Long time, no blog....

So, I haven't blogged in a while. Mostly because not much has been going on. I've extended my contract in Winston and will be here till the end of the year. I was able to work it out in my contract that I have Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off, which is great. But, on the flip side, I'm now working nights. And today, being the day of the SEC Championship game, I woke up at four in the afternoon and poured myself a lovely Jack and Diet Coke. Watching the game, sipping my beverage, I thought it would be the perfect time to catch up on some blogging.

Since I last blogged, my great Birmingham buddy, Elizabeth, came to visit me for a weekend! I thought this would be the perfect time to really explore my new town. We had lunch Saturday at Mellow Mushroom (where by the way, we saw the absolute world's best mullet) then tried to explore. We quickly found there wasnt' much to see here, so we headed back to the apartment for some SEC football. We did venture out later for some drinks at 6th & Vine. On a side note: Winston-Salem is the birthplace of cigarettes, therefore smoking will never be banned in restaurants or bars - really makes me appreciate going out for a drink in Birmingham!
Sunday we journeyed to Chapel Hill for lunch and some window shopping. We were at lunch at the Top of the Hill when we realized we had not taken any pictures of the weekend - so this is all we got:

After Elizabeth's visit, I worked, worked and worked. The weekend before Thanksgiving I flew home to Birmingham for a long weekend with friends and my Nana's 80th Birthday! Thursday night, a bunch of the girls had a fabulous Mexican dinner at the Caz - I love my girls! Then Friday night, we celebrated Alli's birthday with dinner at my fav - Surin! This was followed by stops at Dave's, Oasis, and gasp-the Barking Kudu. Unfortunately the night ended with Chris, Elizabeth and I participating in a Guitar Hero tournament until 4am!!!

Saturday, we celebrated my fabulous Nana's 80th Birthday!!! She's such a wonderful woman and is so loved by her entire family - which includes three children plus their spouses, seven grandchildren (now 10 with spouses), and three beautiful great-grandbabies. This was the first time in a long time that ALL of us had been together, so we took advantage of the situation and had a major photo shoot! After dinner at the Cypress Inn, we went back to Nana's for cake, ice cream, and a beautiful video my parents had put together to document the past 80 years.

I LOVE YOU NANA!! HAPPY 80TH!!

After the weekend, I flew back to WS and worked Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights. I have been a nurse for a year and a half now, and had never been a part of a true Code Blue. Well, that all changed Monday night. My second night working night shift, my patient full-out coded on me - not fun! He was fine in the end, but I was quite shaken. To make matters worse, on Tuesday night, I happened by a room of another patient (who I was not taking care of that night) and SHE coded!! She, too, was fine afterwards, but I am NOT a big fan of night shift thus far!!

After those three rough nights and little sleep, I was ready to go home and be with my family for Thanksgiving. For the past twenty-plus years, we have spent our Thanksgivings with the Esteps - Jeff, Jane, Kevin and Jon, plus the two newest editions, Kevin's wife, MaryAnna, and baby boy, Miller. Kevin and Jon are probably the closest thing to brothers (until Thad) that Alli, Kate and I have ever known. We usually only see each other once a year, but we cherish the time we have together!!

So, I slept about three hours Wednesday morning and drove to Asheville, where I stopped to get Jon. We rolled into Laurelwood (my parents place in North Georgia) just in time for dinner. Thursday was filled with the usual - turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, casseroles, and huge balloons. Friday, Dad surprised us with an awesome scavenger hunt! He split us into teams and sent us scurrying aroung SkyLake and Helen looking for yard art, pine cones, and rocks, and making us do all sorts of silly things - YMCA pose with a construction worker, take our picture in a horse drawn carriage and a canoe, and get two strangers to pose with Auburn and Bama hats on. We all had so much fun and it was a perfect way to run off those Thanksgiving calories!!

Saturday was rainy so we played Dominoes with the adults and Little People with the babies, watched football and were just plain lazy. We won't go into any great detail on the football portion of the day - let's just say it wasn't pretty.We had a great time, just being with family and relaxing!

Kate's Visit

This past weekend, Kate came for a quick visit! She and Jean drove in late Friday night and we went for a couple of beers at Foothills Brewing Company. Jean left Saturday morning for Chapel Hill and Kate and I headed west towards Blowing Rock.

Our family usually spends every Thanksgiving in Blowing Rock with our friends, the Esteps. This year, however, we're going to stay closer to home and enjoy Thanksgiving at our house in North Georgia. But, Kate and I needed our Blowing Rock fix, so decided to make to hour and half trip for the day. Because we're usually there in late November, we never get to see the leaves at their best, so this was something we were both looking forward to.

We walked around downtown BR, popping into all the great stores and enjoying a delicious lunch at the Storie Street Grill - a turkey and avacodo sandwich for me, and a bacon, brie and apple panini for Kate - yum!! When we couldn't eat anymore, we drove up to the old house we rented for a quick drive-by, then onto the Parkway. We stopped at every overlook and just enjoyed the gorgeous fall weather and beautiful scenery!

When we got back from Blowing Rock we met Heather and Ashley for dinner at a crazy little sushi place. Neither one of the girls had had sushi before and they wanted Kate and me to introduce them to it - that didn't go over too well. I though Heather was going to vomit at our table!! We had so much fun, though, catching up on the past twenty years and reminiscing on the first nine!
After dinner, we met Kate's friend Duncan at Finnigan's Pub downtown for a couple of pints of Smithwicks and some laughs! We had a great weekend and I'm so glad she was able to come visit!! Love you, Kate!!!

Destination Auburn!!

This past weekend, I played dumb and pretended there wasn't a gas shortage across the US and ventured out on a Road Trip. Destination: Auburn!! (By way of Marietta and Birmingham)

I left Friday for Marietta and enjoyed a fabulous Mexican meal with Alli and the kiddos and Amanda, Benji and Emily Green. Sweet Miss Emily is so precious - it was great to visit with her and catch up with her momma and daddy.

Saturday morning, bright and early - off to The Loveliest Village on the Plains! We had a fabulous tailgate with Chris, Tipi, Wesley and Colt, Heath, Casey and Savannah, Maggie and Elizabeth - and my dear friend Jack (with a little DC)! The game was hot and not very well-played, but fun still - a win is a win. Chris - thanks for taking me to the game! Casey and Heath - thanks for letting me crash at Casa Stewart!

Sunday, I spent the day with my cousin, Stephanie, her husband Chad, and their baby girl, Izzy. Their new house is beautiful and that sweet baby is so stinkin' precious!! I love her beautiful red hair!!

That night, I had dinner with my favorite Birmingham friends - Steph and Chad, Chris, Maggie, Elizabeth, Sally, Lauren, Allison and Stewart - at one of my favorite Birmingham restaurants - La Paz! Sally - thanks for letting me stay with you!

To wrap up the trip, I got to spend some quality time at home with Mom and Dad. The Penuels came over for dinner and to model their Halloween costumes, which were handmade by their ultra-talented Mom by the way! (I'll post those pics later)

I made it back to Winston Tuesday afternoon, with a full tank of gas, and ready to get back to work. I'll be laying low the next couple of weeks - just working and trying to pick up some overtime to pay for all the gas bought this weekend!!

Rock the Block

Last Friday, I met my friend BrYan at Rock the Block in downtown Winston. It's an annual street festival with live bands and street vendors, promoting downtown businesses. The weather was incredible - fall is definitely in the air!

So, BrYan's brother's band played on the main stage - The Eric Dodd Band - and they were AWESOME!! I'd never heard them before, but had heard how incredible they were - and they definitely were. They had a great show - apparently the largest crowd ever to that stage - and sold out of their cd's! Please head over to their website - www.myspace.com/ericdoddband - and take a listen! Here are some pics from the show:

Wilkes Barksdale Gee

On my way home from Hilton Head yesterday, I stopped in Charlotte to see one of my best friends, Mollie, her husband, Jon, and their new beautiful baby, Wilkes. Mollie and I met five years ago when I first moved to Birmingham - we worked together at Ann Taylor LOFT while she was in grad school and I was trying to figure out what to do with my life. And we've been fabulous friends since! They moved to Charlotte last year after Jon finished his residency and this was the first time I'd been to their beautiful home.

Wilkes is two months old and this was the first time I got to meet him - and he's PRECIOUS! It took a while to wake him up to meet me, but once he was awake he wouldn't stop talking - just going on and on about all the fabulous things two-month-olds do! And, he's modeling one of Kate's Tater Tot Tees

Fun in the Sun

I just got back from a FABULOUS time in Hilton Head visiting my little sista, Kate. I had a long "weekend" on the Island - I drove down Wednesday and stayed till Sunday - I love nurses' schedules!!

Wednesday night, we had a delicious dinner with my godmother, Clyde and Kate's roommates, Hannah and Jean...

Thursday was a lazy, rainy day. Kate worked and I napped (two hours on the couch, out like a light!).

Friday I spent a couple hours on the beach reading The Shack (great book, only half way through). Later, Kate and I took Teddy and Emily to horseback riding...


Then a yummy seafood chimichanga at Mi Tierra...

...and off to the Indigo Girls concert at the Shoreline Ballroom - a great, intimate venue on Hilton Head. The music was great and we even witnessed a lesbian proposal!! After the concert, drinks on the town.

Saturday, we celebrated Anne's birthday with brunch at Sunrise, ladderball and reading on the beach, and dinner at Captain Woody's.

I had a great time and love hanging out with my sister anytime!! She loves being in Hilton Head and I see why - she's got fabulous friends and they always have a fabulous time!! Thanks, Kate! I LOVE YOU!!

Work, work, work

I feel like that's all I've been doing! I worked three in a row last week, spent a day exploring (aka getting lost in) Winston, and had brunch with Heather and Livy on Saturday. Then, back to work on Sunday for another three in a row. Things at work are good - I miss the Special, for sure. The girls are nice and helpful and that makes it easier on me.

But, I'm off for FIVE IN A ROW!!! And I'm heading to Hilton Head in the morning to visit my beautiful baby sis! Days in the sand reading a good book....ahhhh. An Indigo Girls concert Friday night...how fun!! And the day Saturday cruising the Intercoastal Waterway in a boat - it doesn't get any better than that!! I'll post pictures when I return.

sidenote...I cannot stand the way the new Kelly Taylor character (from the new 90210) cries - it's so nasty!! I think she looks like Lord Voldermort! Anybody else watching this and agreeing with me?

Friends from Forever ago!

This morning I had brunch with two very old friends - my best friend from fourth grade and her sister, Kate's best friend from first grade!! Heather and Ashley left Marietta the summer before we started fifth grade and moved to Winston-Salem. For several years we kept up with each other through letters, but, of course, that eventually stopped.

As we were driving into Winston last Saturday, I suddenly remembered that the Roses had moved here all those years ago. We found a phonebook, looked up their parents, and found that they still lived about five miles from my apartment! Then, through the fabulous world of Facebook, I found Ashley!! After a few emails back and forth, we decided to meet for brunch this morning and reconnect.

It was so great to see them after TWENTY years! And I got to meet Heather's beautiful baby girl, Livy! We reminisced about old times - Friday night pizza sleepovers, watching Dirty Dancing and thinking Penny was "sick", walking to the neighborhood pool, and our "Best Friend" necklaces (Heather was Be Fri and I was St End)!!! Good times!

I hope I get to see more of them while I'm here in Winston!

First Days on the Unit

After a day of rest on Wednesday, I hit the ground running on Thursday. I was supposed to be on the Unit at 6:30am - super early for me! And, this hospital is HUGE! It's probably the size of UAB & Children's combined, but instead of covering several city blocks, it's all crammed into one with different towers and bridges. Needless to say, it's very easy to get lost in this place. So, to give myself enough time to drive to the hospital, park and walk the 3 miles, 4 elevators and 5 bridges to find my Unit, I left my apartment at 5:30am - and woke up at 4:30!!!

So far, I think I'm going to like working on this Unit. The girls seem helpful and appreciative of me. They are extremely short staffed at the moment - which could be good and bad for me. Good because it means I probably won't get called off and should be able to work some overtime. Bad because we're still short-staffed with me and the nurse:patient ratio isn't great. We have a lot of cardio patients on this unit so I really need to sharpen my cardio skills!

But, after two twelve hour plus days, I'm exhausted and excited to spend my Saturday on the couch watching movies and football!

WAR EAGLE!!

First Day and Nasty Sick

UGGGHH!! Today was my first day and I went through an entire box of Kleenex, 4 Tylenol Cold & Sinus and a half a bag of Halls! Long, uneventful day filled with tests, reading and PowerPoints. I'm one of three travel nurses who started today, so I spent the day with two other girls. Tomorrow we learn the computer system, I have Wednesday off to recover from this nasty cold, then work on the Unit for 12 hours Thursday and Friday. I'm really looking forward to getting on the Unit and seeing what it's going to be like. But, I don't want to be anywhere near those babies with this junk!
It's 5:30 now...I think I'm going to eat dinner, take a Benadryl, and hit the sack!
More to come later...

A Whirlwind Week

Well, I'm here in Winston-Salem now! This past week has been a complete whirlwind. Mom came to Birmingham last Friday to help me pack up...the movers came on Sunday to move everything to storage...then I worked Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, while being homeless. Fortunately, my fabulous friend, Sally, let me crash at her house (Thanks again, Sally & Leslie!!) while I finished up my last few days at Children's.
After saying goodbye to all my buddies in the Special, I headed over to St. Vincent's for the birth of my cousin's baby girl - Isabella Claire (http://aemcpherson.blogspot.com/2008/08/introducing-my-niece-isabella-claire.html).
After a brief day and a half in Marietta, Mom and I hit the road for Winston. We stopped in Greenville to pick up Jane, and arrived here around 3pm Saturday. My apartment is great - clean, spacious, bright, and HIGH - it's on the third floor! We spent the evening hauling boxes up two flights of stairs, then unpacking and getting settled. Here's the finished product:




ps...that's Mobi's monkey on the floor next to the chair, not something nasty!

Winston-Salem here I come!

So, I finally accepted a position at Brenner Children's Hospital in Winston-Salem, NC! My last day in Birmingham is August 21st and I start in W-S on August 25th.

I'm so excited about my new adventure, but hate leaving all my friends in Birmingham, especially the girls I work with - I will never find a group of girls like them anywhere! We all work together so well ~ and that was perfectly exemplified tonight! Love you girls!

Keep reading and I'll keep updating...