17 Day Diet

So sad to say, that since I have started my job, I have gained alot of the weight I shed last year back. Due to lack of exercise, more stress, and an increase in my beer consumption. I am embarrased to get into a swim suit this year and most of the jeans that were falling off me last year fit snugly again. Needless to say, I want to shed this weight again and shed it quickly.

A couple months ago we were visiting our friend Lenae and Jordan in Kentucky and they were telling us about this new diet they have been on called "The 17 Day Diet." Jordan was explaining the Phases to this diet and we were mildly interest until he stated that the first phase in no carbs therefor no beer! Peter and I both quickly brushed the diet off at that point.

This past weekend we went back to Kentucky to visit and I was amazed at how much weight Lenae has lost and how great she looked. (Not that she does not always look great! But the weight loss was very noticeable.)

So we started talking about this 17 Day Diet again. It's very challenging for the first 17 days. It a very low calorie diet with a very strict list of what you can eat. And like I said, no carbs.
We has already said that we were going to do "No Beer til Birthday." Meaning, Peter and I were going to cut out beer until his birthday on July 5th.

We decided why not go ahead and give this thing a shot. We both want to drop several pounds and be back in bathing suit shape before the bathing suit season is over.
So, we found the app on our Iphones and made out our first weeks worth of meals.
We decided to start on Tuesday so we can go grocery shopping tomorrow.

I plan on getting my self through this first phase of starvation practically by blogging our success.
Sorry to Sarah and Zoe who are temporaily moving in with us on Wednesday, but our lunch and dinner menus are going to be scarce, so you guys are on your own!

Here goes nothing!! Pictures and updated start on Tuesday!
Wish us luck!! 

6 months as a new nurse

I am coming up on my six months as being a new nurse on a med surg floor in a busy hospital. Most days I go into my 13+ hour shift with a knot in my stomach. I have moved past the throwing up once I get there phase and now just have the knot in the pit of my stomach. In this short time, I have gone from night shift to day shift and am much happier as a day shifter. While I have not been doing as much crafts as before, I am happy to be awake when the rest of the world is awake.
I learn something new every time I work a shift. Rather it be something I did not know about the floor, a procedure, or something about myself. I am still nervous when it comes to talking to doctors, but I am getting better. I was able to confront one when he questioned if I had done something on a previous shift and I knew it was done. I was able to show him where I had charted it and the results.
I have a good relationship with my coworker. More so on days than I did on nights. Plus I have a really good manager who is always there to lend her hand.
I am better at charting than I was when I first started. But still get behind at times. It is a lot to keep up with and make sure you are giving the best care. I cry at  least one of my three shifts.
But I know I am at least good at "customer service:" I do get positive comments from my patients and I got one card from one of my patient's wife that made me feel like all this was worthwhile. I even framed it and put it on the wall of awesome.
Sometimes I feel like I want to quit and run screaming from the place. Other times I am happy to have been the one there for my patients.
I don't know if this floor is where I want to be for the entirety of my career, but I am thankful for the experience I am gaining. We get all different kinds of patients on this floor. And to this day, I know I have started three successful IV's and one successful female catheter.
One patient has died on me. She was a DNR and died in the night.
I do my best to get my things done and to take care of my patients. I do have more confidence than I did when I started. And I am able to stand up for myself and my patients.
As stressful as nursing is, I can't imagine choosing anything else as my career choice.

Other New items

Black and green beaded bracelet $5

Blue Corkboard $10

Decorative board to be customized for you $5

Football Time! Crafts for the Vol Fan

Show your Volunteer Pride! $12

Or if you are not a Vol fan, I suppose I can do your team colors too! :o)

$6

Orange and white bracelet

Orange and White Bracelet #2

$6

Orange and White Bracelet #3

$6

Crafts

Project #9

Vase and Flowers $8 plus shipping

 Project #10

Pink hope dangle bracelets $3 plus shipping

Project #11

Purple Cork board $10 plus shipping

Project #12

Purple charm dangle bracelets $4 plus shipping

New Supplies

I bought some new supplies today for some other craft ideas I have. I bought some wood to make some more signs and some cork board and fabric for a couple of things I have found. The cork board, I realized tonight once I opened it and started playing with it needs to be reinforced. So I will have to figure out what to use for that before I cover it with the fabric. Tonight I worked on a couple items for a friend's up coming birthday.
I have not posted pictures of the new items, as I need a model for some of the bracelets. And I can't do it my self seeing as Peter is asleep and I am too short to take the pictures on my own arm. So next week I will get the pictures up on the new items. In the mean time, look through the blog to see the current items I have for sale.
I am connect to Paypal.


On another note, after I left the room last night and turned out the light, Miracle started banging at the door and clawing at the carpet, trying to get out. She was so loud she even woke the dragon, (Peter) from his slumber. So I had to come back up here, lay in the floor with her for a little while, and when I left, turned off the fan and left the light on and she was fine.
She did it again this afternoon when I got up. I have since tossed one of my T-shirts in here, and my flip flop that she has chewed on. For some reason she likes to do that. So far so good, but I am about to close up shop for the night, so we will see how she does.
She is still limping, but she seems to have more energy today. I saw her playing with the twisty tie a few minutes ago.

Miracle Lou, the trooper

So I noticed Monday morning that my female orange cat was limping. So I freaked out and took her to the vet. She hates going outside the house and hate riding in the car and pretty much hates everybody except me and a handful of others.
We make it to the vet which is about a mile and a half up the road with her squawking the whole way and hanging on my arm like a dog. We get there and they put me in the room to fill out paperwork. Because I no longer have a cat carrier that is big enough for my cats. Those little bitty ones, that say they are for cats. Forget it. None of my cats are fitting in those. Length wise or width wise. Luckily I thought to grab her blanket as I am going out the door and I toss that on the bench in the room and she hides in the corner behind my purse, snuggled on her blanket. When the vet tech comes in, I bring her up on the table and she starts to get her temperture. She does not like this. I end up with a couple new back piercing and a new cat scarf. The girl is trying to get her off me and this is causing her to freak out even more and dig those claws in a little more. So finally I tell her just to leave her for a minute and let me calm her down.
Finally I get her loose and soothed and the tech takes her out to weigh her. She did okay during this part. She weighed in at 16.7 lbs.
Once we get back in the room a dog starts barking and this sends her back into the corner, trying to make her self as small as possible.
Finally the vet comes in and we get her to walk across the floor some so the vet can see her limp. Then we get her back up on the table and the vet starts feeling on her leg with me and the tech holding her. I was talking to her and trying to comfort her. And she did okay with only a few little growls.
Turns out she pulled or tore some ligaments in her knee.... yes cat's have knees just like we do.She got some pain meds and is on isolation from the boys for several days. And I was told she needed to go on a diet. The vet said that would help with the healing and would decrease the arthritis from setting in.
So Miracle is all set up in the computer/craft room. She has her own new litter box, new food and water bowl. New kind of food, and a new bed which she has yet to sleep in, along with some new toys and a twisty tie. I also brought up the scratch pad that she loves.
She seems content in here. She wants out in the afternoons when we are all downstairs, but I do not want her running up and down the stairs.
And since I am pretty sure this is the result of her running from the boys, I do not want that to injure her more.
I have been in here with her for most of the night working on crafts and such. She is still limping, but she is not crying out in pain or anything when she moves.
The vet said we could do surgery, but usually it is only done on dogs and that it should heal on it's own. That and surgery is close to $2000.
I hope she is okay. She is nearing ten years old and even though she is shy and kinda crazy, she is sweet to me and love me.
And she is very pretty.