraction of the wonderful woman that she was.

My sneaky dog

Ruby is one smart puppy. Yesterday, I went to clinicals at St. Jude, so my dog walker came by around noon to walk Ruby. I got home a little after 3, let her out to potty, played with her a few minutes, changed clothes, and went to the gym. I've been putting her in the kitchen with 2 baby gates up because she limps a lot (from her knee surgery) when I leave her in the crate for several hours. She's gotten out of the gates a few times, but we've rigged it with the garbage can in front of one and a rather heavy toolbox in front of the other, so she can't get out (or so I thought). I was gone for 45 minutes tops and came in to Ruby lying down in Jason's office. Around her were several little plastic wrappers and a few other miscellaneous paper products. Apparently, she had freaked out when I left her and pushed against the tool box until she had moved the gate. She then proceeded to go through my lunchbox and get out 3 packages of melba toasts (2 crackers in each). She honestly ate the crackers and left the wrapping on the floor as though she had merely opened them up. She was working on opening up a Nutri Grain bar when I caught her. I was laughing so hard at the thought of her NOT eating the wrapper along with the crackers that I couldn't really get on to her. She's so silly! I wish I could've gotten pictures of her little mess, but the camera was in the car. I'll have to keep it on me at all times to document her shenanigans.

I've been tagged...

My sis-in-law, Sara, had tagged me to tell some random things about myself. Please don't think I'm a complete weirdo....

1. I REALLY like even numbers of things. I'm not as bad as I used to be, but I used to only eat things in pairs, like 2 chips, 2 cookies, or even numbers of them. Now, I don't pay attention as much. OCD, I know.
2. I cannot stand to have a dirty/messy workplace. Before I can start my day, I have to wipe down every counter, keyboard, phone, or doorknob with disinfecting wipes. I mean, I work in a hospital, so there are germs everywhere. My house is a different story. That's why we're having a maid come on Monday.
3. I get freaked out by butterflies. I like to look at them from afar, but I cannot stand for them (or anything) to flutter around me.
4. I strangely look at the clock every single day at the exact time of 10:23. (My birthday is 10/23). Jason thinks I'm a freak because I always point it out to him. I don't intend to look for it, I just do it.
5. I LOVE musicals.....just can't find anyone to go to one with me. Any takers?? Wicked is coming to the Orpheum next year!!
6. I wanted to be an actress or singer when I was a little girl. I always was (and still am) a bit dramatic sometimes, and I wanted to be in a movie like Dirty Dancing (I used to know the dance by heart and would dance along to the end of the movie). Oh, and I would watch Elvis movies over and over again and sing along as well.

I honestly don't know many bloggers, and I don't know who reads this, so I tag anyone who wants to participate.

Starting the semester early

Tomorrow marks the beginning of possibly the last semester of school that I will ever have. Classes don't officially start until Sept. 11, but we can work on clinicals early. So, instead of enjoying my 3 weeks off, I'm planning on doing at least 70-80 of my 240 hours before I step foot in the classroom. I'm heading downtown at 6:30 (tentatively) in the morning to spend some time in the ICU at St. Jude to see what it's like. I've never worked in an ICU, so I don't know how comfortable I'll be. I can only hope that my preceptor will be very patient, as I am a bit nervous and do not have a lot of firsthand experience with pediatric oncology. I'm doing 80 hours total in the ICU and will be doing the rest at Lebonheur, which is where I truly hope to end up working after graduation. Anything would be better working in a clinic/ER where today I seriously had a not-too-bright 15 year old girl who basically came for a pregnancy test and had been pregnant once before. Obviously, she didn't learn her lesson the first time. I just wanted to tell her to go to Dollar Tree and pick up a home pregnancy test in the check-out line. (Thank GOD she wasn't pregnant!). Anyway, I just get really sick of dealing with non-emergent stuff and am really excited about what all I'll be seeing and experiencing at a true pediatric facility. Wish me luck!!

While you were out....

Jason's been in Minneapolis since Thursday for a work weekend of meetings and golf. It really sucked that he had to be at the airport that morning for a 7:00 flight, which meant he woke me up at 4:40 so that I could take him. Poor thing ended up not leaving Memphis until 11 or so because his plane had some malfunctioning computer, and everyone on the plane had to be dispersed to other flights. Needless to say, he was not a happy camper. Nor was I because I had to get up so early the morning of my final for summer semester, and I was worn out all day. I have of course missed him, but I've also been keeping myself a little busy. Becky, Tim, and I went out to eat last night, and then Tim made the mistake of challenging a game of the movies version of Scene It. The 3 of us are incredibly competitive, so I knew it would be a battle to the end. I am quite proud to say that I won, even though I was pretty much falling asleep in between turns by the end of the night. It was lots of fun.
Today, I went to the mall, a children's clothing store, and Target with my sister and her 2 toddlers. For those of you who haven't experienced shopping with small children, I highly recommend it before deciding to have one of your own. I kid, I kid. They actually did pretty well considering it was nap time, and we were dragging them all over Memphis. To be honest, those 2 kids really are pretty well-behaved most of the time.
I had every intention of having the house spotless by the time hubby got home tomorrow, but the chances of that happening are growing more dismal by the minute. I think I'll take a nap with Ruby and then see what I can get myself to do. I feel kind of like a lazy-butt since I don't have to study or focus on school at all right now, so I figure I'll eventually guilt myself into attempting to be a good semi-housewife. I don't have to pick him up until 3 or so tomorrow, so I have plenty of time to get a little work done around here. Hopefully tomorrow's travel will be uneventful for him, or I know I won't hear the end of it.

Becky's birthday bash

Last Friday night we celebrated Becky's 27th birthday with dinner at Sakura (yum!), drinks and darts at Brookhaven, and ended the night with an impressive rendition of "If I Could Turn Back Time" at the Windjammer. We had a great time and were so excited to be able to celebrate with her. Here are a few photos from the evening.
I was really concentrating. Note Tim and Jason in the background trying to plan a course of action to beat me.
Me and the birthday girl!
Becky and Tim
Doing our best impersonation of Cher....we brought down the house.

New to the blogging world.....

I've decided to join in on the blogging craze. I do not guarantee an interesting read every time, but I'll do my best to entertain. More to come.....