BON JOVI CONCERT!!!!!!!!!!!

I just got my tickets for the Bon Jovi concert here in Atlanta. The show isn't until April and the tickets go on sale to the general public tomorrow, but I got a password for one of the pre-sales and got my tickets this morning. Olivia and I will be going to Bon Jovi!!!

We are on the floor, not right up front, those tickets were too pricey and weren't available for the pre-sale anyway. I got the tickets from the second price level, which is still more than I wanted to pay, but the tickets from the third price level weren't what I wanted. I kept trying to pick new seats from Ticketmaster, but none of the options they gave me were what I wanted. So, I went up to the second price level....and damn, I got some good seats!

Thomas is going to pay for my ticket as part of my Christmas gift and Olivia's ticket is going to be part of her Christmas gift from me and Thomas!

I am so freaking excited!!!!!!!!!

Did I ever mention that I love Richie Sambora? I have? Well, maybe once or twice...LOL! Olivia loves Jon Bon Jovi, so we will be a good pair.

Oh, speaking of Olivia, she has decided that "One Wild Night" is her favorite song now. Her favorite song changes often, generally between Bon Jovi songs and Avril Lavigne songs, but "One Wild Night" is just not the most, well, appropriate song for a four year old to have as her favorite. Oh well, it will probably change in a few weeks. Her last favorite song was "Bed of Roses," and I couldn't blame her on that, it is one of my most favorites too.

I have wanted to see them in concert since about 1987 and haven't managed it yet, so this is definitely going to be a first for me...hopefully well worth the 20 year wait (21 years by 4/30/08!)

I AM SO F-ING MAD!!!!!!

Okay, so I just read an article on MSNBC.com that was talking about people LYING about religious beliefs in order to avoid immunizations for their children. As a nurse who works in a pediatric ICU, I have seen a number of children come in this year for pertussis. I even had to take prophylactic antibiotics because I was around this child for an extended period of time before s/he was diagnosed with pertussis!

I, personally, don't think there should be a religious exemption, or any other kind of exemption for immunizations except for medical exemptions. Medical exemptions are allowed only for children with medical conditions that would interact poorly with immunizations. YOUR beliefs could make MY child sick even though my child is immunized. IF you lie about RELIGIOUS BELIEFS and your child makes my child sick, I will sue you for the medical costs of caring for my child. Even children who have been immunized may get sick, even if not to the extent of the full blown disease.

YOUR RIGHTS MAY NOT IMPINGE ON MY RIGHTS!!! You may not choose to make decisions that may harm my children. You may not drink and drive, or you go to jail. If your children make my children sick, AND YOU LIED, I will pursue every criminal and civil court in the nation and you will pay for lying and your lie making my child sick!

These people who are LYING are evil, in my opinion. Their irrational (read: stupid) fears about vaccinations are the reason there are laws in place requiring vaccinations!

Still Alive and Well

Life has been hectic. Since I last blogged, Sam has turned five and Olivia has turned four. The boys are back in school now, Sam is in kindergarten and Drew is in his sophomore year of high school. Let's see, I am at work right now for an overtime shift and I worked extra last Sunday night as well. We moved our unit to the new building the hospital just opened and we have been very busy getting used to everything. The biggest challenge is finding where things are, I think.

Thomas is working on an album, hopefully it will be finished soon :o) The girls are growing so fast, it is hard to imagine that Sofia is almost 2 now, time flies when you aren't paying attention.

Well, I should end here, hopefully it won't be five months before I blog again.

So Busy

I haven't been on here in quite a while. Life has been busy.

We started using a new computer charting system at work, so I had been taking multiple classes to learn the system. I am one of the many "superusers" in the hospital. It means that we are helping everyone else with their charting and not taking care of patients ourselves. Finally I got to do patient care on Friday and Saturday nights this week, which was wonderful as that is why I became a nurse. It was also nice to actually use the computer charting system while there are superusers around to help me, but I have to admit that I really liked it and it was much easier than I thought...at least with two "easy" PICU patients. Easy is in quotes, because they are never "easy" but everything is relative.

My mom came to visit on Mother's Day and stayed until that Thursday, we went everywhere and had a blast.

On Tuesday of last week, we drove to Birmingham, AL, to visit a friend in the hospital. He has been in nine weeks now and is lucky to be alive. He spent over a month in ICU on the ventilator and continuous dialysis. He is still having dialysis three days a week and is going for a biopsy this week to determine if he will ever regain kidney function. Please keep him in your prayers (and his wife as well.) We left here after we dropped Sam off at school, drove straight to Birmingham, visited about 45 minutes and then had to come back so we could pick Sam up. It was definitely worth the long day though.

My other new "venture" is that I am now running a MySpace Baby Contest. I used to enter my beautiful babies/kids in this contest, as well as others, and had a blast doing so whether we won or not. It is just fun. However, the lady who ran the contest was not going to be able to do so anymore, so she gave me her MySpace contest page. This, in and of itself, takes a bunch of time, but it is so much fun. I have met so many moms on MySpace and it is great having folks online who share so many interests. I love MySpace, even prior to the contests. I have made friends all over the world and they are great. It is neat to interact with people all over the place.

Okay, I am sharing some wine with my hubby. I just wanted everyone to know that I have NOT fallen off the face of the earth. Have a great night.

Potter Puppet Pals in

This is hysterical. My friend Monique at work told me about this and, she was right, it is too funny!

My Girly Girl

Olivia would seem like the ideal child to be a girly girl. She is small, petite, and curvy (already...sigh!) She has beautiful long brown hair and huge brown eyes. However this is not to be. She has adamantly stated that she wants NO DRESSES for summer. She is revolted by the beautiful Easter dresses we have shown her. She just says that she wants shirts and pants only. Her newest imaginary friend is Mr. Beacon, a great big, black, furry wolf.

God did see fit to give me a girly girl though. She has blond hair, blue eyes, and dimples. She is the chubbiest, juiciest baby you could ever imagine. She has been name Polar Bear by her sister. However, this girl likes all things girly. She sleeps with a newborn Cabbage Patch Kid. She loves soft, fluffy animals. AND she adores the beautiful Easter dresses and gets upset that we don't give them to her to hug all the way through the store.

Last night we pulled out a couple of boxes of spring and summer clothes that we had put away last year. We pulled out a beautiful pale yellow dress with lavender flowers on it. Olivia was disgusted. Sofia was enamored. It was size 18 months, which doesn't generally fit Sofia and we were pretty sure it wouldn't fit at all. However, she was determined that we were going to take off her jammies and put her in this beautiful dress. So we did, and it fit for now. It won't fit for long though. She was so excited when we picked her up and allowed her to see her reflection in the mirror, that was the biggest smile ever.

My Girls

Olivia decided we needed to go to the playground today. She wanted to go, and as it was about 75 degrees and sunny today, who could blame her?

So we got everyone in play clothes, piled in the car, went through the McDonald's drive-thru and got lunch which we ate at the picnic tables at the playground. After lunch the girls got to play for about an hour before we went to Dairy Queen for an ice cream cone, which they LOVED.

The girls had so much fun going down the slides, there are five at this playground and Olivia went down them all. Sofia is seen above being caught by a friend she made at the playground. The little girl kept trying to play with Olivia, but Olivia was very much on her own today. Well, on her own with her current imaginary friend, Gimli. Now for those who don't know, Gimli is a dwarf from The Lord of The Rings. Hard to picture a dwarf in full body armor playin at the playground, but Olivia insisted. (She even took our Gimli action figure to bed with her tonight...strange girl, I know.) **See Gimli below as play by John Rhys Davis in the movie version of LOTR.**


The girls had a blast and Olivia is already talking about our next trek to the playground. Unfortunately, Mama has required classes to take for work most of next week, so it may be the week after :o(

Seriously Offended...

Okay, so someone with too much time on their hands (or whatever,) decided to come onto my blog and criticize me for being offended about things regarding Harry Potter. There are many things that offend me, number one being stupid people who wish to criticize me for being offended about Harry Potter.

This is MY blog, if you want to criticize people get your own blog and do it there. If you want to read about serious things, skip over the fluff posts and read about the Iraq War, babies requiring CPR, etc. I post enough serious topics on this blog, that there should be no reason to criticize me about my Harry Potter post.

Any further comments such as the one I received last night will be deleted. There is enough crap that I have to deal with, I don't need it on here! Especially from someone who won't even cop to who they are and leave the post anonymously.

Severus Snape

I must admit my confusion. I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan, I love the books, I enjoy the movies, and I am impatiently awaiting July 21. However, I must admit that I thought that JK Rowling wrote the Harry Potter books, not the Severus Snape books. I do recall Harry Potter and the Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and soon Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

The only book title that relates to him at all (so far) is the Half-Blood Prince. Seven books and only one title that mentions Snape. Seven books titles mention Harry Potter, and not in riddle, they straight forward mention him.

Now, there are other characters in the books. Some I love, some I like, some I dislike, some I loathe, and some I am apathetic about. On the love/like side are the Weasley's, Dumbledore, Hermione, the members of the Order, Seamus, Dean, the Creevy bros, etc. On the dislike/loathe side, there are the Malfoy's, Crabbe, Goyle, Voldemort and his Death Eaters, most of the Slytherins, and Dolores Umbridge. The apathetic feelings are with some of the other characters.

Now, granted, JK Rowling has created a wealth of characters and there are many I would enjoy knowing more about, however these books are the Harry Potter books. AND ALL OF THE CHARACTERS ARE CREATED BY HER AND LIVE IN THE WORLD SHE CREATED!!!

I take serious offense at people who claim not to "trust the character of Snape in JKR's hands." I take offense to people who claim they don't want to read the last book because they are worried Snape may die. I seriously take offense at people who gripe about the movies because Snape didn't have a big enough role. I thought the books (and the movies) were about Harry Potter and his world. I thought the other characters were there to move the story ABOUT HARRY POTTER along, both good and bad. I never realized that the whole series was secretly about Severus Snape. I never realized that ANYONE thought that JK Rowling must write her characters and her world and her books in such a way as to not piss off the Severus Snape fans.

My first, and only, foray into the discussion boards on one of the Harry Potter fanfic sites brought about only disgust. Yes, I have my favorite characters. Yes, I can tell you who my favorite character (aside from Harry) is. Yes, I can tell you what it feels like to see that character get murdered. I can tell you what it feels like to have that character murdered by the "adored" Severus Snape. I would rather see Snape dead any day than to have Dumbledore dead, but JK Rowling didn't ask me, nor did I expect her to. I think people need to get over the idea that they own these characters and this world. The characters, and world, belong to JK Rowling and we can play in it with some fanfic, but the canon belongs to her and we must respect that.

I do more than respect it, I adore it and I am furious at the people who would claim not to read the books because Severus Snape may die. Dumbledore died, the only way it could get worse would be to see Harry die, and that is a real possibility and I am prepared to deal with that if that is what JK Rowling throws at us. Her world, her characters, her stories; thank you JK Rowling for all you have created for us. I, for one, am forever grateful.

Mad As Hell!

Eve Of Destruction
Lyrics by P.F. Sloan

The eastern world, it is exploding
Violence flarin’, bullets loadin’
You’re old enough to kill, but not for votin’
You don’t believe in war, but what’s that gun you’re totin’
And even the Jordan River has bodies floatin’

But you tell me
Over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve
of destruction.

Don’t you understand what I’m tryin’ to say
Can’t you feel the fears I’m feelin’ today?
If the button is pushed, there’s no runnin’ away
There’ll be no one to save, with the world in a grave
[Take a look around ya boy, it's bound to scare ya boy]

And you tell me
Over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve
of destruction.

Yeah, my blood’s so mad feels like coagulatin’
I’m sitting here just contemplatin’
I can’t twist the truth, it knows no regulation.
Handful of senators don’t pass legislation
And marches alone can’t bring integration
When human respect is disintegratin’
This whole crazy world is just too frustratin’

And you tell me
Over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve
of destruction.

Think of all the hate there is in Red China
Then take a look around to Selma, Alabama
You may leave here for 4 days in space
But when you return, it’s the same old place
The poundin’ of the drums, the pride and disgrace
You can bury your dead, but don’t leave a trace
Hate your next-door neighbor, but don’t forget to say grace
And… tell me over and over and over and over again, my friend
You don’t believe
We’re on the eve
Of destruction
Mm, no no, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve
of destruction.

This song was written, recorded, and released in 1965. It was performed by Barry McGuire who did an amazing job in my opinion. I heard it for the first time as a teenager and thought it was a great song that captured the essence of the Vietnam/Civil Rights era very well. A great Vietnam War protest song.

Listening to that song tonight, I realize that 42 years later we are in the same damn position. Our boys (and girls) now can vote, but are still sent to kill and be killed over some old men's disagreements. I guess our president forgot history, so we are now repeating it.

Maybe we should look toward Selma or New York or Washington, DC, or any other city in America and clean up our own problems and take care of our own people before we take on wealthy oil dictators. What about the evil dictators in this world that AREN'T sitting on a pile of oil? Why aren't we ousting them and helping the people they are terrorizing? Oh, right, oil, never mind!

All I have to say is January 20, 2009, can't get here fast enough.

Something To Think About

Okay, I have been a nurse for almost eight years, and in this time I have been a part of multiple code situations (more than I can count, probably more than I can remember.) However, in all of this time, I have NEVER done chest compressions on anyone. I have bagged, I have run for supplies, I have started IVs, and I have done the charting. Yet, I had never done chest compressions, at least not until two weeks ago.

I had two patients that night, one of whom was extremely busy and extremely sick. Thankfully the other was doing very well and was just waiting for a bed to come available so he could get transferred out of the PICU. My sick baby, four weeks old, had "misbehaved" when I was at lunch and once when I went to the bathroom. Of course, I had left another nurse in charge of him, so he was okay when I got back to the room. The other nurses teased me that he didn't want me to leave him.

Well, last thing before I leave, his heart rate starts to drop and I end up doing chest compressions on him. It is very strange to do chest compressions on someone who weighs all of six pounds. Very strange and definitely life altering. I have to admit that I struggled over the next few days with all the psychological implications of having to do these chest compressions. I am very grateful I was there, the respiratory therapists at the bedside gave me the positive reinforcement I needed after he was stabilized. Thankfully this was never a full blown code situation and his heart rate was back up, on its own, within 30 seconds. However, the affect on me has been profound! That little guys life was literally in my hands, that is a very scary place to be, thankfully I didn't have time to think about that until AFTER the fact!

79th Annual Acadamy Awards

Last year, the Acadamy Awards were very enjoyable for me. My husband and I chatted online with another individual, we talked about the nominees, the winners, the dresses, it was very enjoyable. I can only hope that they will be as nice this year. I must say that I am looking forward to the Oscars' and I have my favorites picked, though I doubt they will win. Oh well, I may be pleasantly surprised.

Happy Valentines Day

July 21, 2007 at 0001

I am a VERY HAPPY LADY this morning. I woke up, checked my email, checked my bank account, checked MySpace, and checked J.K. Rowling's website, just like I always do. I didn't really see anything that suprised me in my email, in my bank account, or on MySpace. I also didn't expect anything excitting with J.K. Rowling's website either, just goes to show how wrong I was.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be released on July 21, 2007 at 0001 in your time zone.

I am very, very, very, very excited.

Now, I have to be honest, I started a blog yesterday, that I did not finish, that was entitled "Dear J.K. Rowling..." That blog was in response to my withdrawals and my desire for the seventh book. I am so desperate for new Harry Potter material that I started reading Fan Fiction about a week ago. I have been pleasantly suprised by some of the fanfic, though some is bad also.

So, "Dear J.K. Rowling..." has been done away with and I am one happy camper this morning...even though Albus Dumbledore really is dead.

Taxes

I just love tax season...NOT!!!

Its not because I ever owe taxes, I don't. I generally get a decent refund, but I really hate waiting around for all the tax forms to show up in the mail. I just wish everyone would get their act together so I could get this business over and done.

Yesterday I finally received my W-2 forms from my job and from the insurance company that paid my short term disability last year when I was on maternity leave. I received the forms for my student loan interest quite awhile ago, at least someone is on top of things. However, we still haven't received Thomas' W-2 from when he worked last year. I am at a stand still until I receive them. GRRR!

In the age of e-file, online filing programs, etc, why can't W-2 forms be available online? I know some companies do this, but more should have it available. Thomas worked for a company that is nationwide, with restauarants in most every state. My job doesn't even give us real paychecks or stubs. My paystubs are only available online, I have to print them off if I need them. However, I had to wait and wait for my W-2. I generally file within a few days of getting all of my forms, I just wish companies had the same sense of getting taxes done that I do.

Oh well, I am still playing the waiting game. How goes tax season for everyone else?

Blogging

I have a folder in my bookmarks list that is entitled "Blogs." It has in it links to all the blogs that I read on a daily basis. I don't update my blog daily, so I can't complain too loudly. However, two of the blogs I "read" haven't been updated since the end of November. I can understand not blogging in December because of Christmas, but January is almost over and they still haven't been updated. Now, I know from reading other blogs that they comment on, or have had their pictures posted on, that these folks are NOT dead, and since they are COMMENTING, they do have computer access. My question is, why keep up a blog that you don't post on in over two months? Any ideas?

I Love Macy's

Okay, I admit it, I love Macy's. I can't usually afford their prices, but I love the clothes, linens, etc. I have discovered a way to afford Macy's however, I have learned to wait for their sale on their clearance items. Today they had a sale for an additional 30% off their clearance items.

I bought two pairs of slacks and a lightweight sweater, all by designers I adore. I like the more "classic" style of dress, and Macy's has a lot of clothing along those lines. My bill today was $33.90, which averages to $11.30 for each item (including tax.) $33.90 for two pairs of nice pants and a sweater? Unbelievable, especially being high quality, designer clothing.

I can't buy such well made clothing at Target, and DEFINITELY not at Wal-Mart. Nor could I walk out of either store with the equivalent purchases for that price, it would definitely cost more.

I also bought us some new bed linens and pillows with the Christmas money my mom gave us. I bought three king-size sheet sets (not sure who they are made by) and two pillows (by Ralph Lauren) for less than $90.00. My receipts said I saved $155.03 (plus tax) on the linens and $71.98 (plus tax) on my clothing.

I love nice things, but I love saving money even more :o)

Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband.

After six years, I love you more now than I did when we first married!

Thank you for six beautiful years and our wonderful family.

I love you very much!

Shaving My Legs

My least favorite womanly "chore" is shaving my legs.

I put my makeup on almost everyday, only time I don't is if I am staying in, I don't like going out without makeup on.

Now, I admittedly don't blow-dry my hair very often, but my hair has enough issues with the ends drying without my helping matters. I will blow-dry for special occasions such as going out dates with my husband (these are far and few between, the last one was actually my birthday this past December, before that it was in May, 2006,) or job interviews. I also blow-dried my hair the day I went in for my c-section when Sofia was born, but that was also a special occasion. I very rarely dry my hair "just because."

However, shaving my legs is the bane of my existence. I had gotten really consistent at it when I was pregnant with Sofia, however when I became too big to be able to do it, Thomas shaved them for me. He didn't shave them as often as I did, which got me out of the habit of shaving them quite as often. As I hate shaving my legs, I have not worked real hard at getting back into a routine. I generally do it when it starts to bother me.

What got me thinking about this subject is I just finished shaving my legs. I bought myself an electric razor about a year ago and I do like using it. However, when I shaved my legs the old fashioned way, I used baby oil as a lubricant so I didn't cut myself. It works better than soap, and doesn't dry them out so much. Dry legs are the issue facing me right now. Electric razors don't require soap or baby oil or anything, thus I think I had as much skin flake off as I removed hair. I know this is way too much information, but it is just the way it is.

I have an aversion to body lotion because for most of my life I had oily skin, the dry skin thing blows my mind. Body lotion is not a good thing for oily skin, it just makes matters worse, so this is how I have been trained to think most of my life. Now, just in the last couple of winters have I had issues with dry skin. My hands flake, my legs flake, it is gross. I do use lotion on my hands, not that it does much good though. My profession is very cruel to hands, but I do try to keep them lotioned.

Does anyone have any good suggestions for making it better? I will NEVER like shaving my legs, but I still do so...when I have to.

What is your least favorite womanly "chore?"