Visit

Looks like Shaun will have the weekend off...and so do I!! I just booked a flight to go see him for a couple days! I can't wait. I leave tomorrow morning after work. I will be super tired, but I get to see my husband, so I don't care how tired I am!!
I almost wasn't sure I would get to go. I was finding flights there for only a few hundred, but the return flight (for the times I am available to fly) were making the trip well into the 700's. I love my husband, but we don't need to be spending $700 for a quick trip.
However, after looking at many sites, I found a good flight and return well within our budget. Yay!! I get to leave at 10am, get there around 3pm. I am super excited. Of course, I have never been to KY before, so that will be fun!
See you when I get back. I had better go get some more sleep before work tonight!! If I can sleep now...

Hmmm

Well, less than 2 weeks to go. Today I am heading to work at 3. Signed up for an extra shift and chose to do 3pm to 3 am. I think it will be a good shift. I am actually trying to switch shifts. I have been doing nights and it just sucks. I feel like my "days" off aren't really days off. Just recovery nights. The scheduler at work schedules me on one off one, on one, off one. It just doesn't work for night shift. I told her this and she basically made it clear that she is in charge and will schedule me when she wants to. So, I put a request to switch to either 3-3 or 11a-11pm. I ultimately want 11-11, but will settle for 3-3 until an 11-11 comes available. I haven't heard back yet, but I hear it isn't hard to get a 3-3, since they always need that shift. 3p-1am is the busiest time in the ER.
Today I will get ready, go out to eat lunch (I am thinking Red Robin) and then go to work.

Ding Dong

Mara comes tomorrow!! She will be here at 4pm. Woohoo!!! I can't wait. Don't know what we will do, but my house is clean, I have new clothes and I am ready for a few days off!!! Yippee!!
Headed to work now, then I will come home, get a few hours of sleep and head to the airport to pick her up!! See you then Mara!!!

Maid Service

Tonight I cleaned my house. Really just needed things picked up and put away, but it is clean. I still need to take a quick vacuum to the place and clean the bathrooms, but other than that, I have been busy. Got all the dishes done and put way. Finished another load of laundry, and took out the garbage. I feel content. I would be proud to have someone come over now, not seeing the mess that I had accumulated earlier. Mara-come on over!!! Hehehe
Got to put my new clothes in the closet and send off my old clothes to Goodwill today. That will make things a bit better as well.
Okay, off to do a few more things!!

Shopping Spree

Got out today. Headed to Hagerstown, MD for some outlet shopping. Went there to get my good friend Kat, a baby gift. She just had a beautiful baby girl a few weeks ago, and I wanted to go to Carter's to get something. They always have the cutest outfits. Well, decided I would "shop" around some of the other stores. Went into Bath and Body works. They had a great sale, but just didn't feel like buying today. Then headed to the Coach store. Coach is really popular at the hospital. Seems like its the new buzz that is going around, and everyone just has to have a new Coach bag. Well, I can't justify spending $150-200 on a bag/purse. I stick with my Wal-mart/Target styles. $15 max.
After not really finding anything to buy, I decided to stop into Dress Barn. I had never been in one, but I saw a cute shirt that caught my eye, so I went in. It was a button-down shirt with vertical stripes. Ladies...you all know vertical stripes are best to make you look taller and more slender, but they are nearly impossible to find. Well, once I got inside, there was more to look at. They had cute little outfits all over the store. Some shirts with jackets and necklaces. Well, the next thing I know I have a pile of clothes to try on and nearly all of it fit me. So, I decided why not?
I haven't bought me a new wardrobe in a long time. I felt like a kid going school shopping. Can't wear any of it until the first day of school!! Hehehe. That was always Mom's rule. I have bought stuff here and there, but nothing like a total overhaul of my wardrobe. A few weeks ago I started tossing things in a pile to donate because they don't fit anymore or they are too short (I hate when bellies show when they shouldn't be). Off to goodwill for those clothes, and in with the new! I even changed things up, got things I wouldn't normally wear, but thought looked good. Not only new clothes, but a new style. Nice. Can't wait to show Shaun and see what he thinks. I think he is going to like them!! :)
I will see if I can take pictures of me wearing my new outfits and post them here. I am not sure if it will work. I will try!!

Another night off

So tonight I have off. I haven't done anything yet, but I need to get some house chores done. I seriously have not done a thing, except one load of laundry, since Shaun has been gone. Of course, since I haven't been home, I don't have that much of a mess to clean. Howver, I do have dishes to get done...those don't seem to be getting done on their own.

Mara is coming on Friday. I am super excited. I need a friend here. I have a few work friends, but don't really feel like I have any friends here. You know the kind you can call up anytime and chat with or hang out. Of course, as we get older and we each get on with our own lives ... friendships change. You can't just hang out anymore, you have to schedule "girls night" out to each get away from our families and hang with the gals.

Which is why you have husband's, so you have someone to come home to every day, share stuff with, and share life. Life without them is hard. Especially when you haven't spent more than a week apart since you got together. I am surviving, but it is hard. I talk to Shaun daily, but I still miss him more than anything.

Guess I am off to do chores so my house looks good, and fresh, and clean when Mara gets here Friday afternoon.

Back to work

Headed back to work tonight. Didn't get to talk with Shaun, hopefully he will be able to call later tonight. He called for a quick second to tell me he couldn't talk. That was nice. I would hate to leave for work not knowing why he hadn't called. He said he should be able to call tonight, I hope I am not busy at work when he calls. His phone calls are the only thing getting me through this. It would be 100x worse if there weren't any phone calls.
Better get going to work. Hope you all have a great night!!

Got out tonight

Went to see Sisterhood of the Traveling pants 2. It was good. I like those types of movies. Went by myself, but it was cool. Saw a 10:30 show, so there was only a few other people there as well. I was thinking of doing dinner too, but just did the movie instead. It was good to get up and dressed and out of the house for a while. Now I am back home and just vegging on the puter.
Sounds like Shaun is keeping busy. He is able to call every night after dinner. He has been having to get up super early for PT (exercise) before 6am breakfast time. Today he had to get up at 3:30 am. They had the PT test. He did good. Ran 2 miles in 14:50 I think he said. He is super fast. I was barely able to break 10 min miles when I was running all the time.
Back to work for me tomorrow, but then I have another night off. Not sure what I will do then. Any suggestions?

Day 3 of no husband

Well, so far so ok. I have worked each night that Shaun has been gone, so it hasn't been to terrible. Of course, he isn't there when I come home-which is normal because he normally leaves for work at 6, I get home at 7:30. But, he isn't home when I wake up. That part is hard. That is normally the time we get to see each other. Usually only an hour, but we at least see each other, eat dinner together every night and say goodbye before going to work.
I think on my night off, that will be the hardest, and it will hit me. Of course, only 27 more days to go. I have signed up for a bunch of extra shifts at work. Plus, Mara is coming to visit in a couple weeks, so I am super excited about that! Better get the house all cleaned up before she gets here!! :)
One more night tonight, then I have a night off. I am not sure what I will do just yet. I know I need to get some chores done. Maybe drop by the store and get a few items. Other than that...it's all up in the air. Maybe I will rent a movie or better yet, go to a movie. Usually I am so tired, going out doesn't work. Nights is kicking my butt. It is hard. Plus the person who schedules us doesn't work nights and schedules me for one on, one off, one on, etc. It isn't easy doing that when you work nights. She just doesn't get it. Oh well, right now, while I am picking up all these extra shifts, it doesn't matter, since I basically go in all the time right now.
Long enough post...night night!!

No Husband Diary

Today Shaun left for Kentucky. He will be gone for one month. It is dumb that he has to go at all, but for a month, even dumber. He left at 10am. I dropped him off at the airport. I didn't cry until he was gone. Even then, I think I did good, I just had tears in my eyes.
I know WE will make it as a couple, I am not worried about that in any way. I just don't want him to go for an entire month. I haven't been away from him for more than a week since we got together a year and a half ago.
So, I will be writing about how my life is going while he is gone. A diary of sorts, to see how I make it through. I have picked up a bunch of shifts at work, so I am sure it will fly by. I will be keeping myself busy in that respect. On my days off, it will be mostly time to just recover from working 60 hours per week. We will see. I have a few things planned while he is away. I want to go see Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. If you know me, you know that is right up my alley. I saw the first one, so I gotta see the second one, right? Also, want to clean really good while he is away. I get to start with a full sink of dishes tonight! Yay. Actually, tonight is my first extra shift. So dishes will have to wait till tomorrow. Guess that is it, off to work I go. Shaun called to tell me he made it there safe, I will call him tonight to say goodnight. He starts tomorrow morning at 8am. They may keep him really busy, they may allow him to have lots of free time. We just don't know.
See you lots in the next month!!

Airshow

Had a fun weekend visiting the in-laws. We went to Rochester airshow while we were there. It was so cool. I haven't seen the US Air Force Thunderbirds since I was a kid. It was neat to see them again.
I got a nasty burn. While everyone else was lathering up on the sunscreen, I just put some on my face. Didn't think it would be that bad out. Boy was I wrong. I am still red and it is over a week later. Of course, now I am peeling. Yuck! It hurt to move for a couple days, but it was my fault, so I dealt with it. Won't make that silly mistake again! :)
Here are a few pics from the airshow that we liked.

USAF Thunderbirds, all lined up waiting to go. You can see the pilots in a briefing.

US ARMY Airborne Parachuters. I don't know if that is the official name, but that is what I am calling them. They jumped out of place at 14,000 feet, then maneuvered the paraglide to do fun tricks in the air and all land on the target one after another. Pretty neat.

One of the airplanes we were allowed to go into and tour. Most were empty tubes that held either a ton of soldiers, trucks, or both.

Quick photo-op. It was hot, but there was a nice breeze, so we didn't feel too hot.

Action shot. They did some really neat tricks.

Shaun with his Dad and Jeanne.

Me and Shaun in front of the biggest plane there.

Self-portrait!!

Shaun had this silly grin on his face all day. He was like a kid again. It was so much fun though!! I like to see him happy!!


Another action shot. This is the first act. There were three of them and they drew stuff in the sky. One time a big heart with an arrow through it. Very cool!

Here it is

So, I tired wearing my hair straight and curled out like the pic I posted before. It just didn't work. My hair is WAY too thick and too much of it. She even thinned it out a lot. When I staighten it, it is flat (no volume) and accepts no curl. So, I tried blowdrying and curling, and it just made a big poof ball. The next day, decided to leave it curly (since my hair turned curly in 2000), might as well use what I have. I love it curly. Way cute. This pic is from the airshow we went to this weekend. I will post more pics of that soon. It was a self-portrait from my camera phone. Pretty neat, huh?
Shaun loves my new hair cut. He thinks it is sassy and fun. What do you all think? Sorry to Mara and Zoe. I know you didn't want me to cut my hair, but I am donating it, so it going to a great cause...Locks of Love. They make real hair wigs for small children.

Okay

I'm doing it. I am cutting my hair. I made an appt today at a salon for noon. Shaun won't be able to come with me, but I am going to do it. He wanted to come to hold my hand, but time wise it just didn't work out. He works Mon-Fri til 5p. Today I have off, then we are going out of town when he comes home. I wanted to get it done before we go so I have all weekend to play with it and get used to styling it. I would hate to just get it done, then have to go to work. I wouldn't have any clue how I need to style it. Now I have 5 days to master it, before presenting it to anyone at work.

I am a bit nervous, but knowing that I am donating it to a good cause makes things a bit easier. And its just hair, right? It will come back. If I don't like it, I can start growing it out right away! I think I will like it though!!

Wish me luck. I will post a pic of me with the new hair cut as soon as I can.

On other news. We are headed to NY to see Shaun's dad. Gonna see the Thunderbirds. I haven't seen them since I was a kid. I hope it is as cool as I remember. Shaun should be home around 2 or 3, then we can head out of town. Excited to get away for a weekend.

Haircut

I am considering cutting my hair again. I know that I have done it in the past, and everyone loved it. I have been wanting something different for a while now. Even before the wedding. I knew I would regret it if I made any drastic changes before my wedding, so I didn't. Then, Jeni, cut my hair for the wedding and made some extra layers and cleaned it up a bit. Now, it is due for another cut, and I want something different. It is getting WAY too long. I was thinking of going just below the shoulders, but I feel that would just cut hair off, and I would have the same look. I want a different look.
So, I was looking online at some photos. I found a cute bob, with my curls, I think would look really cute. I ran it by Shaun, he is cool with it, but of course wants me to keep my long hair. He said if I wanted to cut it then I should. I just know how he feels. Of course, I was thinking, if I was to cut it, might as well cut enough to make it eligible for donation to locks of love. Just a thought.
Here is an example of what I was thinking. Of course, it will look slightly different on me, but I think really cute. I even like the bangs. Enough of a change.
When my hair is long for a while, I want it short. When it is short for a while, I want it long. It has been long for about 3-4 years now. Last time it was cut, I was in nursing school (I think), about 5 yrs ago. Tell me what you think. Good, bad, indifferent, I want to hear from you!

FIRE!!

We have frequent fire drills at work. Kind of like when you were in school. But, at the hospital, you just close all the doors, make sure the hallways are clear, then wait till it stops. Typically if you are in the middle of something, you just carry on with what you are doing.
Well, the other night, I noticed the lights go off. I was in the middle of getting some medication for my patient, I just continued. Well, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the other nurses and some of the firefighters (they were around cuz they just dropped off a pt) were scurrying around, closing all the doors. I thought they were moving a bit quick, and one of the firefighters was carrying a fire extinguisher. Sometimes we like to play things up a bit, so I just thought to myself "Wow, they are really taking this drill seriously".
Turns out, there was a real fire in one of the rooms. I guess the tv started sparking then black smoke started coming out of it. The tv wasn't even on. It wasn't my pt's room, but there was someone in it. Don't worry, they got out safe. The firefighter jumped to the rescue, used the extinguisher, out it out, then grabbed the tv down from the platform it rests on, ran it outside, and threw it on the ground. As he is throwing it he says "I am tired of this place."
There were a couple other FF's out there, had no clue what was going one. It was pretty funny. Of course, the fire alarm alerted the fire station, and about 10 minutes later had a bunch of other ff's here. It was funny. No one was injured, and the smoke was all cleared out within a few hours. We just went on with the night.
It isn't often we get activity like that. Mostly just sniffly noses, broken bones, few heart attacks and strokes. That's about it.

More Favs

Cannot choose between all these, they are SO good. Here is a couple more that we love!!

Couple for now

Proofs

We got our wedding proofs today! So excited. They are super beautiful, so now we can start ordering! We have a few prints as part of our package and an album, and a big pic or two. So we will have to sit down and decide. Mom/Dad and Shaun's Dad get the prints. It is only fair. We just want the album and one of the wall pics. Mom and Dad kept our engagement pic.
Shaun hasn't seen them yet, as he isn't home, but he will soon!! Can't wait til he gets to. Yay!!
I think we have decided to buy the rights to the photos as well, so we can order more later too.

Hmmm

Nothing exciting to report. Have a few days off to look forward to. One of the girls from work invited me to a "Slumber/toy party" Not 100% sure what to expect, but a fun girls night out I guess. I am not completely stupid, I do know what it is, just not 100% sure of what the parties are like. I hear they are a ton of fun, and hilarious. I will have to report back to you.
Did not do anything for the 4th. I have seen firework shows in the past, so we didn't go see anythis year. Only had one night off. Maybe next year!! Thanks Jeffrey for showing your video.
Headed to NY at the end of this month to visit the in-laws. Guess we are going to take in an air show. Sounds like some fun! Excited about that.
Shaun has been busy making things all over. He really enjoys making things out of wood. Keeps him busy and we have neat projects all over the house.
Shaun has to leave in little more than a month. He will be gone a whole month too, still not looking forward to that...though Mara is coming to visit, so that is great news. Can't wait to see you Mara!!

Just a quick one

Had a ton of fun and spent WAY too much money, but hey, you only live once, right??

Williamsburg was a ton of fun. We did Jamestown on Friday. Played at Water Country USA all day on Saturday, and enjoyed Colonial Williamsburg on Sunday. The weather was way too hot, but we survived!!

Now it is back to work I go. I had better work a few extra shifts coming up soon, so I can pay for our little adventures!!

Here is a couple pics...









Oh, and we did end up back at the hotel. Camping just isn't working our for us this year so far. Way too hot, and then thunderstorm/rain in the evenings. Yeah, not really ideal camping weather.