Life

Randy and I are the proud uncle and aunt of Conrad Jacob (C.J.) Alderson, born this morning at 2:08 am. He is welcomed into this world by mommy Kristen, daddy Nate, and big brother Levi. Kristen and baby are doing well.
I just got back from seeing C.J. tonight. Talk about a cute little chunk!!! He's 7lb 11oz and 18.5 inches long. He doesn't look a thing like Levi did when he was born.
C.J. makes the grand total of mine and Randy's niece and nephews to (drum roll please....) 7! Two boys from his side, and 4 boys, one girl from mine. WOW! I think we'll have to start our own professional sports team when they all get older!
CONGRATS, KRISTEN AND NATE!!!!

Death

I came to the realization tonight that I am afraid of death. Not my death, but of those nearest and dearest to me. As Randy was starting his car, ready to drive back down to training in LA, I told him "Please don't die". I truthfully, wholeheartedly meant it and began to cry as I said it. Now before you all think I'm some kind of loon, hear me out. I'm not afraid of my death (except I do have 2 requests: I don't want to feel it and I don't want to be freaked out before it happens *plane crash*) because I know what awaits me. I've "helped" some of my patients die peacefully. Usually, though, when I'm saying good bye to someone who is leaving me or driving off, I am so scared that it will be the last time I see him or her again. I've tried to get past this. I can't live in fear of losing my loved ones. I pray that God takes this fear away from me. Like I said, I'm not afraid to die, and I have it in my heart to care for those who are dying. It's just this sudden death thing I'm not so good at.

Jun. This fear all started with his death.

That Whole Plane Incident...

I can honestly say that it's not everyday that a disabled aircraft flies over me while sitting in the LA traffic. But it happened to me yesterday, and it was quite thrilling (now that I know it landed ok). That pilot deserves a raise and a vacation.

Weird advertising, but it did get my attention...

Tonight, as I was walking out of Subway after getting my food, I heard this blaring voice coming from (I guess what was) a speaker in the bushes. It was so loud echoing through the parking lot that I thought it would make car alarms go off. The message blaring? "YOU CAN GET A GREAT DEAL ON TAMPONS AND PANTYLINERS RIGHT NOW AT SAV-ON!!!!"
Thanks for the info.

I miss Randy.

He'll be back on Friday, but I've already been crying. :-( How and when did I get to be such a big baby? I get it from my mother. Not that that's a bad thing! I just don't like being left. It's too quiet. Randy's a lot of fun to be around. And I love him.
Please come back soon Randy. WWWAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

Friday Humor

We all need a little laughter right about now, don't ya think? Enjoy!

An extraordinarily handsome man decided he had the responsibility to marry the perfect woman so they could produce beautiful children beyond comparison.
With that as his mission he began searching for the perfect woman. Shortly thereafter he met a farmer who had three stunning, gorgeous daughters that positively took his breath away. So he explained his mission to the farmer, asking for permission to marry one of them.
The farmer simply replied, "They're lookin' to get married, so you came to the right place. Look 'em over and pick the one you want."
The man dated the first daughter. The next day the farmer asked for the man's opinion. "Well," said the man, "she's just a weeeeee bit, not that you can hardly notice...pigeon-toed."
The farmer nodded and suggested the man date one of the other girls; so the man went out with the second daughter. The next day, the farmer again asked how things went.
"Well," the man replied, "she's just a weeeee bit, not that you can hardly tell...cross-eyed."
The farmer nodded and suggested he date the third girl to see if things might be better. So he did. The next morning the man rushed in exclaiming, "She's perfect, just perfect. She's the one I want to marry." So they were wed right away.
Months later the baby was born. When the man visited the nursery he was horrified: the baby was the most ugly, most pathetic human you can imagine. He rushed to his father-in-law asking how such a thing could happen considering the beauty of the parents.
"Well," explained the farmer, "She was just a weeeee bit, not that you could hardly tell...pregnant when you met her."

Ma died.

No, not Caroline Ingalls, and not my mom. Our fish Ma. That's 2 fish in less than one month. Gone. Swimmin the streams of gold in fishie heaven.
That's all I can say right now. It's all too tragic.

$35.00

That's exactly how much it cost me to fill up my little VW Beetle today. A four cylinder, 12 gallon 2 door hatchback. I hit my record. I couldn't even imagine how much it costs for an SUV or big 'ol station wagon. Come on, people. Let's here it: how much does it cost you to fill up one tank?

Daddy and his girls circa 1980

I'll give you one guess which one is me.

Funny thing to try if you're bored...

Look up anything and have it translated into a hilarious (but all too real) dialect!
http://rinkworks.com/dialect/

Just so you know...

No matter how bad it is down in the Gulf, President Bush did not cause Hurricane Katrina. Quick! Someone call Janine Garafalo, Martin Sheen, and Sean Penn to inform them before they open their holes!!

I was wondering when someone would invent these...

Check this site out! No more squatting!!!!
http://www.urinelle.biz/html/en/About.shtml

May or May Not Feel Pain? Quite disturbing...

From the Washington Post: Article by Lindsey Tanner

Doctors should not be required to discuss fetal pain with women seeking abortions because fetuses likely can't feel pain until late in pregnancy, according to a review critics say hardly settles the contentious topic. Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco reviewed dozens of studies and medical reports and said the data indicate that fetuses likely are incapable of feeling pain until around the seventh month of pregnancy, when they are about 28 weeks old. Based on the evidence, discussions of fetal pain for abortions performed before the end of the second trimester should not be mandatory, according to the study appearing in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Assoc.
The review, researchers say, is an attempt to present a comprehensive, objective report on evidence to inform the debate over fetal pain laws aimed at making women think twice before getting abortions.
Critics angrily disputed the findings and claimed the report is biased.
"They have literally stuck their hands into a hornet's nest," said Dr. Kanwaljeet Anand, a fetal pain researcher at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, who believes fetuses as young as 20 weeks old feel pain. "This is going to inflame a lot of scientists who are very, very concerned and are far more knowledgeable in this area than the authors appear to be. This is not the last word definitely not."
Proposed federal legislation would require doctors to provide fetal pain information to women seeking abortions when fetuses are at least 20 weeks old, and to offer women fetal anesthesia at that stage of the pregnancy. A handful of states have enacted similar measures.
The review says medical evidence shows that brain structures involved in feeling pain begin forming earlier but likely do not function until around the seventh month, when fetuses are about 28 weeks old.
Some scientists say younger fetuses show pain by moving away from a stimulus, but that likely is a reflex action and not an indication that they are actually feeling pain, said UCSF obstetric anesthesiologist Dr. Mark Rosen, the study's senior author.
Read the rest of the article at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/24/AR2005082400661.html

What an outrage.

Muscles the Fish 8/04- 8/15/05

I am sad to inform you that Muscles floated away today sometime between 11:05am and 12:10pm. A one year resident of Ventura, CA, he was purchased at the Ventura County Fair last year and came to live with us. He almost died but he faught back and survived another year. Muscles died from complications of Fin Rot. He is survived by his friends/next of fin: Ma, Mr.Clean, and Champagne (a.k.a. Goldilocks). He was proceeded in death by Pa and the Temptations.
Muscles was a good fish and a good pet. He was an inspiration and swam life to the fullest.
A memorial service has been planned tonight in our bathroom at approx. 10:00 pm. Internment will be at the Ventura County Sewage Treatment Plant.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the "We Want Another Fish" Fund.

Goodbye Freedom

Hello nursing school. I begin my 2nd to last semester of nursing school today, the first day of my last year. I kick off the festivities with a clinical rotation at SJRMC from 1:00 - 10:00 pm. Woo freakin hoo.
I have heard that this is the easiest semester, so that's comforting. And it's not like I don't like nursing school, it's just that it's such a big time committment. I may have been enjoying myself and my free time a little too much this summer. It was a great summer and I had a lot of fun- even at work!
Tomorrow I will be one day closer to graduating and heading off into the "real world" (again). I will be able to put into practice all that I've learned the past 2 years in order to help people. That, my friends, makes me happy.

Lost

Randy and I are officially addicted to the t.v. show Lost. We've watched the first 20 episodes all in the past few days (more specifically, 16 episodes in the past 48 hours). It began as kind of hokey, but now that the characters are more developed, it's turning out to be a really great and suspensful show! Can't wait until season 2 starts in September!
Anyone else share this addiction?

Rude Awakening

I got a phone call at 4:45 this morning from my sister, Keri. I answered the phone "What happened?!" only to find out that the Indiana tv station she was watching said that the space shuttle would be flying over Oxnard and Ventura California soon. I woke up Randy, checked outside it and found that it was overcast (go figure- yay Ventura). Randy looked up NASA.gov, saw where the space shuttle was positioned off the California coast, and we grabbed a blanket and headed out to the park across the street. Sure enough, at about 5:07, we heard the sonic boom (the loudest I've ever heard) and right after that, a "whooshing" sound as the shuttle made it's way through the air. It sounded like it was so close and right over our heads! It was incredible!!!!
All those memories about wanting to be an astronaut came flooding back. Space flight has been and always will be awesome to me. Wonder if they need nurses up in space....Maybe I could be a Payload Specialist Nurse. I could perform experiments on Bandaids and what kind sticks best of different kinds of wounds in space. Or how about different ways to insert a urinary catheter in a weightless environment? Hmmm....the possibilities are endless. I'll get around to filling out that NASA astronaut application someday.

My first bout with Creative Memories

Ok. So last Friday night I went to my in-laws house to try my hand at scrapbooking with some friends and family. We got started around 7:00 pm. Two hours and one photo later, I had completed the first page in my album and had driven nearly everyone there to the edge of madness. I do not consider myself creative, and I have been known to have perfectionistic qualities, so the two did not mix well on Friday night. However, by 11:00 pm my perfectionism had passed and I ended up with 4 finished pages with a total of 11 pictures used. Whew! I guess I just needed a little inspiration and courage to be creative. I had a great time, though I am sorry that I was such a pain in the @#% for everyone else: Ma MaJ, Martha, Kristen, and Sara. Scrapbooking hasn't become addicting yet, and I don't see it as becoming so since I start back with school ONE WEEK from tomorrow.
Oh balls. Thick you, school. (inside joke for the gals that were scrapbooking).

The funniest thing I saw today

Actually, this picture is one of the strangest I've ever seen. No, your eyes aren't deceiving you. The tall girl is 7 foot 2 inches, while the short girl is 5 foot 6 inches. Wow. I just can't stop laughing!

Prophecy

I don't know how or when, but sometime over the past 5 years or so I became interested in prophecy in scripture. Specifically, end time prophecy as told to John in the book of Revelation. Having read all of the Left Behind books, I was interested in finding out what was truth from scripture. If you've never read Revelation, or if you have given up reading certain parts of the book because it is too confusing with all the bowls, trumpets, and what-not, then you were probably as confused as I was digging into the scritpure farther than I had ever done before. A couple of years ago, I found a book called "Revelations: Hearing the Last Word" by David Levy, and I promptly used this book as one person's reference for interpretation as I read and re-read Revelation. As I began to put the pieces in Revelations together, I knew that there was so much more to Revelation than what was being made known in churches and other Christian public forums. That book is promise to God's people- us- and how he was going to come again to claim this world and everything in it as his. How powerful!
I continued to read other books about interpretations of Revelation, and each and every one of them had the "Futuristic" point of view that so many Christians have: all of a sudden, Christians will disappear, and an Anti-Christ will rise and rule the world, and there will be 7 years of tribulation before Jesus sends his army sweeping to victory in the battle of all battles, Armageddon. This view is based on the fact that all end time prophecy will be fulfilled in the future. I wondered while reading this interpretation "So there has been nothing going on since the days of the Bible that is according to the last days as proclaimed in Revelation? That's weird. "
Enter the world of Steve Wohlberg and his "End Time Delusions" book. After reading Revelation, every Christian should read "End Time" word for world, page by page, and have their Bible open and ready to cross reference what Wohlberg brings to light. I didn't realize how there are 3 major prophetic schools that different Christian churches preach about, or that the Christian reformers were murdered in by the Catholic Church because they were considered "Historics" who wouldn't preach "futurism" (the Christians vanishing into thin air, 7 year tribulation teaching). Historics see the book of Revelation as actual events that occurred throughout the history of Christianity from the time of John until the return of Christ.
This blog is getting pretty long, but I encourage everyone to check out the website www.endtimeinsights.com and let me know what you think, if anything, about prophecy. Also, if anyone wants to borrow "End Time Delusions" I will be more than happy to lend it out.