Just call me Mrs Bumblebee...

I had been looking so forward to this day for several weeks now. My alarm clock went off early on my day off, but I eagerly jumped out of bed to take on the new day! There were 5 of us labor and delivery gals that were all heading to Cincinnati to check out the huge IKEA store! Two of us had never been before, but had heard great things about it! We could hardly contain our excitement!

I was the chosen driver as I have the biggest vehicle! We wanted to be sure we had plenty of room to haul our purchases home! So, with our cell phones, purses, cash and debit cards in hand, off we went!

There was lots of happy chatter going on in the vehicle as you can imagine with 5 nurses on board. This was a special occasion...all of us off work at the same time, no spouses or kids, and a huge store awaiting our arrival!

I was driving on highway 46 towards Greensburg, In. I had just crossed highway 9 and was almost to Newbern. It was an overcast day and a slight chill in the air. The traffic began to slow down and we all wondered what was causing the traffic jam! After all.. we were on a mission! There was a long line of slowed traffic and 5 impatient gals in my SUV. We finally saw the culprit up ahead. It was a big truck that was spray painting those bright yellow lines down the middle of this two lane road! As we got closer, we could see a flashing sign in the back of the paint truck saying, "Warning, do not drive on paint!" Well, no duh........ We followed the truck for several miles until we got a break in the road and were all able to pass on the right! We were so happy to have finally gotten around that silly truck, but not another word was mentioned about INDOT painting the road! Until...............................................

We arrived in Greensburg and Nicole wanted to stop for some caffeine! We made a quick stop at McDonald's and grabbed something "to go" and were out the door! As I was walking out of McDonald's, I heard the shock in Nicole's voice! She squealed......"Oh no, Karen.....look at your car!" At that moment, I turned and looked at my "new paint job!"

I had apparently crossed over the freshly painted, yellow, center line in the two lane road and it had gotten all over my tires. It then splattered all over the inside of my wheel wells and onto my quarter panel and back bumper! Terri teased me about adding racing stripes to my car on the way to IKEA, while Amy teased me that I now looked like I was driving a bumble bee! We all were laughing hysterically and at the same time, I had a very sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach! You see, I was going to have to try to get this off before my husband saw it!

However, we did not let this slow us down one bit! Onto IKEA we went! I couldn't help but think of my horrible mess that was awaiting me as I walked up and down the isles of IKEA! (By the way, I loved the store and definitely want to go back again someday!) Over lunch I talked to my husband and dad and told them what I had done! Jonathan took it much better than I expected, but it was just because he could not even picture what this vehicle looked like! :o)

Later, the gals told me that they saw people pointing to my car and laughing at us! I am glad I was able to give them their laugh for the day!

Once we arrived back in town, I went to the car wash and inserted several dollars into the Super Power Wash. Unfortunately, you couldn't even tell that it helped! I went to the auto store and a body shop, and all the men basically said to me was, "Good luck!" :(

I've gotten a police report filed and will be going to see Mr Insurance agent in the morning. My dad also has a friend that has some sort of "potion" that he declares will get it off! So, I now have new plans for my Friday! I'll probably be spending it in the garage, de-striping my bumble-bee!

We had a great time in spite of the circumstances! And yes, I do want to go again, but next time, I'll let someone else drive!!!!

You might be a nurse if...

1. The front of your scrubs read..."Nurses...here to save your hind-end, not kiss it!" (I had to edit this one!!!)

2. You occasionally park in the space with the "Physicians Only" sign...and knock it over.

3. You believe some patients are alive only because it's illegal to kill them.

4. You recognize that you can't cure stupid.

5. You own at least 3 pens with prescription medication names on them.

6. You believe there's a special place in hell for the inventor of the call light.

7. You believe the saying "It can't get any worse" causes it to get worse, just to show you it can.

8. You wash your hands BEFORE you go to the bathroom.

9. You believe that any job where you can drive to work in your pajamas is a cool one.

10. You consider a tongue depressor an eating utensil.

11. Eating microwave popcorn out of a clean bedpan is perfectly natural.

12. You've been exposed to so many X-rays that you consider it a form of birth control.

13. You've ever heard a patient with a nose ring, brow ring, and twelve ear rings say..."I'm afraid of needles!"

14. You've ever placed a bet on someone's blood alcohol level.

15. You've told a confused patient that your name is that of a co-worker and to call if they need help.

16. Your bladder can expand to the size of a Winnebago water tank.

17. You believe that not all patients are annoying, some are unconscious.

18. Your family and friends refuse to watch medical sitcoms with you because you spend the entire time correcting everyone and pointing out upside down X-rays.

19. You don't get excited about blood unless it's your own.

20. You've sworn to have "Do Not Resuscitate" tattooed on your chest. Soon!

21. Discussing dismemberment over a gourmet meal is perfectly natural.

22. You idea of fine dining is anywhere you can find to sit down to eat.

23. Your idea of a good time is a cardiac arrest at shift change.

24. You believe that Prozac should come in a form of aerosol.

25. You believe that "a shallow gene pool" should be a recognized diagnosis.

26. You believe that the government should require permits to reproduce.

27. You believe that unspeakable evils will fall on anyone that utters the phrase..."Wow, it's really quiet, isn't it?"

28. You've ever wanted to write a book titled..."Suicide...getting it right the first time".

29. You've ever had a patient look you in the eye and say, "I have no idea how that got stuck in there."

30. You've had to leave a patient's room before you laugh uncontrollably!

Happy Nurses Week to everyone out there!!!

Mother's Day 2010

With my 3 little Walden kids!

Posing by my Mother's Day gift this year...a new storm door!
(Don't criticize Jonathan, that's what I wanted!!)

My Sister-in-law, April Thompson and her 3 kids

My brother and I with our wonderful Mom!

Easter 2010...

Ready to walk out the door for church!
Parker age 7, Peyton & Paige age 4

Happy Easter from the Walden's!

We are blessed...

Monday started out as a typical day at the Walden household. Jonathan's alarm went off bright and early as he prepared to head back to Winamac for another long week away from home. My alarm went off just a few minutes later and I headed to work for a long, twelve hour day. I talked to Jonathan a couple of times during the day on Monday, and everything seemed to be "routine!" Like I do every night on my way home from work, I called Jonathan to chat with him on my short trip home. While we were talking, I heard a dog bark on his end of the line and thought to myself, "There's no dogs up there..." but never asked him about it. He asked me where I was at on my 5 minute trip home, and I didn't think anything of it. As I turned onto our street, my heart immediately began to pound with fear! I blurted into the phone..."Jonathan, there's a man standing in my driveway!" He replied, "Oh yeah??? We'll who is it?" As I drove closer I responded, "It's you!!!!!!" I can't begin to explain the excitement I immediately felt! I began asking all kinds of questions and he told me to just hang up the phone so we could talk in person! :)

He proceeded to tell me that his boss had called him into his office on Monday and was asking him all kinds of questions. Some were pertaining to if he was happy, and one in particular was..."Would you like to work from home another day?" Obviously, you know his answer was "Yes!!!"

So, God heard and answered our prayers in a completely different way than what we were asking! We were praying for Daddy to get a job closer to home! All we were really asking for was that Daddy could be home more during the week! If everything works out as planned, Jonathan will only have to be away from home one night a week! You can imagine how excited the kids and I are over this news! He'll be traveling back and forth more and that'll make me nervous, but I'll be such a happy wife to have him home in the evenings again!
A Gaither Vocal Band song has been going over and over in my mind this week...

"God is good, yes He is, He's good all the time..."