Aquarium

My mom and sister were in town this weekend- I realize I just saw them but they had been planning to come visit for a while for shopping. We decided to do something different and went to the Dallas World Aquarium- I was very impressed! Did not expect to see all the wildlife~

Friends and Family

It sure seems like I go to Midland a lot! What can I say- I love being spoiled and have the best family (plus I needed a PollyandPenny fix)! Actually, this time I had a couple of different reasons to go home~

Friday Dillon drove me to work and picked me up so he could take me to dinner before dropping me off at the airport- sadly he decided it would be best to stay in Dallas this time around. We dined at Chipotle then said our goodbyes. At the airport I saw Kay Bailey get off my plane so that was exciting (not because I do or do not support her, I just love seeing famous peeps).

(I would like to add that I see lots (ok only 3 now but its still neat!) of famous politicians- I marched in George Bush’s inaugural parade and Laura Bush waved at me, I ran in Randy Neugabuaer in Lubbock and now K. Hutchinson. I also have a book autographed by Bill O-Reilly).

Anyhow- I arrived on time to Midland and the weekend began. I was really excited to see my dogs but a little nervous too because I have a fear they prefer Midland to Dallas since they receive such royal treatment there. Not to worry, they were so sweet and jumped all around when I arrived- lots of kisses. Dillon kept getting on to me that night because I hadnt sent him a picture of them yet!

Saturday morning I woke up early and got ready for a great day. My high school friends Meredith and Laura were in town too- we met at Laura’s with breakfast goodies (lots of fruit, quiche, muffins). We had originally planned to bring all of the food to our friend Allison’s but ended up visiting her later in the morning. It was SO nice to sit for a few hours and catch up- we are all at different places in life and it was refreshing to share and hear about everything- and laugh alot. Afterwards we headed over to meet baby Grayson- we were all looking forward to it! Allison blew me away, you could tell she is a natural at the whole mothering thing- not to mention she did NOT look like she had just had a baby. Grayson was precious and he did not cry once. It was too short of a morning, but a wonderful one!

My family and I drove to Lubbock around noon to celebrate my Grandad’s birthday. My Gran made a delicious roast, potatos and rolls. I realized I hadn’t seen them since July- far too long! We hung around their house til about 7 that night then headed back to the Tall City with full bellies. I am truly blessed to have them in my life.

Sunday we all slept in a bit, mom made muffins (does anybody else out there love to lick the bowl??) and we moseyed around. We grabbed lunch at On The Border, Mollie talked us into ordering these amazing chocolate stuffed sopapillas that were well worth the guilt that followed their consumption. My dad and I were able to talk to Katie on Skype for a few minutes, and then it was off to the airport. I would like to add that the weather in West Texas was beautiful- I could not get enough of the warmth and sunshine that I have so missed in Dallas!

Here is Grandaddy lookin excited for his birthday ;) I love him!

Dillon looked so handsome when he picked me up in his Sunday best that I had to take a picture when we got home~

Supper Time!

It's been a while since I've updated. I like when other people write about food so I thought I could throw out a blog involving our weekly meal menu from this past week:

*Quesadillas (made with leftover shredded beef) and salad

*Homeade pizza (with red onion, bell pepper and pepperonis') and salad

*Pesto Chicken Sandwhiches with salad


-I would like to (proudly) point out the pattern of having a salad with every meal. This novel idea came to me when I was frustrated with never planning for side dishes and then realized that having a salad at every meal was the easy and healthy solution I had been looking for. I tend to think I have to change up every meal but have since changed my ways of thinking.


A few other meals I have made that have been hits recently:

*Shrimp tacos (on corn tortillas)

*Italian Suasage Tortellini soup (perfect on a cold day!)

*Peppercini sandwhiches (chuck roast in crockpot with jar of peppercini's peppers, put on a hoakie with melted cheese)


Other common meals that arent so original that I enjoy cooking:


*Poppyseed chicken

*Chicken Spaghetti

*King Ranch Chicken

*Breakfast for dinner

Now to spice it up I would like to add a few favorites that we had growing up....

*Moms spaghetti (it is NOT your typical Ragu sauce- it is true italian and SO good)

*Spaghetti and meatballs (very different from the above- much spicier)(Grans recipe)


*Chicken and sliced potatoes (Im sure it has a name - she would bake them all in a dish and the potatoes would get crispy)

*Strawberry cake

Along the same lines, I remember any time my parents would go out on a date we always had fishsticks with macaroni and cheese for dinner. I dont think I've had a fishstick since the last time we had a babysitter...

I have found that I go through phases- when we first got married cooking really scared me. I had no recipes stored in my head and not much experience in the kitchen. The second year I started feeling more comfortable. I baked alot of cheesy unhealthy dishes and lots of cookies. Third year I feel like I started cooking better- both healthier (although I did not stop making chocolate chip cookies several nights a week), tastier, more unique. And thoughout all of those years I have gone through times where I was NOT in the mood to cook anything. Luckily I now have several easy dishes that I know how to prepare when these moods come-

*Baked chicken (chicken breast rolled in seasoning/breadcrumbs) and baked

*Chicken Tacos (chicken in crockpot with salsa all day,shred, eat on a tortilla)

*Any pre-prepared meal from the meat section that just need to be cooked(seasoned tilapia, crab cakes, etc...)

Here is a random picture of shrimp tacos from a few weeks ago (with tomatoes and avacodo, nachos on the side)

I have not posted any of the recipes but feel free to comment if you want any of them~ Also feel free to share some of your favorites!

And just for memories sake, here is a picture from Valentines of us eating at one of our fav's, Macaroni Grill (after which we saw Wolfman-we highly DONT recommend it=))

The Faces of Maddox

Last Thursday we watched Maddox.
Him and Dillon enjoyed a game of chess....








Lots of deep thinking....

And then it was time for bed

"Pleeease Uncle Dillon, just ONE more game?"

One more game it was....

Life in the day of...

Whenever I tell people my profession, most people usually say something along the lines of "That's great that you have flexible hours" or "I bet you could be making alot more in the hospitals" and most are a little unsure of what a school nurse does.

The first statement is very true- for me my job comes second to family/personal life so of course I would rather have a job that allowed me a normal schedule, to be home in the evenings, weekends and holidays.

The second statement is really not so true- it depends on how much a nurse wants to work. I have one friend who prefers more days off so she works only 3 days a week - and another friend who would rather make more cash so she works 4 NIGHTS (typically earns more per hour) a week. It all comes down to how you want to spend your time, and that will determine how much more you can make working in a hospital.

I thought I would share what a normal day looks like (in a middle school of about 1,000 students).

Arrive a little before 8 a.m- get the clinic ready for the day (unlock cabinets, turn on computers, make a to-do list, check emails)

School doors open at 8:30 so I usually have 2 or 3 parents come that want to talk to me about something (immunizations, their child is on a new medicine, etc...). I enjoy getting to practice my espanol~

Kids start coming in for their morning medication at 8:40. After this, I walk down and check the blood sugar on one of my special ed students.

9-11 is usually a time where I see lots of clinic "traffic"- stomachaches, headaches, sore throats are the top 3 ailments, but I also see lots of minor sports injuries (jammed finger, sprains/strains). If the student has no temperature they may rest on a cot for a few minutes and return to class. Sore throats usually gargle salt water and get a mint. There might be a couple of genuine sick kids out of the bunch that come during this time so I make parent phone calls and doctors referrals.

11-1 is another heavy time for distributing medications. I have 4 Type 1 diabetics at my school and they all check in at lunchtime and we calculate their noon dose of insulin. If the sugar level is too high or too low we have a protocol that we follow until a stable number is reached. I have about 10 kids on ADHD medication, a few kids on inhalers.

After 1 pm is usually a time to play catch up on odds and ends- lots of charting, typing up letters to send home with kids who are behind on their shots, and planning for different things. For example, this week Im giving a hygiene lecture to the girls PE classes so I've been working on a powerpoint presentation. Head home around 4:15

Throughout the week I usually have a few interesting cases- cleaning wounds, counseling, elevated blood pressures, rashes, lice etc...

I also work on hearing/vision/scoliosis screenings throughout the entire school year. This is one of the biggest roles of the school nurse, as we often are the only ones to catch if a student has a debility.

On a typical day the clinic sees about 30 kids not counting those on mediciation. Some days are slower, some busier (the most we have seen in one day was 65). I actually think my job is pretty exciting- I love that I can maintain a bit of a routine but at the same time I never know what the day is going to hold.

The great thing about my profession is that all of my nursing friends and I LOVE our jobs- because we each picked the environment that we most enjoy and thrive in.

Here is a link to my school: http://cfbstaff.cfbisd.edu/field/

(I have a web page- look under Staff--> Administration-->Counselor