Welcome Home

I stood there poised for the picture.......... waiting to see sign of a girl with shoulder length brown hair carrying a baby and a small blonde haired two year old.  People kept getting in the way of my shot......."There she is" Nate says and I see my daughter and her two little ones.  There they were, coming out of the small hallway that connected them from the plane to me. She had to wait for her car seat and we weren't allowed in the corridor the help her.......believe me...Nate asked!  The anxiety was building and I was getting more and more eager to hold those babies.  Then my little granddaughter with the blonde hair hanging in her eyes looked towards us.  

I holler to her to come see me.   She looks with a sort of puzzled stair.  Her mommy says...."there's grandma". 

I crouch down so I'm at her level and coax her to me.  She takes off running as fast as her little legs could run and I grab her up and start to bawl.  I kiss her over and over, tears rolling down my cheeks.  Then I spy the size of my grandson.  He's SO MUCH taller than I was expecting. AND ROUND ALL OVER!  Love at first sight.....well, not first sight but all over again. 

It took an hour and a half just to get out of the airport.  What a happy reunion.  I am full of joy. 

Claralynne calls out to me now.........."Grandma...." I keep thinking she's talking to the other grandma Jeppson.  I have had to tell myself it's me she's referring to almost every time she calls me.  And I must admit, it gives me a huge lump in my throat knowing she means ME! What a joy.

One More Day Of Waiting

One more day before I get to see Aubrey, Claralynne and Jamesy boy! I'm so excited, I don't know how I'll ever get through a days work at the hospital tomorrow!  I won't be able to concentrate. Lucky for me it's the "easy" day of just teaching patients about CHF! Or...maybe that will be worse because it won't occupy my mind as hard.

Nate has been deep cleaning and baby-proofing the house while I, on my day off, spent it shopping for toys and clothes for the little ones.  My part in this has been much more fun, but should prove just as important for keeping our little 2 1/2 year old busy.  That will be a chore-for-shore!

I went to Savers to get some second hand toys figuring I would get a whole lot more bang for the buck and I really came home smiling?  

I got some blocks, about three or four dolls, a See and Say that is in excellent condition, and some cute clothes.  These toys add to the already purchased toys I got at the consignment store.

I think Clara will be styling. (Oh, and three pair of exercise pants and a scarf for me!)

 

I plan to read and color with her, twirl and kiss her, and sing songs and make cookies with her. I can't wait.  

Oh, and "The Boy"!  Well, he will be on my hip for many hours, as well as being squeezed and kissed until he's tuckered out by lovin'.    

The Inauguration of our 44th President Barack Obama

It brings me to tears, my heart is full, that I was witness to the inauguration of the first black president in our Country.  We have come from enslaving the black man, to making him president of our nation.  

How far we have come.

How far we have yet to go.

I am truly proud to live in this day.

This bible was used in the inauguration of Lincoln.   If there had been inclimate weather, it would not have been able to be used. Michelle Obama carried it until her husband was sworn in. How cool it is that she got to hold it.

President Lincoln who freed the slaves and our first black president. How many years did it take? How long has the black man been oppressed and lived through racism and hate?  

School children from Lucknow India wear masks honoring Barack Obama as they take out a procession to mark his inauguration. Have you ever seen our school children marking the inauguration of another countries new leader? Pretty cool.

French newspapers mark this historic day.

What a cute family.  I had to wonder if these girls had a clue as to how important this day was for their father and themselves.

I worked yesterday and didn't blog my sentiments on the day of the inauguration of our new President, Barack Obama.  I was truly touched by his inauguration speech and plan to go back to my DVR recording and write down some of the poignant things he said.

I absolutely loved the benediction.  Civil rights leader Reverend Joseph E. Lowrey's final words will stick in my head and heart forever. The entire prayer was wonderful, but his closing remarks made me laugh at the end of this historic day. You can read his entire benediction here http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/863605.html

"Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around...when yellow will be mellow...when the red man can get ahead, man: and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen."

President Obama has his work cut out for him with all that he faces in our nation battered by recession, wearied of war and hungry for a change after eight years of George W. Bush in the White House.  I fear that in just a short time, people of our nation will forget just what state our nation was in before Barack took office and try to blame him for it's ills.

I cried during his speech.  In no way do I feel that just by having him in office will he alone, be able to clean up the mess our nation is in.  I mean really, how can anyone believe one man can clean up after a tornado such as the one he has stepped into. No... not just a tornado.....A HURRICANE, TORNADO, CYCLONE-BURGULAR just ransacked our home and left us in such a state of disrepair that it is illogical to believe one person alone can even make a dent in it. 

At least I have a bit more hope for our nation now.  At least we will be able to listen to speeches where our leader will sound like he got past second grade and won't trip on his words making our nation look like a bunch of babbling idiots. 

Things That Suck

1- Going in to work 07:00 a.m and finding out I didn't need to be there until 09:00!

2- Feeling like Cinderella- Love my job but feel Im being pulled in three different directions!

3- Being sick

4-Finding out Aub is STILL sick

5-Waiting over 8 days for my doc to call in my sleeping pill prescription

6- Being sick (oh I said that). 

7- Wanting to exercise but still BEING SICK!

Cool picture huh?!

Chunky Lungs

I've had three different colds over the last two months.  The first one I had to wear a mask at work, my poor larynx was so sore from coughing that I sounded like a guy. 

That one started to clear up and on Christmas Eve, I started a new cold causing my nose to drain like a sieve with a really bad cough and this left me totally down for the count on Christmas day. 

 Just as I was getting better from that one, I got another cold that settled in my lungs.  I contracted two of these disgusting entities from my son.............he bragged at being the "Outbreak monkey".  All six of us here in Jeppsontown have been hacking up a lung for the past several days.  Grandpa commented that we all sounded like a bunch of turkeys with our coughing. Thanx Whit!

I don't get sick very often, or stay sick for that matter, but this stuff really started to get me worried.  Especially since I am a health care worker and deal with the elderly population which can seriously be affected by just a cold.  And because they really push us to get the flu vaccine, and I am a rebel in this department and will not get one, if I get so much as a sniffle I'm afraid they'll throw it back in my face that I should have been vaccinated.

(More on the matter of the flu vaccine later, an entirely new subject of which I am pretty opinionated.)  But because I was so worried about getting better I went and saw the doc............still another thing I RARELY do.  

She gave me a "Z-pack" and I can't believe how quickly it started to affect me.  Even right after I took it.  This morning I feel sooooooo much better.  I am still weak and my lungs are tender and easily provoked to cough, but my cough isn't as hefty and thick sounding and I feel less tired. 

This little recital is just to show how much I want to get better as I have such wonderful news.

I get to see my grand babies in just over a weeks time!  

Yes, they are coming to see me and I can hardly wait!!!!!!  Oh, and their mommy is coming too which makes me cry at the thought!

This brought about our little shopping excursion yesterday as we don't get to see grandkids much so our house is sadly deficient in the baby department.  So both of us sickies (Nate and I) went to the kids consignment shop yesterday and bought a Pack and Play (mini crib/play-pen), a Bumbo with tray, and then traveled out to the boonies to get a barely used high chair from a grammy who bought it for her visiting from out of town grandkids.  

Just going and buying this stuff makes me feel like I have babies again, it's so weird.  Oh, and I invested in a few toys too because this grammy is totally uncool in the toy department.  

Nate had to trudge back to the car he was so sick himself and feeling weak and achey that he sat most of the grocery shopping out.  I felt bad but he said he "wanted to be with me"!  Totally sweet!  I felt like death warmed over too but I had an agenda!  Then I went home and collapsed!

I called in sick for today to allow one more day of rest.  This puts me at nearly two weeks of not working the floor which doesn't make me one bit sad!  I can't believe how anxious and tired working on the floor makes me.  Since I'm now officially part time Cardiac Telemetry, part time Cardiac Rehab, I only have to work one day a week on the tele floor and it's absolutely WONDERFUL!

Oh, my tele-floor co-workers have called me a "traitor" by working with another department , but I don't care.  Well, I did at first.  Especially since I STILL WORK THERE!  But, it's just because they're left behind to deal with the CRAP! Floor work is really hard and stressful stuff and I'm glad I have something else to break it up.

I started the Pilates train rollin' as my down payment is in and they've sent me stuff in the mail telling me about the classes and such.  

You can't know how excited I am for this.  I finally feel like I'm going in the right direction. Nursing is a good field of work, but it's been pointing me in the direction of dealing with the sick, when I want to prevent sick and promote health!  Here I am on a cardiac unit and I work with over ten people who smoke cigarettes!  Even the nurse manager of our floor smokes. She's MY BOSS!!!!  I don't know how they have the guts to lean over their patients smelling of cigarettes to listen to their heart and lungs and tell them if they had only had a better lifestyle, they may not have cardiac and lung issues!  Yeah, makes no sense to me either!

                                                   

If I'm feeling some better, and Nate is up to it, we'll go look at flooring for the gym today!

~Totally Cool~  

Updated Pictures of the Gym

So here are the promised updates of the work on the gym up until just prior to yesterday.  I am waiting to take pics of the painted walls tonight with the lights on.  

We had to take down the CD's and movies and stack them in the hall prior to removing the wall that the shelf was on.  

On the right of this pic is the wall before demolition.  Here is the master carpenter!

Whit and Nate taking the wall down.

Just the stick framing for the old wall is left to remove.

Whit and Nate taking down the wood.

Just a few boards left of the old wall.

All the wood has been removed and just a nice clean open space is left.  I just absolutely love the large beam.  We plan to hook a pull-up bar to it when all is done.

Nate is such a talented carpenter.  He is the mastermind and strong arm behind all these changes. He used to build houses with his brother Vernal when he was in high school.  That's where he got his training.  He absolutely loves to work with wood.

I've helped out where I can, stuffing insulation, pulling out nails from the ceiling and floor, and I helped paint the ceiling.  Whit has helped out too. 

We moved the flat screen from the opposing wall to this one. Here it shows the cut out in the wall for the bending arm that holds the t.v.  My ballet bar was moved also. 

See the old cut out for the t.v. in wall on the left of the pic. 

The walls are now finished in pine. They will be the background for the future shelving that will go around the t.v.

The ceiling is triple insulated for a sound barrier.  First is the fluffy insulation, then this dark stinky sound board (it really smells awful) and finally the particle board that will be painted in the later pictures. 

This picture shows the last layer of insulating board on the ceiling. Nate has placed the wood wall up to be able to secure the upcoming shelving, otherwise the weight of the shelves and the t.v. would cause the wall to buckle. He sealed the wood.  It's starting to really look nice. 

The hall just after being primed.

Here the ceiling has been primed.  I love the lighting.  I call them my "twinkle lights".

My husband is really amazing.  He got really sick after priming the walls and ceiling, I think because of the fumes. I am so excited I can hardly stand it.  The walls and ceiling have been painted.  I'll update with new pictures soon.