Our little family

This is an updated picture of our little family....I have no make-up on so try to look past that. It's new years day and I had a late/crazy night of watching TV last night, so I was too tired to do anything with myself today.

Oscar is getting big, and we get many compliments on how cute he is. (He gets it from his momma, obviously!) He was able to go leash-less today so he was quite the adventurer in the boulder fields. Jerris, Michelle's boyfriend, told us about it when he was up from Florida because there are HUGE boulders that people rock climb on. It's very pretty.

Lindsay, Dave's sister and her boyfriend are down for a few days so it's been great to catch up with them! Lindsay took this picture from her phone, so it's probably not the best quality...but it definitely works! Happy 2010 to all!!

Is it weird for anyone else that we're no longer going to say o-9 for the year, or 0-8? Now we just say 10, and that seems odd.

National Newton's Christmas Vacation

Okay, so I took a little break over Christmas. Mainly because I was stressed about getting home (with the blizzard) and just having a lot to do overall. Let's start with the trip home...it was wonderful. However, our flight was scheduled to get in in the middle of a "historic Christmas storm" according to the Weather Channel. Work was nice enough to let me have Wednesday off so I could catch an earlier flight which was wonderful. However, I still managed to break down in tears the Monday before we left because Delta told Dave we couldn't catch an earlier flight unless we paid a LOT of money. I called my Dad to see if he'd make me feel better, or maybe offer to pay for it?? Haha...not really, but the thought did cross my mind. Instead, this was his response, (as I'm trying to talk to him through my sobbing) "Sarah, are you at work?? Pull yourself together!!! 99% of the s**t you worry about never happens." He was right...they pushed off the blizzard until Wednesday evening, we caught an earlier flight, got home at noon, and only ran into rain. But then it went downhill from there....(please refer to pictures on facebook.)

We were snowed in for 3 days...Christmas eve was spent out at my Grandma's and Grandpa's. What normally would last until 1am following midnight mass, ended around 9pm after church services were cancelled and roads were drifting shut. On our way home Dad some how thought that when he could no longer see the road in the white-out conditions it would be a good idea to speed up to get through the drifts. I was yelling at him and praying all at the same time. This is what I don't miss about Nebraska....the driving conditions.

Overall, we spent a good amount of time in front of the TV, chatting, sleeping and eating. It was the life. :) We had a great time, and didn't really want to come back....except to get Oscar from the dog nanny.

That brings me back to before we left...we took Oscar to the nanny's house. (She's not really a nanny, we just call her that) She kennels dogs out of her home and gives them lots of love and play. I, of course, cried the night we took him out. I packed his blankie, bed, food and one treat for every day--- Dave thought I was crazy, but understood my tears. It broke our hearts to leave him. I did call to check on him once while we were back home; I just wanted to make sure he wasn't a social ri-tard. (Have ya'll seen The Hangover? It's pronounced ritard.)

Turns out he made friends, and he was so excited to see us when we came home. He hasn't left our side since. I think he's emotionally scarred.

Anyway, next subject! I think I ate something wrong Sunday at the airport. I've narrowed it down to a fish sandwich or a stomach bug that some how no one else caught. I went to bed Sunday night not feeling great, but attributed it toward eating so much crap at home. However, I was up all night having liquids come out of places that liquids should not be. (Sorry if that's too much information for some, but it's true.) Dave the next morning says, "I didn't even know you've been sick." Ooooh honey.....I'm glad that your sleep was not disturbed, because I sure did not sleep well.

Our plans for New Year's are very uneventful. Dave is on-call, but his sister is actually on her way down right now with her boyfriend. (They're driving.) So I'll have someone to hang out with which will be great. I was just planning on drinking by myself, laying on the couch in my PJ's and watching the ball drop. I'd probably just count the eastern time zone drop as ours, because I doubt I make it to midnight. Anyway, that's all for now! Hope everyone had a great and blessed Christmas!

I've been lazy....

Sorry, I haven't posted in over a week....and where to begin?

This past weekend we had quite a few Christmas parties, however, Sunday we had to miss one because I had some sort of stomach bug or ate something wrong. I woke up at 2am with my stomach trying to evacuate itself from both directions. Wasn't pleasant. My main concern was to not wake the puppy or Dave so I wouldn't have to worry about him biting my ankles when I was trying to breathe through the nausea (the puppy that is.) Yipes.

I'm still not as much in the Christmas spirit as I usually am. It's sad really, and I don't know why I can't get into it. I think it's because I'm not home. I feel comfortably here, but I don't have a big tree up, or a ton of decorations, so it just ruins it.

I do feel very accomplished this Christmas season by not being at the mall once since Thanksgiving...until last night. I've done all of our Christmas shopping online, and Dave did the rest. (Which consisted of Target gift-cards.) The only thing worse than going to the mall between Thanksgiving and Christmas is going on to the mall on the WEEKENDS in that time. So I refused.

Well, that's all for now.

Football Saturday in the Newton Estates...

Well this was an eventful sports weekend. Michelle came over for the weekend because we went to the Chris Tomlin concert...her friend Audrey Assad sings on his Christmas CD, so we also got to see her. It was a great concert, and Audrey's voice is a-m-a-z-i-n-g, it brings tears to my eyes.

So Saturday was our day of football. We had some friends over to watch the SEC championship. It was funny, because none of us were from Alabama or Florida. Our group consisted of 3 from Mississippi, and 1 from North Dakota. I was of course rooting for Alabama, so I was happy with that game's outcome. Unfortunately, there then was the Nebraska game...... I'm here, and cheering for Alabama, but it's not nearly the same.

This is how our living room looks when the Nebraska games are on (and Michelle got to experience it first hand): Dave is in the rocker, and I am on the couch. Dave will get up and jump/pace with good and/or bad plays. He knows not to cross into my visual line of the television, because I stay seated on the couch and cheer more with my arms...and he will endure the wrath of Sarah if I miss something. We've tried sitting together on the couch once....but that may lead to a divorce. I'm always silent. Do not speak to me in clutch plays, or speak in general. (Sorry Michelle!)

So last night was a great game, and I'm just sick that we lost. Well, our defense played wonderfully...and I wanted to win it just for them. Sometimes I wonder, do they get along with the offensive players? Maybe the offense has to always buy the defense their 2 am meals at Taco Bell or drinks every night because they repeatedly save their butts!! I'd make 'em.

So anyway, I'm heartbroken, but there's always the bowl game, and of course next year. Maybe we can find a quarter back in the off season. Other than that.....OH, WAIT! We got our first snow Friday night!! (See, it was so uneventful that I nearly forgot!) It was about a trace...but they had been forecasting it all week. I laughed. So I was up at 6:30 am with Oscar Saturday, and it was really pretty on all the trees, (I'll try to put up some pictures on facebook.) But Oscar was beside himself, he sniffed it, decided it was too cold (at 32 degrees) and came back in refusing to pee. Dang southern dog....he's going to have a rough adjustment if he visits Nebraska some winter!

So what did I do that Saturday morning? Well, I normally refuse to go to Walmart....just hate shopping there, but I needed a lot of things, and that was the only place that was open. I figured I would be the only one "crazy" enough to get out in this trace of snow, so Walmart would then be tolerable. It was...there was no one there. The roads were only damp...it only stuck to the grass. Oooh, Alabama. Okay, that's really all for now. Hope all is well!!

Post Thanksgiving Coma

So Thanksgiving is over, and I'm, well, exhausted. It was great to have 4 days off of work, but it went by so fast, and I was so busy, that I really had no time to relax. I never realized how exhausting cooking/entertaining is. (Not that I really had to entertain, but whatever.)

Thanksgiving dinner turned out well, being that it was my first Thanksgiving cooking the full meal myself. I really need a double oven....that's something I'll maybe look for in our next house. However, I feel like those kind of kitchens are only found in more upscale homes.....so that's many years down the road. I did make my first southern-style cornbread dressing!! I got the recipe from a girl at work....I couldn't eat it b/c it sicked me out, but Dave enjoyed it. We still have a huge pan full in the fridge... But everyone at work was pleased to hear that it was edible.

This weekend also consisted of another vet visit for Oscar. He's gained 4 pounds in 2 weeks, more than doubling his size. Our little man is getting so big!! He had quite a few accidents while everyone was around, but we attributed that to a lot of people in his home that he wasn't used to. He has conquered our massive flight of stairs in the back yard, so he's doing a lot better with his potty training.

I did think he may be a bit bipolar. However, the vet assured me that this is normal. He will seriously be running around in circles, growling, nipping, doing everything bad puppies do (let's not forget chewing on our Christmas tree;) then he plops down and passes out in the middle of the rug. He looks so peaceful and wonderful....until he wakes up again. And did I mention that sleeping in for us now is about 7am? Not fun...it's like a child.

P.S. I have been having baby nightmares. The other morning I woke up after a dream, thinking that I had a baby-bump. (And I was crying in my dream mind you, so I'm not wanting one at the moment!) Turns out it was just my Thanksgiving dinner. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving week!! We're really excited that my sister, Jerris (her boyfriend) and her friend Erin are coming Wednesday night through Sunday for Thanksgiving. This will be my first Thanksgiving dinner that I'll be cooking. ----It has the potential to be a disaster.---- We're going to have our lunch on Friday because Dave is on-call all day Thursday until Friday noon.
I'm going to make 'dressing'. I feel like it's very southern. So I got the recipe from a girl at work. I don't think any of us have had it before, which is good because then know one will know if it's terrible.

This is our menu: Turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, homemade macaroni and cheese (also southern), dressing, my mom's homemade dinner rolls (which will hopefully turn out), and green beans. And for dessert, fruit pizza and homemade chocolate cake. (I bought Dave a pumpkin pie from Publix's bakery b/c he LOVES it, but is the only one.)

I just want to say that we are so thankful for everything this season. Our family, friends, health, and all the blessings in our life. Seriously, every day I just thank God for all of our blessings....sometimes I think it's just too good to be true. We're all healthy...and that within itself is truly amazing. My heart just breaks for my patients and their families this time of year...it really puts things into perspective. Hope everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving!!

Constipated Puppy

So Saturday night Dave and I were invited to a couples baby shower for a girl I work with. We had a really great time...but when we came home we came home to a very constipated puppy. If you're not in the medical field, this may not be funny to you...but looking back on it, we were being obsessive parents.

First, like any good parent would do, we googled Oscar's symptoms and how to 'cure' puppy constipation. We were running through everything in our minds....outloud.
-Is his tummy distended?
-When's the last time he pooed?
-What in the world could he have ate? Maybe Dave should start picking up his socks...
-What if we gave him a laxative and he has a bowel obstruction? He'd perforate his bowel
and then we'd have bigger problems....
-Is there such thing as a nurse line for a vet office?
-If there such a thing as puppy health insurance??

Let me just say that the thought did cross our mind to digitally disimpact. Of course, Dave thought I would be the better option....because I have small fingers?? I don't know. And if you don't know what that is.....consider yourself lucky. Let's just say I was a nervous wreck...but was going to wait until office hours to call, because it really wasn't an 'emergency'.