Three small posts in one

Stethoscope

I bought my stethoscope during my sophomore year of college and I was *poor*. It was my first semester of nursing school and we had to buy BIG nursing books, uniforms (white pants are no good for nursing, FYI) and a stethoscope. One day I got home from class to find a letter from one of my grade school Sunday teachers (Bonnie Zimmerman) and with it a check for $100. She explained that she thought I could use some extra money for "unplanned" expenses. I put that $100 towards my first stethoscope and over the last 11 years, I have taken that stethoscope with me to 5 different hospitals, including one floating hospital off the African coast.

Recently I have noticed several cracks in the neck of my stethoscope and while I do think it'll be fun to see how long it is before it completely cracks in half, I ordered another on-line last week. I got the same kind -- I mean, $70 (which is the price now) for 11years, that sounds like a deal to me.

*poor* by American standards with less than $100 in my bank account (a fortune in other parts of the world, I know). I did/do also have generous parents that would have willingly helped so my *poor*ness was flexible**

Coupon Fail.

Yesterday I went to Sam's Club with four coupons to use on various items. The toilet paper coupon was for Target only. I decided not to get the cuties (mandarin oranges) since we still have tons of oranges left over from when my in-laws came to visit and gave us their produce to clean out their fridge before a big trip. The fancy razors I wanted to get/had a coupon for were $30 and I couldn't bring myself to buy them even though I do think they were a good deal. And I brought the wrong coupon for the other item I needed. It was a rare coupon fail day for me -- for a variety of reasons. I am comforted by the fact that I will still use most of those coupons and maybe even double them at Pick n Save on Saturday.

$1 Jeans.

Earlier this week I drove up to Oshkosh to visit my Grandma and my mom, who was visiting my grandma. On my drive up there I noticed a hole in the side of my jeans and I thought it was odd because I thought I wore my "good" jeans on that day because I went to a work meeting earlier. You see, I have two almost identical pair of jeans and (I thought) only one has a hole on the side. Then I realized that those were my "good" jeans but they had a hole in the same place - which makes sense since the jeans are the same brand with slight variation. I was a little bummed but not surprised, I haven't bought myself clothes since 2009; when I was planning my wedding, I cut out my clothing budget and have never added it back in.

Later we went to a dollar thrift store and I found the same brand of jeans for $1. They do have a button fly (isn't that kinda 80's?) but they fit well (i.e. are short) and were a dollar so that makes me happy.

And a little bit of gratitude too =)

- beautiful afternoons, long walks in the park and my good dog a the end of the leash

- being home when my hubby gets home, snuggling on the couch, watching tv. (Christopher has an evening class two nights a week and since I go to work at 7pm, there are some days when we don't see each other at all - because he goes to school early and i sleep late - so we both enjoy the nights when it works out that i can be home when he gets home after his evening class.)

- fun co-workers, patients on our unit, nights that go by quickly

- peeling oranges, brewing tea, chopping carrots

- visits from our parents, two fun dinners at new restaurants, shopping and playing board games

- Have I mentioned that Chris got a full scholarship for school next year? not sure I did ... Thanks to my handsome hubby for working so hard, and thank you Marquette for noticing =)

- a birthday get together for a new friend, menu planning for a visit from Rochester friends this weekend and a coffee date on the calendar for next week

- playing cribbage with my grandma, a fun new purse from my mom, hearing that my brother's new job is going well

It appears that my camera and I are playing a game of hide and seek -- the next post will have pictures, I promise!!