Break out the Tooniforms!

We received our clinical assignments for next quarter today, and I am doing backflips over mine: I have a preceptorship at Seattle Children's Hospital!!! I am absolutely thrilled to get 120 hours there next quarter to really know if this is something I love and knock their socks off so they'll hire me.

One quarter and two weeks away from being an RN! (And I'm going to stop whining about the bad job market for new grad RN's right now. I will get a job, and I'll get a job doing something I love. Want to know why? Because I freaking LOVE this field, and excitement has to count for something.)

My girls

Last week I had a really sweet 2 year old patient whose parents couldn't be there with him on my shift. So that meant I was nurse/babysitter. We read stories, walked laps pulling the wagon (and IV pole), had a playdate with the girl next door and fought over playdough, and stacked blocks. Between that and studying pediatric development the last couple of weeks, I've been really missing my tiny kiddos! That stage was so much fun--the tea parties, the playparks, children's museum, the zoo, the chubby little thighs, thumbsucking, messy faces, puppy dresses, runs with the jogging stroller. Oh my gosh. I need to stop doing this to myself.

The thing is, I don't think I fully appreciated it at the time. I didn't savor it like I would have if I knew then what I know now--that everyone was right: it really does go by way too fast. I don't think the post-partum blahs really lifted until Amelia was a year old, and when I see a lot of these photos they make me sad because I was a bit of a mess still and I think I missed out on some of the joy. That's not to say I didn't enjoy that time. I did! I loved being a stay-at-home mom to those little girls, and we had so much fun. But I also think that first year of being a mom of two was pretty rough for me, and I wish I could do it over again so I could kiss those chubby thighs and snuggle with sticky girls under a fort in the living room again, fully absorbing all the love and wonder of that time.

5+5=65 or How your lamps became mine.

I was at Goodwill yesterday when this adorable $5 treasure and his identical $5 twin winked at me.

Just five bucks a piece! I thought of you, and how much you would love them sitting on the nightstands in our guest room when you come to visit. So I bought them. For you.

But then I got home, and on my way to the guest room I had to walk past my bedroom. And did you know that I have white and gray bedding? And do you know what looks really good with white and gray bedding? Yellow lamps from Goodwill. No, it's true.

But the problem was, the accent pillows in my bedroom were green. That wouldn't do at all. So today I was at Target buying $15 lampshades for the $5 yellow Goodwill lamps, and guess what else I found? A $25 yellow pillow that looks fabulous with gray and white bedding and yellow Goodwill lamps.

So I'm sorry, even though I bought them for you, they are mine now. But you'll get some really fancy Ikea lamps and some hand-me-down green pillows to keep you company in the guest room when you come to visit.