Have you Hugged your Nurse or Showed Appreciation

Did you celebrate Nurse Appreciation Week back in May? Well I had started this post to honor some of the nurses in our family that I know about. Now I know there are some on David's side of the family but I don't have pictures of them and I can't share what they do because I just don't know. Bad me. But I can and wanted to share some from my side of the family. 
Without Nurses the Doctors would have to do all the heavy, messy work and be the meanies giving the shots and poking fingers for blood. LOL.   

A BIG

TO all  NURSES in my family, friends and readers for being there to hold our hands, help calm us, to encourage us, to comfort and calm our families and for just for being there and doing everything you do. 

My daughter the Nurse reminded me of Nurses Week by telling me.. "You have to be nice to me". Okay so her Dad and I were nice and sent her a small edible bouquet of fruit. The little stinker. Of course it was delivered to her mid-afternoon when she was trying to sleep since she worked the night shift. Oops. Pamela works in postpartum, floats to the nursery and labor/delivery as needed. I'm gonna be in trouble for this silly picture but she doesn't always read my blogs anyway so she'll never know right? Shhhh


I'll also share this picture of her and her friend Spenser who have official started their new job at the Scott & White Hospital that's opening in August 2013 in College Station. Yes another silly picture and again I'll be in trouble if she ever reads my blog. Anyway the girls got to go on a tour of the hospital while it is under construction. They're both really excited their new job and the hospital. One of the perks....they'll be working the day shift. They will no longer have to live like Vampires, you know sleep during the day and be active after dark. LOL.
Right now they're doing orientation, going to classes and prepping for the opening. They'll be stocking the units and help with setting policy. Spenser works in the Nursery. Both of them get to go to Temple later this month and work for a couple of days to learn mother and baby care instead of just mother and just baby.  Pamela has stayed on at College Station Med as a PRN where she works as needed at least 1-2 shifts a month. 
She started back to school at Texas A&M Nursing school to get her RN to BSN. Already has her first report due and lots of homework. She is going to be a busy girl for the next year.

Then there's my little sister Jerri Lynn who  works as a Nurse in Labor/Delivery, Postpartum and the Nursery. I think she goes where ever she's needed. She's up in northern Missouri. I know she has some other credentials but I'm not sure of all of them so I won't even  try to tell you. And yes this is the mother of the groom from back in May. She went back to school while raising 4 kids to get her nursing degree. Well she started with 3 and ended with 4. ;o)  She too is now in school like Pamela doing the RN to BSN courses. 
I'm Proud of all her and Pamela's accomplishments and determination.
Then there is my niece Shelby B. also in Missouri who was just accepted to the University of Missouri St Louis College of Nursing. She currently works as a CNA. She just got back from China as part of a special program for 3 weeks. She was nominated for the Internationals Scholars Laureate Program nursing internship and was selected by the honor society Phi Theta Kappa for her academic achievements. Of course she had to raise funds to be able to afford to go and she did. She's one determined little gal. Not to mention full of energy and excitement. In her own words about China trip..
 "What we will be basically doing over there is learning more about nursing from a different perspective (i.e. Chinese nursing). We will also get to experience a lot of their cultures by touring places such as the Great Wall, 2008 Summer Olympics Birds Nest Stadium, The Forbidden City, and all while learning about Chinese healthcare and medicine"  

As of May 18th we added another nurse to the family. My nephew's new wife Melissa who recently graduated from University of Missouri Nursing School with her BSN. She got her dream job and works as a nurse in the pediatric intensive care unit in Kansas City. She's smart and pretty.



Wow Nurses everywhere.

Couldn't be prouder of all these girls dedication, accomplishments and determination.

So this ends my praising blog post of nurses and their dedication. Well okay this blog was primarily talking about all the nurses in my life but I know there are other Nurses out there and we all know at least one that deserves a Thank you.

So until next blog.....

Carla

FUN FOTO FRIDAY 3

I thought these wind chimes 
hanging at Harris County BBQ kinda cool. I want the windmill.






Smile! 
Imagine me with a camera.


Some of my favorite pictures from my Nephew's wedding. 

The Bride and her Bridesmaids at Macy's after getting their make up done.

A tender moment between my Niece and her Dad

The Newlyweds
May they always be as happy tomorrow as they were this day!
Welcome to the family Melissa!


This one is a blast from my past. 

My cousin Gayle shared this picture on facebook of our Grandfather (Phafe) letting her take a puff on his cigarette. 

I want this sign for our porch.

I guess crime is so bad that even the Kebbler Elves need an alarm on their tree or else there are some high tech squirrels living in there. ;o)

Until next blog...

Carla

Oh Me OOOH My

So I went to a retirement celebration last night after work at a local restaurant down the street called Del Pueblo. I sat with a fellow co-worker Ashley who looked all cute and decent.

Silly girl got to go home and change and then worried if she looked decent. We both decided we wanted a margarita and ordered a large. Whew! It was a large! I mean we were celebrating the retirement of our district technology superintendent and his secretary. We were expecting  one of our other co-workers to join us...(clearing of throat) Samara, but I guess she had a good excuse of no babysitter for not showing so we'll let her off the hook this time. I don't know though she might have been worried about hanging with me and Ashley seeing that we're so wild and crazy. Shirley who had retired in December sat down with us and our little group grew. We were laughing and talking when some one asked the Retiree Vicki how many margaritas she had to which she replied one. Uhh no you had two and she informed us that the second one was sitting over at the other table probably all melted and claimed they were pretty strong so I called her a wimp.  Oh and let me throw in here that our conversation had gotten very adult. We were talking about a certain series of books most all of us had read. Make's me think of the song lyric "It's getting hot in here". We laughed even harder when the retiring super came by and he asked if this was a woman's discussion and kept walking when we said oh yeah.  Anyway I do owe Vicki an apology sorta. Here's where the Oh Me OOOH My comes in. One of the district contractors had bought Shirley a margarita and them he bought Ashley and I a small margarita. Oh wow then it hit me and Ashley that that small margarita seemed to never ended. We did just finish the Large margarita. LOL. We had to sit and eat some chips for a while before we could even think of leaving. Okay Okay I admit it I'm a wimp too. I've noticed that it doesn't take much when I'm drinking margarita's to give me a buzz. Maybe I should stick to Corona. When we both felt okay we said our goodbye's and walked to our cars and promised to let each other know when we got home. We made it just fine. 
Back to the past. 
Now to catch you up on all the other latest. Pamela had come home the weekend before Mother's Day to celebrate which I told you about last time. So for Mother's day David and I met up with my parents at Harris County BBQ in Tomball for breakfast. If you've never tried their breakfast you should. Very tasty. David snapped this picture of Mom and I. 
The weekend was just too short
After working a mere 3 days it was time to head out for a quick trip. Which meant Mr. K had to take off work. Yay! 
Right after work Wednesday I went to the doctor all happy because the blood pressure had been running 124/76, yep that's good and I'd lost some weight but not much. Well my happiness was not so happy when they took my blood pressure of 154/82 but I actually lost 10 pounds more than what I had thought so I was able to keep my smile. Since the BP was down from what it had been doctor was happy but not happy enough so he added another pill to my collection. I'm gonna need a suit case if he keeps adding pills and shots(no not insulin). All this medication is still making me feel sorta funky but I hope it wears off.
Thursday (17th)morning we dropped off little Dexter at the kennel, and headed to Bryan to pick up Pamela and drive as far as Little Rock, AR. One of our favorite hotels is the Hampton so I booked the Hampton on the edge of downtown. So far we haven't had a bad room or experience and we weren't disappointed this time either. For dinner we walked about 3-4 blocks and grabbed some Chicago style pizza at a place I think called Giannini's or something like that. I was only able to eat one piece but boy was it good.  Pamela and David ate my share. I wonder if we can find pizza like this in Houston area
Friday morning we headed to Jackson, MO for our nephew Jeremiah's wedding. This will be the first time Everyone will be together in I don't know how long. It was so much fun and it was so good to see the Missouri family.

This is my sister Barb and my Dad. She decided it was more comfy to plop down in Dad's chair/lap than draggin up another chair. He didn't seem to mind really.
Do notice the sign just to the left of my Dad's elbow.. You can see the Qu and all the zzzzz's. Well it said "Quiet ZZZZone begins at 10pm. It was about 9:40pm when we got back from the rehearsal dinner. The lady at the front desk was not happy with us but we weren't being loud and we stretched out the family reunion till about 10:40pm before she made a comment to us. You wanna talk about loud you should have heard the lady chasing her 4 kids for most of our stay. Now she was yelling. 

 First I'll share a picture of my Dad and me. 

 








The new Mr and Mrs Kasinger! I had to share the picture to the right. They both got so tickled when Melissa started to repeat the vows, stopped, turned to the preacher and said "What did you say?"

Melissa my new niece had the most unique and awesome idea for a guest book. Every guest put a finger print on the tree and signed it.

 Here's my sisters and me.
Nancy, Barb, Jerri Lynn (it's all about her since she's the mother of the groom) and me. 

 David got our dad in the picture.  I think he's enjoying all the attention what do you think.

Hey where's Carolyn? She needs to be in here.
Okay now the family photo is complete.  
We are Family. 
Thanks for taking the picture David.

Do you know how hard it is to get this many people in a picture and it turn out. Okay so maybe it was almost 11pm and everyone was tired and giddy. If you'd like to see all the pictures from rehearsal through the wedding click HERE.

Sunday morning it was time to go our separate ways. Sob sob. The newlyweds actually stayed in our hotel and we were able to see them off. Too cute. I always get so teary eyed when I have to say good-bye to everyone. I'm choked up now just thinking about that day. They're all coming to Texas next time. 

So David, I and Pamela hope in the car and head off to Memphis, TN and for and Elvis sighting. Okay maybe not Elvis but maybe stop and tour Graceland.

 We took in as many sights as we could while we were there. Like Sun Studios where all the great legends began. We even got David to pose behind the microphone that Elvis used and many other greats when recording.

We went to Gibson's guitar manufacturer but we didn't make it to the Peabody Hotel to see the Ducks want the red carpet every morning and evening. That would have been a sight so maybe next time. We also hit Beale Street for dinner and live music. Even on Monday night the streets were packed and so was the bar we had stopped at to have a beer and listen to some jazz music.  For more pictures you can click here. It was fun and relaxing.

For the last leg of our trip we headed to Bossier City, LA 

Got up Tuesday and headed out to gamble for the night. On the recommendation of our friends the Harper's we stayed at the

Horseshoe Casino and Hotel. Very nice place. So we each went in with our small stake to gamble with high hopes of winning big. Okay stop laughing but I did win $256 on the penny machine the first hour on a $10 stake. Not a bad profit. That's where my luck ended. By the time the night was over I had lost that and my stake at Black Jack but I did play for almost 2 hours. David came back with most of what he started with. Pamela was able to give us back the money we gave her to play with and come home with her winnings.  It was enough to pay for Sophie's stay at the kennel and dinner that night when we got back to Bryan on Wednesday. 

We got back home in time to pick up Dexter who was quite happy be home on his end of the couch with his family.  

We try to squeeze in as much fun as we can when we take off like this. David and I took the rest of the week off. Quality time. Yes the man actually took off from work but has gone back to the long days since.

I've rambled on enough for now so I'll sign off and leave something for my next post.

Until the next post...... I laugh, I love, I hope, I try, I hurt, I need, I fear, I cry. And I know you do the same things too. So we're really not that different me and you. ~ Colin Raye

Carla

Crazy Just Plain Crazy

 HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY !! 

Okay so in Texas you might hear someone say Mother Nature is Bipolar. I mean if you don’t like the weather just wait 15 minutes and it will change. It can be like shining bright one minute and like this in the next 15 minutes.  

Or be with my Niece and nephew a week ago Friday. Unbelievable! Snow in May in Missouri.
This is my tiny dancer hamming it up in the snow. Josiah isn't falling for it though. It's cold.
Every thing you need for a day on the lake.... LOL







Aren't the tulips beautiful against the snow?
On Wednesday night after we had gone to bed I was woke up by a noise. Kinda like a tapping or the dropping of a book. I laid there trying to decide what I was hearing then I decided it was the dishwasher when I realized it should have been off by now. 
So I finally get up to go check it out when I notice a glow around the dishwasher door. hmm I didn't realize that there was a bright light on the........OH SHIT........ excuse the french but at this point flames are shooting out of the dishwasher. With that exclamation David came running in behind me to the kitchen and asks how I knew it was on fire. 
"Easy the flames that came shooting out of the top dear." David turned off the power and preceded to open the dishwasher door which released all the black and gray smoke into the room. Mass quantities of it.



It filled the room within minutes and then the fire alarm went off. It was the control panel. That was fun. NOT!

Would you look at what my daughter painted. She went to this place called Painting with a Twist with some friends. She had drink wine and painted. She said it was lots of fun and she came home with a master piece.

She came in last weekend to celebrate Mother's Day since she had to work today. 

Recently I hosted the book club in my home and was lucky enough to have the author of my book choice join us. Meet Will Graham aka William Simon and his Wife Donna. It was a great afternoon and Will survived all our questions and comments we threw at him.  

To read more about the afternoon and my book choice Street Heat click here





Remember in my last post about the barn swallows and how mad they were when David removed the beginnings of their nest on the speaker on our patio.

Isn't she 
a pretty little thing. 
Oh how she chirps, tweets and dives low and close to us. She was really ticked off at David. Sooooo within 3 days she and some of her closest friends built a new nest on top of the speaker. She must have been celebrating Mother's Day yesterday because there was 6 of them swooping around.

I have my hummingbird feeder up and I've spotted one hummingbird but what the heck?.... That's no hummingbird. There's a new bird in the neighborhood. I haven't looked it up yet. It's not small like a finch but maybe it is the red headed house finch. Hmmm Anyone out there know what it? 

I'm always talking about my dog and Pamela's dog but this one is my mom's. Her name is Lola and she had quite the attitude but she's a cutie.
They came down and visited with me yesterday while I waited for the new dishwasher to be delivered. 


Today we went to Harris County BBQ for breakfast with my Mom and Joe. So very yummy. Thanks for breakfast Joe. Pamela had been trying to call me and finally called  her Dad's phone to wish me a Happy Mother's Day. Well it was at that point I realized my phone wasn't working. It was frozen in time. So I spent 30 minutes at Verizon and an hour and a half at the Apple Store. The software update this morning that was suppose to get me better connections froze my phone and they couldn't restore it... GRRRR
End result I got a new phone. To end my day I went and had a mani and a pedi.  
Then when I got home David grilled steaks (you did good) and I made a salad. Yum Yum.

Thelma my mother-in-law. Think of you often and miss you terribly. 





Now it's off to bed. Oh Man it's gonna be a Monday in the Morning.

Hope everyone had an Awesome Mother's Day!

Until Next Blog..... God could not be everywhere, so he created mothers. Jewish Proverb

Carla