Thoughts From a Frazzled Mind

School Update After completing one semester of the DNP (Doctor of Nursing Practice) program at Grand Canyon University, I ran into some snags with my practicum site approvals and the school made me withdraw for a few weeks in order to get things straightened out.  Needless to say, I was majorly disappointed.  First, I had momentum and didn't want to delay my progress, second that meant that Amber would be moving on leaving me behind.  However, as often happens with trials, I realized that this was a blessing in disguise.  As I pondered my options, I realized that a DNP was not the degree that I really wanted.  I love nursing and everything about it, but my heart is truly attached to the education and teaching of nursing.  A co-worker suggested that I look into a program at Liberty University and it felt right.  I decided to change my focus to education and curriculum development.  I compared the program at Grand Canyon with the one at Liberty bec...

Kim's Mom This month had a rough start.  I was called down to listen to Joan's lungs because she was having some difficulty breathing and her O2 sats were low.  I couldn't hear any sounds hardly at all in her lungs, but she always breathes very shallow, so I didn't know if there was a problem or not.  She complained that she really didn't feel well.  Jody, Mickel, and David were just leaving for a long trip to Kansas, and Kim was at work, so Jan and I took her to the emergency room.  After several hours, they decided that she was too sick to stay at the local hospital and they transferred her to Ogden. Tasha brought her a very special puzzle.  It was a sugar cookie made into the shape of a jigsaw puzzle with a cardinal on the front.  Joan refused to eat it because she said it was too pretty! By this time Joan was seriously ill.  They ended up diagnosing her with pulmonary empyema, a condition where pus from infection builds up in the pleura...

Oh, the fun, sunny days!  I just love summertime, wearing shorts and sandals, the kids loving warm weather and playing outside, darkness waiting until 9:00 to appear, perfect! Mont and Kiaya I was a work and got this picture text from Mont.  When I saw it, I was very confused.  I knew that the Parrishes were going to be in Utah/Idaho to celebrate his parents 50th anniversary, but I couldn't figure out how in the world Mont found Kiaya because Shandra was at work.  It took a long time but I finally remembered that Kiaya was at Lisa's house, her babysitter.  Lisa and her husband Brent are very good friends of the Parrishes family and when Mont stopped by to see them, I guess Kiaya ran right up to him.  He said it made him very happy! Joan's Treatment Last year Joan was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.  The treatment usually involves a waiting/maintenance time with little to no treatment unless the patient sta...

Air Conditioner Several years ago when we replaced our flat roof with a pitched one our contractor (Ashley's husband, Mark) removed the old swamp cooler and wouldn't let us cut a hole in "his" new roof to replace it.  We didn't have the money for central air conditioning so every summer we swelter and sweat as we suffer through the hot weather with one window air conditioner and several fans.  It has been tolerable, but usually, there are a few weeks where we seriously suffer. This year our furnace has had a few sputters and attacks of not working so we decided to bite the bullet and get a new furnace as well as central air conditioning.  I'm thinking that Kim is really going to love it, but I find myself wrapped in a blanket most of the time! Kalel goes to Yellowstone Mickel has been planning for over a year for a great-big family vacation to Yellowstone.  Kim and I weren't able to go because we had already planned to go to Parrishes house in Texas,...