The torture has ended

Who says higher education is good for you? All it's done for me in the last two years is raise my stress level, put on about 20 pounds, make my house look like someone threw up all over the place in it and put additional lines on my face. Actually, I'm very proud of myself for surviving nurse practitioner school but let it be known that I will NEVER do this again. I've given my family permission to put me down if I even mention the word school again. We'll see if I can keep my promise.

Shirley needs?

A friend suggested that I type in my name followed by the word "needs" into google. Well, I did and this is apparently what I need...

Shirley needs a lot of prayer in healing her lungs and healing off cig's. NOT! I've NEVER smoked!

Shirley has been in a mess she needs to get out of the place she is in fast. I've said this DAILY!

I agree that Shirley needs a facelift....HEY! That's not nice!

Shirley needs new heart to arrest shopping decline...There's been a shopping DECLINE? Try and convince my husband of that!

Shirley needs analysis. I agree....someone needs to analyze me quickly to find out why I'm so crazy.

Shirley needs hair. Say what?!!

Shirley needs variety and lots of.... Well, don't leave me hanging....lots of WHAT?!

Shirley needs your stories in her Parental Rights Advocacy Book. OK...whatever....

Shirley needs to crawl back into the hole she came back from, because she doesn't sound like a good mother, does she? That's right....I beat my children....

Shirley needs to stay out of the race. Too late....I'm well entrenched in the rat race.

Shirley needs strength for her hobby, which is mountain climbing. My husband will be thrilled that I'm no longer buying scrapbook supplies.

According to Google....these are the things that Shirley needs.....
Hmmm.....I'm not sure I agree.

Back to the "Real" World

Well, here I am back at work again. I'm bored silly because there is nothing much for me to do since we don't have clinic today. My friend must be bored too because she was bugging me to make another blog entry. So.....this entry is dedicated to Denise....are you happy now?

A Place in my Heart

Cassandra, Dimitri and I are in Portland visiting my daughter, son-in-law and grandson. I really enjoy coming up here. Portland will always be one of my favorite places in the world. This morning I took a walk around my daughter's neighborhood with my camera. I was trying to capture the "essence" of Oregon in my camera but I realized that it was impossible. Portland is more than just pretty pictures. It's the different shades of green in the pine trees, the moss that grows on the sides of the trees and roofs of old homes, the barns sitting in fields of green, the tulips and daffodils that bloom in abundance in unexpected places like empty fields, homes that aren't cookie-cutter perfect - painted in all shades of the rainbow, and the smell of clean air and woodsmoke coming from fireplaces, the smell of damp earth cleaned from the frequent rains and the smell of fresh mowed fields of grass. As much as I love California, I'll always have a place in my heart for Portland.

Feeling Out of Sorts

We've spent most of our marriage moving around from place to place. It was sometimes a pain but mostly an adventure. I learned how to explore new places and get the kids involved. I learned how to transfer school and medical records. I learned how to find new physicians and schools. And, I learned how to make new friends. Because of all the moving I've been somewhat reluctant to put down roots anywhere. Just when I think we might stay in one area we are packing up and moving again. Well, it looks like that may be the story once again in my immediate future. Time to pack the boxes, prepare the house for sale and move on. One more adventure in my life.

Trying Something New

They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks yet here I sit learning how to blog. At first I wasn't interested but now I see how it can be a great form of communication with my friends and family. Today was not a very exciting day. Got up and went to work at Children's Hospital in Orange County. It's kind of nice to be in a place where I feel secure and know what I'm doing. Right now I'm interning in Family practice, OB/GYN and urgent care. When I'm in those areas I feel like a new grad nurse. It's a very odd feeling after being a nurse for 15 years. But....school will be over and done with in six weeks. I can't believe I last the entire two years of the program without having a nervous breakdown!