What Do You Do at 2AM?

I am at work. I got to the hospital yesterday afternoon (Monday) and I will be here until Wednesday afternoon. Not too bad.

But what do I do at 2AM when our kiddos are sleeping? I crochet. More specifically, I make toys for the kiddos. We have a large pediatric unit, and kids tend to be here for a while. Unfortunately, many have been taken away from their families. So in my spare time, like at 2AM, I make them toys. Yeah, I take requests from the kiddos. They look through my notebook that has a bunch of patterns, and then they let me know what they want.

This is therapeutic for me as well. This job is tough. So when things slow down, I am always happy to do something that will put a smile on their little faces. At night, things really do slow down around here. And after I finish up my charts, I pick up a hook and some yarn.

Tonight/this morning, I have been working on a mermaid, lobster, and fish for one of the new little girls. I "sorta" used this pattern to make the toys. And when I say "sorta" I mean that I looked at it, made some changes, and made up my own design based on that pattern. I hope she likes it!

XOXO

Playing the Waiting Game

I am on the way back home. Little Lo is fast asleep and my bag is full of apron patterns and fabric that I cut out over the weekend. I forgot my phone in Gabi and F's car on Friday when F (Gabi's husband) dropped me off. Ugh! I hope no one was trying to get in touch with me.

But today is the waiting game. The USPS has to call me and let me know when the PD releases our packages and stuff. Until then, I wait. And pray that our apron swap partners and organizers understand this awful situation. We really are tyring to make this right. I am going to spend the morning sewing, and then I have to go to work in the afternoon until early Wednesday morning. I really hope the USPS contacts me before I have to go to work. That would be great news. I could go to the post office in the city were I work. :O)

I am so ready to get all of this behind me. I feel bad that we have had all of this issues. But there is nothing left for me to do but to remake the aprons and make sure everything gets mailed out from the city. I just have to wait for the other stuff to be released. Because they need to be washed and ironed before I will send them.

I should get going. Little Lo is waking up and we are begining the descend, which means we are almost home. Little Lo's grandparents will pick us up. And then I am off to my house. BTW, I am using J's blackberry. It is a little crazy posting from it, but it got the job done. :O)

XOXO

Yeah, I Know

It is nearly 5AM. And what am I doing? Not sleeping. Why? Because we played a gig in NC and it didn't end until nearly 3AM. Daddy-O (Our Boss) insisted that the band spend the night at his house because it is an hour closer than heading back to the hotel. It is not like we are lacking in space or anything. I got my own room. But I can't sleep. I have this bed that is bigger than my bedroom at home, and it is so comfy. But I can't sleep.

So I pulled out my bag and started cutting out aprons, dolls, and baby stuff? Why? Because there are lots of our things that are still being held at the USPS. Why? They needed to be photographed, claim tickets need to be checked out with receipts, and we also have to make reports with the PD. Now, we wait. They told me that I am probably going to get the stuff back on Tuesday afternoon. But I am hopeful that everything will be settled by Monday.

Daddy-O must think I am strange. I was sitting in the living room, on the floor, cutting out all of these things. A pile of fabric on one side, pins in my mouth and scissors going 90MPH. :O) His dogs were watching me, and I was just going through the list in my head. What was he doing? Getting some water. I should really get going and get some sleep. We have a very long day of gigs ahead.

XOXO

2 Days of Nothingness

I feel like I just spent 2 days doing nothing at all. In reality, I spent the 2 days looking through those big crates at the post office. You know the ones, they are like 8 feet long, 4 feet high, and 4 feet wide. They are on wheels and the USPS uses them to move the mail. Yeah, my neighbor M and I spent 2 long days looking through 8 of those. She has an eBay store. And I was just trying to claim all of our missing packages.

Initially, I thought this was going to be quick. I figured I would look through a few boxes, find what was mine and the girls, and get to take it. Not at all. Since we sent so many packages, and almost all of them are missing, there was a lot to go through. M and I had a lot of things to go through. A LOT!!! And even more paperwork to add to that.

In reality, we shouldn't be so upset. M makes a living by selling on eBay. She pretty much has had little or no income for the past 3 months. I feel really bad for her. Yes, it is also important to us, but we are swapping, not making a living here. Either way, it should be completely cleared up by next week.

For a while, I think I am going to avoid swapping. One, I feel bad. Two, I don't know what people will think if I try to swap again. Three, I am so exhausted trying to track down everything. I love to swap, but when the USPS is having issues, it just isn't worth it.

XOXO

Baby Showers Galore

I have been invited to a bunch, and I mean a BUNCH of baby showers. I think everyone that I know is having a baby. So I need to do some yarn shopping. I was thinking of making a couple of the round ripple blankets. Everyone seems to like them. I read a few patterns, and made up my own. The others, I wasn't so sure of. They left some weird holes throughout the blankets. But I think I have found the yarn.

The first is "Easter Basket"...

It is a mix of purple, pink, green, yellow, and white.Perfect for a girl!

The second is "I'm a Big Boy"...

This is a mix of green, blue and white. Perfect for a boy!

So what do you think? I will probably also make some burb clothes, small blanket (that I will sew), and probably a sweater set.

XOXO

Wear Your Apron Day

Did you know that today is Wear Your Apron Day? Well, um, I am still working. Which means I can't wear my apron. That makes me sad...but I think the white coat and scrubs would clash. :O) But I thought I would share 2 stories with you.

The first is about my mom. My mom is the oldest daughter that my grandparents had together. And she liked to clean. Yup, as a kid, she would put on her apron and her headscarf and clean the house. My Nanie (grandma) made her a little old fashion apron out of eyelet material. My mom would wear it all the time. She would even make her brothers and sisters go outside after she cleaned...so the house would stay clean. But she always wore her apron. Over the years, Nanie lost track of my mom's beloved apron. My mom always talks about the apron and how much she loved it. Not very long ago, I found a similar looking pattern for her. It is an adult size, and I bought some eyelet material. A surprise was brewing! I made her that apron for Mother's Day. I just got to get it to her. :O)

The second story is about my mom again. The first time she got married, she was young. And her grandma (My great grandma Lousia) made her 2 aprons. They are actually half aprons that turn into bonnets. Yeah, isn't that a cool idea? Well, not long ago, my mom was going through her linens. You know, the drawers you never go through. And she found them. One has been a lot more "loved" than the other. But I took them home. I got out some newspaper, and made a pattern. Then I did the fun part, went shopping for some fabric. I remade my Grandma Lousia's apron! I am so excited. You see, my grandma past away when I was about 6 months old. In some small way, she is still with us.

I promise to post pictures later. But my kiddos are calling. And my lunch break is almost over. You have to love working with kids. :O) Fingers crossed, when I get home from work, I will post some apron pictures. In the meantime, put your favorite apron on. You know it will make you smile. :O)

XOXO

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. You are a very special bunch of ladies. I for one, am a little bummed. I can't spend any of today with my mom. I am still at work. But I called her. It still doesn't help that I still feel bad though. Her birthday is on Tuesday, and I will probably miss that too! Augh...school!

On a better note, Little M (My 1st patient ever) and I got a really good gift for his mom. I thought it said a lot about his character when he decided to give up a gift for himself, for a gift for his mom. What did she get? Well, he traded his new toy from the HHSC for a day at the spa for his mom. It made my heart grow with love. And yeah, I teared up when he gave it to her.

Happy Mother's Day Mom! I love you more than you will ever know. I hope you have the most amazing day...because you deserve it!!!

XOXO

Full Moon

I can definitely tell that tonight is a full moon. We have had a rough day at work. And to be honest, I cannot wait to go home on Tuesday. Things have been ridiculously chaotic in my life lately. That could be why there has been a lack of crafting lately. Beyond swaps and making up Sarita's "Piggy" package, I haven't had time. Work and school are killing me. But the semester is almost over.

This shift on the other hand, it could last for days. No, I am not joking. We have had a full L&D ward. And I have an important clinical in hours. But that is OK. Right now, I am just trying to relax for a few minutes. I am on the roof at the hospital. When I looked up, I saw the full moon. That answers a lot of questions.

I should get back to work. But I promise to share more in the life of crafting starting next week. Yeah, I know. But I will. I just got a bunch of fabric from one of the nurses. She said that she bought it one day, and she has no clue how to sew. She sold her sewing machine, and figured she would give me the fabric. I will let you know more about that later.

XOXO

Finally!!!

I finally got a meeting set up with our Post Master General. Why? Because we have been having some serious issues with our mail. In every capacity!!!

A few years ago, we had some major problems. So much so, we got a new Post Master General. And things had been going fairly well. Until January. Now we don't get mail for weeks at a time. Then we get one of those crates from the USPS full of mail. The other day, the neighbor brought over an entire bag of mail that was ours, not hers.

I have also been sending packages...and they are not getting to the places I send them to. At first, I thought maybe I had a swap partner who was just saying they had not received their package. Then Sarita stopped getting the things I was sending her. Seriously, I have been sending her packages to the hospital for 3 years. I never had issues until now.

Then I would go to the post office, and no one would have answers for me. Not a single person. I even had some packages that had a tracking number, and they were showing they had been delievered to the address. But my partners were telling me that hadn't received them. Even one to my 3 year old goddaughter. I knew something was up. But with this swine flu outbreak that I had to work, school, finals, and now clinicals...I didn't have time to check up on all of this.

But I did write a letter to the Post Master General. I mean seriously, not getting mail for weeks, having lost packages, and when I do receive packages they are opened...I have not been happy. So we set up a meeting...on Thursday. He assures me that it will be straightened out before I leave. I have all of my receipts ready...all of them! And I am going to get answers of what is going on.

I am so mad, so mad that they charge the amount they do. And then I get this bad customer service. But enough about that until Thursday. I got to get back to L&D...we have a full house today!

XOXO

A New Place for Fun

Hi Everyone! I decided to start a new blog. To join loose ends and make things easier on myself. So bare with me. In the next few days, a friend of mine is helping me to get all of my posts from 2 blogs that I had for crafts, on here.

XOXO