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!!

A little bit of this and a little bit of that

Randomness suits me just fine. I love random conversations (Anne Frank and vampire fish at work the other night) and random meals (sweet potato fries and rice are a perfectly acceptable meal, I think). And I like that I don't have to use transitional sentences because it is my blog.

 

There, you are warned.

 

We just got back from Minnesota where we celebrated Christopher's grandfather's life. He was 99 years old and would have been married to his wife 75 years next month. (Just for fun, if Chris and I were married 75 years, he would be 107 and I would be 103.) I didn't know his grandpa, having visited them twice, but his offspring are welcoming and nice and that does say something. And his little wife lights up at the mention of her family or church even though she can't hear or see well.

 

Christopher and his dad are the only sons in their family, as was grandpa Brenna and his father (I think). Regardless, if someone is going to "carry on" the Brenna name, it will be our son/s and on Monday I heard three times that there was "no pressure" to have a male child. And no I don't feel any pressure which may be because I think our first child will be a boy - we aren't pregnant and this isn't based on anything except that I simply think it. 

 

We had a relaxing trip to Rochester, the Brenna home is great for playing games (Christopher held on to his winning streak in Vegas Showdown), reading by the fire (with Cinders who is excited about the new fireplace) and stretching out and watching a movie complete with popcorn being delivered to us in the basement.

 

I think Loki views the Brenna home like our children will learn someday learn to view their grandparents' house. He gets excited at the exit off of Hwy 52 and the closer we get the more his stubby tail wags as if he knows that good things will come. He gets to sleep on our bed between us - I don't know why that is not okay at home but is okay in Rochester. He chases (plays?) with Cinders through the snow maze in the back yard and he shares ... um, doesn't steal her one ball. He gets a treat when he leaves because "Loki has a long drive." And we have realized that it is easier to leave a toy or two there so we don't have to bring some with us and find them before we leave.

 

We went to Trader Joe's and I love love love LOVE Trader Joes. And it is sweet shopping with the in-laws especially when they say "groceries are never cheaper than when you shop with us." I am thankful for their generosity and I hope we can reflect some of that generosity onto others. They are also letting us borrow their truck for the semester as Christopher has class from 6pm - 7:30 pm two evenings a week and although we could have made it work with one car, we think it would have been difficult and stressful. I am thankful that they are willing to go down to one car so that we could have two. Again, I am humbled by their generosity.

 

Christopher and I are going to the Wisconsin Dells tomorrow for our one year anniversary. Yay! School starts next week so the time together to work on our relationship will be even sweeter. And then, in two week, I am going to Mexico with some girl (Rochester) friends. Double Yay!!!

 

Enjoy your weekend!

Gratitude list #1202 - #1221


P.S. It is okay to have granola and 6 Christmas mint kisses from my not-so-hidden stash for breakfast before going to bed for the night day, right?

A short list

1123. Fantastic tasty food filling our kitchen (and our bellies)
1124. the box from MN filled with love -- and anticipation of our girls Mexican vacation coming up.
1125. and Christmas songs, which rock.
1126. the unique nativity set on our table
1127. Books for Advent
1128. Loki. Hey, I can be thankful for him every week, right? You can't tell how cute he is in that picture 'cuz he's all black but that's okay because he was also a little worried about why I was trying to put the paper chain around him.

In other news, I actually make a plan for my blog - gasp - for next year. It involves the camera I am getting for Christmas (thanks Mom and Dad!), picasa and hopefully some more pictures of us people ... basically motivation for me to be creative and get to know a new camera and a way to share a quick glance into our life.

That's all -- like I said, short.

"I'll take silly and random things for 200 please, Alex"

618. Perfectly matching up socks out of the dryer.
619. Taking a handful of mixed M&M's and realized they are ALL peanut butter ones, my fav.
620. Getting a call while waiting for the bus from my parents, offering to pick me up.
621. Ice that blends perfectly into smoothies, leaving no big chunks
622. Waking up my patient out of sedation to find him pleasantly confused (not un-pleasantly, like I had anticipated)
623. paying with exact change
624. Driving early on weekend mornings when the roads are empty.
625. green lights all the way
626. walking into the breakroom and seeing the note saying that the coffee is fresh
627. The disk with an old college project on it.
628. Wearing flip flops when it is slightly too cold
629. waking up in the middle of the night to realize you have hours left to sleep.
630. not being the last person on the bus
631. cookie dough
632. saying a line in a tv show right before the character does altough it may the predictable "you know what happened before in the hallway ... " or "what have you done?" (for any 24 fans), it's still fun.
633. Making patterns in the fabric on the couch
634. Sunglasses created tan lines
635. beginning to think about going on my lunch break and remembering it is really yummy left overs my husband made last night

... partly inspired by 1000 Awesome Things

Happy weekend!