Hurray! I'm still online:)

Got some things worked out, and so I am still here,lol.

And the quote "I'll see you when I see you" is from an all-time classic movie 

 "Stand by Me"

and it was spoken by Wil Wheaton's character, Gordie LaChance, to the character of Chris Chambers, played by River Phoenix ( who sadly died far too young.)

The full quote is  Gordie says to Chris "I'll see you when I see you". and Chambers replies "Not if I see you first."  How do I know this, you ask?(or even if you're not asking, I'm going to tell you:) This is one of my family's all time FAVORITE movies, and I'm sure we've seen it over 20 times!

(Wil Wheaton, by the way, has a blog that I've mentioned here before)

Click here: WWdN: In Exile

So, anyway, I was 'gone' for a much shorter time than I thought, and am glad to still be here:)

Will be Offline for Awhile

Looks like I'm going to be without Internet service for awhile, so just wanted to say

"I'll be back",lol.   (Arnold Schwartzenegger   "The Terminator" movie)

And "I'll see you when I see you"(Do you remember the movie that quote came from?I'll find out when I check back in!)

Take care, all!

More of 'My Dorky Life'

Well, today was certainly not a day that went anything at all like I had planned!

I was off work today, but had to drive down to pick up my first paycheck. I asked my daughter if she'd like to go with me so she could see where I work(it's a half hour away.) She said yes,so away we went.

First of all, I take the interstate to get to work,so as we merged onto the interstate, I see a state trooper in the left lane a few car lengths back, so I of course drive the speed limit . I was cracking up, because this trooper was in the left lane and he was going the speed limit!lol, which was causing a HUGE traffic bottleneck, as most drivers on this section of our interstate seem to think the speed limit is 80 mph. I told April "that man is evil,lol, he's forcing everyone to go the speed limit." He did this for OVER 20 MILES, it was hilarious to see what consternation this caused with drivers.

I mention to April when we're halfway to my work "Oh, shoot, I forgot to bring the cell phone." She says, "Geez, we'll probably get in a wreck or something." Famous last words.

We exit the interstate and are back on city roads, and I am slowing down with my blinker on to make a right turn to go to my workplace, when out of the corner of my eye I see a flash of something to my left. I had enough time to think "What the..?" and BOOM! a deer which was apparently running across the road SLAMS into my driver's side door and flips up over the front of the car!!!

I had a split second to think "It's going to come through the windshield" by which time it had already flipped over the front of the car and landed on the other side WITHOUT breaking the windshield,thank God.

I pull off the road and notice that my side mirror is hanging by a thread.When I get out of the car, I see that the deer has gone up a hill to the right of us, and seems to have his rear right leg injured. An ambulance which happened to be driving behind me pulls over for the driver to get out and ask me if we're OK as I'm getting out of the car. April is going "WHAT WAS THAT??!!" and she starts laughing nervously. I am shaking like a leaf, but tell the ambulance guy"yes, I think we're all right" and then we both gaze at the poor hanging side mirror housing and the deer hair all over my windshield. I said"I think that's all that happened to my car."(the broken side mirror)

and just then some middle aged guy on a bicycle rides up and says"Hey, here's your mirror,it isn't even broken!Wow,that happened SO FAST!That deer came from nowhere! I didn't even see it till it slammed into your car. And that was pretty cool,it did a flip across the front of your car!"

At this, we all turn and gaze at the deer, which is still standing on a hill above us, with it's right rear leg hanging kind of limp and skewed. And I am still shaking like a leaf,but starting to laugh myself now that I realize we are OK, and the damage isn't that bad, and why the heck can't I just have a NORMAL day?OTHER people can drive to work to pick up their paycheck and not have a kamikaze deer ram their car .....what must it be like, to be one of those people? I feel quite certain I will never know!

After talking to a police officer who stopped, we proceed to work to pick up my check. Since I was right at the entrance to my job, EVERYONE who was coming to work had seen us by the side of the road. So of course we are explaining what happened, and then we go to see my boss and I said,"Hey, when you hired me? You never mentioned the dangerous deer in the area!" and she is cracking up,because just YESTERDAY she had told someone in front of me "If anything strange is going to happen....it will happen to Kathi!" (She's worked with me before,lol)

Then I ask her "Does anyone have any duct tape? for me to keep my side mirror on the car for the drive home?" and she is falling down laughing, and says"Now, how REDNECK is THAT?"But we located some, and I taped my mirror on, no matter how 'redneck' that looked

April and I made the drive back home without incident, but then I finally look at my paycheck and discover that my weird day is NOT over yet!  Someone has made a HUGE mistake somewhere, as my paycheck is THREE  TIMES LARGER than I had calculated it would be and there is NO WAY that I am going to deposit this until I talk to someone!!

In talking to the payroll clerk at work, and then someone at the corporate office, we deduce that what happened was someone put my DEPT CODE (which is a very high number) as my RATE OF PAY!!

At first, what they wanted me to do was to just return the check, and then they would issue me a new one by next Tuesday!!

And I was nice, but I said "Hey, I have been waiting THREE WEEKS for this paycheck, because of the point in the pay period I started working ,and I am scheduled to work the next 3 days and I need money for gas for those next 3 days to get TO work!!I really can't wait 4 more days to have any cash."

So they work out a way for me to have some money after all.And then after all that, I started crying after I hung up the phone and wailed "I wish I could just have a NORMAL life!!!" and Tony gave me a hug and was chuckling and said "But what fun would THAT be?!" so after a few minutes I finally started laughing,too.

And that's how my day went. How was YOURS?

Ben sold Two cars....Yay! Ben:)

Gosh, I am remiss....too much going on! Forgot to say that Ben sold a car last week, and then just the other day sold another....Yay! for my oldest son and his new job

I don't know what their settings are for blogging on Yahoo 360, but  you can find Ben here

Click here: Yahoo! 360° - Big Ben's Profile

 

 

and his fiancee is here  

Click here: Yahoo! 360° - Roo's Profile

 

 

(These are the 'parents-to-be' in Sept) They are also on MYSpace, which I think is obligatory if you are 30 or under,lol,but have not given me those links yet.

Obviously,Ben doesn't work at Sam Goody anymore.....they went out of business. He just recently got a job as a car salesman.

 

My other son is here   Click here: Yahoo! 360° - Kyle's Profile

 

and he is still liking very much his job at the jail.

Adventures in Nursing:) Not for the Squeamish.

Warning,not for the squeamish!(Discusses human excrement!)But I bet you nurses,and maybe you moms, can relate.

 

While I am extremely happy to be back working after my 5 month hiatus,I'm not so sure I'm happy about my apparent status at the new job,lol.

I appear to be 'The Queen of the Poop Patrol".

Yes, it appears that if someone has an 'accident' involving a bodily function, I am going to be the person to walk in and find it. (and then clean it up.)

It started three days ago, when one of our residents suffered from diarrhea.....I happened to walk  into the room right afterwards, and of course helped the woman clean up. (And we're talking a 45 minute  job, I ended up having to shower her, mop up, etc.)That's OK, that's all part of the job, I'm not complaining.

THEN, the next night....we had someone from another unit visiting our floor, and she asked me where the restroom was. This woman is intermittantly confused, but seemed alert enough. I showed her, and then realized a half hour later that she no longer had her sweater with her.Figuring she might have left it in the restroom,I opened the door and suddenly realized I was in the middle of a flood of water!Thinking 'what the heck?' I discern that the toilet has overflowed, is clogged up, and there is ...poop.....everywhere!!!(But hey, I also found her sweater,lol!)So, I complete another clean-up job.....and begin to wonder why I missed working:)

LAST night, I happened to be on the first floor,and decided to visit the public restroom. I opened the door and Holy cow! I have walked into another mess!!!Apparently my confused visitor had decided to patronize the public restroom, and had some problems.......I found her underwear (and a shopping bag with cheese?what's up with that????!) on the sink!!!A messy toilet AND......her skirt????(so,what exactly was she wearing when she exited ???Inquiring minds probably really DON'T want to know the answer to that!!!)

My boss happened to be there, and she and my coworkers were just convulsed with laughter at my propensity for finding these mishaps. Having a warped sense of humor myself, I was also chuckling pretty hard as I set out on my third clean-up mission in three days.There are some things that happen that you can either laugh, orcry. I don't know why or how I've been selected to be the discoverer of these 'blessings'.....but I guess this is my 'welcome' back to the world of nursing!!!

So as not to end on a 'crappy' note (I know,bad pun).....something unexpectedly nice also happened last night. After dinner, there were quite a few of our residents still sitting in the dining room while we were clearing the tables and loading the dishwasher,etc. We had the door to the patio open and everyone just seemed to be enjoying sitting,so I decided to put on a Lawrence Welk tape for them to listen to.

I was delightedly surprised to see smiles blooming all around the room, and residents snapping their fingers and some 'dancing' along in their chairs with the 'Charleston' A lady who very seldom talks had a grin from ear to ear and said "Now that's more like it" and was just be-bopping along in her seat to the music.

It was just really sweet to have something so small( a little bit of music) bring everyone so much enjoyment, and to watch all the smiling faces.

So,overall, yes, I am enjoying being back to work!

Rest in Peace

Click here: AOL News - Iraq Says Two Missing Soldiers Found Dead

 

 

Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, of Houston, Texas



            Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker, 25, of Madras, Ore.

 

 

My thoughts and prayers are with their families,friends, and fellow soldiers today.

PLEASE PRAY FOR.....

DoD Identifies Army Casualty and Soldiers as Whereabouts Unknown
            The Department of Defense announced today the death of one soldier
and the identity of two soldiers listed as Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown
(DUSTWUN) who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.  On June 16, in
Baghdad, Iraq, the soldiers were manning a checkpoint when they came under
enemy small arms fire.  All three soldiers were assigned to the 1st Battalion,
502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault),
Fort Campbell, Ky.



            Killed was:



            Spc. David J. Babineau, 25, of Springfield, Mass.



            Reported as DUSTWUN are:



            Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, of Houston, Texas



            Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker, 25, of Madras, Ore.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!!

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers,grandfathers, and fathers-to be!!!!

Have a Great Weekend!:)

A gratuitous picture for those of you who haven't visited my Flickr photostream,lol. http://www.flickr.com/photos/kasee102/ 

I thought y'all might like to see the camp where April will be this weekend?

Click here: Massanetta Springs Conference Center

 

Our church has a cottage there (but no presence on the web,lol, the pastor never responded to my email about putting up a site.)As a matter of fact, he had something in the newsletter about "all the new-fangled ways to get the word out about our church" and seemed to be voting 'no' to using a website to accomplish that. Oh, well.

 

And I have been a 'bad' sister, for not mentioning before that my youngest sis has had some health problems   

Click here: A Red Thread to China: Update - adoption, Tracy's health

 

I know this on top of the extended wait for adoption must be difficult. Please stop by and wish her well

 

If you're a world traveler? Heidi at Learning to Live has a Travel Trivia contest you might want to check out  

Click here: Learning to Live: Travel Trivia #11

 

and for more great travel photos, Terry always has beautiful Iceland pics on her blog 

Click here: Terry's Timeout

 

There's a Virginia soldier whose blog I love to read, if you haven't already checked him out, consider stopping by    Click here: Destination Iraq

 

And Sgt.Dock has a hilarious post about a latrine incident he had 

Click here: SGT Dock's Holiday   (and he's a MN guy, for all my family up there:)

 

If you're interested in chaplain's blogs? someone left a comment in a post I had yesterday on my other blog, and left this site with a listing  

http://squidoo.com/chaplain

 

And speaking of my other blog,lol? I have a Weekend Surf post up.

Click here: Weekend Surfing

 

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Grandad in WW II

Put up a post on the Mail Call! blog with some pics of my Grandad from WW II and a little bit of family history, if you'd like to check it out:)

Click here: Some of My Family History,Grandad in WW II

June 9,2006 Last day of School for April.

Sorry it's been a week since I posted, have been starting the new job and at the beginning of the week April turned up with strep throat (so she missed the first 3 days of the last week of school.)

Today I went to school to watch her get a Performing Arts award...she had no idea she was getting it  but her teacher had emailed me to let me know. So, my daughter is officially the 'best of the best', for her involvement in the chorale group the past 2 years, the handbell choir the past 2 years, and all the plays she has been in for drama the past 3 years. Way to go!!!

School got out at noon, and a girl who used to be our neighbor rode with me to pick her up. She wanted to go to see some of her old friends, she had moved to the county two months ago. I felt bad for her, when I looked in the rearview mirror after we were leaving, the poor kid had tears streaming down her face.

Both girls wanted to go to the pool afterwards, so I dropped them off. It's a beautiful day to be at the pool, or just out....I believe the word is 'halcyon'?The sun is shining and everything is golden and green and even though it's 81 degrees, there's a slight breeze so it's not too hot.

So why am I on the computer, you ask,lol? Well, since I work Sat and Sun and am off today, I needed to do laundry. And cook supper early, as Tony and I are going to a graduation tonight of a young man who has been a friend of Tony's son since 3rd grade. Dustin is in Texas visiting his mother for 14 days, so he can't go, and the whole family came to Dustin's graduation.

THIS graduation won't be outside on a football field,however, it will be at JMU's Convocation Center

It will be a nice outing, and since Dustin went to this school from 3rd grade until a year and a half ago, we'll  probably know quite a few kids that are graduating. And it's actually his father's former alma mater. (I can't put a link to the school Dustin graduated from,lol, as their website is somehow locked up, and also some of their staff seemed unaware that they HAD a website)

We live in the 'city', so next year April will be going to this school  MY former alma mater!(Although this is the 'new' school just opened this year.)

Tony is home from work, as he is a former soccer player  back in the 80's in high school and is a huge soccer fan still, and the World Cup  is going on!!!

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Dustin graduates! June 2,2006

Yay! Tony's son is graduated!!! We sat outside in the football bleachers one last time, this time to applaud when he got his diploma.

Tony's younger brother brought their mother, and Dustin's mother and a friend flew in from Texas. Originally we thought it was going to be moved inside because of thunderstorms,and the seating would be limited to 6 per graduate. So April got to skip her brother's graduation and instead went out of town with my aunt and uncle,to go to my cousin's daughter's dance recital.

Then they decided to go ahead and have it outside after all. We did get rained on twice during the ceremony, but at least it wasn't a downpour. Because of the iffy weather,they started out with the handing out of the diploma's....and then backtracked and did the rest of the program.

I liked the  part where you could hear the cows mooing on the hill across the road during a lull in the ceremony,lol.

Another thing I had never seen before was that the girls all had light blue grad gowns, and the boys had  dark blue.

I also accidentally tried to poke Tony's eye out with the umbrella,when I opened it for his mother when it started to rain. (You knew there was going to be a dorky moment here somewhere)

Afterwards we took pictures, and then headed home while the young people took off. It was nice to see that Dustin's best friend and his parents from Dustin's old school came, and also another couple that he used to go to their church. (and of course Dustin's girlfriend was there!)

He already has an application in at the jail to be a jailer, to try to go the same route as my middle son to become a policeman. In the meantime, I guess he'll be looking around for a job! but first he is going back to Texas with his mother later this week, to spend a few weeks with her before 'the next step' in his life.

So, only one child left to get through 4 years of high school....how does time go so fast! Seems like just yesterday, all 3 of 'the boys' were small and April was just a baby.

Click here to return to yesteryear.

 

Speaking of time, posting has been light because the last two days, I was starting work at my new job and didn't have much extra time:) I think I will really like this job, it's on a 14 bed enclosed Alzheimer's unit at an assisted living facility.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!