Sunset on the Gulf

The sunsets over Lake Superior can be incredible, but they still pale in comparison to the sunsets I have seen over the Gulf. They simply take my breath away and a photo just doesn't do it justice -- well, not one taken by me anyway! Now is when I wish I had asked for a nicer camera from Santa this Christmas. I took about 30 photos, so choosing which ones to post will be interesting!

It was a beautiful sunny day here in Orange Beach today. Lots of people on the beach and playing in the waves. I feel so blessed to be able to come here winter after winter... especially now with the stress of school. It is an amazing place to rejuvenate. I took a walk by myself at sunset and could just feel the peace wash over me. I felt completely relaxed... even with a cold! Yes, I got my inevitable "after semester ends cold." Even though I am only on day 3, I think it is on its way out so I feel lucky. Notice the blue box of Puffs in my hand in the posted photo. I never leave home without it!

A little crab ran up to me on the beach today... he blended into the sand so much that I call him a ghost crab. He stared at me just as much as I was staring at him. He was way cool.

On the way to the store this morning Brandon and I took the short cut through the state park and a bobcat ran across the road in front of us... awesome! My Dad was way jealous! He says he drives that road at least 2 times a week for the last like 10 years and has never seen anything!

My little brother Glen is here from Louisiana as well. I'm happy that he moved to Louisiana from California because now I can see him more often when I am down here! I wish his wife could have made the journey... I haven't seen her in ages. Maybe next year. And maybe next year Jeff and the boys will come down too. I can only hope.

Tomorrow is Monday... ugh. Only two weeks left and back to school I go. What a short winter break!

I hope you all had an wonderful Christmas! Stay warm!

Merry Christmas!

I am again in Alabama this year for Christmas. My parents winter in Orange Beach, so for the 2nd year in a row we are here for Christmas. At first I thought it would be weird celebrating Christmas in a place with no snow, but I think I will pick sand over snow any day!

Brandon and I are about to take a walk on the beach and then swim in the pool, but I thought I would blog just a little to wish all a Merry Christmas. I went for a 3-mile walk yesterday with my mom and we saw tons of Man-O-War's on the beach. Apparently they are so poisonous they can kill you with one touch of their tentacle. They are even weirder looking than jellyfish.

I'll blog and post more pics later. I hope you all have a safe, healthy, and very merry Christmas!

With love, Evelyn

What I learned at school today...

About 23 years ago I was in Duluth for the weekend and was interviewed by the news... Rock Hudson had just announced that he had Aids and the Duluth news wanted to know what I thought about it. I remember saying that I really didn't know too much other than you can get it from having sex and you can die from it. I remember saying that maybe this would scare everyone into taking precautions and that condom sales would skyrocket.

Today my patient at clinicals was a 46 year old male who was HIV+ and was suffering from end-stage Aids. After I learned who my patient was yesterday afternoon, I had to give myself a crash course on HIV and Aids and everything that goes along with it. Not to mention I had to make drug cards for all the drugs he was taking (25+). I felt sorry for myself the whole time because I was tired from staying up late the night before studying for my test and I was exhausted.

I now feel guilty for complaining and completely thankful that I have my health.

This kind, grateful, and well-mannered man would probably love to spend 10 minutes in my exhausted shoes. The sad thing about Aids is that you just don't suffer from the virus; the virus affects all of your systems. So anything with your body from head to toe that could go wrong, probably will. And what isn't affected by the virus, will most likely be affected by one of the tons of drugs that Aids patients are on. Even though he felt absolutely miserable, was paralyzed on one side, was in intense pain, and was in the process of going through kidney failure, he always thanked me for whatever it was I did for him. I felt privileged and honored to be his student nurse today.

On a lighter note, I was very excited today because my patient needed the flu vaccine and they were going to let me do it (I've never done this... or even have learned how to do it)! But sadly, his arms were so wasted away that his primary nurse felt that he better do it instead. Part of me was bummed... part of me was relieved!

And, before I go, one vent: I've noticed that there are quite a few doctors/surgeons from India. Now, I have nothing against people from other countries, however, if your accent is so thick that people can't understand you, and you want to work here in America in the medical field where English (for now) is the primary language, wouldn't you want to take classes that teach you to speak without the accent? In fact, shouldn't they require it? People are sick in the hospital, barely able to focus on what is being said, and then they get a doc who comes in speaking fast, low, and with a thick accent -- how are they going to possibly understand one word? My patient is a little hard of hearing (HIV even affected his hearing), it states this all over his chart. This Doc from India (not his normal doc) was making his rounds and didn't even take the time to notice that my pt was hard of hearing. So he is talking softly, fast, and with a thick accent. COME ON! Not to mention he did no assessing of any kind and never left the foot of the bed. I was PISSED OFF! That is so ridiculous! And it was one of the coldest interactions I had ever witnessed.

That's all the news from the nursing student in the north for today! Take care of yourselves!

Hello, My name is Evelyn and I'll be your student nurse today.

School is absolutely insane this semester. I thought there was a lot of work last year... well this year it has doubled at least. It makes me laugh when the profs assign hours and hours of reading and memorizing and work and then they hand out supplemental assignments for us to do in our spare time! Who the hell has any spare time!? I barely have time enough to shower let alone do extra readings.

But regardless of the work involved, I am loving it this year. We've started clinicals and I am really starting to feel like a nurse. I currently am at St Mary's on Thursdays from 6:30am - 2:30 on the Neurology/Trauma floor. I've had two very different patients so far. My first was an older man with a bit of dementia who had back surgery in August and the wound keeps opening back up.I actually was asked by the Neurology surgeon to assist him with a procedure. Awesome! My second patient was a younger man on a business trip here who had a traumatic brain injury from being mugged in Canal Park. I got to do all the prep work involved in discharging him. Also awesome!

The bad part about clinicals is that on Wednesdays after 2 I have to go to the hospital and preplan. Basically I am copying everything from the patient's chart that I can. It takes about 2-3 hours. Then I take that info home and have to look up all the diagnoses, lab tests, and medications and learn everything there is to know about them. All in all it takes about 8 hours. Seriously. The first preplan I did I was up until 2am working on it and then up at 5am to go to the hospital! There is a reason college is for young people. My old body just doesn't function well on less than 8 hours of sleep! They say it gets easier and less time consuming as time goes on, and true enough, last week I was only up until 11:30. Tonight I am shooting for 10pm.

I also got the most amazing news last week. The government (yes, our very own US Government) every 2-3 years offers a scholarship to the most needy nursing students in the country. They basically pay for 2 years of your tuition and other educational fees and give you a monthly stipend to cover housing, transportation, and books with the deal that you work for a medical facility for 2 years that has a nursing shortage (which is basically all of them). It's huge. This year there were about 3000 qualified applicants and only about 100 and something are picked. I was picked!!!!! I applied last spring and had been praying ever since... I cried for about 1/2 hour when I got the news. I thought my financial aid person was going cry too (only 1 other person at CSS has ever gotten this). I had been so worried about the mass amount of student loans and the fact that I don't have as much work years as the typical graduate does. Plus I have been putting off things like having my teeth and furnace cleaned because money just was too tight. All those worries flew right out the window and now I can just focus on school! And get my teeth cleaned!!!

I know some of you had been sending your own prayers for me for this scholarship, and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. This is truly a miracle for me.

Okay, I really have a paper that isn't going to write itself....

My little brush with fame

I am a mediocre golfer at best. I have some really awesome shots once in awhile, but in between are thrown in some really awful shots. I've even been known to hit a goose waddling by a few feet in front of me. But I love to golf! And with my summers off, combined with a nice student discount, I am able to do it quite a bit at Lakeview National in Two Harbors.

Occasionally the golf course gets busy and there can sometimes be a group waiting for their turn at the tee box while we tee off. This makes me insanely nervous, and I nearly always end up with a ball in the woods, popped up 5 feet in front of me, or I miss the ball completely, hitting up a large clump of grass instead. One time, Jeff and I golfed 9 holes at a golf course in the cities and they paired us up with another twosome. While waiting for our tee time, I literally thought the anxiety would make me puke up my morning Latte. Luckily, it was a mom and her son, and they weren't too much better than me, so by the 3rd hole or so I relaxed a little.

Jeff and I have had a pretty tough summer, with only one free alone weekend. Sadly, that weekend involved painting my house, so really not countable. So as this past weekend approached, we decided a weekend away, just the two of us, was in order. Since we were planning our little getaway late in the game it was tough to find anything available. We settled on staying at Fortune Bay Resort and Casino on Lake Vermilion with a round of golf at The Wilderness (the #2 casino golf course in the nation, I might add). I was quite nervous about golfing at such a fancy place since I really struggled during my last round at Lakeview. But Jeff assured me that we would spend some time at the range beforehand working out my kinks.

On the drive up he informed me that the course would probably be quite busy and that we would probably be paired up with another twosome. A pit was instantly placed in my stomach and continued to churn there for the next few hours. I imagined two older executives playing with us... serious golfers... playing 3-4 times a week at only the best courses... club members somewhere... taking golf vacations all over; golfing while their wives shopped at expensive shops where I can't even afford to window shop. I imagined them being frustrated with me as I take 4 shots to their one. This was going to be bad...

As I struggled to work out the kinks on the range, I noticed that other than the beverage cart girls, I seemed to be the only female around. This of course just added to my nervousness. My swing looked terrible... Jeff continued to tell me to just relax. I did some deep breathing yoga moves... my swing improved slightly.

Our names were called and we headed to the first tee where we met our partners for the day. Tall athletic Mike, short nonathletic Mark. Friendly enough, with smiles to put me a little at ease. Jeff had on a very nice black polo with a Red Wings logo on the chest. Mark instantly pointed this out to Mike... "Look out Mike, we got a Red Wings fan!" Jeff explained his connection to all things Detroit, Mike tells us he was raised in the Hibbing area, and that they now both live in the cities, and so begins our day.

Jeff hit first... beautiful long high shot as usual. Mike and Mark hit... not as nice as Jeff's. I hit... not my worst but certainly not my best. After 10 shots and some really nice divots in the grass, I completed hole #1.

Hole #2 was a little better... after we tee off we all tended to go our separate ways so no one was really seeing how horrible I was golfing. I relaxed a little. Had a beautiful long putt. All were impressed. Whew, getting better.

Jeff then asks them what they do in the cities. Awkward glance between them and then the older nonathletic Mark says he is a recovering lawyer trying to get out of the business. Mike says nothing. How very peculiar that they don't want to disclose how they make their living. Mike certainly doesn't look old enough to be retired... maybe he's a golden boy born with a silver spoon?

On the drive to the next hole, Jeff tells me that he thinks Mike plays some sort of professional sport, maybe hockey, and Mark is an agent or something. What?! I cannot possibly golf thinking I'm playing with a professional athlete! I am the most nonathletic girl alive... how can I possibly play with a professional athlete!

So as Jeff goes off to hit, I sit in the cart sweating; worried about the next hole which is a short shot, but over water. I have a history of hitting really terrible when water is involved. Meanwhile, Mike, the possible professional athlete, approaches me and says how jealous he is of Jeff and I. (What?!) He tells me that he thinks golf is an awesome sport to share as a couple and he tried to golf once with his girl and she ended up throwing her clubs at him. We talked and laughed a bit more about this and I realized that whatever this man's background, he is a normal guy and a really nice one to boot. I went up and hit a beautiful shot right over the water just left of the green.

For the next several holes I tried to piece together who Mike was. I was also golfing better... impressing all with my nice putts especially. I noticed that Mark at one time called him Palu. Hmmm... Brandon knows everyone in sports... I texted him and he replied that he didn't know any Palu. Palu must be short for something... Jeff suggested Paluso, thinking that it sounded familiar. Brandon replied that Peluso was a hockey player who played for the Chicago Blackhawks.

OMG, I'm golfing with a professional hockey player! I'm super excited about this news, along with feeling like I could puke, but of course cannot say anything to him. I was rather impressed that he kept who he was hidden... did he not want the fuss? Was it a humble act? Or did he not want a confrontation with Jeff the Red Wing fan? Regardless, I liked it. And the four of us really had a nice time golfing... shared quite a few laughs... lots of encouragement all around. Twice he approached me and said what a nice time he had golfing with us and thanked me.

I did a little research on Mike Peluso today and found out his Dad worked in the mines and he played hockey in the range area as a kid. I am 3 months older than him. He was drafted in the 10th round by the New Jersey Devils out of high school, but wanted a college education first so went and played at Univ of Alaska -- Anchorage.

This is a 1984 photo of Mike... I'm guessing it's his HS grad photo... what an awesome mullet!

He started his NHL career with the Chicago Blackhawks in 1989. After the Blackhawks, he played for the Devils, the St Louis Blues, and the Calgary Flames. When he joined the Hawks, he was told to fight if he wanted to stay. His first fight came in his first NHL game which happened to be against the Minnesota North Stars. He fought Basil McCrae. There's a pretty good chance that I was at that game, since during those years the North Stars were a big part of my life. Apparently, he became somewhat of a cult hero in New Jersey, where the fans liked his gritty, hard-nosed style. According to Wikpedia, Peluso played with emotion, known to be a dominating figure in person and on the ice. He was on the famed "Crash Line" with Randy McKay and Bobby Holik, a fourth-line combination that provided energy and timely goal-scoring during the Devils' 1995 Stanley Cup run.

Mike and his Devils competed with the Detroit Red Wings for the 95 Stanley Cup run... thus the comment about Jeff's Red Wing shirt! And actually, according to Wikpedia, "he is most remembered for how he displayed his emotions on the bench in the closing minutes of Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Detroit Red Wings on June 24, 1995." According to another blog, he cried when they won. But as the blogger stated, "You try calling him a wuss, and let me know how that goes."

I wish there could have been a way for me to let him know that I knew who he was. I would have loved to have talked to him about his hockey playing days! I'm sure Jeff felt so even more, since his dream as a kid was to play professional hockey some day. I needed my friend Jacquie -- she is so much better at communicating with famous people than I am! Back in the years when I followed sports much more than I do now, I was a big fan of Donny Beaupre, goal tender for the North Stars, and Kent Hrbek. They actually played in a golf tournament across the street from my house one summer day. I talked casually with both of them through the fence, (Donny loved my dog Polar) but never had the nerve to ask for a photo, or an autograph or anything.

Well, maybe I'll run into him on another golf course some day and have another opportunity to talk to him. Hopefully I'll be playing better by then!

By the way, at the end of the course, even though I was golfing a difficult course I'd never golfed before, and with extra celebrity pressure, my score was equal to my average score at Lakeview. Good for me!

Confirmation Day!

Brandon was confirmed in June and I am just now posting the photos that I took... yes, I am behind on things. I am still waiting to hear from the professional photographer (aka the handsome Jeff Blade) I hired for the day whether his photos turned out (he had camera troubles). I am so proud of Brandon that he stuck with the classes for 3 years with minimal whining. And I am so thankful for my parents and Jeff who helped immensly with party preparations. And I am so blessed to have such wonderful church friends who are so supportive and caring towards Brandon and I.

The worst few days of my summer vacation

Most parents agree that we would much rather be sick ourselves than have a sick child. Brandon (Thank God) usually doesn't get sick very often, but he's been making it up this year. He's had strep twice, and a couple of colds this past winter but that still doesn't hold a candle to how sick he has been these past few days.

It started on Friday with a bad headache and a slight fever. Sat am he puked, headache was worse, no appetite, and his fever was up to 101.

Sunday am he puked twice, headache was terrible, no appetite, he had spots on his limbs, face and neck, and his fever was up to 102.7. He was suppose to go to a Christian camp this week, so I called our pastor and told him that Brandon was very sick, we were going to the ER, and he wouldn't be at camp. I expected a compassionate answer (I don't know why, I've never gotten one in the past) like, "Oh! I hope Brandon will be okay!" or "I hope Brandon feels better soon." or "I hope it's nothing serious; I'll be sure to pray for him." But no, I heard nothing but "okay, I'll hold your registration until next week." Frustrates the crap out of me... if it wasn't for the members of the congregation whom I love dearly, I would be so out of there! Anyway, that's a topic for another blog.

We took him to the ER in TH where thankfully we got in right away. They ran blood tests and took a throat culture. No strep, and his blood was okay except his white blood cell count was high. They ruled out meningitis, strep, hoof and mouth disease, rocky mountain fever, allergies, and lyme disease. Oh, and syphillis. We left with no answers (viral syndrome is what is written on the sheet), and the orders to withold food and give tylenol (which is what we were already doing). The standard line of "If he doesn't improve, take him to see his regular dr." Ugh.

So Monday, he puked twice, his fever was down (prob due to the tylenol), spots still there, lightheaded, weak, and headache was at a pain level of 8. Tylenol wasn't helping. His normal doc was out (of course) so we got the one doc I don't like... Dr. Peterson. He has the bedside manner of a dead fish and always seems insanely nervous. But at least he ausculated and palpated B's abdomen, which ER doc never did (too busy looking at the spots, I guess). B was tender in the lower right quadrant, so doc thought it may be his appendix, even tho the other symptoms didn't match up. So off we went to have a CT scan.

They made him drink horrible stuff and on a stomach that was already upset, you can guess what happened. And the stuff he had to drink was red... Then, because he was a bit dehydrated, they couldn't find a good place to put in an IV. The third time was the charm, finally. Then the CT scanning machine wouldn't work -- they had to reboot it twice. Meanwhile, my child is laying flat on his back, bright lights in his face, writhing in pain because his head was hurting so bad. Finally, they got it to work. Then came the awful wait for the results. The last time I waited for CT scan results was 6 years ago and the answer was a death sentence, so you can imagine what was going on in my head no matter how hard I tried to think positive.

An hour and a half later the dr informed us that all looked ok. Which was a huge relieve, but still no answer on what was wrong!

So, guess what? Because this doc didn't know what it was either, he chalked it up as a viral syndrome too. I did convince him to at least give him something stronger for his pain, so we walked out 5 1/2 hours later with a prescription for Lortab.

He puked when we got home and puked two more times before bed, but finally his headache was down to a 3.

He didn't sleep last night, but didn't puke this am -- Thank God! No fever, and the spots are fading. But still no appetite... not even for gatorade anymore. So maybe, we made a turn for the better, but I'd feel better if he would eat something and drink more.

I wish it were me instead.

Dinner and a blog

I'm having a late dinner tonight... a nummy dinner of pasta, tomatoes, basil, and garlic, sauted in olive oil and sprinkled with just a bit of parmigiano... mmmmm...

It was so nice out when I got home from my fab lunch with my fab lunch pals that I spent hours out there doing yard things. Brandon has been cutting the grass the last few years and I realized today how much I missed this task! Ipod on, I drive around on the tractor singing, out of tune, I'm sure, at the top of my lungs. What a simple pleasure! Then I did the trimming with the push mower and the weed wacker (wow, I have a big yard!), weeded my veggie garden and watered everything. While I was standing at the veggie garden watering, I looked down the yard towards the gazebo, and was amazed at how park-like it all looked. Especially with the lush forest behind it. There is nothing better smelling or looking than a freshly mowed lawn. Another simple pleasure!

Today's lunch outing was at the Ledgerock Grill in Larsmont. Beautiful place... very Norway-like... but our waitress was rude and had very bad hair, and the food was good but not exceptionally good. The company was exceptional, however, as always! We always manage to laugh hysterically at something or other... usually Judy and her infamous dots in her calendar! Poor, poor Les...

I have my German class tomorrow in St. Paul. And now, in German: Ich habe morgen meine Deutsch Klasse in St. Paul. While I enjoy my class, and seeing Jeff, I am tired of being in the cities. The good news is that Jeff and I will actually be sharing alone time this weekend! Due to our ex's schedules (an on-going issue, really), and family obligations, we have not been alone since May! I'd much rather spend it up here, but his parents will be out of town so we need to dog sit. That's okay, I'm sure we'll still have fun!

On Sunday, he needs to drive back up here to pick up the boys from their moms (after driving all the way up on Thursday to drop them off -- another on-going issue). He wants me to stay down there until Tuesday... but he'll be gone for 6 hours.driving there and back (she refuses to drive 1/2 way)... or I'll be riding back and forth with him... but I really need to get back home to do stuff... but I'd really like hanging with him and the boys... can you tell that I am torn on what to do? I just really need to have him get a job up here... I pray daily.

My toothbrushes came today! They are AWESOME! They are completely made out of recycled materials, including the little box holding the toothbrush (which also can be used as a travel container) and the note. And everything can be sent back to them postage paid to be made into lumber when my new one comes in 3 months! Awesome!

I also called around trying to find a place that takes plastic bags... not just shopping bags, but the packaging bags you get when you buy stuff that have the recycling number on it. I found out Cub Foods has a bin to collect them. Whew, I feel better now.

Now, just what to do about styrafoam....

zu heiss!

I came home yesterday from the cities, leaving all my loved ones behind, with the good intention of getting some things done both outside and inside around my homestead. My plants looked very sad and thirsty, so it is a good thing I did come home when I did. But it is so blasted hot and humid today that I have no energy to do anything! I am actually envying those of you who have to work during the summer, but only those of you who actually work in the cool fresh air of air conditioning.

I did manage to get 3 loads of laundry done... 2 of which are hanging outside on the line waiting to come in and be put away. I also did Wii Fit for 50 minutes (gotta love the boxing!). And I made the procastinated phone call to my insurance agent regarding my chimney claim (I, like my good friend Jac, for some reason hate the phone). And I've actually put away 2 laundry baskets full of stuff that was in my room. So it hasn't been completely unproductive... I just hate that walking from one end of the house to the other makes me sweat.

And I am soooo not looking forward to putting in my volunteering hours at the library tonight. I think they have AC, but it either doesn't work well, or they have it set at too high a temp, because even in May I was sweating. I can only imagine how I will sweat tonight!

On a side note, can you believe it is July 1 already?! I'm going to be heading back to school before I know it!! Ugh! I haven't even opened my camper since hauling it home from storage, let alone camped in it. Geez!

By the way, I'm planning on selling it... it's a really nice camper with AC (hey, wait a minute!) and has barely been used. Know anyone? Let them know!

Trying to do my part

Those who know me, know that I try desperately to be earth conscious. I recycle everything, even though it involves frequent tedious trips to the recycling center in town since there is no curb side pickup where I live. I try to reuse as much as I can. I use my own totes when shopping at grocery and retail stores (no one should be using plastic bags at stores anymore! In California, they have been banned alltogether). I look for local products when shopping. I have my own compost pile. And on and on... sometimes (as my family will attest) I'm an annoying recycler.

My latest focus has been on plastic products. Plastic is made from oil and natural gas—making up roughly 9% of the world’s petroleum usage. I don't think I need to tell you how we need to stop relying so heavily on oil! But everything seems to be made of plastic! It's unavoidable, but the first step is to at least recycle the plastic we are using.

Let's first talk about plastic bottles. Americans buy 28 MILLION plastic water bottles a year. 8 out of 10 of these bottles end up in a landfill instead of being recycled. Making these plastic bottles accounts for 4% of America's energy consumption. In 2006, it took more than 17 MILLION barrels of oil (not including the oil used in transporting the plastic) to produce plastic bottles. It also takes more than three liters of water to create one liter of bottled water. Think of the energy needed to make the bottles, fill them with water, transport them to the store, keep them cool and dispose of them. It is estimated that the total amount of energy used to bottle water is equivalent of filling a bottle a quarter full of oil. It has been stated that the amount of oil used to produce plastic water bottles in America is enough to fuel about 100,000 cars for a year.

And then there is the plastic bags, which an even bigger peeve of mine. About 380 billion plastic bags, sacks and wraps are used each year and only 5% were recycled in 2005 (I know my recycling center doesn't take them). Plastic bags are among the 12 items of debris most often found in coastal clean-ups according to the Center for Marine Conservation. I read once that there is a mass of them floating in the ocean that is the size of Texas... this is what lead them to ban them in California. Plastic bags do not biodegrade, they photodegrade, which means they slowly break down into smaller and smaller toxic bits that can contaminate soil and waterways.
Plastic litter can take up to 1,000 years to decompose.

Then there are the other plastic products such as PVC, plastic packaging, plastic casing found in tvs, radios, computers, etc), and styrofoam. Some areas have banned restaurants from using styrofoam in take out containers. California claims that styrofoam is responsible for 15% of the litter collected from storm drains.

I am always trying to find ways to recycle and use products made from recycled products, but sadly, they often tend to be spendy. Well, this morning I was happy to find a place that makes toothbrushes and razors from recycled plastic at a reasonable price! The company is called Recycline, they have 14 earth-conscious employees, and they are located in Boston. For $11 they will send you a toothbrush every 3 months for a year. The toothbrushes are made from 100% recycled plastic (mostly yogurt cups) and when you are done with yours you send it back to them in a provided postage-paid envelope to be recycled into plastic lumber! How awesome is that? If you live in the cities, their products are also carried by Trader Joes in Woodbury. Target will also start carrying their products soon.

I encourage you to check them out at http://www.recycline.com/index.html. Please think twice before you bag your groceries in a plastic bag or throw that plastic bottle in the trash.

Allright, I will step off of my soap box now. Thanks for reading!

P.S. Much of my facts were taken from another of my favorite sites Earth 911.

Quality

Last night I watched The Grapes of Wrath. The book was written in 1939 by John Steinbeck and the film was directed by John Ford in 1940 and starred Henry Fonda. I understand that the ending of the book is quite different than the movie, so now it is on my list of books to be read. The movie is about a poor family of tenant farmers that are driven from their home due to the dust bowl and poverty. They head to California, which they think of as the "promised land" along with thousands of others in search of land or jobs.





I believe this movie won 2 Oscars... it's a long film but well worth watching! After seeing the Route 66 display at the Smithsonian a few years ago, I have always been fascinated with its history, so I especially liked the many references to it in the film. The story is so touching and such a part of our American history that everyone should either see the film or read the book. I also found it interesting that "Red River Valley" is also performed in the movie by Henry Fonda.



Here's the trailer for the film: http://www.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK//video/screenplay/vi1686962457/

Procrastination will eventually bite you in the butt

I don't have a lot of time to spare, but thought I'd write a little as I finish my coffee this morning.

Brandon's confirmation open house is a week from tomorrow. I literally have a list of 50 things to get done before then. Thank God I'm not working right now! I got quite a few things done yesterday: took down the winter hallway curtain, washed and hung on line to dry; I made a decision on a color for the family room and went to town to buy it; took down the awful valance and vertical blinds and brackets from my patio door (good riddance!); I purchased my hanging baskets and got them where they go; purchased my marigolds for walkway; worked on painting the bar stools.

Today I am going to finish painting the bar stools, clean off the porch, and start on the family room. I am most excited about the family room as I have HATED it since I moved in 7 years ago. It is a dirty rose color with teal green carpeting -- puke! There is no time or money to replace the carpeting right now, but I think painting it will make a huge difference.

Why do we wait for a big celebration to fix up our houses? I remember as a kid my parents and my friends parents all scrambling to get their houses fixed up for confirmation and graduation parties. We should do this stuff for us instead of doing it for other people since we are the ones you spend so much time here! I think we all have good intentions to do stuff but time just slips away and the next thing you know 7 years have passed and you still haven't gotten it done. Well, that's what happened to me anyway, and now I'm scrambling.

This weekend Brandon is going to his Dad's (I'm waiting for the inevitable "gas is too expensive" excuse from his Dad) and Jeff is coming up. Jeff and I will be painting the outside of my house this weekend, so I am praying for good weather. He has already replaced several boards and the paint is already purchased, so we are pretty well set to go. I really wanted to have the front deck replaced before the party, but that is definetly not happening! I'm hoping we can also have a little fun and go see the Indiana Jones movie too.

BTW, summer has officially started because Judy is back and we have had our first summer girlie lunch! Woohoo!

Garbage

I have taken on the project of cleaning out the area behind my back yard so that the hay rake thing that is back there will be visible (it's really cool!). So today I took my saw and giant pruners and a big black trash bag and went to work. I pulled out a couple of dead trees, trimmed some branches, and cut down some pesky alder (?) bushes. I noticed a big pile of what I think is bear poo just behind my propane tank. It's either that or moose poo. Fascinating.

I have lived here 7 years. Every spring I take big garbage bags and walk around on my property beyond the yard and pick up garbage. I wish I would have kept count on the bags I have filled. If I had to guess, I would say it's been at least 35 bags worth. Not too mention, my first summer I hired a couple of guys with a pickup to load up their truck with garbage too big for me to handle on my own. They did 3 or 4 loads... I'm talking overflowing kind of loads. They pulled out water heaters, and stoves, and hunks of metal, and tires, and weird rusty pieces of farm equipment. I bought this house in the winter so the stuff was hidden and the woods looked very pristine.

Even though I have "cleaned" this spot at least 3-4 times prior, I still found a full garbage bag full. I keep thinking that one day I will find a treasure, but 90% of what I find is green bottles with a twist top. Were the people who lived here cheap wine drinkers? Or did they make moonshine? Whatever it was, they sure loved it.

The history of my 10 acres is this: a railroad spur came here in the 1800's and this area was logged. I have found several railroad ties, a couple of spikes, and an actual rail in my woods. Cool! A family then owned my 10 acres as well as probably 30+ acres in addition. I think this would be in the 30's. They had a beef farm here which explains why sometimes when I dig in my garden I smell manure. It also explains the thousands of feet of barb wire I find everywhere in my woods. Nice. They had two boys and a girl. The girl had a weird disease and died shortly after she graduated from high school. One boy lives in Two Harbors. The other tried to sell his 10 acres next to mine but couldn't because he owed 20 years of back child support. He finally sold it to a very nice guy from Knife River who uses it to camp with his sons. My rustic outbuilding (and most of the garbage) is all that is left from this family.

A photographer from the cities bought the land next. He spent his time in my rustic outbuilding and took pictures. I find it amazing that anyone slept in there. I'd feel better sleeping outside.

The land was then sold to a husband from Two Harbors and his wife from Utah and their kids. They lived in a trailer on the land (and I heard later that they ran their septic into the drainage ditch! Ewww!) until they built the house that I now live in. He told me at least 4 times during our two meetings that she was a former Miss Utah. I found it very hard to believe, but maybe they have a different set of standards out their in Utah... I don't know. Either that, or the Mn winters were extremely hard on her. Or, maybe all those cigarette butts I cleaned up were hers... and the green bottles! That would really explain a lot!

This family also contributed to the garbage... mostly beer cans that the husband threw into the woods as he cut the grass with the lawn tractor. But also, according to the local trash hauler, they were behind 16 months for their trash bill. He also mentioned that they hadn't had trash service in at least 6 months. Hmmmm... I wonder what they did with their trash?

Anyway, I find it so hard to believe that 2 or maybe 3 of these families looked at this land and instead of seeing the beautiful trees and wildflowers and wildlife, they saw a place to throw 100 years worth of garbage. I feel like the Native American in the commercials from the '70s where he stands looking over the garbage and a single tear runs down his cheek.

I hear that most old homesteads around here are like this... mine isn't the exception... it's what the "old Finlanders" did.

So what "treasures" did I find today? An old perfume bottle and a old bottle of Pond's face cream (not just the men who threw the garbage). At least 10 green bottles and 2 clear liquor bottles. A pie tin. Dozens of rusty cans. At least 5 beer cans. One of the pieces to a kid's toy. A never ending piece of plastic. Rusty wire. A plastic bowl. Blue glass. Some unidentifiable hunks of metal. A skippy peanut butter jar lid, and two mayonnaise jar lids. That's what I remember anyway.

Summer... or is it winter?

My god, is it ever going to warm up? I am so anxious to get outside and do stuff in my yard, but it is just way too cold and gloomy! I waited all winter for this?

My sophomore year (again) is done. My nursing classes were frustrating, but went well (got an A so I really don't have to much to complain about, do I?). I had a brief taste of clinicals at Benedictine Health Center on the sub-acute floor. My first patient only had 2 minutes of exposure to me and then he got the news that he had an untreatable obstructed bowel and was going to die. Great start to my career.

My other classes went well as well. I got an A- in Nutrition (I was robbed!) and an A in Financial Management. Just waiting to hear about my German grade...

So far my summer vacation has been spent getting the house ready for Brandon's big Confirmation shindig. Jeff has been helping me prep the house to be painted... replacing boards and stuff. I also want to get my fireplace replaced before then and at least get the family room painted. I'd like to get new flooring put in there as well, but I just don't know if there will be enough time.

I did manage to get my front flower gardens cleaned out during the couple of warm days we did get last week. The few daffodils and muscari that the deer didn't eat are blooming nicely.

I checked the schedule for The New Adventures of Old Christine and it doesn't look like she is going to be on at all during May! Figures, now that I have all the time in the world to watch it!

Just finished watching Walk The Line. LOVED it. Joaquin Phoenix was very convincing as Johnny Cash. And I was impressed with his and Reese Witherspoon's singing. I know I'm behind in seeing it since it was released in 2005... I'm behind in a lot of things! If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend that you do. I found some great photos of June and Johnny if you are interested: http://www.junecartercash.com/index.html.

As a lot of you know, I am fascinated with old and often abandoned buildings as well as old things. My house is filled with old things that have been in my family, or things I have collected over the years. My newest fav is a trunk I picked up at my fav antique store in Two Harbors. I've been asked a few times why I love old things so much, and I sometimes find it hard to explain. Well, I ran across an excerpt from a book entitled No Smooshing, by Gary E. Anderson, that I thought sums up why I feel the way I do about old things pretty well. Check it out if you have a spare minute or two: http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/2674/family/the_sadness_of_old_buildings.html

Well, that's all the news for now! I apologize if I seem like I have been ignoring any of you the last several months... please know that it nothing personal; school just tends to occupy all of my time. This is why God gives students their summers off! If you want to get together with me over the summer, give me a holler!

TGISB!

Day 1 of Spring Break...

While most college students are most likely lounging on sunny beaches with Margaritas in their hands, I am soaking up the quietness of my house and reveling in the fact that I can have a leisurely healthy breakfast sitting at my kitchen table rather than a granola bar eaten in the car on the way to school. Plus I slept until 9:15 this am!! I must have been exhausted!

I have a jam packed week planned:

Monday: Clean house and do laundry. Watch Christine at night. This is my most fav show ever! Mondays @ 8:30 on CBS.

Tuesday: More of the same in the morning, Duluth by 11 for appt, friends for dinner and vitals (homework for my nursing class)

Wednesday: Redoing my home equity line so an appraiser is coming, as well as the chimney cleaner and a dishwasher repairman. Wow, who needs a beach and a margarita when you can have this much fun right here at home? Oh, and then I'll go to the potluck at church and attend lenten service. Sadly I haven't been there since they've been in the new bldg. I actually have attended more church in the cities or in Alabama since September, than I've attended my own.

Thursday: morning at the nursing home doing vitals and then a much needed lunch and outing with Janie!

Friday: Breakfast at Amazing Grace with fellow nursing students to study for upcoming test. Guess this means my spring break is over.

That's all for now!

What the hell am I doing?

I know I haven't blogged in a long time, but I really need to vent today and since I'm at school with no familar faces who might possibly be able to relate to my situation, I thought blogging might do the trick.

I started my nursing lab today... from 8 to noon every Thursday I will be learning all the essential skills necessary for me to pass my boards and become a competent nurse. I have to tell you that it scared me shitless. There is so much information and so much homework... not to mention finding time to make it to open lab to practice before testing out in front of a TA. Today our tasks were proper handwashing (got it), temp taking (got it), respiratory rate (never got to try), and practicing using our new stethoscopes and blood pressure cuffs. I couldn't even find a pulse on my partners skinny little arm! Then we went in to the simulation lab (think Monsters Inc.) and I couldn't even find a pulse on the simulation dummy! I could feel my heart start pounding out of my chest and knew I was freaking out. How the hell am I going to get through this? And why the hell am I putting myself through this?! I could be working in a normal cubicle environment collecting my extra widow money from our govt and coming home at night to sit on the couch and hang out with Brandon. Instead I race to school, study every spare moment between classes, race to Kickboxing, race home and throw dinner together with whatever happens to be around (last night we had hamburger, onions, tomato paste, diced tomatoes and tomato sauce over Kraft Easy Mac and Cheese -- pretty inventive, huh?). I talk to Brandon while we eat, and then off to my bedroom to study some more. When I'm not studying and actually doing something enjoyable like hanging with family/friends, I am feeling guilty for not studying or getting my house clean. I am so far behind in stuff... I have a sympathy card to send -- the person died on Christmas Eve! ... I still have a handful of Christmas cards to send out... I need to send a thank you card to the nurse I shadowed over break in the first week of January... anyway, you get the idea.

And the junior and senior nursing students and profs keep telling us that it is just going to get harder...

If I get through this in one piece it is going to be a miracle...