Maple and Mud

Ugg

noreply@blogger.com (Kattrina) — Thu, 06 Nov 2014 20:37:00 +0000

I couldn't think of a better blog title to reflect how I feel. Just ugh. You know that saying, when it rains, it pours? It is true. And it is actually pouring our right now so it's extra true. There are so many thoughts running through my head I can't even put an order to them. I'm gonna try though.

First, we have five exams next week - one on Monday, two on Tuesday, and two on Wednesday. One of our professors gave us the option of postponing the exam until the following week - which would have been awesome - except some people emailed the professor and asked her not to change the time because they had already studied. Seriously?? Who does that?? So for one day I was relieved that the exam would be moved only to find out in the end that it was not. It was a very mean trick. And made me want to cry. First ugh.

Then I got home and had so much studying to do except that my husband has to take five online courses for work on HR stuff. And he has until Friday. And each course is an hour long at the least. And they are all in English. His English is good but not good enough for these classes. They are long and complicated and have exams at the end. Why, when the company employs a large number of Spanish-speaking employees, would you not offer it in Spanish??? Especially if you are going to mandate that all employees take it?? And it's from HR!! So I had to sit and try to translate the entire course for him so he could take the test and understand the concepts. It took forever and we only got through two. Fabulous. And we were up until 1am. Second ugh.

And then, in the middle of those courses, I go to put Evan to bed only to discover that he has a rash over his entire body (the picture above is random, but adorable so I stuck it there anyway). I'm assuming from the antibiotics for his ear infection. Great. He's allergic to certain antibiotics. So I call the pediatrician but she doesn't answer and still hasn't responded to my email so I just didn't give him his Meds this morning. He only has 1.5 days left so I think he'll be ok, but it would be nice if I heard back from her. I had an allergic reaction to the same meds when I was pregnant with him so I actually had a premonition that he was going to be allergic. [Update - the pediatrician does not think it is related to the antibiotics or at least from an allergic reaction to them.] Third ugh.

So, now can you see why I feel ugh. First I am tired, second I have a lot of work to do (both school and work-work), third we have three more online course to take for the hubs, fourth I have my nieces bday party this weekend along with our last Girl Golf event, along with an out of town guest. And don't forget those five exams. And I kinda need an A on all of them. Hahaha.

Life sure never settles down. It is go-go-go-go. Oh well, what can you do but try and keep up!!

***************

Anyone else out there allergic to meds?

What's the most stressful thing going on in your life right now?

Thing most excited about for this weekend??

Halloween Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Kattrina) — Wed, 05 Nov 2014 04:06:00 +0000

Halloween was so much fun this year. Evan actually understood the holiday for the most part and was so adorable the entire time. Halloween isn't my favorite holiday (I don't dislike it by any means, I just enjoy other holidays more) and usually I just make do and stumble through it. It was fun when I was a kid because who doesn't love to dress up and get candy when you are young. Then somewhere along the line as I got older it turned into a holiday where people like to wear the skimpiest clothes and drink lots of alcohol. Two things I do not enjoy, so then it went downhill and was less fun. After my sister had kids it was fun again because her daughters dressed up and we'd go trick-or-treating with them. But this year? So much better!!

We started out at the football game and Evan had his costume on. He was a golfer, of course. My mom made it and it was perfect. I loved it. Evan looked so darn cute. The hat, bloomers, socks, Green jacket? Freaking adorable.

Evan and Camryn chased each other around during the game and had a blast. Evan showed off his golf skills a few times, because we brought his golf clubs. But mostly he played around and screamed "touchdown" a few times.

After the game we headed to my sister's house to trick-or-treat a little in their neighborhood. We visited the neighbors and Evan said Happy Halloween to everyone. I was shocked because usually he is mute when we are around strangers, but I guess even he'll talk in exchange for candy. And boy did he want candy! He pushed his way right to the bucket and picked out his own candy. And sometimes he even said "uno mas please" because some people were giving out more than one piece. His favorite candy were lollipops and he would try to grab as many as he could. Luckily he was cute so people overlooked his greediness (don't worry, I made him put them back).

As you can see, I don't dress up for Halloween. I was so shocked by how many adults dressed up (as evidenced by Facebook). I am way too tired to put any thought into dressing up myself. Maybe one year...but I kind of doubt it.

So that was our Halloween fun. And the highlight of our weekend. This was the best candy we got. A fancy cookie from a local bakery.

Yum!!

Aside from Halloween, Friday I had my first clinical. It wasn't too serious, just an interview with older adults living in an independent living community. The school wanted us to interact with older adults that were healthy and living without assistance to show that not all people get dementia or sick as they age and that there are plenty of happy and healthy 85 year olds. We move on to the nursing home in a few weeks. The clinical was fun and the woman I interviewed was really nice. I meet with her again this week too.

Saturday I had a clinical at a soup kitchen, which was interesting. As part of another class they want us to get experience in the community and see the living conditions of some of the patients we will be working with in the future. I have spent the last ten years working in the community so I am a bit more aware than some of the others, but it is still a nice opportunity. After golf in the morning and then the soup kitchen I was pretty exhausted. I did get a bit of studying done in the evening but still have so much more to do.

Sunday was a normal day of chores. I did four loads of laundry, made chicken stew, make a huge pot of beans and another huge pot of rice, studied, and Skyped with MImi (Skyping with MImi is not a chore).

That's our favorite Sunday activity. Evan loved it so much that he made us call back in the evening to say good night. He says "talk MImi" and it's really adorable. Usually he waits until he says hi and then he bolts off to show Mimi some crazy running/tackling activity. It's hilarious.

That's pretty much the weekend. Fun times! This week is all studying I hope because next week I have four exams and a validation in three days. Yikes. Nursing school is the opposite of healthy...they enjoy making the conditions as stressful as possible. I do not appreciate it.

Hope your Halloween was a blast and that your week is off to a good start!

Oh the horror

noreply@blogger.com (Kattrina) — Thu, 30 Oct 2014 12:59:00 +0000

Last week was a nightmare. Looking back on it, it seems to have lasted forever. I had two exams on Monday, another on Wednesday, and a validation on Friday. I spent all weekend studying, and then all week studying for my validation. Validation is when you are given a scenario that you have to perform in front of your professor. The scenario will have specific lab skills like taking a nasal culture, taking a patient's blood sugar, etc. This was our last validation before our clinicals start. I was mega stressed from all the tests and then from practicing the scenarios. Of course I got the hardest one and I made a complete fool of myself. My lab instructor must get a hoot out of watching all us crazy birds try to do skills while stressed and nervous. My scenario included putting on PPE (think Ebola and protecting yourself from contagious diseases), changing and packing a LARGE pressure ulcer (bed sore), and putting on bilateral restraints. The pressure ulcer was huge and it needed to be irrigated and packed and measured and bandaged. Ugg. And all with my PPE on. It was a disaster. I won't tell you about every detail but I'll tell you about my fabulous start and you can use you imagination to picture how the rest went. The order for putting on PPE is gown first, then face mask, then gloves. And before all that you need to wash your hands. So, I put in my gown and then my gloves. Then I realize that I forgot to wash my hands so I took the gloves off and washed my hands. Then I put the gloves back on. Then I realize that I need a face mask so I have to take my gloves off again and put my face mask on, then the gloves again. Except then I realize that my mask is tied so tight I can't open my right eye. But to adjust the mast I have to take my gloves off again, so I decide to just do everything with one eye partially closed. Fabulous.

And that was just my first five minutes.

The important thing here is that I passed. It was just pass/fail so no grade or anything. Nursing school is stressful! Not only is it a bunch of exams, it's a bunch of skill tests too. It's never ending. And we are already getting ready to register for next semester. Where has the time gone??

This past weekend we took a break and went to Baltimore ZooBoo! So fun!! We took my nieces too and they had a blast.

They dressed up in costumes and we walked around the little Halloween fair where they had arts and crafts, candy, jumpy-towers, and food. Then we took the little shuttle to the actual zoo part and looked at animals. The zoo just opened a new pinguin exhibit that was so fun. The kids loved it.

They stood there and watched the pinguins swim by over and over again. Then we headed to see the polar bear and the chimpanzees. And then that was about it. The zoo closed at 4pm and we didn't get there until 2ish so we didn't have much time. It was perfect though because the kids were getting tired.

The weather was perfect though and since we are members it doesn't cost so we don't care so much that we were only there for a couple hours.

I also accomplished my one goal for the weekend. Clean out the sink drains. Yes. Disgusting. When we moved into this house all the drains were clogged and it took forever for the water to drain. I hated it. We bought some natural drain-o and some real drain-o, but nothing worked. I realied that I was actually going to need to clean them out. Which is gross to me. Especially since it had been clogged for a while so who knows what was down there. So, I YouTubed how to do it and I did it. I didn't take pictures because it was too gross but I was pretty pleased with myself. I had to unscrew things and take pipes apart and drains apart and put it back together...and clean really gross sludge. But now the sink drains so well!! And I am so happy!!

So that was my weekend. And the last week. Nothing too exciting. Friday is Halloween and my mom made Evan the cutest costume in the world. You will want to check back here and see it. He cannot get any cuter!!

Hope you are having a great week.

What things have you learned through YouTubed??

Another random post

noreply@blogger.com (Kattrina) — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 19:37:00 +0000

I'm sitting here on the bus with some time to write but I don't actually have anything to say. Pretty much my entire life is taken up with school but I'm kind of tired of thinking and writing about school. And you must be tired of hearing about it! However, then I have nothing to say. Or so it feels.

I could talk about the weather. Happy Autumn!! Well, today it's in the 70s so it doesn't feel to fallish, but the leaves are changing and it's raining. Figures, since I am wearing a long skirt and ballet slipper-style shoes that will get soaked in the rain. Completely soaked. I am hoping that by the time classes end the rain will have passed.

This past weekend we went to the pumpkin patch and picked out a baby pumpkin to bring home. It was fun. I met my sister and her kids there and the kids went to the petting zoo and played on the numerous playground-type structures. It was a bit of a fortune though. I haven't decided if we are going to decorate a pumpkin. Evan is too little to really remember and has no idea that he is missing out. We'll see. Carving pumpkins is not my most favorite activity. I haven't uploaded my pictures from the pumpkin patch yet, but as soon as I do I will share them...because they are adorable.

These days baths for Evan are few and far between. If he's dirty he tends to get a shower instead, with mommy or daddy, because it's a lot quicker than giving him his own bath. This past week I got home extra early and decided to let him play around in the tub.

He had a blast drawing all over the walls with bath crayons. His drawings are still there because I haven't washed the tub yet.... In the morning I open the shower curtain and am startled until I remember.

Ivan is counting down the days until we go to Vermont. It is hilarious. He is super excited to go and insists we are staying for two whole weeks. We will see about that. Evan is super excited too. I am not excited about the car ride because Evan has not been an angel in the car these past few weeks. I might cry if he yells "No" the entire 10 hour trip!

Ok, this was the most random post. Maybe one day I'll get my thoughts together and wrote a post that makes sense and is fun for you to read!

Random Musings

noreply@blogger.com (Kattrina) — Mon, 06 Oct 2014 12:05:00 +0000

I have a bunch of blog posts that I have started and not finished. I start them on the bus, get tired, take a nap, and then never find time to finish them. So, I thought I would give you an update in bullet form! Let's hope I publish this....

* Our car is finally fixed and passed the state inspection. Yes!! It cost an arm and a leg, but it's done. I really hope that it lasts for a few years and that we didn't just put thousands of dollars into a car that is going to break again in five months. My husband is happy because he was really scared for a while that it was going to be broken forever and that we would never find an exhaust manifold. Surprisingly everything went well and we have a car still. Good stuff. Our mechanic is AWESOME!

* All we eat these days are eggs and beans for dinner. I make a big pot of beans on Sunday and then we refry them and eat them all week with hotdogs and eggs. The hotdogs are probably a bad choice but they are humane certified and the only ingredient is beef, no filler. So I imagine them like a hotdog-shaped hamburger. Right? For some reason our grocery bill hasn't changed though and I can't figure out why. I am going to really have to look at what we are buying and see how many things are just wants instead of needs. I don't feel like we buy a lot of wants though, so we'll see.

* I finished my first round of exams. They were ok. Nothing to call home about but good enough to keep my scholarship. It is really hard trying to find time to study. And there are so many things to do, my planner is overflowing.

Yesterday I studied for four hours in the afternoon but all I did were a few homework assignments and a paper. I didn't even get that much time to do any real studying. Very frustrating. I try to stay at school to get extra studying done and that works but there is always more to do. Here is the view from the library...my second home.

* Evan and I went on a hike on Saturday and had such a fun time.

He got to pick the trail we walked on and the entire time he picked up rocks so he'd be ready to throw them into the river when we got there. I told him a million times we couldn't go IN the river, but he still asked over and over again.

I did let him throw rocks though and before we left I let him wash his dirty hand off...although not before he stuck his sandy hand into his mouth.

Then we raced back to the car. If we don't race then he meanders for so long we'd never make it back and our car would be locked in the parking lot. He also found a hiking stick and carried that around on the hike back to the car.

* It is cold already. This morning waiting for the bus my toes froze. Boo. I am not ready for the cold. Evan is excited that he gets to wear his new winter pjs from MImi.

He loves them. This weekend I changed his clothes and got out all his winter stuff and pack away his shorts. I left a few short sleeve shirts out and two shorts but that's about it. The highs are in the 70s this week but the lows are in the 30s so it is cold.

* I made a really yummy cinnamon-swirl banana bread. We had a bunch of extra bananas and so I figured banana bread was in order. It is pretty tasty! It was my latest Pinterst find. I can't figure out how to put links in these blogs posts that I do on my iPad so you will just have to do all the work yourself. My Pinterst page is www.pinterest.com/mapleandmud, so feel free to visit and find the recipe!

Ok, that's about all! Thanks for sticking around, even when my posts are so sporadic!

Driving the grocery cart car

noreply@blogger.com (Kattrina) — Fri, 26 Sep 2014 19:01:00 +0000

Yesterday I started a post and then it was deleted. I hate that. It annoyed me enough that I wasn't motivated to restart it again so now I'll just start a new post today. Life I crazy. That pretty much sums it up. This week I had two skills validations (where we are tested on things like blood pressure, setting up a sterile field, moving patients, etc.), a research exam, a Physio-pharm exam, and a drug calculation exam. Oh, and a paper due. It was a stressful week, to say the least. I got 100% on my drug calculation test though, so that was good. You had to get 100% to pass and the first time I took it I forgot to round 0.25 to 0.3 so got one wrong. Very frustrating! This time I triple checked and did each question three times. I did NOT want to have to take it again.

Even with all that studying we had a small amount of time to do some fun things on the weekend. Evan got to drive his first grocery cart car!

He thought it was the best experience ever. He turned that wheel with complete enthusiasm the entire time, along with beeping the horn every ten seconds. Also, take a close look at his feet. Notice how he has no shoes? Yup, he chucked them out of the car at one point and I spent ten minutes going up and down the lanes looking for them. We did eventually find both of them.

I also babysat my cousins for a short while on Sunday in the afternoon. I brought Evan over with me and he fell asleep for three hours. I was only supposed to watch them for 40 minutes but I stayed and studies while he slept. I tried to escape to the basement and set up a comfy work space in peace and quiet but I am not sure that that concept exists at my sister's house!

I set up at the toddler school table and tried my best to get some studying done but not too much was accomplished. My nieces decided they wanted to be nurses too so they kept trying to have appointments at the table. Then they were bringing their baby dolls in for appointments and then they wanted me to play house. My character was allowed to study but not as much as I needed too. It was very adorable. It may be less adorable when I get my exam grade back. In the end they both decided that they didn't want to be nurses anymore because it was just too much studying.

And you remember that car my coworker gave me. It didn't pass the state safety inspection. The main problem is that the exhaust manifold is broken and they don't make that part anymore and they can't find anyone that is still selling it. I went through all these hoops and ladders and finally found a used piece in Connecticut and they mailed it to me...only to find out that the car place doesn't install used parts. I guess I should have checked first but it really didn't occur to me. They agreed to look at it though so it is at the shop today, but I am a bit nervous. The only other option is to find a welder that can weld it back together (it is cracked). Please keep your fingers crossed that this works.

So those are the main updates. I have another test on Monday so I will probably be studying again this weekend at odd times like 1am, but that's life. I pretty much had to give up running for the next few months because there was no way to fit it in my schedule. It made me sad because I was in such a great routine and I was having good runs and feeling strong. A few months off isn't the end of the world though so I will just try and focus on school and family and worry about exercise later. That means no more PiYo either. I have hopes that I can do the two months again in December/January. We shall see.

And as always, Evan is the cutest thing in the entire world and I love him to pieces. Off to the football game tonight. It's getting cold outside and I will soon be ordering hot chocolate. Yum!!!

Hope you had a great week and that your weekend is looking spectacular!

Nursing School Update!

noreply@blogger.com (Kattrina) — Thu, 18 Sep 2014 20:22:00 +0000

Ok, so maybe this blog will turn into a once a week thing! Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays are super packed and busy and I scheduled study time on the bus those days so there is absolutely no time to blog. There is barley time to breathe. Sometimes I go the entire day and never have a chance to grab my lunch to eat. It's stressful. I guess that's what school is supposed to be though, right? Classes are interesting and fun but they are less fun because everything is focused on skills evaluations so then the fun stuff becomes stressful. So far I have learned how to prepare a sterile field, take blood pressure, take vital signs (blood pressure, pulse, respirations, temperature), give a patient a sponge bath, change bed linens, brush teeth, and move a patient from the bed to a stretcher. Seems simple ng ought but not when you are being graded and evaluated and it's pass/fail. Any tiny error makes you fail. Not fun. I have been going to open lab to practice almost every day this week and I still mess tiny steps up or touch my sterile gloves to my unsterile wrist by accident. Next week I have skills evaluation in two classes, an Physio-pharm exam, a research exam, a paper due, and a med calc quiz. It's gonna be crazy!!

In the mean time I have been trying to spend as much non-studying time with the family. Parks, playgrounds, sticking acorns down the manholes, kicking the soccer ball, hitting golf balls, etc. the normal stuff. And football games, since football season started.

In the meantime Ivan's been teaching Evan how to finish his soup.

Slurping it down. He actually drank every last bit...except for the chicken. He always picks out the chicken pieces but eats the carrots.

Evan had his two year appointment last week. He's still a little munchkin weighing in at 22 pounds and standing 33 inches tall. He seemed pretty healthy otherwise, minus his lack of vegetable consumption. So I am now trying to incorporate some extra veggies in things like tomato sauce. Or spinach in grilled cheese sandwiches. Or spinach in smoothies, which is what I made him today. It was a spinach, banana, strawberry, peach, mango, milk, flaxseed smoothie. He ate one over the weekend, so hopefully he'll eat another one this morning. We'll see! Sometimes what he eats with me is not what he eats with my sister, and vice versa. How do you get your kiddos to eat veggies?? Please share!

Other than that news I don't have too much to report. I miss blogging more consistently and I I miss having more time! Hopefully things will smooth over soon and I'll be able to breath.

Funniest thing you've done this week? Share so I can live vicariously through you!

- Going for a run/playground outing on Sunday.

Last thing you had to study for?

- Med calc quiz that I ended up failing. It was pass/fail and I I got one wrong. Wanna know why? Because the answer was 0.25 and we had to round to the nearest tenth space and I accidentally left it like that instead of rounding to 0.3. Ugg, so frustrating!! Now I have to take it again next week. Please send some prayers my way!!

First Day

noreply@blogger.com (Kattrina) — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 18:08:00 +0000

I survived my first day of school. I feel like it was a huge accomplishment because it was not very fun. It should have been really easy because two of my labs were canceled so I only had one class. No, it was mega stressful and I got a headache early in the day and it didn't go away until 10pm. It was manageable until I was sitting in lecture, then it got worse, and then it got even worse when I got home. I took two Motrin at school and they didn't help at all and so I took two Aleve when I got home and those finally helped a few hours later. Yikes, let's hope the rest of the days aren't quite as horrible.

I'm not even sure what was so bad. I hung out with a few people I met all day. We got a table in the library and studied for a few hours before lecture. I did some work-work for about two hours and then switched to reading for my lecture class. It took me a bit longer to read because I was interested in the stuff and didn't just want to skim through it. Then I decided I wanted to go for a run before lecture. By the time I changed, headed out, and got back I only had 15 minutes before class so I had to change super quickly (while I was still sweating) and run to class. The class was pretty good but they went over so many different things for lecture and lab and community clinicals and exams and quizzes that I was pretty lost. It was a bit intense.

Here are some observations I had throughout the day:

1) When people around you stress out, it makes you feel worse. I need to surround myself with more people who have positive energy because it was not helpful that the people I was sitting with were stressing over everything. I am really trying to approach school the same way I did work and that is with a positive attitude and with a calm outlook. I can stress or I can not, and I will be in the same place and still have the same amount of work. I would prefer to not stress. We'll see how long that lasts.

2) A lot of people are already friends and I feel like an outsider. Not the best feeling, but I hope I find some people I really connect with. The people I hung out with yesterday were really friendly and fun, but they were already friends and they didn't really click with me in the sense that we were going to be best buds. Maybe after a while we will bond, but it would be nice to get to know everyone and to find some common souls.

3) Running in Baltimore is WAY different than running in DC! When I lived in Baltimore before, I ran up in the northern part, but now I am in a completely different section of the city. Most of the streets were ok and not too sketchy, but there weren't a lot of people out (walking around or running) and it felt way different than the streets of DC that are filled with runners, tourists, Secret Service, etc. It was pretty though and a nice route.

4) My days are a lot more busy than they were at work. I had more down time at work where I could take a breather, chat with my co-workers, make a phone call, etc. Yesterday was pretty full of reading, working, and attending class. I guess I got a run in there but it felt like everything was so much more scheduled, and it is. I am bound by my classes and study times and I don't really make my own schedule. However, it is exciting and fun learning new things and being in a school environment.

5) The bus ride is much shorter! It was so nice getting to class and home in less than an hour combined. So much less time wasted on a long commute. Of course, no napping or anything, but I can deal with that without too many problems.

6) I can still drive a stick shift. Ok, not really related to school but kind of is. We got our new car from my co-worker and it's a stick shift. Ivan made me take it out for a drive and I didn't die once. I learned how to drive on a stick shift and my first car was a stick shift that I drove for about 6 or 7 years. I didn't particularly enjoy it and I will always prefer an automatic, but it is kind of like riding a bike. Once you learn you don't ever really forget. I drove it home from the bus stop yesterday and am still slow going into 1st gear but I moved and didn't die.

I think those are my only comments. I am on the bus heading back to school today. I have some readings to skim before my 9am class and then I have an afternoon to get some more work done before heading home (my afternoon class was canceled). So, first day was a mix of everything: excitement, stress, nervousness, interest, and everything in between. I will be happy when I feel like I have things figured out and get into a routine! And I miss my fun co-workers and hope I meet people as cool as they are.

And because I have no pictures of school yet (I am sure snapping candid photos around school would not help me make friends), here is a fun picture of Evan from this past weekend.

We went to the playground a bunch of times throughout the weekend and he wanted to bring his fox each time. Mimi made it for him and he put it down the slide numerous times. He also gave him a few kisses here and there. It was pretty adorable. It looks like he's picking his nose here, but he's not. If you look closely you can tell he's just pointing to your nose - and that is because in order for me to get him to look at the camera, I asked him where his nose was. This is him showing me his nose!

[EDIT: It is now later because I didn't have time to post earlier and Day 2 of nursing school is a lot better. I don't feel quite so overwhelmed. And I met a new friend which is nice and she's in my lab group so we will be working together a lot. ]

Last Day

noreply@blogger.com (Kattrina) — Fri, 29 Aug 2014 11:57:00 +0000

Today's the day!!! My last day of work!!

AAAHHHHHHHH!!

Someone pinch me!! It seems so surreal and I'm sure I won't notice that much at first. It helps that I'm not actually leaving forever and I'll still be connected as a consultant. I just won't really be back in the office and I'll only be interacting with a few people.

Here's what my desk looks like now...just a few more things to take home and a bit of dusk to clean up.

See that pink cup? My sister bought that for me the first year I started here. It's a hoops & yo-yo cup and it was hilarious. It doesn't work anymore, but it gave me many laughs.

I'm so excited about nursing school and this new chapter in my life. I've had a lot of "chapters" and they have all been great experiences, so I'm sure this one will be too. I already have homework - chapters to read before the first day of class. Fun times, right!?

Thanks for sharing this journey with me and being there through work, pre-reqs, applications, and decisions!!! I promise I won't turn all my posts into complaining sessions about how much school I have....

Have a great Friday and a fabulous 3-day weekend!!!

Feeling Special and our Favorite Thing

noreply@blogger.com (Kattrina) — Thu, 28 Aug 2014 12:52:00 +0000

I love how some days I have absolutely nothing to say and then other days I am full to the brim of experiences to share. Today is one of those days where I am full to the brim of really random things, but all things that happened since the last time we chatted.

First, let's talk about how I was too tired to do my PiYo workout this morning. I'm not even sure it was tired, I just felt a bit burnt out. So I didn't do it. I kind of knew I wasn't going to do it yesterday night because I just felt to exhausted. And not physically exhausted, more mentally exhausted. And that can be just as bad - if not worse. I figure I can do it tonight if I want to or I can do it tomorrow (since Fridays are rest days). We'll see. I don't think I'm giving up by any means, I just wanted a day off from the 4:15am wake-up call and the double days of PiYo and running. I think I'll still run this afternoon, but we'll see how I feel. I really wasn't feeling my run yesterday before I left, but then I felt really good on the run and thought about lots of things and worked other things out in my head, so I was really glad I went.

In other news, I had my goodbye party at work and it was AWESOME!!! They worked so hard on it and it was so fabulous. They made me this Good Luck bulletin:

Isn't it fabulous!! The little skeleton is saying "Kattrina calls the shots" and those are all pictures of me with a nursing hat on. The cake was amazing too - it was lemon cream. And my co-worker put the prescription meds on the cake (M&Ms). Those little pieces of paper are for people to write me a "prescriptions" for school and the future. The notes were so sweet that I actually shed some tears. I really love my co-workers - they not only do amazing work every day, but they are truly amazing people. My one co-worker made me a condom necklace (since I work in HIV prevention):

Complete with a female condom that matches my shirt. Of course, none of these condoms are usable, since they all had holes punched into them! The room was decorated with nursing stuff (like a kid's medical kit!) and condom streamers. And there was also a slide show of a bunch of photos of me over the years - 7 years - from numerous events, trainings, and staff fun. Here's a picture of me from our 2008 Award Ceremony with my good friend from high school (she didn't work with me, she just came to hang out).

And here is our 2008 Wine Tasting, with the same friend from high school and another good friend from Peace Corps.

I would show you other photos but a lot of the people in the photos are related to work and I don't have photo releases for them. But here are some of my adorable co-workers from the party!

I'm gonna miss them all so much!!! In addition to the wonderful party (it was an Italian potluck - think pasta, chicken parm, meatballs, bread, salad, cookies, Bundt cake, and other yumminess), they also gave me a HUGE gift card to Amazon.com so I could buy some nursing supplies and books and other odds and ends. It was so generous and helped out so much. Yes, I already spent every last penny. I bought two pairs of scrubs, two undershirts, a pair of nursing shoes, a stethoscope, three books, and a filing cabinet (not really school related but I really need something to keep my files, loan documents, work documents, etc. organized - right now they are in piles in the kitchen). It felt so great to buy it though, now I'm almost ready for school. I ordered this backpack:

I couldn't decide if the pink color made it look childish, but I really like it and didn't want the obligatory black/gray/blue backpack. So, pink it is!

So, that was my party. I hope everyone has the chance to work at a place as great as my current job. Obviously, I did my fair share of complaining, but even when I complained, I knew how lucky I was. The party really made me feel special and like I had made a real contribution to the organization and the community we serve. Oh, and I bought my boss/supervisor a gift too:

It's a tie with microscopic images of the HIV virus (gold and silver circles)! I loved it and was so excited to give it to him!! I think he was really surprised and said he was planning on wearing it to a wedding he's going to in September. I told him it is a conversation starter and that he can use it to bring up HIV prevention whenever he's out at events - and he can be reminded of me and the six years we spent working on HIV prevention together. It was a bit pricey and I was hesitant to buy it at first, but I'm SO glad I got it because it was nice to give something back.

Ok - enough party talk!

Yesterday I met a friend and her daughter at the nature center and we went and threw rocks into the river again!

This time I put Evan in his bathing suit and shoes that dried easily. He was really excited to go and hang out and hike again. It took him a while to warm up because my friend and her daughter were with us and he gets all weird when we hang out with other people that he doesn't know that well (although we hang out with them a LOT).

We spent about an hour and half there - walking in the water, throwing rocks, hiking, picking up sticks, picking up rocks, jumping on stumps, etc. I'm gonna be really sad once summer and the warm weather is gone. I'm not quite ready to spend six months inside again. Plus, Evan is still in 18 month clothes and all his winter clothes are size 2T!

And a fun Throwback Thursday pic from 2002 (I think!):

One year for Christmas my father bought me a week long trip to Costa Rica for a yoga retreat. The girl with me was the yoga instructor - my Dad and I always went to her studio in DC when I was in college and she ran the retreat in Costa Rica. It was SO fun!! We did so much yoga but also got to go zip lining, white water rafting, and a lot of fun other things. This year she's leading a yoga retreat in Italy!!! Hint hint Dad....haha!

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Do you like your job? What is the best thing about it?

Have you ever gone on a yoga retreat? What's your favorite yoga pose??

-- My favorite pose is Pigeon Pose!

Tired Legs and Ice Baths

noreply@blogger.com (Kattrina) — Tue, 26 Aug 2014 12:27:00 +0000

When we went to Costco last week they had those special spa mats on sale - the memory foam kind that are super comfy and soft. I decided to buy one for the kitchen so that I had a nice plush mat to stand on while washing dishes. Evan decided he LOVED the mat and played on it all day. He'd stand there and stomp his feet a million times, loving the way it felt. Then he emptied all the plastic lids on top of it.

It was hilarious because normally he throws the lids all over the kitchen but for some reason he decided he wanted them all on top of this kitchen mat. Along with my water bottle. What a funny boy.

This morning I finally fully completed my PiYo Sweat workout. That means I finished the entire thing without having to go into child's pose when no one else was doing it (aka taking a break). I still have to do all my push-ups on my knees, but I can now do all the push-ups, so hopefully I'll move to my toes eventually. Oddly enough, my legs are always the most tired after a PiYo workout, even though I feel like my legs are the strongest because of running. My arms need to become sore because I need to strengthen them the most. In the videos where we have side plank I can barely get up there because my arms are so weak. It's surprising I can lift my own son. Maybe that's why sometimes my arms are sore after running - my water bottle is too heavy for my weak arms. Today is a rest day, thank goodness, because my legs kinda feel like jello. I ran 5 miles on Sunday with the jogger and then another 5 yesterday around the mall (National Mall - not shopping mall), so that is more than I usually go. I am really shocked that I have been running 5 days a week for almost three months. I usually only do 4 and then eventually move down to 3. Even when training for a marathon I end up only doing three days a week because I run out of time.

Here are a few strategies that I have employed to keep my work-outs on track these past few months:

1) I joined a Challenge Group. My friend from elementary school recently became a Beach Body coach and she started a 100 Mile Challenge Group with the challenge to run 100 miles in 2 months. That's not really that hard (some people run almost 100 miles in a week), but it still motivates me to get out there so that I can report my miles to the group. I also joined a Challenge Group for PiYo and that has helped immensely because I definitely don't want to fall behind in that. It's what I think about when I get up at 4:15am to do yet another PiYo DVD.

2) I made a schedule. I always had a basic running schedule but now I have a real schedule with the days I'm going to run and how I'm going to fit them in. Running during my lunch break at work has worked really well and I've been able to keep that up. Plus, after a while all my co-workers got used to the fact that I ran every lunch and so it helped motivate me to go. Even the doorman knows my running schedule. I tend to go four miles during lunch and occasionally I'll put in an extra mile. On Wednesdays I go in the morning before I start work, on Fridays I go in the afternoon and Evan and I always stop at a random playground, and on Sunday I always go in the morning with Evan and we also stop at a playground. That's pretty much the schedule and I've been really great at sticking with it.

3) I've incorporated running into other activities. For example, like I mentioned above, instead of just going to the playground we always run to the playground. I can do a 3, 4, 5, and 6 mile loop that all have playgrounds on the route. I tend to run, play for an hour, and then run home. Yeah, it's not the most effective workout, but it gets me out there, it gets Evan outside, and we both return home happy and tired. I've also run to my sister's house, run to the farmer's market, run to the doctor's, run to meet friends for coffee, and run to the grocery store. This way I can still get a run in, even if I have a bunch of errands. It is really helpful that the doctor's office (both mine and Evan's), grocery store, Farmer's Market, etc. are all really close to our condo...it's not like I am running 10 miles or anything.

Ok, those are the only things I can think of right now. I feel like this summer has been extra stressful with all the transitions going on and I've really stayed calm through most of it and I think it's because running has given me time to think things through and take time for myself. I really do love to run and I'm so glad I have gotten into a routine that works for me. I just hope I can keep it up once school starts! I am planning on running during the day, just like I do now, but my schedule is less flexible than it is at work - so, we'll see.

In other news, I took the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.

I am really dramatic - if you actually watch the video you can hear me whine and complain about how cold the water is and how big the bucket is. You can also see Evan run up to the bucket and say "Ice" and look cute. Ivan was overly excited about the challenge and had the ice all waiting for me when I got home from work. How husbandly of him. I conveniently challenged him so he went right after me. It was fun though and a good cause. I hope that the ALS Foundation can use a lot of the money they receive for research and a cure comes out of this. And I really hope a lot of the money also goes to help families, especially ones that need financial help to take care of their loved one. I'm still really shocked that the challenge is still going on and that it is raising so much money!

I hope everyone is having a fabulous Tuesday! Today is my going away party at work and I'm really excited. I don't particularly enjoy parties thrown for me because it's awkward, but all work parties are fun so I'm excited about that.

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Have you done the Ice Bucket Challenge?

What other tips do you have for keeping your sticking to your work-out routines?

Family time is the best

noreply@blogger.com (Kattrina) — Mon, 25 Aug 2014 12:54:00 +0000

This weekend was kind of a blur. I just spent about 4 minutes trying to think of what I did this weekend. My parents drove through down on their way home and pretty much their visit is dominating my memory. I'm sure something else happened over the weekend, but I just remember hanging out with them.

They arrived on Saturday and we met them at the Italian restaurant I used to work out when I was a kid. It's delicious but it was a crazy dinner because we met my sister's family there too. So, picture a nice Italian restaurant with four adults (my parents, my BIL, and me - my sister was working and my hubs was at the Ravens game) and a 5 years old, 3 year old, almost 2 year old, and a 1 year old. It went surprisingly well! No cups were spilled, no food was flung across the restaurant, and only one child cried the entire time. Success.

Before my parents arrived on Saturday I went to the grocery store and coached golf. I amazingly spent less than $100 at the grocery store!!! Except on Friday we went to Costco and spent $145...so I'm not sure if that's really a success. On Friday we also went to the playground and for a four mile run. Normal stuff.

On Sunday I woke up and Evan and I ran to my sister's house. We were promised pancakes for breakfast but then when we arrived (five miles later), they had changed their minds and there were no pancakes. :-) We had oatmeal instead. It was kind of chilly out and I wore capris instead of shorts.

Ok, so it was a bad choice because it was like 65 degrees so 2 minutes into my run I was really hot. I even put Evan in pants and long sleeves.

I'm not sure why I was thinking it was so cold! It ended up being a beautiful day. Notice how Evan insisted on bringing his golf club and a ball to my sister's. He actually held on to both of those the entire stroller ride. We went up to the golf course to watch my nieces in their golf classes and Evan played golf in the grass the entire hour. He really does love his golf.

He also loves his Mimi and Papa. He work up Sunday morning and the first thing he said was "Mas (more) Mimi Papa". Yup, before he even opened is eyes. And my dad bought him a new John Deere tractor for his birthday and he happily played with that all day too. He loves his tractors.

We just hung out all day chatting, playing Jewelry Store (my mom got stuck playing that with the girls), cooking, and eating. Good times.

I brought my camera to take pics of Evan with his grandparents but then I snapped those two pictures above and the camera battery died. Nice.

Have a great Monday!!! It's my last week of work - I'm gonna soak it all up!

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Favorite food to eat for breakfast?

Grocery shopping: love or hate?
-- I LOVE grocery shopping. If I had a plethora of money it'd become my hobby!

Thursday's Random Thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (Kattrina) — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 13:34:00 +0000

I had so many thoughts about what I was going to write about today, but now I can't think of any of them. So, I guess I'll give you some randomness. Here are ten random thoughts floating in my head.

1) All I can think about right now is my PiYo Drench workout that I did this morning. I was in Downward Facing Dog (my least favorite yoga pose EVER) and sweat was dripping off my thighs and my chin. I was really sweaty. And my legs still feel a little wobbly even sitting on the bus. That workout was 48 minutes, so it's the longest one. I kinda miss the beginning workouts that were only 20 minutes. I will say my triceps pushups are getting better and Ivan actually noticed a smidgen of a muscle in my arm - so maybe I'm getting stronger....even if I spend a lot of time in child's pose!

2) An amazing thing happened this week. Remember a few posts ago I mentioned that I wished I had a person that was 100% devoted to helping me out (for free - because I realize that that is a paid position)? Well, God must have heard me because as I was complaining to my co-worker (for the umpteen millionth time), she said her dad might have an extra car that we could have. Just like that. And he did and he's willing to sell it to us for $1. Not only that, but he's been running around town getting it ready and sprucing it up. Yesterday he took it to get a new battery and was going to pay for it himself, and then when he explained that it was for someone who was going back to school and couldn't afford a car, the guy said he's donate the battery and put it in for free. The whole this is just amazing to me and I feel like someone must really be looking out for me...because how often do people give you cars? Never. Even my parents didn't give me a car when I was in high school, I had to use all my savings bonds to buy their old car (mainly because they didn't have enough money to buy themselves another car, so they needed my money to put down a down payment on their new car - not because they were mean people or anything). This car is significantly older, but it is still a gift that humbles me to the core. And I do realize that nothing is free in this world and that it's gonna cost money to transfer the title, etc., and it's gonna cost gas money and maintenance and things like that, but it will be so helpful. I can officially stop worrying about how I'm going to get to clinicals.

3) August has been a month of lasts. Today is the last time I'll see my favorite co-worker (she's going on vacation next week), I had my last staff meeting on Tuesday, my last DC commute is coming up, my last paycheck, my last partner call, etc. September will be a month of firsts. First time wearing scrubs, first nursing lab, first nursing class, first time working as a consultant, etc. What an exciting and scary time this is! My stomach is in a constant state of butterflies.

4) Yesterday I tried Oats in a Jar for the very first time.

I had a bit of peanut butter left so I just put my oatmeal in there and warmed it up in the jar. That way what was left of the peanut butter was softened and melted right into my oatmeal. It was delicious. I don't buy peanut butter too often because I eat it too fast, but the next time I do I will definitely be making this again!

5) Today I am going out for lunch, courtesy of my favorite co-worker. We are going to i Ricci and I CANNOT WAIT. I have already looked at the menu a million times as I drool thinking about what I'm going to order. I love Italian food and rarely get it because Ivan doesn't like it. Plus, lunch with my friend is always spectacular.

6) Evan got a new bedroom set yesterday. Some close golf friends of ours had an entire bedroom set (bed, mattress, box spring, dresser, night stand, desk) that they were getting rid of and asked if we might want it for Evan. Umm, yes please!! Even though he still sleeps in our bed, one day he will need his own bed and this bedroom set is beautiful. The wood is in amazing condition and is super high-quality. I can't wait to decorate his room (on a budget...).

7) I can't decide what to do for Evan's 2nd birthday. I know I don't want a party, but I still want to do something special. A cook-out at the lake? A family bike ride? A trip to the zoo? Rocks at the Nature Center? I don't know. I have to work that morning because another coach will already be gone, so we'll have to celebrate in the afternoon, but I still want it to be something he really enjoys. We'll see. Birthdays are stressful. We are thinking of buying him a balance bike but I can't decide. Anyone out there have a balance bike for their kids? Do they like it? Hate it?

8) Talking about sleeping. Last night we had a super cuddle session in our bed. Evan slept in my arms all night long, curled up right next to me. I loved every minute of it. When he does eventually move to his own bed, I will be a bit sad. Cuddle time during the middle of the night is the best thing ever.

9) Ivan has liked every dinner I've made all week. It's a miracle. After ever dinner he has said, "That was a great dinner" (well, he says it in Spanish so I guess he doesn't say that exactly) and he only says that when he means it. Often he says, "Thanks for dinner, it was ok but maybe don't make it again". I make sure to write down all the dinners he likes so that I keep them in good rotation. His favorite meal to date is my mom's Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup. He asks for it at least once a week and I make it probably twice a month.

10) On Facebook it's Throwback Thursday, so I figure I'll post my pic here too.

This is an old picture from college (I'm sure it's obvious, but I'm the girl on the left in the gray Army shirt) - the first time I went to college. We had a Model OAS team and each spring we'd head to DC to compete with all the other teams. Our school took it mega-serious (although plenty of others took it as a time to party in DC) and it was a super stressful class, but I have some great memories from that time. And surprisingly I am still friends with some of these girls! I really hope I meet some amazing people in nursing school, although it will be hard to top the amazing people I met in undergrad and graduate school previously. As exampled above - I really do have very special and amazing friends that I probably don't deserve. Over the years they have done so many things for me and I'm not really sure I've done as many things for them. Hopefully one day I can repay everyone for all they have given me in life.

Ok - those are my ten random thoughts!

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Tell me two random things floating around in your head.

Did you love or hate college? Are you still friends with your college friends?

Rocks in the water

noreply@blogger.com (Kattrina) — Tue, 19 Aug 2014 15:55:00 +0000

I didn't get a chance to blog yesterday because I was at an orientation for school. It was fun getting to meet some new people and hearing more about what my schedule will be like and stuff. The schedule does not look fun. At all. I met and hung out mostly with two girls who happened to be twenty. That makes me 14 years older than them. I could practically be there mother. Nice thought, huh. It was fine though. I guess all thrown together we are similar enough since we are all going to nursing school. I did meet another girl who has three step-kids, but only on the weekends.

This past weekend the weather was beautiful so I tried to get outside. Evan and I went for a run and then met a friend from TNT for coffee and a walk to the playground. I hadn't seen her since the winter and then I barely got to catch up with her so it was really great spending the afternoon chatting. I had to walk to the coffee place because the hubs was golfing and I thought I would have time to get a four mile run in before we were supposed to meet...but I forgot to account for the fact that I run much slower with the BOB so I ended up being 15 minutes late. Yikes. I felt badly. I really need to work on my punctuality. At one point Evan was playing at the playground and pointed at her and said bye-bye. I don't think he was thrilled about sharing my attention.

Saturday was the normal golf and grocery shopping. Nothing too exciting. I didn't get a chance to do my PiYo workout because Evan was really clingy and fussy and wouldn't let me leave the bed (I noticed that he has his two canine teeth pushing through so that would explain that). I surprised myself by coming home from golf, putting Evan down for a nap, and then breaking out the PiYo Sweat DVD. Usually I am not motivated to do anything in the middle of the day but I actually got it done. Score!

On Sunday we went to breakfast with the other golf coach I work with. She had watched Evan on Thursday so we wanted to thank her. Evan was a hoot on breakfast and kept stacking the creamers and then knocking them down. It was hilarious...until one burst open and drenched the hubs in creamer. Haha! After breakfast we ran to the outlet mall to look for scrubs for me. It turned into a disaster. I tried some scrubs on and that was fine but then I made the mistake of letting Evan ride one of those little rides that you pay a quarter for (or 3 since this one was $0.75) and he decided he wanted to ride every single one. Of course he could only ride the one (because there was no way I was going to let him ride all of them) so then he threw a Disney-style fit. It was huge. And it reminded me of why we shouldn't go places that are over stimulating and have too many things catered to little guys. We barey made it out alive. Evan proceeded to cry the entire way home until about 5 minutes before we got home. I quickly put him to bed.

When he woke up, in a better mood, we decided to go throw rocks in the river. His favorite thing! Although I didn't feel badly about not letting him ride the rides, I did want to take him somewhere where he could do whatever he wanted and fully enjoy himself. Even the hubs decided to come and we had SO much fun.

Ivan was less into the hiking and kept asking where the river was, but Evan and I forced him to be patient so Evan could pick up every rock he found and jump on the tree stumps.

His hand is blurry because he was waving it so ferociously telling me which stump I should stand on.

We finally made it to the water and the hubs gave Evan a lesson on how to throw rocks into the river.

Then the hubs got really into it and took his shoes off so they could walk across the river together to the "beach" on the other side.

They were really cute together walking through the water and throwing rocks. Evan eventually decided to sit down in the river so he got all wet, but oh well. Then it was my turn.

I forced Ivan to take pictures of me so that I had some memory of Evan and me throwing rocks. Usually it is me taking all the pictures and there are only selfies of me.

Evan wanted to walk down the river, which was a bit painful barefoot because it was all rocks and no sand. I survived though. Then we started on our way back and "raced" back to the car. Evan ran the entire way again, with Ivan chasing behind him yelling to be careful and not fall. The hubs hates seeing Evan in pain and is always telling him to be careful. It's funny actually...I just figure Evan will fall every once in a while and survive.

Then Evan found a big stick and took it back to the car, but we made him leave it there.

Overall, it was super fun! I am really hoping that Evan develops a love of the outdoors...especially a love that is bigger than his love of iPad games and indoor mall rides. :-)

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Other moms out there - how do you deal with temptations like rides and food when you are out and about?

Favorite time to exercise? Morning, mid-day, night?
- I prefer to run in the evening, but I tend to get it done more often if I schedule it in the morning.

Life is always switching things up on you

noreply@blogger.com (Kattrina) — Thu, 14 Aug 2014 12:08:00 +0000

Do you ever feel like right when you have things figured out, life takes a U-turn and everything you figured out goes down the drain and you have to start over? I swear that is what always happens to me. I have spent so many months trying to figure out transportation to and from school and how my husband and I are going to survive on one car, etc. and then when I have a tentative plan in place everything changes.

First, because my husband worked overtime during the winter his company decided to cut his hours down to 20 a week for eight weeks. Seriously, I think that would stress most people out. So then we were scrambling to figure out how to make ends meet when in three weeks my salary was going to be cut by 2/3rds. And then, out of the blue, his old boss who now works at a private golf course calls him up and offers him 16 hours at his course to make up the hours he's losing. I was pleasantly shocked that his old boss would be willing to do that and that he would shift things around so that my husband could still get his regular hours for the most part. The catch though? His old boss's golf course is 45 minutes away and he has to start at 6am. Not that big a deal except that now we have to drop Evan off at my sister's at 5am. I can tell you she is none too pleased. She at least didn't flat out refuse but no one likes to be up that early...this I know because I am up earlier than that and it is no fun. And then who knows when school starts...how we are going to get everything to work out. I really just wish there was someone who was completely devoted to helping me out...who would out of the blue just offer to watch Evan in the mornings at 5am or come pick Evan and me up and give us a ride or things like that. Someone who wouldn't make me feel guilty and who would totally understand that we have no other options and we are just trying to make ends meet...not trying to inconvenience everyone in the world. Of course there is really no person like that because even very compassionate, loving, amazing people have their own lives and get inconvenienced at times...but still, it would be nice.

Ugg. I can only handle so much stress and problem solving and I am about up to my ears.

Aside from that I got the pleasurable experience of trying to sign up for the Marketplaces (Affordable Care Act) yesterday. It wasn't completely miserable, but it wasn't pleasant either. The lady on the other side of the phone really just wanted to do something else because every time she asked for a document that I didn't have in front of me she would give me my reference number and tell me I could call her back. I was determined to finish it all except that I couldn't find Ivan's green card number fast enough so I do have to call her back. Not the end of the world except that if I want insurance coverage starting 1 Sept I have to fill out the paperwork by 15 August...which is tomorrow. I am hoping I get a chance to do it today or tomorrow otherwise we'll be out of luck.

Ok, that's all I have to report. No pictures, no great stories, just complaints....

But let me leave you with a picture of Evan because I don't want you to end this reading session feeling down and depressed!

Transitions

noreply@blogger.com (Kattrina) — Tue, 12 Aug 2014 13:21:00 +0000

Yesterday another graze box came. Yum! If you want to try a graze box, you can use my code at KATTRI44B and get your 1st and 5th box free. I am loving it! And I am not being paid to promote them or anything, I just thought I would share.

It is kind of fun seeing what little snacks come in each box. I probably won't get too many more because once I start school I can't really justify buying a snack box once a week for $6, but I'm enjoying it while it lasts. For some reason I tend to migrate towards the sweet snacks rather than the savory so far. Today I'll try a more savory one.

Yesterday I also wrote my first "transitions" email. That's a euphemism for "I am leaving my job and won't be seeing you anymore". I just sent it out to two people, my two partners on my current grant. I will send out another email to everyone else I work with later this week. It's sad and my eyes tear up a bit at thinking that this stage of my life is ending soon. I really do love my current job and although there are plenty of frustrations, it is a great job and a great organization to work for. I realize I will probably never have such a flexible work environment and such freedom to design and carry out a project.

I also started to pack up my office. When I first started here I brought a lot of stuff from home to decorate. I figured that I spent more time in my office than I did at home so it should make me happy. And it did. It was filled with photos of friends and family, gifts from Honduras, and various other trinkets. Now it is all getting packed up and will probably just go into a closet at home since we don't really have any place to put it. It really makes my office look bare though.

That's where I had a lot of decorations...and now, so much emptier.

I have agreed to consult ten hours a week, so I am not gone completely. I just won't be going to the office anymore and will only be interacting with a few people. It'll be different. And hopefully I'll still have plenty of time to study.

Change is tough!

And I'm not sure people really get it. Everyone comments about how excited I must be - and I am - but on Sunday my neighbor hit it right on the dot. She said, "You must be really scared" and she was right. As excited as I am about heading back to school and finally pursing nursing, something I have wanted to do for years, I am terrified. More scared than excited. It is incredibly scary quitting my comfortable job, losing my salary and benefits, and embarking on an entirely new career not having any idea how the future will turn out. Plunging my family into even more debt and just hoping it all works out. Exciting, yes, but more than that -it's just down right scary. Maybe one of the scariest things I've ever done. Joining the Peace Corps and living in Honduras for two years was pretty scary too, but I think this is even more so. My life motto has always been "Don't let fear stand in the way of your dreams" and when I make a decision I try to think about what I'd do if fear wasn't a factor. And then I do that. So, that's what I'm doing. Yes, it's scary leaving my job. Yes, it's scary taking out thousands of dollars in loans. Yes, it's scary leaving my current career. However, if I take all that fear away, nursing is what I want. Therefore, I'm going for it. And that's that.

And for all you doubters out there, I've put a lot of thought into this - I didn't just decide it on a whim. I didn't choose nursing because becoming a doctor was too hard. And no, I don't want to be a Physician's Assistant or work in Medical Administration. I realize nurses are underpaid and overworked. I know I'm not going to become rich. However, if you know me, you'll know that becoming rich has never been a dream of mine. I want to become a nurse because I care about people and I want to help them, take care of them, and advocate for them. It's that simple. And in case you're wondering - yes, about 90% of the people I tell about nursing school suggest some other degree: doctor, PA, medical admin, etc. It's annoying and doesn't help my fear factor.

And that's the end of my rant. :-)

And now a complete change of subject. Yesterday I went on a 4.5 mile run. I felt nice and strong the entire way. I really think it must be the PiYo workouts I'm doing. It must really be making me stronger. Who knew that strength training could be so effective!! I've only been reading that you should do it for years - this is the first time I've really been serious about it. And it appears to be working pretty well. Today I did PiYo Buns. I was really excited about it because of my weak glute problem, so hopefully it will help. All I know is I did a ton of squats. Since I do it so early in the morning I'm kind of still asleep throughout the entire workout. My legs feel a bit rubbery though, so I know I must have done something right.

Ok - I'm gonna take a snooze on the bus. I hope you have a fabulous day!

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What is your life motto?

What's the scariest decision you've ever made? How did it turn out? Please share!!

Lots of Tractors and Livestock

noreply@blogger.com (Kattrina) — Mon, 11 Aug 2014 12:20:00 +0000

Last night I had the most terrifying dream. I don't have nightmares too often but this one made up for all the nights I didn't have one. It was filled with serial killers, tortured murder victims, and all those other fun things. I am blaming it on the fact that I read an excerpt from a book called Heartbreaker and the beginning was all about a guy who was confessing to torturing and murdering a bunch of women in a small town. Ironically, I think the book is supposed to be a romance novel...and I think I've actually read it, back in my romance novel days of high school. That theme of psychopathic killers transferred nicely to my dreams. I was actually very happy when my alarm went off this morning and I could escape my dreams. Then I remembered I had to get up and do a PiYo workout and I couldn't decide which was better: nightmare or workout. Haha - actually it was an easy and short 20 minute PiYo workout so I was happy about that.

This past weekend was BUSY. We haven't had such a busy weekend in months. It was filled with good stuff though. I actually think the rest of August is going to be really busy because I am trying to fit every fun activity in between now and the start of school. I am terrified that I won't have a free minute (or a free dollar) once school starts so want to get in every bit of fun possible.

Friday afternoon was our regular routine of a run with Evan followed by a stop at the playground.

There I am, ready to head out. Ivan makes fun of me when I take "selfies" and says no one wants to see me that close up except him - haha. However, my arms aren't long enough to take photos farther away than that, so you will continue to get a nice close-up of my face!

Surprisingly when I asked Evan if he wanted to go for a run, he looked excited too. I think he is realizing that I always make a stop at the playground when we go for runs, so he's not too upset about sitting in the stroller for an hour.

He brought his tractor along with him too. I was thrilled that he didn't try and pitch it overboard while we were running. Occasionally he has taken a shoe off and thrown it into the street. Running into the street after a shoe or ball is not my idea of a fun sprinting drill. Before heading to the park we took a small detour to the doctor to get my final TB test read. Still no TB, thank goodness!

Saturday I had golf in the morning and then my friend Sarah came over from the Easter Shore to spend the afternoon together. Good times! She is one of my best friends from college and now that she moved far away I don't see her as often. The county fair was going on, so we decided to spend the afternoon there. I hadn't been for years, like 20, so it was fun to go back. My husband and Evan thought it was great!

Although he looks super serious, he was having a good time. Promise!

I can tell you I am a lot older now because hanging out in the midway with barely-there clothes did not appeal to me. What did appeal to me??

Fried dough and fried Berger cookies. Berger cookies are a Baltimore specialty and they were extra delicious fried. We had plans to try the fried Oreos, but when we saw the friend Berger cookies, we changed our mind. Don't worry, that wasn't all I had for dinner. I also ate French fries. Haha. My cholesterol may not have been thrilled but my taste buds were in heaven. On the topic of cholesterol, I went for a physical a few weeks ago and my cholesterol was 136. Umm, maybe it's because I am a health dork, but I was so incredibly proud of that. I wanted to tattoo it on my forehead (not really). High cholesterol runs in my family so I am always excited when I "beat" my genetics.

The rest of our fair experience consisted of cows and tractors. Evan was in tractor heaven. He took a picture on every tractor possible.

He really acted like he was driving them. He moved the steering wheel and pretended to honk the horn and change the gears. It was adorable.

The hubs was pretty excited too, climbing on big machines was pretty fun for him too.

And notice how the hubs put on his "farmer" wardrobe. Shirt, jeans, and boots. If he had a cowboy hat, he would have worn that too.

Yes, Evan was trying to eat this tractor. I guess it was time for a food break....

I couldn't go without sitting on one tractor, so I made sure to climbed on one too.

The air seat was pretty fun, but I didn't get the urge to drive around and cut the grass or anything.

Then we went to visit the animals. Evan practiced milking a cow.

The hubs showed him how it's done. In Honduras, the hubs milked cows by hand for years. He's a milking expert and huge fan of cows.

They had the cutest kiddie barn with these rocking horses and animals to pet and barley pits (instead of sand pits). Evan had a blast!

All in all, it was a great time. Ivan can't wait for next year.

Sunday we did the unbelievable. Hubs and I went on a double date and played golf!

I know, it's a miracle. My sister watched Evan for a few hours and Ivan and I played nine holes with the couple we used to play with all the time before. It was so fun. It helped that my golf game was totally on and I got two pars and two bogies...it's definitely more fun when I'm playing well. And since I haven 't played since Memorial Day, it's pretty shocking that I did so well. It must be because I spend every weekend concentrating on improving the golf game of 7-12 year olds that some of the instruction gets branded into my brain!

Later in the afternoon we headed to our old neighbor's house and played a couple rounds of bocci ball and ate some flank steak. It was quite yummy and we had such a good time. I am always so thankful for the amazing friends we have here. I feel like adult friends can be hard to come by, so I am very thankful that we have made good friends in the area. Evan ran around in their yard playing with balls and moving rocks from the garden to the grass. He had a blast. We got home pretty late so quickly got ready for the week and then headed to bed.

So, that was our weekend!

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Do you have a county fair? What fried foods have you tried??? Favorite fair food?

Any other female golfers out there??

1996

noreply@blogger.com (Kattrina) — Thu, 07 Aug 2014 11:37:00 +0000

Wednesdays I feel extra productive because I wake up, get a run in, and the do my PiYo workout, then shower all before 8am. Of course I don't feel like doing any of it and would just like to stay in bed, but after I finish I feel pretty hard core. I don't find the PiYo workouts to be exceptionally difficult, but I am feeling stronger on my runs so it make me wonder if it is secretly doing something. Yesterday I did PiYo Core, which was a new workout. Today I did Define: Upper Body, one I have done a few times. It was still hard waking up at 4:20am...especially since I had stayed up late reading my book. Yeah, what is wrong with me?? I had the chance to crawl into bed before 11pm and instead I sat on the couch and read my book until 11:45pm. I am a glutton for punishment.

So, this past weekend while we were cleaning out closets I came across this lovely photo that I decided to post for Throwback Thursday on Facebook. Since most of you reading this are either family or friends, you have probably already seen it, but for the tiny fraction that aren't friends with me on Facebook, here it is.

That's me, right there in the center. For my birthday, when I was in high school, some friends of mine paid for a giant gorilla in a tu-tu to come to the restaurant I work at and sing Happy Birthday to me. Umm, yeah. Humiliating. And I remember that the owners of the restaurant were none too thrilled because it made it difficult for people to get seated and get their food - obviously their first priority. The gorilla was probably there for 15 minutes or so. I think there may have been a video too.

Yesterday I also got my TB test. My third. It appears to be negative again. Afterwards Evan and I headed to the nature preserve to do a little hiking. It was so cute because Evan ran around like a crazy person.

Look at him go - he was a blur. Just running, running, running. I remember when we first started gong here he could barely walk. And now he's running. He ran almost the full trail. I just know he's gonna be a runner when he gets older!

And he looks like such a little boy. What happened to my baby?

He still loves playing on the tree stumps. I think I've posted millions of versions of this same photo. Evan on a tree stump.

And then it was back to exploring. He found two pieces of wood that he thought were the best things ever. And he carried them around for a long time. I was a bit nervous that he'd trip and the wood would somehow poke his eye out - but luckily that didn't happen.

We had so much fun walking around. We went down by the river and he threw a bunch of rocks into the water. He thought this was the best activity ever.

And he was totally into posing on tree stumps.

He'd jump up there and say "picture" and then strike a pose. So darn cute. Especially since normally it's impossible to get him to look at the camera.

We only had an hour there before it closed so it was a quick trip, but at least he didn't pitch a fit when we left.

Then it was home to make some Mexican Pizzas (corn tortillas topped with refried beans, cheese, tomatoes, ground turkey, and sour cream) and off to bed.

The days go by way too fast these days!

Meetings and Subscription Boxes

noreply@blogger.com (Kattrina) — Tue, 05 Aug 2014 11:50:00 +0000

I am so glad yesterday is over and today has begun. Not that yesterday was horrible, but it started off frustrating and it stayed that way. I got up early to do my PiYo and then the DVD player wasn't working so I could only do 15 minutes of the workout. Annoying. I think I may have told you that yesterday. But then my bus friend was on the bus and we hadn't seen each other since before I'd gone to Los Angeles so we had some catching up to do. But I was tired and catching up meant I didn't get to sleep on the bus. I got to work and just wanted to nap in my chair, but I didn't. I didn't even drink caffeinated coffee! So, I was tired all day.

I thought about not going on my run, but decided to go anyway. I was glad I did because it turned out to be a good run and it woke me up. Plus, there are a ton of African leaders in town for the USAfrica meetings so there are motorcades up the wazoo. I saw two motorcades while on my run. Big ones. Where I had to stop on the corner and I couldn't move until a bunch of really big, armed SUVs passed by. I didn't recognize the flags though, my African country flag knowledge is not that high. I got back to work drenched in sweat but feeling good.

The rest of the day was uneventful until my Graze box came!

I had received a coupon for a free Graze box in a Barnes and Noble shipment and I decided to try it out. It's a weekly subscription (although you can easily halt the subscription and not get snacks weekly) of different snack foods. I opted for the calorie-counter box meaning the snacks are low calorie. There were about 50 snacks to choose from and you can rate them so that the snacks you like you get more often.

I tried my first little box of bananas foster. It had dried bananas, seeds, and little caramel blocks. Very yummy and totally satisfying. I had the box delivered to work so I could get the snacks at work and it was a spectacular idea. I was really in a snack mood yesterday and wishing I had brought more food - so I was quite pleased when an entire box of snacks was delivered right to my office.

Then it was home, dinner, bed. My goal was to get to bed before 10pm and I crawled in bed around 11pm, so not too horribly bad. I made a stir fry with black soybean tofu for dinner. I saw it at the grocery store and thought it looked good so went ahead and bought it. It didn't taste any different than regular tofu (which is made with green soybeans) but maybe it had different health benefits.

Today is a long day of meetings - I am working out the details for my consulting plan at work. I agreed to consult for 10 hours a week while in school. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that all goes well because I'd really like to see my grant through to the end and the extra money will be a HUGE benefit. However, I'm worried it might be too much work or that I might end up having to do all the work. So, we'll see.

It's a rest day for running and I did my Define: Lower Body PiYo workout this morning. I used the mini-DVD player this time so the DVD didn't skip and I was able to finish my workout. I actually did the entire thing without stopping to take a rest. That must mean some kind of progress, right?

What did you have for dinner last night?

Do you like online subscription boxes? Which ones have you done?
-- I love Stitch Fix (clothes/accessories), Green Kids Crafts (craft box), Hello Fresh (meals), and CookSmarts (recipes). I've wanted to try BirchBox (make-up) and StrideBox (runner gear) and Conscious Box, but think I've already maxed out on monthly subscriptions!

Eating more veggies and Evan's favorite place

noreply@blogger.com (Kattrina) — Mon, 04 Aug 2014 12:23:00 +0000

One of my goals these days is to eat more vegetables. I scarf so much fruit down (last week I ate 2 pounds of grapes in two days), which I don't think is bad, but I hardly ever eat any veggies. Like none. Sometimes I eat carrots and I eat cabbage in my eggs, but that's about it. I'd really like to start incorporating more veggies into my meals, particularly lunch and dinner. Maybe eventually I'll get veggies into my breakfast, but I'm not quite ready to go that far yet. So, my first step in this plan was to actually buy vegetables! On Friday, Evan and I walked (or ran, since I tend to turn any opportunity into a running opportunity) to my doctor's office so I could get my TB test read (I got a TB test last week but then totally forgot to actually get it read - so this was actually my second test). On the way out, I spotted a Farmer's Market in the parking lot. Perfect! Since I had been at the doctor's and needed ID, I had my money with me (normally I don't carry my wallet on runs) so I could actually buy things.

This is what I ended up with:

Instagram: @mapleandmud

Some carrots, really, really sweet tomatoes, and string beans. I also bought an Australian Crystal Apple Cucumber, which is a rare heirloom seed. The guy selling it said that it tastes similar to honeydew. I haven't tried it yet, but I'll let you know what it's like.

The string beans are purple and green, but when you cook them the purple ones turn green. It's funny, but at least lets me know when they are done cooking.

Instagram: @mapleandmud

I sauteed the string beans in coconut oil, salt, pepper, and garlic. They were pretty tasty. I even cooked extra and brought some in my lunch today. The tomatoes are good to snack on because they are so sweet, but I've also been eating them in salads too.

After the farmer's market we headed to the playground, of course. The playground is always on our agenda when we are out for a run. I feel like it's only fair that after sitting for an hour in the stroller Evan gets a bit of time to run around. He loves the playground, until someone else shows up. It's funny really - he'll be playing and running around and then the second someone else shows up he wants me to pick him up. Randomly, our friends came to the playground while we were there and he totally clammed up. After about 15 minutes he got enough courage to go play though, so that was good. He loves this little yellow car.

He rocks it back and forth so fast. I love this playground because it's fairly simple without too many large structures that he could fall off of. Plus, it's often completely empty.

The see-saw or teeter-totter (not sure what the appropriate name is) is a great thigh workout for me because Evan likes to go up and down but I have to be sitting on the seat or he gets mad. I tried to just push one side down, but that didn't work. Of course not. I need to be sitting and working my thighs.

The rest of the weekend was spent teaching golf, watching my nieces again, and getting household chores done. While watching my nieces we made Power Packed Fruit and Veggie Muffins. I found the recipe on Pinterest and decided to try it out. They turned out really good and all the kids liked them, even though they saw me put broccoli and zucchini in the batter. The only problem was they really stuck to the muffin baking cups. The recipe noted this and suggested using parchment muffin baking cups, but the girls really, really wanted to use pretty baking cups. So, we used the pretty ones and all the muffins stuck. I did notice that when I put all the muffins in a zip lock baggie and the moisture kind of built up a little, the paper got damp and peeled off much easier.

Yesterday I didn't get a run in because it was pouring out in the morning. I may have gone in the rain, but I wasn't going to make Evan go in the rain. I was bummed because on top of running, the hubs and I had a date to go golfing together. Oh well, hopefully we'll go next week instead. Instead we put our bed back together, cleaned out a few closets, and did a lot of laundry. Fun times people!

That was my weekend - nothing spectacular but still a good time. This morning I got up to do PiYo Sweat but the DVD machine wasn't working very well so I only go 15 minutes of it done. I guess better than nothing - but, I could have used those extra 15 minutes of sleep!

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What was your best moment this weekend?

Do you say see-saw or teeter-totter?

PiYo and Pinterest

noreply@blogger.com (Kattrina) — Thu, 31 Jul 2014 12:15:00 +0000

I have nothing much of interest to report on. I didn't take any pictures so I have nothing much to show you either. Guess this is going to be a really exciting post!

Yesterday was a beautiful day for a run. It was only 59 degrees in the morning. It felt great, even though there was a small bit of humidity. I just did my regular four mile loop. Then I came home and did my Define: Upper Body PiYo workout. It wasn't too bad. Today I got up and did my Define: Sweat workout and boy was I sweating. And exhausted. I thought getting up at 4:30am was exhausting, but getting up an extra 20 minutes early really puts me over the edge. I've had to have real coffee every day this week, which I NEVER do. There's real caffeinated coffee in there!!!

Next week my goal is to get to bed earlier! I can't tell how well the PiYo is working (i.e. am I getting "toned") because I'm never super sore afterwards...but is that because I am being lazy and not working hard enough? Some of the moves are complicated and I'm probably not doing them exactly right, but I think after doing it a few times I'll start getting better at it. I hope.

Yesterday I made another Pinterest meal that was pretty decent. It was called One-Pan Chicken Burrito Bowls.

Photo Credit: no. 2 pencil

It turned out pretty good and Ivan really liked it. Total win!!!! The only reason I wasn't a huge fan was because it was made with white rice and I'd prefer to eat brown rice. I had bought brown rice to make with it but then the cooking times are so different that I was unsure if it was ok to make the switch. Plus, it was 7pm by the time I started cooking and white rice only has to cook for 20 minutes and brown rice has to cook for 40. It was still good, especially topped with Greek yogurt and avocado.

Although Wednesdays are work-from-home days when I am supposed to be finished work early and able to get dinner on the table early...I tend to take Evan out to play after picking him up from daycare. Today we met my friend Anne (from my A&P class) and her daughter at the park. Anne did an accelerated nursing program and today is her last day!!! She's doing an RN program (a two-year degree vs. BSN which is a four year degree) and graduates this summer. Then I start a few weeks later. Yikes! I still can't believe it is coming so soon.

Today I sign my loan papers for $20,000 from Wells Fargo though - so it's about to become super real. Scary stuff people, scary stuff. Wells Fargo now owns me. And my family. And my future.

Ok - I am about to fall asleep while writing this so I am going to nap for the last hour of this bus ride.

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What good Pinterest recipes have you made lately?

White rice or brown?

Random Tidbits

noreply@blogger.com (Kattrina) — Tue, 29 Jul 2014 12:30:00 +0000

I have a lot of random things floating around in my head so thought I would share them all in bullet style. Everyone loves a post filled with random thoughts right?

1) Yesterday was a beautiful run day. I was thinking I would just do about 3 miles but it was so nice and I felt good running that I ended up doing my regular four miles. Rarely do I set out with a lower mileage in mind and then switch to a higher mileage, so I must have really felt good.

2) Ivan and Evan met me at the bus stop yesterday. I love when they do this. It is the best feeling in the world when I get off the bus and see Evan and my hubs standing their waiting to walk me home. And we actually had a family dinner together too. All three of us, eating at the same time. It can be so hard to juggle all of our schedules and get dinner ready and all sit down together, but we have done it twice this week. A miracle!

3) After dinner the boys sat on the sofa and took their shirts off.

Evan was eating a yogurt bar (Yasso Sea Salt Caramel - yum!!!) and Ivan was eating his lunch that I had packed for today. I thought I was getting ahead of the game by quickly putting the left-over dinner into a container for his lunch. Nope, he decided he was still hungry and ended up eating all the left overs. So, then I had to pack him another lunch.

4) Yes, I pack my husband's lunch. People think this is funny but my mom packed my dad's lunch every day (and mine too) and I know lots of wives who pack their husbands' lunches. I do it mainly to save money. If I didn't pack his lunch than he'd just buy lunch and we'd be out all that money each week. Much easier and cheaper to just put a quick breakfast and lunch together for him to eat.

5) This past weekend I got to babysit my nieces. I took out the splash table and the babies loved it!!

They splashed for over an hour. It was so cute!! My other two nieces were there also, and they had just as much fun. These two babies steal my heart. They are exactly three months apart and complete opposites when it comes to their looks and their personalities. My son is darker skinned, dark haired, and dark eyed and my niece is pale skinned, pale blond, and very light hazel eyes. My son is quiet and reserved around people he doesn't know and my niece says hi and waves to every person on the street. They are too cute.

6) Today I started a new workout called PiYo.

My friend from years ago (like we were both born in Greece and then both lived in Japan and England at the same time) became a Beachbody Coach and I was somehow convinced to buy PiYo and join a challenge group. PiYo is a combination of yoga and Pilates. I'm not sure it's going to turn me into the muscle machines that they show on the covers of the DVDs, but we shall see. I could use more stretching in my life so it can only help. I felt like the workout I did today, Define:Lower Body, wasn't too hard but now that I am sitting on the bus my legs do feel a bit rubbery.

Here's my two month schedule.

I taped it to my bathroom wall so that I would be reminded and motivated every night to wake up super early and get my workout in. Yes, I have to do it before work...so at like 4:15am. Let's hope I survive!!!

7) This morning when I pulled out Ivan's coke this is what I saw.

I felt like I should put it back so that we could share it, since we are soulmates obviously, but decided it was stupid and I wasn't giving into the Coke's advertising gimmick. But, he better not decided to share with anyone at work!!

Ok, those are all my tangents. Hope you have a great day. I am a bit tired so need my bus nap!

Tell me two random thoughts about your day!!!

My last work trip and a PR

noreply@blogger.com (Kattrina) — Mon, 28 Jul 2014 11:54:00 +0000

I've been gone for a while and I have so much to tell you. I still haven't even posted about my last day in Vermont, which I still want to do. Maybe you aren't that interested but I want the memory written down. However, today I am going to give you a quick recap of my trip to Los Angeles, which is where I was for the past week-ish.

But first, my exciting PR news.

Yesterday I ran a neighborhood 5k. I'd been doing some speed work and signed up for this race specifically to see whether I could improve my speed. My previous PR had been 23:49 back when I was 21 years old and I was hoping to beat that. And I did!!! Not by much, but my new PR is 23:46 - a whole 3 seconds faster. However, I am definitely NOT 21 anymore so I was excited that I actually got a new PR. I came in 19th place overall (out of 376 people) and 3rd place for my age group. Excitement people!

And now, a quick recap of my trip to LA.

Every year I organize HIV testing for a big national conference. This year the conference was in Los Angeles so my co-worker and I headed out there. With Evan (because he hasn't missed a work trip yet) and my Aunt Pam (who was nice enough to come hang out with Evan while I was working).

This conference is huge and stressful and I am pretty much stressed from May until I get back into the office and have paid all of the bills and our boxes are returned. The thing about this event is something, or many things, always goes wrong. It's a huge exercise in problem solving. This year was no different. All kinds of crazy things went wrong, but luckily it was a huge success on the outside. No one but us knew the internal drama and disasters that were going on behind the scenes.

I'm not going to describe them all because I am sure my work is not the most interesting thing to read about, but I will describe one. Like how we brought in a mobile testing unit this year and the unit ran on a diesel generator and we couldn't run it inside the convention center. That meant that our entire testing unit had to be run on the battery...the lights, the refrigerator that held the tests, etc., and there was no air conditioner so the temperature kept rising and the tests become unstable in temps higher than 86 degrees. Nice. So we ended up having to run to an auto parts store, buy a 12-volt battery, and plug it into the wall. This actually didn't solve the problem because it still wasn't enough power and although the fridge was working, we could only turn the lights on in one testing room. Ahhh!! These are some of the problems I dealt with. Fun stuff. It made for a very long trip with anxiety as to what disaster we were gong to be faced with each day.

However, we did squeeze in a bit of fun. My aunt and I made it out to the Santa Monica beach!

As you can see - I made another tragic weather assumption. I thought Los Angeles was going to be HOT so I brought a bunch of shorts and t-shirts for Evan and me. Nope. It was chilly. Evan had to wear my sweater when we went to the beach because it was so chilly. Next time we go anywhere I'm just going to bring a bunch of sweaters and pants no matter what the temperature is supposed to be because I sure can't seem to figure it out!

We walked along the promenade (I think that is what they called it). The houses right on the beach were beautiful. I was wishing I could go for a run along the promenade, but obviously that was not going to happen! Plus it was downright cold so I would have wanted long pants and a long sleeved shirt, which of course I didn't bring.

And the pier was fun too. A bit crowded for me, but it was fun people-watching for a while.

We walked around long enough to see the sunset, which was beautiful.

I think this was the first time I'd seen the sunset over the beach. On the east coast we usually have to get up really early to watch the sunrise, but never the sunset. It was beautiful. Actually, I changed my mind. I think I've seen the sunset on the Pacific coast when I was in Acapulco like ten years ago. But usually I think of sunrises on the beach and not sunsets. Both are equally stunning and beautiful. And really, can you see those people in the water??!! It was freezing out!!

That night we ate at Seasons 52. I had never heard of it, although I guess there is one in northern Virginia (and I just looked at the website and one is opening near me soon). The name means something like 4 seasons (they have a different menu each season) and 52 weeks in a year. And everything on the menu is less than 475 calories - however, that doesn't mean you can't order an appetizer for 475 calories and then a meal for 475 calories, and then a dessert for 475 calories. I got the Summer Vegetarian Tasting which was sooooo good. It had a quinoa-citrus salad, soft taco, seasonal vegetables, and cedar-roasted tofu with a tropical salsa. It was delicious. Evan got the kiddie flat bread pizza and LOVED it. He loves pizza these days. I try to make it at home with whole wheat pita so that it is a bit healthier than Papa Johns.

The rest of the trip was pretty much taken up with work, work, work, and dinner. We ate at the Yard House twice (both times I got the 5oz burger - for some reason I was really craving burgers), George's Greek Grill, The Farm of Beverly Hills,(for breakfast and dinner), and The Original Pantry Cafe (a historic cafe that's been open since 1924 - and actually opened since that day, it's never closed because it's 24/7 and they say they've been opened and had a least one customer since then). I'm not sure why I think you're interested in where we ate every day, but I guess since all I did was eat and work, I figured I'd share. If you are ever in downtown LA, these were all good restuarants.

We stayed at the JW Marriott LA Live, which was right next to the Staples Center. Lady Gaga played there the last night we were there. It was VERY interesting to see what people were wearing (or not wearing...lots of skin showing) to the concert.

The hotel was beautiful and Evan loved hanging out by the window looking at the pool.

Luckily my aunt was nice enough to take him to the pool a few times. He LOVES the pool and literally spent hours looking at it from our room and saying "agua" over and over again. It was adorable, until the 900th time.

At the conference I got the pleasure of meeting Dora and her new friends, Kate and Pablo.

I wrote a little sign for my niece that said, "Good luck in kindergarten Peyton, Love Dora" and I was SOOOO excited to show her the photo. She starts kindergarten this year and I thought that she'd be really excited to get this little picture from Dora. I posted it on Facebook and my sister said she was really excited.

The only other experience was the 5 hour non-stop flight with Evan, by myself. Evan's come on all my work trips so I am used to traveling with him alone. However, before this trip, the longest we'd been cramped on a plane was 4 hours. Not that an hour is that much more, but in toddler hours - it is FOREVER. Plus, the plane was completely full so there was no space. Evan and I were jammed into one seat by the window. Surprisingly, he was an angel both there and back.

That's not a very flattering photo of either of us, but it was hard to get one. He was so good on the way there that TWO people complimented me on how well-behaved he was. Now, I did come prepared with books, toys, one or two iPad apps (he is not allowed on the iPad anymore due to a few breakdowns when I took the iPad away from him...it was great for the plane and for the trip, but definitely not ready for an iPad-addicted toddler), and lots of patience. I really think the key was staying calm myself and pretending we were at home and not on a small, confined plane with a large audience. The way back he slept for 2/3 of the flight (amazing) and so that was a small blessing. I still nurse him on take-off and landing (even when we are jammed super close to our seatmates and it's a bit uncomfortable), so that works like a charm. And it calms him down when he starts getting antsy, which is nice.

So, that was my trip. I got back on Tuesday night but I took the rest of the week off because my sister was out of town and so we didn't have any daycare. And plus, we needed all that time to readjust to East Coast time! We just hung around, met up with friends, and played.

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Sunsets or sunrises at the beach?

Your saving grace for long plane rides?

Favorite restaurant??

Wet Shoes

noreply@blogger.com (Kattrina) — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 12:45:00 +0000

My run yesterday was the hottest run I've experienced yet. It was SO HUMID I thought my clothes were going to melt on my body. It really felt like I was running in a wool sweater and pants. Completely gross. I was so sweaty when I got back that I was talking with a co-worker and drops of sweat were falling off my chin. Nice, huh. Don't worry, I didn't snap a photo so you are safe from seeing that disgustingness. My usual mantra while I'm running is "Slow and steady wins the race" and "I can do hard things". The slow and steady one has been a real winner this week because twice I've had to "battle" it out with a guy who wants to run faster than me. I'll pass him going my normal speed, then he'll speed up to pass me but then slow back down, so then I pass him again, then he speeds up, etc. It really aggravates me because I feel so awkward the entire time. However, both times now as I've slowly trudged along at my normal pace, I have eventually passed guys (on separate occasions) as they take a walking break and then never see them again. And each time I think - see, slow and steady DOES win the race!

That was a long tangent - my point was that yesterday it was so hot I couldn't even manage to get my mantra out. The entire run I kept repeating to myself, "It is SO HOT" over and over. That was the only thought I could muster. Surprisingly, it was still a good run and although I was hot, I felt strong. I'm not sure why - must be that special Monday feeling after running with the BOB all weekend.
Then when I went to wait for the bus after work it started pouring (like torrential down pour, wind, lightening, and thunder) and by the time I got to the bus stop I was completely soaked. Completely. I had to wring my shirt out. I figure someone wanted me to have a shower so decided that the best time was on the way to the bus. And if I had had some soap - I totally would have been able to shower. Then I had to sit on the bus for 1.5 hours in my wet clothes. And when I put my shoes on this morning, they were still wet. It was a crazy day!
When I got home, this lovely package was waiting for me.

My first nursing school book! I got it early so I could start studying. We have an exam the third week of school and if we don't get 100% we have to take it again. And you only have three tries to get 100% or you fail the class. Yikes! I decided I should start studying as soon as possible so that I get 100% on the first test and don't have to worry about it. That's my hope anyway.

And for dinner I had some of that lasagna I made yesterday.

It really doesn't look that appetizing, but it's actually quite tasty. I love the basil taste and the squash is really excellent! It was a lot of work so I probably won't make a vegan lasagna again, but I'd definitely make a spaghetti squash pesto lasagna again - with real cheese!

And that was pretty much my day. I leave for LA on Thursday for my last work trip and I can't wait for it to be over. This is my big event of the year and it takes so long to organize and I'm so stressed that things won't go well or I will have forgotten to do something. I will be so happy when the entire experience is over and I can just relax. And I will barely have time to see LA because the work days are so long. Boo. I have never been to LA before so I'm excited to go.

I am less excited about taking Evan on a 5 hour plane ride by myself. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the plane isn't full and we have at least one seat open next to us - otherwise it's SUPER crowded.

And my aunt is coming to watch Evan and I'm super excited to see her again. I haven't seen her since she came to Birmingham, AL to watch Evan last April!

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Any fun ideas to keep toddlers occupied for five hours straight?

Do you prefer running in hot or cold weather (or do you just prefer to not run!)?

A Weekend of Food and Running and Food, of course

noreply@blogger.com (Kattrina) — Mon, 14 Jul 2014 13:40:00 +0000

Every weekend I think maybe I'll blog so that Monday isn't just a recap of my weekend. But then I can't find time to do anything on the weekends, so it never happens. So then I am left recapping the last three days on Monday. Oh well. I'll get back to my Vermont recap soon. Maybe tomorrow. I did remember to take a few pictures this weekend, so at least you don't have to just read a bunch of text.

On Fridays I work from home most of the time and Evan hangs out with me. Usually he plays by himself while I get work done until my husband gets home around 10am. This past Friday I decided rather than just eat our lunch together we would take it outside and have a nice picnic. So, I packed our lunch into a picnic basket and we put a blanket out in the grass on the side of our apartment building. It was so fun!

Evan had pizza (his new favorite food) and rice. He ate his pizza and then my yogurt, but wasn't so into the rice.

Then he was up and running around.

He's really into throwing sticks these days and was so excited to find a bunch hiding in the grass.

Then he realized that he could wander around and I'd stay sitting on the blanket. He was thrilled not to have me following him around.

He kept walking around and looking to see if I was coming. Then he'd come back and eat some yogurt and pizza and then go for another "walk". I was fine as long as he didn't try to go into the street. It turned out to be a great lunch. I think we'll do these little picnics more often - it beats sitting inside all day while I work on the computer. Plus, it tired him out so he went down for his nap really easily!

I usually try and get a run in Friday evening, but Ivan wanted to go out to eat. Ivan and I have had a few "talks" about how I veto all his ideas without considering them...like when he suggests we go out to eat. It's not like I don't like his ideas, it's just that I'm cheap and don't like wasting our money on going out to eat. However, when he suggested we head to his favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner...I agreed instead of saying no right away. That definitely doesn't make me wife of the year or anything, but I'm trying! So we called up some friends and met them for dinner. We hadn't been there in over six months or so. A long time. We really don't eat out much anymore (probably because I veto the idea all the time). It was fun though.

Saturday I was back at golf, after two weeks off. Summer classes are always a lot smaller and I enjoy them a lot more. The girls are so adorable. And sweet. It does make my weekends go faster though because by the time I get home it's the afternoon already. I made it to the grocery store though and even made it for a short three mile run with a stop at the playground.

instagram: @mapleandmud

We got home really late (well, late for Evan). Sometimes I feel like the only mom that has no schedule for their child. I left for a run around 6:30pm and texted my friend to see if she wanted to meet me at the park and she said they were eating dinner, then it was bath time, and then bed time (for her daughter, obviously, not for herself). I had a twinge of guilt because here Evan and I were heading out for a run, then a playground trip, and we still hadn't dinner yet. We got home around 8pm and I gave Evan some of the spaghetti Ivan made.

He loved it. Ivan makes "Honduran" spaghetti - which means he melts a stick of butter into his sauce. I tend to not eat it because I don't like a bunch of butter in my spaghetti. However, Evan loves it...probably because he LOVES butter! He was shoving spaghetti into his mouth like crazy. After dinner, he took a shower with Daddy and was in bed by 9pm. Not too horrible, right? And we had a fun playground date.

Sunday was a bit hectic, like it usually is. I woke up and made 5-Ingredient Peanut Butter and Banana muffins. It was a Pinterest find and I thought they would be good muffins to take to LA this week. They aren't good muffins to send with Evan to daycare because my niece is severely allergic to peanuts, but it didn't make too many. They were super easy and quick. I had them mixed and made before Evan even woke up.

After he did wake up, we changed and headed out for a five mile stroller run. It was around 9am and it was already HOT and HUMID. Ugg. We did about four miles and then stopped at the playground. We had brought Evan's new tractor that his Papa had bought him (Evan calls it Tractor-Papa) and I thought it would be fun to play in the sand pit. Unfortunately, the sandpit was filled with a million bees. Boo. So, we just put the tractor down the slide and played with it on the ground.

Evan thought it was fun to just push the tractor around.

And yes, Evan went to the park in his jammies. No one was at the park anyway. We stayed for an entire hour and not a single other person showed up. I think people sleep in on Sundays or go to early Sunday church services or something. Evan loved having the playground to himself (except for having to share with the bees)! Then we ran the last mile home.

After we got home it was cooking, cooking, cooking. I had a lot of things on the menu to make: vegan lasagna, zucchini tots, shrimp-stuffed shells, tres leches cake, shredded chicken, and black bean burgers. I didn't get all of it made - just some of it.

I wanted to make Vegan Spaghetti Squash Pesto Lasagna for my friend Allyson. She was doing a crazy big two-day bike ride in Colorado (like 130 miles each day, over three mountains) and I thought she'd like something in her fridge when she got back. In Honduras, when I'd go out of town my neighbors would clean my house the day before I returned. It was so nice arriving home to a super clean house. I used to do the same thing for my sister - I'd always scrub the floors and toilets and vacuum, etc. before she came home. I feel weird cleaning my friend's house though (and it looks pretty clean anyway), so I figured food was the better way to go. So, I whipped up this crazy complicated lasagna. I am not vegan and had never made vegan cream sauce. I've made lasagna with tofu before, but nutritional yeast was not really in my pantry. All in all, it turned out pretty tasty. I hope she likes it!

I also made zucchini tots for Evan - they were delicious and Evan ate three of them after dinner. I wanted something new to put in his lunches and saw these on Pinterest. They were super easy to make and turned out to be a winner. I got the shrimp-stuffed shells made for Ivan - I've made them many times before and he always loves them. They are a bit time consuming, but I felt like I was making a bunch of other complicated things, so why not add something to it. I also got the chicken cooked - I just put it in the slow cooker with some water for four hours and then shredded it. I don't need it until Wednesday to make Easy Chicken Flautas (another Pinterest find), but wanted to have it already done so that the cooking process didn't take as long.

I ran out of time to make the tres leches cake and black bean burgers though. Maybe I'll have time this week before I head to LA. Otherwise they'll have to wait until I get back. I can only make so many things in one day!

I crawled into bed around 12am - yikes! I seriously need an extra weekend day to get all my stuff done!!

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Did you cook anything fun this weekend?

What types of things do you "pin" the most, if you use Pinterest?
- I mostly pin food and clothes (for my Stitch Fix stylists)