I might be prejudiced

I might be prejudiced...but I think that Lilly is one cute baby!And her parents aren't bad either :)

she's well!

I've never bought a dog in my whole life...I believe in rescuing and love mutt dogs more than pure breds...and I don't quite understand people who spend a ton of money on their pets...so the one time that I purchase a dog...it gets sick with Parvo virus!!

Little Sydney spent last week in the hospital. It was both frustrating and scary. Frustrating for I didn't really want to spend my tax return on vet bills and scary for we had already fallen in love with our puppy. When I came home from work and found her so lethargic, I just knew it was bad. We rushed her to the emergency vet where they admitted her and gave her IV fluids and lots of medications. They only gave her a 50% chance of making it...I even had to sign a "no code" sheet on her...but after a week in the hospital she pulled through and was able to come home.

She is getting back to her normal puppy goofiness and is eating well and starting to put back on some of the weight that she lost. One more week and she will be off home confinement and be able to go on walks and out to the Lazy Dog Cafe. We are so happy to have her around.

But - never again will I ever purchase a dog!! Lucky for us the pet store reimbursed us - so now we think of Sydney as a rescued puppy!

20 Years

20 Years at the same place of employment...When I say 20 years it seems so long - like it is a life time yet having lived through it - it just seems like it was a short time ago that I started working at St. Joseph Hospital. Who would have ever thought that I would still be there 20 years later.

20 years is enough time for

technology to rapidly change - who had cell phones/email / ipods 20 years ago??

babies to be born and grow up

grandchildren to be born

my own children to get through high school

marriages,divorces,death

parents to age

my own body to age - UGH!

I could go on and on but you get my drift. I guess you could say that I don't like change. But I definitely do not feel stagnant. I still like my job and find challenges in it. Plus I have the been able to make the best friends ever working there - from co-workers to patients that I have taken care of. And what an awesome thing to see a baby born then be able to watch it grow up. I've run in to kids at track meets whom I have delivered and that is sort of cool :)

So- St Joseph honors it's employees every year with a really nice banquet. This year's was at the DoubleTree Hotel in Orange and it was quite a night. The longest employee honored this year has been at St Joes for 45 years! Below are a few pics from the night:

A group of L&D employees

Caroline Price and I - we've both been at SJH 20 years

Katy Firmes - our secretary - 40 years with SJH!!

Laura Derr and I - we went to nursing school together years ago

Me receiving my award from the big man on campus - Larry Ainsworth

Crazy times

What a crazy weekend. First of all I had to work all weekend and Sunday was quite busy with 10 deliveries. I guess I need to put aside my pre-concieved notions that Sunday's are nice to work. It is just another day!

Friday night I had my 20 year anniversary dinner with St. Joseph - I'll write more about this as soon as I have photos to blog.

Then our little puppy ended up with Parvo virus and is quite ill. She spent the weekend at the emergency vet hospital and today was trandferred to our own vet where she remains on IV fluids and IV medications. We are hoping she pulls thru - poor little girl. Michelle is so sad and I just can't believe that I am having to spend the kind of money they charge for dog care. But we already fell in love with her so are doing what needs to be done for now. We also had to bleach every piece of linen in the house, bleach the back patio and garage,clean her little house,bleach all of the floors that we could and I brought home some industrial strength antibacteria wipes from the hospital to clean the carpets and sofas. It has been a ton of work! My house has never been this clean.

On a good note - Erika ran her first steeple chase race. I really wanted to watch but I wasn't able to go. She is running again this weekend in Irvine so I am hoping to get there. She made the Biola news - check it out

It's track season

Yeah...it is time for fun in the sun watching kids run! Nothing like sitting in the stands cheering for your children while you talk with friends,eat snacks, whoop and holler and just enjoy a day out. Plus my hair gets blonder from the sun exposure :)
Michelle is running the 4x100 (so far they've won all of their races)She is on the varsity squad for El Modena and she also runs the 100m, and 200m.

Sprint fast Michelle!

Look who snuck in to the stands....

On a side note - Erika is also running outdoor track now for Biola. They just returned from indoor nationals in Tennessee and their next meet is Friday in L.A. where Erika will be running the steeple chase - how fun is that!! Hopefully we can get some good pictures of her.

I've been tagged

Thanks to fellow blogger Shannon Lott - I've been tagged. The rules are pretty simple - just answer a few question and then tag 5 other bloggers. It is sort of fun to read the answers.

What was I doing 10 years ago?
I was busy trying to raise 3 kids by myself and I was working the night shift (7p-7a). I'd get off work - get the kids to school and then sleep for about 5 hours. Oh , do I remember the hung-over feeling of no sleep!

Things on my to do list:
Today and tomorrow - make chicken soup for my sick friend Giselle, fix Erika's FASFA, finish Michelle's college stuff and register her for a test at CSULB. Tomorrow -play with Lilly!
This week - work and clean my house! UGH!
This year - that's a tough one since I hate planning and having things fall through.
Sometime in my life - go back to school and see the world. Do medical missions.

Bad habits:
Do I have bad habits???
I'm a little too anal about paperwork. I don't know how to say no very well and sometimes that gets me in to trouble.
I am a horrible housekeeper.

Places I have lived:
Yuma, Arizona
Santa Ana, Ca.
Moreno Valley, Ca.
Mission Viejo, Ca.
Tustin, Ca.
Orange, CA
and summers were spent in Bluffton, Ohio

Things most people don't know about me:
I always wanted to live on a farm (since the summers in Ohio).
I was bitten twice by the same hunting dog - scars to prove it...I don't think he liked me!
I am the second of 4 kids.
I love to take naps.
I was a single mom for over 10 years.
I am a grand-ma (there I said it!)
And like Shannon - I can talk about poop and other body functions without hesitation, often even over dinner. Us nurses are weird that way.

5 other people to tag:
triplecord photography
Alice Holbrook
Bethany Plumb
Jennalyn
His Creations blog

New family member

We have another addition to our household...her name is Sydney! She is part lab, part german shepard and part husky - a full breed mutt. I can't believe that I caved and let Michelle get a new puppy. But I did, and now we are dealing with all of that new puppy stuff. Actually - she is pretty cute :)

What kind of job is this??

I haven't been able to blog much about work lately...we have had a rough couple of weeks and things are just now starting to settle back down...
I know intellectually that childbirth is not a 100% risk free event...yet to be faced with the things that we have had to face lately has really tried our emotional beings.

It started with the code...I was in charge and there is just something about going in to a room and seeing a mom having chest compressions done to her...my first initial reaction was..."this is just wrong! Women shouldn't die in childbirth" but I had to put that aside to help perform the tasks at hand. There was so much to be done as we struggled to save a life.

Sometimes I don't understand why God chooses to do what He does. There are times that I go home questioning what I am doing and why I work where I do. All I really could do when I did get home was to tell my kids that I love them.

What I do know for sure is:
-that I work with the most incredible people - not just the nurses but the OB's and the anesthesiologist too. People who really care about others and who are able to jump in during an emergency and get the job done.
-that if I am ever critical I know where I want to be and who I want to be taking care of me.
-that the doctors that work down in IR (interventional radiology) are some of the smartest brainiacs that I know and do amazing things on a computer screen while really doing it to a human.
-that the human body is an amazing piece of work, able to suffer great trauma and heal and go on.
-that St Joseph's is so good about taking care of it's staff - scheduling debriefings and meetings to make sure that we are OK
-that I am not alone. That the other nurses that I work with understand and walk the same path, that we are able to hug and say I love you to each other and are able to cry together as well as laugh in the fun times. They are incredible people as well as nurses.
-that I can't be too careful...I need to be on my toes and really able to assess a situation, that I can't get complacent and think this is a no-brainer.
-that it is OK to take a day or two off, reassess then be ready to get back to work...that it isn't all bad and more often than not L&D is a happy place to work.
-that I am sooo thankful that Kim and Lilly made it through childbirth healthy!

To know that my job is not like many others - but it is a calling and a priveledge to be there for others. To be there for someone in their time of need as well as in their times of joy - who else in other jobs can say that!?!?