Cady's first vet appointment

Well today was D-day for Cady...a visit to the vet! She got her 2 year old shots... as well as a very thorough physical exam and was tested for heartworm and intestinal worms, and passed with fly colors! She has some traces of fleas on her coat (but couldn't find any actual ones), but that doesn't surprise me since we have been treating her. They did poop, blood and ear wax cultures. And the only problem is she has 2+ yeast and 1+ bacterial infection in her ear. So now we are on antibiotics for 2 weeks. They say that this is why she has been throwing up randomly. She also came in to weigh at 89.2 lbs. They say this is slightly under the overweight side, and to increase her activity...all I can say is that she is very active, so how much more do you want her to be! So today as we were coming home in the snow (yes it's snowing again) I couldn't get my car into the driveway or garage, so as I was shoveling she was running around the field next door and having a blast in the snow. But anyways my puppy is doing well and she is growing like a good girl!

Puppy First's

Cady went to St Louis airport yesterday to help me get Geanya. She just loves to ride in the car, and therefore she got a surprise by meeting the big white and odd black shapes Manyard and of course Debbie. And of course Debbie couldn't resist so she gave in and gave Cady her first milkbones!

Cady has her first puppy play date today. Her and Sady seemed to have a blast. She wasn' intimidated at all by the blue hound, but remembered to have manners and respect Sady's home. She even did very well with the 18 month old...this makes it good news for me as tomorrow she will go on her first sleepover to Sady's for 3 nights, but shh don't tell her that. It's a puuppy Christmas surprise!

Early Christmas Week

Well Christmas week is upon us. To kick it off Caitlin and I threw a Christmas party. It was a total success with a good size of people showing up. However we got lots with tons of leftovers, so it's all I will be eating this week. Yesterday Steve and I went to North Park to see the Children's Musical "Christmas in Reverse". It was very cute. It is sad since this is the last two weeks of Pastor Howard and Sharon at the church, and lots of tears are being shed as we see a great servant of God step down after over ten years of serving in Moberly, and retiring due to severe pulmonary problems. Anyways Caitlin went home for 2 weeks, so now its just me and Cady left to celebrate Christmas. We shall see what the rest of the week has to bear, especially as the archeological world just announced today the discovery of Nazareth from the era of Jesus!

Congrats Kaytee!

my bestie graduated from RN school today. i am so incredibly proud of her and all of the accomplishments she has made. to think a few years back it seemed that one mistake changed her life overnight, and she could have went either way, to confront her mistake and move forward, or to not and live life miserably. but she chose to confront it and show the world she can do it. fast forward a few years, and look now, she has a beautiful daughter, and she just went from LPN to a GN. a graduate nurse. now all she needs is to do the official thing and get her license as an RN. all that stands before her is one test, that's it. she so can do it. and i cam rooting for her every step of her journey. to all that said she wouldn't make anything of her self...well what now? she is a very big influence on my life, and i am one incredibly proud friend.

rewards

it is such a nice feeling to come home to Cady. she is so excited to see you. it makes you feel so loved, like you are the most important person in her life. it's warming to the soul. i now know why they say a dog is a man's best friend.

anyways on a side note, i won $20 for working last friday. it was the DOC Christmas party. and they had door prizes, and for everyone who was working that couldn't attend got their names placed in the bucket. so i won told tonight that i won $20 from that...oh and tonight was CMS Christmas party...and our Christmas bonus this year...yep you guess right, a $25 gift card to Walmart. just like every year. we are so privileged....haha

p.s. i found out tonight at work that i won a bucket of holiday popcorn....

Winterizing Shoes

Well Winter officially hit with snow. We got about less then an inch, but it was white stuff on the ground regardless. And it is bitterly cold outside, with high winds and very low single digit numbers. Now that winter is here I need to winterize my apparel, and not just by dragging out my winter coat, gloves and scarves. But shoes. I can not stand tennis shoes. I find them very uncomfortable. I spend 9 hours at work on my feet, barely get time to sit down, except to chart, so I need comfy shoes and my solution in good weather is crocks (and the cheaper the better!). The bad thing about crocks is that there is absolutely no traction on them, and wholes, so they are very slippery on the concrete floors. So I broke down and spent the little money that I have on a pair tennis shoes. I found a pair of Dr Scholls at Walmart that have an air-pillo gel in the heel. Literally the heel is made out of gel, that you can see. It was comfy walking down the isle at Walmart. I work the next 7 days in a row, so we shall see if these work...more to come...

Living Windows....Small Town Life

I love living in a small town and the way the community does things. Tonight I was lucky enough to have the night off. So Julia and I took the kiddos to downtown where they were alive with the annual Living Windows. It's like window shopping on drugs. Every store front window had live Christmas scenes. There was Christmas carols, free baked goods, hot chocolate, and kettle corn...along with Santa and a horse drawn carriage. It was a tad bit nipply out but it was a fabulous time to reflect and remind me how much I love living in a small town where you know everyone...oh and I saw my first snow flurries tonight!!!

Se La Vie!

so my fellow evening co-workers were ticked off for me since they all got either Christmas or Christmas Eve off...and i was the only full time person that didn't, which stinks since i worked last year and now again this, and my family is coming to Chicago...let's just say life sucks when you grow up and get a job and become responsible. as the Haitian's say "se la vie". well so anyways my co-workers asked around to all the PRN people and one RN said she would do it since her holiday vacation plans fell through. so without me knowing they went to my boss and told them that she would work for me. and they said no! they said that she is a PRN person, which gets more money then a full-timer since full-timers are guaranteed 40 hours of work a week and benefits. so anyways they dont want to pay her the PRN wage plus time and a half for the holiday. it was so discouraging. then my boss started looking at my schedule and told me she was going to pull my other PTO day which i requested off for Kaytee's RN school graduation - she did this without my permission. so instead of having off just the Saturday and Sunday after Christmas, i now also have the Monday off...3 days which is nice for a quick trip to Chicago to see my family. sure i may not get to spend Christmas Day with them, but at least I get to see them...Se La Vie!