The Amazing Songwriting Ability of My Husband

We were driving yesterday and we passed one of the trailers used to haul horses and other farm animals. As we passed it

Matt Goes: Is there a pony? 

I saw the hay moving around and I said: There's Something.

He LOL'd and said: It's probably a grizzly bear

And Promptly breaks out into song:

Neigh goes the pony as it's eaten by the bear
Neigh goes the pony as it's eaten by the bear
Neigh goes the pony as it's eaten by the bear
Neigh goes the pony as it's eaten by the bear


True Story

Our New Day Job

The Barrick Household has been very ambitious as of late. 

First we changed the oil in both of our cars,  And we thought we were hot stuff after that.

The second thing we did needs a little set up:

We are moving, and I was trying to vacuum our old place, but all of a sudden the vacuum started making a loud rattling noise, well we had places to go, so I took note of what kind of screws the vacuum had, and made a mental reminder to bring a screwdriver over the next time we came. 

We were finishing up some things, and I told Matt:  I am going to fix the vacuum. 
He LOLd and sat down to help me.
12 screws later, he said: You can tinker with that for another 20 minutes, then I'll buy you a new vacuum. I'm going to load the car.
Well I finally got all 24 screws out and man handled it apart. 

And then...

I found out why it was making a funny noise...

There was a clog of about 5 inches of carpet powder, animal hair, and my hair (gag)...and a piece of cardboard (wtf?).

Once I get it all cleaned off, I start to put it back together...or rather I turn into the hulk and manhandle it back together.

Then the moment of truth....IT WORKS!!!!!  And it's actually sucking up stuff, instead of spitting it back out.

Because of all of this new found ambition, Matt and I decided that we would open our own business:

Matt & Kate Fix Most Things Pretty Well.
So as not to set expectations too high

Grease Monkey

Is what we are.

Matt and I changed the oil in our cars today....all by our selves.  Well with the help of our friend and the user manual.

It's was super exciting.

Our garage is now: Matt & Kate's Pretty Good Service Station.

And I May Hate Myself In The Morning

Which is how I feel everytime I get enthralled with the Twilight Saga.

The new movie is coming out Nov. 18, and I just watched the trailer

...and I immediately hated myself.

I love those books, but I hate that I love them, because the writing is so bad.

That said, I will be there in movie theaters within the first week. (Perhaps, with my hubby....ehhh?!)

You might be old when...

You're playing with your dog and you fall down the stairs...

True Story

I'm Kate, and I'm a Pintrest Addict

There. I said it.  Admitting that you have a problem is the first step, right?  At least that's what I've heard.

But what if I don't think it's technically a problem?  Is that a new problem?  Is it related? Or is it based on my stubborness? which is genetic. 

My darling friend Katie saw that I was bored one day at work (I have an orientee who is doing great), so she showed me Pintrest.  And it went on from there.

Luckily for me, we just moved so it is giving me ideas for DIY crafts, food and seasonal decorations. Luckier for me, my wonderful husband (of 2 months!!) is a (mostly) willing guinea pig.  He has, on occasion, stated that my food is too hippy for him (too much rosemary, which I LOVE)

But I digress...Pintrest

All I can say, is luckily we are super broke, and I can't afford to spend all my time at Hobby Lobby, Micheals, Goodwill and Garage Sales.  But one day, I will be super crafty!!

An American Hero

We leared that Matt's grandfather (His step-mother's father) passed away during the night Sunday.
Matt's Dad and Step-mom (Bob and Diane) were in town for a couple dof days to visit and to house hunt. They are moving back to Cincinnati!


They got a call that night, that Don (Di's dad) was taken to the hospital.  They left right away, but he had passed away before they were able to complete the 10 hour drive (Which they did in 7.5hrs)

We ended up going down for the services.

Don Casey was a soldier in the First Cavalry fighting in Korea.  He is considered a hero, not only to us, but also to his comrades during the Korean War.  He fought on Hill 303, also known as Atrocity Hill.  It was a war crime committed by the North Korean army, where 41 American POWs were shot, after they had already surrendered. 

Don marched in there with 40 of his comrades, but was one of only 2 to walk out.  Not only did he walk the 8 miles back to base, he also carried his commanding officer, who had been killed, the entire way.  Then he went back those 8 miles to see if anyone else needed help. Then finding none, he went back to base.  A total of 24 miles.

During his time in the Korean War, he was awarded 4 Purple Hearts, at least 1 Bronze Star, and 5 Good Conduct Medals.

This was just the kind of man that Don was. Selfless.  I had only known him a short time, but he was an icredible man, kind to everyone, and honest (maybe to a fault)

I'll share just one more story about his selflessness and generousity:

He and his wife took out a second mortgage on their house, so one of the kids in their neighborhood could go to college. 

Who does that today?  No one.

Its Official!

We are moved in!

Don't let that statement fool you, however, we are by no means unpacked, there are boxes boxes everywhere. 

We are also not completely moved out of our other apartment.  We were able to get all of the big furniture over, but we still have little things that we missed in all the hubub of moving.

But I am taking baby steps closer to get out of moving hell...

Well two weeks have passed, since I started this post, and I feel as if I should revise that statement.  MOST of the townhouse is out of moving hell and is livable.  The office and half of the bedroom still stress me out.

There is still MORE stuff at the old place!  How is it even possible that we had so much stuff?!
We only have a few more things to bring over, so that's good, Buuuut..  when i moved in, I had the bright idea to paint a few walls...However the color I chose was unfortunately dark purple.  Sooo  we have to prime about 3 walls, I don't think it will take that long, but it's still the last thing hanging over my head.

But I digress.  Here are a few pics from our new place (please take note of the decorations, as my wonderful hubby took charge and told me: You need to hang up pictures.   lol)

Caught in the Act

During a recent Dinner party Miss Katie (who is the author of "I don't Like Sweets") Brought Graeter's Ice Cream.

Then.....

She ate a whole bowl!!!!!!

I don't like sweets, indeed.

Whopperjawed

I used the term whopperjawed while giving report, and realized that it must be a West Virginia term, as no one knew what it meant.

Whopperjawed: adj: misaligned

Breaking News

So I woke up this morning with 3 breaking news alerts on my phone. One from MSNBC, one from Fox News, and one from BBC news, telling me that the US Embassy in Afghanistan came under attack during the night. Trying to keep up with current events, we turn MSNBC on to learn more information.

They were talking about the republican debate...

CLEARLY that is more important that the attack on the Embassy (which is considered US soil)...

Take the time

Life can be so busy that you lose sight of the little things. It's important to take the time to stop and smell the roses. Or in mycase today, to enjoy walking through leaves that have fallen to the ground. Having grown up in the country, it does my heart good, to crunch newly fallen leaves. I will admit that earlier today, I may have frolicked through them. There were surprisingly quite a few on the ground.

I encourage all of you to find some simple thing, that you may have lost sight of in the hustle-bustle world that we live in.

Diagnosis: Stage IV Liberal

This is a conversation Matt and I have as I'm putting on lotion. (It smells like cloves and hippies)

Matt: Is that your hippie stuff?

Me: Yup

Matt: Ewww Gross.

Me: It's not like you can catch "Liberal"

Matt: (In a serious, doctor tone) I'm sorry, but there's really nothing we can do. With Stage IV Liberal...it's inoperable

Me: (In equally serious voice) You just have to let them go.

True Story

Fall is in the air

I know the title is "Love is in the air" but I have made an executive decision. It is now fall. Good-bye hot humid Cincinnati summer, hello Pumpkin Spice Lattes, Festivals, and open windows!

Fall is, BY FAR, my most favorite season of the year. Brisk evenings on the porch with hot tea, windows open all day and all night, and bundling up for bed. The chance to wear super cute jackets, scarves, and boots! I could wax poetic for hours about my love

affair with fall, but I digress.

A few days ago, Matt and I made an excursion to Hobby Lobby and Garden Ridge to make the apartment festive for fall. To get into the mood, naturally, we went to Starbucks for the glorious arrival of their Pumpkin Spice Latte. Then on to shopping. We made out like bandits and got lots of festive decorations for not a lot of money. Here are the fruits of our labor:

Tootin' & Scootin'

We went to the Border's Going Out of Business Sale the other day, and as we were walking back to the car, my husband informed me:

I was tootin' and scootin' all through the history section...I was trying to clear it out so no one would take the good books.

LOL

Tootin' & Scootin':  v. The act of passing gas, while ambulating.

You don't tug on Superman's Cape...

Does anyone know that Jim Croce song: Don't Mess Around With Jim

Take a little listen, and pay attention to the chorus.  It teaches us many things.

Have you listened to it?

Well the chorus goes something like this:

You don't tug on Superman's cape

You don't spit into the wind

You don't pull the mask off that old Lone Ranger

And you don't mess around with Jim

Well, now that we are on the subject...

We were driving around, running errand...and by we, I mean, My wonderful husband and I...and Matt spits out the window...but right at that moment a big gust of wind blew, and blew the spit right back onto his forehead...

Which he promptly wiped off.

I didn't see it, but as we don't keep secrets from each other, he told me all about it.

I LOL'd

Moral of the story:

Don't spit into the wind

Carpal tunnel

I'm pretty sure I have it, after writing all of these thank-you notes...

I would walk 500 miles...

Ok so on this road trip honeymoon, we are having our "day at sea". Meaning we are making a run as far as we can from Key West to Atlanta. As you can see from the pic we are at mile 449 on I75. Which we have been on since mile 1. We also crossed ALL 180 miles of the overseas highway. That puts us at 630 miles thus far on our trip with an additional 80 miles to go. It has been a LOOONG day. But pretty fun none-the-less.

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ughh

Matt just farted in the car.
It smelled like chips.
He child locked the windows up.
FML

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Sacrifice

Matt and I went snorkeling earlier this week, and it was So much fun!! For me anyways.  I learned that Matt has a huge fear of sharks, so he got into the water for about 15 minutes then chilled on the boat, which is not problem.  As we got back onto the boat, he informed me that he wouldn't have jumped into the water to help me if I was being attacked by a shark!  I was astonished, but then he qualified that IF he had a spear gun, he would have jumped to my aide.

I told him that I would have jumped in to help him.  He asked what my plan was, and I informed him, matter-of-factly, that I was going to rub the sharks nose, and put him into a catatonic state..just like I saw on Shark week

Situational Awareness

As we have spent two days making our way around Walt Disney World, it has been absolutely incredible!
The first day was spent at the Magic Kingdom

And it was magical!

Everything was great...except about 50% of the park guests....

We saw tons of people yelling and dragging their kids around...you are in THE MAGIC KINGDOM!  Get a hold of your selves.  

They need to:

Fist of all: Control your children! Teach them manners and to respect other adults

Second of all: Don't discipline them in public. It's like Airing your dirty laundry, it shines poorly on yourself.

Thirdly: RELAX!

Then we went to Epcot:

Which was AWESOME!
And incidentally one of the few disney parks that serves alcohol


But Again we saw much of the same things, only to a lesser degree, as their children were mostly older, and didn't need corralled as much.

And then on to Hollywood Studios:

Which is where the story gets...unique...

We saw not one, but TWO people get run over by handicapped people!

One of those people being Matt and that person was in an electric wheelchair!

Incidentally both of the aggressors got snippy with their victims.

Which made us feel as if they thought they had the right to hurt other people because they were disabled.  

Which, BTW, IS NOT OK.  

But other than those few times, it was absolutely incredible!!! 

We loved every minute of it!

Ok Davy Jones, lets go

Which is EXACTLY what my new husband, who I love, impatient to get on the road, said to me after our lunch in Key Largo, where I was sticking my feet in the ocean. Only to tide me over until we got to Key West.

How could you not want to stick your tooties in that?!

Oh Dang!

I just realized I haven't blogged in FOREVER!!!  So here is what's been up:

I have been working like a fool!  Apparantly, being married is expensive....I'm pretty sure no one informed me of this. lol.  J/k. I really knew that, but man.  Luckily I love my job!  I have the best patients!  I told my patient not to be a turd to me today and he was like: WHAAT?!  As if he didn't know EXACTLY what I was talking about.

I have turned the big 2-4.  That's right, one year away from a quarter of a century and lower insurance prices....mostly the lower insurance.   But on the bright side, I am still 6 months younger than my VERY soon-to-be-hubby.  :-D

I have studied for and successfully passed the CPHON.. That's right!  I am officially a Certified Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Nurse.  That give me a whopping 10 initials after my name: RN, BSN, CPHON.

I have had two wonderful wedding showers.  One from my church family and biologic family, and one from my adoptive family here at Children's.  Unfortunately I haven't received any pics from the first. Here is one from the Latter:

I must say: I have the BEST friends here!!!  I have been so lucky!

Hmmm....What else what else...

OOoo.  Matt and I ventured out to a Reds game.. Unfortunately they didn't win, but here is a pic of us, enjoying the hot sun and the cold beer.

And Last, but certainly not least,  We are getting hitched in 10 days!  Ahhh!

I promise: to blog more frequently

Hinting and Hoping

So I worked the 4th of July away at Children's. In honor of America, I made a Flag cake decorated with strawberries and blueberries. Matt was thrilled and almost immediately wanted a piece, but i was mean and told him no, and that he could have a piece when I brought it back from work.  

Well if anyone knows or works with nurses, you know that we will pretty much scarf down anything you leave on the break room table.  Which is what happened to the flag cake.

I came home with the empty, and I mean, not even crumbs for the dog, empty, and Matt gasped and pouted.  I told him I would make another cake for him, on my next day off.  I promptly put the pan in the dishwasher and ran it.

The next day, I worked again, and asked him to put the dishes away, which he did, because he is so good to me!

And this is what I come home to find:

Of course I lol'd.  

Well today was the first day I had off since then, I hope this will suffice

Happy Belated 4th of July!

Hinting & Hoping:  (v) A little known phenomenon where someone will beat around the bush with hints, hoping that you catch their drift.  That is something that My wonderful fiance doesn't do.  Which I appreciate ever so much!

TMI?

Today at work Katie informed me that she was really gassy, and "I've been tootin' 'n scootin' down the hallways a few times....I've even had to swallow a few"

TMI?  Perhaps to some, but in our friendship?  Never.

Our Furry Love Child

So My thanks go out to Katie for listening to my trouble about Mine and Matt's Furry Love Child, A.K.A.  Ava.

I dropped her off to get spayed this past Monday, and like the trooper she is she just trotted back to the Vet Techs, who fawned all over her, and promptly forgot about me.  I, however, didn't forget about her.  Walking out the door I called mom, near tears, whining that I already missed her.  She was appropriately sorry, until she asked how long it had been.  When I informed her that it had been only several seconds, she just snorted and I could almost hear her eyes rolling.

Matt missed her too,  I got texts throughout the day:  I miss Ava,  I bet She's so sad,  I hope she is ok.

That, of course, made me miss her even more!
So he gets home from work with a plastic bag, I look at it inquisitively, he pulls out a dog stuffed animal, and said:
I couldn't resist getting her a toy for being such a trooper and having such a big surgery!

I missed her all day, and since she had to spend the night at the vet's I missed her all night too!

But, to be honest there were two times that I didn't miss her so much:

1: When I got home from running errands, and it was pouring the rain:  I didn't have to take her outside

2: When I woke up for work the next morning, I didn't have to take her out.

But yesterday we got her back and she has been frisky and rambunctious all evening and all day today. 

So rambunctious, in fact, that this is what happens.



LOVE!

So I forgot how much I LOVE hot topic, especially for graphic, kid friendly t-shirts I can wear to work!
Matt and I made an excursion out and stopped in, and I got 4 shirts that I can wear to work for $40, aaand
a snap bracelet watch!  It's epic. LOL.

Needless to say I have been wearing them at work this week. 

Today is TMNT.

The joys of floating

As a nurse, it is a hazard of the job, that when your patient numbers drop, you might have the joy to be floated to help out another unit.

That is my lot today. 

I walk in at the crack of dawn to ses if I have my same lovely kiddos back from the previous day, but what do I behold?   I drew the short straw and have to go over to "The Dark Side" AKA: Bone Marrow Transplant.  lol.  So as I trudge over there quickly donning my grumpy pants.  I take a gander through the windows of the patients room to check IV fluid rates, and what do I see?!  They are both freaking adorable!!  Away go my grumpy pants

So as I am kicking butt and taking names over on BMT, and get one of my kiddos out the door, and finish up all of my work on the other, I learn that I am floating again, at 3pm down to the surgical floor.

This is another floor where it could be an utter disaster.  However as I am unpacking my grumpy pants, I am cut short by the fact that my other two kids are also adorable!!!

So today I have learned:

~ Floating doesn't have to be awful, so don't jump to conclusions

~ It can get you out of the crappy assignment you had the day before
~ Babies are snuggly and cute (well I didn't really learn that, but it reinforced that idea)
~ And last but certainly not least, it makes you appreciate where you work, while at the same time being a nice change of pace

An added perk:

~ If it's a slow day, you can catch up on your reading if you can find your book online <<cough>> <<cough>> and have a screen protector

Ahh Sweet Victory!

I have reached a milestone unmet in any previous dog training I have performed.

I have successfully taught Ava to Speak!  And On Command!  (Which is the tricky part)  Once we got her barking (by blowing over an empty beer  bottle {which we have plenty of}) it was not too hard to get her to bark. :-)

Video to follow soon

You know it's true love when...

You are laying in bed and you sneeze and fart at the same time, and you look at each other and start laughing...

Which Is what happened to me last night.

True Story

Thanks!

As We were eating lunch today, my orientee and I turned to see what was on TV.  Low and behold it was TLC.  Which is usually fine and often enjoyable. 

Unfortunately around noon on 

weekdays TLC plays about 3 hrs of

A Baby Story, which is awkward

when you're eating lunch.

Right as we both look at the TV, the husband is all up in his wife's face with a camera.  (I'm talking a real schnoz shot.)

I turne to Katie and said: If Matt is up in my face like that when I'm having a baby, I'll most likely kill him.

We of course laughed and without missing a beat Katie said:  Well he won't need to, because I'll be videoing for you guys!  That way He'll be able to be in it too! 

Gee. Thanks...?

Somedays at work: A confession

Ok so here it is:  Some days when I'm at work, I just want to eat lunch in peace.  I don't want to know what's going on in your life with your baby daddy or your pregnancy.  I don't want to know what happened 2 weeks ago when you did some random thing.  I don't want to hear the same story you've been telling all morning, and I certainly don't want to hear it 4 times in the glorious 30 minutes that I have to myself to eat lunch.

Yes, Somedays I can be social and enjoy a conversation at lunch, but the fact remains.  If you've told the story once, rest assured that it has made it's way around the unit.  It is a group of women, if you recall, and it can be a huge estrogen fest, and we can be extremely gossipy.

This is what I felt like at lunch today.  I hope you all enjoy.

 

Memorial Day

Our darling girl enjoying the car ride to Aunt Aimee & Uncle Jon's

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To Beverage

While working today, (clearly I had plenty of time on my hands) I decided to develop a new word.

To Beverage: v.  The act of partaking of an alcoholic drink.  More child friendly than the commonly used verb "To Drink" or the Action of said verb "To go out drinking"  This verb can be made an action verb: "Beveraging"
                            

Hard work at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

Oh, Irony, So bitter-sweet

I have a Mac.  After updating, to the new operating system, I have been having problems with wireless connectivity.  So I make the trek to the Apple Store, who said I need a new wireless card, and that sometimes happens.  So I asked if they could install it today, lo and behold. They had to order it. 

So Riddle me this...It happens frequently, but you don't carry them in store. hmm

But I digress.  So I trekked home, and a few days later they called me in the AM and said that the wireless card was there.  I asked if they could pop it in while I waited, and they said:  No, we usually do it overnight, so it would probably be ready the next day.  So I asked:  Probably ready? or for sure ready?  they said for sure, and that I would get an email and phone call when it was ready to be picked up.

So I trekked, for the third time the 40 minutes it takes us to get to the Apple Store, with gas at $3.95/gallon, mind you, and dropped it off.

They were true to their word, and it was ready to be picked up this morning.  So my wonderful husband-to-be made our 4th, but not yet final, trek to The Apple Store.

He makes his way home,  probably assuming, if not told, that the employees had tested it (which common sense would dictate) to make sure that all was in order.

He gets home, only to find out that the wireless isn't working at all.  Grrr.  So I make my up-teenth phone call, to the ever so unhelpful people at Apple and they inform me that they can't do anything over the phone.  Duh.  And that I can make another appointment to try to fix it.  I asked what they were going to do if they couldn't fix it, and she acted like she had never been asked that question before, as she responded with:  ...ummm...I don't know...but that is something you are welcome to ask when you go to your appointment.

Oh, Believe me, I will.

So now, I get to trek back for the 5th time on Monday before we head to a Memorial Day BBQ.  Just what I want to do...

So, luckily Matt has an extra PC lying around, that I am using in the meantime.  A Windows PC, none the less...How Ironic.

I switched to a Macbook after I had so many issues with Windows, and now I am relying on Windows (and my smart phone) while my Mac is being retarded.

Can I hear you say ROADTRIP!

So Katie and I were talking about dream trips that we're going to take. 

1. Yellowstone National Park. 

     Ever since Katie bought her book

on the nation's park system, she has become

obsessed with Yellowstone.  We will be

staying in a cabin, although I'm going to

try to convince her to actually camp.

 But we shall see how that goes

2. The Bad Lands    

Ummm, to see Mt. Rushmore! Of course! 

The best part....

I hope you're ready for this....

We will be staying on a dude ranch!

We'll be cowgirls!

 

3. Skiing in Colorado 

Again, I feel as if the title and picture says it all.

Spending the whole day skiing,

only to curl up with a nice beverage

infront of a toasty, roaring fire.

Wonderful.

4. Denali National Park, Alaska 

In the daylight time, and summer of course.

5. New England in Autumn 

Warm apple cider, clam chowder and the beautiful leaves
Need I say more?

6. The Smokey/Blue Ridge Mountains in Autumn 

7.  Brice Canyon 

It's just beautiful!
Plus the rocks appear to change color when the sunlight strikes them.

8. Glacier National Park 

Who doesn't want to go to Montana?

9. Point Reyes National Seashore, 

 San Francisco, CA 

And As we're already in CA,

We'd Move on to....

Wine Country!

Quite the itenerary!

Oh, BTW.  Surprise Matt! :-D