Ok, so not exactly a UFO, but McDonald's? Really????  I had to take a picture on the way home from work this am.... And right now I'm on-call, so having a quiet night with my honey :-)

Gillis Family Reunion August 2011

Ok, first off this is Shayla and James.

Here we all are playing after church in the school playground - Kiara, Kathryn, Anthony, James and Shayla

Anthony ran away......
Anthony eating apples off his mom and dad's tree... So cute!

Playing in the sand...

My sister Michelle was helping her husband, Jack, fix some electrical stuff on the farm.  Chris, my brother is on the right....

Blowing bubbles with Anthony and the girls.  My sister-in-law, Karen is on the left.
I had a wonderful time in Baldur at the farm...Thanks to my family....Miss you guys!!!!!!! sniff sniff...


OK, so even in Roswell, Walmart is not immune to the "Alien" infusion... hee hee...

The RV Park that we are staying at is quaint and quiet... We love it here! Of course there has to be alien symbols everywhere!!!!


Finally, I'd like to say a big thank you to Shayla for our Welcome Rock that she painted for us.  It says "It Takes Two to Love"...


Changing my Blog Name to BabyprepNurse

I've decided to change the name of my blog because I haven't been crafting much lately... Thought it'd be appropriate.
www.babyprepnurse.blogspot.com 

Aspiring Midwife


Just thought I'd share this blog post from "NursingBirth"....

Thoughts On Becoming A Midwife…. April 2, 2010

Filed under: Ramblings — NursingBirth @ 9:12 AM
Tags: 
I have written before about my aspirations of becoming a midwife.  The more and more I care for birthing women as an L&D nurse, the more I meet moms out in the community at birth circles, ICAN meetings, etc., the more I read and see and hear about birth and birth politics, the more midwives I meet, the more and more clear it is to me that becoming a midwife is something that I need to do…someday.
I stumbled upon a blog post entitled “Apprentice Midwife Material?” over at Navelgazing Midwife the other day and it really spoke to me.  Throughout the beginning of the post the author goes into detail about the many sacrifices that midwives make in order to do what they love to do.  While reading them over, none came as a surprise to me.  However, no one can really understand what its like to experience them until they become an apprentice and even then your world is still a bit sheltered.
The author then writes:
“I imagine women’s spirits sagging by this point, those sitting in front of me and those reading this, but there are AMAZING parts of being a midwife, too. But if you don’t want… no, CRAVE… all that I said above, then reconsideration of this career is called for.”
I reflected on this statement for a while and I realized that I DO indeed CRAVE it all….the good, the bad, the ugly, the awesome!  But it is still undecided when exactly my time will come to put myself to the test.  Until then I must continue to form relationships with birthing women through my work as an L&D nurse and through my blog.
Thanks for listening :)

Hmmmm... my thoughts exactly!!!  How did you know????

We have arrived... and no lost time, hee hee

So I call this picture that I found... RoswellWTF... what is wrong with this picture?????? 

Anyways, finally relaxing in our RV spot... did laundry, swam in the pool, iced my knee, and watched UFO shows all evening with my honey!  This is the life!!! Just wish I didn't have to work on Monday!!!

Traveling again

I love travel nursing, I really do, but unexpected things happen.... In the last two days, we've seen and experienced some unusual occurences....

1. Radiator leak stop from Bar's Company is our best friend... need a new (very large) radiator... blew a leak three time since Mineapolis to Williston, ND.

2. I'm now moving to New Mexico on a new assignment.  The hospital that I was at in Williston is a small town hospital.  I was told that when OB in slow or closed that I need to "help out" in Med/Surg....They neglected to tell me that I am required to take patients in Med/Surg (no experience there in last 15 years)... Then, the next night without OB pts. I was told that I should get used to the charting as I'd need to take my own Med/Surg. patients... Then, the next night the house Supervisor tried to send me to the ER to "help out"... you know that won't last long... I said "I'm not comfortable with that..." and stayed in Med/Surg to help out. The other nurse that was on orientation with me for OB went home instead... Cross Country let the Manager know that this was not covered under liability insurance.... They decided to let me go... fine with me... Found a new contract the same day. Moral of the story, don't contract nurse at a small rural hospital unless you are ready to be the go-to girl for everything!!! Or, get it written in the contract where you can float and where you can not float!

3. Driving from Mt. Rushmore toward Sturgis and we see a semi pulled over to the right, State Trooper helping out... fire somewhere under the semi, then, just as we are getting closer.... BOOM.... huge explosion...black smoke everywhere.... and then a lone ball cap rolls out of the dust and smoke in front of our RV.... poor guy... didn't stand a chance.

4. A few miles down the road from that, I'm washing up in the bathroom and I hear a flapping on the roof.... Oh Oh.... I yell toward the front "Barry pull over - there's something flapping outside!!!!!!"  By the time he pulls over, the 15 foot patio awning is fully extended and the wind is tossing it around like paper.  4 bungy cords later and then duct tape and we are ready to go.... Well, looking on the bright side, we wanted a new automatic awning and screen room anyways... sigh... more repairs.  

At least we are still intact and functioning... Pray we make it to Albuquerque, people!!!   

"Just keep swimming, just keep swimming"... to quote Dora...(Nat., that's for you)  Enjoy the pics...












ND Badlands

We drove down to an old Fort site to check out the Lewis & Clark expedition involvement in North Dakota... Lots of Fur Trading Posts up here.... beautiful scenery too!!!

Tomorrow, a new nursing license....

But, for today we stayed in a lovely RV park... here's my view:
In the afternoon, a relaxed by the pool, while waiting for my laundry.  What a beautiful day...


Also, discovered that a student RN, that I precepted in her final clinical rotation, is in some of the ads foe Georgetown Midwifery School.... you go girl...
Lauren is the one holding the baby... :-)

What a great visit!


Natalie, I had the most wonderful visit with you!!!!  We'll make it again soon!  Love ya bunches.... Keep studying hard for that Midwifery and then you can give me all the tips when it is my turn!!!
You have a beautiful home, Nat and Randy!!!!!

We are finally North of Atlanta!!!

We made it through the tail end of rush hour!  Barry is exhausted and I'm icing my slightly swollen knee.  Pushing the stretcher in a hurry to L & D because of preterm labor did a number on my knee.  I miss Florida already.  The vegetation is different here and I haven't seen a palm tree in hours! :-(  I do love all the hills and trees though!