My other family---

Working at the hospital, I have come to have another kind of family..my co-workers. Its sad to say, but I see them more than my real family. These are the people I spend my weekdays, weekends, and countless holidays with. Being in healthcare which has to be available 24/7, we dont get the luxuries of having weekends and holidays off..heck even nights!!

I was cleaning up some photos today and found some fun random ones from work!

My favorite Miss Andrea...and her amazing hair!!!!!!!

Najiah
(affectionatly known as Nausea-Heartburn-Indegestion-Upset Stomach-Diarrhea)

Jess--one of my best friends!!!

(she had a headache and said it felt better with her cold drink on her head..?)

Callie holding Michelle

(i adore these girls--they are a riot!)

I got an email today from another friend from work--Jen D. It prolly wont be as funny to those non-nurses/techs/drs, but its super true :)

THIS IS AWFUL, BUT PROBABLY TRUE!

What your nurse is really thinking: 1. Don't tell me you have abdominal pain as you eat doritos, talk on your cellphone, and complain you are thirsty 2. If you come to the ER by ambulance, the first thing I will ask you is how you are getting home. No, we don't have people on staff to drive you home, and don't tell me you don't want to "bother" one of your family members at this hour. You had no problem bothering 911 for the back pain you've had for 3 months. 3. You don't get to pick your own IV site. This will irritate me and I wil l probably miss your IV on purpose and start your site in the place I wanted to initially to prove a point!! 4. "Butterfly" is not an IV size, this word signals me to put in a larger bore needle. :) ha! 5. Nausea is not a reason to come to the ER. If you are not in severe pain, are not vomiting or pooping your pants in front of me, your butt goes back to the waiting room or better yet--go to your Dr's clinic! 6.. How can you have the worst migraine of your life, but be able to yell at me about the wait after you just put down a magazine you were reading? Or be watching tv, talking on the cell phone...etc... 7. Don't ever say things like, "I usually get 4 mg of Dilaudid". Requesting your med and dosage will prompt me to squirt out half of the med before I inject, then I lie about the dose. 8. If you are allergic to Tylenol, Toradol, and Motrin, I have already assumed you are a drug seeker. 9. If you came to the ER having a family doctor appointment that same day, I will make sure you are still in the department well past the time of your original appointment. 10. I don't care if you are neighbors with the GI specialist. Unless he drove you to the ER himself, you can't be that friendly. 11. Just because, "my doctor sent me here", does not mean you get right back to a treatment room. This tells me you are a pain in the ass, and he's pawning you off. 12. The louder you moan/whine, the bigger size IV needle you get!! 13. Foley catheters cure pseudoseizures. They're also a cure for intoxicated persons. 14. If you are on more than 2 medicines at home, bring a list. Don't say, "you know, the little white pill". I am not a pharmacist. 15. RN is not synonymous with waiter/waitress. Please remember this!! 16. Don't bitch about missing breakfast when I'm on the ninth hour of my shift and haven't peed yet. 17. What gives you the right to complain about your sore throat for a week while I have diarrhea from the antibiotics I've been taking for pneumonia? 18. Broken toes are not an emergency. We'll make you feel stupid by putting a little piece of tape down there and kicking you out. 19. I am currently inventing a trapdoor system in triage to be triggered when you say the word "toothache". 20. Cover you mouth when you cough/belch. This is just common courtesy. When you neglect to do this, I am tempted to fart in your room, then close the door. 21. If you tell me you have fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome, know that I'm rolling my eyes and thinking you're a loser. 22. If you list Haldol, geodon, Xanax, and trazadone as allergies, don't tell me you have no psych history. 23. Never sign in with chest pain because you were too embarrassed to write "penile sores" or "foul smelling discharge". This will piss me off that I bumped you ahead of other people and I'll make your visit horrific. 24. Although you've been in the ER four times this week, you cannot list the ER doc as your family physician. 25. Do not talk to me while I'm trying to listen to your lungs. 26. Don't tell me you have no money for medicine while you have a carton of cigarettes in your purse (next to your cell phone), and each of your seven children are playing their own MP3's. 27.. Gravida 7 at age 22 means you are a slut. Thats it for today..hope you got a laugh out of this... xoxo, me

Postsecret..

I have a secret obsession..with a website called http://www.postsecret.com/

it is amazing!

It all started in like 2004 when Frank Warren asked people to decorate a postcard to portray a secret that they have never told anyone-he only asked that it be truthful and one that they had never been spoken before. He launched the site in 2005, and has been posting "secrets" that are still being send to him. He updates it every sunday and its my random guilty pleasure!!

(an example of a secret--NOT MINE :))

i highly suggest checking it out sometime!!

anyways..i think its movie time!

xoxo,me

Love Me Some Hannah!!

I have been hanging out with my friend Hannah (pronounced Honnah) a lot lately! She just turned 21 and is a frickin blast! I work with her at the hospital--shes gonna make an awesome nurse!! She had introduced me to people who I would definatly not normally hang out with! (which is a good thing)

We went out to Sips and Paddys last night..it was so fun! I guess if u come to Sips with 10 ppl you get a bottle of Smirnoff Vodka! We totally did that! Monday, we went to Welch Ave Station and had a couple pitchers of beer..yummm!!

Here is an adorable pic of Hannah and I!!

Tuesday is one of my favorite days to go out..

especially when there is Karokee and West Towne Pub involved! woot woot!

this past tuesday I met up with a few girls..Carrie (shes a new nurse on our floor) and her friends, Steph B, and I..Hannah and Andrea met us after work which was fun!

Heres Steph rockin out...she has an amazing voice!! I was totally surprised!!

And here is us adorable co-workers!!

Well...I suppose i better give my Winston some loving!! He played outside all day with the big dogs at my parents!!

xoxo,me

Thank God for weekends off!!!!!!

I do enjoy my job, but some days are hard..just too busy with too much to do! We have a lot of new employees lately, and I get so burnt out, I know I am not doing the best I can at being there for them! Monday I will try harder!

Today, I have not decided what to do..I know I know..its already after 2 pm..but I needed the sleep! haha!

I saw a commercial on tv for a new movie coming out that I really want to see. Its called My Sisters Keeper. Its about a young girl (abigail breslin) who was born for the sole purpse to help her sister who is batteling cancer. The sister goes into renal failure and her parents are making her give her kidney to her sister, as thats the reason the genitically engineered her for. The daughter played by abigail sues her parents for the rights to her own body! It seems like an emotional roller coaster of a movie..but looks really good! I believe its based on a book, I kinda wanna read it before the movie comes out June 26th!

check out the trailer:

http://www.mysisterskeepermovie.com/

Today is beautiful out, and I think I owe Winston some Lake time since hes been cooped up 2 days in a row while ive worked!

Have a great weekend everyone!

xoxo,me

Winston makes me smile!

I had a busy/hellish day at work and i get home and winston is here to love me..its great!

I never thought i would be a little dog person..i have always dreamed of owning a husky with bright blue eyes, but in an apartment i wanted a companion but something small..cuz its not fair to a big dog..

This is how small he was when i got him..4 lbs! i cannot remember that!!

our first vet visit he was 7 lbs and got tons of shots and felt soo bad! i cannot imagine waht having kids is gonna be like!

here are some of my all time favorite pics of him!! :) winston the dragon!!

roar!

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Winston the thug..haha..

he hates aunt abby!

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merry christmas!!

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one of my favs!! hes tried to follow me to the bathroom but never made it! soooo sleepy!!

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his ears in a pony tail..
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this sad pic is after his massacre of a first haircut!! eeeek

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ok thats it for tonight..

xoxo,me

Rockford...part 2

Abby and I got to spend the weekend just chillin and hanging out like when we lived together..a adore that girl!! We went shopping all of saturday..its a blast now that she has a job too and can shop shop shop too!

We found a strip mall that was uber random, so we decided to check it out!! We even found this transformer like thing and took pics with him cuz i liked him..haha

That night we went to Hooters with a few of the boys that were in the wedding with brad..i had never been to one before but their drinks were delish!!

Sunday, i was not ready for the treck home..but i knew i had to..i missed Winston sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much!! I decided not to take I-80 after my fiasco friday so i punched in Clinton, Iowa in the gps and was on my way..it took me on the most back roads i had ever seen! haha! it was a really nice drive..so relaxing!

The scenery was beautiful! I came across Savannah, Il (i have been there before and there is a resteraunt/bar/harley davidson shop/tattoo parlor called Poopys that I adore!!) I was so excited to stop at Poopys for a new shot glass and maybe some new epidurmal art (just kidding) but there was a biker convention for the holiday weekend..there were bikes EVERYWHERE!! I decided to not stop this time.

So..I cross the bridge into home sweet home-IOWA and the bridge is getting worked on..what is it with river bridges!! So it was one lane and uber creepy!!!

Then I make my way through Sebula (piece of trivia for u: Its the only island town in Iowa!!) and I decided to stop at David and Joanies--they are my brother in laws parents..and i ADORE them! They live around the Clinton/Bryant/Miles area. I pull in and spend an hour there chillin and stealing H2O!

I finally got home about 630 and my parents were nice enough to bring Winston to Ames for me so i didnt have to drive 2 more hours!

He missed me sooooo much! He still wont leave my side!!

well..thats the rest of the story...not as exciting and eventful as the first part..but thats OK with me!!!!

until next time..

xoxo,me

Rockford, Il trip..part 1

I had the most interesting trip on Friday to see my Abby...so, I took the interstate and left extra early so I could stop at the Outlet mall (woohoo:)) So my GPS estimated me being in Rockford at 2:20...nice timing i thought--so i spent just a tad bit of time at the mall and I was on my way..

(score: kari-1, crazy life-0)

iowa city had a horrible delay..a semi decided to stall admist the road contruction..but i can handle it...

**can u see the line of cars beind me..infront of me was just as bad!!**

(score: kari-1, crazy life-1)

BUT THEN......

i get to the iowa/illinois border witch is the mississippi river..and wtf--the bridge was out!

(i guess there was a crack and it needs to be fixed)

and the worst part is that my exit to head to rockford is the first one over the bridge--its soooo close but yet so far!!

(score: kari-1, crazy life-2)

So, i take the detour as i have no other choice..

I wind up in burlington and get across the river into moline!!

(score: kari-2, crazy life-2)

but theres another delay..a semi tipped over...how the hell does that happen!?!?!

(score: kari-2, crazy life-3)

after the delay:

lifes lookin good..im gonna get back up to the interstate, take my exit and get to ABBY!!!!

but what do you know...crazy life has other plans..

im going through a stoplight and i hear a bang, see flames and black smoke...

WHAT THE HELL......

(score: kari-2, crazy life-4)

im behind a semi and cannot see anything!

after sitting there for 30 mins..traffic starts to move

as i make my way past the explosion i see that it was a car fire!!

--scary, but he made it out ok--

but after 8 hours on the road..i finally make it to the hotel!!

(score: kari-3, crazy life-4)

**thank GOD none of the bad things happened to me--but it made for a stressful day**

thats it for now..i will add more about the weekend later!!

xoxo, me