Life at this time

Well, vacation is officially over. Classes started in earnest today. I am really excited to be back. I will be back at El Camino Hospital, though not on the Oncology floor. I will find out next week where and get my groove on regardless of where I am! Again, I am on the bus (hurrah for WiFi!) It feels weird to think that at the end of this semester I will have completed half of my nursing school courses! It looks like this semester is going to be a lot of work again, but I feel more than up to the task. I have a new computer to keep me up to date and on task. I ended up purchasing a Lenovo (IBM) which is working out fantastically. I didn't get any of my projects completed over winter, but hopefully I can get on them now that I have the computer.

The kids are happy to be back in school. My daughter just completed a project for school where she had to take fifty hypothetical dollars and create a menu for a day (breakfast, lunch, & dinner). She could not go over the $50.00. She had to do a poster with pictures, description of the meals, shopping lists, and all math calculations. It was fabulous! And, of course, her menu choices were healthy! Breakfast was bean & soy cheese omelet with berry salad (blueberry, blackberry, & raspberry), lunch was tofurkey sandwich on whole wheat with lettuce and peas, corn, and orange slices, dinner was tofu vegetable stir fry. What a girl! In addition she had to ask four people what their dream was for the new year and also express what her dream for the year is. Her dream is that all gay/lesbian people be allowed to marry because she says that people are equal and should be able to be with the person they love.

My son, on the other hand, just gets funnier by the day. I introduced him to the Karate Kid movies and he just loves them! He goes around imitating Mr. Miyagi and Daniel! It is so cute. When he tries to do the crane, he stands on one foot and hops!!! He was sad when basketball season ended a few weeks ago, but his team remained undefeated for the season!!! He played defense really well. He seems to have a natural ability for athletics just like his father and most of my family (myself excluded). He wants to start Karate as soon as he turns 6 this summer - they don't accept 5 year olds. Other than that, both kids are swimming four days a week and coming along beautifully. They really enjoy being in the water.

Well, that is about all for now! Hopefully I will have time to update, but I won't bet on it!!!

Holiday Cheer

Well, the day is here at last!

  

The final holiday of the year.  2008 is waning and the dreams for 2009 begin to emerge.  Now is the time when we gather together with family to express in words and deeds our thanks for those we love and who love us.  We can reunite with old companions that we have been separated from. bridges can be spanned, if only for this one day of the year.  I was lucky enough to have that yesterday.  I sat at the table and ate a meal with my brother for the first time in two years.  It was wonderful.  Even though we have nothing in common and we are light-years apart in age and experience, we were able to talk and laugh about mundane things for a few hours.  It was a nice, quiet family dinner.  My dad cooked (which means that the meal was beyond fabulous) and my kids made dessert - homemade gingerbread cookies.  They made the dough all by themselves without help from mom or dad.  And, of course, they were fabulous!  We cut them out in fun holiday shapes and dipped them in sugar before cooking them to nice and crispy in the oven (I, of course, did help with that part!!!).  After dinner we opened presents.  The kids received many fun items from their Grandpa.  

    

Evan got many sports items, including a baseball mitt and a soccer ball.  Lolys got art supplies including a paint by numbers kit and a comprehensive art bag with markers, pencils, and crayons.  They were both very happy.  Jesus received clothes - my dad always knows just what to buy him to make him look smashing!  I got an electric griddle - just what I wanted!  In fact, I had been eyeing the same griddle my dad gave me just two days before and I had said to Jesus that we should try to buy it during the after-Christmas sales.  It is almost eerie that my dad & I think so alike (and it happens all the time!).  I also got Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling, which Lolys, Evan & I nearly finished reading last night.  What a great little book!  It really does give a lot of insight into the final Harry Potter book and I can't wait to read The Deathly Hallows again.  Lolys and I are currently almost finished reading book 6 (The Half Blood Prince) for the third time.  We headed home fairly early from my dad's and the kids headed off to bed in a timely manner.  We had set up our little tree (thank you Tara) and put out some cookies and soymilk for Santa and some shredded carrots for the reindeer.  Jesus and I stayed up playing on the computers and watching a movie.  We set up Santa's gifts for in the morning before heading off to bed!  

Lolys was the first one up in the morning.  most kids would have run straight out to see what presents had been left for them, but not my daughter.  She came to cuddle with her dad & me in bed and wait for everyone to wake up.  Evan had come in during the night, so there we were all crowded together in my full sized bed like canned sardines! About eight we all woke up and headed out to see what Santa had left for us.  Evan received a delux roundhouse for his Thomas the Tank engine train set.  It hooks in with his train tracks and has stalls for the trains and a turntable.  It even has a place for batteries so it can peep-peep as the trains go in & out.  Lolys received more art supplies including a black spiral-bound sketchbook, a wooden easel with a drawer containing six graphite pencils, a charcoal pencil, and three erasers.  In addition she got a book of how to sketch cats and an origami set.  They both received books from mom & dad and one week at YMCA winter camp.  Finally, they received presents from their Uncle Randy, Aunt Vickie and their family (Uncle Owen, Uncle Joel, Aunt Tay, Uncle Bryan, & Aunt Megan).

                                          

Their favorite was the Snow-to-go - just add water and you get a powdery "snow" that doesn't melt!!!  We cooked breakfast (french toast) on the new griddle and watched The Polar Express.  I am currently gearing up to make tamales.  I will leave now with this happy thought . . . Happy Holidays to all those I love, whether you are near or far.  Please know that I am thinking about you and I wish you all the best in the year to come. 

P. S. Here are pictures of my kids with Santa:

                                                  

And here is a picture of me with my true love and the wedding ring he (finally) gave me:

(it only took ten years to get one!!!)

Recent Adventures

Well, November has been an exciting month for us. A few weeks ago my kids & I were lucky enough to visit my grandparents at their home in Sacramento. My aunt was also there and we were able to take some very nice walks down by the river and around the neighborhood. The kids enjoyed playing with my aunt's dog Rosie. We were able to stay for a few days and can't wait for school to be over so we can go back to visit again.

In addition, my family is setting out on a new odyssey - to purchase of our very first house! The picture below is us house-hunting! Finally there is a chance for us to do it, so we are jumping on the bandwagon. (Updates will be forthcoming.)

Thanksgiving was awesome. I spent all day cooking, which was excellent. I really love cooking, which is always amazing to me. The kids helped too. Lolys made cranberry orange sauce and stuffing. Evan made the mashed potatoes. They did a really great job too! It is always great to include them in the experience. They are really great cooks! My sister-in-law and her kids came over and my dad stopped by too! We chatted, watched the movie "Journey to the Center of the Earth" (an incredibly silly, but entertaining flick), and ate more than we should have! Dessert was the best part - apple & pumpkin pie and decaf coffee. We have so much food left over, I wish we could have Thanksgiving all over again just to finish some of it off!

I really love Thanksgiving for three reasons - 1. the main focus is food, 2. it is about celebrating how awesome being here today is, and 3. it is an entirely American and secular holiday! I was even happier (and thankful) for myself today after a knock on my door revealed my next door neighbor peddling her Jehovas Witness books. It has been about 2 years since the last time she gave one of these rediculous pamphlets to me. The front cover is bright red and asks the question "is the devil a real person". Luckily, I was able to excuse myself without being rude or laughing because I really did not want to hurt her feelings. I used to have a sign up in my front window that stated that we accept no soliciting (religious or otherwise), but the paper had gotten wet and the ink had run. I suppose I will have to reprint it and get it laminated so I can post it again.

At any rate, I am off to do something useful and finish writing my paper about kidney disease. With only about three weeks left in the semester, the crunch is on for me. I am glad to have a break from school and homework, I am sad that my semester in clinical is over. I am so grateful to have been working on the Oncology floor this semester. Each patient I have cared for has inspired and healed me and I can only hope that I have done the same for them.

Until next time!