Boo.

My favorite magazine, which I very recently re-subscribed to, has been canned. I am now the new and not impressed owner of a 9-month subscription to Glamour magazine. I'll give it a chance, but I won't be happy about it - bring Jane back!

Destin, FL - July 2007
Photo by A

I've Been Thinking...

..that I should write more often to stir my creative juices. I do have some. :-)

..that I have an amazing hubby who is just the blend of teddy bear and brick wall that I need and love.

..that I can't remember how I ever survived without satellite radio. I am an XM addict. (Thanks, sweet J!)

..that I really miss my friends from college, and really need to make a better effort to stay in touch.

..that we are finally making this fabulous house look like a fabulous home.

..that my job rules. But it's tough, especially lately being so busy and independent with an overload of 6 rowdy patients with multiple pain pumps, glucommanders, heparin drips, insulin drips, multiple units of blood needed, and then some. But that's shop talk. :-)

..that we should go to more cocktail parties because I felt darn smashing in my little black dress with my hand holding the arm of my hot hubby in his blue power tie/new dress shirt combo at the faculty cocktail buffet last night.

..that I want to take trips, vacations, and journeys every single month, which probably isn't very practical but a fun goal nonetheless.

..that staying up all night feels entirely normal these days.

..that I want to hit the pool at least once a week until the end of the summer heat. Success for the past 2 weeks!

..that I can't wait for our new TV to arrive, and I really am going to want that new sofa to sit on while watching that shiny new LCD.

..that I want to continue staying in touch with my in-laws because we have a good thing going, and appreciating family is important on both sides.

..that my little brothers are growing up really fast.

..that I've almost been married a year and a half! Wowzers.

..that I just might join the awesome gym affiliated with my hospital, because it would probably give me more incentive to work out than solely running/walking around the neighborhood does, especially with the hot days and mosquito nights.

..that I seriously love the cute comfort of Crocs. I now own 3 pairs and J has some, too!

..that I still miss my grandfather, Leland, terribly and probably will never stop thinking of how much we could have talked about then and right now.

..that Lean Cuisine frozen meals really aren't that bad when you're in a hurry or don't feel like making much effort for a solo/semi-healthy meal! :-)

..that I should blog more. But this was a good start.

Overdue

Though not by much...still, I owe our little website an update of our fabulous anniversary adventure.

Coming soon...but not too soon as I will be working the next three nights.

There is always next week, said the half-full half of the marriage (Randy's lunchtime proclamation). Even more news, J got a sweet new car! Covered on Flickr - go look! :-)

(Belated) First Anniversary

Officially on the road for a belated but fabulous First Anniversary adventure! Our trip starts in Highlands, NC and will then sweep us away to Asheville, NC for a few romantic, relaxing, and fun-filled days in the city.

As of May 20, 2007, we've tucked one year of wedded bliss under our belts, with a lifetime of love to come!
xo

Jerry's Photo Skills Rule!

Indeed, I am quite biased. But not blind -- see for yourself! :-)
July 21, 2007.
~Baby Bryce's Baptism~

Happy 4th of July!

Yes, I do keep forgetting tomorrow is a national holiday, since the hospital never closes, sleeps, or goes on holiday. I will be spending the day in bed and the evening at work, taking care of all the fireworks gone wrong victims. Am I complaining? No, not really. I enjoy trauma. Perhaps I will at least wear patriotic scrubs. :-)

P.S. No fireworks in these parts, please. South Georgia has just killed off the wildfire that raged for weeks and added a new tab to history, and I am certain the Earth longs for no more scars.

Poor Fatty

My cat is upset.

Fatty is not taking to the move very well, and he's making us suffer. During the day, he's fine — or I guess he's fine, since he picks a spot and hides all day long. It's the early morning hours that he gets lonely, or vindictive, or something. He comes up to the bedroom door and starts wining. And wining. He'll pause for a minute or two to lull me into a false sense of calm, letting me almost drift back to sleep before he hits me — WAHHHH! — with another round, an aggressive and persistent enemy pounding at the gates. I just lay there feeling my blood pressure rise.

Even if I get up, that doesn't help. I can be downstairs with him, and he'll still walk around wining. Mwwwarrrr! . . . Whhhharrrr! . . . Hrrrwwwwaaarr! I'm not sure what to do for him, and Autumn's losing patience. Shoot, I'm losing patience.

I wish I knew what to do for him. I thought that after two weeks, he would start behaving normally again. I think that part of the problem is the nearly constant stream of strangers we've had flowing through since we moved in. Still, even though the flood has ebbed a bit, we have someone ring the doorbell almost daily. Fatty's eyes widen, his head pops up, he scrunches down, and he slinks into his hiding spot. Then we don't see him the rest of the day, but we know he's there, sometime around 4 am.

I'm not sure what's made my 17-pound cat such a wimp. Anna is an Achilles to Fatty's Elpenor. She's already Queen of the house, taking long naps on the couch and basking in the extra space. She can probably sleep now 'cause Fatty's not around to bug her all the time. Poor poor Fatty.

I hope he gets over it soon. I need some sleep.

Another London Summer Bomb Scare?

Since I am a full time nightshift girl now, I happened to be up watching TV around 4am and I flipped by the international news channel innocently enough, only to slow to a screeching halt there and stay glued for a half an hour or more. According to news sources, a very large and crude car bomb was found near the popular Picadilly Circus area around 2am London time, and since has fortunately been defused by police. Still, this news brought a creepy sort of flashback from my own study abroad summer there that was clouded and temporarily halted by the horrific bombings of July 7th, 2005.

Flickr eyewitness photos can be seen here and here. BBC has excellent coverage, and I will be keeping up with this one, as I hope this recent threat has passed completely.

Hooray!!!

I received my results from NCLEX at exactly 11:30 this morning, and was overjoyed to get the good news I'd been hoping for - I passed and I am an official RN now! Yay! :-) In fact, I was given 77 questions before the exam cut off, which according to the pass/fail rules means that I measured significantly above the passing standard. Even more awesome. I am beyond relieved and so full of the happiness! Big thanks to everyone who supported and encouraged me, especially my sweet hubby.

This has been an exceptionally good day: not only did I become an official RN, but we also closed on our house and in the closing process scored a sweet check to put toward our new TV & sofa fund. Yay! As of Monday, let the moving begin!

Eeek!

I went ahead and did it - I finally received my Authorization to Test (ATT), and I scheduled myself to take the NCLEX on June 13th. I am so nervous!!! But, I'm excited about getting it over with, and also glad to finally have target date to hopefully motivate me to get busy with the self review and studying between now and then. Oh, my...

In other news, I am planning to post something of a "year in review" series to reflect on our first year of marriage. Look for that soon, assuming anyone is around to actually read this. (Insert unsure/hopeful smile here).

First Anniversary!

Happy one year anniversary to my baby! It has been a fabulous adventure, and we're just getting started. :-) Thanks so much for everything you do, everything you are, and everything else.

I Love You.

More on Flickr.

The Return of the Mojito

Mmm. This summer drink has been a long time coming, but it is finally back in my orbit. And, deliciously so! This batch is even more special than the last since the mint leaves are home grown - planted by my hands, nurtured by J's diligent watering, and fed by the sunlight of our front porch.

The recipe:

2 parts rum
1.5 parts lime juice
10 mint leaves
1.5 teaspoons fine sugar
soda water

Put mint leaves and sugar in the bottom of a highball glass. Using your muddler, muddle that stuff until it's a paste. Add a bit of soda to clean your muddler and loosen up the mint paste. Add lime, rum, and ice. Top off with soda water and stir to combine. Yum.
Thanks to J for the photo and the yummy drink that I am enjoying as I type. All this and more on a beautiful one-year anniversary weekend. :-)

Sweet Humpback Whales

In a developing story that tugs at the strings of my heart and my GreenPeace roots, I am full of hope that the stranded mother and baby whale will safely migrate out of the polluted fresh water shipping channel to make a smooth return to their natural salt-water habitat. And soon!

Please read more here and here.

Cool find today, thanks to Energy Times magazine, which is a super cool subscription I've been getting for about a year now, courtesy of the yummy Smoothie King in Destin, FL.

Oh, to be on the beach right now...
swoon.

Yay! As part of the Class of 2007, I graduated from Macon State's College of Nursing on May 11th, 2007. The weekend was one wonderful blur of fun and good news, from my pinning ceremony to finding out we got the beautiful big white house that holds the kitchen of our dreams!
Life is good.

Red Eye Rant

Well, unfortunately this cruddy hole in the wall doesn't have its own website, so I cannot directly point my finger at it as I expose all it's shortcomings. Last night, J and I ended up there as a close to our evening(s) out, and it was a mistake from the start.

We were greeted at the top of the stairs by a couple of scruffy looking, middle-aged bouncers who were checking IDs at the door, which is an unusual site around here as most of the age determination is done by eyeball, as far as I know. Still, against our best judgment we proceeded down the stairs and quickly learned why the guard dogs were at the door as we descended into a sea of lame kiddos who probably should never have made it through had the dudes been doing their jobs. After D was turned away (a first) which threw the bachelor party we bumped in to way off track, we found it a difficult task alone in getting up to the bar, and nearly impossible still to place a drink order due to all the sidestepping, lanky 20-something males with low self-esteem and cigarette breath looking to get lucky in a pond of sad options. After obtaining our dinky beers in plastic cups (niiice), we returned to the patio just in time to see the people who were waiting on us ascending the stairs to depart. As we attempted to follow them, disgusting guard dog #2 put his paws on the top of my cup (yes, where my lips go) and tried to toss it in the trash can, rather than bothering to tell me that we could not take drinks with us, treating me as if I was one of the sloshing losers that littered the patio downstairs, which I was obviously not even close to being one of. However, J and I proceeded to drink our beers together while making conversation about how glad we were to be long past the stage in life where this dumpster with a bar would even approach any type of fun, and remarking on how fortunate we were to have found each other and be happily ever after.

So, the sticky wakeup call may have had a positive ring to it in considering those shared words and hand-in-hand departure from the dumpster with a bar, but that was the one bright spot of the entirely negative experience at The Red Eye Tavern. If you still choose to support this establishment (um, I guess you could call it one) then remember you've been warned, and don't venture too close anytime approaching midnight unless you are underage with low to no standards. The end.

We Got the House!!! :-)

Week # 1 Post Nursing School

Wow. I am so enjoying my time off between the end of classes and my upcoming graduation on Friday, May 11th. I feel like I've already accomplished so much, and still managed to sleep in and relax more than not.

Over the weekend I enjoyed a lovely shopping day with mom that we planned ages ago when I was still burdened with exams, clinicals, and case study papers. I found the PERFECT dress for graduation night, and a sweet little black dress for any black dress occasion. I also tried on my hat & tassel just for fun. :-)

Tomorrow I will begin trading my stock of winter clothes for my summer clothes, and transitioning a slice of my wardrobe to my parents' house in preparation for our up & coming move. Pretty much the first sign of packing around here, but I want to disturb the look of the house as little as possible until after the graduation party we're hosting. Lots to be done, but still plenty of time and energy on board!

Dinosaur Comics Rule

You know you wanna click it.

Especially this old one. :-)