Rascal

At 4am in the morning when I have to wake up in an hour I though I would talk about my wonderful cat, Rascal. Many people know that it seems like I have had her forever, which pretty much have, more than ½ my life really. She is 15 yrs old and probably seems like she has another good 5-7 years in her. She is a domestic black and white longhaired kitty and now that I have her hair grown out has grey racing stripes down her side.

She cuddles with me, give me massages, we have conversations with each other that only we can understand and she really only likes me. I have been told that she is a bipolar cat which she likes you and then the next minute wouldn’t care less. She had been through a lot in her long lifetime: she has moved 7 times and has been able to adjust pretty well, and be pretty content anywhere she lives. I do get her shaved about every 6 month or so the last couple of years and I know she doesn’t enjoy at all. She has lived with the crazy kitty, Kallie where she succeeded in teaching her bad habits J and she might get to experience a new kitten in the next couple of months, Sam that might be successful in her demise. She has had no health problems her whole life; she has probably been to the vet like 3-4 times total all for check ups. She is however skinny, skinny, but I guess that is better the super fat and insulin dependent. She even has a hand painted portrait of her hanging on my wall J.

I love her very much I wouldn’t trade her for any other cat. Just wish she would be more accepting to other animals and wouldn’t make me nervous that she could have a heart attack if she isn’t my only pet.

Hairless Rascal getting along with Kallie

Full-blown hair do, enjoying her limited time outside

Just after being shaved

I think this is the closest they had ever been, and I bet Kallie snuck up on her

Getting a massage

Artistic Rascal

My bed was actually made before I left the house that morning.

Autumnal Equinox

OOOH and this actually occurs tomorrow and not today....
According to Wikipedia:
“An equinox occurs twice a year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis is inclined neither away from nor towards the Sun, the center of the Sun being in the same plane as the Earth's equator. The term equinox can also be used in a broader sense, meaning the date when such a passage happens. The name "equinox" is derived from the Latin aequus (equal) and nox (night), because around the equinox, the night and day are approximately equally long. It may be better understood to mean that latitudes +L and -L north and south of the Equator experience nights of equal length.
At an equinox, the Sun is at one of two opposite points on the celestial sphere where the celestial equator (i.e. declination 0) and ecliptic intersect. These points of intersection are called equinoctial points: classically, the vernal point and the autumnal point. By extension, the term equinox may denote an equinoctial point.
An equinox happens each year at two specific moments in time (rather than two whole days), when there is a location on the Earth's equator where the center of the Sun can be observed to be vertically overhead (in astronomical terms, the subsolar point), occurring around March 20/21 and September 22/23 each year.”

Why I'm Happy!

Happy first day of fall! I think fall is one my favorite season next to spring. The Aspen trees up on the mountain this fall are a pretty color orange and yellow (sorry no pictures of the orange ones though). And I love the smell in the air. The smell of decaying plant….LOL I know that sounds morbid but I do love that smell! I went for a hike on

Monday and a bike ride yesterday. It has been an awesome last couple of days of summer! And last week, Jay took me to this old crystal cave up on Casper Mountain that was pretty interesting.

Anyway, more important things to talk about would be me living in Wyoming for 3 months now! I do really like it here so some high points are: I have a great job that I’m getting better at everyday, finally found something that I’m great at and LOVE! Also, I was scared that I would sit in my apartment bored all the time because I would have no friends or things to do. Lately, it seems like I’m away more then I am home. I haven’t watch TV in 3 months which is great because that seemed to be a weakness for me and it would be the only thing I would do. Now if I have a show that I want to watch I’ll just go online (like tomorrow night Grey’s Anatomy J) and watch just what I want to watch there. I have some pretty good friends here and dare I say a boyfriend (that I actually like). I have been better at working out and eating better (Lost 3 lbs already), not eating out nearly as much.

It seems like moving here was a good change for me. Casper seems like a pretty good town and almost provides everything I need. I DO really miss my family and friends in Denver though L but at least it isn’t that bad of a drive. Plus, I think a couple may becoming to visit me soon (hint, hint). Starting next week I think I’m going to start taking horse riding lessons, I have been waiting till my health insurance started so if I do get hurt it wont cost as much. Also, I really need a hobby now that I’m not in school anymore and only work 3 days a week I do have plenty of time on my hands where I need to fill it with something productive. I need a hobby that is fairly cheap! Anyone have any suggestions?

All in All, I seem much happier for some reason and this is just what I needed to pull me out of the rut I have been in the last couple years.

Nurse Code

Today at work I realized that nurses and medical personal say a lot of interesting sayings/phrases that don’t really make since to non-medical folk. We have all our medical jargon and talk that we spend years on learning and understanding which totally confuses most people at times. But there is the little quirks and phrases that are used sometimes that totally throw people off as well.

So I had an older patient today who totally almost gave me a panic attack twice today as well as influencing this post. I was texting a friend and said: “I almost had a patient fall on me today”. Then the response I got back was “that sucks I hope they were skinny and not 400+ pounds.” Which is what I totally didn’t mean. So I ask a co-worker what I meant by my statement and she knew that my patient almost fell on to the floor today. But I can see how it was misconceiving. J Another phrase I noticed nurses also say a lot is: “The patient is on (or back on) the floor.” Which means that the patient is on the medical unit not the actual floor. I can’t help but laugh because it seems like we are talking in code.

One of my favorite sayings is: “That’s my kryptonite” meaning I can pretty much deal with everything but that. In my case mucus, ugh…makes me gag just thinking about it.

Anyway, are there any more phrases that nurses or medical people use that I’m not remembering? It seems like I just say these things as a second nature instead of stopping and thinking about it.

It could be a Staceyism but I think I’m on to something…

OHH and don’t forget about the initials: FLK J

The Biggest Loser!

For the past 7ish years it seems like I have wanted to loose so weight but instead of the pounds falling off they have been gradually adding over the last couple years. Being a nurse and my previous education I know how important it is to be healthy to help with the disease process of the body as we age and quite frankly I have really choose not to do anything about it the last 7-10 years of my life. I have always loved and will always love food, which is my biggest down fall. Plus I’m an expert at being a couch potato and laying on the couch watching movies all days is totally awesome!

I don’t know how many patients I have cared for that has diabetes, coronary artery disease, or severe obesity that are all correlated with eating too much. So I just recently signed up with the local Casper gym to have a personal trainer for the next 24 months to help me make better decisions. I went for the first time last week (the same day as shooting) and my trainer did all my measurements, which just embarrassed me more. Then I had a small workout where she actually made me dizzy from lifting weights. So hopefully being able to go at least once a week for the next 6 months will motivate me enough to go the additional 3 days I have off a week.

I also have a meal-plan in place where I can only eat between 1300-1600 calories a day in order to loose about 2 lbs a week and I probably consume more like 2000-3000 calories a day. This is a HUGE cut and changing my eating habits. I might as well become a rabbit and just eat lettuce all day J. Since I have started “eating” better there really has been a few days were I have successfully consumed less than 1600 calories and that involved not leaving my apartment and measuring everything.

My biggest challenges with loosing weight are:

Alcohol---It’s amazing how many calories are in a beer. And I could easily consume a couple beers a day with no problems.

Eating out! ---Restaurants are my downfall, because I usually operate under the idea that don’t normally have this, IE: Prime Rib, so therefore I must have it.

Carbohydrates! I love pasta, bread, potatoes and all the carb foods. I measured ONE serving of dry pasta the other day and I would normally consume probably 4-5x that amount.

Portion sizes---goes along with the pasta I just need to at least cut everything in half because I am my fathers child and can lick a plate clean with no problem.

Making it to the Gym at least 3-4 times a week. Once again I’m a lazy bum that loves watching movies in my bed.

Snacks between meals—and just empty calorie snacks—I need to get better at eating apples and carrots and healthier stuff like that.

FOOD at Work! So I mentioned that as nurses we see the unhealthiest patients but as a whole we don’t eat well. The other day a patient (probably overweight) brought in a thank you basket with candy and chocolate for everyone. It is sooo hard to walk by the staff lounge or nurses station and see those wonderful individually wrapped butterfingers and snickers that are so irresistible.

I weight more today then I have ever have, even with a boyfriend where all we did was drink cream and consume high fat foods. I weight in at 206 lbs that I hide well. So my goal is to at least loose 25-30 lbs and then keep it off. So if I am able to have some self-control and be able to cut back. I'll keep you updated!

Ohh and PS I have been drinking a beer the whole time I’m writing this J

Wyoming Things

Today I did something that is really Wyoming. I shot a gun for the first time. I’m not talking about a beebee gun or a water gun. But a real live gun! If you know me pretty well you will know that I’m pretty much scared of guns. Maybe I just really respect them because of the power they possess. Anyway, a couple years ago I dated a police officer for a brief period of time where whenever he came over to my house in uniform or I would go to his he would have his work gun in his belt on the bedside table which made me pretty nervous. Also, one day I did find rifles under his bed that freaked me out as well. So this really is my only exposure to guns besides my cousins talking about guns. So this person who I might or might not be dating in Casper (who is also a police officer) invited me shooting and teach me since I really have no idea. So today we went to a very beautiful (hint of sarcasm) of Wyoming. I learned the basics never point a gun at anything that I don’t want to shoot even if it is not loaded; how to hold a handgun and rifle the right way; and how to aim. I ended up shot 3 different kinds of guns a 22 handgun; a 22 manual rifle; and a pretty powerful AR-15 (assault rifle). And I guess these were the “baby” guns that he owns…. Anyway after shooting for the first time it is pretty hard to have a good aim and actually hit what I wanted. My arms would get tired of holding up the gun and trying to keep it steady—so I’ll defiantly will be sore tomorrow. On top of everything I was really focusing on what I needed to do to be safe and everything.

When we first pulled up to the place it was littered with trash, junk and covered with shotgun and other gun shells I couldn’t believe how dirty it looked and how people could just leave their trash out there! Everything was covered with bullet holes which is kinda artistic. Jay was telling me that it was cleaned up at one time and tried to put posts in to make the place look nice. But I guess a place where people go to shoot guns isn’t going to be very classy. J

After a couple hours I decided that I liked the 22 rifle the best because it didn’t have as much of a kickback as the AR-15—which you felt to the bone every time it fired. And I also liked how I had better control with the rifle then I did with the handgun. In conclusion, I’m a little less scared of guns then I was before. But I don’t think I will agree to handguns on dressers anytime soon.

The orange thing I'm holding is called a Clay Pigeon or better known as clay disks that are shot into the air as targets but they were laying all over the place so we set them up and used them as targets everywhere. Also, in order to not contribute to the thousands of shells on the ground already we picked up most the ones we shot and I think this picture with the starbucks cup full of shells on a big red heavy duty truck is pretty redneck-country vs modern-city artistic :)... Also click on the 3rd picture to make it larger and be amazed by all the shell casings!