Friday, January 22, 2010

the er floor

my sis karen texted last night at 9:30 that she was going to the er in a great deal of pain. this totally freaked me out because she's 3 months pregnant. she passed out in the er waiting room from pain, so they gave her a gurney to lie on in the waiting room until they could see her. after midnight she got into an exam room and they got some drugs in her to dull the pain. it appeared she had a kidney stone. the baby's heartbeat was fine, but they couldn't do the regular scan to see if it was a stone because of the baby. so they started her on iv fluids to help flush the stone out and gave her something for nausea, because with the pregnancy she has that problem all the time. i was so worried i didn't fall asleep until 4am and then justin called at 5:30 and asked me to met him at their house to get some things for karen and take them back to her, so he could get a few hours sleep and check on the dogs.

i found karen crying just before 7am. the nurse had yelled at her because she couldn't get up to use the bathroom on her own and then when karen asked for a bed pan she was rude about it. she also let her iv go empty for an hour, when she needs as much fluid as she can get so that stupid stone can pass. nursing is one of the very last things i would ever want to do as a career, but yelling at a pregnant, puking, girl in the worst pain of her life is just wrong. fortunately for the nurse, i had arrived at the shift change and she was gone. her new nurse was much nicer and even though the fratboy at the er desk was giving me bs, the nurse gave her pain meds and a new iv when she needed it.

for the next two hours, i got karen in pjs, kept her covered with her quilt, held her hair while she puked, emptied her bedpan, and let her know how much more time until she could get another dose of pain meds. i threw a blanket on the floor and stretched out in between. tile floors are cold. er's are noisy, mostly cause the nurses sit at the desk and yak it up. listening to the drunk girl in the next room was entertaining though. the only thing that got me to smile while there. after her 9am dose of drugs, i hooked up her cpap (breathing machine) in hopes she could sleep until justin came back at 11. then i went home, gave the fam an update and crashed until 1pm.

off to work at 1:30. holy crap the library has been busy! job security is great and all, but why the heck are so many people coming to see us. having to replace the return book bin 2-3 times an hour is just crazy. it was interesting trying to make coherent sentences and sound friendly, when all i wanted to do was curl up under my desk and sleep. at least i got done most of what i needed to and the rest will just have to wait until monday.

came home and got more updates. karen was admitted around lunchtime and has to stay until it passes, but they were able to locate it and it should be able to pass. her midwife came by too and said childbirth would be a walk in the park compared to this and that the baby looked fine. cat and kate's family visited her this afternoon and evening, sam brought justin dinner and then mom came at 9pm to spend the night with her so justin could get some sleep. hopefully they keep her on the meds at the right times and the pain doesn't get any worse. luckily my mom does bitch well, especially when one of her babies is hurt, so karen shouldn't have anymore nurse problems. i'll go see her tomorrow and know more. i complain a lot about my aches and pains, but at least, with the exception of the week before my back surgery, i've never had to deal with that kind of pain. and it only hurt if i tried to sit, it wasn't constant. my surgery was outpatient, so i've never had to spend the night in the hospital as a patient. for all these things, and that the baby is okay, i feel truly blessed.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

tiredness

i felt like death most of the day. i haven't been good taking my pills regularly and have had some 2 and 3am nights, so i'm sure that has contributed. i also have been working out again and my whole body just hurts. even thought all i wanted to do was crawl into bed and enter a comatose state, i went to the gym. i did 30 minutes on the elliptical. no water, i've got to remember to bring my water bottle!! hten to cvs to get those pills i've been missing and to publix to get stuff for tomorrow's birthday party at work and chocolate chips so i can make more cookies for those poor souls unpacking the millions of books at the library. bogo's are hard to resist, so of course i spent more than i wanted to, but my cupboards and freezer are stocked full of good foods, that should last at least a month.

despite the fact that i had been so tired, i got my second wind once i reached home. i get all productive as soon as i get to the one place i can crash. weird. i decorated the cake i bought and made spinach dip. then i took it to the library since i have an early meeting downtown and don't have time to run home when its over, because tomorrow is the keith and beth show at the reference des. i also needed my name tag so i can park and get into the building down there. then back home to put away groceries, take out the trash, empty the drainer, wash dishes, water the mostly dead flowers, balance my checkbook, open and organize my many envelopes of bills, and catch up on the facebook and blog. so now here i sit at 11pm, getting very sleepy, just now eating my dinner, which consists of a very yummy pb&j with cold milk. gotta go organize my pills. then - to bed i said.

and now as i go to publish this post, i realize i've written this in the library blog and not my own. i almost shot out all the personal info to the 4 people who follow the library blog. i guess i'm more tired than i thought.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

fun and productivity

orlando was good. friday night justin had to do a work dinner, so olive, ishu and i went to izziban sushi. there were only three waitresses for the whole place and the bartender was also the busboy and host, so even though there were empty tables they weren't sitting people. my diet pepsi tasted funny, so i tried sierra mist, nada, water it was. it only took 20 mintues to get that figured out. the appetizer wasn't good and one of my sushi rolls was really salty. olive was not happy to be there. she bit her styrofoam glass of water and it exploded all over the table. it took forever to get the waitress to clean it up, while olive smacked the table to make water splash. she didn't want to sit in her high chair or eat. she had her 18 month check up that day and we figure the shot they gave her was making her grumpy. she's usually so good in restaurants. after that memorable meal we met justin at home and then went to twisty treat. is was a long drive, but was very yummy.

the next day i slept in late, watched roman holiday for the first time (so good!!) and then ishu made chilli for lunch. justin cleaned the garage and prepped our greek feast while ishu and i ran errands. she had things to return and we hunted down some glassware she wanted for her birthday. we found half of them in tjmaxx and half in ross. the lines were horrible!! we got a snack at chic fil a, which i've eaten at only once, like ten years ago. the salad was good. scrapbooking stuff was 40% off at joann's so i stocked up on birthday stuff. debra and i are making birthday cards for the library this weekend.

when we got home justin had made kebabs and two couples came over. one were people from church who use to live in gainesville that i haven't seen in forever and the other a high school friend of justin's. his fiance is from amsterdam and she had this lovely accent. we had spinach dip and pita bread with hummus as appetizers and then chicken, steak and veggie kebabs with wheat pitas and baba ganuoush. i never had it before and didn't know it was eggplant. it was such a yummy meal. then we played catch phrase, scene it and scattegories. monkey bread for dessert and then i got olive all wound up before putting her to bed. once the couples left, ishu gave me a pedicure.

i slept in again! we had leftover greek food for breakfast and then they got ready for church and i packed up. ishu gave me my christmas present. she designed and made me a bag for my crocheting. it has pockets inside for the hooks and is brown with flowers. she is sooo creative. once i was home it was reading and naptime. then the golden globes in between desperate housewives and brothers and sisters.

today i met carrie at the gym and we did a stretch class and then some cardio. the class is taught by a library patron and she gave me a shout out in the class and said how much she loved acld. then we went to bageland for lunch and exchanged christmas gifts. home to read and nap and then emily came over to borrow some stamps. she had the boys with her and they were a little wound up from their playdate. they had fun writting on me with a sharpie and themselves with a highlighter. i started it my wrighting on myself. i'm such a bad example. then the squealed bloody murder in front of my apartment and were gone. they are crazy but fun!

then i got productive. dishes washed, healthy dinner made and eaten, room cleaned, apartment vacuumed, bed made and craft table organized. watched castle with the roommate. love love love that show! now catching up on email, facebook and the blogs. tomorrow we start unpacking the storage of what will one day be my library again. oh the work in store. 2am and time for bed!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

a month of no blogging

been waaaayyy too long. tons of stuff has been going on. pennsylvania was great. i love spending time with my grandma. it's weird and wonderful to have an adult relationship with older people. we talk like we're friends and i found out lots of things about her life that i didn't know. the older she gets the more i want to spend time with her. i know that her good years are growing short and want to get all the memories i can with her. i got to see snow and lots of great aunts and an uncle. we also had a fun shopping day at thrift stores where i got lots of stuff for sooo cheap! i had to borrow a suitcase from grandma just to bring the stuff home.

karen's graduation was good. she was soo nauseous, but she made it through without yakking. we got some great pictures of the family and the reception afterward had yummy food. then back to work for three days and trying to get everything done for christmas. christmas eve i went to lake city and had lunch at cracker barrell with susan and her son michael. susan is my high school friend who i visit every year in alabama. we planned our next visit for late april and are roadtripping to ..... arkansas! i know you're like what, arkansas? but neither of us have been and its only 4 hours from her place. so now i have to study up on the state for some off the wall places to visit.

after lunch i went to cat and bill's. grandma was staying with them and brian and i spent the night too. aunt susan and her boyfriend gary showed up in their rv and we had a nice christmas eve. we played games and ate a yummy dinner. my aunt susan made a bean soup that was delicious! i made corn casserole and steamed asparagus to go with it. christmas morning everybody else showed up. we opened presents for 2 hours, we like to watch each gift be opened. poor karen just kind of lay back on the couch and watched. i really hope this sick pregnant woman thing gets better soon. after i put my lovely quilt cat made me (with six matching pillows!) in my car, i went back to sleep. at 4 i got yanked out of bed by bill's best friend and we ate turkey and other yumminess that cat and bill made. then i lay on the couch and watched movies with my grandma. i spent another night there since my roommate was in my bed and her mom in hers.

up early the next day to work. luckily it was slow. brian's goodbye party was sunday night. kate made awesome cupcakes with brian's name on them and i got a bunch of foods brian could eat. about 30 people were there and it was a nice send off. mom, dad and brian left monday to go to salt lake. karen and justin left monday to go on a 4 day anniversary trip in the ga mountains. wednesday finally showed up and grandma and i drove down to marco island.

we stayed with her sister helen. first day we watched the sunset on the resident's only beach. it was really gorgeous. the next day janet and larry took me around the island. we went to some indian mounds, the library (which i really, really liked!) and then on a very very long walk on tigertail beach looking for shells. after lunch we went to big cypress national preserve in the everglades and saw tons of cool birds and one brave alligator. it was so cold they where all in hiding. that night we had pork and sauerkraut and peas. tradition apparently. it was really good. i got them all to stay up until midnight to watch the ball drop. they hadn't done it in years.

the next day i stayed in bed most of the day and then went over to larry and janet's for beef stew and pork leftovers while we watched the gator game. larry and i are the only ones who lasted til the end. it was great to see the gators win big. oh how i'll miss my tebow. the next day we went to open houses, as helen is looking to move to marco full time and wants more space and a place with a water view and an elevator. we saw some small condos with amazing views and a $1 million house that was pretty spectacular. the next day we drove up the coast to sanibel and captiva. cold and beautiful, i really want to come back to captiva to spend a long weekend. we ate yummy seafood and watched the steelers at the sanibel grill. then some dairy queen outside, sooo cold! and then the vacay was over. back to gainesville. 3 hours of sleep and then i picked up sam at 4:45am and drove her and grandma to the orlando airport. then i went home and slept the day away.

back to work on the 5th. lots to do with scheduling all the programs for the march-may guide. early morning staff meeting where i had to talk. planning sandy's retirement party and doing her scrapbook. late nights. and soreness. emily and i did a bosu class tuesday night and ohh was i in pain. but at least i was at the gym. read several books. worked the weekend, which was way too busy. did a chinese new year program on sunday. kids are so cute! i had 20 people, which means it was the holidays that got numbers low, not that i suck. trips to the permenant location to look at the progress of the building coming along quite nicely. trying to figure out how some of it is gonna work. getting to know the new librarian and figuring out my new library specialist's schedule. hiring pages and an ls to replace sandy (is that possible?) gotta do an evaluation and start going through my desk and tossing stuff.

stayed in bed all day yesterday (bum!) but today went to the gym, grocery shopping, did laundry (including putting it away), and cleaning my room. this weekend i'm going to see ishu and her fam. her bday was new years, so i gotta go celebrate. 4 day weekend with working last weekend and mlk day. gotta take down christmas soon. gotta write brian and send thank you's to all the aunts i saw in penn and marco. i think that catches me up. 3am time for bed!