January - Welcome 2019!!!

Wow, January has flown by already and it's been a busy month! 

Our temperature today is -35 with wind chills in the -40's. I'm dreaming of a warmer climate! I'm so glad I wasn't scheduled to work today or tomorrow. Friday is supposed to be back up in the 20's which will seem absolutely balmy after these arctic temperatures.

Thankfully my Jeep has started every morning that I've needed it to. We did put it in the shop yesterday morning just to be sure I could get to work. I couldn't believe how many people called in the night before without knowing what the roads would be like the next day. Yes, there was a travel advisory out, but the roads were almost totally clear when I drove into work. It might not be a huge thing in most fields but when you work in the medical field, staff not showing up is a huge problem.

This morning I got up and did 35 minutes of yoga (on Gaiam TV) targetting the neck and shoulders since my back has been tight - a hazard of working as a CNA. Lunch was some leftover BBQ pulled pork I made Sunday. On Sunday I also did a batch of low carb chili to take for my lunches. I was nice and shared some with my traveling nurse since I know she can't make food like that in her hotel.

January 2nd we went snowmobiling with about a dozen family and friends. We rode from the farm to Rugby, stopped for lunch at the Eagles in Rugby, rode to the bar in Balta and then rode back to Wolford through Rugby. We stopped at the Corrigator bar in Wolford for supper before returning to our place. The trails weren't in the best shape as there had been a ride earlier that day so the trails had gotten pretty torn up especially when we returned. We saw a herd of deer that ran out of a slough and Mr. B's brother found a 4-point antler laying on the ground in the field he picked up to take home. Mr. B's sled broke down so he had to be picked up and his sled loaded to bring back.

FAMILY:

Lil Dude enjoying his strawberry margarita (virgin)

My poor son was diagnosed with a huge kidney stone mid-month. Surgery was scheduled for the first week of February and all of a sudden I got a call on the 21st saying his surgery was the next day! Talk about having to change gears quickly! I had to pack and drive down to Jamestown so that I could drive him to Fargo the next morning. I decided to treat myself and stay in a hotel. My second thought was the pool would give my grandson a way to wear off some energy before having to be confined with me at the hospital the next day. 


My son was supposed to have surgery at 11:15 am, but they didn't get him into surgery until almost 4 pm.  While he was in recovery, I made the decision we would stay in Fargo for the night. The news reports were already advising that I94 was already becoming slippery and I didn't need to slide off the road with my son still coming out of anesthesia and my 3-year-old grandson, so I got a hotel room in Fargo. I'd planned to take lil dude to the pool to wear off some energy, but after a whole day of dealing with him at the hospital I was just too tired and let the TV entertain him. Unfortunately, I didn't get much sleep as he woke up at 1:30 am crying, pulling on his left ear and it took several hours before he fell asleep again. Needless to say, I came home totally exhausted.


LIFE IMPROVEMENT:

I've been toying with trying to find a job working from home but hate the idea of dealing with other company's office politics and drama so I've decided to launch my own business. I was hired by an online transcription company but they take most of the profit away. I waste so much time having to research online that they pay isn't that great. I really want to work 40 hours or less and be able to set my own schedule again. I miss having my pet sitting business, but it's just not workable where I live. 

So based on my skills I've decided to launch a Virtual Assistant and Transcription business. There are a lot of things about launching this type of business I wasn't sure about so I researched and decided to join the Virtual Savvy Bootcamp and Savvy Tech Training courses. I found programs ranging in price from $300 to almost $5000, Abbey's program is somewhat in the middle ranging from about $1000 to $2600, depending on how many options you want. I added the Savvy Tech option as I know I need to learn some new programs and felt the cost for a year was affordable, especially since she adds about three new courses every month to chose from. If you're considering a change into the Virtual Assistant field, please check out their programs (and yes I will get a small reimbursement if anyone signs up).

Virtual Savvy Homepage     https://bit.ly/2RplPaY

Savvy Tech Training    https://bit.ly/2Bb7tpf

Jump Start   https://bit.ly/2MLf56I
The Jump Start program was free when I took it but that might have changed.

BOOKS:

      

I was able to read about a book a week, which for me right now is doing pretty good, and makes my Kindle Unlimited subscription worth keeping. I liked Dark, Witch & Creamy, so I downloaded the next book in the series. I haven't quite finished In the Shadow of Denali but I'm 75% done with it, and I'll be downloading the next in that series also. Hanish was an amusing romance.  I've downloaded Cozy Minimalist Home by Myquillyn Smith, The Minimalist Home by Joshua Becker, Witch, Chocolate Fudge by H.Y. Hann and Aquaponics by Celine Walker for future reading.

December Ramblings

Well, the New Year is here and hopefully this year will be filled with blessings and not fly by quite as fast as last year did. I pray all my readers had a great holiday! Working in the medical field makes holidays difficult, to say the least, and caused crazy scheduling. I felt like I never could get caught up or catch my breath. I was blessed my son and lil dude were able to join us although they returned home the day after Christmas so I didn't get much time visiting with them.

The day after Christmas I got stuck at the hospital overnight because of an incoming snow storm. The hospital informed us we were not allowed to leave if we couldn't guarantee that we could make it back in the next morning. I couldn't guarantee I could get back in so I had to stay. I decided to make it an adventure and went out for supper at my favorite Mexican joint in town (okay it's the only Mexican joint in town). Nothing beats a nice margarita to help a girl relax! I had put a bag in my Jeep with a pair of scrubs and other necessities along with a few food items just in case of such an event and was thankful it was there. The one thing I forgot to pack was a pair of pajamas so I stopped and grabbed some at Shopko after I ate supper, which helped kill some time. After returning to the hospital I made up my bed and then decided to try out the jetted tub for a relaxing bath. I was amazed at how well I slept. I was glad to go home to my own bed the next night though and Mr. B was very happy to have me home.

Right before Christmas, we did a road trip to pick up used oil. Mr. B has a furnace in the shop that reuses oil and we were low on oil to heat the shop. All our water pipes come from the shop to the houses so it's important they don't freeze and the shop has to be heated. He gets used oil from farmers and garages after they change the oil in vehicles or equipment. It was a beautiful day out so I took a lot of pictures while he was driving. Mr. B's brother also picked up some used oil by him and brought it up so we were able to get enough oil for at least a couple months.

Mr. B and I attended a wine pairing at Marie's in Bottineau on December 12th. It was a wonderful night of wines and food serviced in six courses. Mr. B won us a bottle of wine and a Fireball t-shirt. We returned home with several bottles of wine and the leftover cheese from the appetizer tray. It was something Mr. B had never done before and I was worried about him eating anything, but he was a sport and tried everything.

On the homefront I decided to finally break down and clean the oven, which I don't think has been cleaned since Mr. B's wife died four years ago. I felt it really needed to be done before I cooked the Christmas turkey in it. Unfortunately, the oven doesn't have an auto clean feature so I had to use Easy Off Extra Strength and a lot of elbow grease to get it clean. It was so bad I had to spray and let it set a second time before I finally got it clean.

BOOKS:

I did manage to get some reading done in December. A lot of it focused on Hygge and Logam.