Fifteen!?!?!?

 

          How has it been 15 years since I had the most amazing day??? I remember it was Friday afternoon, around 3pm and my back was aching a bit. I called my mom, who was out with my niece, and asked if she was doing anything LOL because I thought I needed a ride to the hospital. See I was 9 months pregnant. I was due to be induced on Monday the 3rd of August, guess that plan changed. Halfway to Renown Medical Center I got hit with a MAJOR contraction and that's when I told my mom to drive faster LOL. By the time we got to the hospital and managed to get to labor and delivery, the contractions were non-stop. I was in a bit of shock since it was happening so fast. By the time they got an IV in me and checked me out, it was already time to push??? I got no drugs!!! I was so pissed LOL. Three hours from the first contraction to being born LOL. She was perfect and so beautiful, and she has stayed that way for 15 years. Happy birthday baby girl, mom loves you so very much.

Unrealized Goals

 

          I was trying to come up with something to write about, and I failed LOL. I did find pretty picture though.

          Yesterday I managed to mow the front, back, and side yards. I was soaked afterwards, but felt good to get it accomplished. I didn't even rehurt my back. I also was very good with watching my calories yesterday, so I went to sleep feeling happy that I did good for the day.

          Oh boy did I sleep though LOL well sort of. I napped until about 1am then was up until 5am LOL got most of my steps in during that time, then went back to sleep until 11am LOL. My system is so confused right now. I think it is Tuesday LOL. Is 12:30 pm and my kids are still asleep, they were up until 5am as well with no nap in between. It's not like Florida is day friendly in the summer LOL is too hot to go outside. Shoot, we didn't even make it to Aquatica yesterday. Okay, my daughter just woke up so I guess it is time to figure out lunch LOL.

Whiny Day

 

          I am feeling whiny today. I should be feeling better. My back, which was killing me Friday, is all better. My sinus infection is gone and I am no longer in pain. My feet don't hurt. My blood pressure is back to normal. All that is good, but it is also a reminder that my body is getting older and with the extra weight, it is going to break down more often if I don't do something about it. Hence the whining. 

          I have great intentions, but then I go and completely fail at following through with them. My biggest problem is too many calories, but everything has so many calories in it to begin with. Salads are healthy as long as you don't add any dressing to them. The light version dressings are way more expensive though. I try and get healthy food options, but then I get tired and choose something more convenient that generally is loaded with calories. 

          Every day I take my vitamins, that is easy. I can get 10,000 steps in a day when I am not working. This is a good habit. When it comes to my appetite though, I am totally horrible at controlling it. I really don't get how my kids can be so in control of their eating habits, I mean the specific times and exact amounts, and I suck at it. Part of it is they enable me a bit. I have good intentions, but then they tempt me with something I shouldn't eat, and I give in. I know they do not do it out of a bad place, they do it cause they just want me happy, but in the long run I am not happy. I end up feeling bad about myself. Maybe I should just be honest with them and tell them to knock it off LOL.

          Okay, today we are hopefully going to get to go to Aquatica. Yesterday it poured rain so we missed out on SeaWorld. It is hurricane season, but the rain usually comes in the late afternoon. So if we go early afternoon LOL maybe we can make it. Just have to get everyone awake at the right time.

OMG 15 Already???

 

In honor of my daughter turning 15 years old this week LOL.

Genealogy

 

          Good grief!!! I found this info picture and was shocked at the math. I did not realize that I had that many great...grandparents. That would mean I have a HUGE family because it is only counting parents not siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles. It is astounding how many people a single person is related to.

          I have had my DNA done on Ancestry.com and with it I have traced my genealogy back to 1500's. I was shocked with my results actually. I always thought I had a lot of American Indian in me, but turned out I am as much American Indian as I am African. I am actually Scottish, Irish, and English (which I knew) but also a great deal of my DNA is Viking. That was mind blowing, but cool. 

           It is interesting looking through my family tree via DNA. It shows me as extremely distantly related to George Washington LOL. Not directly, we have same patriarchal line, but instead of direct, my line is most likely a brother. Same as with the Lords and Ladies I have found. I am not nobility, but I do come from it, which is a nice thing to know. It is interesting to me how we are all intertwined in some way. 

          I do wish I had asked more about recent family history while I had the chance. Young people do not value it when the time is right to ask. When my grandparents were alive and of sound mind, that is when I should have been asking about my history, but as a teenager, I did not care yet. Now that I do, it is too late. I do not even know much about my parents and there is no way to ask them now. 

          Perhaps they were like me and considered their life too boring to share. I cannot think of important things I did, just boring stuff, but in the slight chance I do have descendants, they might like to know about me. They might find it interesting to know that grandma Jenni was a nurse during the Covid pandemic LOL. I was alive on 9/11, I saw the birth of the internet, I was a baby when we landed on the moon, I've lived through the Vietnam War and the Gulf War, the Berlin Wall come down, I saw the first black president of the United States, I survived the hippies, disco, the over the top 80's, the turn of the century and beyond LOL. I guess history around me is interesting LOL who'd have thought :)

Fun and Different Holidays

 

                 Okay, all of these look like fun for the rest of the year. I've missed most of July though LOL I still have cheesecake day though. I've never tried to make one of those. August 3rd is Watermelon Day? LOL I am good with that. I love watermelon. September 16th mmmmm Guacamole Day. October Halloween of course. November and December have Thanksgiving and Christmas, but also Espresso Day and Cupcake Day LOL. I do believe I am going to have to celebrate all of these quirky holidays LOL.

Still Tired

           Oy I am still tired. I woke up to my cat meowing continuously to be let outside on the patio at 5am. I tried to ignore him but gave up at 6am. So I am still tired. I let my pets outside, and of course within minutes they have captured a lizard and brought it inside still alive. They had it cornered in hallway this time and not in my bedroom as they do a lot LOL I was able to recapture it and toss it out front. Too much too early in the morning.

          My brain still in a fog LOL I can't think of what I am to do yet. I think I want to go to Lowes and see if they have any nice flowers for my front porch. The ones I currently have are not looking well.

          My brain is also very confused what season it is LOL. I keep thinking it is just about time for Autumn, but then the calendar says it is just July :( I am ready for spooky season now. 

Stressed Out

 

          OMG it was a stressful weekend. I had two patients that were completely testing my patience. I was very happy to be free this morning LOL.

          I try very hard to live a stress free life. I avoid drama like the plague. I found this cool picture and I do a few of those things :) I journal, hobbies are cooking, baking, and gardening, i try and exercise LOL and I am a pro at getting rest and sleep. Not really into music, only listen to the radio when I am driving. This biggest thing I learned to coping with stress is not to worry too much. You waste a lot of time and energy worrying, when it isn't going to change anything. Worrying about the past is not going to change what already happened, worrying about future is useless since it has not happened yet, you can only really focus on the current moment and how best to live it. At least that is my opinion.

          Is adulting day, I have laundry going, I made chicken & dumplins for dinner, grocery list is made for tomorrow, and I already mowed yard this week LOL. I will tidy up the house as I move about, and then everything will be done by time I go to bed so when I wake up tomorrow I get to just relax and enjoy days off.

I Love Free!!!

 

          I love getting free stuff!!! This Vine program so far is awesome.I get to pick three things every day!!! There are thousands to chose from LOL it is hard to decide what to pick. So my new morning routine is sip my coffee while I peruse items, and then write reviews for the ones I have received. It is easy peasy LOL. 

           Weird dream last night. I dreamt my brother was moving to Montana??? and my mom (who is deceased) wanted me to but his house. Ummm he doesn't even own the house LOL it is a rental, and no way in the world would my brother move to somewhere even colder than where he lives now LOL he hates the cold. I finally have gotten him slightly considering moving to Florida LOL. Is doubtful that happens. Where I move frequently, he has stayed in the same area in Reno since we moved there in the 80's. For the last 40 years, all his apartments/houses have been within a mile of each other LOL. Best I can say is all mine are within the southern part of the United States LOL.

Multitasking Mayhem

 

          I am very much a fan of multitasking. It saves me so much time. I do it with most everything. Especially at work. If I am calling a doctor, I will be charting at the same time. If I have to walk down the hall, I will make sure I grab everything the patient could possibly want before going. At home, if I am in kitchen, I am often doing the dishes at the same time as I cook. Getting my steps in is also a big time for me to do everything LOL it is when I see stuff that needs to be done so I do it really quick. People think I have so much free time on my hands, but it is because I stay organized and multitask. Of course occasionally I get sidetracked by another task and I DO FORGET what I originally was doing LOL.

Amazon Vine

 

          Okay, I got an invite today from Amazon to join their Vine reviews program!!! I am so excited!!! I get to pick three items a day, that they send me for free, to review :) woohoo LOL today I picked a rug for my daughter's room, a snackle box for me to take to work LOL, and a couch pet protector cover. I am shocked. I looked in my orders section and it says they are arriving tomorrow and the cost was zero dollars!!! All I have to do is leave a review on them. I cannot believe this :) I am so going to enjoy this. There are so many items to choose from LOL I spent over an hour just looking through selections.

            Beyond that, I do not have much adulting to do today LOL I already did it before bed at 2am. I slept hard too LOL woke up to sound of garbage truck and had no idea what day it was LOL. Took me a few to realize it was Monday and that was the truck picking up our garbage LOL. So, just fun stuff today. Staci wants some craft supplies for bracelet making and I want to go see if our local HomeGoods store has any of the Halloween stuff that I have been seeing all over my FaceBook LOL. Oh and grocery shopping LOL. All before it starts raining. OOOH my backyard was so gorgeous last night with the solar flowers!!!  

So Much Sadness Over Weekend

 

          This weekend was an awful one for the world. So much sadness and shock, mixed with disbelief. Death always seems to come in threes, just ask any nurse. This weekend we lost Dr. Ruth, Richard Simmons, and Shannen Doherty. We also had our first attempted presidential assassination attempt in over 40 years.  Former President Trump was at one of his election rallies when shots were fired. His head got grazed, one spectator killed, gunman killed, and others injured. The shooting is a bit sketchy in my opinion, how did the secret service leave a rooftop so unprotected??? Plus, Trump's injury was so slight. How the shooter missed so badly is a question we will never get answered since he was killed. I am not one for conspiracies, but this one is itching my brain. I really wouldn't put it past Trump to orchestrate it for votes.

          Okay enough of that. Work was the usual, though I pissed off my charge nurse and others at hospital. The boss pushed me back until 10pm, usually it is 11pm, but who am I to question. So 10pm comes around, they don't need me, so I am free, no work. By 10:30pm they are saying I need to come in. Nope, boss said 10pm, so at 10pm I was freed. If they had needed me at 10, then I was dressed and ready to go, but since they did not, I showered and got ready for bed. I had to tell myself that it was not my fault and any of them would have done the same thing. Work is not my life, it is just how I pay the bills at this point. I'm too old to give any more.

          This morning I managed to finally mow my backyard LOL it was a mess. Once it was tidied up I got to "plant" my solar flowers LOL. They look so pretty in the daylight, just pops of color everywhere. Tonight, when the sun goes down, they will light up and make everything magical back there. I cannot wait to see it.  

Medications and Blood Pressure

 

          I did not realize how much any medication will affect blood pressure. I have been doing so well with getting my B/P under control, I was consistently staying in the one teens over 60s-70's, but then I got sick. I had to start antibiotics and steroids. Now my blood pressure is back up. It is in the elevated to stage 1 phase :( this does not make me happy. I finish up the steroids tomorrow and the antibiotic next week, so hopefully it will go back down.

          Back to work this weekend. I am hoping it goes smoothly and quickly. I need to figure out meals for it. I have my bananas already LOL got some olives too. Always tough to figure out dinners. I get tired and end up ordering GrubHub which is expensive. I am trying to think of some sort of casserole I can make that will last a couple of days LOL Staci is getting less picky with eating and now seems to like my cooking LOL.

          Also waiting on an order from Temu with all my new solar flowers for the backyard. I figure when they arrive I will mow LOL. That way I can "plant" them when lawn all fresh and pretty. Challenge is also to find a time when it is not so waterlogged in back. Hurricane season is a challenge in so many ways LOL. 

Such Good Intentions

 

          In the Spring I have such good intentions for doing things in the Summer. I make a list of all the activies I want to do and all the places I want to go, then reality smacks me in the face. Florida heat is ridiculous. I wake up and it is already 80 degrees and humid. It is no fun going outside at all. I really wanted to take the kids and go up to Saint Augustine, but by the time they wake up, it will be pushing 90+ degrees with thunderstorms. Cannot do much in that. In the evening, it cools down a bit, but only because it is pouring rain LOL. Rain I love watching, but not being out in. So inside we stay. We love our A/C.

Bananas About Bananas

 

           I have discovered that bananas are pretty much a super fruit, so I am trying to have at least one a day. They have a lot of B6, fiber, potassium, they give you energy, and can help lower cholesterol. Plus they taste great by themselves or in smoothies, banana bread, or in any recipe where you just want a kick of health. If you don't believe me, just ask the Minions LOL

My Counter Looks Like an Old Person Lives Here.

 

          I have had a sinus infection for awhile now, it wasn't so bad until Tuesday, then every thing went south. I got a prescription for antibiotics and took them as I was directed. The pain in my head just got worse. It eased when I stood up, but intensified to almost unbearable when I sat down. By Friday night even standing didn't help. So I had to call off work Saturday and go and get a different antibiotic and some steroids. The doctor also wanted to put me on Tegretol for the pain, but that wasn't in at the pharmacy. It seems the new meds are working. I can even sit here and have a cup of coffee while I type. 

          My kitchen counter, on the other hand, looks like a little old lady lives here. It has my bottles of antibiotics, anxiety med, allergy med, garlic pills, and my steroids. In addition I have my multivitamins, turmeric, and collagen gummy bottles that I take. It is ridiculous LOL. I will be glad when all of this infection is cleared and I can get rid of the extras. I will keep the ones that help me not feel old though LOL.

          So, pain has eased greatly, but I still have PTSD from it, so I am taking it easy. Still doing my housework, just at a more relaxed pace. My kids feel bad for me so they are helping even more. They are so awesome :)

Happy Independence Day

 

          Celebrate your freedom and stay safe today. I will be at work trying to protect the patients from the baby doctors who just started this week LOL. My kids will be home trying to keep our dogs calm from all the booms of the fireworks. It is not going to be fun in either place.

Wednesday Workout

 

          Yesterday the fun continued after I finished blogging LOL took me half a day to figure out I had my shirt on inside out and it was the afternoon before I realized it was Tuesday and not Wednesday LOL. I really was off my game yesterday LOL. Today is hopefully better.

          Not sure why, but I am in the mood to go outside and tidy up my front yard. Meaning mow and trim my palm tree. Pull up some weeds, and basically get hot and sweaty. I guess my mind still has not returned from vacation.

          I am loving the little flower picture I found today. It is so pretty and my favorite color. I planted some dahlias out front, perhaps they will grown into this color LOL I have no clue. They are growing well, just no blooms yet. I love flowers, just wish I could have some inside, but with pets I cannot risk it. Okay off to get glowing from the evil Florida sun LOL .

Lord Love a Duck

 

          No idea why, but at 1 a.m. this morning, I decided to cut all my hair off LOL I whacked a good 10 inches off and then yelled to my daughter to come cut more to make sure it was straight. What was I thinking??? Not I have just a little pony tail LOL I'm going to have to start fixing it again. I had to dig out my curling iron in order to tame it this morning LOL Lord love a duck I lost my mind and my daughter enabled me LOL.

           

Welcome to July

 

          Well, July is here and it is hot LOL. Humid too, already have first hurricane of the season forming. Doubtful it will get here though. July is also the dreaded month my babygirl turns 15 years old. How in the world did she grow up so fast???

          Not a lot planned for the month. I am going to end up working the holiday since it falls on the weekend. It isn't as if we go out for fireworks. Lee hates them and Staci gets bored after a few minutes. The biggest issue is my poor pets hate the noise. So kids are going to be working hard trying to keep them calm.

          Temu just got me again LOL. At night, in my backyard, I have all of these solar lights. Some are from these bobbling balls my kids got me and some are from the fake flowers. I am enamored by them. My yard looks so magical when the sun goes down. Looks pretty in daylight as well. So, what did I do LOL I went and bought more solar flowers. I am going to stake them along my back fence. That way they look pretty day and night and I don't have to worry about mowing them down LOL.  I rationalized the cost by telling myself I have spent more on real flowers only to have them die. This way they don't LOL.