UPDATE on MY LiFe

Has been a very long time since I have even been in the mood to post.  Since I am at my new job, I hope to post more.  I quit the Director of Nursing job (on my bucket list) and moved to another job that was on my bucket list... I work in Trauma/Surgical ICU. I have been here since March- 10 months, and I will have to be honest, I don't like it like I thought I would.  I work night shift, so it is kinda slow and at times, absolutely boring.  I don't usually get excited about coming to work, like I did at the Assisted Living.  So, I love to get a new admit in who has been in a car wreck or other trauma... don't like the medical ICU as much yet, as I feel inadequate- it's a whole new world... Tonight I am pulled to the Medical stepdown unit due to staffing shortage.  I have 3 pts.
Have a little Alzheimer's Dementia lady... she's got some sundowning going on and is right now agitated and anxious/angry.. so cute cause she used the words- "what in the thunder"-- I hadn't heard that phrase in a long time.  She also had passed out and was brought to the hospital and now she can't remember it.. she keeps asking me why she didn't know about it-- I said, honey, you were sick... she said- in a very hateful voice- " I didn't know one THANG about it!!" So cute!!! Makes me miss my little dementia unit at the assisted living. 
Tom is pastoring at a church in Rogersville.  Bethel Baptist. We love it and love the people.  He has been there 2 years...
Morgan is in college at ETSU-
Luke is a Junior and is courting hot and heavy... well, he will tell you he isn't...
That's my boring life in a nut shell!!!

Hiking at Horse Creek

( Forgot to post on date this happened in the summer...)Today, after sleeping till 2pm, me, Helen, and the girls go hiking.   Parked at end of Horse Creek Rd in the parking area, got out of the car, walked straight in front of the car to the creek. I began to explain to the girls how to 'creek walk'. You know, like how to steady your foot, check the rock for stability before putting all your weight on it, etc. And within 2 min, I fell in slow motion, right into the creek!!!!! Got wet all the way to my shoulders😄😄😄😄😄... I literally die laughing at myself and forget my hipbag is still in the water with my phone in it😒 Took lots of pictures, the girls built a rock statue, had a picnic by the creek... so much fun!!!!!
Shelbie leaned over a log dam in the creek and fell into 4 foot water! By the time I turned around, she was coming up to the top! Freaked us out! Jaida had screamed was the reason I even turned around!!!!!!
 They were so excited to see all the different plants and things in nature.  It was so good to take them along.
In the fall, we took a trip to Cumberland Gap... that was an awesome trip also... Will post pictures... we were worn out after that trip- it was strenuous at times and we ended up walking quite a distance.  Was able to be in 3 states at once... Where TN, VA and KY come together... so cool!

Dixie- the South

We (Tom, Me, Lukas & Morgan) were sitting in Dixie Stampede. Tom dared them to scream 'The South will Rise Again' for $10.... Mind you, we are sitting on the North side!!! She done it!!! And then took off to bathroom. !!! She said 'The South will Rise Again yee yee'. So funny!!!

Marriage, a Gift from God...

This marriage is my second...to the same man...the devil tried to destroy us...but God won again...I'm happy

A new word for Webster...

Morgan was talking to me the other day and said "Momma, she was just spilling her guts to me and talking so fast...it was like WORD VOMIT"

Needless to say, I burst out laughing...Word and Vomit together are hilarious to me!
yeah, she's crazy! Here is a pic of her on her 14th birthday! She took some friends bowling...here me and her and her and her daddy are also...

Mom's Flower Garden

My mother is a flower fanatic...but she only likes the ones that comes back year after year...oh, and they have to be simple...require no care... you just gotta know Mom...anyway, I would love to have a garden like this...despite me hinting several times for her to transplant to mine...I might get one new plant a year...and it likely gets mowed down by Lukas...or even weedeated (is that a word?) by Mom when she decides to weedeat my whole entire property...(yeah, cause I don't have time...playing single mom card here...) and she forgets that she gave it to me and it is just a "messy weeed" that needs destroyed....Anyway, the point...Morgan went over one morning and took some pictures...just for the fun of it...and I put them into a collage...it turned out really beautiful!!! (Morgan is getting good at this photography thing...)

The Comet Trail...

So, Haley's Comet passed by Earth between the year 1211 and 911 BC. Its tail is just now being seen on earth...which is way too cool....so last night was the night that Earth was closest to it and able to view it the best. (or this morning, actually...) so we set our clocks for 6am, dragged a blanket, pillow and sleeping bag out on the porch, and laid down to watch the show...yes, it was around 30 degrees outside...but...the sky was so clear...it was the coolest thing to be lying there watching the sky...we actually saw between 7-10 streaks across the sky in the 40 minutes that we laid there...the only thing that got cold was my ears and Morgan's nose...LOL Lukas could not be still...kept wanting to raise up at every sound...I said..."Son, we are not worried about Monsters right now, please BE STILL!!!!!" LOL I think he ended up seeing only about 3 cause of his twisty turny butt!!!!! But overall, it was another memory made for them to remember...the morning we watched the sky in our warm sleeping bags on the porch....

so here is what I found on a website...look up Haley's Comet for more info...

The annual Orionid shower, so-called because it appears from the direction of the constellation Orion, is created when earth passes through trails of debris floating through space.

Recent photos....

I took these pictures of my niece and my lovable great nephew, Loftin...I just want to squeeze him to death!!! LOL

Jaida at Easter (09)

Jaida (my brother's daughter) loved the egg coloring...we do the teacups with tablets/vinegar...she had her 4 cups and by the time it was all over, she was spooning all the colors into other cups...she had switched the eggs out from one cup to another so many times that all her eggs turned out purple...and of course she thought they all were beautiful...and we did too!!!
Here is my mom and Jaida...
And Jaida's Mom, Helen...

Easter 09

Well, we had a good Easter...went and did the traditional lunch at Mom's on Saturday and then a mom/kid effort of coloring eggs and hiding them..except this year, we didnt hide/hunt eggs...my kids are just getting too big for that and Helen thought it was a little bit too chilly for Jaida....so, here is a few pix of me and Morgan

Photo shoot by Mohawk Memories

A lady at school was having a "photo party" and I went and took the kids...you got a 20 minute session with all the different poses you want.... she is on her way to posting more, but go check out this link and scroll down to Morgan and Lukas...

http://blog.mohawkmemoriesphotography.com/?paged=2
I really thought it brought out thier fun personalities...and Lukas' dimple is shining...too cute!
I hope I am not in the mood to spend money when I see the final proofs... She is working on more tonight and will have more of us posted later, I will send a link...

This week...

Monday, Morgan had volleyball practice till 5pm, Lukas had to be at football field at 4:45pm...Morgan then had a birthday party to go to at the park at 6pm...She ended up walking with a bunch of her friends to the park...Lukas won his ballgame by 2 points. It was a really good second half. He played the Vikings. They are a real challenge this year. I tried to mow some with the push mower when I got home. Accomplished a little, then it was too dark to see.
Tuesday, Morgan had a hormonal breakdown early in the morning...mostly because I had told her that her duffel bag was not to be used as a book bag and the strap came loose as she was going up the steps to catch the bus...well, this was icing on the cake, because she had already gotten up with only 30 minutes to get ready for the bus. Tom had told me last night that he couldn't take the kids this morning, so I went up and set her clock for 5:30 and her phone for 6:00...still she didn't get up.
So after having a screamin fit, saying "Why does my life have to be this way??? I can't handle it" I just told her to come back inside and I motioned for the bus to go on. (then all day I worried about Lukas, since he was on the bus expecting the driver to wait on her) But, I left Morgan with Mom and Jaida and she had a day to rest. Lukas had practice this afternoon and Morgan actually went to sleep in the car while I studied my Intro to Psychology.
Wednesday, Tom called and said he was working the floor at the nursing home and if would be great if I could come in and work from 4pm-7pm...Morgan has practice this afternoon, so I picked up Lukas from school and this is what I done...got the Pal's on the way home to eat, since it was almost 8pm.
Thursday, I am so tired and I go straight home after having a bad day...chest pressure-wise, worried, and I get Morgan's fuzzy blanket and lay on my bed and doze off to sleep...Lukas comes home in about 10 minutes, but he doesn't wake me, although I hear him come in....then I wake up at 4:20 to take him to football practice. Morgan is gone to her game on the bus with the school. It was too far away and she isn't playing much on varsity anyway, so I didn't go.
At football practice, I can't go back to sleep in the car, so I read..I am reading Nights in Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks so I read some...Tom comes, which ends up not being a good idea at all. I go to the nursing home to take Lukas to see Tom since he has to work graveyard, which will make him working 24 hours, I go get him something to eat and decide to just work a little since I have to wait in town for Morgan to get back from her game...(they won) come home and can't sleep because of chest pressure and caffiene!!! Talk to Tom on the phone for a little while, then I toss and turn all night..
Friday, plan on going to the Cherokee Ballgame tonight since it is homecoming and the kids are saying all thier friends will be there...
Saturday, plan on going to Dollywood since Jason Crabb will be there in concert....

The Little Lover...

I think of the little rascals and can see Alfalfa saying "I'm a lover, not a fighter" when I think about Lukas and his actions this past weekend...
First off, you should know that he spends more time in front of the mirror than Morgan does... his clothes has to be "stylin" and he takes great pride in how he looks in the mornings...so...with that said, at the football game Friday night, he and Tom went to the Cherokee ballgame... he let Lukas go a couple of risers down to sit with friends. The next thing you know, Lukas has one girl sitting at his side and ONE ON HIS LAP!!!!!!!! WHAT!!!??? Tom says he just kept watching them....but never said anything to him...
He says he is dating a girl at school also. I noted on his homework that he had a little booklet that asked about what he liked most about school. He put "all my friends, and that I am dating one of them."
Then, last night, we were talking about his day and he is speaking of the girl that was sitting on his lap and he says, "every time I looked at her, she was just smiling this little smile...she was cracking me up."
The boy acts just like his DADDY!!!!!!!

Leaving on a Jet Plane...

"Tom's Leaving on a Jet plane and don't know if he'll be back again..." LOL, I am singing that song to him...He is leaving tomorrow for Madison, WI to do his clinicals for RN...I am so proud of him. He is scared..I rarely see this side of him...actually kind of vunerable...but I told him to charm the sox off the instructors and he will do fine!!! He will be back on Monday...oooh, I will miss that man...

Sadie's Prom Pix

So, Sadie wanted me to take some pictures of them at prom...here is the end result...I took over 100, but I guess these are the best!

Mother's Day...

I took Mom out to Cheddars for Mother's Day. It was definitely an experience, which is what I wanted it to be. I want them to experience "things of the world" that they wouldn't usually choose themselves to do. Now, don't get me wrong, Mom and Dad are all up for new experiences and are great to try new things. Their priorities are just different...I guess that is the best way to put it...They would never go to Kingsport and just choose to eat at Cheddars...that is just not their type of restaurant...they would more than likely choose Ryans or Golden Corral...So, that is why I took them here...somewhere they would never go on thier own. They totally enjoyed it! It was fun, too... Morgan got a kick out of it, just being with them and seeing how they "order" differently than she is used to...a couple of times she cast me a sideways glance and I had to make her stop!!! LOL So, here is a picture of me and Mom on Mother's Day.

Our only Christmas picture

We took pictures at Tom's family Christmas. Here is the only one we took of us this Christmas all together.


I then took some photographs of Tom's nieces...Kandise, who is in college at Memphis, Sierra who is in 8th grade and Sadie who is a Junior at high school. I think they are beautiful.