When I was younger and I first learned that my mom had lived through a hurricane, I was in awe. I couldn’t believe she had survived. I think that in my mind, hurricanes were more like massive tornados.
Nowadays, we have hurricanes in the gulf like every other week. If one comes our way, to most people my age it is an excuse to get off work and have a hurricane party. Unfortunately, if you work in a hospital that is not the case.
I’m a member of the “ride-out” team on my unit, which meant that when I went to work on Friday, I packed a suitcase and wasn’t allowed to leave. I was told that I had to work a 12-hour shift, which I am not used to. Ordinarily, around 3:30 p.m. I would have been leaving the hospital for a weekend’s break (considering I worked last weekend and have to work next weekend). Around 4:30 p.m., still working, I said offhand, “Whew. Now I remember why I don’t work 12-hour shifts.” The 60-something year-old nurse walking by then asked me, “And how old are you? Honey, suck it up. I’m at least 30 years older than you!” Another lady walking by said, “They just don’t make ‘em like they used to.” When I mentioned this exchange to David, he said, “Did you tell them, ‘You don’t understand, I get tired a lot?’” I think he was making fun of me too. Whatever.
I made it through my shift, then went down to the cafeteria to eat with some of my fellow nurses (including the 60-something year-old nurse who I’m really quite fond of and calls herself the grandma). It was during this meal that I was enlightened to a whole lot of unit gossip and history that I was unaware of. Stuff that I will NEVER share with the internet, no matter how interesting it is.
I was pretty much beat after dinner, so I headed to bed. I was lucky that I actually had a bed to sleep in. I shared an unoccupied hospital room with another nurse from my unit:
We just got new mattresses on the beds, too. I had felt them with my hand and they felt pretty nice, but let me tell you that sleeping on them was a different story.
There were exactly two positive things about sleeping at the hospital: 1) I got paid for the entire time I was there, and 2) the commute was significantly easier than usual. In the morning I took a measly shower, threw my hair up in a wet bun, and walked down the hall to begin what I thought would be another long shift.
I was starting to go crazy being trapped in that place, and I really didn’t want to stay another night there. Thankfully, someone from the recovery team was able to make it in. I gave everyone my biggest puppy dog eyes and made noises about how this was already my 5th day to work, and I’m getting married in three weeks and have a lot of work to do, blah blah blah, and they let me go home! Of course, the precondition to that was that I promised to come back for my regular shift on Monday.
Main Street, right outside the medical center, on my drive home:
I drove straight to David’s house, where his whole family and some friends were gathered because his was the only house in the area with power. I collapsed on the couch. After dinner, back on the couch, I was falling asleep and David made me decided I should go home before dark. At home, I went straight to my bed around 8:30 p.m., and slept hard for about 11 hours. I feel so much better today.
Apparently it stormed pretty bad last night. I thought the worst was over, but this morning our streets were flooded and we discovered more leaks in our roof. We took a walk after things started to get better.
The view from our front yard, after the water began to recede:
Cleo and I on our rain walk:
So I’m just hanging out today, wondering if I’ll even be able to make it to work in the morning. I’m hoping not, due to the flooding and the curfew, but I’m not getting my hopes up. My thoughts on the whole ordeal? Hurricanes are not fun, and I hope this is our last one for a long time.
I’m back home from the whirlwind Kansas trip where one of my best friends, Ellen, got married. As a bonus I got to see a few extra friends and introduce David to many people. Most of it is a blur, but here are some thoughts regarding the weekend. To see the rest of the pictures and more of the story, go HERE.
The rehearsal dinner had all you can eat barbecue. I’m usually not so much a fan of barbecue, but the side dishes were so good that I stuffed myself.
We got to visit my best friend Becca, who is 8 months pregnant. She and her husband just bought a fixer-upper house. Here we are in front of it.
The wedding was outside, and it was a THOUSAND degrees. I think I sweated more than at any soccer game I’ve played in. Also, the bridesmaids wore the shoes from hell. They were pure evil, despite their cute appearance.
David was so supportive to come all the way to Kansas with me, missing his own cousin’s wedding to go to a place where he knew no one. I love him.
Got to hang out some with these cool girls, Julie and Valerie, friends from Tabor College.
The obligatory bride and groom picture. Ellen was beautiful, and I took her veil from her literally the minute after she removed it later that day. It will be my “something borrowed” at my own wedding!
My good friend Julie let David and I stay at her house while we were there. She and I are a lot alike, and whenever I see her I lament the fact that we live two states away.
We left town around 4 p.m. on Saturday, and since David had to be back by noon on Sunday we just drove through the night. We got home around 2:30 a.m. having been awake since 5 a.m., but we made it!
Final thoughts: I’m jealous that Ellen is married already and I can’t wait to be myself! David and I had some good quality time together this weekend despite the craziness, and I can’t wait to spend my life with him. I have some amazing friends and I hated to say goodbye to them, but I will be seeing them in less than two months!
Hey everyone, I’m returning to the internet world. I’ve been almost completely cut off, only able to briefly check my e-mail at work. I have to say, this past week has been pretty depressing. Not because of the lack of internet, but because my life is in upheaval. My roommate Amanda moved out last week, taking all of her furniture and dishes with her. Courtney and I lived the whole week in a bare apartment, with no TV, no internet, barely any food, no plates or bowls, etc. It was a lonely place. I did a lot of reading.
Also, I am still getting used to my work schedule. I love my job, but there are times when I despair over waking up at 4:30 a.m. and going to sleep at 8:30 p.m. I have only a few hours in the evening to myself, and although there are so many things I want to be doing with that time (being with David, planning the wedding, working out, playing tennis) I rarely have the energy for any of it. I’m hoping that things will get better the longer I go.
And then finally yesterday I moved out of my apartment. My amazing fiance, parents, and soon-to-be parents-in-law helped me out immensely. My furniture is being stored at a friend’s house for the time being, and all of my stuff is now piled in an extremely disorganized fashion in the guest room at my parents’ house, where I will be living for the next few months. I’m house-sitting this week, and I am trying my best not to think about this:
Some people may have an anxiety attack when they lose control of a situation, others when they are forced to throw things away, but I lose it when my life becomes extremely disorganized. I’m barely holding it together here!
Also, I injured my toenails again. First week I played outdoor soccer this happened:
Beautiful, right? And I’m sure it won’t be gone in time for the wedding. Oh well, that’s my life. And by the way, outdoor soccer during the summer in Houston? Is pretty much hot as hell, but with a lot more humidity.
To end on a positive note, here is a picture of my handsome fiance with our pastor’s son Isaiah. We went out to eat with their family this afternoon, and I think I only caught about half of the conversation because Isaiah insisted that I sit by him and he talked to me the entire time. I’m not complaining, I want one just like him!
So I’ve been lax with my “photo of the day” feature (in the sidebar) for awhile since I got busy finishing up school and such, but I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. First I thought, “I’ll change it to a photo of the week feature,” then I thought, “I’ll just get rid of it altogether,” before finally deciding to make a renewed effort at keeping it up.
Folks, I am not a photographer, but I do enjoy pictures. I don’t know if you will enjoy my pictures, but if you don’t then you don’t have to look at them. However, if you click on the title to the picture, it will take you to a page where you can see the picture larger, and you can also read my commentary to said picture. Maybe you will enjoy that.
I am going to try to keep it up as a practice of discipline, so the pictures may not always be interesting. The point is that they will be there. Thanks for humoring me with this endeavor!
Now I’m going to continue my study break by going to eat Double Dave’s pizza buffet with my roommates for lunch.
My mom teaches 5th grade and my youngest brother Barry teaches theater, both at the same small charter school. On Friday night the school had a talent show and Barry asked me, my fiance David, and my brother David to be judges. This was SO much fun and I highly recommend it if you get the chance.
There were really only 5 or so acts out of 27 that were much good, but it was all so entertaining. We had some Hannah Montana, some High School Musical, a lot of sort-of dancing and sort-of singing to songs I’ve never heard going on. I had to be told MULTIPLE times that I was not allowed to give points based on cuteness.
But as you can see from the above not-posed-at-all picture, we deliberated very hard and took it very seriously. We came up with our own rating scale and were completely impartial, and at the end there were some clear winners, or so we thought. Apparently some people were surprised with our choices, but that’s the life of a judge. You have to deal with that kind of thing when you’re famous.
The pinning ceremony is a nursing tradition. Nurses wear pins (usually on their name badge at work) to identify what school they graduated from. These pins were presented to us at the ceremony last night and we were able to choose someone to pin us. I chose David, as my husband-to-be.
But before all of that happened, my parents, David, and I all arrived waaaay early because we didn’t know how the traffic would be. So we decided to get some picture-taking out of the way:
And for some reason I find this very amusing: my mom trying to take a picture of David and me without realizing that the camera was set to record. Obviously I don’t have much patience for this, but David just laughs.
Soon enough my brothers arrived. At this point we were also sharing the table with another family, a family much quieter than ours. As we were waiting for our food, we had the following conversation.
***
Dad: So Uncle David is getting another Ridgeback. They got a good deal on it because it doesn’t have the show-quality ridge. They’re naming it Rigby.
Dad (even more shocked): Kat! It’s a song by The Beatles!
Brothers (in unison): AHHHH LOOK AT ALL THE LONELY PEOPLE
Me: I have never heard of it. [This is true. I listened to it later.]
Dad: I can’t believe this.
Me: Listen, I am not a Beatles fan. I don’t dislike them, I will listen to them, but there are so many other things that I would rather hear.
***
My future mother-in-law will be devastated when she reads this, but there it is. My confession.
Continuing with the evening, we waited quite a long time for our food. In fact, David and I were finished with the whole pinning ordeal before we even took a bite. Ah, what the heck, here’s a little video of me being pinned.
So by the time we got to eat we were all ravenous. We promptly cleaned our plates, and my brother Barry asked for seconds, which I don’t think was part of the deal. After he got his request, though, we discovered that we could all just go help ourselves to seconds, even though no one else was doing so. One woman that we were sitting with offered Barry her roll, but he politely declined. A minute or two later, this happened.
***
Dad (to stranger woman): My wife would like your roll.
Mom: Chris! (She hides her face in her hands.) I am SO embarrassed. You were not supposed to say that!
Dad: What? You wanted it!
Stranger woman: I did offer.
***
I like how my family is the noisy one that eats all the food along with other people’s. I think we have more fun.
Before I share with you all my favorite engagement pictures, I wanted to let you know that the photo of the day feature is back up and running! So make sure to click on the title of it in the sidebar daily to read my exciting commentary of each picture.
So anyway, David and I took our engagement pictures a couple weeks ago in Hermann Park. Even though our photographer was awesome, it was still an awkward experience! We just…didn’t know what to do with ourselves. We brought our dogs, and I don’t know what exactly I was expecting out of them because they sure didn’t know how to pose! Anyway, here are my favorite pictures, and I’d love to know which ones you like best!
Every year the youth group at my church puts on a “Sweetheart Banquet” as a fundraiser for the summer mission trip. Last year David and I attended together and even though we had been dating for a few weeks beforehand, it was the first night that I realized I was truly interested in a relationship with him as a potentially serious thing.
David and I spent the entire day together Saturday at his house doing schoolwork. In the evening as we were getting ready for the Sweetheart Banquet his dad called to ask if we would swing by their house on our way to the church to let out their dog, Niko. They live only a minute from the church, and they had been gone awhile because they work with the youth group. So we went over, and when we got there both doors were locked. (This was not part of the plan.) We had to drive to the church, get a key, and then go back. On the way David told me that he had to go to the bathroom and asked me to get Niko.
I walked into the room where Niko was in his crate, and I went straight to let him out. I didn’t even notice at first that there was a little table set up not two feet away with roses, candles, flower petals, and Hershey Kisses on it. I didn’t see it until I heard David come in the room behind me and I turned around to face him. When I did, he got down on his knee and asked me to marry him. I said, “Of course!” It was perfect timing because then we got to go up to the church and tell my family and all of our church friends at once.
My dad’s reaction to our engagement:
Asked David’s mom, Alice, how much French blood David has in him (my dad was born in England, and Alice’s mother is French. He had to come to terms with the fact that his grandchildren will be 1/8 French).
Ordered us not to schedule the wedding on a Saturday afternoon because it’ll be college football season.
Announced that he wants three kids minimum out of us.
Cleo was also excited for me when I told her. She’s going to gain a daddy and two new sisters, Eddy and Sydney!
Ever since Boyfriend David got his fishing boat (which he shares with his brother and dad) and they started taking trips down to the coast with it, I have dropped hints, asked, and finally begged for him to take me out in it. Fishing is a huge part of his life, and I want to be involved in it. Well, yesterday he got a trailer hitch installed on his truck, which would enable him to pull the boat himself, and today after church we headed down together.
Here we’re putting the boat in the water. I backed the truck and trailer up while David unhooked the boat and drove it off:
Here is David baiting my hook. I didn’t want to deal with the live shrimp today, thank you very much.
They are just so disgusting:
Check out this action shot (yes, I wore my life jacket!):
I was so happy when I caught this little trout all by myself. I got a little too excited and reeled him in so fast that I flung him over the boat. But he stayed on the hook!
I would have been happy just with that little fish, but soon afterwards I got this one! It’s called a sheepshead and I think it’s pretty. I actually had to fight to reel him in, with David telling me what to do.
Here’s my man at the wheel of the boat, taking us home:
It was so pretty out there:
Here’s David getting the boat back on the trailer. As I was taking this he said to me, “This isn’t the time to be taking pictures!” Apparently he needed my help or something, but I just really wanted to capture the moment!
I had a really great time and I’m sure we’ll be going out a lot more often. Don’t worry, I won’t give you the play by play of every fishing trip, but I really wanted to document our first one together.
Anyone else do anything interesting this weekend?
