Naptime

Well, I had a succesful outing with my children to Target, the mall, and then Old Navy. My children were very well behaved the entire outing, especially compared to other children who were out with their parents.

At Target, Kaylyn walked along side the cart without straying once. Then, at the mall she used the "little potty" in the Family Restroom all by herself. (sidenote: I'm very impressed with the convenience and cleaniliness of the family restroom at the mall. it has a child-sized automatic toilet next to the adult sized one, a stepstool to wash your hands at the sink, and a changing table. NICE!)

I finished the outing with both children falling asleep in their carseats. Jack is currently still sleeping in his. I managed to lay Kaylyn down in her own bed without waking her up. This takes an extraordinary amount of talent by the way.

Now, I choose to use my free time to tell all of you about it on my blog! OK, now off to my multiple projects. Hopefully my nice day will continue!

Galveston 2008

Galveston Gal

Well, our trip to Galveston was a huge hit with Kaylyn. Wednesday night she was very grumpy and threw a few tantrums on The Strand and at the beach / Seawall, but after a good night's sleep she was pleasant all day Thursday. We ran through the Aquarium and the Rainforest at almost lightning speed just as we expected. Kaylyn did take a few seconds to admire the divers in the big fish tank, pet a starfish, and comment on a little boy's Elmo shoes. After that it was on to Palm Beach. We spent a good 6 hours soaking up the sun, playing in the sand and swimming. Kaylyn has little to no experience in the water but she was dunking herself and trying to swim on her own. My child has no fear. We are enrolling her in swim lessons next week. To shorten this up she loved Palm Beach. In fact, I loved Palm Beach. I will take this man-made beachy playground over the Galveston beach any day.

I FINALLY updated my slideshow to feature Galveston pics. Jack was not with us, so you won't see him there. He hung out with his Nia for a couple of days.

The Painted Veil

Ed Norton and Naomi Watts were very good in this movie. I felt the film moved a little slowly in parts, but I enjoyed the overall story. First of all, Ed Norton vs. Liev Schrieber? Not really a contest in my opinion. I loved the battle of wills and of course the irony of the ending. I won't say more to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it. Overall, I would give it a B-.

Let's see how long it will take me to watch the NEXT movie on my queue.

Kaytee and Joshua Can Dance

Well, Kaytee and Joshua were my favorites again this week. Check out their routine here. Tyce Diorio's broadway routines are always great and K&J killed it. I also really liked the hip-hop routine that Will and Jessica did. The judges got it right and I think it was time for Marquis and Susie to go. They weren't doing anything for me at all. I really could have done without the Kobe Bryant butt-kissing Nigel used in his metaphor for the eliminated dancers. Others that I would like to stick around would be "Twitchington", Will, Courtney G, Gev, and Chelsea T.

On an added note, the MTV show Randy Jackson's America's Best Dance Crew has a dance crew from Houston that is all FLIPs. 3 members are children of nurses at TCH. Cool! I'll be watching them as well.

Max and Ruby

THANK YOU, UNCLE SCOTT!! Kaylyn opened her package that came in the mail today and was excited to find her new Max and Ruby beanies waiting for her. Her exact words were, "Oooh, look Mommy, Max and Ruby! I love it!". They have been attached to her hips throughout the rest of the evening (I removed them and hid them for bath time). We will have to give Uncle Scott a call tomorrow to say thank you.

So You Think You Can Dance

Well, my favorite show is on again for the summer. Yeah!! I love this show because it features dancing in every genre out there. It's also where I discover new music / artists because they feature so much music with all of the routines. They have one talented bunch this year. I have not picked out any favorites yet, but this was my favorite performance last week.

Pictures

Well, I haven't posted any pictures recently, so here are a couple. Kaylyn loves to play in the sprinkler in the back yard and Jack was chilling with Dora sunglasses in the swing. We'll have to go shopping soon for some non-Dora, non-pink sunglasses for our son.

Sweating bullets

Well, last Wednesday I had my panel interviews for the charge RN position that has opened up. I haven't been in a panel interview since 1998! I was working that day so at least I did not have to worry about what to wear. Talk about intense!! I was first interviewed with the leadership panel which included 4 managers and a unit educator. I was asked what I thought "shared accountability" was. Yikes! Then, after that I was asked to sit through an interview with a staff panel: a secreatary, patient care assitant, 2 current charge RN's and 2 staff RN's. Not only that, but I was candidate 10 of 10 to be interviewed so they had been doing this all day. I guess they saved the best for last??;o)

Well, hopefully I will have the results by Monday or Tuesday. At least afterwards, my manager came and tapped me on the shoulder and handed me that long-anticipated piece of paper that showed me my annual merit increase (my raise). Yeah! Not such a bad day after all.

OneRepublic

Well, I first fell in love with the song "Apologize" by OneRepublic (the non-Timbaland version) last summer when it was featured on the Fox TV show So You Think You Can Dance. This is before it became mainstream and got any radio play locally. Now the song has blown up unbelievably. To my good fortune, Brian noticed that their album "Dreaming Out Loud" was featured on Amazon.com last Friday. I downloaded the CD for $5. I am quite pleased with my purchase. I can say there isn't a song on there that I feel the need to skip over. My personal faves are "Apologize" and "Come Home". The song "Stop and Stare" is getting radio play now and is featured on this season of So You Think You Can Dance. "Prodigal" is also worth a listen. Click here if you want to hear a sampler.

The Magic Word

Today Kaylyn was asking for juice, so I asked her "What's the magic word?" She replied, "Abre!". Do you think she watches too much Dora the Explorer?

Top 10 Things That Annoy Mommy

10. V-Tech toys, in any shape or form.
9. The phrase: "I want milk, I want milk, I want milk, I WANT MILK!!!!"
8. Watching the same DVD over and over and over and over...
7. People picking food off my plate every meal, even when they have the exact same food on their plate.
6. Not being able to go to the bathroom alone.
5. Changing CD's in the car every 2 minutes.
4. Finding used Kleenex shoved back into the tissue box.
3. Pouring apple juice into a Cinderella cup only to have my daughter have a tantrum because she wanted the Jasmine cup.
2. Finding your child sitting and splashing around in her puddle of urine when she doesn't make it to the potty.
1. Getting into a hot bubble bath only to have your child come in 9 seconds later and dump her fresh poop diaper into the potty for you to enjoy the aroma while you bathe.

Miracles Everyday

I was so proud when I saw this video on the Today show this morning. It's such a great story and this reminds me of why I choose to work where I do. My job is stressful, but so rewarding. Check out the video clip here.

Puzzle of the Week

I've added a new feature to my blog. If you are a jigsaw puzzle lover like I am, check out my puzzle of the week. If you scroll down to the bottom of the site I will try my best to post a different puzzle every week for you to try. Enjoy!