On the road again....

Well, the kids and I have a busy day scheduled for today. Cody has (yet another) golf tournament today. This one is at the Borger Country Club in Borger, TX. He is paired with one of his best friends, so I am sure he will have a really good time today. After the tournament the kids and I are heading to my parent's. I decided to break up the trip, so we are driving to just outside of Oklahoma City, staying the night in a hotel and finishing our drive tomorrow. I know today is going to be an exhausting one, so say a little prayer for me for a safe trip. We will be coming home on Sunday.
I hope everyone has a great week. I'll be sure and post some pictures and details of our trip once we are home.
Love you,
~jen

Tied for 4th

Cody tied for 4th place today at his tournament. He played really well, especially considering our wonderful Texas Panhandle winds howling at 30-40 mph! His next tournament is on Tuesday in Borger.
Enjoy the pictures!
~jen

(A sharp-dressed young man!)

(Taking a break while waiting to tee off.)

(Let's check out Cody's score card!)

Pictures of Golf & Tee-ball, and Other Stuff

Here are some pictures from Caden's tee-ball game last Thursday evening.

(Cade looks like he is praying for

someone to hit the ball!)

Here are some pictures from Cade's tee-ball game last night. I wish I had brought my video camera. There were so many kids from our team who almost forgot how to play baseball. One little girl ran from home to third, all the way around to first and still didn't get out! It was too cute!

(I love the old man in the background yawning!)

Here are some pictures of Cody's tournament from yesterday. He played at Tascosa Country Club. I didn't take any pictures of the houses in the area! I sure enjoyed the scenery, though! Cody finished a close 4th. He was right in there with the leaders. He probably could have won this one, but on the 10th hole a little girl screamed for her brother right in the middle of Cody's back swing causing him to shank the ball well to the left of the course and it ended up in a creek on another hole. This of course just ate at him for about 3 holes. Finally, he let it go and started to play well again! He had a good time overall, and that's all that matters to me!

Cody Conrad: 82, Fourth Place

Cody played in a golf tournament in Vega, Texas today. He placed fourth. Mike and I didn't get to go to this one as we were both working. Cody had not originally signed up for this tournament, but a close friend of his offered to take Cody. Luckily, Cody was able to walk-on and have a spot.

He has another golf tournament tomorrow at a local park here in Amarillo. I will probably sit the majority of this one out. I am just exhausted this week! Caden and I will probably meet Cody for the last couple of holes and for the awards ceremony. I'll post how he does tomorrow.

And for the other stuff....

I had 2 job interviews yesterday. The first one was for a position in the Day Surgery Unit at Northwest Texas Hospital. The job is full-time, Monday-Friday from 5:30-2:00. I found out today that the job will only be on a full-time basis and I am really looking for a part-time position right now. I really didn't want to leave my hospital, so I think I will turn this one down for now.

The second interview was at my hospital (BSA) for a position in the GI Lab. I was really hoping this position would work out, but the GI manager is not willing to work with me with my schedule so I can be off on the days Cody has games this fall. So, that job is out, too.

I think I am going to just stay where I am (even though today at work was horrible, I think I ended up working 14 hours today!). My director is wonderful about letting me be off on the days that Cody has events. I really appreciate that fact. It makes it nice to be able to be an involved mom and be able to work, too. So for now, the job hunting is over. :)

Maybe when I least expect it, the right job will come along.

Hope everyone is well. I'll post again soon.

~jen

Stinky supper

Caden: Mom, I don't know what you're cooking for supper, but it's stinky.

Thanks, Caden.... I try. (I didn't say this, just thought it!)
~jen

PS... by the way, supper is bar-b-que smoked sausage, mac-n-cheese, corn on the cob, and fried okra. I thought it was a pretty decent meal idea!

I bragged too much....

I must have jinxed Cody by bragging on him yesterday! He had an awful game today (these are his words, not mine... I thought he did pretty well considering the 20-30 mph winds in full force today!). Cody shot a 95 today at Ross Rogers, which put him in 9th place. He doesn't play well at this course, so we'll blame the course and also the fact that Cody couldn't putt! He drove the ball beautifully down the fairway, he just couldn't make a putt to save his life! I did get some nice pictures though, so all is not lost! :)

Cody's next tournament is next Monday at Tascosa Country Club (I'll be paying more attention to the beautiful houses along the course than watching Cody..... just kidding! But, I'll be sure and post pictures of my favorite houses!)

Enjoy!

~jen

Bragging Rights

I have to brag a little bit about Cody! I just realized that Cody is in 1st place in his division within the North Texas PGA Junior Golf Foundation! I happened to stumble across this while looking at the pairings for tomorrows tournament. Here's a link to follow Cody's tournaments this summer. Click on Player of the Year to see the standings for our area.
http://ntpgajr.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/ntpgajr7/ profile/cconrad/tresults.htm

~jen

Latest news, thoughts, and photos

It has been a crazy week around the Conrad household. So much to share... where to begin... how about some pictures first.

Cody took these pictures of Cade at his last Tee ball game. The game was called due to thunderstorms in the area. No need to play with metal bats when there is lightening going on!

Later that night, after the storms passed, we had the most beautiful rainbow! Caden was in amazement. I am not sure if he has actually seen a rainbow before.

Tuesday I took Caden to our dermatologist for a treatment for some bumps that Caden has on the back of his thighs. Caden has had 3 or 4 treatments in the past and has done wonderfully. Tuesday was a different story. He broke out in blisters, some as small as bean-size, some as large as dimes and pennies. He had 50-75 blisters from the back of his knees, up to his bottom and between his upper thighs. He had a few on the front of his thighs and a couple on his feet. Basically every bump that was treated broke out in a blister. I had to wash the medicine off after 6 hours from the application time and Caden could not tolerate the bath, so in a panic I called Mike and we rushed Caden to the ER. They got us in pretty quickly (as quickly as ER's go) and placed Caden in a decontamination room. They carefully irrigated all of his blisters, attempting to wash away the medicine (which is an agent of the blister beetle, hence the blisters). Caden tolerated the procedure very well... better than I did just watching it. We had a couple of doctors assess Caden and they determined that he had just had a severe reaction to the treatment. Why this treatment was different from the ones before, I don't know. We left with a prescription for an antibiotic and a container of silvadene (topical cream used for burns). Cade's legs were wrapped "mummy" style, which he thought was funny. Since then, we have had a couple of follow up appointments with our dermatologist. To say the least I was not very pleasant with our doctor after hearing him dismiss this as just a "normal" reaction and not to worry. Worry is my middle name. You don't tell a mom not to worry, especially when your child is covered in blisters! I made sure to get that point across to him. I think he got my point!

Caden is doing well today. The majority of his blisters have popped. He has a lot of exposed, red, raw skin, though. But, he has been a trooper through all of this. He hasn't really complained, so that's a blessing. Hopefully he will heal with minimal scarring. Say a little prayer for him. He has been through so much.

Wednesday we had a gentleman come by our house asking if he could pick up our yard to earn some extra money. By the look of this man, you could tell that he had very little. He was wearing old, tattered clothes, missing the majority of his teeth. He must have had a very hard life. Our house was once again toilet-papered last week end (our 3rd time in less than a month!) and a number of small pieces of toilet paper had fallen from the tree and were scattered around the yard. Thankfully Mike was home and was able to talk to the man. All he asked for was $3 to pick up the yard. Mike agreed and let him clean up the yard. We gave him more than the mere $3 he was asking for. Of course during the whole time my mind was going from the warm-hearted feeling of actually doing good to the complete opposite end of the spectrum... to what if this man intends to harm us. Why does that happen, why is it when we have to drive through the "bad" areas of town, I immediately lock the car doors? Why do I do the same when ever we pass by a homeless person on the corner of an intersection? All this man needed was a few dollars to help him with what ever it was that he was in need of. I ended up wrapping up our left-over fajitas from supper that night for him, which he stuffed into his pockets. Who knows when his last meal was. He was very grateful for the money and food. In some ways I am glad that we agreed. I think the whole experience was an eye-opening lesson for Cody. Of course he was excited that someone other than him was picking up the yard! I hope he gained a greater lesson than just that. I know it made me think. Time to change the subject!

Cody is doing well. He gets out of school today at 12:15. I still cannot believe that the school year is over! Where has time gone? He is very excited about summer, especially because he just figured out that school does not resume until the end of August! The kids actually get a nice, long summer break this year! His first golf tournament of the season is next Tuesday. I think he is signed up for about 8-9 tournaments this summer. He is really excited to play. I am looking forward to it too. It gives us an opportunity to spend some time together and I really enjoy watching him play. (As much as golf has overcome this family, to the extent that I am having to set limits on golf clubs in the house....there's been to many close calls with Caden and a golf ball and club....I do enjoy watching Cody play!)

I am still searching for another job. I haven't heard anything from the 2 places that I have applied. However, I realized today that our answering machine on our phone has been turned off. (We got a new phone system and are still figuring it out!) I sure hope I haven't missed "the" call for an interview! Maybe this is just a "sign" that I am supposed to stay where I am at. Maybe something will come along when I am least expecting it. We'll just have to wait and see. :)

Hope all is ok with all of you. Hope you all have a wonderful Memorial weekend. Take care.

~jen

Latest Converstations with Caden

Here are just a few of the conversations Caden and I have had over this past week:

- While out shopping for a few gifts Caden asked me, "are you sure you are my mommy?". At that very moment of keeping Caden from completly destroying a display of Veggie Tales DVD's, I thought to myself the same thing!

- During the same shopping experience, and after our second stop on my errand list, Caden asks (in complete desperation) "how many more errands do we have to do...2 or 65?".

-Yesterday on the way to daycare Caden and I had the following conversation:
Caden: Can we have a baby... like baby Hope (Cade's newest cousin)?
Me: Why do you want us to have another baby?
Caden: Because I want everyone to see her.
Me: You want us to have a baby girl?
Caden: NO, no girl, just a boy and I want to name him Boomer (our dog's name).
Me: I'm sorry Caden but we are not going to have any more babies. Mommy and Daddy have you and Cody and that is all the babies we are going to have.
Caden: (he's not giving up on this one!) How 'bout you have another baby when Cody's grown up?
Me: (thinking... Are you crazy!?!) No, Caden, no more babies.
Caden: (defeated) OK, mommy.

While at Hoffbrau the other night Caden saw a man who was disabled. This man did not have any legs from the hips down and he walked with this arms and hands. My goodness.... Caden's eyes lit up and he all but did a double take at this man as he was walking out of the door (which of course was less than 2 feet directly in front of us). I held my breath because I knew this child of mine was about to say something....out loud... within ear shot of everyone around us and of course the disabled man walking out the door. Caden turned to me in sheer amazement, eyes wide open and mouth open ready to form the word "cool". Luckily he could see the look on my face letting him know that he needed to just keep his mouth closed... so he just smiled at me. I don't think I have ever breathed a sigh of relief as loud as that one! :)

~jen

What? School's out next Friday!?!

I cannot believe how quickly this year has already past. I cannot believe that school is out next Friday afternoon! Where has the time gone? More importantly.... I am going to be at home.... with both of my boys.... together.... all day long... all the time? :) Just kidding.... they are doing better being nice to each other... however, they still have their moments.

I know Cody is ready to be out of school. Every morning he is just dragging himself out of bed. Last week he had his year book signing party. It was so much fun to look through his year book and see how much him and his friends have changed over the school year. I enjoyed reading what his friends wrote in his yearbook. It took me back a little. Of course, I secretly got out my yearbooks and looked through them before going to bed the other night! (Oh, to be young again!) My baby is going to be in the 8th grade next year. I cannot believe we are 1 year away from High school! And what makes it worse... is that at the same time, Cade will be starting Kindergarten as Cody starts High school! That's a double whammy! Oh my!

Cade is doing well. He absolutely loves Tee ball. He has another game tomorrow night. I have to work tomorrow, so I will miss his game. Mike and Cody will have to fill me in on all the details!

Mike is staying busy at work. When he's not working ...you guessed it... he's out on the golf course. Things at Honda are much better (I think, I get limited responses about work!). He seems happier.

As for me, things have been on a rapid decline at work. I had a patient code and die last week. It was my first experience with that and it was rather difficult. I worked 3 days in a row, which was exhausting. I have been off for the past few days. I am still looking for another position. I've applied for a position in a day surgery unit at another hospital. I think the hours would be better. We'll see what happens.

Well I guess this is all for now. Oh.. here are some updates. My mom's surgery went well. She is at home, recovering day by day. How I wish I could be there to help. My grandmother's breast biopsy came back negative for cancer.

Hope each of you are doing well. I'll post again soon.
~jen

First Tee Ball Game Pics

One year ago...

One year ago tonight, right around this time, I was at my graduation from nursing school. I cannot believe it has already been a year. How time flies! It is amazing to think about how much I have learned and accomplished this past year. I still have a ton to learn. But hopefully, I am not so "green" anymore. :)
~jen

Tee Ball Pics

I finally have a new camera! I finally have pictures to share! I feel whole again! :)

Here are some pictures of Caden at Tee Ball practice. Enjoy!

~jen

~Practicing his swing

~Waiting his turn (which is hard work for a 4 year old!)

~Wow! What a great catch! (and no injuries, if you know what I mean!)

~One, two, three.... swing!

~Do I stay, or do I run?

~Running on home!

~Cheese!

~Cade's #10.

Latest News

It's been a while since my last post. I feel like I have been running since last Thursday!

The kids and I traveled to my grandparent's last Thursday. We all traveled to Fort Smith, Arkansas for my brother's wedding. We had a wonderful time. The kids got to experience the whole hotel "experience". Let me tell you I was ready to check out after our over-night stay. It was hard being cooped up with my 2 boys!

The wedding was beautiful. It was held in a downtown historic church. It had the most beautiful stained glass windows. (I don't have any pictures to share right now, I am waiting on a disc of pictures from my dad. I'll post some pictures as soon as I get them!)

I am happy to announce that I have another sister-in-law, Mary. I look forward to getting to know her. We also have 2 nephews to get to know. Mary has 2 boys, Hunter (age 10) and Colton (age 7). It didn't take long before all the boys were playing with each other! I am looking forward to traveling to Arkansas this summer so we can all spend some time together.

The kids and I came home on Monday afternoon after a nice visit with my parents and grandparents.

Caden is enjoying tee ball. He had his first practice Monday evening. He was so cute! I worked last night so I missed his practice, but I was told by Cody that Cade hit a home-run!

Well, I guess this is all the news for now. I am off for the next week, and I am looking forward to my time away from work. If only I didn't have a house in need of some major attention. Time to start my "other" job!

Hope all is well with you all.

Here are a few prayer requests:
-my aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer
-my grandmother had a breast biopsy done this week
-my friend Renay, her family is ill with strep throat and respiratory infections.

~jen

The Fern and the Bamboo

The Fern and the Bamboo.....

One day I decided to quit....
I quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality.
I wanted to quit my life.

I went to the woods to have one last talk with God.

"God", I said. "Can you give me one good reason not to quit?"

His answer surprised me...

"Look around", He said. "Do you see the fern and the bamboo?"

"Yes", I replied.

"When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them. I gave them light. I gave them water. The fern quickly grew from the earth. Its brilliant green covered the floor. Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo. In the second year the Fern grew more vibrant and plentiful. And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo". He said.

"In the third year, there was still nothing from the bamboo seed.But I would not quit. In the fourth year, again, there was nothing from the bamboo seed.But I would not quit. He said.

"Then in the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. Compared to the fern it was seemingly small and insignificant. But just 6 months later the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall. It had spent the five years growing roots. Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive. I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle." He said to me.

"Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots. I would not quit on the bamboo. I will never quit on you. Don't compare yourself to others." He said.

"The bamboo had a different purpose than the fern, yet, they both make the forest beautiful."

"Your time will come," God said to me. " You will rise high!"

"How high should I rise?" I asked.

"How high will the bamboo rise?" He asked in return.

"As high as it can?" I questioned.

"Yes." He said, "Give me glory by rising as high as you can."

I left the forest and brought back this story. I hope these words can help you see that God will never give up on you.

Never regret a day in your life.
Good days give you Happiness.
Bad days give you Experiences.
Both are essential to life.

Keep going...

Happiness keeps you Sweet,
Trials keep you Strong,
Sorrows keep you Human,
Failures keep you Humble,
Success keeps You Glowing,
But Only God keeps You Going!

Have a great day!

The Son is shining!!

God is so big He can cover the whole world with his Love and so small He can curl up inside your heart.

*I received this in an email from my aunt. I think I am going to print this story off and keep it in my binder that I carry at work. Hopefully I can look back on the experiences of this week and know that there is a meaning behind everything.
Thanks Luann for the email. I really appreciate it.
~jen

Re: Conversation with Caden

Caden ended up not having practice last night, it was just a meet and greet type event. Caden was so disappointed. He showed up with his new glove, bat, balls, and sunglasses ready for some action! Oh this little boy is too funny!
His first practice is Thursday evening. Unfortunately, we are leaving Thursday afternoon for my grandparent's. Caden doesn't realize that he is missing his first practice, he would just be devastated! So, his next practice is Monday evening. I can't wait to see him in action!

FYI...The little bottom shake Caden does before each golf swing also happens with each swing of the bat! It's too cute!
~jen

Horrible start.... wonderful ending

Today was one of those days where I had to literally talk myself into not quitting my job, and nursing all together for that matter. My work morning started with the realization that I had been pulled to another floor. This means that my floor didn't have enough patients for all the staff that was scheduled. So when this happens a nurse is either pulled to a floor that is under staffed or the nurse receives an LC (low census) and sent home to be on call. We'll today was my 3rd pull in less than 3 weeks. This is supposed to be on a rotating schedule between all the staff members and I knew it wasn't my turn since I was just pulled last week! Pulls are very hard for me. I have limited experience with the other floors, I am just getting down a routine and understanding of the care for my orthopedic patients, so to have to go to another floor is very scary... hard... busy... feeling lost... trying to figure out the routine of that floor... and taking care of patients with problems that I am not all that familiar with. However, I didn't fight it this morning, I just went to my assigned floor. Unfortunately I miss-read the floor number on our assignment board and went to the wrong floor. I showed up on the Renal/Family Practice floor, received an assignment, and went to get report on my patients. 15 minutes into the report I received an ugly phone call from the House Supervisor (the person in-charge of the hospital) wanting to know where I was. I was on the wrong floor. I had to tell the charge nurse of the Renal floor that I wasn't supposed to be on their floor, I was supposed to be on the Cardiac floor. She had to re-do the assignments for all of the nurses on that floor, well after they had already received their reports!

I went to the cardiac floor and between all of the events of that morning, I basically lost it. The tears just started and I could not get it together. I literally had to talk myself into not just walking out the door and never thinking twice. I ended up getting myself together, getting report from a very unhappy and very rude night nurse (because of all the confusion, she was 30 minutes late giving report and going home). My day slowly got better. Once I became familiar with the floor (to top it all off, this was my first time on the cardiology floor!) and got caught up, the day finally turned round. The nurses that I worked with on my hall were wonderful and so helpful. My educator from my floor happened to stop by to see the Cardiology educator and stopped to see how I was doing. After I explained the details of my morning, and shed a few more tears, she promised me she would look into why I was pulled again so soon. It turns out the night nurse (the one who gets the call from the house supervisor and assigns the nurse for the pull or LC) from my floor has thought that since I was part-time, I should be pulled before the full-time employees. Which is very unfair and basically just not right! Well the director of my floor was notified, and pulling the part-time employees before everyone else is not the case. I should have never been pulled today, a number of staff members should have gone well before me! The important thing is that I survived the day, it's over and behind me. I have the next 7 days off to enjoy.

Well, now to the wonderful ending. I came home from work to find that Cody (all on his own doing) completely cleaned the living room and kitchen. Not just a little picking up, he vacuumed the living room, swept the kitchen, did the dishes, put the dishes away and cleaned the counter-tops! I was so surprised. I couldn't believe what he had done. I was so proud of him, and then he said it.... "so, what do I get for doing this?". Mike just got home and took him to Academy to pick up...what else...some golf balls as a reward!

Please say a little prayer for me with this career that I have chosen. I pray and hope that I have not made a huge mistake. I know that I am a good nurse. I still have a ton to learn, and only time will allow that. I just don't know how many more "bad" days I can have before it's too much. I know there is a place for me in nursing. I just have to find what's right for me. For those that live here, if you or someone you know hear of an opening anywhere... please let me know. I am always looking to see what's available out there. I pray and I try to have a little faith that it will all work out. I am just running out of patience!

Thanks for letting me use this as a place to vent.
~jen

Conversation with Caden

Caden has his first T-ball practice this evening and is so excited! This afternoon we plan to go to Academy to pick up a glove. Caden said he also needed baseball pants and a baseball shirt. We'll see what we can find. :)

He is very concerned about winning tonight's "game". I tried to explain to him that this is just practice, not a game and that when he does have a game, it doesn't really matter who wins or loses, only that he has fun. Caden tells me (this is word-for word), "oh it matters who wins, I don't want to be the loser". I know I have Mike and Cody to thank for this attitude!

Unfortunately, I won't have any pictures to share of tonight's practice. Last weekend I dropped and broke my camera. I have been so sick over this. If I hadn't been at a public place when I realized that I ruined my camera, I probably would have broke down crying! I plan on getting a new camera in the next couple of weeks. So, no new pictures until then.

Hope everyone is doing ok. I'll post again soon.
~jen

Our car's name is....

Today Caden and I had an interesting conversation in the car on our way to lunch with a friend. (Caden has been playing his Cars X-box game quite a bit this morning. It has been lost for months, and we found it last night. So that's why these questions were on his mind!)

Caden: Do you think our car knows how to get where we're going... like Lightening McQueen does?
Me: I don't know, what do you think?
Caden: I think it does.
Silence, Caden's deep in thought.
Me: Do you think our car is a boy or a girl?
Caden: Oh it's a boy.
Me: What's our car's name?
Caden: (no pause) Jim
Me: Jim?
Caden: Yeah, Jim.

:) How I wish I could have a window to Caden's thoughts!
~jen

Golfin' with my boys

I took the boys out to the golf club yesterday afternoon to hit some balls. Mike joined us after work for a short game of 3 holes (it was getting late and cold) and dinner at the club. We had a nice time. Here are some pictures of the afternoon.
~jen

Doing better

Both of my grandparents are doing better. My grandmother was released from the hospital Saturday. They both tell me that they are feeling better. Hopefully they will continue to get well. Thanks for your prayers. (I love you, Granny and Papa.) :)
~jen