You are currently browsing the monthly archive for November, 2008.
Everyone who undergoes a bypass gets a little heart-shaped pillow and marker for signatures. I never know what to write. The cardiac rehab nurse uses her line “Keep walking.” An MD wrote “God bless your heart” the other day. Most everybody else writes some variations of “Take care,” “Get well soon,” “It was a pleasure caring for you.” I always seem to be at a complete loss for original thought when a patient hands the marker to me. I want my own signature note, dammit.
I didn’t hear anything until Saturday morning. My last offer wasn’t accepted. Neither was that of my competition. I waited the rest of the weekend to hear back after countering before I finally told my realtor to withdraw my offer. The longer I waited, the more doubt I had. This didn’t feel right.
Last week I walked into a home I liked. This morning I walked into a home I loved. And I knew it immediately. I took family to go see it this afternoon.
I’m leaving in half an hour to make an official offer complete with signatures and checks.
I went to see the house again last night with family, and the realtor told me that someone was making an offer on it. I thought about it for a moment before telling her I was ready to do the same. So I went to her office this morning, signed a few papers, and wrote out a couple of checks.
I should hear from her by this afternoon. If they accept, inspections still have to be made before I would finalize the purchase. If not, I know that I did what I could.
And I’ll keep looking.
I’m still knitting, only in random spurts. I was working on a pink cardigan for my sister, but it was all wrong. I eventually frogged it and will think of something else to do with 7 skeins of pink cotton.
I recently started a pair of socks, Ripple Weave Socks by Charlene Church (Ravelry). I’m using Zitron Trekking Pro Natura in #1604. The blues and greens are beautiful, and I love the ripple effect. Pictures to come once I turn the heel.
Another project I want to start soon are the Squirrelly Swedish Mittens (Ravelry) for a friend of mine who loves – you guessed it – squirrels. I plan to make them in camel and white, and hopefully complete these in time for Christmas. That’s the idea, anyway. 
I’ve looked at more homes in my area (including some recent foreclosures), and my mind still keeps going back to the one house I saw Monday. I’m going to see it again tomorrow.
It’s price and location are right, and, more importantly, my heart says it’s right. My head keeps trying to convince me otherwise. That’s just fear, I think. This is the biggest, most expensive ambition I’ll have taken on.
I’ve set a housing budget for myself that’s lower than what I was approved for because I’m going back to school next fall, and I don’t want to be stressing financially in the (likely) event that I have to work a little less. I went to look at several homes a few days ago, and I found one that I liked.
What I love about it:
Price – right at my cut-off point
3 bedrooms
Pretty white tile in the kitchen, dining room, foyer, and bathrooms
Huge kitchen with an adorable greenhouse window
Huge dining area with gas fireplace ( I can see the Christmas tree)
Covered patio
Corner lot
2 car garage and covered drive on the side
Nice, quiet neighborhood
What I don’t like about it:
1 1/2 bathroom : the 1/2 is adjoined to the master bedroom – this would definitely be a future project to expand it
Ugly blue shutters – easily replaced
Ugly, beat up garage doors – easily replaced
Some wood paneling – ugh
Tiny foyer
Backyard up against drainage system with only a chain-link fence – would definitely add a privacy fence to the project list
…
This is the time I’ve worked so hard for the last few years, and it’s scary to be taking that next big step. I’m not at all certain that this is the house for me. It’s easy to imagine how it’ll be once I’ve gotten my hands on it, but I can do that with most places. I feel like I should be looking at more homes in my price range. Or checking out every other option, including foreclosures and probates.
I anxious to have my own place, but I want it to be the right place.
I was approved by a lender for more than I expected. After several disappointments the last two months, I wasn’t quite sure I was hearing correctly, so I asked if this were a definite answer. Her response? “Start shopping, girl!”
I’m not a window shopper, so I don’t seriously start looking at anything unless I have money to spend.
I can finally make appointments to see some houses. Feels too good to be true.
Your result for What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test… (quiz stolen from Twisted Knitter)
Balanced, Secure, and Realistic.
9 Impressionist, -8 Islamic, -5 Ukiyo-e, -5 Cubist, -3 Abstract and -11 Renaissance!
Impressionism is a movement in French painting, sometimes called optical realism because of its almost scientific interest in the actual visual experience and effect of light and movement on appearance of objects. Impressionist paintings are balanced, use colored shadows, use pure color, broken brushstrokes, thick paint, and scenes from everyday life or nature.
People that like Impressionist paintings may not alway be what is deemed socially acceptable. They tend to move on their own path without always worrying that it may be offensive to others. They value friendships but because they also value honesty tend to have a few really good friends. They do not, however, like people that are rude and do not appreciate the ideas of others. They are secure enough in themselves that they can listen to the ideas of other people without it affecting their own final decisions. The world for them is not black and white but more in shades of grey and muted colors. They like things to be aestically pleasing, not stark and sharp. There are many ways to view things, and the impresssionist personality views the world from many different aspects. They enjoy life and try to keep a realistic viewpoint of things, but are not very open to new experiences. If they are content in their live they will be more than likely pleased to keep things just the way they are.
Take What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test at HelloQuizzy
Charge Nurse and I were sitting across from each other, catching up on charting, when she suddenly says, “I think you should start orienting to charge.”
In my eyes, the charge nurse is the one I go to when I don’t know what to do. If something goes wrong with my patient, she’ll be there next to me. I feel safe knowing she’s around. She handles the other nurses and deals with staffing (which lately has been an absolute nightmare).
I still feel so new to my job now. How can I seriously fill that position with more senior nurses around? I’m afraid it would just be a joke. I wouldn’t mind doing some orienting to learn, but I don’t want to do that only to have management now consider me eligible to throw in to charge on my unit. If that happened, I also could get pulled to charge another unit.
The whole idea scares the shit out of me.
