D-CNA

It is official folks.

I have officially, but not officially(2-5 days for the state to issue my license #) and by that I mean that I took my last State Mandated Test for my CNA Licensure - the dreaded skills test - where I demonstrate my knowledge on none other then a manikin in a hospital bed.

I was so nervous that I thought I was gonna throw-up, plus the 4 hours of sleep didn't help, nor the ingestion of 2 super large Cokes to get me hipped up for the test.

BUT I DID IT,

and as Momma C says, now I am certified as Dangerous where prior to this I was just really dangerous thus D-CNA!

This is what I looked like when I got home - yeah it kinda scared me too! But I am done - YAHOO!!!!!

Last Day of School

This is Sweet-boys teacher.

She was so wonderful and such a great teacher to have for First Grade. Our gift to the class was of course Sweet-boy's favorite treat - full size chocolate bars for everyone. It was a bitter-sweet moment as I have really loved working with his teacher, this year was really great because of all her endless patience with my little guy.

Thank you Mrs. Carr!!!Drama Queen with some of her classmates.

The kid wearing the backwards cap ate all the time. He always asked me for food even with his stash in his desk. I have never seen a kid eat so much, all the time. We will miss this funny kid. His little sister was in Sweet-boys class so we got to know them real well.

The best 5th grade teacher.

Helping out in her class was so fun, it was always something new and different and I got to work with all the kids not just a group. Thank you Mrs. McDonough for your first year teaching you were wonderful and we wish you many more successful years teaching.

The petite girls in DQ's class. She told me that not only was she the smallest in her class but in the 5th grade. This was the big discovery on one of their field trips. Poor thing, but we have lots of time for those long legs to catch up with the rest of her.

1st and 5th grade completed - check!
On to our next year with new schools and a school system that sends their 6th graders to Junior High - not too sure that mom is ready for that one.......

Why Grandpa is the Bomb!!!

There it was, the e-mail that almost made me want to be anywhere but here this weekend.

It is Thomas' visit to our local railroad and this was the reminder that it was time for us to buy our tickets.

No, not me.......

Let me explain.

I love Thomas, I buy Thomas stuff for Sweet-boy, I love the movies, I love building tracks for his trains to live on for a day and I love the corniness of it all, so why do I cringe? Well, last time we went with the whole family I was a month post my Hysterectomy, so the clanging of the train was a new experience in pain for me and my "Happy Pills" were not able to compete with all that jarring. Plus we are currently in the midst of packing and that was a time constraint that I could not deal with.

I e-mail Grandpa Extraordinaire!!!

Would you attend Day Out with Thomas with your little buddy?

Of course was the reply and so we got it arranged.

It was a logistic feat as Sweet-boy was on a school field trip and would need to be picked up from there by his Grandpa to be able to attend. Needless to say all powers to be were very accommodating and it went off without a hitch.

Here are my happy boys returning from a fun filled day with each other and seeing Thomas.

See that, one little guy that just ♥♥♥loves♥♥♥ his Grandpa. He got a Thomas tattoo on his hand and will not wash it off. He even asked if we could re-do Thursday so he could spend the day with Grandpa again.
Thank you Dad for doing that, you are the best Grandpa, not surprising since you were the Best Dad!!!

Here comes the Cat......

I have been a little bit MIA as of late so I need to let you know why. The cat is coming out of the bag........ We have been taking alot of weekend trips to here (any quesses?) and not just for the excuse of seeing our BFF's.

It is because we are finalizing a job and a house and getting ready to load our lives into one of these again and head North towards what we call - HOME!

In 1998 my husband dragged me kicking and screaming to Boise, Idaho and it was the worst and best thing that has ever happened to me and my family, see funny story here. We moved away in 2002 and have been trying to get back ever since then, and now the time has come. We are packing up our house, making final arrangements and moving forward in our lives where it has felt that we have been spinning our wheels for 2 years, waiting. I told The Man about three months ago that come the end of May we were moving, I did not know where but we needed to move on and take charge of our lives - the rest the Lord would need to deal with cause I could not anymore and here we are moving forward.

So wish us luck as we bid our place in Utah good-bye and move back to Boise, to friends and a place that is home to us. I cannot wait, it is the first move that I have really wanted and am excited about......

Week in Review

A blog that I haunt does the week in review. I like the idea and think that with my increased level of "lack of time" to consistently come up with great, witty, daily posts, we will do the week in review.

So here we go..........

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Took my written CNA test on Monday. Not bad it was all computerized and it was very similar to the lame tests that I had been practicing on. I hate these tests because you have to dummy yourself to ensure that you understand their questions. I wonder if anyone from the state level has taken one of these tests since conception. Some were so insulting that I wondered if I was not completely misreading the question. When I was taking the class I talked with my instructor on how the bookwork and the quizzes did not reflect the same information - this was a great mystery to all of us. I think that this is why she will be going through them all and correcting them as her Master's Project. But sadly I will not be a benefactor of that change. Anywhoo,..... I took the test at the closest facility and it was a massive testing center, on everything. Problem number one. I was placed in the back of the room on a computer and for a while it was quiet, then two (sorry stereotyping coming up) nit-wits (you all know what I mean, 20 year old space-cadets) came in to take another test. They were placed right beside me, I wondered at the wisdom of this when there were clearly other locations they could have been placed at, but there they were. I continued on with my test, able to think because it was quiet, when they started their test, it was a keyboarding test of all things. So for the next 30 minutes all I heard was "click, click, click and then snapping of the gum". I was dumbfounded at what I now had to test in -a very disruptive environment. So needless to say that of the 30 questions that I had answered I was sure of their accurateness, but the remaining 70 I was not so sure. I slowly read the questions and thought about the answers among the "click, click, click, snap", hoping that any minute they would finish the test. FINALLY they finished and got up, as noisily as they could, snapping that @^*$%%# gum the whole time. I took a moment to regain my composure and resumed the test. After all that, I was told that I had to wait for 2-5 days for the results to be mailed to me - what? So I left thinking that I might have not done so good, but there was the hope. I received the envelope and made The Man open it. He asked me what I thought I got and I said 90%, but it was better then that - I got a 94% overall and in some areas I got 100%. So that was a great something in the mail for me. I will take the skills portion on the 26th and hope to nail that one too. This one is worse, it is pass or fail and I am really nervous about that one.

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Wednesday, The Man took me out to lunch and to an afternoon movie. We saw the new Star Trek Movie, which I really recommend. If you were a Treky watcher when you were young you will really enjoy this one, the casting is dead-one and it was fun to watch the same mannerisms that we saw in the original cast duplicated in this one. Great two hours!!! He also bought me an MP3 player, I know big deal everyone has one, well not me, we are technologically backwards at our home - so this was a big deal. I would like to say that I love it but of the 2 minutes that I have listened to it, I am not sure I know how to work it. Drama Queen is seen with my gift in her ears most of the time now - oh well - I can share.

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The Man took me away for a weekend visit with my BFF. It is rare that both the spouses and all the kids get along but we do and it is always so wonderful to go and visit them. It was an early Birthday present and one that I really enjoyed!!!

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So that is my week, I wish that I could say that next week was going to be easy and not another week of running like a mad woman, but that is life as the mom.

First Celebrity Swine Flu Fatality

And we all know who the carrier is.

Tagged by the number eight

Top 8

My 8 favorite TV Shows
1- Castle
2- Law & Order
3- Dancing with the Stars
4- American Idol
5- Local News
6- Life with Raymond - reruns
7- WipeOut - so funny
8- America Funniest Home Videos

8 Things I did Yesterday
1- Laundry
2- Errands
3- Returned and purchased other Mother's Day gifts ( I know I am so picky)
4- Took my CNA written Test
5- Helped at my kids school with end of year testing
6- vacated my home twice for showings
7- had my tires totated
8- took 2 loads to the DI

My 8 Favorite Restaurants
1- Japanese Steak House
2- Out Back
3- Olive Garden
4- Panda Express
5- La Puenta
6- Cheesecake Factory
7- Johnny Carino's
8- Morelias

8 Things I am Looking Forward to
1- School being over for the year!!
2- Spending time with my hubby
3- Visiting my BFF
4- Payday
5- Swimming in the pool
6- having no schedule
7- Warmer weather
8- camping trips

8 Things on my Wish List
1- Future Posibilities
2- A secure future
3- Some $$ in my savings account
4- Disneyland
5- A trip with just my hubby
6- a puppy
7- Time to read
8- A better economy

Now I have to tag 8 people so I look forward to reading all of yours.
1- Heather
2- Caroline
3- Megan
4- Emma
5- Elana
6- Laurel
7- Rhondalue
8- Kate

The Pomp and Circumstance

This is a day that I never even thought would be an option for me.

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I decided that after so many semesters of trying to finish nursing pre-requisites and having to back out mid-way that I needed to do something in a more timely manner and something that I could also ensure would get my foot in the door and also to see if indeed I wanted to really be a nurse, when I grow up.

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So I enrolled in the Certified Nursing Assistant program at SLCC. It was a 9 week self-paced course that I determined should really only take me 5 weeks to complete. As with everything that I do, I became obsessed to complete the course before my kids Spring Break but to also complete it with the highest score of my class. I am glad to say that I did just that, in fact I completed it much sooner than my completion of my clinical portion. All I hoped to obtain was a chance to make a difference in a patients life by helping that person get better and walk out the door of a hospital, well on their way to complete recovery. It also is a skill that will enable me to be more marketable - I hope.

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But what I got was an opportunity to do something that I have never done, walk at Graduation. When the letter arrived telling me that I could participate in this celebration I was dumbfounded, and of course my family was so happy to support me in doing this, that the decision was made. The kids especially were delighted to come and watch mom accomplish something that was really hard on all of us in sacrifice of time. So early this morning, before most people were leaving for work we were up and dressed for the momentous occasion.Photo Opts with all the beautiful tulips the kids planted last fall.
The kids so happy to be out of school for the day.

Can you see me in the melee of people. I had to stand on my chair and scream and yell to get their attention.

I was waiting to see how badly they murdered my name, it was really hilarious but so great to be in the moment.

Look at me, I was close to tears and so happy to have my sweet family there to support me. I also felt the love and well wishes from all my friends and family far away. It was a great day and one that I hope my kids will remember. We are starting a wall of achievement where all our degrees will be placed, I want my kids to reach for a better life and know that it is an expectation in our family.

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What a great day - hail the college graduate, class of 2009!!!

Why it is Crucial to get some Girl Time

For the past four years my BFF and I look forward to getting together with 18,000 of our closests un-known sisters and spend two days being uplifted, rejuvenated and renewed. It is such a wonderful experience to do this, for four days we have names, we get to do whatever we want to do, even have mint brownines for breakfast if we want too, but that was not such a good idea. We laugh till all hours of the night and feel like teen-agers again until we call home and hear from our kids. Then they proceed to tell on Dad of all the things that he is not doing right. We console them and then chuckle that Dad is dealing with this and we get to ignore it all for another day.

So why is it Crucial to get girl time?

It is not only really, really necessary for the mom, helps with her sanity, but it really does make your family miss you. When I got home, I was tackled with hugs from my kids, Sweet-boy did not let go of me for the longest time. Drama Queen was not satisfied till she let me know all the things that had not gone as normal and that they had had Eggo's for dinner the entire time I was gone. My house is very messy and needing of a good scrubbing, laundry is it's own monster and the cookies and goodies are dangerously low, but I can see over all that. I have a renewed sense of who I am, that I make a big difference in the world and in my own little circle. Thanks Crazy Lady, WC would not be the same without you.

Women's Conference

Yep it has finally come. Once a year I am assured some much needed girl time with my BFF and it is finally here. We both have been counting down the weeks and are so happy that it is finally here. I will catch you on Monday when I am completely renewed and spiritually fed and looking at the world in my rose colored glasses.

What we are doing this weekend

One of the gifts for Sweet-boy was a slip and slide. It is barely past snowing weather and he is all about when we can use it.

So we decided that if they wanted to, we would give it a try. After the lawn had been mowed, which was like cutting hay, we laid out the slide. Then as per rumor, we covered it with dish soap for extra slip.

Not only did we get the kids wet and happy, but they were all clean and soaped up for the day. I love a two for one.

First Grade Follies

Today was the First Grade Field trip and I was begged to attend by my Sweet-boy. How could I pass up all the fun on the farm.

Our first stop was to watch poor little sheep get all their wool cut off. I never heard so much baying by the poor animals. Here is a kid getting mauled by alot of kids.

The baby cows were our favorite, look how cute.

Then it was off to see the Fire Station and all the new trucks and toys, er I mean tools. This was definitely the highlight of the day.

That is one tired little guy, we went everywhere and had a great time doing it, the best part was coming home early with mom and going for ice cream.

Now that is my kind of a field trip.

Belated Birthday Fun

So Sweet-boy had a birthday and he was so excited to open presents. Being a nice mom, I let him open two before we had breakfast. He opened a legos one, which of course was a huge hit! Then came time to open DQ's present to him.
She wrapped it a little too good, much effort into opening this one.

I was so proud of her, she has knitted a scarf all by herself for him, and here it is. He loved it of course!

Now in our house it is not a birthday without the cake being on fire, and I mean it too, we have always placed a sparkler in the cake along with all the candles. Makes for fun in trying to blow those candles out.

Happy Birthday, to my best boy!

Just when you thought it was all over......

See Queenie, See Queenie Study, Study Queenie Study!

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See Queenie, See Queenie pull her hair out, Pull Queenie Pull!

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See Queenie, See Queenie wait to take her State Exams, Wait Queenie Wait!

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See Queenie, See Queenie wiggin out, Wig Queenie Wig!

We are close to being done, now the either you know it or not moment is coming. Keep the faith, I am gonna need it.

Happy Birthday Sweet-Boy!!!

Seven years ago my life changed again.

It was not an easy change to deal with....let me tell you why.

When the man and I got married I wanted nothing more then to have children with this man that I love so intently, but things just did not happen as we planned and when three years later and countless procedures and infertility testing resulted in nothing we sadly began the paperwork for adoption.

I was heart-broken.

Then one day a neighbor had a dream that I was holding a little baby, she knew that we were working towards adoption so I took it to mean that things would progress quickly for a birth mother, but she stated that it was my child, that I was pregnant and would soon have a child of my own. I took it as nothing, how could I get my hopes up over a dream.......two weeks later we found out that I was expecting and I never doubted her "dreams" again.

When we had Drama Queen my doctor told me that this was my life, I would probably never have another child (her pregnancy had been riddled with problems, total bed-rest after 20 weeks) and to just accept this as my life. So I did, I had a beautiful, perfect little girl and went on with my life knowing that she was going to be the only one.

Four years later I kept throwing up, I felt sluggish, awful and really sick of the flu that never seemed to go away. Food started to taste like dirt and I was so tired all the time. I had stopped worrying about my very irregular periods years ago, so to say that I was or could be pregnant was not even a thought. I had a trip planned to Utah and so I called my OB/GYN to schedule a check-up. He looked me over and asked if there was a chance I could, well of course there could but YOU said that was never going to happen again.....? One dip stick later and it was confirmed that we would be meeting a new member of our family, but when? With no idea when this all happened we had no idea how far along I was. So in I go for an ultrasound and I was 3 almost 4 months along.....what? I had not noticed that I was that far along - but when you are told that this will never happen again, you ignore the fatigue, the movement, the possibility that another miracle could have happened. I had mixed emotions, was I happy, was I ready for another child, could I handle this, how would this change our lives? So began the preparation for another child.

On April 10th at 7:39am (gotta love scheduled c-setions) we met our son and I fell in love all over again. He will be seven years old and I cannot believe how quickly the time has gone. He has been my little buddy, always happiest by my side. When he went to school I missed him terribly and I still do. He gives me love all the time and there truly is a special place in a mothers heart for her son and I cannot imagine not having his special spirit in our family to make us complete - besides he is just so stinking CUTE!

Happy Birthday Sweet-boy!!!!

Another Spring Break Adventure

We were off again for another great adventure, but this time we had great guests with us - Grandma and Grandpa. Everything is better with them along!! Our destination was Thanksgiving Pointe for some Dinosaur Adventures. They have a great museum there with lots of hands on fun for the kids and for the bigger kids too.We were so impressed with all the fossils and where they were located - this is a fossil of a shore and all the water ripples - fun to run your hands across it.
Grandma deciding what color the dinosaurs should be, I think the purple with pink dots was the favorite for everyone.

They had a big erosion center which is basically a series of snake like bowls, filled with sand, water, trees and dinosaurs that the kids can play in. They move the sand, change the waters path and move the animals around. Sweet-boy was there for over an hour working to move the water around. It was really cool and great place for messy fun.

Another reason I do not like swimming in the ocean, there are big things in there.......

Sacrificing the kids to Jaws - what a fun Grandpa.

After, we went and had lunch and then Sweet-boy got to go and have a sleep-over with G & G for his birthday. It has been a really great week so far, I am having time with me kids and remembering how much fun it is to just wear the mom hat and be with them.

Our April Fools Day excitement

April Fools day bloomed cold and uneventful, little did we know that it would not take long to change into something no one could have planned for.

About 11:30am I was still in my pj's reading and finishing up my final question review when the helicopters arrived. I thought that it was Hill Air Force Base doing test flights but we get more rumbling from F-16's buzzing the house then we do from choppers. So of course I go out into the back yard to investigate. Why they are camped out over my house? It is not the military but our local news channel helicopters - Chopper 5 and Channel 2's helicopters circling our quiet neighborhood. That was when I looked up the street and saw the mighty presence of law enforcement camped out in our neighborhood. Many of which stationed in front of our house. What the........?

Of course there is nothing on the news, nothing to report and the reverse 911 missed our number so I was in the dark about what was happening. Thank goodness for a caring VT that called to tell me that we were on lock-down along with the school. Some bad guys had ended a chase in our neighborhood and they were still looking for them. GREAT!!!! So I went around and fortified the doors and checked to make sure that everything was locked up tight. Then I realized that if they had us evacuate I was still in my pj's and that might be a problem.

All afternoon, I kept checking the news, watching the police walking the streets with their guns drawn, it was unnerving to say the least. As time passed on I knew that we were going to have a problem. The School was on lock-down, I had to go to class and I was having a hard time getting a hold of the man. What were the kids going to do? I knew that they were completely safe, two weeks earlier they had a drill lock-down - how ironic that they were going to use it so soon. I called the school and got nothing, called again and still no answer, what to do with the kids. So I went to the school and with my poster in hand that told them I needed my kids, I was cautiously allowed into the school by a big burly gun toting district man. He scared me to death, but was not real keen on becoming a babysitter for my kids, nor letting them go home to an empty house while all this was going on. I was allowed into the office and staff went to retrieve my kids. I had to show ID to everyone (even though they all know me and my kids - I am still not sure that is a good thing) and with my kids in hand we got a police escort to our car. The kids were a little uncertain about what was happening and asked if a bad man was waiting to get them in the school or at our home and so we had great talks about the things that had happened that day. I am sad that we had to discuss this but also glad that I got to answer their questions and help reassure them of ways to be safe in an uncertain world. They were in the safest place to be and the school handled things in such a great manner I never once was worried about their safety. I was also so impressed with how the many and I mean many police agency's worked to make our neighborhood safe again. I was also impressed with how much time Chopper 5 dedicated to helping search for the last bad guy.

In the end all bad guys were found and went to jail, for what I hope will be a long time. We still live in a really safe neighborhood and I am glad for all the people that worked so hard in calling to make sure that many in our neighborhood were safe and also kept updated as to what was happening. Things could not have been better.

If you want to read more click here for the story.

Weekly Update and Spring Break Begins

Well it is over and I am very proud to say that I passed my CNA Final. I earned a 97% on the test, not bad for such an old lady with a crazy life. I still have one last clinical and two state level tests ahead of me, but I have more confidence that I can do it. I also have two weeks to wait for that to be scheduled so I have more time to study like a mad woman.

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Today we had our first adventure of the week. We are not going to be spending much time at home waiting for the sun to come out, we are going to have our own fun. Today was the Living Planet Aquarium. A great place to go and really get into Ocean Life.

Drama Queen playing with the sting ray's. If she could have gotten in there with them I am sure that she would have. She got all wet and had a great time, no fear.

Sweet-boy was not so excited to touch the slime-y, moving things. This from the boy that plays with snakes? Go figure. So he tried to catch the fish that kept swimming by......

He could hear the ocean....

We followed this with a great lunch at Johnny Carino's, a family favorite.

Stay tuned for more Spring Break fun, oh and after snowing most of the weekend, the sun has finally returned. Yahoo..........

I got nothing

It is the end, I am studying for my class final like a mad woman.

My house is falling apart, the kids teachers have my number on speed dial.

The spring sun has gone away and snow is falling.

This is a dark moment in my life!

Be grateful for your crazy life cause mine

is completely STRESSED OUT!!!!

(See the cat to the right - that is me - hiss, hiss)

I Love This Doctor

Q: I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life; is this true?
A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that's it... don't waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that's like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.

Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?
A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a cow eat? Hay and corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable).. And a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily allowance of vegetable products.

Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?
A: No, not at all. Wine is made from fruit. Brandy is distilled wine, that means they take the water out of the fruity bit so you get even more of the goodness that way. Beer is also made out of grain. Bottoms up!

Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?
A: Well, if you have a body and you have fat, your ratio is one to one. If you have two bodies, your ratio is two to one, etc.

Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?
A: Can't think of a single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No Pain...Good!

Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?
A: YOU'RE NOT LISTENING!!! .... Foods are fried these days in vegetable oil. In fact, they're permeated in it. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you?

Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?
A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.

Q: Is chocolate bad for me?
A: Are you crazy? HELLO Cocoa beans! Another vegetable!!! It's the best feel-good food around!

Q: Is swimming good for your figure?
A: If swimming is good for your figure, explain whales to me.

Q: Is getting in-shape important for my lifestyle?
A: Hey! 'Round' is a shape!


Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets.
And remember: "Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO, What a Ride"
AND......
For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies.
1. The Japanese eat very little fatand suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fatand suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
4. The Italians drink a lot of red wineand suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
CONCLUSION
Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you.