a very long day

1/2 day tuesday (6:30am-1200) and wednesday (6:30am-4pm) are my clinical days for school. yesterday i worked at the cancer center, this morning i was in dialysis, and this afternoon i spent in wound care. let's just say, wound care...not my thing. i have NO desire to pick and scrape people's incredibly deep wounds. until nursing school, i had no idea that wounds could go so deep. anyway, it's not my thing. and by the end of wednesday, my feet HURT!! not bad when i'm moving around a lot, like on the floor, but this standing in 1 place watching like in the OR and today, not such a good deal. i have 2 out of 3 tests tomorrow, so in general not a great week at school.

yesterday afternoon was GREAT however!! jess and i went and met with her Adoption and Beyond social worker for the home study! it's official!! i am so excited for her to be a mom! and of course we did some shopping afterward!

then my husband told me that the big big boss who used to be the plant manager at emporia's plant, called and told him to talk to me and see what it would take for us to relocate to the plant in plattesburg, NY. NY!! no freaking way! i'd love to visit new york, really want to go some day but NYC is a long way from plattesburg and a much longer way from our families! chris doesn't think he wants to go either but we are interested in finding out what's offered. we've already turned this offer down once. we'll do it again i have no doubt. my son and my future children need our families and we already don't see chris's family enough. we'd never see them and that i can't stand. not to mention my parents and of course miss jessie and her soon-to-be new baby. no amount of money could replace any of that. a great compliment for chris though. i'm proud of him. anyway--he can caden will be home soon so i better be get ready!

Our little boy

this is our Caden Montgomery. the love of our lives!!

What a day...

My mom went to the dr in overland park, ks today. she actually got good news. to catch you up, she fell at work in july. fractured her pelvis in 3 places which was not diagnosed until almost 6 weeks into it, also broke her nose in 2 places, and hurt her shoulder. Yes, it was a nasty fall. then on the saturday before thanksgiving, she woke up and suddenly couldn't use her right (dominant) hand. she calls it her "trick hand" or her flopping fish. it still is not better. she's got a couple other things going on but that's enough for now. anyway, she saw a dr that her atty set up for her. he did a bunch of testing and told her that she has 2 new fractures on her left side which is why that side is really hurting her. he said she has osteoporosis so to get started on some meds to combat that and get to water aerobics. so, at least we know the source of her pain and that it should get better. and he also told her that he thought her hand function would come back, but that if it did not, they could perform a surgery to correct it and she would regain function. so that's great news in my book. osteoporosis is manageable and she'll get her hand back one way or another. and he told her that she has a great attorney. i'm pleased. of course i wish she was back to her old self but it's still going to take some time. i just hope she feels more hopeful and her spirits get better. she's only in her early 50's and a young one at that so this has really, really set her back.
then i got another phone call, my dad, tom, (he and my mom were married until i was in kindergarten). he called to say that his mom died today. they have not had a close relationship. so many things unresolved. it hurts my heart that he never felt her acceptance or her love. she lived in arkansas. not yet sure when the service will be.
on a lighter note, we had a pretty good snow a couple of weeks ago and we made snowmen with my son last weekend. well as it does, the snow is melting and caden was very upset today that his snowman didn't have a head anymore. he insisted that his daddy make a new one so chris did. the little things we do for our children. and speaking of children...tomorrow is a big day for my jess! we are going to overland park to meet with the adoption agency for the first time!! YEA!! can't wait until we get to start having baby showers and she finally gets to bring her little miracle child home!! until tomorrow....

It's official!!

Well, she did it. My best friend, Jessie, finally managed to get me to blog!! Many of you may know her from her blog "Hunna's Happenings". She's great! So after months and months of gentle pushes, she won! So i guess I should introduce myself. My name is Darby, (clearly), and I am currently working toward becoming an RN (BSN). I have only 3 semesters left!! Prior to starting nursing school, I got a master's degree in social work and worked for 6 years in the one of a kind world of Child Welfare. I truly mean that. It is one of a kind and any of you who work in it know exactly what I mean. I am a mother-- My greatest accomplishment and biggest goal. My son, Caden, will be 3 years old at the end of March. Time goes so fast! I am so in love with him and would be happy at the end of my life just knowing that I had been a good mom to him. He is my world. My husband too! We'll be married for 6 years this August. We've been together though for almost 13 years! He is amazing! Unfortunately, (and i mean that sincerely), my in-laws live almost 2 hours away. Close for some, but I really love them and wish that we had the chance to be with them more often. My parents (all of them) live here in town and keep me very busy! My mom is struggling with many health issues right now so while there is a great deal of stress involved with that, I'm thankful for the opportunity to have her so close. I have several other family members close by here as well, and like most others, don't get to see them often enough. Jessie has been my best friend for almost 3 years now. We met when i was on maternity leave from work. She and I worked as a team doing foster care social work, and became best friends quickly. She inspires me, challenges me, and teaches me so much. In our friendship, we have had many adventures. A trip to Vegas to visit her dad, the journey of her mother's illness and death from pancreatic cancer, adjusting to spending so much time together at work and then my decision to quit work to attend nursing school, my mother's illnesses, my sister's drama (we won't get into that today), and thankfully a much needed trip of a lifetime to Greece at the end of May! Jess has also just begun the process of adopting a child from Ethiopia!! I said earlier, my husband is amazing. I meant it whole-heartedly! He supports me (and Jess) in everything we decide to do and never questioned the times that she needed me through her mom's illness. And what a great husband to let his wife go on all these great trips with her best friend! He loves her too. His respect for her is immense. I'm thankful and lucky to have my best girlfriend and my husband get along so well! I'm extremely lucky to be surrounded with such supportive and loving people! It's not all a bed of roses though....you'll have to re-visit to hear more...