Uncategorized

Four shifts on with a flight leaving to San Diego then flying back into DC to work the next three shifts I am so ready to hold them and just be with them instead if ships passing in the night.  

   

Caleb and Hannah were in our church Christmas program on Sunday Hannah had a speaking part which was the closing prayer. Caleb stood toward the back and sang, and Eve who was supposed to be part of the program decided that she did not want to go on stage and sing so instead she sat on her teacher’s lap and ate a candy cane.  

    
    

 I am routinely amazed at how the kids jump in on any church play or program.  Last year it was playing the bells.  I don’t know how it has happened but they don’t even have a lick of shyness even when they are speaking I front of a large crowd of grownup strangers.  Gotta love them.

Leaving San Diego this morning, this has come way quicker than it was supposed to. It means back to real life, it means going on with out Grandma, it means grieving by ourselves on the other side of the country. I could hear some of the hustle and bustle as Grandpa and mom quickly got ready to head to Samantha’s college graduation.  She had only a few tickets and so mom was going as a stand in for grandma who had fully planned on being there only two weeks before.  It was early early so I stayed tucked into bed.  I had already said my good bye to Grandpa the night before and that it would be easier for both of us if we didn’t have to say our goodbyes again.  After they left I must have drifted back to sleep.  Each night here in California has included a near midnight or after bedtime and an 0700 singing wake up call from grandpa so I was feeling a little tired.  I’d like to say that sharing a twin bed with my mother had something to do with the tiredness I was feeling but, some how we managed to sleep comfortably with out bumping into eachother much.  

All of the sudden I was startled awake by the doorbell, knowing grandpa and mom were already gone and unsure if Irma was in the shower or what I jumped up out of bed to go answer it.  Irma however was already up and in the kitchen and had answered the door.  It was my Aunt Susan who was quite pleased with my disheveled-not quite with it look.  They made fun of me a bit and I decided it wasn’t going to be worth it to try to sneak a few more zzzzz.  I headed to back to the room and before I had grabbed my clothes to head to the shower they were stripping my bed and getting the sheets in the washer.  I showered then jumped in on the to do list to get the house ready for grandpa with out him having to spend a day cleaning up after the house full of guests that had been staying there all week. We ran a few errands then headed to the airport.  The first leg wasn’t bad, I was just feeling a bit nauseated.  I was a little nervous about the flight change in Denver because the lay over was short and the airport can be hairy if the terminals were not close together….few they were only a few gates apart which gave me time to go to the bathroom before jumping inline to board the next plane.  I snapped a picture of the plane and snow and answered a facetime call from Cyrus who talked to me all the way onto the plane.  I wanted to sleep my way to DC, but it just didn’t happen…I didn’t think my stomache was in knots but seriously I was feeling nauseated.  I closed my eyes and tried, keeping the emesis bag close by.  Needless to say I was feeling pretty miserable by the time in caught up with Chad and the kids.  Poor guy had been planning to take the kids to Arlington and because they put wreaths in all of the graves and the public parking was all reserved for families of those buried there.  They had been in DC all day until 10:45pm with a limited amount of  money in the budget and not many truy free options (parking alone is expensive) the had ended up at Rock Creek Park.  It hadn’t taken as long as they had hoped.  We made it back to our apartment around 0100…what a long day.  

   Deicing the plane in Denver.

Yesterday after Sarah got home from work we loaded up in the car and took off to the airport. We need to get out to Dulles airport for her to catch a flight to San Diego so she could attend her grandmother’s funeral. After making the trip to D.C. I did not want to waste the day so we headed over to the air and Space museum. The kids were unsure of it but agreed to go with me.

They got to play in a hands on center focused on learning about flight (what makes it possible). Also they then went to a paper airplane contest.

Then we headed off for our tour. We learned about Charles Lindbergh and his flight across the Atlantic.

Then moved on learn about the Wright brothers and their historic first flight.

They had a great day and learned a lot. I am proud of them listening and asking some really good questions.

They are eager to go see some more of the Smithsonian museums.

~Chad

This post is for Aunt Jan.  I love you Aunt Jan.  We don’t want to go too many days with out posting as we know you and Great Grandma Brown worry about us when there is no news.   The last three days have been mostly that of work and sleep.  I have one more shift after tonight before we head to DC Tuesday morning for the flight west to San Diego for me to attend my grandmother’s funeral.  Chad and the kids have purchased a sushi mat and have been practicing making their own sushi.  I told Caleb that if he has that skill mastered by college his room will be the hang out room.  I have to lay off the girls like a guy who can cook comments.  I can get away with a few, but they totally embarrass him so I can’t over do it.  Here is a few of the pictures.  I have been happy to taste test them.  My favorite ones are the spicy crab rolls.  

    
    
   Caleb had a blast making his own sushi.
    
    
    
    
 Today while I was sleeping chad and the kids put up a tree.  

   Aren’t they so cute!  It isn’t necessarily feeling overly Christmassy yet, this little tree and our felt ornaments will go a long ways to make it feel more so. 

We fit in two extra hours of visiting with Brooke this morning.  The mall near her is surprisingly devoid of great coffee places.  It’s a good thing the hotel coffee was good and I had filled my thermos before checking out.  We said our goodbyes and headed south just before lunch time.  We drove down through Lancaster County deciding to enjoy some of the back roads to enjoy the beautiful farms and land as the sun started to set.  There is still a dairy girl in my heart.  

    
    
    
    
    
    
 When the darkness settled in and we could no longer see the farms and landscapes we turned south again.  It was time to go home…I guess our awesome air mattresses  are calling us.  

Some where on the top ten best things travel nursing has given us list is the gift of catching up with old friends who have over time spread out.  You know how life is after high school and college too.  You start a career have your family and then look around when you emerge from surviving the toddler years to discover a decade has gone by and what ever happened to those besties from your youth?  Well years and miles have happened, but today we got to hang out and have dinner with one of my best friends from about 4th grade through high school, Brooke.  Her son Garrett was about two the last time we visited and a lot of life has happened.  Thank goodness for FaceBook or we would have never known we were neighbors.  Us Idaho small town girls meeting up in New York, I didn’t see that coming, but I will take it!  We met at the mall and visited for a while then caravaned over to Texas Roadhouse for dinner.  It was like no time had passed.  I don’t think we stopped talking for the entire 3.5-4hours of our visit!  Yay!!!! It was so good to see you again Brooke and Garrett  and to meet you Dawn. 

     Don’t let Eve’s pouty face fool you.  She was eating up all the attention. That and the peant shells…crazy girl.
 

Ok most of this post will be pictures, but I have to warn you that we could not go to the Canadian side since we do not have passports for the girls.  Most of the falls face the Canadian side which makes it difficult to see from the New York side.   

    
    
    
 I had to kiss my man since this is known historically as a honeymoon destination.

  
    
  We drove out to goat island where the view was maybe a little better and we could at least see the main horseshoe shaped falls.   
   
 

   
    

 Caleb dropped a leaf off of the bridge and we watched it go down the river and over the edge.  So fun.  Most of the trails and all of the elevator going down into the gorge were closed as well as the shops as it was off season.  I would have loved to have gone down the elevators to see the falls from below. 

Boy it seems to be so easy to get behind on this blog, but I know if I don’t write things down here I will forget them before Sunday rolls around.  I worked Sunday night (was put on call for most of it actually) and Monday night.  After work Tuesday morning we ate breakfast and then loaded our car to head towards Niagara Falls.  We can’t waste three days off in a row at home since there is already not enough time to see everything that we want to see here.  There was some logistics this time since we had ordered Christmas presents for the kids and they were to come on the days that we would be gone.  One of the new friends we met at church said that she would be in town and picked them up for us, that was the main concern.  (Thank you Jessie)  Then we stopped at the post office on the way out of town to mail out a last batch of crocheted washrags for a Christmas show back home.  A little coffee was also in order.  If I remember right I stayed awake for a little while then fell asleep.  The next time I picked my head up to see what was going on we had passed through West Virginia and Maryland and were now in Pensylvania.  We were headed to Niagara Falls fully knowing that by the time we arived it would be dark.  We drove all day.  Through mostly rain and a lot of small towns.  There is a lot of rural area in Pensylvania and New York.  Texting family, and a healthy dose of Duolingo Sanish kept me busy.  My grandmother is in the hospital she has been since the day after Thanksgiving.  She has been so healthy and active we all thought she would recover from her new health issues in a few days but it has been down hill more and more.  I really don’t think they have been fully sharing how bad it is, and it was just coming out that this is very serious and there may be no recovery.  The call was made to bring all the kids (my aunts and uncles) home to be with grandma and grandpa.  I am an adult, so I am lucky to have had my grandmother this long.  I am selfish though and would love to bargain for another 10 years.  She can’t really be that sick only a few days ago she cooked a whole thanksgiving meal for 10 people and now everyone is gathering to say their goodbyes.  It is hard to process these things.  I’m sure I will be chewing on it for a few days (weeks, months, maybe years) It is all in God’s hands and as selfish as I know I am I just want what’s best for them. We did make it to Niagara Falls and got a sweet deal, off season rate on our hotel.  The kids requested sushi and there was a well rated place just down from our hotel.  We thoroughly enjoyed our food but thought of grandma and grandpa the whole time.  The last time we had sushi was in San Bernardino November 1st when we visited with Grandma and Grandpa on our way to Virginia.  It had been a delightful dinner where Grandma relived some of her childhood as she had grown up in a neighborhood in Sacramento with a large Japanese population and her best girlfriends had been Japanese.  She remembers the trucks coming to pick up her friends and their families to take them to the work camps during WWII.  It was good to hear the stories as we enjoyed each other’s company and the good food.  We sent Grandpa a picture on his iPad that I doubt he will get until he is home of our mochi dessert and a little note saying we missed them.   

   

I get to drive over the “mountains” to work and back over them to come home.  This means wind guests, and thick fog, as well as traffic.  It is 35 miles from our apartment to work.  I leave our place one hour and 15 minutes before I have to be to work. Two shifts out of three that is plenty early.  But twice now I have been racing the clock with it taking one hour and 16 minutes to get to work.  The first time I thought it was a fluke, extra traffic caused by a car accident, when it happened a second time I decided I have to have another game plan.  I cannot be racing into work or late one shift a week, that will not fly.  It is just so frustrating to have to leave for work 1.5 hours early to go 35 miles.  The other fun part to this is that I have been informed that each year when the weather gets bad the hospital hosts the nurses as the roads are just too bad to try to drive home and back.  It is prudent to have a small travel bag with the essentials in our car so that we don’t end up wearing netted underwear and hospital tread socks when we get snowed in at work.  Yay fun.  We are going to need prayers for traveling mercies as winter weather sets in.  They are equipped for the winter weather and there are lights on the side of the road that look like flairs but equally spaced over miles and always there so I’m pretty sure they are not flairs.  They are so helpful in the dense fog.  The drivers drive in the fog with their hazards on since the little red tails lights can be hard to see.  The nurses are supportive too.  This week one day I was put on call at 2300 and they had me text them when I got home since the fog was extra thick.  It is nice to know there are people watching out for you and people who care.