Our Birthday Girl

We knew when she was just little that we had a special one.

January 31, 1984

3:38 pm

9# 4oz.22 inches 

 10 days late, but oh so worth it!

Our first born, 

Brianna Marie Hemmer

A sweet, humble, selfless, kind young lady who we admire and adore.

 You have never had to pretend to be anyone, 

You have always been sure of whose you are... 

a child of God,

 a devoted & loving wife 

a loving & selfless mommy. 

You have made dad & I proud

Happy Birthday Brianna, we love you !

Biggest toy store ever

About 45 minutes from Rochester is a town called Kellogg.

Right on the edge of town is a place called Lark Toys, and let me tell you

it's the biggest toy store under one roof I've ever seen.

When our kids were younger we took them there a time or two, 

you can easily spend two hours in there, so it's worth the trip

We had our granddaughter for the whole day and overnight 

so we thought it would be a great place to break up the day.

 It's a toddler's dream place to be

 Never a dull moment

 Playin' kitchen with grandpa

 stacking & sorting

These are all separate room with so many varieties of games and toys

 Big hugs for the giraffe

 The best part of all .... the beautiful Carousel

The carousel at LARK Toys is unlike any other carousel in the world. Hand-carved from basswood and designed with exquisite detail, each animal is a rideable work of art.

 Audrey picked the giraffe, I think she likes giraffes :)

Helping Grandpa build a house with lincoln logs

 The puppet theater

Audrey never asked for a single thing while we were there, that makes it so fun. She was perfectly content just to be there, to look & play. 

For being such a good girl, we let her pick out a lollipop...

She was thrilled!

Old churches

They don't build them this way anymore

We found this beauty on the  Gunflint Trail

Way up in Northern MN

Churches with steeples,

 something about that is just cool to me

 Just like on my post about old barn, I love the stone foundation,

wood and shingles, and that's just the outside

 The inside of these old churches are even more beautiful

 Remember wooden pews, and stained glass windows?.... I do

My Dad attended this church in his youth,

Below is the sign in the churchyard that has something to say about it.

 I actually remember coming here as a little girl

It was probably on a Sunday later in the afternoon,

Our family used to go for "rides" and we'd end up in places like this.

Old Barns

Barns as we know them will not always be....

They are being replaced with the new metal "pole barns"

I love old barns they have so much character, they all have a story!

Both my mom & dad grew up on farms, 

I love hearing the stories about living on a farm,

The chores, the livestock and the mischief farm kids get themselves into.

A real live old fashion barn, they don't build them like this anymore.

Note the stone foundation, real wood and shingles.

This is one of my Great-uncles barns. 

It sits in the bluffs of southern Minnesota, what you see is all that's left. 

He's been gone along time, his kids still own the land.

 The old barn remains, but by the looks of it, not for long. 

I'm glad I got to see this old barn, just wish I could hear the stories

for now I can only imagine 

Things that go Bump in the night

This little princess slept napped off and on at out house last night.

Her mommy & daddy had a (work) Christmas party to attend 

and since it would end up being a late night, we opted to just keep her all night. 

~~~

Another stage (that all little ones go through) has begun.

Can you guess what it is....

"what's that sound"

"It's too dark in here"

I"m sure you guessed it.... she's afraid of the dark 

and all the sounds that go along with it.

So needless to say the sounds of the night got the best of her last night. 

Luckily we were able to move her "Toddler bed" into our bedroom, so she could feel safe.

That was only after an hour of taking turns trying to reassure her with prayer,

 songs, stories and posititve talk.

It was the terrified little voice and the death-grip around grandma's neck 

that was the deciding factor to move her in with us.

We struggled for about another hour with stall tactics 

but at least she wasn't scared anymore.

She just wasnt thrilled about going to bed.

At 11:15 PM the last thing she said in a tiny little voice was 

"I dont like this bed.....and I'm not going to go to sleep"

My response, "ok, Audrey....Goodnight"

Not a peep until 3am, then I vaguely remember hearing, "my toes are not cozy".

Morning came and we all woke up together,

A little snuggle time between grandpa & grandma and the day begun at 7:00... not bad

She was very eager to  checkout "grandma's decorations"

Translated... the contents of grandma's jewelry box

so that's what we did at 7am.

I cherish every minute I spend with this little one...

She's a keeper... I'll have lots of stories to tell her some day

Winter Photo shoot

I recently received a call from my sweet niece Jill

It went something like this....

"Jackie, we were wondering if you could take a few pictures of us kids? 

We want to surprise mom & dad with a late Christmas gift".

"We could just come out and stand in front of your pine trees"

My response was immediate glee, I always like to be  part of a surprise. 

but the Pine Trees.... I don't think so, 

We have many alluring area in Rochester to pick from that are so much better than our backyard

So I suggested The Plummer House... a beautiful backdrop 

All the kids were together over Christmas break so that's when we did it

I loved spending time with my Nephew and Nieces and their significant others.

Favorite

Can you two in the middle pay attention please   :)

My Nephew Ryan and his bride Kate

My Niece Kellie and her Fiance Michael

My Niece Jill and her BF Travis

Thanks for the opportunity guys....love you all

Ugh

 When I have to get up for work by 5:40am, 

I'm usually tucked into bed and nearly asleep by now (11pm), 

Tonight I'm wide awake and thinking it wouldn't do me any good to go to bed just yet.

Why?, you might ask.... 

Today I fought a headache at work, started just after my first case, 

kind of my nagging typical headache. I took 600mg Ibuprofen.

 As usual that did nothing and I worked through it.

 On my way home (4pm)  I stopped for some caffine, washed down 2 Excedrine Migraines,  

hoping that would help. By the time I got home my head was throbbing, 

I was nauseous and my eyes hurt to move. 

 I have self-diagnosed this as a migraine.

 I lay'd down, it took about 1/2 hour to find a spot I could lay comfortably so my head didnt 

feel like it was gonna blow off.

 Some how I dozed until Rick came home at 6pm. 

 A short time later...probably about 7 I thought it safe to go for a third kind of OTC drug.

 I hit-up the Aleve.

Finally...that kicked it, I woke up at 9:30pm and was afraid to move

(expecting the worse to come back). 

The nausea left with the headache, so I had me a bit to eat and visited with my hubby. 

I'm still headache free, pretty sure it's gone but I'm skeptical that's it's still lurking

 as I feel a tinge of ache whenever I move my eyes. 

Well 5:40 am will come soon enough, I should at least start the process of "bedtime". 

 I'm hoping I can fall asleep soon

 and the headache doesn't return....ugh

update on "the cloud'

Some of my readers have been inquiring about ....the bed

Our new Tempurpedic Cloud

A few weeks ago I blogged about it
http://jackie000.blogspot.com/2011/12/after-much-thought-reading-reviews-and.html

http://jackie000.blogspot.com/2011/12/its-been-great-30-years.html

Here's the low-down.  As we were told by many people,
this bed takes a bit of "getting used to"!

The first night was horrific, we both tossed and turned all night,
woke up feeling like a mac truck hit us. 

Two weeks into it, the bed is beginning to break in as we were told it would.
The nights are getting better, Now I'm only waking up once, about 4-5 am.
I usually have to get up and walk around,
 then back to bed I go and can sleep until about 6:30 - 7:00 before
 my back is screaming "get up".  

As far as the back pain goes.... I was having that with the waterbed as well,... only worse.
So I think it's progress in that regard.
 When I used to get out of the waterbed I had all I could do to straighten up...then walk.
With the Tempurpedic, it's an ache but when I get up there is no pain,
and walking is not an issue.

We have decided to give it the 30 days that Tempurpedic recommends,
that's really the only fair way since this bed really needs the "break in" period.
At that time we will decide if we want to climb the ladder of softness and get the next step up, Tempurpedic Supreme or keep our "cloud".

I'm hoping the reviews will hold true and we will
 fall in love with our bed just like so many others have.

Time will tell and we got the time  :) 

Felt like jumpin' in the car for a little country drive....

Bucksnort Dam... a new favorite place 

The water was blue-green , so pretty

 Trout Run Creek on it's way up to the dam.

 Love this little store, used now as a storage unit

Saw 3 eagles today, here's a pair just waiting to be photographed.

I love getting into Amish country

One of the 3 buggies I passed

There are cows (somewhere) that are about to get some supper

30 years

30 years ago on this date, 

January 11, 1982

I began my nursing career

So many things have changed since then... I've seen so much

New life, death, joy, sadness, disasters, pain, sickness, healing, 

I've developed life long friend ships, and probably made a few enemies. 

I've comforted the grieving, rejoiced with good news, held many hands, hugged, cried, reassured, sat with, delivered good & bad news, walked with parent to see the child who didn't make it through surgery, I've picked people off the floor, sat with families on the floor, started a million IV's, advocated for my patients, used "tough love" when needed. 

I've cleaned up blood, puke and poop, 

given drug, drugs and more drugs. 

Got through things that you only think happen on TV

I've been on the Code team with CPR being second nature, 

 I've had to breath through my mouth when the smells in the room almost put me to the ground. 

I've seen things that I cant disclose, heard things I can't repeat.

My first love is being home,

 I'm so thankful that my sweet husband has supported me in only working half-time while we raised our family, and even though they are adult children he still lets me be half-time... I love having the time to spend with our grandchild.... it works for us  :)

Once I walk in the building, and get into my scrubs, my role changes... I become a nurse.
I really do love what I do.... caring for people who are in need of a smiling face and a little reassurance. 

Sometimes that's all you can offer them.

2 1/2  years Cardiac Surgical ICU

2 1/2  years Neuro Surgical ICU

16  years Emergency room

4  years Recovery room

5 years Interventional Radiology (sedation nurse) 

A nurses prayer.....

Give me strength and wisdom,

When others need my touch

A soothing word to speak to them

Their hearts yearn for so much

Give me joy and laughter 

To lift a weary soul

Pour in me compassion

To make the broken whole

Give me gentle, healing hands

For those left in my care

A blessing to those who need me

This is a nurses prayer

Allison Chambers Coxsey

Still....waiting on winter

My flag in the front garden says it all.....Let it snow

Record high again today, still no snow 

Not cool!

Midnight Blue

So it's not officially a full moon until 2:32 am tonight, 

but I'm calling it full now.

If you get a chance go on out and take a peek, it's so beautiful.

I got this right at dusk so the sky was beautiful as well

I'll call that color "Midnight Blue"

I remember as a kid I loved the color Midnight blue,

 It came in the bigger pack of Crayola, so they had to think of all kinds of different names

 for the many shades of blue.

I think Midnight blue is an accurate description!

I've love trying new recipes. 

A great place to find them is on Pintrest

(If you don't know what Pintrest is...."Google it")

Last night I tried this one....

Gnocchi Mac & Cheese

First I had to find 2 different cheeses that I have never heard of

Gruyere & Fontina

Being I had never heard of them I just figured I'd go here

 Cuz they have everything!

 This cheese sauce is amazing good

and so smooth

 The cute little potato Gnocchi all ready for the sauce

My husband being a "meat-eating" guy enjoyed it but I wouldn't have served it without

 some source of meat, so he got hotdogs on the side  :)

January's confused

No need to head south for the winter....

Is this really Minnesota in January?

Did we really just have a snowless Christmas? 

A nativity scene on the brown grass....

A snowman without snow...unacceptable!

We had a record high today of 55 degree

Most of the neighbors were out and about, 

three of us took our outdoor

Christmas lights down and got them put away. 

I'm still waiting on winter....

Tonights sunset on a warm winter's eve

Camera work

Rochester Mn...
home of the world famous Mayo Clinic (my employer)

I often see patients taking photo's, but I've never brought my camera with me to work.

Yesterday I ventured down to the Mayo campus to get a photo ID update

 so I brought my camera along.

We often take for granted the wonder health care we have right in our town

We know no different...which makes taking it for granted easy to do. 

I hear it every day from my patient who travel from far away places to be seen by "the best"

I am reminded quite often about how lucky I am to live here.

The Gonda building holds an amazing site above a grand staircase...

These blown-glass sculptures were created by famed artist Dale Chihuly. 

The entire installation hangs about the Mayo Nurse Atrium

It weighs 6000 lbs and has pieces that range from 225 lbs and 4 ft in diameter to 

1,225 lbs and 10 ft in diameter.

They are beautiful!

Down the grand stairway to the subway level 

you are greeted by this giant man....

"Man and Freedom"-- the familiar sculpture that adored the 

north exterior of the Mayo building for years, 

now anchors the south end of the Nathan Landow Atrium.

I remember as kids we used to giggle in the car when we drove past the guy, 

after all he is naked

 This Iron sculpture in one of the hallways is so cool, far left shows "the sisters" in front of St. Marys hospital. They founded St. Mary's hospital and were the first nurses that assisted the Mayo doctors. 

I captured only a small piece of this 63 ft double panel mural, that lines the walls from the Gonda building to the Damon parking garage. It's titled "My Brother and I," It represents the seasons of personal and professional life as experienced by Drs. William and Charles Mayo.

So there's just a touch of the Mayo Campus

It's a beautiful place to see, and a pretty good place to be employed  :)