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Posted on November 16, 2011 by claytonhill

WWU – It’s All Good …

Officially worked at the new job this past weekend … Suffered a moment’s panic, when 10 minutes into the shift, the one and only patient in the department was discharged … “Holy Cow, this is going to be an insufferably long 12 hours – OMG, what have I done?” was my thought.  But then things picked up.  Nothing crazy-busy, but some nice folks, interesting cases, good care.  

But then … in a weak moment, I agreed to work for a friend/coworker at the hospital ER on Monday night (it was the right thing to do, but still …).  I was in charge … (WTH!?!)  To add salt to the exhaustion … I had a kindergarten ‘princess’ cough right in my face.  I slept for too long yesterday, which leaves me wondering if I’m coming down with her crud.  Joy!  So, now it’s 3am Wednesday morning, but it feels like it should be Monday. 

Studio news:  We’re starting the move … While the punch list is still pretty long, the kilns are wired, so it’s time to start glass work again.  Still a lot of moving to do, but it’s finally happening!

punch-list  moving-mayhem

4-Legged news:  The pups are all doing great.  The Neo pups will be moving on to their new homes this weekend.  [I’m sad, but our new parents are bursting at the seams to bring their babies home …]  And Lil Miss, the Yorkie pup is growing and settling into a routine with Mom.  I haven’t had any of the Yorks in the new studio yet, but the Neo’s have all seen it, christened it (with drool) and seem to approve. Smile

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Posted on November 12, 2011 by claytonhill

Time for the next chapter …

I have my last shift at the hospital tonight… Spent the last 8 years there, learned a lot, have so many good memories, but now it’s time to turn the page … I start at my new job tomorrow in a stand-alone ER.

Studio news:  The renovation is coming along – thank goodness!  Kiln glass work has all but stopped, and I’m going through withdrawals … DH is wiring for the kilns now, and should start in on the work tables this week.  But here’s what we have to show today … I took some of our OLD furniture (from our first house – 20+ years ago – when shiny brass was my favorite) and we gave it a fresh look … I like it, and it’s functional.  (DH used to paint cars for a living – so when it comes to spraying paint … he won’t even let me touch the can …)

   facelift-for-shelving  brass-shelving

And my desk … I love my desk!  repurposed-deskIt’s made from filing cabinets from my first hospital (you can even see the ‘Narcotic Book’ label – back before the days of computerized inventory, when nurses had to count narcs every shift) and a door from my last hospital.  All salvaged from remodeling.  It’s huge!  I laugh every time I walk by it.  But don’t worry.  I’m certain I’ll have the surface filled up in no time. Smile

Pups – all doing well.  I’ll leave with a quick pic of Mogley – such a photogenic boy – with Tunie checking stuff out behind him!

MogleyTunie

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Posted on November 10, 2011 by claytonhill

Flooring … it’s a beautiful thing!

Had to stop for a minute to share a few pictures …

Here’s the studio with flooring and trim in place … That would be DH on the couch, who quickly lost consciousness as he looked over the ‘punch list’ … There’s still a lot of work to do – but I LOVE IT!!

studio-11-10-11

And here’s the kitchen, with my new (used) stove in place.  Can’t use it yet, as it’s not wired, but it sure looks pretty – just sittin’ there … Smile

studio-kitchen-11-10-11

And a quick pic of Lil Miss … who turns two weeks old today.  Her eyes should open within the next week or so …

lil-miss-2-wks

Have my last orientation shift later today.  Officially start there on Sunday … I hope to get pictures of the Neo pups today and catch up on some laundry, so I can keep playing in the studio on Friday … we’ll see.

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Posted on November 8, 2011 by claytonhill

Post-Birthday Blues

So, I’ve rolled into my 42nd year of life with a head cold and messed-up back … [WHINE]

But, I have great coworkers and family who leave me feeling loved.  Had an awesome potluck at work, received a major contribution of glass bottles, and … singing.  OK – the singing part wasn’t so great, but I still feel loved.  Hugs from my kids, a shopping spree at my favorite home décor shop, a book about goats (too darn cute!), an oven for my dye-sub (watch out treat canisters, here I come …), and a new floor being installed in the studio … Yep, I feel loved.

I could go on about the patients at work, but let’s just leave it with this … (there was a recurring theme Saturday night,) I promise myself [and everyone else] that I will NEVER become obsessed with my bowel habits, movements or lack thereof.  I promise to NEVER share stories of the big one (that got away – thank goodness!), colors, textures, etc.  Cross my heart and pinky-swear!!

Our oldest son got a job!  This is great news, as he finally figured out the not-so-subtle hints I’ve been delivering about him driving.  (In our house, you have to be able to pay your car insurance and put gas in the tank of the car we give you in order to drive on a regular basis …)  I’m happy for him!

The studio – here’s a pic for comparison:  Pre-clean-up and one from Saturday, before DH started in on the floor.  (I hope to have one later this week showing the flooring complete!  But, also realize, we’ve come a long way in the last 33 days – when the first pic was taken …)

studio-renovation=mess 11-5-11-studio

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Posted on November 4, 2011 by claytonhill

Time flies …

I can’t believe it’s Thursday ALREADY … Where’d the week go?

The good news – I finally have my chores done for the week – so tomorrow is ALL MINE!  (I even sound like a [2 year old] brat, don’t I??? Mine, mine, MINE! … Oh well – I’m okay with it! Smile)  DH has jury duty tomorrow (HAHA!) … So, I even get the house to myself for a bit!  LOVE IT!

Got through Tuesday’s DARN SANE – basically because I ran from the meeting to errands to my new job – no time to dwell on crappy, creepy, despicable human behavior. (And I’m not going to think about it now …)

Had our weekly photo shoot.  I love puppies!  The Neo pups are 5 wks old now, and so darn cute!

caesar4 marco4 dom3

Not to be left out … Lil Miss, the Yorkie pup, is one week old.  Here she is in DH’s giant hands.  We’ve been hobby breeding for over 10 years now, and I swear I learn something new every litter.  This one has CJ (Mom) being very stingy with bringing in her milk supply.  I assume because of the small litter size (1 pup), thus the diminished demand … although Lil Miss is a strong, hungry little girl.  So – we’re supplementing a few times each day – just to be sure. 

lilmiss    lilmiss-1wk-old

And … Happy Dance Time … the new studio is painted!  (Yeah, OK – DH says the ceiling needs to be touched up, but I’m letting him have that job.)  I do believe we’re finally ready for flooring – after a whole lot of clean-up …

kitchen-COE90-area   coe90areastudio-rec-room-area   main-studio

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Posted on October 31, 2011 by claytonhill

Someday …

write a bookI may just write a book … full of bizarre ER stories – so insane, that no one will believe them … But in the meantime, I’ll just shake my head and marvel at what people do and say …

I’m getting down to my final scheduled shifts at my current hospital … I know I’m just switching ‘grass varieties’, and there is no greener grass to be found, but at least once each shift, I am reminded of why it’s time for a change.

Had a great visit with my folks last week.  The kids have even more ‘stuff’ to spoil them.  And it’s great to meet up with my step-mom, who is also an ER nurse.  She confirms that it’s darn-near-impossible to be in health care without shaking your head … People are strange!

Looking ahead:  Tuesday is my tough day this week … the DARN SANE meeting and another 8 hour orientation shift.  But then – it’s smooth sailing, until I get to the weekend, when (someday -) I’ll be forced to recognize I’ve turned another year older.  But for now, I’ll be turning 29 again.  I’ll just keep doing that until I get it right!  Winking smile

Studio news:  Still plugging away at getting the new studio done.  Had our cable provider out today, and the studio is now sporting her own satellite dish … It’s great to be a brat!  Got some more painting done this morning.  I hope to wrap up the kitchen and COE-90 [glass] area (the partial wall) within the next day or so.  Then, it’s just a few final painting areas (like the two story stairwell, with it’s 20 foot tall wall!) Disappointed smile  And then finally flooring!!  It’s crazy, how excited I am to move some 200 pounds of glass, box upon box of supplies, and some pretty heavy equipment (like the coffin kiln) … But, it’s true!  I can’t wait …

Happy Halloween All!

halloween bettyboop

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Posted on October 28, 2011 by claytonhill

One step at a time …

We’re getting there … I was definitely overwhelmed for a minute or two, but it’s coming together … 

2011-10-27_23-38-48_809While we didn’t get anything concrete done in the new studio today … DH did put my kitchen cupboards in place (almost) so that I could get the feel of it (BTW – the hole in the middle is for the stove) … Not sure I love the colors coming together … kind-a reminds me of the freaky orange ape from ‘Planet of the Apes’ – Cornelius, I think his name is … So, my studio kitchen will be dedicated to “Cornelius” … All kitchen’s should have a name, don’tcha think?

CJ’s pup is thriving … ‘Lil Miss’ (yorkie girl) has Momma all to herself.  Did some supplemental feeding just to make sure she was meeting her caloric needs while Mom’s milk is coming in.

The laundry WAS caught up – ‘til my teenage boys cleaned up their bedrooms … Oh well – guess I know what THEY’LL be doing this weekend.

Had an impromptu meeting with soon-to-be Neo-parents … Nice folks, nice visit.

The house will be presentable for tonight’s company … There will be no white-glove test, or peeking in the closets – but otherwise presentable.  And … I got the (Neo) website updated/emails sent … Love this picture!

blueboys

Plan to make Sausage-N-Squash Soup for dinner … Hope everyone else likes it – but I know I will!  Smile  Throw in an ice-cream cake for dessert … No one should leave hungry!  But now it’s time for bed … need to get an early start … ummm, later TODAY!

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Posted on October 27, 2011 by claytonhill

Admiral – there be WHALES here …

scotty-whalesWoke up this morning to my Yorkie literally giving birth on my lap … GOOD MORNING!  I’ve no idea how she managed to get her fat-self up to my lap or why she decided that would be THE place to nest, but it sure woke me up in a hurry!  Seems I was off with our timing of her due-date … and maybe other things too.  Right now we have one very large doberman-mouse (Yorkie pup) … Maybe it’s a one-pup litter?  Meanwhile, Mom and pup are doing great … and the caffeine is starting to kick-in to replace the adrenaline rush …

CJ-and-pup      dobermanmouse

Last night, DH and I got a bit more pulled together in the studio … New paint on (most of) the walls in the kitchen area and the partial wall is completely built … Hopefully, by next week the mudding and painting will be done.  As you can tell, we haven’t completely emptied the space … this will make installing the flooring a bit more challenging, but … HE claims there was no where in his man-cave (the first floor of the barn) to store anything, so … it is what it is.  I love a challenge!

kitchen area - new studio

Got some laundry done (Thank Goodness!), pictures taken, a more appropriate whelping box set up … now to get the house ship-shape for company and spend more ‘quality time’ at the computer … come on caffeine – don’t fail me now!  (PS – got out of testifying today, wasn’t needed … LOVE IT!!)

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Posted on October 26, 2011 by claytonhill

Warning Will Robinson …

Overload! Overload!  I’m taking 5 minutes, that I don’t really have, but … hey, it’s all good!

Spent yesterday at the sister hospital – my head is spinning just a bit regarding the differences … kind of like shopping at a new grocery store … you take for granted the fact will robinson robotthat you know the lay-out, where to find the hard-to-find items, etc. of your old store – and how much time that actually saves ….

Got a call from my boss to personally (verbally) deliver a subpoena for tomorrow morning … Aaarrgghhh – so close to a clean get-away …  Got word from my other boss – need to spend some quality time at the SANE office – taking care of paperwork, supplies, etc.

Have family coming out on Friday … this house is sooo NOT ready for company.  Need to spend time with the computer to send out puppy pictures.  Need to get caught up on laundry (no one wants their nurse to be NAKED!)  Need to get the new studio done, so I can start playing with glass again!  Please?!?

(The bulk of the cabinets are in, the new half-wall is (partially) up – DH is mudding the drywall, so I should be able to finish painting soon.  The flooring is well acclimated, but we’re not ready to install it yet …)

new studio 10.25.11

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Posted on October 21, 2011 by claytonhill

Ahh … Oh-no! Really???

Finally finished with my mandatory nursing in-services …  Ahhhhhh …  Just in time to start orientation hours at my new job (the sister hospital) next week …  Apparently, I am destined to work 56-64 hours a week outside of the home. (WTH?!?)  Good thing I’m not busy … Disappointed smile

In the meantime … the new studio flooring is acclimating.  It would appear it needs to “sit” in it’s new home for 3 days before it can be installed.  Which is okay, since I am still painting, and the cabinets are due in any day now …  And – I still need DH to build a partial wall separating the kitchen area from the rest of the studio.  But, here’s what we have so far:

studio-furniture  painting

I’m re-running some slumped bottles.  Tried to run them Wednesday night, but we lost power half-way through the process/night.  (Creating a school-morning [with a houseful of teenagers] without power to add to our ‘adventures’ …. Smile)   Happy to say – our power is back on again (until the next bird dives into our transformer…?!?)!

bm2Puppy news … We had a repeat breeding with our Olivia – as we were so pleased/impressed with her/Oberon’s last litter, and Ronny will be retiring soon.  The babies are almost 4 weeks old now, doing great and starting to play and make noise.  They’re squishy and cute and snuggly and fun … a great stress relief!  (You can see more photos here.)  [BTW – Miss Livvie has been eating like a champ the whole time!]  Love it!!

And, we’ll be having Yorkie babies within the next few weeks or so … They’re so drastically different than the Neo pups – who, by developmental comparison, come out walking and talking.  Winking smile

I have Christmas ornaments sitting on my project table … calling my name, waiting to be finished.  Hmmm, maybe next week … (Hey – it could happen!) 

In my (insomnia) down-time, I’ve been surfing the net, saving pictures/ideas/what-not for decorating, future-projects or just things that make me smile.  (If you’re a visual person, “Pinterest” is a neat ‘tool’ to save photos you come upon while surfing …)  You can take a peek at mine here, if you’d like: 

chneos pinterest

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