Thursday, September 30, 2010

this is me in a nutshell: "help! i'm in a nutshell! how did I get into this bloody great big nutshell? what kind of shell has a nut like this?"

K, I know I've gone a little scarce and become a tad boring, but there just hasn't been much going on in the Wild World of Amie.

I've worked four days this week, which is cool and I'm grateful for the hours and experience. For the many who have inquired (thanks!) I am an independent CNA for a wheelchair-bound man. I work with him in his home, getting him ready for the day, set up on his machines, and if he wants, I take him out to run errands or have a bit of fun. Last week we went to see a movie. It was a scary thriller and I hope it's not his usual choice! Ha! It's just part-time, anywhere from 1-6 hours a day depending on what he wants and needs. I'm enjoying it very much. : ) From here, I just wait for Nursing School to accept me. Emails go out Oct 5th in order to fill up the January placement--mine is on the tail end of the application period being considered so I may or may not make it in this round. It'll be a bummer to wait all the way until August 2011 if I don't get in this year, but, there's nothing I can do about it now. I've been doing the HCG diet off and on since May and am down 27lbs so that's fun! I feel good, I look better, and I'm about 10 pounds from my final goal. : )

My kiddos are bringing on their own kind of crazy to our world.

Ethan's had bad behavior 3 days in a row at school (he's such a little stinker, good thing he's so cute) and has lost so many privliges because of it! He lost a library book for about a week--then, when it turned up, he put it in his backpack along with a container of grape juice which he unfortunately squished and ruined the book. He got to pay for the replacement. He broke my ipod earbuds and got to pay for those too. He's started reading Dr. Suess-type books and is doing pretty well with "Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?", "Are You My Mother?", "Great Day for Up!", and "The Cat in the Hat." He struggles, but he's learning.


Cameron is just the most unique piece of work I've ever known. He's so flippin' creative it blows my mind. Last night I was cleaning off his dresser and found this piece of pencil artwork he'd created. to best describe it, I can only compare it to a Where's Waldo? drawing--there was so much going on, so interesting and detailed--I told him it just needed some colored pencil and that he should show it to his art teacher. It's seriously amazing. When he's done with it, I'll scan it and show it here. :) He's lovin' Scouts and got his Wolf badge months ago--he's already earned 4 arrow points and I think something like 8 or 10 belt loops. He makes it easy for me to keep him on track. He has flag football Wednesday nights and although he really enjoys it, he lacks focus. He is an ANIMAL on defense. The coach loves him for his defense, but says that if Cam could just focus and keep his concentration, he could be great at offense too. I think he grabbed the flag 4 or 5 times last game. And this week, he gets to be quarterback--he's very excited, but I don't think it's as fun as chasin' down the offense to snag their flag!


Sean also impresses me so much with his musical abilities. You know he's taking his second year of clarinet, and that he picks up so so fast. But then he applies what he's learned to the piano and has taught himself piano. For his school talent show he's playing and singing a song that I wrote (more info on this coming as soon as I can get my hands on a camera with video!) and I couldn't be more proud! He's totally into books right now--in fact, we're reading the same ones, the Percy Jackson series, the Fablehaven series, we just finished the Twilight series and he's interested in the Hunger Games series as well. He's also in Boy Scouts but doesn't get into it quite as much as Cameron--of course at this age and stage, badges are harder and take more work to pass off. But he enjoys his group. He's discovered that he's really good at tackle football (among friends, not on a team) and is called the Monster of Defense--all his friends say he's the best at tackling and stopping the ball.

Dan's been working a ton. This week he works four 24-hour shifts and a 12, making 108 hours in one week if I'm doing my math right? Fortunately, none of his shifts have been too strenuous, so he still gets sleep at night which makes all the difference. He recently finished up his final class (Humanities) in order to earn an AA. Took a while, but he's very pleased to have it done and behind him and accomplished! He lost 15lbs last month when we did the HCG diet together and looks so good--he never had much to lose, but had a little bit of a tummy on him which he lost: 4 inches worth! He hasn't gained any back, either. He's always hard at work fixing stuff in our yard and house. *side note, our door bell died last week making the 6th thing that's broken since hitting our 8-year mark in this house!* He put in a drip system for my garden a few days ago and now he's currently adding to the cabinets he made from scratch in our garage. He loves working with his hands as a hobby and is so good at it.

Well, that's us in a not so small nutshell. Hopefully I'll have more interesting things to post about in the next few days or weeks. Don't forget to enter the contest for $150 Visa gift card on my review blog. Just comment and you're entered, easy peasy. *smile*


7 comments:

laurie said...

wow, that's a big nutshell. :-) it sounds like all is going well without a lot of drama - that's best, or at least that's the way i like my life! i know how much you are appreciated at school on fridays. i can't wait to hear sean's variety show performance.

Monica McCoy said...

Dang girl! 27lbs! You rock. YAY for a good job too.

Anonymous said...

I finally got my first RDO's after 8 days straight. After not working a formal job for several years 8 days straight sucked. Anyway we hit the $1 theater and saw "Dinner for Schmucks". I don't know if I could recommend it, but if you had a free rental it's worth it. I laughed pretty darn hard a quite a few parts, but it's not for kids and there were a bunch of sad parts too! Anyway, not what I was expecting.

B

Jennifer ♥ said...

No wonder you haven't posted much -you have a lot going on!! I have a friend that is doing the HCG diet. She has been very succesful too. I know how you love to diet :) I can't wait to see Cameron's artwork.

Unknown said...

i'm a new follower! love your style of writing. and laughing over the scouts pic... i recognize the stage(we have one, too, of course!;0)
i'm over at crazygreenmommy.blogspot.com if you are interested in checking my blog out!
stacy

Lorie said...

Your post title made me laugh!

Margee' said...

I hope you get into Nursing school. the nursing schools here are always begging for applicants.

Sorry I've not been around, but you already know what my life has been like these last 6 months.