A Wickedly Awesome Time!

So I should be going to bed seeing as I'm exhausted, but I've just had such a wonderfully fun day that I wanted to write about it before the excitement wore off. I went to the PNE today with a friend from work, Patricia. Now, I may know what you're thinking, the PNE? We've all been there, what's so great about it? Well it was different for me because I wasn't going to Playland, only the PNE so it was like I was discovering a whole new world. We had list of the Top Ten Things to do at the PNE, so we knew what we wanted to do, so when we got there around 11am, we looked at the schedule of events and decided where to go. The first things we did was to see the Superdog show, I'm not a big dog lover, but this show was so cool! They had at least 15 dogs who raced around an obstacle course and did a dancing concert and caught frisbees, I yelled so much and so loud that I'm sure I'm going to wake up with no voice tomorrow. It was such a blast! I highly recommend it! After that we went to the Motocross show, those guys are amazing with what they can do on those motorcycles, the flips and the tricks, they go up a ramp, fly 30 feet in the air and while in the air they perform very dangerous tricks, either doing a handstand on the bike or putting their legs over the handle bars, it's crazy! Definetly a heartattack in waiting for us nurses as I can only imagine what would happen if something went wrong, but none the less they are very talented and entertaining. We then saw the Sand Castle sculptures, the pig and duck races, went shopping in the marketplace, did a tour of the prize home, bought tickets for the prize home and saw two horse races at Hastings Race Track. Besides the dog show being a highlight, the most fun thing we did was take a virtual tour with the Snowbirds. We happened to find a simulator and decided to go on it, well, we had so much fun and laughed so hard, it was great! We sat in the back row and were the only two in there, it really felt like we were flying, we did twists and spins and rollovers and went upside down, so cool! The was the best thing because we just happened to find it and it turned out to be the highlight of our day! I've never had so much fun and been so excited and it was just a wickedly awesome time! Plus we ate all the amazing food, elephant ears, funnel cakes, BBQ chicken, mini donuts, donairs, all very yummy!

Happy Anniversary!

Yesterday was my parents 33rd Anniversary! Congratulations! I love you!!!

A sign?

So, about one month ago, when we were up at the cabin, I experienced some pain, not in my stomach, more in my bladder/uterus region. It was so painful I almost had Rob drive me to 100 Mile House Hospital, I guess you could call it cramping but it was a steady pain and every time I moved it got worse. It eventually went away, I slept it off and had not thought about it since then. Yesterday, I worked some overtime and when my shift ended, I all of a sudden got the same pain, it got worse as I walked, but I made it out to my car, came home and then Rob took me to a walk-in clinic. Seeing as pain is a sign that something is wrong and this was the second time I was experiencing it I figured I should get it checked out. So the doctor at the walk-in didn't really seem concerned, he said it could be uterine cramping, I don't have a UTI and no I'm not pregnant, so that was it, he didn't say take anything, so today was fine, but it still feels like an ache and certain movements make it seem like it will come back. I'm hoping it won't though.

Canim Lake

Here's Nathan and I having some fun in the lake!





This is Nathan and my father in law on the Wave Runner!



This is James, Rob's brother, Rob's Dad and Nathan and Josh.




Canim Lake at it's best!

Nathan and Josh!

These are my nephews, Nathan and Josh!

My one and only summer vacation?

Rob and I just got back from Canim Lake yesterday, we were there for 10 days. It's so hard to leave, it was hot, hot, hot! I think it got up to about 34 celsius! The first four days my Dad's family came up, they had never been up there before, so it was fun to be with them. Rob's Dad had also bought a Wave Runner, so we all learned to drive that and it was so much fun! After my family left Rob's Aunt and Uncle and cousins came up. They have little kids, so I played with them a lot, a lot of swimming, it's so beautiful up there. I'll put some pictures up. These are all taken by Rob. Rob and I love going up there and unfortunatley this was probably my one and only summer vacation for this year.

A Much Needed Little Vacation!

Rob and his family own a cabin on Canim Lake which is up by 100 Mile House, we go there at least once a year, but would love to go more often, it's a 6 hour drive. It's absolutley beautiful, with the lake, the mountains, the forest, so peaceful and relaxing. Rob and I made an impromtu trip up there on Wednesday seeing as we both had Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off. I got all the groceries together, made a menu plan, put together as much as I could because Rob was working till midnight on Tuesday. So Wednesday comes, we load up the car, drive to his parents, switch cars because we are bringing up a bike and it doesn't fit in Rob's Passat. We are on the road by 10:45am, the drive itself is uneventful, long, but nothing interesting. We plan to just hang out at the cabin, rides bikes, go for walks maybe take the boat on the water, just relax, watch some tv maybe. We get to the cabin and start taking stuff in when Rob all of a sudden realizes that the satellite box is not there and we have no tv! On but my goodness, what are we going to do for three days with no tv? We so thought about going right back home, but we didn't! It turned out to be the most wonderful relaxing, just be together weekend, I learned things about him I didn't know, we had some great talks and lots of laughs. No tv turned out to be a huge blessing! We are going up there again in July with my family and then staying for a week with Rob's extended family. It's such a blessing to have a place so beautiful to go to and just be peaceful.

A little about my job!

Without breaking confidentiality, I thought I would elaborate a bit on my job as a Licensed Practical Nurse. As an LPN I can work anywhere, in any hospital, care home, home support, group home setting. As far as I know the only place we don't work is maternity and they are slowing phase us into acute and emerg. The difference between myself and an RN is the amount of schooling, RNs have a Bachelor of Science which is four years and the LPN course is a year. As far as medical procedures go, LPNs do not start IVs or dispense IV meds, we only assess the IV line and site. I prefer to work with the elderly. My main duties are to dispense meds, give injections, perform assessments and provide wound care, all of which I enjoy doing. I work on a unit that has 50 residents, four of which are ventilator dependent. This means they are on machines that control their breathing. The have tracheostomies for various reasons. When I was in school, we did not have any training for vented patients, so it was all new to me when I started working at Langley Hospital. Working in a vent unit is fast paced, be on your toes, hard work. We provide all personal care and I do all medical care, changing the trach, suctioning, meds. I don't know if I'll be able to do this for the next thirty years, but it definitely has provided me with experience, education and a lot of patience. These residents can not talk, so communication is a major factor in their care. They communicate with their eyes and eyebrows, eyes to the right mean yes and eyes to the left mean no, etc. They also have a communication board which has all the letters of the alphabet and the numbers and they spell out words which can be a big help if we can't figure out what they are trying to say with their eyes. It's a lot of work, but it is rewarding and overall I enjoy it.

My nephews and niece!

The last thing I wanted to post for today are some pictures of my nephews, Nathan, 5, Josh, 3, and Hannah, 3 months! They are Rob's brothers children, but I love them and they are so completely adorable!

Sample Cake!

Here is a cake I made in my cake decorating course, I definately enjoying doing this stuff!

Cakes!

Here's a picture of Joy's wedding cake!

Joy Got Married!

So, my sister, Joy, got married May21 at Saxe Point Park in Victoria. It was a very elegant and simple wedding, only immediate family. The park was beautiful it was right on the ocean. She has been dating Ryan for four and a half years, he's great, so much fun! They had the reception at an Italian restaurant. I made their wedding cake, it's officially my second wedding cake ever, we had a lot of fun. I'm very happy for them!

Rob and I

I'm back!

Well, I started a new blog and I hope to keep this one updated. Of all the other blogs that I've read there is a common theme, finding time to keep these things up to date. We'll see how I do, plus my life is pretty much work and that's not much to comment on! :-) As far as Rob and I go, there's nothing new, we're both just working hard and this takes up most of our time.