Friday, August 26, 2011

Beginning with Aubrey's Wedding.

Friday, the 19th, was Aubrey's reception. I was supposed to work that night, but Kristen Maxfield came in to cover the first half.

The reception was awesome. It was perfect weather. They had a Belgian waffle stand and a Crepe stand! SO unique, so yummy. Allison and I had a contract not to eat sugar for a month but we broke it for this occasion, which turned out to be the best decision we've ever made.
 
My only complaint about the reception had nothing to do with the reception at all...my children were, well, children. Brenna was crying because she wanted to go play in the sand pile, then she'd cry because of the way the kids were kicking the sand, and back and forth, back and forth. Every time I turned around, some stranger was holding Brenna, coming up to me saying, "Is this your child?" Ugh. Then Ammon was getting into the trash, climbing steep stairs and then trying to walk down them like a grown-up. Same thing, strangers grabbing him and giving him to me, saying, "I don't want him to kill himself."  At one point I held both Brenna and Ammon in my lap on a chair where there was no fun socializing at all. No fun.

By the time I got to work, I was already tired. Usually things at work calm down after 11...which was what I was counting on. No such luck. I was placing art lines, chasing blood pressures, etc. Awesome. I was SO tired when I got done, but Aubrey's ceremony started at 8:40. I cowboy-ed up and drank some caffeine so I would stay awake.

When we got to the temple, I got a 3rd...or maybe it was a 4th 'wind.' It was exciting to see all the family there. When Allison got there, I made her promise she wouldn't let me talk much to people. I was at high risk for saying something I would regret since I was so sleep deprived. I did snap at Allison a couple of times, but it's fine, she's just my sister. :)

 The ceremony was beautiful. Short and simple and sweet. I was moved to tears once I saw Aubrey! What a pure, sweet, beautiful woman. I felt so blessed to be part of the whole experience.
We didn't stick around for pictures. Nate practically had to drag me to the car. The rest is a blur. I fell asleep in the car, and somehow made it to my bed when we got home. We didn't make it to the luncheon, but I was satisfied we made it to the most important part.

Kyle and Charise/fam and Brian and Alisha/fam and Ryan and Lynnae were at the Bitters that evening. My family and Allison and her family went over to the Bitters to crash the after-party. We ordered Chinese food and sat on their brand-new beautiful deck and chatted the evening away. Ammon was REFUSING his Chinese food until Charise got him a highchair and a spoon. He was happy as a clam and fed himself the entire bowl. That boy wants his independence! Very frustrating. At least it was outdoors so we could just sweep the rice mess off the edge.

Nate got up unusually early on Sunday. He left for his meeting but returned 15 minutes later. Apparently he was 30 min. early for it. {Chuckles} It was nice to have him help me get the kiddos ready for a minute. We sat in the back, making sure we had a row of chairs in front of us to try retaining our children. I blocked off the end with a spare chair, and the moment Ammon noticed me infringing upon his freedom, he freaked out.

As the meeting went on, we were delving farther and farther into his nap-time. He gets a little hyper/delirious when he's tired. After sacrament, I took him home for a nap while Nate went to Sunday school. Then we swapped so I could go to Relief Society. It was good. It was about discovering and developing talents. I came away inspired to help my children find their talents. When I picked up Brenna from nursery, she had a whole story to tell me. She said, "In nursery, we ate snacks, and read books, and sang songs..." like she was so grown up! {She's heard Kaylee say the same many a time}

I worked that night from 5-11 PM for a co-worker. I've been picking up extra while I have the chance. The shift was uneventful. I was thrilled. Since I was back the next night, Monday, I figured I'd have another easy-peasy shift where I could play 'Words With Friends' all night. I was so wrong. I'll get to that in a minute.


Before work, we had our family Dentist appointment. Nate got his haircut right before...for some reason we didn't think that one through because it turned out to be kind-of a nightmare getting all the kids ready by myself. We made it on time though and it was a miracle!

Kaylee looking at the equipment nervously.
Kaylee went first like a champ. Brenna sat in the chair next to her watching carefully. She went next, and was SO brave! It was her first time and she didn't hesitate for a minute. Her tongue was very curious though, but I think that's normal for a 3 year old. She also had a little bit of leftover lunch in there. Yuck. I could never be a dental hygienist!
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Ammon by the end was hyper; nap time. He was trying to escape so he could climb up the stairs. Then he'd try to sneak back to the clerk's desk. Then he was throwing his crackers and apples onto the floor. He's a handful, the cutest handful in the world. :)

We left the Dentist with 3 out of 4 needing cavities filled, me included. This is the 2nd of my lifetime. It's because I've been chewing gum trying to quit sweets. You can never ever win, that's what mama says.
I went straight to my staff meeting from there. I was already tired by the time it was over. At least I was headed straight for the easiest shift in the world.

But no. When I got to the breakroom and saw my name written with an arrow pointing to 'ICU,' it was like in the movies where time slowed down, dramatic music playing, and I thought my heart would break into a million pieces!

Not that ICU has ever really been that bad. But when my mind is prepared for a calm night of nothingness and instead I get quite the opposite, including being completely out of my element, it shakes me up. To protect patient confidentiality, I can't share lots of details, but let's just say this: BIG BOY with a million interventions hourly. I'm conditioned to be on my feet for 12 hours straight, but after that night, my feet were aching a little. I think a huge part of my problem was I couldn't ever find a dang thing I needed! If I needed a syringe, alcohol swab, draw sheet, flush, CADD pump keys, ANYTHING I had to look in 10 places before I finally found it. I was the headless chicken, and that's an understatement. I'm happy to report that I survived, and sad to report that the nurse that took over for me had a 10 times worse experience than I did.

I was grateful the next day to just sleep as long as I wanted. When I got up, I got my hikin' clothes on for our 1 mile boardwalk for Activity Days. There was a little confusion because 1/2 the girls forgot we were meeting at my house, but in the end we had all 8 girls come. They loved it! It was a nature walk in Syracuse. I'd never been to it before, but I highly recommend it. It was really different and pretty! Like half marsh half wild field. Lots of 'cat-tails.'

I forced myself to work out that night to compensate for my night of grahm/saltine cracker binge while on ICU. I made it through 45 minutes of a 60 min. insanity workout. Nate was gone, so I had all 3 children working out 'with me.' Ammon mostly ran around with his latest favorite weapon; his toothbrush. He likes to brush his teeth in-between the beating of inanimate objects. Kaylee and Brenna enjoyed the exercise as long as I gave the move fun names like 'frog jumps' and 'kangaroo hops.' It's an interval video, so after I finished each interval, we'd stop and read a book of their choice. It makes for a LONG workout, but fun for all, right?

I tried watching a 'Dick Van Dyke' episode with Nate, but crashed. It was all for the best though because I got up at 4:50 AM to go running with Cathi. We were supposed to meet 3 others, but when we showed up, they weren't there. I was fine with that. I knew I'd slow down the group anyway. My pace has slowed way down since my knee injury! We ran about 6 miles and got to watch the sun come up. It was so refreshing! When I got home, I showered then crashed and slept another couple of hours. I loved it. I woke up a happy woman.

It was so funny, because my hair was a frizz ball since I had let it air dry half way. When I came into the kitchen, I said, "Hey girls, look at my hair!" They both just laughed big gutty laughs. Then I went into the bathroom to turn on my flat iron and what do you know? It didn't turn on. Dang. I luckily found my old flat iron that is a dinosaur. I bought it like 6 years ago and it still works! This one that broke was supposed to be a 'top-of-the-line' CHI and it broke after less than a year. Go figure. The girls were so curious about the new flat iron being in the garbage and me using the old one. They looked devastated! Haha I love having girls!

That night, I was watching a video on LDS.org about the Universe/solar system, featuring a renowned scientist testifying that there is a God. Brenna said, "Mom, why is he a scientist?" I said, "Because he studies the planets." She said, "Oh, like daddy?"

Today is Thursday, and I'm at work. I'm feeling like I'm on the funny farm, but happy to be home on IMC. I'm going to miss working here!

1 comment:

Kyle and Reesie said...

Sarah, I just love you. I am so SO glad we got some time to hang out and be together while we were in town. I can't wait to hear more about your new adventures. I love what you do with your blog. You are so talented at writing and I feel like I am right there with you while everything is going on. I feel like I tell you to no end,...but I am so amazed by you. There is no way I could do the things you do, and all at the same time. While I worked there was no thought to working out, improving myself, and so much more we could go on forever. But when I listen to all the things you do and are involved in while you are so busy with work, family, and church things I just feel such a drive to become the kind of person you are. I am grateful to have such a wonderful person as you in my life. Love you to death. xoxoxoxo