Trying to Stay Busy (And Succeeding)

The last few weeks have been a flurry of activity, thanks to nice weather and a little girl who doesn't do well being stuck inside. We're in that nice little interim when it's hot enough to enjoy playing outside for most of the day but not so hot that you give up with being outside after about 10 AM (that will hit soon with the triple digits). We've been hitting lots of playgrounds and the splash pad, or sometimes we keep it simple and hang out at home. Either way Mira is loving it.

Enjoying a popsicle.

I would like to point out Mira's excellent fashion sense. Who would have thought to pair a sundress with fur boots?

Mark started a precedent. Now every time he mows Mira insists on helping.

We've also let Grandma have a turn with Mira so Mommy can get some rest.

One day we hung out at my sister Sara's house so we could introduce my family to the movie Frozen. Mira sang along with all the songs but if anyone else tried to join in she told us, "NO!" most emphatically.

The aftermath of all this activity hopefully ends up looking like this.

Mira is in that terrible stage where she still really needs a nap every day but she won't take one, so by the end of the day she is an absolute monster because she is so tired. Every once in awhile, if she's tired enough, I can take her to bed with me (our room is really dark so sleeping after a night shift is possible) and she'll fall asleep with me, then I can sneak out and let her rest while I get stuff done. Or I'll nap too. I seriously regret all those missed naptime opportunities as a child.

If she's not tired enough to actually fall asleep near the end of the day we can still sometimes get her to settle down and snuggle - which just makes us all kinds of happy. Snuggles with your kid is one of life's best experiences.

The worst is when we've both had a long day and even though I know Mira is exhausted she gets hyped up and fights sleep for the longest time. Mark must have taken these pictures while I was at work one night because I don't recall taking these but clearly Mira was enjoying being a goof at bedtime. I really admire how he can play with Mira and get all silly with her - I'm just not good at that. But I love watching them play together.

And now for some Mira quotes.

Me: "What's your name?"

Mira: "Mee-ya!"

Me: "Very good! How old are you?"

Mira: "Three!"

Me: "Yes, you are three. How old will you be on your next birthday?"

Mira: "Four!"

Me: "How old am I?"

Mira: "Two!"

Me: "Really? Wow. I'm actually thirty."

Mira: "No, you two."

Mark: "How old am I?"

Mira: "Nine."

Me: "Don't feel bad, ten's as high as she can count so you're not that old."

Another time she was dancing around trying to make it as difficult as possible to get undressed before bedtime and after she took off her underwear she patted her backside.

Mira: "Me little baby butt." *points at me* "You big big butt!"

One day I wore a tee shirt with an open back and when Mira noticed she got very concerned.

Mira: "Mommy! You's shirt is broken!"

Me: "My shirt is broken? You mean because there's a hole?"

Mira: "Yeah!"

Me: "Oh. It's actually supposed to be like that."

Mira: "No, it's broken!"

I've noticed trying to change Mira's mind about something gets about as much accomplished as telling with a brick wall to change into a herd of elephants.

We decided to try our hand at gardening a bit this year so we planted what I'm calling our "salsa garden" in the front yard: cilantro, tomatoes, jalapenos and one habanero.

Mark also went out and got me a zucchini plant a few days later because I love zucchini. So now we'll see if my self-described reputation as a plant hospice worker is well-earned or if enough Miracle-Gro will keep the plants alive anyway.

And if you're wondering why our garden is in the front yard, it's because we don't want the chickens eating everything for us. Those chickens have got to be the most fowly (groan) spoiled poultry that ever lived. They think Mark is the Mama Hen because every time he walks around in the yard all six of them follow him everywhere. And when he sits on the trampoline they try to join him.

We still have eggs up to our ears so spoiling them has its benefits. One day we got this bizarrely colored egg. We're not sure which hen it came from but I've never seen anything like this before.

And of course, our cats. They make up for all the sleep I wish I was getting.

A couple weeks ago we went to the Utah Scottish Festival and Highland Games. I'd never gone to a Highland Games before so I was really excited. Mark got into the spirit and wore a kilt to the Games.

He's wearing the official tartan of the Freemasons. If you zoom in on the picture you'll see the Freemason symbol on his sporran, his belt buckle, and on the sides of his socks. The cool part is there was at least one other person wearing the same tartan at the Games that he ran into, and he met up with another Mason who recognized the tartan and Masonic symbols. Now that's how a secret society should work!

We watched some of the athletics and I have to say those guys are crazy strong. There was actually a world record set with one of the events. We watched some of the dance competitions and the pipe band competitions.

My favorite part was the opening ceremony. Here are some pictures from that.

Now those are some awesome dress outfits.

And there's nothing quite like hearing dozens of bagpipes blasting out "Scotland the Brave."

Mira had fun for a little while but she tires out so quickly around crowds that it doesn't take long before she's running around trying to get herself lost and having meltdown after meltdown. It's hard for the adults to enjoy seeing what we came to see when she's at the end of her rope. We tried going to the airshow at the Air Force Base this weekend and by the time we actually got to the part of the base where the action was happening she was already done. She had tantrum after tantrum and nothing made her happy so we ended up leaving early before we could see the Thunderbirds and the Blue Angels. I think she was disappointed because she thought she could go for a ride on all the planes. Mark reminded me that her behavior is totally appropriate and my response is I know she's behaving completely appropriately for her age but that doesn't mean it's not frustrating for me.

In other news, Mark is now working as a CNA at a care facility near us so it'll be really nice to get a little bit of extra income now. He was supposed to take his state exam a few weeks ago but that got pushed back. He'd been playing hockey and pulled a muscle. He waited a few days and it got better so he went back and played hockey again and, guess what, re-injured himself. But every time he coughed or sneezed or did anything to increase his intrathoracic pressure he would get shooting pain down his abdomen to his thigh, which didn't sound much like a pulled muscle to either of us, so finally he went in to the InstaCare, and came out with a referral to a general surgeon. So instead of taking his CNA test he went to an appointment with a surgeon to talk about getting a hernia repaired. And of course the surgeon told him that unless he's still hurting in 3 months he's not going to get surgery. We trust this guy's opinion, since apparently all he does is repair hernias, but seriously, 3 months?? So sadly Mark's hockey season is done so he can heal up and he had to reschedule his exam. But he's doing better so fingers crossed. I know he'll pass with flying colors - you'd have to be pretty stupid to not pass the CNA exam.

I had an exam of my own to take last week. I decided earlier this year to take the pediatric CCRN (critical care registered nurse) exam, which is a national certification for ICU nurses. To be eligible you have to prove you've worked X hours in the last Y number of years taking care of ICU patients. I've been stressing for months because on the practice tests I'd been scoring 60-70% correct and you need 75% to pass the test. I was so scared taking the test! I was so sure I was failing. It felt like a really hard exam, and in some ways it felt worse than the NCLEX (nursing boards) because of how detailed the questions were. (It also probably didn't help that I was still recovering from a horrid bout of food poisoning a couple days prior. I got sick from food I ate from the hospital cafeteria and almost had Mark take me in to the InstaCare or ER so I could get IV fluids. I was unbelievably sick and Mark says he's never seen me so sick. He took good care of me though and I managed to recover - but it does take a few days to bounce back from something like that. Maybe the worst part of being sick was hearing Mira crying for me all day because she didn't understand why she was locked out and why Mommy wasn't coming out. When it was bedtime Mark finally brought her in to say goodnight and she rested her head on me and smiled - all she'd wanted was Mommy. Really brings it into perspective how much your little kid actually does need you.)

Anyway the point of all that is that I was convinced I'd bombed the test but at least they give you your results before you leave and - I passed!! And with an 89% score! So now my official title is RN, BSN, CCRN. (If you're not in nursing, that all stands for Registered Nurse, Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Critical Care Registered Nurse.) As far as my job goes it really won't change much, except that it looks good on a resume and I get a sense of pride and accomplishment for proving that I'm a specialized nurse. I'm the sort of person that gets really excited seeing a bunch of titles after my name. I like that it's a concrete way of showing that I've accomplished something. Apparently at some point I'll get a wall plaque for further bragging purposes and I'll make sure to display that prominently when it shows up.