twopeasinapod

My car has been having a lot of problems (and still has a long list of things that still need to be fixed). After putting a lot of money into fixing it in a three week period, it was becoming a money pit fast and wasn’t getting any safer to drive. So I decided it was time to put the old thing to rest and trade it in for a newer, safer car. I ended up getting a 2004 (10-year upgrade) Cheverolet Cavalier. It is a pretty basic model, no power windows or mirrors, but it is a 5-speed manual (great gas mileage), has low mileage (50,000 miles on it), and has a two year warrenty. Biggest thing….heat and air work, and I now have peace of mind that my car is not going to break down whenever I get into it.

 

My friend Teresa (who I have been friends with since I was in 7th grade) got interviewed in her blog and offered to interview any of her friends that were interested. Since my blog has been suffering lately, I decided to let her interview me. So here is her interview…

Teresa: Where do you see yourself 10 years from now? Any long-term plans (that bring you back to Washington perhaps?)
 
Nicole: Let’s see. I really love working EMS, but I have been thinking about going back to school to do nursing. They get paid twice as much, and if my back goes out from lifting all these 300-400 lb pts on the stretcher, then I’ll be out of a job. I am not sure when I want to go back to school. I kind of wanted to wait until Daisy was a little older, but there is a college here that has a bridge program, where if you have your Paramedic, then it only takes a year to get your nursing degree, instead of doing a two-year program. So not this fall, but maybe next fall, I might be back in school. Then definently, after I get my nursing license, I will be looking for a job in WA. Right now, I only have a NC certification as a Paramedic and can only work in NC. If I wanted to work in WA as a Paramedic, I would have to get my National Regestry, and become a Firefighter to work in Western WA. I don’t want to be a firefighter.

Teresa: What would you do if you won the lottery?
 
Nicole: Oh that is a easy question. First, move back to WA. Buy an awesome house and car. Put money into a college fund for Daisy. Take a trip to Yap durring Yap Day (day in spring where Yap has a big celebration with lots of dancing, crafts and other traditional things) to meet her family and see the island where her dad is from. And I would probably give some money to my family since they have all helped me through all the hard times that I have had the last five years or so. I would probably also buy a bunch of clothes for me and daisy, and do a spa day.

Teresa: What’s one of your favourite high-school memories?

Nicole: Well, I don’t really try to remember too much from High School. (LOL) But if I have to choose something to remember it would be going on a field trip with my Marine Biology Class to the Orcas Islands where I saw orcas swimming in the sound for the first and last time that I lived in WA state. There were three buses that went on the field trip, and my bus was the only one that got to see them. There were also a lot of other really cool stuff that we got to see on the field trip, but the orcas were definantly the highlight of the whole trip.

Teresa: Daisy is the sweetest little girl. What’s your favourite thing about her?
 
Nicole: Do I have to pick just one thing? I love how funny she is. All the funny things that she says and does, especially when she is in trouble. If I am yelling at her for something she did, she will start making funny faces at me to try to make me laugh. How can you stay mad at a silly face? I also love her energy. (Most of the time, sometimes she has  maybe a little too much energy) And I love how she always has a solution to every problem that I might have that she hears about. Some not so realistic, like the time she wanted to call the fairy godmother to fix my broken down car. But still, in her mind, a solution. I could go on and on, but I’ll leave it at that for now.

Teresa: What is the best compliment you’ve ever recieved?
 
Nicole: That is a hard question. Really right now at work, just getting any compliment about how I did something or treated a pt is really great. I have so much to learn, especially between the two services (they are so different on how they do things) that whenever I get a compliment from a partner or supervisor, it is awesome. Just gives me a little bit more confidence for the next call I go on, which makes me a better Paramedic.

Well, that is it. Hope you all learned something about me.

I know that I am way overdue for a blog, so here I go… Daisy came home from school the other day talking about a hairdo that her friend had that was so cool. She wanted me to do her hair just like her friend. So I tried to figure out what she was talking about, but just could not understand what she wanted me to do to her hair. (Trying to figure out a four-year old describing a hairdo is like trying to figure out a really hard riddle). So I resorted to calling her friends’ mother and asking her how she did her kids hair. I have now figured out that “a twist with a pony on the bottom that goes to the top (of the head)” is really just pigtails that have been braided. I am still in awe of how my four year old is so obbsessed with fasion and hair at such a young age! Really, it is crazy how preschoolers are so worried about looking cool around their friends (at preschool!). This is the third day in a row that she has demanded that I do her hair like her friends. (I have a pic to post, but my computer is not working with me right now, so I will post it later.)

I have cut my hours way back at the gym that I work at so that I can pick up more hours with EMS. I am only going to work one day a week, and that is really only to keep my free membership. I haven’t really started at Westcare yet. I am going to work Thursday and Friday, but I am not really sure what I am going to be doing. Still have to get uniforms and protocols, so maybe we are just going to go over stuff like that for two days. But I am picking up shifts at Macon, which is where I really want to work, so no worries. Westcare will be good, because they have different calls than Macon does, and I will learn a lot working there, but as far as long-term, I want to work for Macon.

I found out officially today that I got a job at Westcare EMS in Sylva (I interviewed with them last week). Didn’t get full time, got one of the part time postions, but between my part time job with Macon county EMS and Westcare, I’m sure I will be able to get full time hours. Sooo, that means that I can cut my hours back at the gym I work at and concentrate on EMS! So I am kind of stoked about that. I am still kind of suprised that I got the job. There were three parts to the interview. Two parts, I thought I did really well on, the other part, I thought I did OK. Being fresh out of school with no experience, I feel like I don’t know anything. So it was kind of a confidence booster to find out I got the job.

Ok I know that I am way late posting this post, but here it is…

Daisy turned 4 on the 26th of December. I am trying to come to grip with the fact that my toddler is toddler no more, but a preschooler. So sad, but fun at the same time.

Christmas was a blast. Daisy got every instrument needed to start her own band…a guitar, keyboard, drums, spinning table, a bunch of small percusion instruments, and microphones to sing into. She also got a bunch of barbie stuff, which she really likes. That kind of surprised me, because she has never been too interested in playing with barbies before. She also got a ton of other stuff (spoiled rotten), and she loved every bit of it. It was also really nice to have my sister around for the Holidays.

And some exciting news… I have a job interview for a Paramedic position in Sylva (about 40 minutes away) on Wed. There are 12 people being interviewed for 4 positions, so wish me luck!

Yesterday, my sister flew into Atlanta to spend the next week with us. (she is here for vacation, but really she is going to be babysitting for me the whole time she is here) It was also my birthday, so we went out to Olive Garden to celebrate. It is going to be a busy week with work, family, Christmas, and Daisy’s Birthday on Friday. (She is going to be four. I can’t believe it!) So if I don’t get a chance to say it….MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

PS. I am working my first real shift as a paramedic (no more 3rd person!) on January 31 (day shift).

I passed my oral boards today, Yeah for me! Now I can start picking up shifts at my EMS job, as soon as one becomes available anyway. So glad that I am done with that. I was so nervous that I wouldn’t remember everything (being that I have been out of school for 7 months now), but I did, and it was so easy, compared to what I thougt it would be. Anyway I am just ready to get out there and start working. The Fitness Center is a nice job, but I am so over it.

My little girl has been trying to conquer tieing her shoes for months now. Being that she is so young, I figured that she would eventually give up and try again when she was a little older. But I was very wrong. My little “Miss Independant” has not given up, and yesterday, she tied one of her shoes all by herself for the first time. I can not believe it.

Well, the Christmas season has officially begun. I say officiallly, because it never really ended at my house, at least the Christmas music and movies never ended, and our Christmas tree has been up since the first week of November. But officially it began this week. Yesterday, my mom came and picked up Daisy to take her to see Santa Clause (one of Daisy’s favorite people). She wrote a letter to him on Tuesday, and gave it to him when she went to see him yesterday. Along with what she wrote in her letter, Daisy thinks she wants to be a drummer in a rock band. I don’t know how she got this idea in her head, but she is constantly drumming or making percussion sounds with her mouth to music. And I know for a fact, the lovely grandparent that she has, has bought her a drum set. Can’t wait for that. (if you can’t tell from reading this, I am being way sarcastic. I don’t know many parents that would be too thrilled to have 4 year-old and drumset combination in their house.) Anyway, we shall see how that goes in a month. For now here is a pic of daisy with Santa…

My brother’s wife, Allison, had her ultrasound yesterday, and they found out they are having a boy! Here are the ultrasounds of my little nephew. He is due on 4/20/09. So exciting!