post #200

back in jan, 2007, i wrote my 100th post and tried to think of 100 things that i had done for the first time since i started my blog. well, looking back it seems that i only could come up with 50 things. and now i've reached post #200, so once again i have come up with 100 things that i've done for the first time since post #100, in the last 2 years. some of these things are exciting, some funny, some sad. but for the first time, i:

1. was an assistant day camp director
2. created and led a day camp leader-in-training program for high school students
3. did both of those things, plus was the camp nurse, all at once
4. went to my husband’s university graduation
5. had a neighbor leave meat boiling on the stove while they went grocery shopping and almost burn down the apartment building.
6. moved into an apartment with a swimming pool.
7. moved into an apartment with a fireplace, washer, dryer, dishwasher, and TWO bedrooms.
8. became married to an art teacher!
9. watched a total knee replacement in the OR
10. watched a laparoscopic hernia repair
11. watched laparoscopic cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal)
12. watched 2 gastroscopies and 2 colonoscopies –all these in one day!
13. had 4 breakfasts in one day with my sister
14. backpacked across the u.s. border with my sister
15. took a ferry, a bus, and a bus on a ferry while backpacking across the u.s. border with my sister
16. went through customs in the dark during a power-outage
17. had to present a stupid group project at school to a panel of real c.e.o.’s and other head honchos of various local hospitals.
18. graduated from university with my BN
19. went to my 'pinning ceremony'
20. completely altered a dress and it looked good in the end!
21. sewed a messenger bag for my hubby and it turned out well too! (I tend to make up these sewing projects and most of them remain ugly and unfinished)
22. rented a moving truck
23. rented a car
24. bought a leather sofa
25. bought a house
26. have more than 3 windows in my home
27. have direct sunlight (into 6 windows!)
28. had a christmas cactus bloom (must be all that sunlight)
29. went to california with my hubsy
30. spent 16.5 hours at disneyland in one day
31. went on space mountain twice before 8 am.
32. went to a highly-interactive, acrobatic, pirate-themed, musical dinner theatre
33. went to a service at the crystal cathedral
34. followed a local californian’s poor advice about california waterparks
35. played in the waves at huntington beach, ca
36. worked as a grad nurse
37. wrote a 7-hour exam
38. became an RN!
39. got my first job as a “real” nurse
40. got something called a “paycheck” for being a “real” nurse
41. inserted an intravenous line
42. inserted a subcutaneous line
43. assisted a nurse insert a PICC line
44. saw delirious in concert
45. saw the sound of music at rainbow stage
46. turned 25 years old
47. turned 26 years old
48. discovered that i don't mind 12-hour shifts
49. discovered that i don't mind night shifts
50. am learning how to sleep during the day after 12-hour night shifts
51. took an advanced cardiac life support course
52. learned to read those wiggly lines on a heart monitor
53. called a doctor at home
54. signed the papers and released a body to the funeral home
55. cut a cast off of a teenager’s arm in the ER
56. bandaged up a man’s toes – or what was left of them – after he tried to mow his lawn wearing sandals
57. made chicken noodle soup from scratch (it wasn't very good).
58. went camping at clear lake with friends
59. went camping at spruce woods with friends
60. had complete strangers invite us to join them for a campfire in our own campsite.
61. went to a nude beach. umm... well, maybe not exactly.... we went to patricia beach, to the part where people DO wear bathing suits.
62. been sworn at by a patient
63. been kissed on the cheek by a patient
64. intentionally lied to a patient. (trust me, it was for the best)
65. realized that i like palliative care and i hate mental illness
66. changed a "vac" dressing, that is, a dressing in a wound that is hooked up to a low-suction vacuum.
67. inserted a naso-gastric tube (read: nose-to-stomach tube)
68. inserted a catheter
69. changed a chest tube dressing
70. did a blood transfusion
71. did a total parental nutrition (TPN) infusion
72. spent a 12-hour night shift doing vital signs every 15 minutes for a critically ill patient
73. took doctor’s orders over the phone
74. drew blood from a central line
75. was the nurse "in charge"
76. puchased a frontloading washer & dryer
77. went to grand forks for the weekend
78. have only grandmas left here on earth, no grandpas.
79. have considered being a palliative home care nurse one day – after my grandparents had such a positive experience with theirs
80. attended the funeral for a friend's baby boy
81. served at a downtown soup kitchen
82. hit a car in a parking lot
83. picked out new black kitchen appliances
84. picked out carpet & flooring
85. picked out countertops, cabinets & hardware
86. picked out drapery
87. picked out the layout of our house
88. painted my living room & kitchen green
89. painted my office blue
90. painted my bedroom brown & orange
91. painted my bathroom grey
92. have an art room in my house
93. made 257 christmas cookies in one day
94. had a real christmas tree (as an adult)
95. discovered the funness of the nintendo wii
96. taught a grade 7 girls sunday school class
97. finished reading the anne of green gables books
98. started reading the harry potter books
99. discovered bohnanza (the bean game) and apples to apples
100. learned - the hard way - that one should search every last fold in 2nd hand fabric bought at mcc for mothballs BEFORE putting the fabric in the washer with other linens.

how about you?

it's about time

it's official... IKEA is coming to winnipeg!! it's about time. but, oh, "between late 2011 and early 2013" is so, so far away...

it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

i had a pretty productive day today. first, i found a new use for my gargantuan shot glass - my lovely grad gift from the faculty of nursing....mmmmm-mmmmm shortbread!!

then i helped these cute Christmas smarties (the red ones have snowmen and snowflakes and trees on them) find their way into some double chocolate chip cookies....

and i found a good way to use my lastest, most favouritist flavouring - almond extract. yummers! here's a picture of most of the 257 cookies i made today (the rest are in my tummy).

and then in the evening we decorated our Christmas tree! this year we FINALLY have a real one - a scotch pine nonetheless. gorgeous!

recipes

my sister posted about some delicious muffins that she made last weekend and i thought i'd do the same. this past weekend i made some of the yummiest muffins i've ever made, with the help of R's mom (they were out here visiting). i did take some pictures with the cellphone, but they're kinda blurry, not worth posting. and they cannot compare to the beautiful picture in the previous post. but watch out! these are healthy muffins!! (and R still liked them!)

MORNING GLORY MUFFINS (this is from the simonhouse cookbook)

2 C all-purpose flour
1 1/4 C white sugar (i did 3/4 C and they were just fine)
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon (okay i did like 3 or 4 tsp because i LOVE cinnamon!)
1/2 tsp salt

(i also added 1/8 tsp nutmeg and next time i'll add more. i LOVE cinnamon and nutmeg!)

2 C grated carrots
1/2 C raisins
1/2 C nuts
1/2 C coconut (which i skipped)
1 apple, diced

3 eggs
1 C oil (canola oil!)
2 tsp vanilla

in a large bowl, mix the first 5 ingredients. stir in the next 5 ingredients. in a bowl, beat eggs, oil and vanilla. stir into flour mixture until batter is just combined. spoon into muffin cups, filling almost to the top. bake at 350 for 17 minutes. makes 1.5-2 dozen.

so moist and yummy and delicious!!


now speaking of recipes, i'm in need of some help. we're having a potluck dinner for R's staff Christmas party, and we're supposed to bring our favorite international dish. (but not too 'americanized' ie. pizza). well, all the 'international' stuff that i make i think is pretty 'americanized', or it's too much work (ie. i make a mean enchilida), so i'm kind of stumped. any ideas for me?

also, due to the outlandish number of potlucks and gift exchanges i'm involved in this Christmas, i'd like to keep the cost down... so no meat dishes i guess. have any ideas??

For real....

I just found out that I passed my RN exam!! I can't believe that I'm finally FINALLY done! For real!

baking & sewing

i woke up yesterday morning and immediately got started on making a birthday cake for R and his staff to enjoy. i had decided to make a chocolate trifle - why i wanted to do so much work, i don't really know, when i could have just made something simple like chocolate cupcakes.

i decided to make the cake part in a stoneware 9x13 that i received as a gift years ago but never used. i always thought that it felt so rough - wouldn't everything just stick on? and it's so heavy. as i pulled it out of the box, i thought i had better wash it before it's first use, like i usually would. as it was drying on the counter i decided to check online to see how i'm supposed to use and care for this thing. over and over i kept reading "Never use soap on stoneware as the dish will absorb the soap and it will seep into your food causing your food to taste like soap". OOOPS! i quickly went and repeatedly rinsed out my dish, hoping to, I don't know, get the soap before the dish did. okay, and i'm supposed to cook a bunch of greasy dishes in it first, to "cure" it. oops again. but i figured that using it for a trifle would be a good trial because if it didn't come out quite right, i needed to crumble the cake anyway and no one would notice.
surprising, the cake turned out perfectly, it didn't stick, it didn't taste like soap and there's a little bit leftover. :) i brought the dessert to R's school at lunch to surprise him and i think i made his birthday a little happier and i know that the staff appreciated it too.

before R and i went out for dinner, i gave him a few presents. i was so SOOO pumped about one of his gifts. i sewed him a messenger bag and it looks so good! i'm quite proud of myself, as it feels like the majority of my little sewing projects only make it 3/4 done and then i just get too frustrated with my mistakes and give up. this is definitely the nicest thing that i have ever sewed from start to finish. he's been looking for a bag like this for probably a year now, so finally i decided to finally just make one.

the handsome birthday boy and his very attractive bag.


adjustable straps


and a plaid lining.

Happy birthday hunny. I love you.