Thanksgiving preparation

Being a nurse has it's downside as much as it's perks. Thanksgiving is my holiday to work this year. Since I work nights I will be working the night before and the night of Thanksgiving. This presents some challenges to getting the dinner with family in but the benefit of working nights is that it is still doable. Tuesday I got the baking done before coming to work. I made 4 loaves of bread (a Bosch is on my Christmas list); rolls, pies, and baked beans. Tonight I wished I had made pumpkin cookies too but alas T-I-M-E is a 4-letter word. I had wanted to make more pies but my pie dishes have dwindled. I need to mark them so that I get them back after family dinners.....

Mom seemed disappointed that we would not be on time to dinner. I tried to explain to my mom that dinner at noon would not work for me. She seemed surprised when after getting off I couldn't go home to sleep for a couple of hours then be over to meet with the family for dinner on time. After explaining the limits of 4 or less hours sleep, eating Thanksgiving dinner, then returning to work all night she seemed to understand my statement "we'll get there as soon as we can". It is hard to understand daytime sleeping unless you have worked nights. We are definantly NOT nocturnal creatures.

Last week I was informed that I needed 16 hrs of continueing education credits to qualify for a professional bonus at work. The good news was I had done all the volunteer stuff. Bad news was I had 3 days to complete 16 hrs of education. UGH!! I am so glad I finished school before having children. I wanted so badly to do something- anything but study. I am proud to say however that I got it done! Horray! I spent Monday getting signatures, finishing tests, and turning in all the neccessary paperwork. Now we get to look forward to an unplanned bonus just before Christmas. How cool is that?!!!

I also finished the tree and wreath for the hospital charity auction. It will be held Dec 11 I believe. I am excited about how they turned out. I will try to post pictures soon. Now, I can focus on regaining control of my house. I love to decorate at Christmas but my decorations are suffering this year. I plan to do a bit of shopping on Friday then hit the housecleaning- which is mostly organizing- hard. Then Saturday I can finish putting all my decor up. I have some great ideas to try this year. Hopefully, I can stop at the craft store on Friday too. Anyone know of great deals??? I will be scouring tomarrows paper for home decor ideas right along with the toys!.

Robin has only requested movies for Christmas. Without cable or and tv for that matter, he is watching lots of DVD's. He has rewatched most everything and is feeling it. We don't watch a lot but you know......If you see some great deals on movies let me know.