爸﹐父親節快樂！

I was taking care of a 90 some year old man yesterday. He was very nice and always appreciative. Even after we moved and turned him, which was really painful for him, he always thanked us and told us how nice we were to him. Today I came to work, and my co-workers told me this gentleman passed away this morning. I was a little shocked. Even given his age, he was doing not great but okay. I guess he has asked for a warm blanket, and an hour after the nurse gave him the blanket, they found him passed away in his sleep. We have seen so many patients that are just waiting to die with much suffering, so it's nice to see him die in peace and with dignity. I remember our last conversation was after waking him up for his bedtime meds, I joked and told him I wouldn't bother him again. Then he took my hand and told me I'm no bother and how nice I am. He said if they ask him about me, he would say all the good things about me. Not sure who "they" are, but I hope he's telling those in heaven nice things about me right now, hee.

I'm counting down the days until I'm retired. What a long way to go. After working a real job for almost 5 years now, I still don't have my retirement account set up. I need to talk to some smart people. I have so many things I need to get done right now. Even though I have so much time, I have so little energy to do anything. I'm too lazy to even go to a movie. I still need to apply for citizenship. I can't believe how much money and time we have spent on this.

Schroeder has finally mellowed down some. He's not as scatty as he used to be. Thank goodness. I hope he will continue to improve, otherwise I will have to fedex him to my starving cousin in China. Just kidding. He still loves to bark at strangers and things, especially our neighbor who wears wifebeater all the time. Last night, he started barking nonstop at nothing. We think he might have seen some fireflies or bunnies. What a wuss.

哎喲！好久未寫部落格了。除了因為自己懶的個性外﹐還有其他原因。其實有時也受不了自己的懶惰﹐現在手頭上實在是太多東西要辦﹐但總是提不起勁做﹐怎辦﹖為了方便日後寫部落格﹐我決定又一次將中英文版合拼﹐希望真的有幫助。

最近小狗終於開始定性﹐沒有以前那種過度活躍﹐真的拜託了﹗因為牠之前的那個無時停的情況﹐害我們差點將牠送去動物協會。不過牠還是很愛吠﹐昨晚更在後院吠個不停﹐我想牠大概是見到野兔或熒火蟲那些小動物﹐膽小狗﹗

It was my first time as a charge nurse tonight. Like always, things got a little crazy in the 1st four hours. We had one situation where we needed to transfer a patient to a critical bed but there wasn't any available. The nurse that was taking care of that patient was so overwhelmed and falling behind. There's nothing I could do about the bed situation, so I helped that nurse taking care of her other patients on top of my own group of patients. I felt so frustrated because I felt like there should be more I could do to help that nurse. But I think in the end, everything turned out okay. We were able to finally send that patient to a critical floor, and everything else were under control. It was a good experience I think. Would I do that again? Only if I have to.

On a different subject, we found Schroeder missing when we came home from work last night. Peter walked around the neighborhood but found nothing. I was devastated. I was worried what could have happened to Schroeder. I thought we had lost him forever. (Peter would love that) This morning I got a call from the animal control people. They found Schroeder. Actually when I answered the phone, the first thing they said to me was "Are you missing something?". We had to pay $50(ransom) to get Schroeder back. I guess Schroder must have gotten our of the fence and was standing at our sidewalk, when someone saw him and took him to the authority. I'm glad Schroeder is finally home.

My plan for today was going to garage sales and started my crafty projects. I have never been a crafty person, but I am creative. But my plans failed because I was too sleepy to go to garage sales, and I ended up having to work in the afternoon. I'm hoping tomorrow I can get some of that done.

I hate keeping secret. I'm keeping a huge one right now, it's killing me.

I'm more exhausted from work today than usual. I had a good assignment actually, but something has been bothering me lately that makes work more dreadful. I have been thinking about switching to a different shift for quite some time now. I have not weighed out all the pros and cons yet, but it seems to be 50/50. I also have to consider how this is going to work out with us sharing one car. I don't know what to do anymore.

Happy Mother's Day!

Just got home from KC tonight. It was nice to see the family and celebrated mother's day together. The only bad part was grandma's basement was flooded last week, and there's mold all over. Not only was it a health hazard down there, we couldn't turn on the AC because we had to keep the windows opened to air out the basement. It was 70 some degree there, and there were at least 25 of us in that house. The heat also made me really sleepy. Even though we were only gone for one night, I was so glad to be home. I guess I didn't realize how much I love being at home. We don't have a fancy house, just an old brick house that is still a work in progress, espeically the basement. We try to keep our house clean, but there are still small amount of messiness here and there that are just reflections of our personalities. After a long of work or a trip away, the familiar smell and feeling I get when I walk into the door makes me feel at ease. I am content here.

I did some changes to the site while at work. Apprently I was hardly working. I discovered Flickr toys . I love their profile widget. It's simply stylish. I recently developed a great interest in making sock animals. I always have a weakness for cute things. Ever since I saw the sock doggie episode on That's Clever! I can't stop thinking about it. I found some instructions online on how to make sock dog, monkey, and even elephant. I can't wait to get started. First I need to get myself a sewing machine. I hope I can have some pictures to show soon. I added links to some crafty sites. They are my inspiration. I want to become a crafter.

My feet hurt so bad. I worked until 3am yesterday, and I'm still recovering from it. I stayed late to help. I felt like I didn't help much because there was so much to do. Those night nurses are always running their butt off, and yet they are the least recognized. I know because I worked night for couple years. Lately, I have been feeling burnout from my job. Sometime I just want to quit my job and do something completely different. But then , I look my patients and am reminded why I do what I do. This is my calling, and I can't let my frustration get to my head. I was proud of myself tonight. There's a situation at work that upset a lot of us, and somehow I got the courage to call one of our managers and expressed my frustration. I'm so sick of people trying to be lazy when others are trying to keep their heads above water. Now I know why I'm starting to get gray hair.

The other day, I was helping one of the nurses with her new admission. It was an older gentleman patient who had been on our floor before. He's so cute. Anyway, we got to talking about my background. He asked me about my nationality. I told him I'm Chinese. Right away he asked, "Hey, what do you guys call those fat wrestlers in your country?" "Sumo wrestlers," I told him, " and they are in Japan." Then he started to talk about what those guys wear and started singing "itsy bitsy teenie weenis yellow polka dot bikini" Haha...

One of the bad things about working only 3 days a week is I have a tendancy to become really lazy. I think if I have a busier schedule, I can keep myself occupied and be more productive. I'm not self motivated when it comes to hard working. I always give my 100% once I'm at work, the problem is I hate being at work. Maybe the 12 hours shift is starting to get to me. I guess you can't have everything.

So I heard a lot of bad reviews on Spider-Man3 from other poeple too. The only people seem to enjoy it are little kids. I want to know what happened to the writer who surprisingly wrote all three Spider-Man. Did they cut his salary or piss him off? Maybe he has been watching too much Lifetime tv? Seriously, the lines in this one can't be cheesier. Now that I have written two entries about how bad Spider-Man3 sucks, don't say I didn't warn you. I only wish someone warned me before.

I'm glad I don't have to work monday because I get to watch Dancing With The Stars. I don't know why people are giving Len Goodman a hard time. He's my favorite judge. Such a classy man. I wish the judges will dance on the show. I would love to see their moves.

Boy, what a fun day for Schroeder. I took him with me while I ran some errands this afternoon. He was being a good boy. I could tell he really enjoyed the car ride. Then I took him to a nearby park. I didn't realize we have such a beautiful park here. It has a big lake in it and a dog park. I may get Schroeder a permit for the dog park. We took a long walk along the lake and the trail. Schroeder even got a little dip in the water. It's his first, so he freaked out a little. He may eventually warm up to it I hope.

Went to see Spider Man today. I have to say I was very disappointing. Even though I didn't have much expectation, I expected it to be better than the second one since the second one was better than the first. I thought it was way too long even with every 15 minutes action scenes. Half way through the movie, I found myself completely bored and not care for any of the character. Also there were many corny moments that had me rolling my eyes. I seriously enjoyed watching the previews more than the movie itself. At least we were smart enough to watch the matinee.

Some of the previews that got me excited about the summer blockbusters are Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End coming out May 25 and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix which comes out July 13. My gosh! Has it really been a year since the last Pirates movie? This time they got Chow Yun-Fat in it, my favorite Hong Kong actor.

It was a perfect day. We had our meeting with our pastor today. It went well as usual. He's such an amazing minister. We are inspired to becoming memebers of this church. Then we drove around town for groceries. We had barbecue lamb, saffron risotto, and corn for dinner. I was not a big fan of the barbecue lamb. I don't really like the lamb meat taste, I prefer to have it cooked in some kind of sauce or spice to take away that taste. After dinner we took Schroeder to a nearby park. He ran alongside Peter, and we played fetch with a stick. He was having so much fun. You could see his big smile the whole time. He's getting used to sleeping outside now. It really saves us a lot of hassle. We don't have to get up early to let him out anymore. Last night, he even slept in his dog house I got him. Smart doggie. It was a wonderful day for Schroeder and for me too. I'm ready for a long night of rest and cuddle.

We went to the Gateway Market today. It just opened up last week. They sell a lot of gourmet food and have a big selection of cheese and freshly baked bread. We had lunch at their cafe. I had the Tokyo style ramen noddle, and Peter had the burger. Honestly, I think they are little pricey for the kind of food they serve. Also I noticed a lot of the groceries they offer can also be found in the local grocery stores. I'm not really impressed. I think it's just another gimmick to price up some ordinary products, because nowaday, most grocery stores have imported products that don't cost as much. I'm sure it will still do well though, because there are many people who are suckers for this kind of things.

I bought Schroeder a dog house today. We are trying to make him an outside dog. It took little time to assemble, but I had to work up a sweat to get it outside. It wouldn't fit through the back door. I had to take the roof off, which was the part that took the longest to put together, and reassembled it outside. I'm not sure if Schroeder likes it, but he'd better use it. I also bought Orlando some scratching tools. One of them came with a little bag of catnip. I was supposed sprinkle it onto the scartching pad, but I didn't because that stuff makes cats crazy. Orlando was already rubbing himself on the bag that the catnip was in. After I threw it in the trash, he was rubbing against the trash can. Catnip is evil!

Tonight I watched the new show The Real Wedding Crashers. I thought it was kinda funny. I like it better than other punk shows. I always feel awkard and sometimes bad for the people that are being punked or doing the punk, because sometimes people get really angry. But this time the grooms and the brides are in for it, and since it's their big day, the guests can't really be mad at them. I don't think I can ever punk anyone, because I can't keep a straight face.

I LOVE...
Going to pet stores.
Going to the zoo.
Coca-Cola.
Staying home on a rainy day.
Putting on makeup.
Waking up early in the morning.
Sleeping in occasionally.
Shopping alone.
Family gathering.
Taking baths.
Wearing perfume.
Curling my hair.
Cuddling with Orlando.
Playing with Schroeder.
Spending time with my hubby.
Looking at old pictures.
Christmas.
Weddings.

I HATE...
Waking up early in the morning when I have been staying up late the night before.
Loud noises.
Bananas.
Snow.
Lazy people.
Reading.
Bad hair day.
Pimples.
Socializing.
Darkness.
Working on the weekend.
Schroeder barking in the morning.
Being irrational.
Immoralities.

I think I'm a loner. Besides spending time with my husband, I prefer to be alone. It's different with him because we are as one, so being with him is like being with myself. I love the freedom of being alone. You don't have to compromise or negotiate. Occasionally, I enjoy having a good time with my friends, but it doesn't happen often. Even when I'm with my friends, I prefer to stay very low key. I'm also very particular about who I hang out with. It's very tiring to be with people I don't care for. I don't make friends easily. It takes a lot for me to open up to someone. I look at other people who have a big circle of friends, I say good for them. Then I look at myself, so far I can count my close friends with one hand with couple fingers to spare. But I love that though because it makes our friendship so much more special and significant.

It was a fun filled weekend visiting my friend Wing in Minneapolis. We ate plenty of good food and went shopping every chance we got. This is the first trip we have taken since we got Schroeder. We really missed him during the trip, especially when we saw the cute dog commercial on TV. The one where bunch of puppies running around in a museum singing, so adorable. I don't know what they did to Schroeder, but he has calmed down a lot since he came back from the kennel, and he smells and looks better. The cat apprently missed us too, because he wouldn't leave us alone ever since we came home.

Today I went shopping for some makeup. (More shopping yet?) I have been using Bobbi Brown makeup for a while. I like how most of her makeup are yellow based, which are suitable to most women, even caucasians. She's all about enhancing women's nautral beauty without looking all madeup, perfect for my minimalist taste. I also bought one of her books. It's pretty lame to read a cosmetic book, but there are a lot of tips in there on makeup technique and how to look good in every age group. I know how you look doesn't change who you are, but it sure changes the way you feel sometimes. You don't have to put a lot of time to make yourself look nice. You just can't go into an interview or a party looking like you just roll out of bed. This is part of taking care of ourselves, we shouldn't be so lazy about it. Besides, it shows others respect when you look well-kept. So the little extra time you spend in the morning to get yourself ready is well worth it. You just don't want to make your appearance to be your number one priority, because then you become narcissistic.

Something to share.

I was the secretary on our floor today. It was so much fun, and it's a nice change. I may do it again tomorrow. I signed up extra this weekend because we are going to Minneapolis next week, and I need to make some extra cash for it. I'm so looking forward to it. It's always fun going to see my frieng Wing. It's my chance to get in touch with my asian culture.