No, I haven't dropped off the face of the earth

Sorry for the absence. I have several things going on right now to keep me away from the computer. My Christmas work party is this Saturday and we give gag gifts to each of the doctors and they have assigned me to write the poems to go with them. It's really fun and they have to stand up and read them in front of everyone.

We also have a wine tasting social for the neighborhood that we are hosting tomorrow night so I have been getting ready for that as well. I am also hosting a purse party next Friday and we have our monthly Bunko the following Friday. Busy, busy.

My sister's birthday is tomorrow so we all went out to eat tonight at PF Changs. I love that place. I saw my younger sister, the one who is having problems with her son and she didn't take my advice. He skipped school today actually. I don't know what to say about that. She asked me if I would trade one of my girls for him for a month. I told her that he would be praying for military school by the end of the month. I'm not willing to give up my kid to find out.

I am going to finish my Christmas shopping this weekend. I am usually done by now. I hate the crowds. Oh, and I am also getting my hair done on Saturday. I haven't had it cut since July. I am in desperate need!!

Have a great weekend everyone!!

P.S. Aren't you proud of me Jude? I managed to change my layout all by myself, lol!

Just a little update

Tyler's mom is healing. She broke her bone under her one eye. The guy was her crack head neighbor just trying to start some trouble. He's in jail, thank goodness.

The holidays are creeping up on me. I am going to do some more shopping this weekend. I have decided to get hubby the XBox 360. He loves his video games. Men and their toys, lol!

My sister has come to ask for advice about her 15 year old son. He's failing all of his classes (he's in the 9th grade for a second year), mainly because he's skipping school. She takes him every morning to make sure he goes, but at some point, he leaves the school grounds. Obviously, this is easy to do. His father is out of the picture for some time. She has remarried 7 years ago and new hubby is no help. He has a 16 year old daughter from his first marriage that can do no wrong, and he doesn't discipline her for anything. She wants to send him to military school, but can't afford it. I told her what I would do if this happened to me. I told her to set up tutoring sessions after school that are mandatory for him to go to try to bring his grades up. Then I would take everything out of his room except for his bed and his clothes. No tv, no video games, no guitar until he brought his grades back up. I would also have him do some chores around the house. He doesn't do any now. She thought that was being strict, but I think she is way too lenient with him. What do you guys think? Any suggestions for my sis? She could use all the help she can get.

Hope everyone is enjoying their week so far!

Finally some good news!

Stephanie heard back from East Carolina University today and SHE GOT IN!!! I am so proud of her. She is still waiting to hear back from NC State and Chapel Hill. ECU is her 3rd choice. It's 3 hours away, so it's my third choice as well, lol!

Connie left me a not so cryptic message the other day that I am still on cloud nine about. I am anxiously awaiting some details on that girl!!

We have started Christmas shopping. The girls wanted docks for their iPods so we got those and we got them Guitar Hero 3 for the PS2. Kim also wanted the soundtrack to Across the Universe, so I picked that up. She is a huge Beatle's fan. She appreciates music the way I do. She has very eclectic taste like me. She also has a love for reading like me. She's joined a book club at school. She has a love for writing like me and writes short stories too. She really is my mini me.

I am really enjoying my new car. The girls at work call it my British Mobile since I have the union jack on the front. They love to ride in it at lunch time and we blast some 80's music and act silly. I will post some pics. Every time I go to find my digital, one of the girls are using it.

Kim brought home a baby hamster the other day. His name is Todd. He's pretty cute. He has this elaborate cage with a wheel and stuff. One more animal to feed!

Have a great weekend everyone!

What in the heck is the world coming to?

Last night Kim's boyfriend's mom was attacked in her own back yard while she was feeding her dogs, then they robbed her house. She is okay, physically anyway. Kim didn't get the full story, but they did find out that the person(s)responsible lives down the street from them. Am I going to have to carry a weapon walking out into my back yard now?!! WTF!!

I am tired of bad news, let me tell you. It's time for a break!!! Hubby went to the doctor today because he felt something in one of his testicles yesterday. He stopped by afterward to tell me that it was just a cyst and everything was fine. I really don't think I could have handled anymore bad news right now. I am at my limit.

Softball is over for another season. It will start back up again with sign ups in February. Kim will have to move up to play with the bigger girls since she is 14. The good thing is she will get to play with her big sister. They haven't played on the same team together in probably 4 or 5 years, so that will be nice.

Nothing else is going on, thank goodness!! Too much drama right now. I feel like I am on a soap opera or some kind of reality tv show. My fellow blogger Dick just came from Hawaii and posted some really great pics on his blog you should check out. It makes me want to go so bad. I know it makes you want to go back Jude, since it is one of your favorite places. Hawaii is definitely on my list of places to see. My other blogger friend Susan posted a blog recently about 50 things that you would like to do before you die. I don't think I could come up with 50. Most of mine would be places to visit, not so much things to do. I have a long list of places to see. For now I will have to live vicariously through fellow bloggers to see pictures until it is my turn.

I thought it would be fun and interesting to see what are some things you want to do?

Another day, another dolllar

That's how I feel sometimes about work. I need to work, but I don't want to work. I think today all the crazy people are coming to our office. There are some days I just can't handle another person and I just want to poke my eyes out! I get sick of all the dumb questions, and I'm not talking about questions that the average non-medical person wouldn't know the answer to in a million years. I am talking about stuff that people should know if you have half a brain cell in your head!!!

This morning I had a patient's mother ask me if ultrasound was safe for her grandchild. That is a perfectly reasonable question. I told her that it has been around for a very long time and there were no known bio-effects from it. She was still very skeptical. I then proceeded to tell her that she was surrounded by sound waves all the time, and they didn't seem to be affecting her. Her response is what gained her a free membership into my stupid question hall of fame. She said and I quote "But I'm not surrounded by water." WTF!!! I ended the conversation because the smart ass in me was dying to come out. That is just one of many dumb questions I get on a daily basis. I am going to start keeping track of them and sharing them with you all. It will give you a chuckle if nothing else.

My co-worker hasn't returned back to work yet. She posted a bulletin on myspace that made me cry. She was very close to her brother and thought of him as her own child in a lot of ways, since she is a few years older. It really breaks my heart. And we got bad news #2 out of the comes in 3 thing. Our neighbor's 26 year old son died Tuesday of an apparent heart attack. He was a brittle diabetic who was not under the care of a physician because he refused to see one. He had been complaining about not feeling well for a few days and came to stay with them. They said he usually would do this. By the time his mom dragged him to the ER it was too late. He died soon after they arrived. The sad thing is they may have been able to help him if he wouldn't have been so stubborn about going. I would have dragged him kicking and screaming when he first felt bad. They are feeling a lot of guilt now because of this. All we can do is be there for them now and comfort them as best as we can. As parents we aren't supposed to bury our children.

On a brighter note, Halloween was uneventful. The kids had fun trick or treating with their friends. We didn't get many kids this year, just a handful. It's dwindling down every year which is a shame. We used to have such a blast growing up on Halloween. Nobody wants to participate in it anymore. So many people think it's evil. It's only evil if you make it that way!!! Okay, I won't stay on that soap box long.

We are enjoying some nice temps in the 70's. Very nice for the fall. I hope everyone is enjoying their week and has a nice relaxing weekend ahead of them.

And I want to wish my dear friend Janna a Happy Birthday. Rock on sista!