2012 come to an end

O well, here we are again another year coming to an end and wishing for a better next year. Isn't that the way it always goes?

Just a few memories from 2012:

We bought a house in Ohio
We moved into our house in Ohio
I got a job
I got fired 90 days later for opening my mouth and failing a test
I filed for unemployment for the first time
I was denied unemployment
I was unemployed
Grandson came to spend several weeks here
Had no money while grandson was here, but all the hugs were FREE and wonderful!
House still for sale in SC
I started school to work on my Master's degree
I got a new job teaching but since I do not have my Master's yet have to be community faculty.(which means no job security)
Teaching nursing students; kinda like it
Our dog died, Tia after  years broke my hubby's heart
Rescued a dog from the pound
Rescued dog bit hubby's hand pretty bad
Took dog back to pound
Got new puppy, Ollie (see last post) he is lovable and cuddly and adorable
Hubby got new puppy last weekend. (see last post) she is adorable and lovable and gets along well with Ollie.

Through all the ups and downs this year my blood sugars have gotten out of control again. So today I go to an endocrinologist and look forward to a healthier  2013!

Looking forward to 2013!!!


Every year has ups and downs I think it is all about how you look at life. Some days I am good, some days not so good. But at least I am here to enjoy it! Thank you Lord for another day!

New editions to our family

Over the holiday we got a few new editions to our family; actually Ollie has been here for about a month. We got two new dogs. I know we are crazy but I guess we are just dog people. My hubby and I wanted two different things in a dog. he wanted a dog he could go hunting with, walk in the woods with and do that kinds of stuff. Me, I wanted a cuddle dog, a lap dog, a small dog to keep me company when just doing nothing at home.

The first dog we got when going to check out a completely different dog. We were going to see a Boston Terrier, and I just fell in love with a timid little ball of hair, when I picked him up he was shaking and it broke my heart so we bought him. His name is Oliver Sputnick McClelland. (The sputnick was my dad's idea. You see he always comes up with crazy names for anything from babies to puppies and when I showed hi the picture he said he looked like a sputnick. SO of course I had to add it in his name.)

We call him Ollie

Well my husband could not get left out and if we had one dog why not have two right?? So my sister in law (my hubby's brother's wife) got a very good lab dog after her dog had died. Maya is a very good lab with a great temperament and good with the kids. SO when we found out Maya's mom was expecting we put in an order for a yellow female for my hubby. (His last dog Tia, that died a few months ago was a female, so he had to have another female.
Yesterday we drove almost all day in a snow storm to pick up our latest edition. Her name is Nuy's Belle (Nuy is a name form hubby's childhood). He has mentioned maybe calling her Belle Lee, or even LuLu Belle but all we know for sure at the moment is her name is Belle.

This is hubby and Belle

Now we are in full potty training swing with two puppies! I know we are crazy Right?! But feeling very loved!

Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas was good! All though I have to admit it would have been much better if my kids were here with us in Ohio; but they are well, and we did get to talk to them yesterday it was good!

For the past couple years since the kids moved out Kevin and I have been spending Christmas alone. This year we were close enough and had time off to be able to go home for Christmas! It was great!

Christmas Eve we spent with my husbands family just like old times! It warmed my heart that my nephew was in for Florida. We got to meet his very sweet girl and see him with his dad, sisters and step mom. 

My brother in law and nephew

brother and sisters reunited for Christmas

Christmas at my dad's house yesterday was great too! Just missing my kiddos and their families, but I got fb video of Christmas morning.

Kevin and me with Ollie, JaLiah , Tyree, and Teonna

Dad and Barb opening gift from family

Any time spent with family is so much appreciated after years away!!
We even got to spend time with my best friend and cousin Deb, and her family! It is such a blessing to be here close to home again!!

Muddling through and Trying not to whine

Hello again. I am back. The school semester is over at work. I am on break now from my job. That is good but I do not get a pay and hubby wants me to file for unemployment again. I am scarred by the last time I applied. I suppose I will though because I am going to have the summer off with no pay.

I am still trying to decide if I like the teaching thing. I really miss being a bedside nurse but years of it has killed my back and knees. Bending squatting pulling tugging all this plays a toll on you after a while. I know it is time to move on. But I miss my patients. There I go again whining and I was trying not too...

I love teaching the students I love the look they get when they finally get it. The excitement of helping do a task they were terrified to do. Helping them connect the dots of the whole picture to critically think through the process. I hate the paperwork! they think they have paperwork to do but I have to grade it all!!

I miss working with cancer and hospice patients. I love taking care of these patients. I thought of volunteering at a hospice center but do I really have the time for that? NO, I sometimes think I do not have time to breath cause it would take to long. Thank the Lord I do not have to think about breathing to live or I would be dead. And there I go again whining.

I guess my identity has been being a cancer nurse for so long i do not want to loos that. I want to be involved in oncology some how. I want to hold a patients hand when they find out there is nothing else they can do and listen to them when there is no one else to talk to because their family just does not understand. I miss the intimacy that comes from being the nurse and helping someone deal with a difficult decision of going back on a treatment that they swore they would never do. Just being there for a patient in need. I miss it so much. I don't feel the same way about the students, yeah I want to help them but it just not the same.....

Thats all I really wanted to say I hope I did not whine too much......

I am here for HODGE PODGE so Excited!!!

I have been away for Hodge Podge for soo Long!!! I am so siked to be back!!!!  Here goes!!










1.  So, when did you last take a walk in the woods? A stroll along the beach? A drive going nowhere in particular in the car?


I  almost never take a walk in the woods, but I did go to a tree farm recently does that count??? I think it does. As far as going for a drive I do that all the time. Hubby and I like to explore. 

2.  Are you sending Christmas cards this year?  About how many do you send?  Photo card or something more traditional?  How do you display the cards you receive? 

Yes I am sending Christmas cards they are all written just waiting for me to take them to the post office. If I remember to take them with me will do tomorrow, if not Friday

3. What's a word you've heard too much of in the past week?

Fiscal cliff. 
I totally agree with Joyce, if I never hear about this again it will be too soon!

4. December 13th is National Cocoa Day-are you a fan?  Plain or flavored?  Marshmallows or no marshmallows? 

I love Cocoa! In fact I just bought some Swiss Miss for my kerug 
Yum!!!

5. What is something you do to help alleviate the hectic pace of the Christmas season?

My Christmas season is not that hectic any more the kids live far away so I just veg out by the tree

6. Besides jewelry, what's a favorite sparkly-glittery item in your home or closet?

My Christmas Tree!!! 

7. Share a favorite line or two from any Christmas carol.

'Mary did you know when you kissed your little baby you were kissing the face of God!!
I love that song!  

8.  Insert your own random thought here. 

Lately I have been feeling like I am drowning more and more. I need to do something to lessen the stress levels!! There will be school and work but something has to give!

Taking up too much time

This job and my Master's program seem to be taking up so much of my time now. Sometimes I feel like I barely have time to take a deep breath. Just when I think I ma have a moment something else comes along that consumes my time.
I wish I had time to just ake a walk. I wish that just taking a walk would not be taking time away from everything else that piles up in a monsterous heap seeking to attack me. Imagine a huge monster of paperwork lurking in the shadows waiting for me everytime I try to attack me. That is what it feels like in my head.

Is it going to get any better in the near future? No I don't see it right now. I will be in school until next Dcember. I have this job which I need. Is it y dream job? I don't think so but what can I do right now? Any change will just make things worse or more terribly stressful.

My health is starting to show the evidence of this. So I am not inclined to start anything else to add stress to my life. I have talked to my boss and am about to sign a new contract for the next semester; so that can lighten my load a bit. As for the rest of my time, sometimes I must hide from the monster and move in the shadows to get a breath. At least until next December when I am done with school.