Should Have Bought Stock In Kleenex

Last Monday, April 16th, I started back at work. After being off for FOUR. WHOLE. MONTHS. 1 month of bedrest pre-Piper, and 3 months post partum. I was NOT prepared for how hard it would be to leave the house without her. I cried the entire week leading up to D-Day. She would smile at me, and I would start crying. She would coo, and I would start crying. Someone would mention the W word, and I would start SOBBING. 

I barely slept a wink the night before, which is bad when you have to leave the house at 330 AM to get to work. My alarm went off 3 hours after I went to sleep, and I'm fairly certain I woke up crying. I tried to distract myself, get dressed, get my crap together, make my lunch. Walked back into the bedroom to grab my phone charger, and took one glance at her and started sobbing so hysterically that it woke my husband up, and my dog hid from me. How was I supposed to just leave that precious face? It has been over a year since I really had to do anything without her with me. And not only that, but my work day with commute totaled 13 hours. The longest stretch I'd been away from her for was 4 hours, when Scott and I went to see the Hunger Games movie. Which I also cried through. Stupid hormones.

Work was awful. Everyone was asking about the baby and how I was doing, and every time she was mentioned I started crying. And I had NO. CONTROL over it at all. It was embarrassing really. The day dragged on and on. I didn't eat anything, all I did was pump myself full of coffee, and talk to my mom friends on Facebook when I wasn't with a patient. I must have called my brother and dad, who were both watching the baby for me, around 10 times. She was fine every time. And I was hearing her giggle and coo in the background. She was fine without me. While this was comforting, I also felt like she would forget me, or start to love me less, which I know is ridiculous.

Finally at 3 PM, one of the charge nurses offered to let me leave early, since we had a pretty light patient load. I started crying yet again, and thanked her profusely. 3:30 PM rolled around and I sprinted to my car, and sped all the way home. I walk into the house, and there is my dad laying on the floor, and Piper laying on her playmat. Wearing the most ridiculous looking outfit I'd ever seen. Apparently my father does not know how to dress a child. She was wearing a jersey jacket with 3 buttons near the neckline, tucked into a pair of grey fleece pants, and a pair of pink and black striped socks. There was no onesie under the jacket, so my father had tucked the ends into the pants. She looked adorable, but ridiculous. The key here though? She was giggling, and kicking, and playing. She was happy as a clam.

So, as much as it pained me to not be able to be with her all day, and every day, she didn't NEED me to be with her 24/7. She can be happy without me around all the time. She doesn't get scared when she is left with someone else. It's good for her to get to play with other kids, and family members. 

Tomorrow starts week 2. I work 12 hours on Monday, 11 on Thursday, and 10 on Saturday. This will be my set schedule from here on out, and hopefully it will set my mind more at ease, since every time I work, I have the day before, AND the day after off. 

I wish someone would have warned me how hard it would be to go back. People are right though, it does get easier everyday. I'm hoping by the end of this week I will make it through a full workday without tears.

After all, does this look like a face that should make someone cry?

My good friend babysat for us last Tuesday, and this is the photograph she sent for me 6 hours into my work day. She was clearly having a great time playing with R, and her 1 year old son :)

Life... or Something like it!

BUSY. Anyone feel me?! Life has been crazy between trying to maintain a social life, and working full time hours and going to school. It leaves me with ONLY Sunday off during the week.

The new job is going swimmingly. My orientation is officially over at the end of next week, so I'm pretty excited, as well as nervous to be working without direct supervision, but I know I can do it.

I'm planning to have a DVD release party for the Twilight Saga : Eclipse release on December 4th. I have been gathering supplies, and sent out my invitations yesterday. It should be a blast! I will definitely post pictures when it's all done! Red and black and feathers, OH MY! Definitely looking forward to that night!

I've already got the bulk of my christmas shopping done. All that is left is grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. And my work magically gave me Black Friday off! I have not been off on Black Friday in 6 years. I'm looking forward to all the leaks of the ads. I've been eyeballing me the Cricut Expression, and my fingers are crossed that there is a good deal on them that AM! 

I have to run now though! I leave you with a picture of Riley on Halloween! I know it's a bit late, but everyone likes cuteness right?!

He makes such a cute banana split!

Other Halloween photos:

My wolf pumpkin! I'm amazed it came out as decent as it did!

Me and the hubs with our pumpkins :)

Have a great day all! 

XOXO

Update

I swear I am trying to get better about updating this more frequently! 

My new job has been going amazing. Everyone is really nice, and I am learning a ton of things that I would never have learned otherwise. I've been workin on the 7 am to 330 pm schedule. The week of October 18th, my shift switches to 4 AM to 12:30 PM. Eeeep! I'm going to be in bed by 6 pm those nights I'm sure!

School started this past Saturday for the dialysis technician classes. I was AMAZED by the variety of people registered. HUGE range of ages, nationalities, occupations etc. It's really exciting. All of them are nice too, which is good, since I hate doing things like taking classes when I don't know anyone. 

Yesterday was my birthday. The big 2-8. It was just a typical day for me! Up early for work, go home, take Riley to the dog park, watch whatever TV show is on that night, and pass out. It was nice getting birthday wishes from everyone though! I always feel like if I'm not around at any social events, people will forget about me. Haha. At the dog park, a dog ran full force into my knees, while they were both locked. Needless to say, my knee that was already bad, is about the size of a grapefruit today. Thank goodness I got my health insurance through work already, so I can go get it looked at if it doesn't fix itself over the next couple days. For those of you that are friends with me on Facebook, thank you for the birthday wishes :)

 This week is flying by! Friday night after work I have a continuing education class for my massage therapy license, Saturday night is bowling league, and Sunday I am having a small group of people over for a BBQ / get together since it's supposed to be beautiful, and my birthday decided to be on a Tuesday this year, which kills the going out aspect.

So that's what has been up with me! Sorry this post isn't more exciting. I plan to do a lot more picture posts in the nearby future!

How is everyone doing?!

Update

I know this is a lot of updates in one day, but I'm trying to catch up.

I've been very sick with a MISERABLE cold and sinus infection all week, all peaking with a sinus headache last night so bad I was in tears. I'm feeling much better today! Or is that the Vicks humidifier with menthol in it talking? Haha.

I did not let being sick stop me from going to work though! My official first day was on Monday, September 13th! So far I am absolutely loving the job. The people are all very friendly, and I've been wanting to work in healthcare for a long time now, but couldn't buckle down enough to go back to school. I read an entire textbook on the job of a dialysis technician over this past week. It's the same book we will be studying in my class that starts on October 2nd.  And this job does tuition reimbursement, so I will at long last, be able to go to school to get my RN in the not too distant future.

Another perk of this new job is definitely the wearing of scrubs. I have never been required to wear a more comfortable outfit to work in my entire life!

Our fall bowling league also started a couple of weeks ago. It's a money league, which means that there are a lot of reaaaallly good bowlers. We came in 1st place for our summer league out of 8 teams, so far in this league we are 15th out of 22 teams. Not so good, but we're improving every time! This league is every other Saturday and is a couples league, two guys, two girls. It's also the Miller/Bud couples league, which means DISCOUNTED PITCHERS OF BEER. Be still my heart, for I love me some beer and bowling.

That's about all that has been going on with me! Hope you all are doing swell :)

XOXO

-V

A New Adventure

It's official!!!

I was offered a new job yesterday, and I'm starting work on September 13th! The job is at a dialysis clinic, and I will be working as a patient care technician. I'm sad to see the people of my current job go, however, this opportunity is better than anything else they have to offer me.

So that's why there are no updates. I've been doing interviews, phone calls, registering for classes, and finishing out my two weeks! I'm very excited. Tomorrow I'm going to take my drug screening test, change my last name at the local college, and then go shopping for some scrubs.

Those of you that know me in real life, know how much I ADORE pajama time. Scrubs are like pajamas, and it's acceptable to wear them to work, which makes me a happy little beast!

Be on the lookout for my first blog giveaway coming soon! As well as more updates now that I will be working steadier hours!

XOXO

-V

Life

WOW! I had a 3 day weekend, which is a rarity for me, and it was FULL of things to do!

Friday night I took my mom to see Eclipse, since she had been bugging me to go see it with her. It's funny the random things you notice the second time around watching a movie in the theater!

Saturday I woke up early to hit some garage sales with my mom. We didn't have too much luck, but I did score a few books for a STEAL. Saturday afternoon I went to my friends sons 13th birthday party, which wound up being a good time. Left there early to get to my bowling league by 6:45 PM. About halfway through the last game of the series, I get a frantic call from my husband. 

My poor pupper got SKUNKED! Not only that, but hubby had to leave for work 15 minutes after that call. I rushed through the remainder of the last game (we have safely secured our first place victory for the league!), to head home. My friends told me tomato juice was the best way to get rid of the stink, so I stopped and bought some on the way home. Once I got home, I called my bro over to help me bathe the dog in tomato juice, which BTW, is really fricking gross if you hate tomatoes. After we do that the dog seemed happier, so my bro left. This morning I finally get some advice from people who know better, and went and got some skunk odor removing stuff from the pet store, and we used that, and then gave him a good old fashioned bath a couple hours later.

I'm glad to report the dog no longer smells like burning rubber. He has a faint hint of the smell still, but not NEARLY as awful as it was before. He also got a snazzy new collar out of the deal, since his smelled terrible.

Another good remedy for getting rid of the smell after a pet has been skunked is hydrogen peroxide and baking soda. I purchased both of those things today to have on hand, JUST in case this happens again, which I sincerely hope it doesn't.

In better news, I had a second interview for a job I applied for a month or so ago. My friend that works at their sister site called me to tell me that the manager loved me, and that it's looking good, but I won't hear anything until she gets back from vacation. Please cross your fingers for me that I can land this job, because it's more of a career, which is what I'm looking for! I'm almost 30, it's time to find something I want to do for the rest of my life.

Hope all is going well with all of you! More updates to come later in the week, after I make Riley his new bed, since he decided to lay on it all covered in skunk. 

XOXO

Potential Job offer!

I've been working in retail for the last year, after getting my massage license and being unable to find any work in that field. My friend works at a renal dialysis clinic, and her boss asked me to fill out an application there to become a Patient Care Technician.

I find out the end of this week, if I will officially be offered the job.

This job would mean so much to me and my hubbs. We've been struggling monetarily for months now. My hours at work dropped off, his did too, so we were barely working and not bringing in enough money. 

Please keep your fingers crossed for me! 

I've wanted to begin working in the healthcare field for a while now, and this could be a great step into it for me!

New Year, New Business Venture

After many sewing lessons with my mother, and just general crafty experimentation, we have decided to try opening an etsy shop together. I'm very excited about this! I've wanted to have some creative outlet to clear my mind on the days I am off from my other jobs, so this seemed like the best thing for us!

I'm having so much trouble coming up with a name! I didn't think it would be that hard, but it for sure is!

We went and hit Joann Fabrics, and Hancock Fabrics big sales last weekend, to stock up on some fabric, and we are starting the actual sewing tomorrow. We are going to start out with purses. Totes, clutches, and hobo bags. We can watch how that goes, and then expand later on!

Once we have built up a decent amount of items, we are considering entering some of the craft fairs around our area in IL. My boss crochets, and said she would be willing to split booths/tables with us to lower costs for all parties involved if we want, so that was a sweet offer!

I've been slowly catching up on all of your blogs. I'm sorry to have been so absent lately!

Hope everyone is doing well!

XOXO
-V

Life, or something like it!

Ahhhhhh, finally a week without too much work in it! And a few days off to boot! One of the many things I am thankful for this Thanksgiving! Next week is also a pretty light week, so I'm workin on getting those creative juices flowing again :)

The weather is finally switching from a VERY warm fall, to Winter type weather. I am not sure how I feel about this. Snow is a beautiful thing, but I hate driving in it. It's best for me when I'm looking out my window at it, nice and warm.  I hate that it is now pitch black by 430 or 5 PM. Makes it feel like the day is already completely gone. However, I love taking photographs in the winter time, so that is for sure an upside :)

I started my Christmas shopping this past Sunday. Partially online, and then me and my mother went out shopping. I got some great deals on the items I am purchasing, but many of my gifts are going to be handmade this year. As I type this, I am waiting for the first layer of paint to dry on my recipe box for my grandmother. I haven't quite decided what to Mod podge on to it, but I figure once I see it fully painted, something great will come to me :)

I was very excited to find a US Marine Corps Snuggie on www.harrietcarter.com, as my grandfather is a proud marine, and we have gotten him all the Marine Corps items we could find over the years.

Upon further discussion on our home situation, we have decided to stay where we are. What it came down to was when I have a child, what school I would feel comfortable sending him or her to. We have worked out a fantastic deal, and are starting to upgrade the house further in February 2010.

So that's my update! I plan on getting my booty in gear with crafting, and then soon decorating for Christmas!

How are all of you doing?

XOXO-
V

A Blessing In A Text Message

I got a very exciting text message this morning at about 7 am! I get an unexpected day off tomorrow! No more fretting about a 13 day in a row work streak! I'm relieved, since I have to work late tonight, and tomorrow I would have had to leave very early!

I'm going to finally get some time to sit down and do some crafting tomorrow! Christmas is sneaking up, and I need to start getting ready for it! So be expecting more exciting posts coming soon!

XOXO-
V

Work Workety work work work

Nothing but work! ALLLLLLLLL week. Luckily, this upcoming week I have 3 (yup thats right!) THREE days off! This has not happened in about a month. I'm pretty excited for it.  Haven't had time for any fun crafts or recipes or anything this past week, so I don't have much to write about. Hopefully I will get a lot done this week. Have the Twilight New Moon meet and greet on Tuesday, so I'm sure I will update on that!

We are in the process of figuring out if we want to stay in the house we are in now, or go buy a different house entirely. There are pros and cons to each.

The house we are in now:
PROS:
-is in a great safe neighborhood
-has room to add additions and whatnot as we may need
-we wouldn't have to move if we stayed here.
-We wouldn't have to get a mortgage loan.

CONS:
-It needs a TON of work. Flooring, drywall, upgrades, siding, fence, landscaping, heating, air conditioning etc etc etc
-it is a 2 bedroom, 1 (teeeeeny tiny) bathroom ranch house, so additions would be necessary if we were to start making babies, which is on our list for next year.
-It would cost us $144,000 to own. (which is REALLY steep for the condition and square footage of the house)

The houses we can afford:
PROS:
-We can get a 3-6 bedroom, 2 bathroom fixer upper home for under $100,000. Since hubby does hardwood floors and knows an arsenal of various other handymen, we could probably get that work done, and still not hit $144,000
-We would be able to start fresh in a house I didn't live in with my mother when I was younger
-We would have more space to work with, and potentially not have to add any additions to the house.

CONS:
-The neighborhoods are not nearly as desirable as the one we are in now. And a few of them are not the safest neighborhoods
-The commutes to work would be a bit longer
-We would have to move (I HATE moving and packing)
-Credit fixing. I got my credit report run to see where I was at, and found a bevy of things that have been paid off, and reported incorrectly to the credit reporting agencies. I've started to fix all of it, but it's going to take a while to get everything cleared up.

We don't know which side we are leaning towards at all. We both love the neighborhood we are in, and would like to stay here, but we don't know that the price of the house is worth it.

Ahhh decisions decisions..

Least we have all the time we need to decide :)

Hope all you out there are doing lovely!

XOXO
-V