oh sweet end of the semester - you can't get her soon enough! just five more weeks stand between me and summer break! it's been a long school year. i'm tired. i'm frustrated. i feel sorta like a hamster on a wheel. just spinning and spinning and not really getting anywhere. i'm ready for some sunny days spent with my little lady. not worrying about research papers and clinicals and quizes and NCLEX questions and journal articles and toy projects and paperwork... i want to go to the park and the zoo and the pool with nuggie. i want to take long walks and play in the garden. i do have to take one evening class, but it's just an ethics class - not nursing. it'll be nice to have a small break. and i am still looking for a part-time job at one of the hospitals. it's not like i want time off to sit on my booty. i just need to not be sitting in class for a little while.
ok, gripe over. my garden is growing!! i'm quickly learning what i've got a green thumb for and what i've got a black thumb of death for! my peas, onions, garlic, beans, strawberries and herbs are doing well. my tomatoes got something called "early blight" - i talked to mama pita and she suggested some things to hopefully clear it up. i have ELEVEN little 'mater plants that i grew from seed. i can't lose them! my squash and zucchini and peppers looks pitiful. something has eaten most the leaves off my peppers. my squash and zucchini were growing like champs and then the leaves turned brown and shriveled up. why??? i love it though. i love being out in the yard while nuggie naps. our little yard is turning into a wonderful sanctuary. now, will i feel the same way when it's 102 out and i've got to care for my greenies under the blazing sun?? probably not! i'm a half-assed hippy. i love the garden and the sun and the soil... as long as there are no bugs, dirt under my nails and the breeze is blowing :-)
part of my renewed hippy love is trying, for real this time, to rid our home of unnecessary chemicals. i've found, if i'm VERY careful, i can pick up most items at trader joe's and stay on budget. if they're not organic, they are at least free of preservatives and artificial gunk. i think this is especially important for nuggie. i'm not loving my "natural" cleaning products as much as i love my pledge and clorox wipes. but - they do work and it gets more chemicals out of the house. am i crazy? is it a lost cause? who knows. will i probably have to stop when the budget gets extra tight? yea. it's sad sad how much pricier healthy and "green" items are.
only 5 weeks to go...
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Thursday, March 15, 2012
spring break round up
i could not have asked for a better spring break... well, unless i was skinny and on a beach and drinking a lot, then MAYBE that would be better. BUT - for this little stay at home mama this week has been divine. the weather has been picture perfect. 70's (81 yesterday!) sunny and wonderful. i've been able to sleep and take walks with nuggie and do some big time deep cleaning of mi casa. and i haven't touched a bit of school work. i'll probably pay for this later, but the mental break i've had has literally made me feel like a new person. i didn't realize how badly i needed this break until now, and it's almost over. i had no idea how stressed i really was. guess nursing school will do that to you :-) so so so thankful for a peaceful, restful, delightful spring break!
so what have i done??? well, it hasn't been a panama city beach vacay - but i did take sweet nuggie to the zoo. grampy got us a membership, so i see lots more trips in our future. she loved the meerkats and the flamingos. i think b/c you can get really close to them and she could actually see them. she didn't cry when she saw the blue parrots this time - hurray nuggie! and she loved watching all the kiddos around her. things she did not love: a vanilla ice cream cone. WHAT?!? this child loves anything sweet. a.n.y.t.h.i.n.g. so i bought a very small cone for she and i to share. i let her take a taste and you would have thought i'd given her the most sour of lemons. her little face puckered up and she whimpered when i offered her another taste. poor little nugget :-( i think she got a brain freeze. the other thing she was not crazy about was holding my hand. how do you teach a toddler that she has to hold mommy's hand? the zoo has a massive playground area. so when we were done checking out the critters, we headed over there. all she wanted to do was run wild and in fifty different directions. i tried to show her to hold my hand, but that only resulted in her melting into a puddle on the ground. she seriously went limp as a little wet noodle when i tried to show her how to walk with mommy. then i looked like super mom of the year - like i was dragging my child around. and this kiddo is fearless. she wanted to climb up everything, go through every tunnel, slide down all the slides. but she's still so little and at times wobbly. i want her to play and have fun, just wish it didn't mean i was a nervous nellie and had to run around behind her to keep her from leaping off stuff and into harms way.
another fun spring break activity has been to set up my garden! pita surprised me with two new garden beds and all the soil to fill them up. aaaannnndddd, while it may have not been the smartest thing, it's just been too lovely and sunshiny and i had, HAD HHHAADDDD to plant my little planty starts out in the gardens. gardening is like therapy. oh how i love growing things and playing in the dirt. i've looked forward to nuggie's nap time every day this week so i could get out there and dig around. she sees the little baby plants and just wants to pull them up or poke them with sticks. we're working on this :-) so for now i'm a nap time garden gal. so far we've planted: tomatoes, garlic, onions, marigolds, basil, nasturtiums, mesclun, peas, carrots, spinach, cucumbers, white squash, yellow squash, green beans, strawberries, jalapenos, green bell peppers, red bell peppers, dill, cilantro, oregano and rosemary!!! whew! i hope it all does well!!
bub took a day off and while he was home we had a giant, old tree taken down from our front yard. it's bitter sweet. i miss it. i loved that old tree. it was lovely and shady and last spring nuggie and i spent lots of time playing under it. sadly though, it was dying and every time a breeze blew (not to mention all the awesome death storms we've been having), giant chunks of it would fall out/on/down from all around it. it also happened to be a poplar tree, so it dropped 75 bazillion "sticky balls" = yep, that's a scientific term for ya :-) those little beasts though are like perfectly round ping pong balls all over the yard and driveway. i can't tell you how many times i've about fallen on my ass stepping on them. so the tree had to go. after alot of hunting we found a great deal (bub even haggled a little - woot woot!) and down it came. and so now our yard is naked. and not shady. and a little sad. hopefully we'll plant something new soon.
other odds and ends...
- we watched moneyball. call me what you will, but i hated it. it was boring and sad and the only bright spot was brad pitt. but even he's starting to look a little rough around the edges.
- i bought a box of steaks out of a truck in our driveway. i can't say no. i can't. and so when the dude showed me these steaks and said he'd give them to me half off - i HAD to say yes. right? right? guys? back me up. cause i'm starting to feel pretty dumb. and scared to eat them. what if they're bad? they don't look bad. they look amazing. i really gotta work on saying "no".
- we had dinner with our sweet neighbors. man that lovely lady heather can make a delightful pizza - yum!!! it's always nice to spend time with them :-)
guess i outta stop. this is getting out of control. happy march madness friends!!!
so what have i done??? well, it hasn't been a panama city beach vacay - but i did take sweet nuggie to the zoo. grampy got us a membership, so i see lots more trips in our future. she loved the meerkats and the flamingos. i think b/c you can get really close to them and she could actually see them. she didn't cry when she saw the blue parrots this time - hurray nuggie! and she loved watching all the kiddos around her. things she did not love: a vanilla ice cream cone. WHAT?!? this child loves anything sweet. a.n.y.t.h.i.n.g. so i bought a very small cone for she and i to share. i let her take a taste and you would have thought i'd given her the most sour of lemons. her little face puckered up and she whimpered when i offered her another taste. poor little nugget :-( i think she got a brain freeze. the other thing she was not crazy about was holding my hand. how do you teach a toddler that she has to hold mommy's hand? the zoo has a massive playground area. so when we were done checking out the critters, we headed over there. all she wanted to do was run wild and in fifty different directions. i tried to show her to hold my hand, but that only resulted in her melting into a puddle on the ground. she seriously went limp as a little wet noodle when i tried to show her how to walk with mommy. then i looked like super mom of the year - like i was dragging my child around. and this kiddo is fearless. she wanted to climb up everything, go through every tunnel, slide down all the slides. but she's still so little and at times wobbly. i want her to play and have fun, just wish it didn't mean i was a nervous nellie and had to run around behind her to keep her from leaping off stuff and into harms way.
another fun spring break activity has been to set up my garden! pita surprised me with two new garden beds and all the soil to fill them up. aaaannnndddd, while it may have not been the smartest thing, it's just been too lovely and sunshiny and i had, HAD HHHAADDDD to plant my little planty starts out in the gardens. gardening is like therapy. oh how i love growing things and playing in the dirt. i've looked forward to nuggie's nap time every day this week so i could get out there and dig around. she sees the little baby plants and just wants to pull them up or poke them with sticks. we're working on this :-) so for now i'm a nap time garden gal. so far we've planted: tomatoes, garlic, onions, marigolds, basil, nasturtiums, mesclun, peas, carrots, spinach, cucumbers, white squash, yellow squash, green beans, strawberries, jalapenos, green bell peppers, red bell peppers, dill, cilantro, oregano and rosemary!!! whew! i hope it all does well!!
bub took a day off and while he was home we had a giant, old tree taken down from our front yard. it's bitter sweet. i miss it. i loved that old tree. it was lovely and shady and last spring nuggie and i spent lots of time playing under it. sadly though, it was dying and every time a breeze blew (not to mention all the awesome death storms we've been having), giant chunks of it would fall out/on/down from all around it. it also happened to be a poplar tree, so it dropped 75 bazillion "sticky balls" = yep, that's a scientific term for ya :-) those little beasts though are like perfectly round ping pong balls all over the yard and driveway. i can't tell you how many times i've about fallen on my ass stepping on them. so the tree had to go. after alot of hunting we found a great deal (bub even haggled a little - woot woot!) and down it came. and so now our yard is naked. and not shady. and a little sad. hopefully we'll plant something new soon.
other odds and ends...
- we watched moneyball. call me what you will, but i hated it. it was boring and sad and the only bright spot was brad pitt. but even he's starting to look a little rough around the edges.
- i bought a box of steaks out of a truck in our driveway. i can't say no. i can't. and so when the dude showed me these steaks and said he'd give them to me half off - i HAD to say yes. right? right? guys? back me up. cause i'm starting to feel pretty dumb. and scared to eat them. what if they're bad? they don't look bad. they look amazing. i really gotta work on saying "no".
- we had dinner with our sweet neighbors. man that lovely lady heather can make a delightful pizza - yum!!! it's always nice to spend time with them :-)
guess i outta stop. this is getting out of control. happy march madness friends!!!
Monday, March 12, 2012
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Friday, March 9, 2012
british invasion!
this last week i've had my mind blown... multiple times.
first it was rick from walking dead (aka andrew lincoln)...
then it was maggie from walking dead (aka lauren cohan)...
then it was the dude from the social network and now the new spiderman (another one???)...
what do these people have in common??? they fooled me! these people are all freakin' british! it started with rick. i was watching a little interview last week and heard him talk. and thought he was pretending. i could not take him seriously. rick isn't british!!! and then maggie did the same thing. and AGAIN this morning the little man with the weird hair (aka andrew garfield) shocked me too. these people can't be british! their american accents are so convincing. but rick, really? he's perfected that sultry southern drawl. consider my mind blown.
first it was rick from walking dead (aka andrew lincoln)...
then it was the dude from the social network and now the new spiderman (another one???)...
what do these people have in common??? they fooled me! these people are all freakin' british! it started with rick. i was watching a little interview last week and heard him talk. and thought he was pretending. i could not take him seriously. rick isn't british!!! and then maggie did the same thing. and AGAIN this morning the little man with the weird hair (aka andrew garfield) shocked me too. these people can't be british! their american accents are so convincing. but rick, really? he's perfected that sultry southern drawl. consider my mind blown.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
spring break... where are you?
next week i'll be on spring break and it can't get here soon enough! i went to the library this morning after class and printed off about 8 jillion pages of journal articles for my research paper. figured i'd work on it over break. so i'm standing at the help desk, paying for my copies and the dude (an older fellow i should inform you) was asking if i'd be doing all this fun school work on the beach. ON THE BEACH??? do i look like the type to spend a whole, decadent week laying in the sand, getting a tan and drinking fancy adult beverages? can he not see the pasty white tint of my arms? the sleep deprived bags under my eyes? the 20 pounds of baby weight i have yet to lose? what about this picture screams - i'll be on the beach????????????????????????????????? hmmpphhh - to you sir, i say, uh NO, i will not be relaxing on a beach of any shape or size next week, unless you count nuggie's crushed up cereal to be sand and my sink to be the ocean... i will however be doing super awesome house wifey stuff...
- first, i plan to deep clean casa de babbling brooke. it really hasn't been done since school started in the fall. there are some dark corners of our humble abode that need some attention with clorox wipes and lysol.
- i'm gonna prep for a yard sale - say what?!? oh yes, it's true. we're hoping to do the ultimate red-necky thing and have a bunch of our crap for sale on our front lawn. time to clear out some clutter. keep this in mind a week from this saturday if you're in need of fun things like baby clothes, coffee tables or brick-a-brack (that's code for crap i don't want anymore :-)
- take the nugg to the zoo. let me know if you wanna come!
peds clinical started last night. it's 100% confirmed that this is not my cup of tea. i'm just not cut out to work with sick kiddos. between wanting to console every crying baby and wanting to cry over every sick little kid, i know i couldn't handle it. luckily this is a short clinical experience. nurses who can work with sick babies have my utmost respect.
well, i best be off... it's lovely outside today friends!
- first, i plan to deep clean casa de babbling brooke. it really hasn't been done since school started in the fall. there are some dark corners of our humble abode that need some attention with clorox wipes and lysol.
- i'm gonna prep for a yard sale - say what?!? oh yes, it's true. we're hoping to do the ultimate red-necky thing and have a bunch of our crap for sale on our front lawn. time to clear out some clutter. keep this in mind a week from this saturday if you're in need of fun things like baby clothes, coffee tables or brick-a-brack (that's code for crap i don't want anymore :-)
- take the nugg to the zoo. let me know if you wanna come!
peds clinical started last night. it's 100% confirmed that this is not my cup of tea. i'm just not cut out to work with sick kiddos. between wanting to console every crying baby and wanting to cry over every sick little kid, i know i couldn't handle it. luckily this is a short clinical experience. nurses who can work with sick babies have my utmost respect.
well, i best be off... it's lovely outside today friends!
Sunday, March 4, 2012
i like tv... so what, who cares?!?
oh happy day! oh joyous, zombie-filled sunday night! we canceled our cable a week or so ago and now i am sad. i love tv, i do. there, i said it... but c'mon! we stay home and have a little one, what other excitement is there? (don't answer that). but, facts are facts and the budget needed some trimming - SO - cable and all its DVR-ing wonderfullness took the first cut. and as i said and i'll say it again, i am sad. bub assured me that all was not lost - we have the online netflix and he signed us up for hulu+ and so we can watch most of our favs a day or so late. all our favs but one. the walking dead. SAY WHAT?!? no zombie sunday nights? in the words from that cute little dude on parks and rec - this was an, "oh no no". but tonight zombie angels smiled upon us and we realized we had a credit on our itunes account and bub said, why lets buy us up some walking dead delightfullness. and so here we are - catching up on last weeks episode while i typety type type. all is right with the world :-)
peds clinical start tomorrow night... i don't know much about where i'll be other than i'll be working with the littlest ones. not sure if it'll be the most awesome thing ever or the hardest thing ever. i'll keep you posted.
the brazil butt-lift is going wonderfully. i've sort of been a lazy bum (ha ha - bum, get it???) and haven't stuck to my healthy diet and doing the workouts all the time. this week i'll get back in to it like a brazillian butt lift actress squeezes in to her teeny tiny spandex shorts (perhaps minus the camel toe, that's just uncomfy). i've made some progress FYI - i've lost 2 inches around my waist and an inch off each chunky thigh. these are the first results post-baby and so i'm declaring it a success... well enough of a success to keep me motivated.
spring break is only ONE week away! oh to be 20 and free to do spring break up right... i'll take some extra fun time with my little nuggie though :-) i think we'll be super awesome and hit up the zoo and the library and the playground. a trip sounds lovely though, doesn't it? even a weekend away to atlanta or something (bub, if you read this - HINT, HINT ;-) we do have our 10 year "thingy" coming up.
well, since i started with tv chat, i'll end with tv chat - we're tackling mad men next. episode one starts now! and last weeks walking dead WAS a doozy. i'm gonna need to think lots of warm, fuzzy thoughts before bed so i don't have bad dreams about bloody walkers...
peds clinical start tomorrow night... i don't know much about where i'll be other than i'll be working with the littlest ones. not sure if it'll be the most awesome thing ever or the hardest thing ever. i'll keep you posted.
the brazil butt-lift is going wonderfully. i've sort of been a lazy bum (ha ha - bum, get it???) and haven't stuck to my healthy diet and doing the workouts all the time. this week i'll get back in to it like a brazillian butt lift actress squeezes in to her teeny tiny spandex shorts (perhaps minus the camel toe, that's just uncomfy). i've made some progress FYI - i've lost 2 inches around my waist and an inch off each chunky thigh. these are the first results post-baby and so i'm declaring it a success... well enough of a success to keep me motivated.
spring break is only ONE week away! oh to be 20 and free to do spring break up right... i'll take some extra fun time with my little nuggie though :-) i think we'll be super awesome and hit up the zoo and the library and the playground. a trip sounds lovely though, doesn't it? even a weekend away to atlanta or something (bub, if you read this - HINT, HINT ;-) we do have our 10 year "thingy" coming up.
well, since i started with tv chat, i'll end with tv chat - we're tackling mad men next. episode one starts now! and last weeks walking dead WAS a doozy. i'm gonna need to think lots of warm, fuzzy thoughts before bed so i don't have bad dreams about bloody walkers...
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