A little bit o' Weather

I've grown up in Tornado Alley. I do not love Tornado Season. We do not head to the bathroom when the Tornado Warning hits- otherwise we'd be in the bathroom for days. We don't even head to the bathroom when the storm siren sounds. Instead, like every good Okie, when the siren sounds we go outside & look for the impending wall cloud or funnel coming towards us. We do not panic until we see the funnel starting above us or coming towards us. However, we do take precautions.

Last night we had quite a little storm system come through. The area we live in is between cities. So, when the news focuses in on the Oneta area, we know we're in trouble. The tornado that hit Haskell last night ended up coming just south of us, thank goodness. We did get a sudden downpour of rain and wind blowing different ways. Quinlynne has to prepare the bathroom "just in case". We put our sneakers on in case something were to happen- we'd have protection for our feet instead of our dear flip flops. Then we found a use for Quinlynne's helmet. Thank goodness!

Oh my goodness, really??

I have been on a kick lately of visiting antique stores. It's my version of "going green". I'm reusing!! I thought to myself "Gee Shandolynne, you're really getting old when you go to these antique stores and you think 'I remember using that!!'" Then I said something about remembering the Otasco stores. The older gentleman working at the store said "You're THAT OLD??" I told him indeed I was, and I'd take it as a good sign that I looked good if he found it hard do believe I remembered Otascos. So- this is the Piece de Resistance: This morning Quinlynne was watching cartoons on Disney. In between the modern cartoons they show short classic cartoons. I told Quinlynne that those cartoons I used to watch when I was a little girl. (It was one with Daffy Duck.)
Quinlynne: On Disney Channel, momma??
Me: No. We didn't have Disney Channel, Quinlynne.
Quinlynne: Why not?
Me: We didn't have cable when I was little.
Long pause.
Quinlynne: Did you have electricity when you were little?
Long pause.
Me: Yes, Quinlynne!!! (snidely) We had electricity!!! We just didn't have cable yet.

Wonderful start to my Mother's Day! The child has a thing or two to learn about history.
For Mother's Day we had a fun picnic at one of the parks here in town. It was great to be able to spend time with my mom, Connie, Mandy, Aaron & my nieces, my cousin Penny & her husband John, and Uncle Charlie. We did use the new quilt, again! It was a beautiful day!! And to top it off?? I get to have my niece Cadyn this week! Quinlynne has already asked if she can pretend she's her little sister.

Its Maiden Picnic

Did I ever post that I have taken up a new hobby? For years now I have been wanting to quilt. I've always been quite daunted by it, though. I didn't have enough faith in my sewing abilities. So- I decided to grab the bull by the horns and go for it. It has been a little labor of love. I decided my first quilt was going to be something for Quinlynne & I. I picked colors that were kind of girly. I wanted this quilt to be one we could take on picnics, to sporting events, etc. (Let me interject here- a few days ago I went into an antiques shop & the lady there was quilting. I mentioned to her that I was almost finished with my first quilt. She could NOT believe that I was going to use it for the above listed purposes. Seriously?? I think quilts should be utilitarian.) Today we had a ward picnic, and I was excited to take the new quilt on its maiden picnic.

Quinlynne had to pose on the new quilt. She likes it a lot, I do believe. I can't wait to start my next quilt!!

The Morning After

I was unable to go to clinicals today. So, I WAS able to see Quinlynne's reaction to her pillow this morning. Here it is....It's not the greatest picture- but look at her expression. She was so excited to take that for her nap time!

As a side note- how should I feel when I'm on several LDS singles web sites and I have absolutely ZERO profile views. No one looks at my profile. Do they just see my profile pic in the preview and decide it's not worth even checking out the rest of the profile? I mean really, if you were me- what would your thoughts be?

Rest thine head

Quinlynne has been wanting a pillowcase for her pillow. This is her pillow she takes to school for her naps, and takes in the car for napping while traveling. Today we both had pinkeye. I do so enjoy sharing things like this with my daughter. (She informed me today that I must have just stayed home with her so we could spend some time together.) I had decided to start teaching Quinlynne how to do some needlepoint. But- since I could not find the embroidery floss, we decided to go for the pillowcase project. Quinlynne picked out the fabric she wanted to use for her pillowcase from scraps we had. We just played around until we came up with something we liked.

This is the pillow before.This is the front of the pillow after.
And the back of the pillow after.I will be gone to clinicals in the morning when she gets up. So, I will not be able to see her reaction. I was still working on it when she went to bed this evening. I hope she likes it!!

Maybe not December

So I have some news. I'm going to be dropping my Clinical Psych Nursing class. I'm NOT doing well in it, at all. I may have already told you this, but I'm struggling- period- this semester. In order to give myself a fighting chance of passing Critical Care & Manager of Care, I decided that I'm going to withdraw from the Psych class. After that thought occurred to me (I was in the shower), it was like a huge weight was lifted from my shoulders. I'll be taking the Psych class in the summer. That means I'll be able to take the NCLEX shortly after finishing the class. I won't be pinned until December. That makes me sad.....but it's for the best I think. So, instead of studying for the Psych test which is tomorrow, I decided to work on a project I've been wanting to do for a few weeks now. This is a prototype. It's a potholder. It's supposed to be vintage looking. I picked the fabrics because they reminded me of the old flour sack fabrics that so many old quilts are made from. I've already finished a second one, and I hand stitched the binding. I think that makes it look better. SO SO SO much better than studying!!

1st day of Spring Break

Quinlynne and I were bored our first day of Spring Break. It was kind of chilly outside, so we didn't go do much. What did we do? Self-portraits, of course! We were trying to make funny faces and be goofy. These are the only ones we got which were even halfway clear. We were giggling so much we couldn't get a clear picture!

Oh, I forgot to post this the other day. But- Happy Mardi Gras!!! Quinlynne is sporting her mask her Uncle Aaron & Aunt Mandy brought back for her from New Orleans when they made their trip there in October. Cool, no?

Oh- Quinlynne informed me the other night that she DOES want a dad. I asked her why she wants a dad. She told me "so he can rough-house with me!" Who knew?

Getting there

For those of you who did NOT see this photo on Facebook....

I took this picture at the hospital last week while I was at my clinical site. I have been on a heart floor at a local hospital. Actually, it's the one hospital that I've asked to not go to because that is where my dad died. Ironically- it's the one hospital I REPEATEDLY get sent to. Is Heavenly Father trying to tell me something? ANYHOW- with any luck- soon this girl with the awesome stethoscope will soon be a Registered Nurse and not a Student Nurse. This semester IS killing me. Like- right now- I'm supposed to be doing some research for a paper that is due tomorrow at 5. Yeah- I'm behind. UGH- unmotivated, that's me.

How cute is this?

Last weekend my brother's family was down. One of my nieces always calls the sofa as her bed. Well, I was walking through the living room to take something to the laundry room and this is what I saw:
How cute is that? Izzy & Abby cuddled right up together. I tell ya- those kids make me smile at times.

I'm sorry I haven't been posting anything really. And when I tell you my excuse you'll just roll your eyes. You know I'm in my last semester (hopefully) of nursing school. It sucks. Plain and simple. There is light at the end of the tunnel- but I am completely unmotivated & that's difficult because the majority of our lectures & everything are things we have to do on our own time. NOT happy. But, there's no use crying over something which is not going to be changed.

Quinlynne has said some pretty cute things lately. Yesterday morning I was trying to sleep in, and I was in the recliner in the living room. Q had the TV on the Disney channel I get so tired of that being on constantly & Q knows this. She said "You don't want it on the Disney channel, Momma? No problem!" And she turned it to Nickelodeon. Oh yes- what a huge difference. Then today Mom and I were walking through the living room and Q was watching TV. We all commented on something that was cute. (I wish I could remember what it was. Apparently I've got early onset Alzheimer's.) Mom & I were in the kitchen and we heard Quinlynne say "You know that, Grandi!" (Instead of 'you know it'!)

To start things off, here is a picture of my niece, Cadyn. Look at that little face. Can't you just see the ornery-ness? She is adorable! OK, the pictures are kind of going to be in a jumbled up order- but go with it.
Like I said earlier- we had to take a total of 6 flights to get to California and back. Finally, on the last flight, from Dallas to Tulsa, the pilot let Quinlynne come up to the cockpit. Apparently- they don't have wings to give kids anymore? But, she totally loved getting to see the cockpit!

This is a picture of me with my cousin Tasha's grandson, Kash. (Isn't it weird that my cousins have grandkids?? It's true on both sides of my family.) Kash is such a little cuddlebug!

This is me with my cousins Audra's grandson, Robert. They said he never smiles and he never wants his fingernails or toenails trimmed. Well- I had a hangnail so I asked for a pair of clippers. Robert saw me with them and climbed right up onto my lap. The boy must just sense how I feel about nail hygiene. AND- we got a picture of him smiling...with ME!

This is my Aunt Di with Quinlynne. We are on a pier here, one you can drive onto. We were over on this side of it trying to see if there were any sea lions on the lower deck. Isn't the water pretty?

This picture is of Quinlynne looking out the window of the car when she figured out that was the ocean we were driving next to. She thought it was soooo neat!

This is Quinlynne & Aunt Di again. Can you see the excitement on her little face? She couldn't believe we were driving on a pier!!