Well, after a lot of stress, yelling, headaches, thought and agony, we have decided to send the kids to public school. We have tried for three weeks to work but I have not been able to pull together enough structure and the kids are unwilling to sit and work without a lot of pushing and yelling. So, yesterday, after the kids have been saying all along, we don't want to go to school, I get first from Nathan, I want to go to public school and then 30 minutes later from Amilia, I want to go to school, so, I am going to get everything filled out and they start on the 28th. Amilia started on a new medication for her ADHD that is different from what she was taking, so hopefully will work better for her.
They are excited that they now have the rest of the summer to play, no work on school work.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Saturday, August 4, 2007
New Job
Jim starts a new driving job on Wednesday. He will be on a dedicated route, same amount of miles (same amount of Money), every week. The route will vary each week but will repeat every couple of months (I think...). It is for a better company, better benefits, paid holiday and paid vacation. And a lot less stress trying to balance being out at work and being home. He will be home every weekend from Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon and most week home one or two times for a few hours during the week which will be nice. Having the kids homeschool means he will be able to spend more time with them when he is home. These next couple of months will be an adjustment but hopefully when all is said and done, I will be able to reduce my hours so that I can be home more with the kids...well, I am home more...I will be awake more!
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Day two
What a challenge! Getting the kids to sit and stay focused is a lot of work. But, we made it through most of what was planned. Amilia is surprising me...she knows a lot more than she lets on. But, she is still struggling with reading fluently. That is my goal for this month, to help her read better. Nathan has complained of a headache both days, shortly after sitting down and starting work. I think I need to give him less challenging stuff to start with and increase the difficulty. But I still do not know all that they don't know so it is another challenge. This afternoon we are going to the science museum in Raleigh to learn some while having fun.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
School
Well, today was the first day of school for the kids. We started homeschooling now to get a jump on figuring out how we are going to do it. Amilia needs to read better so we have been working on phonics with her and Nathan wants to do more math, so he did math. Then we read some about Jamestown and then the kids drew pictures and wrote sentences about the story. They are asking about "recess" and "going to lunch"...I have to break them of the public school mind set. Though they are excited about our field trip tomorrow. We have to get new tires on the van and they think that will be fun...
They "went to school" this morning in their pj's...they thought that was fun. We only spent two hours working, but that was enough. My biggest challenge right now is going to be getting Amilia to sit still and Nathan to be able to work when I am teaching Amilia. Nathan found the noise "distracting", so Amilia and I went to another room but he "can still hear you!". Nathan has been able to work by himself once I start him but he does not alway stay on task. We have to work on some insentives to get him to work. Until Amilia can read I have to really work with her.
Tomorrow we work on cursive writing (they both can do together), more of Jamestown and some worksheets I picked up today. Eventually I will be ordering a curriculum but right now we do not have the money to do it so we are working with what we have and what I find on line.
They both continuously ask questions...many that I do not have the answers for but we are learning places on line that we can look things up. All kinds of fun!
They "went to school" this morning in their pj's...they thought that was fun. We only spent two hours working, but that was enough. My biggest challenge right now is going to be getting Amilia to sit still and Nathan to be able to work when I am teaching Amilia. Nathan found the noise "distracting", so Amilia and I went to another room but he "can still hear you!". Nathan has been able to work by himself once I start him but he does not alway stay on task. We have to work on some insentives to get him to work. Until Amilia can read I have to really work with her.
Tomorrow we work on cursive writing (they both can do together), more of Jamestown and some worksheets I picked up today. Eventually I will be ordering a curriculum but right now we do not have the money to do it so we are working with what we have and what I find on line.
They both continuously ask questions...many that I do not have the answers for but we are learning places on line that we can look things up. All kinds of fun!
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
We've Moved
We have been crazy up until today. I have had to work a weird scedule with extra hours and our new babysitter bailed out on us last Friday. She wanted more money...we were already paying her more than what we were paying our last babysitter in Greenville. So, stresssssss. But, I put an ad on Craigslist, got a call the same night, interviewed Lauren on Friday and she started on Monday...and she is great!
We will be unpacking for weeks...you know how that is. The house we moved to is bigger and has more closet space than the other house. We have unpacked the esentials but still have about 25 boxes in the sunroom that I need to sort through and put stuff away. I packet all the dishes in a few different boxes and have not yet found them all so we are operating on 3 plates, a bunch of bowls and one glass...I got plastic plates and stuff from Walmart, but it does not hold up that great...
We will FINALLY start a new church on Sunday. I hope to make some good friends and find some friends for the kids. I have started making friends at work. I hope to start doing stuff with some ladies Thursday.
The kids have adjusted well...I stopped all of their medications the week after we got here and after a 10 days of wild behavior, they have finally settled down and are behaving great! Right now they only spend time with me, the sitter and each other but they are getting along great, playing together or separate and have become much more helpful around the house.
Nathan has not had any allergy symptoms at all since arriving and has been off the allergy medications...all of it started a year ago when we had moved into the house in Greenville. Since being here, nothing, no congestion, no sick looking kid! He has had mild headaches but they go away with Motrin...so I think the house was making him sick.
I am still struggling with being tired, but working nights and having the kids home during the day is a challenge. I have adjusted my schedule so that I am not working more than one night in a row. This starts tomorrow. So hopefully I won't be so tired because I will be getting more nights home sleeping. The problem I have is that I work a couple of nights, get adjusted, then cannot sleep at night when I am home. I plan on taking naps during the day before I work all night and then staying up all day the day after I work then hopefully sleeping allllll night. We will see.
We will be unpacking for weeks...you know how that is. The house we moved to is bigger and has more closet space than the other house. We have unpacked the esentials but still have about 25 boxes in the sunroom that I need to sort through and put stuff away. I packet all the dishes in a few different boxes and have not yet found them all so we are operating on 3 plates, a bunch of bowls and one glass...I got plastic plates and stuff from Walmart, but it does not hold up that great...
We will FINALLY start a new church on Sunday. I hope to make some good friends and find some friends for the kids. I have started making friends at work. I hope to start doing stuff with some ladies Thursday.
The kids have adjusted well...I stopped all of their medications the week after we got here and after a 10 days of wild behavior, they have finally settled down and are behaving great! Right now they only spend time with me, the sitter and each other but they are getting along great, playing together or separate and have become much more helpful around the house.
Nathan has not had any allergy symptoms at all since arriving and has been off the allergy medications...all of it started a year ago when we had moved into the house in Greenville. Since being here, nothing, no congestion, no sick looking kid! He has had mild headaches but they go away with Motrin...so I think the house was making him sick.
I am still struggling with being tired, but working nights and having the kids home during the day is a challenge. I have adjusted my schedule so that I am not working more than one night in a row. This starts tomorrow. So hopefully I won't be so tired because I will be getting more nights home sleeping. The problem I have is that I work a couple of nights, get adjusted, then cannot sleep at night when I am home. I plan on taking naps during the day before I work all night and then staying up all day the day after I work then hopefully sleeping allllll night. We will see.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
New Job
Well, now I get to talk about all the exciting ED stuff...I am so glad to be back in the ED. From day one, I felt like I was stepping in familiar shoes that fit and are very comfortable, worn in just the right places, molded to my foot. It was such a relief.
Wesley Long is busy, usually not overwhelmingly so, but busy enough that I am working most of the night...and that makes time fly.
My first weekend, we had a patient us his arm as a deadly weapon, one that we staff stayed away from until we were properly covered with protective clothing from head to toe. This man had put his arm through a window and cut an artery so when he was waving it around, blood just flew. There was blood on the walls, floor, ceiling and on us. After putting on face shields, liquid proof gowns, shoe covers and gloves, about six of us went in, pinned him down and gave him a shot which took about 15 minutes to calm him down. He was high on crack...we see that and alcohol alot...so begins my ED life...
One of the things I enjoy the most is even though I am not a doctor, I have enough experience that when someone comes in, I can usually figure out what is wrong...for example, we had a young lady come in complaining of nausea and vomiting. I further questioned her and she complained of a sore throat...I asked the doctor if I could run a strep throat with all of her other labs and I WAS RIGHT...she had strep throat...The doc came up to me before going to the patient and said "Good job, you called it right!" Made my night.
The thing about the ED is immediate gratification for most of the work we do...for example, I had a patient come in who was vomiting, had been for 24 hours, felt awful. I put in an IV and drew the labs in one stick (nothing like the flash of blood in the IV when you hit the vein on the first stick), hung a liter of IV fluids and give some medications for nausea...I get immediate gratification because the IV went in, I got the labs, and as soon as the medication is in, the patient is no longer feeling awful. I finish the liter of fluids and the patient feels much better! Unfortunately this is not always the case, but it happens enough to keep going and be excited about the job...
We see broken bones that sometimes we set, sometimes not, but we give medications to ease the pain...
We sober up a lot of drunks...some wanting help, some wanting a warm bed and a meal...
We see a lot of nausea and vomiting or abdominal pain...
We see STD's, UTI's and Detox.
The group of nurses I work with are great...mostly we work as a team, no one acting better than others.
The biggest complaint I have is getting the doctors to work faster, to see patients and discharge faster...I am surprised at how long a patient has to wait on a stretcher to be seen. I am used to the wait in the waiting room, not back in the ED. The labs are usually quick as are the radiology reports. Usually what the patient waits for is for the physician to see the patient. Oh well, can't have everything yet...
Wesley Long is busy, usually not overwhelmingly so, but busy enough that I am working most of the night...and that makes time fly.
My first weekend, we had a patient us his arm as a deadly weapon, one that we staff stayed away from until we were properly covered with protective clothing from head to toe. This man had put his arm through a window and cut an artery so when he was waving it around, blood just flew. There was blood on the walls, floor, ceiling and on us. After putting on face shields, liquid proof gowns, shoe covers and gloves, about six of us went in, pinned him down and gave him a shot which took about 15 minutes to calm him down. He was high on crack...we see that and alcohol alot...so begins my ED life...
One of the things I enjoy the most is even though I am not a doctor, I have enough experience that when someone comes in, I can usually figure out what is wrong...for example, we had a young lady come in complaining of nausea and vomiting. I further questioned her and she complained of a sore throat...I asked the doctor if I could run a strep throat with all of her other labs and I WAS RIGHT...she had strep throat...The doc came up to me before going to the patient and said "Good job, you called it right!" Made my night.
The thing about the ED is immediate gratification for most of the work we do...for example, I had a patient come in who was vomiting, had been for 24 hours, felt awful. I put in an IV and drew the labs in one stick (nothing like the flash of blood in the IV when you hit the vein on the first stick), hung a liter of IV fluids and give some medications for nausea...I get immediate gratification because the IV went in, I got the labs, and as soon as the medication is in, the patient is no longer feeling awful. I finish the liter of fluids and the patient feels much better! Unfortunately this is not always the case, but it happens enough to keep going and be excited about the job...
We see broken bones that sometimes we set, sometimes not, but we give medications to ease the pain...
We sober up a lot of drunks...some wanting help, some wanting a warm bed and a meal...
We see a lot of nausea and vomiting or abdominal pain...
We see STD's, UTI's and Detox.
The group of nurses I work with are great...mostly we work as a team, no one acting better than others.
The biggest complaint I have is getting the doctors to work faster, to see patients and discharge faster...I am surprised at how long a patient has to wait on a stretcher to be seen. I am used to the wait in the waiting room, not back in the ED. The labs are usually quick as are the radiology reports. Usually what the patient waits for is for the physician to see the patient. Oh well, can't have everything yet...
Thursday, May 3, 2007
House
Well, we got the house! We are very excited, the house is big enough for all of our "stuff", with space to move around...I will be moving a van load of boxes tomorrow and sleeping there on my weekend.
I interview two people over the weekend for babysitting for me. Both sound like they would work out well. So things are falling into place...we have prayed and prayed...God is Good!
We will be moving the bulk of our belongings on the 22nd through the 25th, the kids will go to the new house over the weekend and be babysat there, then we will live in a bare house, sleeping on air mattresses, and make the final out of the house on the 31st. The kids will go to school for their last day and I will finish cleaning the house. They will miss the last week of school, but the teachers have no problems with this.
Nathan took a reading placement test on Monday and tested 5th grade, 1 month...he is in 2nd grade! We are so excited. Really concidering homeschooling so that he does not get bored in school...he is having that problem now. He will finish his work way before everyone else and then get himself into trouble. I bought him a 3rd grade "everything you need to know" book and he has already completed most of the math work. We just have to get him to start working more with writing...reading, no problem!
I think Amilia with do well with homeschooling as well because she does so much better when I sit right with her while she is doing any work. If left alone, she dilly dallies and takes forever. I think that she just needs more one on one and I will do that for her. We will start over the summer and see how it goes. We have to declare that we are homeschooling 30 days before school starts, so that gives us plenty of time to get things in order and see if I can homeschool them! Amilia has her doubts at times...she says that her teacher is much smarter and knows a lot more than I do...I told her that anything we needed to learn, we could look up...
Well, gotta go finish cleaning...
I interview two people over the weekend for babysitting for me. Both sound like they would work out well. So things are falling into place...we have prayed and prayed...God is Good!
We will be moving the bulk of our belongings on the 22nd through the 25th, the kids will go to the new house over the weekend and be babysat there, then we will live in a bare house, sleeping on air mattresses, and make the final out of the house on the 31st. The kids will go to school for their last day and I will finish cleaning the house. They will miss the last week of school, but the teachers have no problems with this.
Nathan took a reading placement test on Monday and tested 5th grade, 1 month...he is in 2nd grade! We are so excited. Really concidering homeschooling so that he does not get bored in school...he is having that problem now. He will finish his work way before everyone else and then get himself into trouble. I bought him a 3rd grade "everything you need to know" book and he has already completed most of the math work. We just have to get him to start working more with writing...reading, no problem!
I think Amilia with do well with homeschooling as well because she does so much better when I sit right with her while she is doing any work. If left alone, she dilly dallies and takes forever. I think that she just needs more one on one and I will do that for her. We will start over the summer and see how it goes. We have to declare that we are homeschooling 30 days before school starts, so that gives us plenty of time to get things in order and see if I can homeschool them! Amilia has her doubts at times...she says that her teacher is much smarter and knows a lot more than I do...I told her that anything we needed to learn, we could look up...
Well, gotta go finish cleaning...
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