Happy Halloween!

 Happy Halloween!  My Little Mermaid and little US Army soldier had a blast!  Ben had planned on being Spiderman for a couple of months but after we discovered a hand me down costume of cousin Sam's Ben changed his mind.  I didn't realize that the camo on Ben's costume would really camouflage him into the background but it did! The leaves had fallen and when Ben would stand in the grass I could only see his cute little face. I will make sure he wears something brighter next year!

Little soldier!

We went trick o' treating with our friends Layne, Adam and their three children Liam, Eli and baby Moira:

Cute little Moira!

Adam and Layne

 Anna is still my  little bug girl. She brought me our "new pet" a couple of days ago. I just prefer not to have things with long crawly, skinny legs hanging out around the house! Luckily I was able to convince Anna that if she really loved the bug she would let it live outside =).

 

 Yesterday was a beautiful fall day here. It was nippy in the morning at 32 degrees but it warmed up to the high 50's/low 60's. The kids and I spent two hours at the park and we were the only folks there! Kentuckians must have thin skin when it comes to the cold weather. Maybe our Scandinavian heritage makes us tough =)

The kids and I went out to dinner with Anna's "very best friend" Sofia and her mom on Friday.  I am so happy that Anna has a friend that she loves and that it is mutual! Sofia's parents told me that Anna is all that she talks about. Sofia's parents are from Puerto Rico and have lived here for the past 10 years. 

Here are a few pics from today after church:

Yes, she is quite the fashionista. I had nothing to do with this ensemble =)

I have survived 6 weeks at my new nursing job! It feels like I have been there a lot longer! This job is A LOT different than my job at UC Davis. In some ways it's better and in other ways I miss my old job.  I have flexibility with this job which is great. If I have a doctor's appointment or want to be at the school for something I can arrange for that.  I have a lot of autonomy which again is good and bad!  I am the case manager for about 26 patients which is a lot of responsibility.  At my hospital job my work stayed there. When I clocked out I was finished and didn't have to worry about much until my next shift. With this job I can be called at anytime of the day about a patient and I am ultimately responsible for their care from the day we admit them until discharge.  

Photo I took in front of a patient's house.

In the hospital the environment was controlled. The patient was surrounded by the sterility of the hospital. Everything I needed was at my fingertips. With this job the patient is in their own home environment and the only supplies I have are what I have in my trunk.   All of our patients have Medicare, which is for anyone 65 years of age or older. My patients vary ranging from black, white, rich or poor.  Some very wealthy people pay for their own private duty care so I don't typically see "the rich of the rich" but I see everyone else.

My territory includes Lexington and three of the surrounding counties. My favorite place to go is out in the country on the farms. The people there are just different than in the city. They wake up early, work hard, and typically do a lot better with  their care. It takes a little while to drive to them but I have met some incredible people and have seen some beautiful farms.  

I have had the opportunity to learn what "the holler" is. One day I was told I was seeing a patient "out in the holler" and I didn't know what that meant ... haha! I learned that you drive through hills until your cell phone service doesn't work nor your GPS! My patient there had three dead deer heads on his porch -- lovely =).  

There is of course a lot of poverty in some parts out here.  I guess one shouldn't expect to have such beautiful countryside without a counterpart -- everything in life just seems to. There are people who live their lives with no running water, no teeth, cockroaches running amok and when I meet them seem like happy campers.  

I won't lie, I wanted to quit my first week. I wasn't comfortable going to some places and I just felt vulnerable being all by myself without another nurse around to help me. I decided to wait it out a few weeks to see if things would get any better. Well, the patients haven't changed but the job has grown on me:).

During my first week of visiting patients my worst fear came true when I was out in the country visiting a patient that became very sick while I was with her. I was all alone out in the country about 45 minutes from Lexington. This person lived alone and didn't even have a phone plugged in. Her heart rate was only 19 and she was barely responsive. I called 9-1-1 but it took 20 minutes for the paramedics to arrive and things didn't get a whole lot better when they did.  Well, she survived! It took myself, two paramedics and even putting one of her loved one's to work but she made it.  My patient spent two weeks in the ICU but she is home now. She sent me a card that said "You are the love of my life and very best friend". I don't think I've ever had a patient tell me that before!

 I think in any stressful environment joking and laughter is key to getting through stressful times. So, for that very reason the other nurses and I came up with a way to categorize where the patients live not using zip codes:  "Lexington, out in the country, the sticks, the holler and Deliverance  (remember the scary move???)".  All kidding aside, we love them all the same.

Fall Fun!

A lot has happened since my last post so this might be long!

First off, in case you are not exactly sure where we moved to this might help:

Too funny!

Anna and Ben had their school pictures taken. Aren't they adorable!!!

I've been trying to find a good place to have Ben's hair cut since we moved here and I have had the hardest time! In Sacramento we had "Ms. Esmeralda" who Ben loved! The kids hair cut shops here have been messing up Ben's hair so I finally tried an old fashioned barber shop. Ben looked great after his hair cut but he was very upset that an old dude was cutting his hair! He was so sad =(.

Unfortunately I had to give that place the axe because Ben looked miserable. I asked my swanky hair salon if they could cut Ben's hair and to my surprise they would! Ben LOVED Ms. Lydia =)

He's laughing hysterically here!

Mr. Ben was all smiles the whole time and the price for his hair cut was the same as the old barber shop!



I ran in a half marathon last weekend with my wonderful running friends Kim, Susan and Cindy.  It was called the "Iron Horse Half Marathon" and it was hosted by the running store that I work at. It was absolutely beautiful. We ran on country roads through the rolling hills of horse farms. It was by far the most beautiful race I've ran. At mile 7 there was a "herd" of about 40 thoroughbreds on a farm that would run with us to the end of the fence and then synchronized they would all turn around and run in the other direction. I bet the horses are not used to watching 1200 people run down their country road. They wanted to show us how it's done!

Waiting for the race to start!

We ran on these country roads. It was very hilly!

Myself and Kim (my old neighbor)

Coming in to the finish line!

Top:  Cindy and Susan; bottom: Kim and myself

I finally received the images for the rest of the photos I chose from the photographer. I don't have the hard copies yet so these have his web site on the bottom. I must say that I got one heck of a deal but the con is that I don't have the hard digital copies yet! I was told they are "in the mail". Here are a few more:

He's so handsome!!! xoxo

She was having a great time! Anna is quite the ham!

Ben tells me he's a "big boy" but he sure looks like his mama's baby here =)

 I attended my first University of Kentucky tailgate and football game! It was chilly but it was fun.  I'm not sure what it is about the Wildcats but they are easy to love and root for. I am a Cal girl -- GO BEARS !!!!  But,  the Wildcats have grown on me =). Maybe the good Kentucky people have something to do with it?

Look at these pants .... those are little UK embellishments!

6 foot portable grill!

Getting set up for the fun

Great seats!

Here are a few more photos from last week:

Beautiful Anna!

On her way to her Girl Scout Halloween Party. Yes, Ben is wearing her black heels in the background. He was practicing his dancing =)

Kiddos playing outside

 

Mr. Stud Muffin. He wanted to wear some "jewelry" so he has a pendant of Saint Ann around his neck. He wanted to wear the same pendant to bed tonight! Maybe Saint Ann is his guardian Angel?

Anna "exercising" =)

Anna with her best friend Sofia. They were pretending to be puppies here.

Off to the Races!

October in Kentucky is all about the horse races at Keenland. The race track at Keenland is stunning and I feel lucky to live so close to such a spectactular place (about 2.5 miles away!).  Typically, along with my girlfriends Kim and Susan, I run at Keenland on the weekends and am amazed that we are able to run in such a beautiful place. However, during the months of October and April our running haven at Keenland is overtaken by horses and spectators! Last Friday my girlfriends and I made it out to Keenland but instead of wearing our running shoes and shorts we dressed like proper ladies, placed a few bets and tasted some of the fine Kentucky bourbon =).

Susan, myself, Kim

After paying your $5 to enter Keenland you enter the winner's circle and watching the horses parade around is breath taking. If you've seen the movie "Dreamer" this is where they shot the winner's circle scene.

This is a photo taken at Keenland in the fall. I did not take this, but yes, it does really look like this here in the fall!

 Okay, so I did not have beginners luck in my bets placed at Keenland but I did have luck in where I was standing! My friend Kim went off to talk to somebody and Susan went to buy some food and there I was standing alone. It turned out I was standing in the "clubhouse" area for VIP's, but hey, I'm not from here and I didn't know that!  I was leaning against a rail, looked to my right and was about 3 inches away from Bobby Flay, one of the Food Network Iron Chefs. I was thrilled! I wanted to take a photo with him but didn't want to be a nuisance so I didn't ask. I took it as a compliment though that he let me stand next to him and didn't have me escorted away by security  =) (there really was security around him). 

See him?

 

Recognize him now?

 My other fun encounter at Keenland was meeting John Wall one of the famous University of Kentucky basketball players. He plays for the Washington Wizards now but last year it was all about John Wall at UK. The basketball players are like royalty around here. Along with horses and bourbon, Kentuckians LOVE their basketball! John was at Keenland with about 8 other basketball players. He was in town for "Midnight Madness" which was UK's first basketball practice. Rupp Arena sold out in 10 minutes just to watch these guys practice!

I guess the yellow rope was supposed to be security for this guy? Don't they know he plays in the NBA now?

This is an incredible photo!

 Okay, I know you are waiting for photos of the kids! I have been horrible at taking photos lately. My new job has left me a bit scattered! I don't have many photos but Anna and Ben are doing great.  They both started gymnastics and love it.  Ben's class is more of just bouncing on inflatables and getting his wiggles out but Anna is on the balance beam, bars and the full nine yards. Anna is also still in dance and Daisy's. She loves it all!

I had some photos taken recently by a local photographer. We just took some fun photos in our everyday life. No fancy clothes -- just how we typically look! This photographer specializes in sports photos and was having a promotion so I asked if he would take some fun, sporty pics of the kids and I.   I got a great deal but I am still waiting for most of the photos to be edited ( I guess I got a deal for being patient!). Here are two of the photos and I am waiting for the rest:

This was at the end after Ben and Anna had ran around and played.