Thursday, February 26, 2009

Out of Sorts

It probably has something to do with the fact that I ate pretty the entire bag of kettle corn right before going to sleep last night.

And the fact that it's gloomy outside today, and I really don't want to leave my house.

And the fact that I went back to bed after Luke left and proceeded to sleep till 11am, throwing my entire day and all my plans off.

And the fact that I looked out the window this morning (after I finally really did get up) and noticed the trash barrels were missing. I went out in my pj's to search for them. Found them in two opposite fields, with the lid to one down way far. I never did find the other one, until I got back to the garage and realized it was safely there. If there's one thing I very much dislike doing it's anything to do with the trash. No idea why, I just don't like it.

On a brighter note, there are full length Jane Austin movies on youtube, and I've been taking advantage of that fact. You can watch both Emma and Mansfield Park in 9 minute segments. Why I don't just go rent them, I don't know. It's makes so much more sense that sitting in the front of the computer watching them on this 3x5 inch thing. Oh well.

I ate a cookie and 7 pringles for breakfast. My kids are just going to love me!

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Bread Day

There's nothing like homemade bread, cinnamon rolls, etc, right?

Well, last Wednesday when I was at Elise's (for no other reason than that we were both bored at home) we started looking through cookbooks and finding all these bread recipes that looked amazing, so we decided to makes Monday bread day.

We whipped up 2 loaves of bread, 4 1/2 dozen dinner rolls, and 4 dozen cinnamon rolls.

Wendi came over to show us how she makes her amazing cinnamon rolls. And we soon found out that while they were a lot of work, they are totally worth it!

Ready to start the cinnamon rolls!


Bread and dinner roll dough raising in the oven.

Ready to raise

Cutting with dental floss. Yes, it really does work!

Dinner rolls raising

The finished product!! YUM!

Friday, February 20, 2009

Making Laundry Soap


Ingredients: 1 bar of shredded soap (the less scented, the better)

3/4 Cup Baking Soda (or washing soda, if you're able to find it)
3/4 cup Borax


2 Tablespoons Glycerin


Put shredded bar soap in a small pot and add enough water to cover. Melt the soap and then add to the baking soda/borax/glycerin in a big bucket. Add 2 1/2 gallons of hot water, and stir.


Put the soap in milk jugs with lids. Use 1/2 cup for a medium load of laundry.
(We only had 2 milk jugs, so we used yogurt containers too)

So this all started when Paul heard on the radio about a lady with a bunch of kids who made her own laundry soap and how cheap it was. So Elise and I decided to whip up a batch on Tuesday. It was really easy, and cost only $1.67 for 2 1/2 gallons of the stuff. I did all my laundry with it on Tuesday afternoon, and declared it a success! We put it in milk jugs, which I think works the best, because you have to shake it before using it.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Lazy Days

And please don't make me feel guilty for them, because I really don't have a choice. I met with the nurse recruiter lady, and I don't start orientation until March 16th. And I get to start on the floor on March 24th. Not as soon as I'd like, but it works.

And speaking of work, I had my physical and drug test this morning. By the time I got there, I had to pee, which is always a good thing. No waiting around, chugging water so you can pee in the plastic cup. Anyway, I'm in fine health. I can see colors, walk straight, touch my toes, and all that good stuff. I got 2 shots, which was the saddest part of my day. I very much dislike shots. I used to be totally terrified of them, but I think I'm getting a little better.

I made laundry soap with Elise too, and it turned out good. It cost $1.67 for 2 1/2 gallons of the stuff.

Monday, February 16, 2009

I'm freezing

And that fact is possibly due to the fact that we've had no heat since Saturday afternoon at 1pm.

And the fact that it's 53 degrees in my house.

It all started Saturday morning when I woke and smelled gas or something along those lines. I woke Luke up to tell him, and he told me to go downstairs to check it out, but to turn off the heat first in case it was going to blow up or something (uhhh...). It smelled really strong downstairs, so we called our trusty friend Paul, who just happens to be a heating/air conditioning guy. Before Paul arrived, the carbon monoxide detector began blaring. We put up with it for a while, putting it on silence but it kept going off. When we decided we were starting to feel the effects of the gas (headaches, dizziness, sick to the stomach) we figured we should leave the house. Paul arrived a little after 1pm, and quickly diagnosed out problem - We were out of propane to heat our house with. This lack of propane was causing incomplete burning (no questions about this please, I'm only repeating what I heard) causing the smell of propane and the increase of carbon monoxide. We kept the furnance off, and headed off for our wonderful Valentine's Day date of Johnny's Italian Steakhouse, Coldstone Creamery, and Band of Brothers with Paul and Elise.

Returning home at 11pm, we expected it to be a little chilly but we had lots of blankets. Before even getting into the house, we can hear the carbon monoxide dectector blaring once again. So I called my mom, we packed up our stuff, and headed over there for the night. Sadly, it was the one night my family was in bed before midnight, and since all the kids were where they were supposed to be sleeping (ie: in their own rooms) there was no bed availible. So we slept of the living room floor. We ended up spending the whole afternoon and evening at my mom and dad's, but came home to sleep in our bed. We put the little space heater in our room and shut the door, so we didn't freeze to death. Our room is now a toasty 67 degrees.

But the rest of our house is 53 degrees.

I am dreading my shower.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Can't.....move


We went to the gym Tuesday night and again last night. I felt really good the first night. And I might have pushed it a little to hard.

Ok, a lot to hard.

And although I was sore yesterday, we went again. After about 10 minutes, the pain went away.

And I pushed too hard...again.

And now I can hardly walk.

I think we're going to take a break for a few days.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Stuff

And lots of it. I feel like we've been running non-stop since last Saturday. After my niece's testimonies and baptisms on Sat and Sun, my Uncle Ted's visitation and funeral on Sun and Mon, and taking my boards on Tuesday, I was about done for.

But Luke's grandma in Lester, IA, passed away Monday night, so we headed up there Friday morning, and then turned around and came back 21 hours later. (16 hours in the car, 21 hours there....ugh!)

Then there was Sunday (we had company for dinner) and yesterday the potluck girls+Annie hosted a baby shower for Janel and Max. We had a great time, and hopefully our guests did too. Elise and I made a diaper cake, which turned out wonderfully if I do say so myself. It's not an actual cake, it's made of rolled up diapers put into 3 tiers, and decorated with stuffed animals, toys, books, etc. I'd show you ours, but I forgot my camera.

As a side note, I read a novel on the way to Lester. A whole novel. Seriously, I haven't read a book in ages. When I went to the library on Thursday, I got so excited! I just love libraries. All those wonderful books to take you places you'll never actually get to go, the quietness, the smell...ahh.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Boards

After a month of preparation, a lot of money spent, a very stressful weekend prior, and one huge emotional breakdown, I took boards. That was on Tuesday. Monday night was the emotional breakdown night, complete with statements of "I'm not going tomorrow. I'm not taking that test." I don't think my husband knew what to do with me (I didn't even know what to do with me!).

Anyway, I did go Monday morning to take the test. I was feeling much better. Either that or I had no tears left, I'm not sure which. I got finger-printed, got my pictures taken, they locked up my coat, purse, and even my cute scarf. I got finger printed again, informed of the test rules, finger printed once again, and was ushered into the room of doom.

I took the test. It was terrible. Almost all of my questions were on medications, and I didn't know any of them. I guessed. On all of them. Some were educated guesses, and some were "Oh, B sounds like a good answer." On boards, priority questions are the highest level you can get. I just about cried when I got my first priority question. I had prayed so hard that I wouldn't get all 265 questions (the maximum number you can get), so when I got passed75 (the minimum amount) I kinda panicked about having to take all 265. But the computer shut off at 78 questions. I raised my hand to let the test administrator know I was finished. I was ushered out, and finger printed twice more (just to make sure it was still me in there).

I had failed boards. I envisioned how I would tell everyone. I knew they'd all want to know. Honestly, I wasn't so much worried about the humiliation anymore, I was more worried about how long Methodist would hold my job. And honestly, I hardly cared how I did, I was just so relieved to be done with that test!

Anyway, I got my results just this morning, about 45 minutes ago. I started crying. And by a miracle, I passed. Seriously, all the glory has to go to God, because there is no way I would have passed unless it was His will. I am so thankful right now. I just keep repeating it over and over: "I passed. I can't believe I passed." And now I am officially Heidi Knapp RN BSN.