Christmas Etc.

It never really felt like Christmas to me this year. It just came too fast, and though I was NOT one of those last minute shoppers (I've been done since the week after Thanksgiving), it just seems like the year flew right by and I'm still stuck in June...or something. I dunno. I did all the stuff I usually do...put the Christmas tree up, decorated the house, saw The Nutcracker (becoming a tradition), made cookies with my Dad and Sam, Christmas-Eve service at church, time with family and friends, mediating on the Reason for the season. Don't get me wrong, it was a great Christmas, it just didn't feel all Christmas-y and stuff like usual.

Most of my "free" time this month has been spent searching for homes. I'm getting rather frustrated...and today one of the houses that we were going to go see tomorrow just went into escrow...so we can't go see it. I was/am really irritated with myself about that one because I saw it when it first went on the market 2 weeks ago, but thought it was too far out and so didn't inquire about it. Then we decided it wouldn't be too far and scheduled a showing two days ago for tomorrow. And today it became unavailable. Grrrrrrrrrr!!! I don't want to just settle for something that "will work", I want to LOVE it! I know it may take a couple of months, but in the meantime I will be starting Block 4 in just a couple of weeks and so I know that the time I will have to look is going to drop drastically. Maybe I just need to rely on the daily email I get with "new matches" from the search I have set up on our realtor's website. *Sigh* I know we'll find a house, I just want it to be perfect in every way (not literally perfect, but perfect for us, you know--location, price, floorplan, yard, condition etc). We've put offers on two homes, but I don't think either of them is going to end up being the one we get.

Besides house hunting, I've just kinda been relaxing. That will be over after this weekend. Back to the grind of homework and studying, as I explained in the previous post. For Christmas Scott got a game for his Xbox360 called Rockband. It is AWESOME!!! And I don't play video games...but this one I do!! It is a set with a drum set, guitar, microphone and of course the game and it is SO much fun! We bought a bass to go along with it because Scott also got a Gamestop giftcard. I've only played the guitar and bass, I refuse to sing and the drums just look too hard, lol. I've been able to play a couple songs on the "hard" setting, but mostly I stick to Medium. We literally spent all day last Friday playing this game and then some of Saturday and Sunday too. It's a blast, especially when played with a bunch of friends!! :-D

I know I was going to write something else, but I can't remember what at the moment. I'm a little distracted, thinking about houses, school, the dishes in the sink and getting ready to go to our friend's house for a party tonight. I will try not to go so long without writing again. :-)

Goodbye 2008!!
~Abigail~

School Frustrations

Is it over already?? I can't believe another month is nearly gone. I have completely enjoyed Christmas break, and haven't cracked a book even once. That will have to change after the new year. Four of the case studies I mentioned a couple of posts back are due on Jan 16th--our first day of class. And three more are due each of the following two weeks. Plus we got our reading list...and it's insane. Good thing it's OB first!! It will be fun for me! :-D I am SO mad at the school, though, because they scheduled our tests this semester on SUNDAYS!!!! HELLOOOOOOO, I have to WORK on Sundays because I'm already in school on Saturdday and weekends are required at the hospital!?!?!?!?!??! AND SUNDAY IS NOT ONE OF OUR CLASS DAYS!!!! I was furious when I read the schedule...and get this...it wasn't even the school that sent it out it was another student who happened (luckily) to hear from ANOTHER student that the syllabus had been outside our upcoming teacher's office door at the school for the past two weeks. Did she (the teacher) even bother to send out an email letting us know it was available and where?? NOOOO! I am so over GCC. They never tell us anything--and this is an instance where I CAN say never and not be exagerating. Thanks to one of my classmates who scanned it into her computer and emailed it to everyone I don't have to go down there to get it (not to mention the Nursing Department is closed until the 5th). I am so glad this will be my last semester. I don't think I can take much more of this disorganization and lack of inforation. AND wishy-washy school regulations. At the end of last Spring a new school policy was made saying that they couldn't make us come in outside of scheduled class time to take tests. We had to do that last Spring (we were forced to come in on Thursdays to take tests), but that was before the policy. Now they've gone and scheduled us to take test on Sundays this semester...supposedly against school policy. I could scream I'm so irritated. So I had to explain this to my Supervisor at work yestereday. They already bend over backwards for my scheduling needs, and we had already filled out the February schedule...which I now had to CHANGE and it totally messed things up. She was understanding...and it's a good thing I can fill 3 job descriptions--I'm now a nurse extern one day a week, and then my second day each week I can be EITHER the Nurse's Aide or the Secretary, whatever is needed...so at least that helps. But still, I felt so bad having to change the schedule and take myself off of those two Sundays in February to accomodate GCC. Good thing there are only 4 tests this semester. Our final is on April 10th (a Friday). Hmmm, I wonder how many days until then (I've been counting down to May 15th--my tentative graduation day--since the school hasn't bothered to tell us the actual date yet--big suprise). 99 days until April 10th. I like that better...it's under 100, lol. :-D Plus, after our final we'll just have Preceptorship to complete and that (hopefully) will be fun.

I guess I'm done complaining for now. I just want to be done. Soon, very soon. It couldn't come soon enough...

~Abigail~

"Nursling"

Today was my first day as a Nurse Extern in Postpartum. As such, the nurse who has taken me under her wing as a Preceptor has nicknamed me her "nursling". :-) It was a fun day, but kinda weird at the same time. I felt like a stranger in my own home because although I was working with the same nurses on the same unit that I've been on for 2 1/2 years now, I was doing something entirely different. I guess you could compare it to getting a new pair of glasses--I have to adjust and refocus on the nurse's role as opposed to the CNA role I'm used to. So it's the same stuff, but completely different all at once. Clear as mud? Good. :-)

On my first day as a "nursling", I checked my first fundus (for those who don't know what that is you now have something to Google), and also became the proud owner of an umbilical cord clamp remover: an essential for any OB nurse (especially in Postpartum or Nursery).

I'm getting there!! 4 1/2 months left of nursing school (that would be 137 days--but I'm not really counting--*wink*). Then I'll be official!

My plan is to write a super long post on Wednesday (my next day off) before 2008 comes to an end (cause I know I've been slacking!!). :-)

~Abigail~

162 days...

Until graduation (to clarify...). I'm still only speculating on the actual date, but I can't be too far off. :-D I have three school days left of Block 3, and our last day is the 12th. Then I'll have exactly one month off before beginning Block 4 on January 12th. I have a LOT to do before then. I plan to complete the 10 case studies our instructor has already emailed to us so that I will not have to do them during the semester. They are all Maternity and Nursery case studies so they may actually be fun for me, or at least not as bad as other stuff...right now I'm kinda excited about starting on them, but I have yet to begin so we'll see how long that lasts...I will be getting my OB book back from a friend tomorrow and can start after that (she is finishing Block 2 and I let her borrow my Block 2 books for the semester, but I need them all back for Block 4...then she can have them back again when I'm done for HER Block 4, it works out perfect!!). Anyway, I know Block 4 is going to be extremely tough, so I do need to get cracking on those case studies as well as reviewing other stuff so I'm prepared...

Thanksgiving was great!! Scott and I spent Wednesday night at my parent's house so that I could get up at 7am and watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade (tradition!!). My dad also made his traditional T-day breakfast: Johnny Cake (sweet corn bread muffins). Yummy!! After the parade my mom got the turkey ready to cook, and I prepped the Green Bean Casserole (my all time favorite) to bake later. I had baked two pumpkin pies the day before, and I even made the crusts from scratch! They turned out GREAT...although I did have to kinda piece the first one together because it fell apart on me as I was trying to transfer it from the counter into the pie pan...I didn't know I was supposed to fold it over on itself into quarters....I figured that out for the second one though and it didn't need any "repairs". :-) Grandpa and Letha came over for dinner and of course Mom, Dad and Sam were all there. Oh yeah. Me, Mom and Scott all played a new game called Alibi that Scott got from his friend Andrew (hi Andrew!!) for his birthday and it was AWESOME. It is very similar to Clue but totally different at the same time. Fun game! We played it again this past weekend with our friends Matt and Angela. :-) Anywho, we had a great Thanksgiving and I hope you all did too!!

I had to work on Black Friday, but Scott went shopping SUPER early with his parents (he was up before 3am!!!). I think he did a bunch of shopping online before leaving because the same sales were online too and NO LINES!! :-D I'm finally finished shopping for him too, and there's NO way he can guess what I got him!!! Mwahahaha! Oh oh!!! I was SO excited about Kohls....Scott's parents gave us their "Kohl's Cash" that they earned from shopping on Black Friday and we also had some of our own, so total I had $70 worth or kohls cash to spend between the 30th and 6th. Well, I bought a down-comforter for us which was on sale this Sunday/Monday for $50, and then I bought an oval shaped tablecloth with fall colors in a leaf pattern along with six green placemats that match it PERFECTLY (different brands though) and some fall kitchen towels. Obviously it's too late to use them this year, but they were on clearance and I LOVE shopping clearance and saving stuff for the next year(s)!!! The tablecloth was originally $30, I got it for $8. The placemats were $8 EACH, I got them for $1.59 ea. Woohoo!! :-D :-D :-D I actually re-found some stuff this year as we were putting up our tree and other decorations that I had bought on the day after Christmas LAST year (on clearance of course). It was so fun to rediscover stuff!! And I even found some Christmas presents I had bought TWO years ago on clearance intending to save them until last year but forgot...well, people will get them this year. :-D

In other news: WE'RE OFFICIALLY HOUSE SHOPPING!!! And yes, I'm excited. :-D We got prequalified for a home loan last week and will meet with our lender next Tuesday. We're going to look at our first house tonight and then another on Saturday. Why now? Because my wonderful mother-in-law gave us the information necessary to show us that we can do it NOW as opposed to six months from now. And no one knows what the real estate market is going to do after January (with our new president and all...grrr.), so now is the best time. AND apparently banks have these awesome loans that only require 1-3% downpayment instead of...well, much more! It's amazing what deals are out there right now!! The house we're going to look at tonight is being offered for HALF--yes, that's 50%--of what it sold for in 2005. That's just crazy!! And it's because it's a pre-forclosure, so they're just trying to sell it and get what they can before the bank takes it from them. It's really sad for those who are facing foreclosure, but a great opportunity for first time homebuyers. Our lender said there has never before been a better time to buy a house if you didn't have something to sell...aka, first time home buyers. US!! :-) So please be praying for us in the next few weeks/months (or however long this takes!) that we will find the perfect house for us in the perfect time. Who knows, it may be this first house we see, or it could be #50 five months from now!! Just for the record though, I'd sure like to find the right one before #50, lol!

I know I have more to say...but I can't think of it at the moment (I must just be too excited about tonight!!). Oh well, I suppose that means I'll just have to post again when I remember!! :-D

~Abigail~

Preceptorship!!!

*Jumping up and down* Guess what I just did!!!

..............................................

Okay fine, I'll just tell you. I just finished submitting my preferences for Preceptorship next semester!!! If you're wondering what on earth "Preceptorship" is, go read my last post. So I got to select 3 hospitals and then 3 units at each of the hospitals I chose....so a total of 9 selections. Granted my available options for hospitals was sadly lacking, I am pretty excited about what I did select.
My options were:
St. Joe's (my #1)
Banner Thunderbird (my #3)
Banner Good Sam
Banner Estrella
Arrowhead
Maricopa (my #2)

I chose those facilities based on the available units they were offering to students for preceptorships. I would have chosen Estrella as my #2 but they only had L&D and Postpartum (no nursery/NICU options) and I really don't want Postpartum. So I would have had to choose some medical floor as well, which I REFUSE to do. If I get stuck there, fine, but I'm not choosing a medical floor!!

St. Joe's is my first choice, and I chose NICU (neonatal intensive care unit), CCN (continuing care nursery--a step down from the NICU), and "OB-Any"--I love that they had that option, cause that covers L&D/Postpartum/Antepartum all in one selection!! Woohoo! So if I don't get either of the nurseries MAYBE I'll at least get something else OB related!!

Maricopa County Medical Center was my second choice. It was a toss up between this one and Thunderbird and so Maricopa won because it is closer to my home. :-) I chose NICU, Nursery, and L&D as my unit preferences (in that order).

Lastly, Thunderbird. And I chose NICU, L&D and Postpartum as my choices. I really don't want postpartum but like I said before it would be better than just getting whatever is available! And Thunderbird only had those 3 OB options. *shrugs*

I am hoping and praying that out of my 9 selections I will get placed in one of them!! Of course I would love to be at St. Joe's above any of the others, but honestly I would be THRILLED with any of the 9 choices I made!! And if I don't get ANY of them, I will cry. Seriously. I'll get over it and do whatever unit is assigned to me (lol, I'll HAVE to if I want to graduate!), but I will still cry. So pray for me and pray for the people at the school who are assigning students to their preceptors for next April!! I'm not sure when they do all the assignments, but we have from Nov. 24th through Dec. 12th to make our selections. So really anytime after that they could be working on assignments. However I have a hunch that they will wait until mid-March, at which point they will know who is going to pass Block 4 and who's not. That way they don't have to waste time placing students who aren't going to need placing...

Random fact: I am 8,206 days old. :-D

~Abigail~

Getting Closer!!

It's official, I'm being "promoted"(for lack of a better word) to Nurse Extern in January!!! I'm SO excited, my supervisor just told me yesterday!! I've been waiting for a definitive answer since August! I knew I'd have to wait until January IF it happened, but now I know it IS happening!!!! *squeal!* So I have to finish out the December schedule that was just published, and then I am switching. Which means I have about 6 more shifts to work as a CNA, and then I'm done!! Oh yeah, it gets better....I get a RAISE!!! Also, knowing that I will only be an extern for 4 months before GRADUATING makes it seem SO much more real!!! I'm graduating in 6 months!! 177 days!! It's getting SO close!!! AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! :-D :-D :-D

Soooooooo, the more I think about it the more I think I will just stay at Glendale and finish up school and NOT switch to Mesa. Partially this is due to finding out about the externship because my supervisor told me she would need to "pair me up" with one of the nurses. Apparently I am supposed to work with the same nurse each time, and so I will need to work one of her days each week...and something tells me that it won't be the same exact day each week (and therefore would pretty much make MCC extremely difficult). Also, I REALLY don't want to leave my fellow students at GCC!! We've grown really close, like a little family, and I would miss them so much!! Third, we are supposed to be turning in our "requests" for preceptorship no later than December 14th....and I don't want to mess that up by switching schools AFTER that date.

What is "preceptorship" you ask? That is the FINAL test of nursing school. It is the ~3 week period of time right before graduation where you are paired with a nurse in one of the hospitals for about 12 shifts and you have to work with him/her and be the nurse. He/she is basically just there to supervise you, YOU are supposed to be the nurse and take their assignment. They're just there to help and, well, like I said: supervise. We are supposed to go online to a specific website between Nov. 24th and Dec. 14th and choose our top 3 hospital and unit preferences. Obviously I will be choosing Labor and Delivery, NICU and probably Postpartum as my choices at all three facilities (even though I don't want Postpartum for my preceptorship....it would be better than Med-Surg!!). The school then tries their best to match each student up with a nurse according to their submitted preferences, but it doesn't always work out. So I may be stuck with Med-Surg anyways, but by NOT switching schools after submitting my preferences I will increase my chances of getting what I want. And since I can't switch BEFOREhand I think I've decided (along with the other two reasons I already mentioned) that I won't be switching.

So yeah. Lots to think about. But I'm SO EXCITED!!! Can you believe Thanksgiving is NEXT WEEK??? That's just insane!! And Christmas is right around the corner. Then 2009. Unbelievable. I sense that 2009 is going to be a big year for us (me and Scott). Lots of changes, more in the second half than the first, but still...I'll be graduating in May then studying my butt off for a month and taking the NCLEX in June (hopefully)...then orienting to the RN role at work, most likely in Postpartum. I plan to do Postpartum for a year or two and then maybe switch to L&D, but I haven't decided yet. I'm not too excited about the L&D nurse role at my hospital because they hardly do anything with the babies after they're born because we have nursery nurses come to each delivery and they do the baby's transition unless it is SUPER busy and THEN the L&D nurse may take over on the baby as well. *shrugs* Guess I'll just wait and see. I'm still toying with the idea of switching to Chandler Regional and working NICU (which I REALLY want to do), but I DON'T want to leave Mercy!! I LOVE it there and I LOVE the people I work with!! I think Postpartum is a good place to start. :-)

Anyway, back to changes...Scott will be going back to school next Fall (maybe even this January, but not full time yet until Fall). He'll also be able to cut back his hours at work next Fall. We'll hopefully be buying a house next year. Our lease is up at this house at the end of May. We have an optional 3rd year here if we decide to stay, but I hope to be able to rent month-to-month after May so that if we find the perfect house we can just move out without finishing out the 3rd year (which would end May 2010). We'll see. With 6 months left in the lease is it too early to email the owners and ask about a month-to-month after May or should I wait until like March to ask?? I don't know. The hard part about buying a house is going to be wanting to furnish the house all at once. It's going to be SO exciting and we've been waiting to purchase certain things (like new living room furniture!) until we move so that it will fit the living room of whatever house we decide on. Same with decorations (like curtains, rugs, etc...). While I really wanted to decorate this house, I didn't want to go all out and get stuff that fit THESE windows and THIS house's layout when we know we're only going to be here a max of 3 years. I mean, it is decorated, just not the way I want to decorate OUR house, once we buy. And nothing really matches. That kinda bugs me...okay, it really bugs me....but I know $$$ doesn't grow on trees so I'm dealing with it and waiting for the real deal. :-)

I feel like I'm rambling now, so I'm gonna stop writing. I'd say you get another cookie for reading this whole post, but apparently my mom took me seriously last time and now I owe her a real cookie, lol! (you will get that cookie, Mom, but it might take a few weeks!!)

~Abigail~

La-de-da

I am proud of myself. This past Wednesday I braved the dreaded treadmill for the first time in six months (too long, I know)!! I didn't even PLAN to do it, I was about to get in the shower and decided to hop on the treadmill for a few minutes beforehand. That turned into 30 minutes and almost 2 miles (because Scrubs was on TV, hehe). :-) I know, 2 miles in 30 minutes is not particularly great, but at least I did something. Yay me!

Hmmm, what to write about.... *shrugs* I guess it's school again...I mean, it does kinda consume my life right now....

After spending the day in the Emergency Department last Saturday, I now know I have no desire at all to be an ED nurse. That is not to say that I didn't have a good day, I liked it and I got to start a couple of IV's, but the ED is just not for me. Why? I don't like the idea of having a two year old patient one minute and 92 year old the next. Two, ninety-two, male, female, just a cough, or a full blown code...you never know what you're gonna get and I don't like that!! I don't like suprises!

This weekend at clinical was rather interesting. Yesterday was only so-so. I was on the Med-Surg floor taking care of a sweet old lady who is going to be transferred to hospice care fairly soon here (she has cancer that has spread pretty much everywhere). She doesn't know it yet (her son has asked that no one tell her until the Dr. has had a chance to discuss it with them both). She also has several DVTs--the only place I could take her BP was on her right thigh--every other limb had confirmed DVTs....and she is a full code patient....yikes!! Luckily nothing happened during my two days of caring for her. *phew!* (I did NOT want to do CPR!! Then again, who does??) She was my only patient yesterday, but today my instructor made all of us take two patients each. Which was GREAT and I had a MUCH better day today (I think because I was totally occupied all day and didn't have free time to worry about why I didn't have anything to do and what I could possibly be missing...). On the downside, I didn't get nearly enough paperwork done today--the hospital charting I finished, but the "charting" we're supposed to complete on each patient to turn in to our instructor I did not finish. She is very understaning, though, and as long as we show progress each week she is happy. So hopefully next week I'll be a bit more proficient at caring for two patients AND completing all my paperwork. :-) I was SO excited at the end of our day because of all the stuff I got to do! And they were mostly new skills that I had never done on a real patient before! :-)

First, my instructor told me I was okay to give IV push and piggy-back medications with the RN. This was new because yesterday I had to page her each time one of those medications came up so that she could come and watch me. I was very excited about my "promotion". :-) She may still want to watch me again next weekend or the time after that, but the fact that she's letting me do newly learned skills without her right there must mean that I did it right while she WAS watching me and that she is confident in my abilities. Next, I had the opportunity to d/c an NG tube (NG = nasogastric)--which was AWESOME!!! And holy cow, those tubes are LONG!!! I suppose a tube that reaches all the way into the stomach and exits through the nose would have to be a few feet long, but still...it just seemed super super long as I was pulling it out! After that, I got to start an IV on a different patient (not one of my two today, but the nurse wanted to give me the opportunity--and I was more than happy to accept!). He had really bouncy veins and it was an easy start, but even so I was happy to have another successful IV start to my name. :-) To this date I have attempted 8 IVs and successfully started 6 on the first stick. The 2 that I was not able get were very difficult--one of them took four nurses after me to get it started (each nurse only gets 2 attempts) and the other one no one was ever able to start so the doctor changed her mind and said the patient could do without (it was in the ER last week an we just hydrated her orally instead--it was slower, but still worked). After the IV I needed to draw blood from my first patient (the cancer patient--also the one who had the NG tube removed). This was cool because she had a central-line, and I had never drawn blood from a CVC before. It was really cool!

Let me tell ya, it is one thing to learn how to do these various skills in school and in the lab, but it is an entirely different thing to actually DO them on a real patient and see how all the pieces fit together (IVs, flushes, caps, meds, what needs to stay sterile--what doesn't, which buttons to push and when, etc etc.). Its the difference between "I'm not sure what I'm doing, I don't know if I can do this" and "That was easy, I CAN do this!" Needless to say, my confidence soared with all these new experiences that I have under my belt now. A very successful clinical day indeed!

If you read all of this, you deserve a cookie. :-) As for me, I am going to meander towards bed. Getting up at 4am is just draining. And Scott is at a hockey game with his dad tonight, so there's really no one to keep me company so why stay up? I'm not complaining, sometimes I like to just be alone and relax. I'm working the next two days. Which means I get to "sleep in" until 5:15am!!! Isn't that sad?? Lol, compared to 4am, 5:15 is GREAT! :-D

*happy sigh*

~Abigail~

Ta-Da!!

Here it is!! :-)

Before and After:














I don't necessarily like the shorter style "better" than my long hair (in fact I almost chickened out at the salon!) but at least I can say I did it!!! I will probably end up growing it out again after I've thoroughly enjoyed the shortness...maybe after next summer? :-D For the record, though, I DO like the new cut...it'll just take some getting used to not having all that hair to work with!!

~Abigail~

Proud to be an American?

No. At least I'm not. Not today. My heart is very heavy, and I am grieving for what our country lost last night and what we have asked for. I shudder at the thought of the "change" that people are crying out for. Without God at the center, without following his direction, any "change" that may come about will be futile in the end. It may temporarily get better (maybe), but if we as a country continute to elect leaders who promote abortion and gay marriage and other immoral acts than as a nation we will not prosper and will eventually be destroyed, just like Sodom and Gomorrah. It may not be within our lifetime, or it could be today. But it will happen. My prayer today is "Father, forgive us, for we know not what we do!".

On another note, I AM proud to be an Arizonan. Not only is John McCain one of our own (and his speech last night was incredibly gracious!), but I couldn't be happier that Prop 102 PASSED!!! Thankfully there are still enough people in Arizona who stand up for marriage between one man and one woman ONLY. Praise God, and thank you Arizona!!

Today is "haircut day"!! I know exactly what I'm going to do, I found the perfect picture in a scrubs magazine at the hospital last weekend and so I asked if I could take it home so I could show my hairdresser and they let me take it. :-D The girl in the picture even has a cowlick just like mine and the cut is EXACTLY what I've been picturing and wanting! The photo in the previous post is close, but not exact and she certainly didn't have a cowlick...

Anywho, I will go now...must shower and such before heading off to my hair appointment. One last thought for the day:

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great could of witnessess, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." Hebrews 12:1-3

~Abigail~

Happy Halloween!!

I am DONE with my psych rotation!!! YAAAAY!!! I survived, lol! :-D He even let us out FOUR HOURS early today, I was so happy! We then headed over to the hospital that we will be starting at tomorrow so we could pick out a patient for tomorrow. We have to choose someone who will (obviously) be there tomorrow (won't be discharged today) and then go introduce ourselves and ask their permission to help take care of them (cause we're students). The guy I chose just had a CABG (coronary artery bypass graft) surgery and was very welcoming when I asked him if I could help care for him tomorrow. His wife was in the room at the time and they were both like "of course you can! I can use all the help I can get!" That relieved my nerves and made me feel good. Hopefully tomorrow goes well. I am excited! :-)

Tonight we are having Matt and Angela as well as Scott's sister Susan over for a movie night. We're watching Young Frankenstein first, then I'll probably go to bed (have to get up at 4:15am...) and the rest of them will probably watch a couple more movies. I didn't want to spend the money on candy this year (not that we don't have it, I just didn't feel like "wasting" it on candy...) and plus I didn't want to be interrupted from our movie a kagillion times to answer the doorbell and hand out candy. So we're just going to keep our porch light off....the doorbell is already broken (I think it just needs a new battery?) so that won't be a problem. I know I know, we're not very fun. We'll be more fun when we have kids to go trick or treating with (if we even decide to do that with them....I guess it will depend on the neighborhood we live in and whether or not we think it's safe--obviously). Anywho, we will have fun tonight, just not in the traditional "halloween" style. I'm not much of a dresser-upper anyway. Hows that for a new word? Lol. I'm feeling kinda random today...

My Melaleuca order arrived today. Must have been delivered pretty early because I left the house at 5:20 this morning and Scott usually leaves at 8:30ish and the box was on the kitchen table when I got home at 2:30. Scott must have discovered it at the door when he was leaving for work. I am so excited to be starting this!! I can't wait to use up the products we currently have that are not Melaleuca so I can "convert" the house to these non-harmful cleaning products and personal care products. Here is what I chose for this first order:
1. Alloy For Men set (shaving gel, aftershave lotion, antipersperant/deodorant, shower gel, soap bar)---these products are scented especially for men. I love the scent, I hope they are okay for Scott's skin--he's the whole reason we're doing this in the first place! But if this scented stuff doesn't work for him then there is also non-scented stuff as well. But everything is made from natural ingredients and oils so it should be okay....guess we'll see.
2. Body Satin facial scrub and cleaner/astringent--for me, I'm going to use the cleaner/astringent as a make-up remover and then the scrub
3. "Renew" Lotion (especially for relieving problem skin--9x better than Eucerin)
4. Lemon Brite dish liquid (compare to Dial or Palmolive, only made with natural ingredients and very concentrated).

I think that's it this time...next time I want to order and try their vitamins and haircare products as well as a few of the household cleaning products. I'll let you all know how everything is as we try it!

I guess that's it for now!
Happy Halloween!
~Abigail~