Blind Date, Oysters, and Such...

I'm just in the mood to blog about something tonight and nothings really happened so you get this to read for you entertainment. I also realize as I type this that I don't want my friends to think that anytime they do something with me, they end up on my blog page, haha! I do PLENTY of stuff that doesn't end up here so no worries friends.

On to my story, I've come to realize that I really suck at setting people up on blind dates. Like MAJORLY suck at hooking people up. I'll just say this is only my second time and it failed just as miserably as my first attempt. Actually, I realize this was more of Morgan's doing and even though I was anti it, I went along anyway. One of my closest friends, Lydia, and her husband, Rob, have a really good friend that I have met on a couple of occasions named Henry (changing names to protect identity, lol). This friend of theirs was at their Super Bowl Party so Morgan got to meet him. Morgan had the idea of setting up a girl he works with named Leslie (changing names to protect identity, lol). Actually, she reminded me soooooo much of my REAL friend named Leslie it was like they were twins separated at birth. So this "Leslie" agreed to the blind date. "Henry" agreed to the blind date, too. Originally we were going to go eat at Pappadeux's and then go dancing. We were down off the Tollway earlier that week looking for another restaurant when we passed Pappadeux's and I thought Morgan was going to have a wreck he was so excited to see it. Never knew he liked Pappadeux's that much. Well Lydia and I were talking and I found out that she LOVES Pappadeux's too. ( I must say, Lydia and Morgan are so much a like it's crazy!! Maybe that's why they are two of my favorite people!!) Anyway, so the plan was set that we were going to Pappadeux's and then dancing. Well thank goodness Rob was equally as tired as I was and so we decided that we'd all just go eat and then come back to Rob and Lydia's house to play games. We played MadGab...which I must brag on myself and say I am AWESOME at!! Not sure that's a good thing and that my brain functions that fast in that way. We then switched to CatchPhrase which was tons of fun!! Are you still wondering how the date went? Disastrous!! Okay, maybe that's a little too strong of a word, but the second they met I knew it was a BUST!!!! We all still managed to have fun, mainly because you can't help but have fun when you're with Rob and Lydia. Anyway, so after that night, I REFUSE to set up anymore blind dates. Even though Morgan and I were the product of a little blind date-match making, I just can't be responsible for this anymore!! So here's a few pictures of the night. I realize that most who read my blog don't have a facebook...where I post most of my pics...so here they are for the rest of the world...

Morgan and I before we hit the town!! :)

Disgusting Oysters!!! Morgan ate a dozen of these all on his own. A few of us at the table had never had them. Well I was sitting next to Lydia so I was the first casualty to these AWFUL things. She fixed me one up, in the mouth it went, and then it almost met my napkin after that. I managed to get it down but I seriously thought I was going to vomit. I don't do textures well. After the others watched my reaction to this oyster, they all refused to try one...oops!! There were 8 of us that went and only 3 people ate 24 oysters...the thought of this makes me want to hurl right now.

My sweet friend Lydia!!! She's such a huge support to me!!

Sweet Rob and Lydia...now this is how you take a cute picture.

This is how NOT to take a cute picture, haha! Gotta Love that cowboy!!! He just doesn't know how to act when I get him out of the country and into the city. :) Totally kidding Morgan!! Glad to know you have a fun personality.

"Snow Day" through the Eyes of a Nurse

So I am a little delayed in posting this. I've worked the last 5 out of 7 days so this is the first time I have had the time to sit down and blog about my lovely experience. It probably won't be as uplifting and happy as most, but I will try. Being a nurse really screws these days up for me sometimes. Seems like I get stuck having to work these days frequently. As I was eating lunch Thursday in the break room and watching the scroll on the bottom of the TV that was listing school/work closings, I said to one of my friends, "Wouldn't it be great to see our hospital's name on that list?!?" We had a good laugh about it knowing it will NEVER happen!! The week before this week of snow I was off for 7 days. Could it snow then? No!! Then I am off this Thursday and Friday, the week after the snow. Could it snow then? No!! It had to snow crazy on the two days I had to work. :( This bums me out for several reasons. During the time I just thought it was one reason, that being that I had to spend the night at the hospital. Seriously have no clue how these ladies can sleep on these beds for 4 nights. That's how long our c/s patients can stay and most do. There were about 18 of us that spent the night at work on Thursday so we wouldn't have to drive in on Friday. Those on my floor decided that it must be easy for our patients to tolerate those beds when you're receiving Percocet & Percodan every 3 hours. We decided if we were going to have to stay on those beds, we should get access to those lovely meds too. HaHa! NO, WE DIDN'T for anyone thinking we did!!! I had several people offer me a place to stay Thursday night that live close to work. I didn't take any of them up on it because they kept saying "ice" in the morning. I told Lydia next time I am spending the night with her and that better always be an open invitation!!! :) With that said, I am thankful to work where there is an option to spend the night and not risk the treacherous drive in. While I was bummed that I was missing all of the snow back at home, that next morning was absolutely beautiful. I was able to get a "bird's eye view" of the surrounding area around the hospital. I work on the 4th floor. If you know or have seen where I work, you know it's in a rich city and surrounded by beautiful homes. I think I looked out the window around 0730 that Friday morning. It felt like Christmas morning to me as a kid. It was absolutely breath taking to look down on all of the trees and beautiful homes and see all of that snow blanketing everything. It was so peaceful because there was not a car in sight since it was so early in the morning. It was like I was getting a sneak peek at everything before the rest of the city woke up. As far as you could see it was white. I also worked Thursday and seeing all of the snow falling down and beginning to coat everything was also pretty. The drive into work Thursday morning was "fun." I had never seen that much snow fall at one time!!! It was so heavy it was hard to see where I was going. I can't even describe it. If you were driving to work around 0600 then you know what I am talking about. So Beautiful!!!

Friday was a long day for us nurses. We were a little sleep deprived. It's hard sleeping on the floor your work on and then getting up, walking out of your room, and back to work you go. Our hospital was kind enough to give us a meal voucher for spending the night. I went down to the cafeteria to get breakfast. The grill guy (I should really learn his name because he always says, 'Hi, Laura' and is so nice!!) asked me how my drive to work was. I told him I spent the night so I didn't have to experience any driving. Well I had ordered pancakes and he was sweet enough to turn them into Mickey Mouse pancakes to make me smile. I really do work with some fantabulous people from the kitchen, to house keeping, to nurses, to our boss, etc. Anyway, by the time 1900 rolled around I was beyond ready to go home. I slept like a baby that night! Had never been so happy to see our king size bed and body pillows.

So I was praying that there would still be snow Saturday morning at home so I could get a glimpse of what it looked like at home. Morgan took some pictures on Thursday afternoon and Friday but they are on his iPhone so I don't know how to upload them. Everything had snow...trees, driveway, his truck, etc. It was so pretty. I must say, I was pretty bummed after looking at every one's pics on Facebook of them and their families in the snow. Would have loved to have had the opportunity to build a snowman with Morgan and even engage in a snowball fight...I am sure I would've won!! Oh well!! These pics are taken on Saturday, two days after the snow had fallen.


This is my artistic work, lol!! For some reason I thought it would be a grand idea to walk out there in cotton shorts, t-shirt, and a robe to take pics. Guess I was still tired from working and the lack of sleep I had which lead me to make such a poor decision. Otherwise, I would've put more energy into making this look a little nicer. ;)

This picture was taken off of our back porch.

So pretty! You can see Charlie, our horse, and our neighbor's pond in the background.

Our driveway...I know y'all were just dying to see what it looked like. HAHA!!

Morgan and Me in the snow. We really need to teach Lillie to be our photographer so we can get a decent picture of the two of us in cases like this. ;)

I was a little cold!!

He was really thrilled I was making him stand out there for this picture!!

Benefits of living in the country...tons of farm land covered in beautiful snow.

You also see this a lot...hay bails being driven down the road.

So that was my lovely experience. What a gift from God that snow was!!! Maybe we won't have to wait another 30 years to see that beautiful snow again!! And HOPEFULLY I won't have to work those days next time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dog & Cat Diaries

This makes me laugh!! I've seen it so many times and it still makes me laugh out loud so I decided to put it on here. It reminds me so much of Lillie and my cat Bianca that lives with my parents. Bianca is a Siamese cat. She's not full blooded so she's still sweet...most of the time. Lillie and Bianca are really cute together because they have the same markings.

EXCERPTS FROM A DOG'S DAILY DIARY...

8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 pm - Lunch! My favorite thing!
1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 pm - Milk Bones! My favorite thing!
7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

EXCERPTS FROM A CAT'S DAILY DIARY...

Day 983 of my captivity...

My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets.

Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength.

The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet.

Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a 'good little hunter' I am. Bastards.

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of 'allergies.' I must learn what this means and how to use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow -- but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released - and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded.

The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicating with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now ....