All in an Evening's Work

This evening, I was responsible for fifteen patients. Between the hours of 3 pm and 1:15 am, I administered medications to each one of these patients.  I also took temperatures, blood pressures, pulses, counted respirations, and checked oxygen levels and blood sugars.  I gave two shots, gave two suppositories, did a treatment on someone's genitals, and put cream in a patient's rectum. I assessed wounds, lung sounds, and performed skin assessments.

An ambulance dropped of a patient in a wheel chair who was a new admission. I had not been told that I would be getting a new admission, and had no paper work.  This patient then became very agitated, and after an  hour or two, signed out AMA.

I had a patient with a temperature of 100.6 degrees. Even after medication administration, the temperature continued to rise. I had to use non-pharmaceutical treatments to "break the fever", and fought the temp all evening, only to have it increase again at 11 pm.

I replaced oxygen tanks, put oxygen on a patient,  and cleaned a concentrator. I made a total of five "callouts" to doctors. One doctor told me "to do what I wanted", and asked "Why can't you fix it?".

I sent a pt to the ER. I wrote orders, transcribed orders, discontinued orders, and carried out orders. I ordered labs and talked to the pharmacy twice. I called family members. I did medication education with both patients and family members. While one patient had a fever, I had another one yelling at me, and another patient refusing to sit down in the wheelchair.

I ate lunch while talking to a doctor and charting. I am a breast-feeding mom, and only had the chance to pump twice. I should have pumped at least three times, if not four, and even took a phone call while pumping.

I charted on six patients. I was punched, called names, and yelled at. I was hugged and kissed. I was exposed to MRSA. I held the hand of a dying man and cried. I argued with a nurse.

My shift was supposed to end at 11 pm. I did not clock out until 1:15 am, and I am still afraid that I forgot something. I came home to dishes in the sink, two loads of laundry to fold, baby toys scattered over the living room floor, and my two boys (husband and son) in bed.

Apples, Apples, Apples....

Apples, apples, apples….

The other Sunday we had over the Pastor and his wife for lunch after church. I made a simple meal of pot roast and noodles, green beans (for the boys), and lima beans (for the girls). I didn’t have anything planned for dessert, so while we were enjoying lunch, my mind was racing as to what I could serve. I quickly went through a list of ideas, (in my mind) most of which would take too long to make, or I didn’t have the right ingredients. I was beginning admit defeat when I remembered the very large pile of apples that I had brought back from PA just the weekend before. My mind was working fast. Apples, apples, apples… apple crisp, no, too much work. Apples, apples, apples… Apple pie? Way too much work! Apples, apples, apples… If I had only made that applesauce! Apples, apples, apple… hmm….apples and caramel dip? No caramel dip…. dip… Could I make a dip? Probably… what would I need? I quickly looked through a cookbook. Nothing. I got online. Found some recipes, got some ideas, and threw some stuff together, and yum! What a hit! (Well with everyone except Matt… but that is just typical Matt).  You know what the best thing about this dip is? It is actually pretty healthy! Who needs recipes anyway?

But for those of you who do… here it is!

Apple Dip

¼ cup natural peanut butter

¼ cup plain yogurt

1 or 2 tbs brown sugar

dash or two of pumpkin pie spice

4 large eating apples (I suggest Granny Smith, but they are really tart…  and some people are not a fan!)

Mix all of the ingredients, minus the apples in a small bowl with a spoon. Core and slice apples. Serve . Dip apples in dip. Eat. Chew. Swallow. Yum.   

Disgustingly Perfect!

Unlike my mom, I LOVE to decorate! I loved “setting up home” when Matthew and I got married, and I anxiously looked forward to holiday decorations- specially fall and Christmas. The first Christmas Matthew and I spent together as a married couple, I decided that I wanted to make all of my tree ornaments. (Even though I was working almost fulltime, and attending college fulltime). I got all of my big ideas from a Gooseberry book that my Gram had given me. My theme was snow. My tree was decorated with white lights, a snowflake garland, big snowflakes, little snowflakes, blue and cream colored mittens (which I had made), blue, white, and silver balls, and white cotton as snow. I found a snowman tree topper, and a snowman tree skirt. Believe it or not- all of the snowflake ornaments came from the dollar tree!

On Christmas day we hosted a brunch, and my entire family came down. It was later on in the day, after eating and opening gifts, my mom was just staring at my Christmas tree. With pride, adoration, envy, and dislike, she sighed and said: “Your tree is disgustingly perfect!” 

Fresh Cut Tree

One of my favorite childhood memories of Christmas was the family tradition of getting a tree. For as long as I can remember my family would go to a Christmas tree farm, pick out a tree and cut it down, for you can’t get any fresher then this! When I was a little girl we used to go to a local tree farm, just “down the road”, and get our “perfect” Christmas tree. You have to understand- getting this tree was quite the process. We first had to get my very slow moving father to agree that it was time to get a Christmas tree. Usually the chosen day would be a Saturday morning (because till dad got home from work during the week it would be dark), and we would then spend half of the morning gathering little snow boots, mittens and hats. Once we were layered in clothing, and bundled up to the point we could barely move, we would all pile in to my dad’s pickup truck, and drive the short distance to the Christmas tree farm. Here we would traipses up and down the hills, debate and argue over a trees, and listen to my mom complain about how cold it was. Usually after looking at about 100 trees, we would finally find tree on which the majority of the people (my family), agreed was “okay”. My dad would then cut down the tree, and then proceed to drag it either down the hill (if he was lucky), or up the hill,  (“sorry Dad, this is the perfect tree even though it is at the very bottom of the hill and on the edge of the tree farm property), and put it into the back of the truck. As our family got bigger, getting tree got more and more complicated. We were always so busy, it was hard to find a time that everyone would be able to go, and eventually we had to take two vehicles, because we just wouldn’t all fit in the truck. And of course the bigger the family, the more voices, which meant more opinions on which tree was “perfect”. But nonetheless, every year, like clockwork, going out and cutting down our Christmas tree was something we did.

Matthew, on the other hand never experienced cutting down a tree until he met me, and my family. Their Christmas tree was stored in a box, and gotten out every year, and decorated only by his mom, and they (the kids), were not allowed to touch it! Were as my family decorated the tree as family. The first Christmas Matthew and I spent together, Matthew joined my family in the “tree hunt”. From that time on, Matthew proclaimed that we would never get a fake tree.

I am sorry to say that this year Matthew and I broke tradition. This year, our first Christmas as a family of three, our Christmas tree came from HOME DEPOT! Do not fear, the tree is still real, but I cannot even begin to explain to you how disappointed I was! This year, time was just not in our favor, and Home Depot is only a short distance away, so Home Depot it was.

In the years to come, I hope that we can go back to cutting down our tree. I want to spend a Saturday morning looking for little mittens, snow boots and hats, and placing my children in so much warm clothing that they can barely move, just to walk up and down hills in search for the perfect Christmas tree. I want this to be my one of my children’s favorite memories as well.

This is the tree we picked. Matthan was so particular. 

and we are still red necks at heart..... this is how we transported our tree home! 

                                           and this is the tree decorated....

Count Your Many Blessings....

I am thankful for every minute of life that God has given to me. We are not guaranteed anything. I am thankful for Jesus dying on the cross- for me, for the world. For grace, and for mercy-  God knows what a mess I am. For hope, a future, eternal life. For forgiveness ( I am forever messing up). For unending love, peace, quiet, for joy, song, and celebrations. Thank you Lord for giving me everything that I have- my husband, my son, parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. For friends- near and far. For our "PA Church" and our "NY Church". For the country, and for the city. For the seasons. For change. For consistency. For creation. For a job, and money to pay our bills. For our home, and our "stuff". For blankets on our bed, and food in our fridge. For our car and jeep. For technology. 

I am thankful for my husband. He gives meaning to my life, laughter in my soul, love in my heart, and adventure. Most importantly, I am thankful that he is following God's calling. He puts up with my emotions, my tears, my break downs, my anger, my resentment, and every other imperfection that I have (which are numerous). He has promised me till "death do us part". He gently encourages me in my faith, supports my dreams and aspirations, and inspires me. 

I am thankful for my son. What a wonderful gift from God. A miracle of new life. He brings me love, and laughter. He brings challenges, and requires selflessness. I am in love with his smiles, his tiny fingers and toes. His cries break my heart, and his hugs and "snuggles and cuddles" melt my heart .

I am thankful for my family. Mom and dad, for raising me, for their sacrifice of time, money, and self. For their encouragement. For love and laughter in our home. For discipline. For blessing me with siblings, for excepting my husband. For my brothers and sisters, for they are my friends, and my inspiration. 

For my friends- they offer me so much! Love, support, fellowship, gifts, laughter, haircuts, joy, comfort, help,and encouragement. They pull you up when you are down. They laugh when you laugh, and cry when you cry. They become family, when family can't be close. 

This only a teeny tiny bit of what I have to be thankful for. From the smallest detail to the biggest gift! I encourage you ... think about all that you have to be thankful for. It kind of puts things into perspective. 

ps.I wanted to have this blog posted on Thanksgiving... but obviously we do not always get what we want!  

How To Cook A Pumpkin

On Wednesday afternoon, Matthew was "i"-chatting with his twin brother, when I over heard my sister-in-law say, "Tell Tab I checked her blog on how to make a pumpkin." I quickly jumped in front of the camera, hoping to share my knowledge on how to make a pumpkin! This may seem odd, but you have to understand, my sister in-law Micah is a great cook, and baker, she scrapbooks, sews, (like really well), and she also knits or crochets (I am not sure which, but which ever it is she does a bang up job, and makes the most adorable hats!). In case you are not getting it, Micah can do EVERYTHING... I  was excited to be able to tell her how to do something!  Too bad, she was already more then half way through the process of making her pumpkin, because she was doing it the wrong way! (ok, there really isn't a wrong way to make a pumpkin, but there is definitely an easy, and a hard way, and poor Micah was doing it the hard way.) The hard way, which Micah found online, said something about peeling the pumpkin, cut into chunks and boil it. Blah, blah. This is way too much work, and I can't imagine that the pumpkin taste half as good as it does when you make pumpkin the "right way." So Micah, I apologize for not having anything on my blog on how to make a pumpkin, and please, next time just call me!


Baked Pumpkin

Cut pumpkin in half, and scoop out the seeds, and "stringy stuff". (save the seeds if you like roasted pumpkin seeds). Lightly grease a cookie sheet (one with edges), and place pumpkins face down.

Cut a few slits in the top.

Bake at 350 for about an hour or so, until the pumpkin is super soft when poked with a fork.

Scoop out pumpkin from skin.

The best part about this recipe? Your house will smell so good! A few weeks ago I made pumpkin and my husband randomly said: "I love when you bake pumpkin. It smells so amazing!".

Note: if you have extra pumpkin, you can freeze it. I suggest measuring it out in cup size portions so that way you know exactly how much if frozen.
Micah- I hope that you will try this recipe, I really don't think that you will be disappointed.

Becoming a Mom

Lately I have been getting asked questions like: "What is it like, being a mom?" "How are you adjusting to becoming a parent?" "Were you ready for all of the responsibility of raising a child?" "Do you find being a parent hard?" I usually answer with something like... "well I have five younger brothers and sisters so there really wasn't any surprises with having my own".... or "it is not always easy", and "we have our moments". And it is not always easy, and we do have our moments. There are many days that the dishes are left undone, the dirty clothing is piled a mile high, the trash is over flowing, and Matthan won't take a nap. Or maybe the clothing is all washed, but it sure isn't put away, and just when you thought you were seeing the light at the end of the long "laundry tunnel" Matthan has a blow out so large that it creates almost an entire load of wash all on its own.  I feel like my apartment is never in the condition that I would like it to be, and I don't think that either one of our vehicles have been cleaned out since Matthan was born. Things like dusting the living room take a back burner and dusting the master bedroom never even makes the list. But over all, if these people could look deep into my heart they would see that I absolutely love being a mom,  and though it is hard, and things don't always go as planned, there is nothing more rewarding to me then taking care of my son. Responsibility? Yes, but a blessing a privilege.

"Where Were You Mommy?"

Last Friday I was called by the DON (director of nursing)  from the facility that I work at. There were so many call offs for the weekend that they were desperate for nurses. I agreed to work for four hours on Saturday (which of course turned into six). Either way Matthew was okay with the idea, and I thought that this would be a good transition into me working (instead of jumping right into a eight hour shift.). I cried when I left (or course), which was bad enough, but little did I know that the coming home would be worse. Matthew and Matthan greeted me at the door, and Matthan  cried when he saw me. My heart about broke into two as he looked at me, and seemed to say "Where were you mommy?!" He then nursed for a very long time.

Calm, Cool and Collected

My dad is the most laid back person that you will ever meet- calm, cool and collected. He hardly ever gets mad, upset, or emotional. While growing up, I can only remember a few times that my dad ever became angry, and 90 percent of those times were at my mom, with the other ten percent directed at my brothers for leaving his tools out. Upset? Twice- when my grandfather died (his dad), and when my youngest brother literally had a whole in his face from a dog bite when he was only five. Excited- hardly ever.

When Matthew and I told my parents last Christmas that I was expecting a baby, my parents reacted in typical form. My mom freaked out (this is her usual self), and my dad just smiled- calm, cool, and collected, in typical dad form. As the months progressed, neither of my parents were excited about a grandchild being on the way- they still have three kids in the house- with the youngest only being 11. I think they thought it would be like having another child of their own. But the minute they laid eyes on Matthan- everything change. The grandparents who didn't want to become grandparents were now a very proud Omi and Pop. Amazing, what a small baby can do.

This past weekend we made the trek home to PA- a surprise visit for everyone, but we especially surprised my dad by stopping in at his work. Dad reacted in typical dad form- calm, cool, and collected. But when all Matthan would do was cry when my dad held him, I was amazed to see a teeny, tiny bit of emotion crack through the typical calm, cool, and collected dad. Nothing dramatic of course, but I didn't miss the hint of sadness pass through my dads eyes as Matthan cried in his arms. The weekend whizzed by and when it as time to say good bye, I watched my dad pause, hold Matthan for a second longer, give him a little extra squeeze, and then slowly hand him over to me. I couldn't help to notice once again, the sadness that crept into his eyes as he tried to remain his typical calm, cool, and collected self. Maybe, just maybe the calm, cool, and collected dad, wont be as a calm, cool, and collected grandfather.

Ready for Work?

This is my last week home as a "stay at home mom". I officially start work on the 17th, though I told them they could call me at anytime for a call off. I thought that I was ready to go to work, but after today, I am wondering. I felt a little weepy all day. I can't tell you how many times I teared up when the thought passed through my mind that I was actually going to be leaving my precious baby for eight plus hours. This afternoon when he took his nap, instead of putting him down in his bed, I held him, rocked him, kissed his perfect head, watched him take each breath, and treasured every minute. Will he know that I am gone? I worry that he will wake up in the middle of the night (while I am working), and will cry when I am not there to take care of him. What if he doesn't stop crying? What will happen when he can't be comforted? What if he refuses to take the bottle? (even though he does now). What if he eventually stops nursing, and only takes the bottle? He is so little. So innocent. So precious. Will I ever forgive myself for leaving him? Will he forgive me? My eyes are now red and puffy. Tears are streaming down my face, and I can barely read the computer screen. Will this ever be easy? Should it ever become easy?

Perfect Roast

So I must have really been in the cooking mood last week. On Wednesday I made a meal for my friend Sonia, and us (check out the blog before this one), and then on Thursday I made roast chicken with stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, and invited our neighbors from downstairs up. I love roast chicken- as long as it is supper moist, and was so proud of this beautiful chicken I had Matt take a picture so that I could post it to my blog! (vain, I am). So here it is:Believe it or not, I have never made stuffing, and found a great recipe on pioneerwoman.com. It was so moist and yum, yum, yum! The link is: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/11/stuffing_dressing_my_favorite_thanksgiving_food/

This is for You Sonia

I work at a rehab/long term facility, so it is pretty small, about 60 beds, and since it is a rehab/long term, the facility doesn't need to staff many nurses, in fact, on 3-11, only three nurses are staffed for the entire building, and on 11-7, only two. Ridiculous, I know. (Remember these statistics if you ever have a love one who needs rehab or long term care). Anyway, unknown to my employer, I was about eight weeks pregnant when I was hired. Shortly after I started, I had to share with Sonia, the nurse who was training me (for safety reasons) that I was pregnant. She laughed, and was like, "yeah, I don't want any children for awhile." Eight weeks later, Sonia informed me that she too was pregnant. Maybe a month later, the DON (director or nursing) also announced that she was pregnant! The facility had to hire nurses just to cover maternity leave!
Anyway, last week, Matthew, Matthan and I went to see Sonia, Chris (her boyfriend), and little Camilia (Camilia and Matthan are seven weeks apart- to the day). And, being the nut that I am, I made dinner for everyone, and took it with us. Since Matthan and Chris are both pizons, I decided to stick with a somewhat Italian dinner, but I didn't want to go overboard with the "Italian", so I decided to make a new recipe- Italian Meatball Soup, caeser salad, and garlic bread. I had first heard about the Italian Meatball soup from my friend Shawna, who had found it on Pioneerwoman.com which is a blog. I had finished the soup, and sadly, wasn't impressed. It lacked something. So I added a little bit of this, and a little bit of that, and made another batch of meatballs, and walla- perfect! We all had a great time, the pizons hit it off perfectly (they had never met until this day), and the soup was a huge hit (specially with the pizons). By the way, I never did get the caeser salad made (which was probably the easiest part of this meal!). Sonia requested a copy of the recipe, and suggested that I post it to my blog! Great idea Sonia. So here is the link to the recipe- http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/01/italian-meatball-soup/ . So to make this recipe good- add two more cups of broth, double the meatballs, double the tomato paste, add a small can of diced tomatoes, about 1/2 a tsp red pepper, a tsp thyme, and 1-2 tps Italian seasoning, all equals delicious!

By the way, I have now bookmarked the pioneerwoman.com because she is just too funny in her blog- and she had great recipes!

Matthan

Proud moment. This is my beautiful baby. Enjoy!

Preload

Matthew has started a new shift. Preload. This is the early morning shift. The shift that nobody wants, because who wants to leave for work at 4 am? After some prayer, and talking, Matthew and I both decided that this shift would be better for our family, and this is the only shift that gives tuition reimbursement- $3000.00 in reimbursement a year! The first two nights/mornings went well. One down side to this is that not a lot of people work this shift, which is less people for Matthew to talk to, and we all know how much Matthew loves to talk. The upside? At 7 am, a "food cart" arrives with everything that you can imagine (as told by Matthew)- sausage and peppers, coffee, sodas, bagels, and sandwiches. The bad side- Matthew will spend the money he makes in a shift on food! One other problem. Matthew doesn't like to go to bed by himself. Tabitha doesn't like to go to bed at 9pm. Tonight (at 11:30 pm), Matthew is still up, because he "Can't sleep", and "Why wont you come to bed with me?" It is going to be an early morning, and a long day on those few hours.

Kitchen Aide Mixer

Thanks to my two wonderful friends Amanda and Shawna, I got a Kitchen Aide Mixer! A lady in our church was giving hers away, and asked both Amanda and Shawna if they knew anyone who would like a kitchen aide mixer, and they both suggested me! So on Saturday, I was hand delivered a big, beautiful kitchen aide mixer. It is old, but it works great (I made brownies tonight). Though my kitchen is small, and my counter tops even smaller, I made room for the beast and I am looking very forward to using it, and using it often!

Frustration

As the time gets closer for me to go back to work, I am realizing more and more that I need to focus my time in finding another job. It is not that I hate where I am working right now, or that I couldn't continue to work for them, but I feel that it is a dead end job. Ideally I would love to get a job at a hospital on a med surg floor. If I could work at a hospital- I would make more money, get paid more for working second and third shift (which are the hours I love to work), and possibly be provided with the opportunity to continue my education and get a BSN. I would also be given more nursing experience- which is what I want. I do not want to be an "okay" nurse, I want to be a GREAT nurse! With all of this being said, getting a job at a hospital around here is almost impossible. I don't know what I need to do. When I get on the hospitals websites, they say not to call and ask about your application, but everyone else says call, be aggressive, get your name out there. Which is right? I have filled out applications, spent hours on my cover letters and resumes, but nothing seems to work. What do I need to do, to get noticed, to stand "head and shoulders" above the rest of the crowd? I am open to suggestions. I find this all very frustrating!

In Case You Care

Matthan's six week old check up was today. Besides some cradle's cap and a rash everything is "A" okay. He weighs 14 lbs, 1 oz, and is 23 and 3/4 long. That puts him in the 95 percentile for height, and literally over the charts for weight. He also got his first shot, but handled it like a champ. His doctor was very impressed with him, and stated that he is "very advanced". This is my proud momma moment. ;)

6 weeks

Disclaimer: I am trying very hard not to be one of those moms overly obsessed about their child, but today, I am.

Yesterday Matthan hit the mile marker of turning 6 weeks. How time flies. He has already achieved the major milestones that he is suppose to by this time (like smiling and "talking), in fact he has been talking almost since he was born. He just likes to communicate- a lot. He makes noise while he eats, sleeps, and while he is awake. My mom told me that when he actually starts talking I will need some duck tape. But what else could you expect from a child of Matthew and Tabitha- two of the worlds biggest talkers.

So turning the big 6 weeks means something else too... mom goes back to work in two weeks, and Matthan needs to be ready. So today, after Matthew got home from school I pumped, and Matthew fed Matthan a bottle. Matthan, being the little man that he is, took the bottle no problem. Apparently to him food is food, and a nipple is a nipple. Watching him take the bottle from Matt hit me like a ton of bricks. Feeding Matthan was something that only I could do. Now, anyone could feed him. Deep down inside I cried.

Cool Days= Hot Soup

I think that autumn is my favorite time of the year. Don't get me wrong, I love all of the seasons, and enjoy certain aspects of everyone, but I love fall! Once the cooler days start coming, I fire up my stove and oven and cook and bake away. There is nothing better on a cool day then fresh baked bread and steaming soup. Yum.

On Friday, I made one of my favorite soups (but they are all favorites). Chicken, Black Bean, and Cilantro Soup. I found this recipe sometime last year when I was looking for a way to use up a large amount of cilantro, and it quickly made my mental list of top ten soups. As I mentioned earlier, my friend Ashley and her husband stayed with us for the weekend, and I feed them this soup when they arrived at 10:30pm. It was a huge hit, and Ashley had it several more times, and even stated "man, this soup just really hits the spot." So this is for you Ash. I must give credit to were credit is do go to http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com/2005/12/kalyns-very-favorite-herbcilantro.html for the recipe.

Friendship, Sauce and Pizza Dough

This past weekend I taught my bestfriend how to make pizza dough. I have the simplest, most easiest recipe ever, but for whatever reason, she was having a hard time with it. So we made a deal. When she came up this weekend with her husband, she had to bring her homemade tomato sauce, and I had to show here how to make my pizza dough. We would then make pizza with her sauce, and my dough- that she would make. Saturday afternoon (after a trip to our obnoxious mall), while I took care of Matthan, I told Ashley the ingredients, and what to do. Wouldn't you know it, Ashley made the best homemade pizza crust that I have ever tasted! It was so perfect I should have taken a picture of it and posted it here to my blog- but I missed the moment (sorry Ash)!

Anyway, for those of you who care, here is my pizza dough recipe that I got off of the internet a few years back ( I don't know where). But it is easy, and oh, so good!

Pizza Dough

1 package yeast (or 1 tablespoon)

1/4 cup warm water

1 tablespoon honey

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 cups flour (may need a little more)

1 tsp salt

3/4 cup water

Dissolve yeast in warm water in a small bowl.

In a large mixing bowl mix together three cups flour and 1 tsp salt.

Once yeast mixture is foamy, add honey and oil, and mix.

Add yeast mixture to flour, and stir with wooden spoon.

Add water slowly- (you may not need all of it), mix until forms ball.

Place dough on a floured surface and kneed for about 5 minutes, adding flour as needed, and until dough is soft, and elastic.

Pour a small amount of olive oil into a bowl, place dough in bowl, and coat. Cover and let sit for about 1 hour, or, until doubled in size.

Spread dough over pizza stone, or cookie sheet. Top with favorite toppings, and bake at 400 for about 30 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and center of pizza is warm. Enjoy

Julie and Julia

So I have finally watched the movie Julia and Julia. I had read most of the book shortly after the movie had come out, and I had watched most of the movie with my friend Amanda one night while I was pregnant with Matthan- but I was so exhausted I feel asleep. So last night Matthew and I started Julia and Julia, and finished it tonight. What a great movie! I think that I might have enjoyed the movie so much because of how it portrayed Julia and Julia's love for cooking, and I could identify with that love. I also got a kick out of "Julie and Julia's husbands, and the relationships that the women had with them. Specially Eric and Julies- I felt like their marriage mimicked my mine with Matthew (to an extent). Oh, and I love movies based on true stories- and this was based on two! After watching the movie, I am thinking about investing in Julia Child's cookbook, and reading her book about her life in France, and of course finishing the book Julie and Julia. All in my spare time, all in my spare time.

Where are the Tidbits?

Yesterday when I got on facebook I had a message from my mom. It was short and to the point, only three sentences long. The last one simply stated- "Where are the tidbits." I think that was her "subtle" way of telling me that I needed to get back to "blogging". Problem is- I don't have any tidbits.

DC

When I became a registered nurse Matthew was so jealous. Not because he wanted to be a nurse, or even the good pay, or my education. No, he was jealous because I now have a tittle, letters to sign behind my name. Not that I go around signing my name Tabitha J. York RN, or that it is written on the Christmas cards that we send out. No, the only time that I sign RN, is when I am working as a registered nurse (or after I have worked mad hours, and just out of habit, accidently sign my name Tabitha J. York RN). Since I now have an almost five week old baby, who is uber sensitive to a dirty diaper, I have decided that I need a new tittle. For the letters RN, I am now going to sign DC. Tabitha J. York DC. Yep, DC. Diaper Changer. You know what, you can even forget the Tabitha. All signatures from now on will be Momma York DC.

The Company of Good Friends

In case you haven't figured it out yet, Matthew and I love to entertain. When we lived in PA we would host these "Halo Parties" (Halo is a video game), and would set up four TVs, four xboxes, and 16 people would be able play the game at a time. This would go on all day, and I would usually make lunch for everyone and then leave! (All of this was done in our little 1000 sq ft apartment).

We enjoy having people come for a weekend, for dinner, for desert, for lunch, breakfast, for anything. I do the cooking and Matthew the entertaining. I most love spur of the moment events- having guest over after little thought or planning. What I love the most, is being able to have good friends over, and not having to worry about the condition of the house, what is being served to eat, and being able to use paper plates. Today was one of those days. After church this morning, Matthew invited our good friends Paul and Amanda over for lunch. This was a spur of the moment "event". One on which we ate on paper plates, and had leftovers. Our lunch consisted of beef pot-pie, home made pizza, cream of mushroom soup, pulled pork sandwiches, and scalloped potatoes. None of these foods really "go together" but everyone enjoyed the meal and left with a full stomach. But most importantly, we delighted in the company of good friends.

Why I Do What I Do

Even though I have already stated how much I enjoy cooking and baking, there are sometimes that I start a project and then wonder- half way through- "Why do I do this to myself?" For example, sometime last year I decided that it would be neat to make my own pasta- I picked ravioli. I made spinach ravioli with a butter sage sauce, all from scratch. I remember of getting about halfway through this process and wanting to shoot myself in the head! I was starting to feel like that last night. We have friends visiting us from Rhode Island, and I thought that it would be nice to have sticky buns for breakfast in the morning. But of coarse, because of the way I am, I wanted to make these sticky buns, not buy them. So at 9 o'clock- at night, I started the labor intensive process of making sticky buns from scratch. All was going well, until about 11 pm, and my dough still wasn't "doubled in size". Frustrating. By this point I just wanted to go to bed, and was kicking myself for thinking that I wanted to make sticky buns from scratch, when I could just go to the store a mile up the road and buy them! But, this morning, as we all bit into the warm, goo oozing cinnamon sticky buns, the frustration of last night quickly disappeared, and was replaced by the aroma of cinnamon through out our apartment. The satisfaction that I received from watching our guest enjoy the morning treat is something that I can't put into words- it is just that- satisfying.

ps I have been working on this post for the last two days.... thanks Matthan

pss- where I got the recipe- http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/cinnamon_sticky_buns/

1 month

Yesterday was Matthan's 1 month birthday. I suppose that I should have written a big blog, something about my childs life... but I have nothing. It is amazing to see the difference in Matthan, he is more alert, and active, and developing his own personality. Already, he is fighting me with sleep. Amazing I know. This is part of the reason why I didn't blog yesterday- Matthan would not sleep!

Our First!

While visiting our friends and family in PA for Labor Day weekend, Matthan had a big "first". This first, I am sure, is very unimportant to Matthan. I mean, what does he care if he sleeps through the night or not? In fact, I am quite positive that he probably hates the fact that he did sleep through the night. I mean, would you would want a dirty diaper for so long? Matthan doesn't! This kid is so sensitive to his diaper being dirty it is ridiculous! And six hours without food? This is a long time for my son, whom I can usually set the clock by. Every two hours, and this child is ready to eat! So you can just imagine- this kid ate like he hadn't eaten in years! The night of August 5th, 2010, while my child slept with a dirty diaper, and starved, I slept peacefully, undisturbed, for hours, and will treasure it always.

Labor Day Weekend- Not So Laborous

Even though the weekend was full of "Matthan Meltdowns", there were some advantages of being in PA, - plenty of hands to hold him (when he wasn't meltingdown). My parents (the parents who were "not ready for grandkids", and not excited at all about the idea of having a grandson), couldn't wait to cuddle with the little guy! My mom, now known as Omi, was even so desperate, that she would change Matthan's poopy diapers just to get her hands on him! At my brother and sister-in-laws house, I was able to get a shower without having to worry about coming out of the bathroom, and hearing Matthan crying. My sister-in-law was more then happy to watch him while I got myself ready for the day. Also, beside making a dish for a picnic- I didn't have to cook or bake to come up with any meals. If it wouldn't have been for the meltdowns, the weekend would have been pretty easy. But, as always, all good things must come to an end.

Labor Day Weekend- and it was Laborous

Where to begin? I guess the beginning is always a good start. When Matthew and I make trips to PA, we usually leave straight from Matthew's work Friday evening. Matthew works in Jersey, and it is about a half hour on our way to PA. Usually I go with him, and entertain myself with shopping, and reading, while he works, and then we hit the road. This time would be a little different. I wasn't about to entertain myself, and our four week old son for four or five hours. So the plan was that I would leave at 9, and meet Matthew at work with our car loaded and Matthan. Matthan was great all evening. Then eight o'clock hit. Matthan woke up, I fed him, and then it happened. He had a meltdown. For the next 30 minutes he cried, no, he wailed. Needless to say, I didn't leave until 9:30. Little did I know that this would just be the beginning of "Matthan Meltdowns"- which lasted for the entire weekend. I am not sure if it was PA, my family, Matt's family, or our friends that he didn't like, but either way, my little New Yorker, is much happier here at home in New York.

Nurse, Baker, or Cook?

Cooking and baking are two of my passions. Which is amazing, because at home, before I moved out, my mom was determined to teach me how to cook- and I hated every single rotten minute of it. Then I met Matthew, married Matthew, and like most men, Matthew loves to eat. It was around this time I realized that I love to cook and bake for people who love to eat. My passion for cooking/baking may also have developed once I had my own kitchen and I didn't have to look all around my mother's very tiny, and very unorganized kitchen for every single thing that I needed! There are times that I wonder if I shouldn't have gone to chef school and become a cook, or a baker. I would think it would be a lot less stressful then nursing, and I have seen the pleasure that a great cook receives from making fantastic food and pleasing a crowd.

Each week I usually spend hours pouring over emails, websites, cookbooks and cooking magazines, trying to come up with new meals that are season appropriate (I mean who wants soup, chili and stew in July when it is 100 degrees outside?), and I also look for meals that will suit our taste, and that are convenient for the week. ( I mean I look to cook and bake, but I also have a life outside of the kitchen, and if we are having a busy week I am not going to plan on making ravioli from scratch! ). I also try to plan so that I use the meat that we have on hand (we always have beef and pork in our freezer from my family), and whatever chicken and fish is on sale at the store.

Tonight's specialty? Sausage bread. This is actually one of my mom's recipes. Whenever I feed this to friends and family it is a huge hit. In fact, at the beginning of each semester I usually make this for one of the Nyack College students who likes to visit our apartment, as a "welcome back", as this is his favorite meal that I make.

The recipe is so easy, try it!

1 lb bulk sausage, cooked

2 cups shredded mixed Italian cheeses

1 frozen bread dough, thawed, or fresh bread dough

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp ground pepper

Preheat oven to 400. Roll out bread dough into a rectangle shape, about a 12 inches in length, and 6 inches in width.

In a bowl, mix together cooked sausage, cheeses, garlic powder and pepper (add more garlic powder and pepper if needed for taste).

Spread sausage unto rolled out bread dough. Fold over sides of dough to connect in the middle. (It should look like a stromboli or a calzone). Place on a greased baking stone, or cookie sheet.

Bake for about 10 minutes, and turn oven down to 350. Continue to bake an additional 20 minutes until top is golden brown. Let cool. Serve by cutting into slices.

This can be eaten hot or cold. Enjoy.

3 weeks and a few odd days

After getting pregnant I went through my closet and cleaned house! I got rid of bags of clothing. A lot of my clothing was borderline to small, and just plain old! And of coarse I also had a nice pile of clothing which were way to small. Size 4/5 jeans? Crazy. That was the smallest I ever seen- the summer before I got married. The only clothing I packed away were the "bigger" sizes, and prayed to God that I would one day, somehow, be able to wear them again. So anyway this past Sunday while trying to find something to wear to church I came across a pair of nice khaki colored dress pants. I am not sure where they came from, or if I had ever worn them. Did I dare try them on? I did, and they fit beautifully! To bad the tag is missing so I have no idea what size the mystery pants really are. Naturally I figured that they are a bigger size. So Monday came and Tuesday, and the maternity bottoms that I had on were literally falling off of me. By Wednesday I was desperate. I went searching through my closet, hoping to find something that I had forgotten about, and I did! I found a pair of light weight pants from old navy. Now these I KNEW I had worn before I was pregnant. One leg in, second leg, yes, they made it past my hips, and actually fit! I wore them for about 1 hour, and gloried in the fact that three weeks, and some odd days past having my first child I was able to put on pre-pregnancy pants... until Matthan had a blow-out and got poop all over them....nice.

It's a big lie

So what is that saying? Something to the effect of "sleep when the baby sleeps?" This is the biggest bunch of boloney that I have ever heard while being pregnant. If I slept while Matthan was sleeping I would never get anything done! It seems like while he is awake all I get done is nursing and changing diapers. Oh, and I eat. So while he is asleep I make dinner, wash dishes, pick up the apartment, clean the bathroom, make the bed, fold laundry, and whatever else I have time for until the little beast awakens, and once again needs his diaper changed and a nipple.

The Beginning

I have never been very good at keeping a journal, and its not because I don't try. I always start out with good intentions and keep it up for about two weeks, and then my journaling usually falls to pieces. I am hoping that I am much better at "blogging", but this all might be an epic fail.

I have found that our lives are always changing and nothing is ever the same. Two years ago, come the middle of September, Matthew and I started the biggest journey in our lives. We came to Nyack College for Matthew to attend college to become a pastor. We are committed to doing this part of our journey without any loans, and so far God has been providing for us.

Our latest adventure is Matthan. Our three week old son.

I am enjoying my maternity leave, and cry almost every time I think about the fact that in a few short weeks I will be headed back to work and leaving my beautiful son at home. This is something that I literally do not have a choice about, my income pays our bills. Period.

I am learning how to be a mom, and fitting that into the rest of my life. Everything is much more challenging, even just the daily routine. What time I get up in the morning is determined by my young son. From then on, I plan my day around his naps, and right now that is very unpredictable!