Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Another Shot...

Hey there all my family & friends... This is my second attempt at this blog thing. My follow through is weak with this sort of thing and here is my long list of excuses/life update.

In October I did complete nursing school, technically the 1 year LVN program . I passed my exit exam (1st try!!) and I am waiting for the Board of Consumer Affairs in CA to give me my ATT ( Authority To Test) and then I will take my state exam for licensure. Hopefully this little paper will arrive soon! On Halloween day I moved out of my apartment around the corner from my mom and into a nice condo in the city of Orange. The move has been great for Scout & I. We have a lot more space, a nice big patio- for chalk art!, and 2 great pools we can not wait to take advantage of when our Cali sunshine returns. We are much happier here!


Since October I have been an assistant to a young man with a spinal cord injury, his name is Danny. Working with Danny has been a great opportunity for me. I have learned a lot that I will take with me and utilize in my career as a nurse and as a GREAT bonus... we have become great friends.I take him to intense therapy during the week at 2 very special gyms that specialize in SCI recovery. One is called Next Step, in Redondo Beach and the other Project Walk in Carlsbad- yes, we drive a lot! But our car rides are filled with crude jokes and sarcasm so the time flies by! These gyms have advanced equpiment I never saw or even heard of while in the LVN program. The trainers he works with are experts at what they do. They work very hard and are dedicated to their client's recovery. Every day that I work with them I learn something new. While the time he has at these gyms is obviously beneficial to his recovery it has also been incredibly inspiring to me. Seeing so many young people with injuries that are so devastating continuing to be so driven and keep such positive attitudes has really inspired me to consider nursing jobs in hospitals that specialize in rehabilitation. I know my Dad was touched by several patients he encountered in the Rehab unit when he worked in the hospital and I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

This is Danny & I

Mid- October Scout's Grandma Neen was kind enough to open her house up to about 15 of Scout's lil buddies for a Halloween costume party. Scout had a blast and it was really fun to see all of the kids in their costumes. My mom (Grandma Noni) made some super cute cupcakes for the kiddos to get their sugar high. Rachel, Kate, & Chelsea showed dressed as the Disney Princess' compliments of Grandpa Mike and they really out did themselves. Neen still insists they are prettier than the princesses at Disneyland.






November was not nearly as eventful as October but still busy from day to day. I was working for Danny, and continuing to study for my State Board Exam & then of course...I have a 2 1/2 year old little darling to chase after :) . Thanksgiving was nice and quiet. We were all afraid to make any major Thankgiving plans because Meg was about to pop! Scout and I had a nice relaxing day at home and then ate dinner with my Mom , Joe &the girls. After dinner, we headed home to take a nap. Very Mellow- it was a great day for this busy mommy. Oh, (HA HA HA) also Eric's Birthday was November 28th and I took Scout to buy him a gift- she had insisted for weeks that we would be getting him a lizard..so I took her to Target and did my very best at convincing her that he would be much happier with a plastic lizard. NO LUCK. I promised her next year we could get her daddy a lizard and so this year she decided to get him soap instead...yes, SOAP! I loved it. It was perfect and his face was priceless when he unwrapped his gift. And, Scout was so proud. Gotta love that kid.

Our Christmas season was filled with the usual hustle and bustle but was extra special because Scout was totally into it this year & we had abrand new 3 week old cousin to spend it with. Yes, on December 2nd...after Meg had a totally gnarly labor and I stayed up ALL night long..Reider John made his big debut. He is PERFECT and I am a proud godmother! Christmas Eve we kept our tradition alive and all gathered at my Mom's to totally pig out. Then Scout was spoiled rotten by everyone & we all took turns oohhhing and aaahhhing over baby Reider. The highlights of Christmas Eve were the HUGE stuffed lion (Asland from Narnia) that the girls gave to Scout, Scouts castle from Noni & Scout's pink cowboy boots from Grammie. She adores those boots!! Christmas morning my Mom, Joe, my Dad, my sisters and my Grammie came over to my house to participate in Scout's holiday excitment as she opened her gifts from Santa. She recieved far too many gifts this year. Santa spoiled her like crazy..but she handled it well! Around noon Christmas day Scout headed off to spend time with her Daddy and his family and of course... she had to wear her pink cowBOY not cowgirl boots.





New Year's Eve for the Mommy of a 2 year old is pretty lame. We celebrated by being tucked in bed...CHEERS. Hope your New Years was more eventful than mine! :)

Well, I guess that is all for now. I'm late & it's tired...I'm not even going to prrof read this baby....thanks for caring if you read the whole thing. Hope to see a whole lot more of you guys in 09...until my school begins again (hopefully Feb 09) I'll have some free time to update this and spend time with the ones I love- so keep in touch!

All our LOVE- J&S

1 comment:

Rachel Knight said...

Good Job with the update. I think you hit on the main points!