Swan Lake at Goodwill

Lilly spotted a good deal this week at the local Goodwill.

Many hours of fun for $2.99.

I couldn't get Lilly to hold still long enough to take her picture, so Maddie posed for me.

Cookie 101

When I was a kid I didn't know cookies were round, until I went to Kindergarten. My mother could never bring herself to scoop cookies, so we always had bar cookies. She often tells the story about how I came home from school and said, "guess what mom, we had round cookies today!" I was totally amazed. Still to this day, she refuses to scoop cookies. I on the other hand, could never do bar cookies (unless that's the way they were intended to be made).

I've always liked making cookies. A small part of me has always wanted to go into the business some day. I actually use to make cookies for a living, before I went to the ER.

Tonight, I thought I'd give you a few helpful hints to making perfect (or almost) cookies. If you don't believe me, look at the pic above. I made those tonight!

Tip #1

Always, always, always use cold dough. After you mix-up the dough, put it in the refrigerator while the oven is preheating (or even longer). When you do this the dough shapes much nicer.

Tip #2

This one might be controversial to some. I always use cold butter. I never let it sit a room temperature. Many will disagree, even Martha Stewart. This just goes back to tip #1, cold is better. Have you ever bought frozen cookie dough? Look how much better shaped the cookies are.

Tip #3

Ball all cookies, unless they are cake like cookies. Just like PB cookies. This will give a smoother appearance.

Tip #4

Pat or press dough down after they been shaped into balls.

I usually only bake one tray at first, to determine how much I need to press down the dough.

Tip #5

Bake for the exact time instructed. If they don't appear done, gently with a spatula lift and look at the bottom of the cookie (not the top). Once it just barley turns golden, that means they are done. Sometimes if I'm in doubt, I leave them on the pan a few minutes (out of the oven).

Tip #6

If a cookie is misshaped when taken out of the oven, quickly with a butter knife mold it back into shape. The worst cookie can end-up looking great.

One last thing. Invest in a good scooper, small ice cream scoopers are the best. Also, try to scoop even mounds of dough.

I hope this has been helpful!

  



Goodbye ER

As I drove into work last Sunday, I could feel the pit of my stomach in my throat. I couldn't really believe that this was it. The end of my ER saga. I'm remaining casual, but it's not quite the same. I asked myself, "self, am I making the right decision leaving?" Many friends and nurses from the outside (of the ER life), have said..."you'll love the new job or you wont miss the ER". When you've only known one type of nursing, it's a little scary.

This job can to be very stressful. No one tells you before hand, all the different hats you where as an ER nurse.  Plus, you need to know a little about every field of nursing. Patients come in with all kinds of complaints, ingrown toe nails to heart attacks to yeast infections. It's like what Forrest Gump says, ..."it's like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get".

Examples of the

 DIFFERENT HATS

Social Worker

Janitor

Maintenance

Cage fighter

FBI agent

Police

Hostess

Children's Services

Translator

Waitress

Mother

And Nurse

I'm not exaggerating either! I have taken all of those roles at some point (maybe not all at once).

There are probably many more I've forgotten.

The hardest part about leaving, is leaving my ER family. They have been through all the major milestone stones in my life, graduating, marriage, children and divorce. I can't imagine replacing them. They are the best of the best.

Today, I went to get my new badge. I turned in the old worn out one that said Emergency Department. And replaced it with Patient Care Services, it hurt a little bit. If you know anyone who is a Marine, then you'll understand this. Once a Marine always a Marine.  You can never take it away from them. The same goes for ER nurses. It may have been stripped from my badge, but I will always be one at heart.

As I drove away from the hospital today, I felt a complete sense of relief. I no longer could feel my stomach in my throat. I know I made the right decision. Now, I can begin a new saga in my life.

Sneak Peek

OK. I'm now moving from turquoise to RED.

Here's a sneak preview of the next makeovers, I've been working on.



And something a little different.

The after pics are coming soon!

Hodge Podge

I have a hodge podge of things tonight.

First

Look at these cute trees!

This was an easy project. We used old canvases, then stapled muslin fabric to them. Next, we traced the girls arms on paper. Then traced and cut them out of burlap. We used fabric scraps to make the leaves. Lastly, everything was glued to the canvas. This was a very easy, no sew project. Get all of the directions and other amazing craft ideas at

                                           

Moving on.

Here are my new front window curtains.

Home made of course

The fabric was only $7 at Walmart.

The wooden rings were found at Goodwill for $3.

These were cheap curtains!

Gotta Love That!

Lastly.

Here is an apple pie I made tonight.

Like I said, it's a hodge podge post.

Have a great night.



Quick Hello!



Tonight, the girls and I made a visit to my parents. They played outside and started their yearly collection of hedge apples.

Hedge apples are great soccer balls (and weapons)!

A few times I nearly got clocked in the head.

Maddie exploring.

 The Buckeye tree Maddie was climbing.

I just wanted to give a quick hello tonight. I've been a little busy. There are only 5 days left in the ER! I'm very excited. Stay tuned, there is more to come tomorrow.

Have a restful night.

Turquoise Addiction

Recently, I have become addicted to turquoise paint. I want to paint everything turquoise, controlling myself is very difficult. I have painted the TV stand, my desk, a chair, armoire, a mirror and the mail station. I once was addicted to black forklift paint, as you'll notice in some of my before pics (of other makeovers). Here are some pictures of a recent turquoise make-over, that had taken place pre-blog. Sorry, but there are no before pics (I didn't know I'd be starting a blog).

Mail Station

I bought these from Pottery Barn many years back, and they were once black.

Ah yes, my long lost idol.

Have a good night.

Craft Table

My mother has been working diligently, on the garage sale drop leaf table. I'm so very grateful. I've been very busy lately and haven't had much time.

 This one is hats off to Mom!

Before

After

The table cost $10 and Mother already had the paint. She did buy the scrapbook paper and Modge Podge for the drawers.

Now, the girls have somewhere officially for crafts.

One last thing.

Here are some recent garage sale finds!

Medicine Cabinet-$5.

Galvanized buckets with tool box-$15.

Film reels (3) -$3.

TV table-$1.

Bread Box-$2.

Stool frame-$1.