Well, I am officially a Paramedic. That had to be one of the scariest tests I've ever taken. Now the great job search begins. I have been fortunate enough to stay home with my kids for the last 10yrs, but it's wreaking havoc on creating a resume. I have no idea what to put, how to write it, you name it. And then to know that I am qualified to make decisions to save someones life is terrifying. Everyone tells me that I'll get more confident as time goes on, and I settle in, but dang.

I am so excited to go back to work, it'll be a break for me! Not to mention I am finally going to be back on an ambulance. I have missed it every day since I left to have kids, and to come back as a Paramedic is really a dream come true.

A week of heartbreak

We put my sweet Henry to sleep on Wednesday. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. The vet was amazing, they put in a catheter so he wouldn't have lots of shots and have to sit and wait. He passed in my arms with his head on my heart, and I still can't believe how much it hurts. He's been my constant companion for 11yrs and I feel like there's a huge hole in my heart. I never understood why people had their pets cremated, but I understand now. When they asked us what we wanted to do I freaked out, the idea of not having him back was just too much. The vet also made a clay paw print for me, so we're just waiting for the call that his ashes are back and we can pick everything up.

Yesterday I got an email from my father that my Great Aunt Katherine died of a massive heart attack. She was one of the most amazing women I have ever known, and I'm doubly heartbroken. The world is now missing two amazing souls. To add to everything else, I'm trying to help my kids understand what's happened with the cat. Needless to say there have been a lot of tears shed in my house this past week.

Such a hard decision :(

My sweet kitty is not getting any better. I am afraid we have to make a decision I don't want to make. :( He's on pain medication, and we have to give him fluids under his skin I feel so awful for him. My youngest daughter had her ear drum rupture again so she'll be going to ENT to be scheduled to have tubes put into her ears.

My husband was out helping search for the little girl that is missing. Poor guy is so exhausted, they walked for hours. He is on a special team with the police department, and they were asked to come and help.

It feels like the weeks are flying by, and it was pointed out to me that Christmas is 78 days away. It is fun to see how excited the kids are about the holidays. We have a fair number of costumes figured out. I will have a Luke Skywalker, Princess Leah, Jedi, and a snow princess. We've decided that our pyreneese puppy (8mos old, 80lbs) can have a "name tag" that says Hello my name is Chewbaca. Not sure what my husband is going to dress up as, although he vetoed being a hotdog or banana. Having creative kids is so much fun!

Good grief last week was horrible. My youngest daughter not only had an ear infection, but ended up with a ruptured ear drum. She had to get shots of an antibiotic called Rocefin, which came out to two shots a day for three days. My husband has had it before and he said it feels like they are injecting hair gel into your leg. On top of that Henry, my cat, was diagnosed with heart failure. I've had him longer than I've been married, and it was pretty devastating news. His lungs were filled with fluid, as well as the space between his chest wall and lungs. His heart is also beating irregularly now. After a long talk with the vet, and a few tearful phone calls back and forth with Carrigan we decided that we owed it to Henry to try. Fortunately the medication he needs is cheap, but I'm still not sure if we're doing the right thing. He lost 3lbs in one week just from all the fluid that we got off of his lungs. He's pretty lethargic, but Carrigan thinks his body is just trying to adjust to all the changes from the medications. Our Vet told us that average life expectancy is 1yr, we may get 3-4yrs with him. I really hope he beats the odds.

Crazy week!

Yesterday was my 10yr anniversary! It's hard to believe that we've been married that long because it sure doesn't feel like it. Of course it was also a hectic day, I had a clinical in the OR, we had parent/teacher conferences for 3 kids, and a t-ball game. Yet everywhere I went I found a rose waiting for me, even at the kids school! I will admit I was a bit embarrassed though LOL. The kids conferences went well, we are having trouble keeping up with Grace (almost 8) she is in second grade and reading at about a 4th grade level. She is keeping her teacher, her dad and I on our toes trying to find appropriate reading material. To top off our wonderful anniversary the baby ended up sleeping in bed with us because her ear hurts. I really should stop calling her a baby she's 4 1/2, but we can't help it. Since her ear's still hurting she's bought herself a trip to the Dr, hopefully we've caught whatever is going on in time and she can avoid a hospital stay!

If everyone can manage to stay healthy then the grandparents are each taking 2 kids saturday night so Carrigan and I can go out on a date. Here's to hoping!

I'm never going to remember

So I'm starting to think that I need to set a reminder on my phone or I'm never going to remember to do this.

We've had a busy day. Ben, my nine year old, had a game this afternoon. He plays baseball, or as he likes to tell me baseball is his life! Ben got the game ball today because he scored the only run, was amazing at short stop, and then was pulled over to pitch so we could finish the inning. Ben was able to end the inning, and the game so even though we lost 16-1 at least it wasn't a shut out!