Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read. -Groucho Marx

(thank you SarahKaye for sharing this quote with me!)

A new crock pot recipe: Grandma’s Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup, with homemade biscuits. What we did differently; Keith added 3 cloves of garlic, and we did not add noodles.

Ran an errand tonight in town, and visited the local bookstore: The Book of Awakening, The Disappearance of Childhood, and of course the Whole Living magazine…

I have officially completed all responsibilities for Policy and Politics in Nursing and Healthcare. Monday begins Integrating Theory and Research for Evidence-Based Practice. I was not looking forward to another EBP course. Now, after seeing who the professor is, I am definetly not looking forward to the course. This man read our research papers THREE times before he graded them. Yes! He read each of our research papers three times before he graded them. Needless to say, he was very good at finding mistakes in APA/grammar. My girlfriend, Donna, calls him Professor O-No. But, it would be very unfair for me to not mention that even though he appears to have a little OCD, he was an amazing professor, and he truly taught me a lot in our last course.

I cannot believe that February is almost behind us! My beautiful daughter celebrated her birthday on the 23rd of this month, turning 25 years old. Words cannot even begin to express how much I love her, and how I just cannot imagine my life without her…

March is going to be a busy and exciting month for me. I will be attending a three day seminar to become certified in teaching a course, and I will be attending an all day nursing summit. Hoping for some great new knowledge, and a lot of networking!

I thought this was beautiful: “Without compromising your own journey find time to help those who might need a nudge or two to get over a stumbling block. Though we have our own paths to take, we will meet others along the way and quenching someone’s thirst for kindness is one of humanity’s wonders.” – Dodinsky

Well friends, for here I am going to close down to enjoy the remainder of this evening with my boys. Until later. Take care, and be well!

-Jenny

Our crock pot Friday recipe: Crock Pot Turkey with Stuffing

Another great crock pot recipe, it smelled delicious cooking all day with the aroma of apple, and tasted great. Because our family does not eat pasta, and eats a very limited amount of rice, it has made the search for crock pot recipes a little more difficult.

The weekend was spent working. Again, 16 hour shifts kicked my butt, and reminded me that getting home after midnight, and having to turn around and be out the door at 6am for another round is just not a good idea. Thankful for these next two days off…

Rambling/Sharing:

• Oh Life, a great little concept.
• Because sometimes we just need to be reminded: Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire. – St Catherine of Siena
• Early morning dentist appointments are not a good idea. I am starving and can’t have anything good for lunch!
• I am ashamed to have a laptop full of digital photos since approx 2003. You know as well as I do that the idea of scrapbooking them is not a reality, I just may have finally found out how to get the photos off the laptop and into a bound book: Blurb
• Last week I shared how I had began a One Line a Day. I ended up deciding to jumble it up a little with a random question about myself on some days, and important memories of some days, and it is turning out wonderfully!
• I believe this is true: I may not have gone where I was intended to go, but I think I’ve ended up where I needed to be. -Douglas Adams
• This is my last week of Policy and Politics in Nursing and Healthcare. A great class, and I truly have learned a lot. Next up: Integrating Theory and Research for Evidence-Based Practice. I am sure it will be a long mod…

Well friends, I have so many other thoughts/ideas that I could share, but, I need to finish up the housework, and put my nose into the books. Here’s to a wonderful day.

-Jenny

I love fall, and this is when I begin craving pumpkin. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins . Needless to say they did not last very long.

• Of local importance, but similiar is probably happening in your community: Bangor psychiatric center stops taking new patients. Be aware. Be informed, and question yourself this…if an important psychiatric hospital which houses a particular group of mentally ill patients is being targeted for cutbacks/closure, where will these people end up?
• A few things on my mind: Just because you have an expensive digital camera does not equal that you are a photographer. Seriously people. The most expensive cameras will not help a majority of you, so trying to sell yourself as a photographer, let alone charge for your services makes you look really stupid. And what the hell people. I do not visit facebook to see what you are selling on a daily basis. Yes, I deleted two of you today, and just for the record a majority of your friends feel the same way.
• I am feeling really creative. So creative that I need to visit AC Moore soon for some goodies!!

Busy, busy remainder of the week, and some great entries to come. I promise I’ll try to keep my ranting down now that I got a few things that bug me off my chest. I have to do some reading, and find myself sleeping for a busy day tomorrow of training. Ugh. Until later…

-Jenny

From the dog’s point of view, his master is an elongated and abnormally cunning dog.-Mabel Louise Robinson

Guess we should have waited on Olivers haircut. 6-8 inches of snow are in our forecast for tomorrow. BLeh.

All winter I have been obsessed with melon, and cantaloupe. Every week one of each has been on the grocery list. Love, love, love, but must admit that I do complain about the time it takes to cut and peel. And yes, there are calories!

New for us recipe: Chicken Rolls Stuffed with Asparagus and Black Forest Ham it has gorgonzola and cream cheese. It was very good. Matthew loved it. Unfortunately, I don’t like the bit of ‘bite’ that gorgonzola cheese has to it. If you are interested in the recipe leave a comment, and I’ll email to you.

A day trip. Keith and I traveled to Portland to peruse The Sketchbook Project 2011, and yes, Keith’s sketchbook was one of the almost 10,000 sketchbooks on display. He has totally inspired me to get back into my studio and make messes, I mean create.

I love, love, love this man. But, pull out a camera and you would think I am about to kill him…and he wonders why the kids act the way they do! Yeah, the apples don’t fall very far from the tree, Perkins…

Until next time. Be well friends…and hang on to a possible bumpy April Fool’s Day!

-Jenny

Happy Sunday Friends! It’s been a few days since I’ve given some attention to my blog. You know how it is. Never seems to be enough time.

School: Week 1 of Information & Healthcare Technologies Applied to Nursing Practice completed. I created a new system and it worked wonderfully for me. For the first time in a very long time I was ahead of schedule on my readings, and homework assignments. It’s also nice to be able to ‘breathe’ a little as the class is not as intense as the research class that just concluded.

Work: It’s been pretty stressful related to our newly elected Governor. A committe has been chosen and we will find out in December if our Psychiatric Hospital will remain open, or close.

Family/Life/Home: We are slowly pulling the kitchen together, and it’s almost completed. Keith is building a shelf for me for above the sink, and is also working on two additional special projects for me. I promise there will be photos soon.

Etc: I’ve been tanning for 3 weeks now and have to tell you that I have found a noticeably difference in how I feel. Unfortunately in the process of receiving some ‘light therapy’ I ended up getting a pretty bad all over body burn. Keith baked some delicious cookies a few days ago.. fat free oatmeal raisin cookies

Organizing ‘stuff’…I finally found the perfect 3 tier organizer for spices at Target the other night. Was even happier to find that it fit inside the hoosier perfectly! Seriously folks, it truly is the ‘little’ things that make me happy nowadays!

Well, there ya got it in a nutshell…random ramblings. A new week is upon us, and I hope for a beautiful one filled with smiles, laughter, love, and lots of accomplishments. Until next time, be well friends!

-Jenny

Yesterdays snowstorm ended, thankfully. I am not sure on the exact amount, but it is obviously more than 6 inches. BLeh. I am ready for warmth, and all the wonderful things that come with Spring, and Summer! And while I am thinking of Spring, one of my goals this week is to put together a plan for a vegetable garden. Todays recipe share: Banana Bread.

This is my weekend to work, and I need to find myself taking a nap before it is time to head out. Have a great Saturday friends!

-Jenny