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The Midwest (Week 10)
My husband is here for a visit which allows us the ability to explore (see previous post for more information). We visited the center of the contiguous United States this past weekend. It was a quiet little place with a covered area and picnic tables. We would have packed a lunch if we had known!…
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The Midwest (Week 9)
Isn’t this a beautiful car? I LOVE it. I love the rumble of the engine when it starts up, I love shifting through the gears, I love driving with the sun roof open. So many things…. Rant Warning——I can’t drive it right now. It has been almost a month of phone calls and begging for…
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The Midwest (Week 7 & 8)
This assignment is flying by! I seriously don’t know where the time is going. I have found myself in uncharted territory. The car trouble that I recently encountered has become compounded by the fact that there are no parts available to fix it. I purchased this car in January to ensure that I would not…
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The Midwest (Week 6)
What a wonderful weekend we just had! As I travel nurse, my husband team ropes, and the kids are grown and in different places -It becomes increasingly difficult for us to all be together. Our son came home to visit from the military (Army MP) and I was able to manage a trip home from…
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The Midwest (Week 5)
I experienced another “first” this past weekend. We went to the horse races! Neither one of us had ever experienced them before, so mark another item off of our list! We actually won a few bets, but never enough to break even. I am sure there is a science to it, but we had fun…
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The Midwest (Week 3 & 4)
I have found myself feeling sentimental about home and reminiscing about the beginning of this journey. It was almost exactly one year ago that we packed up the camper and started off across the country to my first assignment. It seems like forever ago and yesterday at the same time (time is strange that way).…
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The Midwest (Week 2)
My husband made it home from Arizona this past week. He dropped the horses off in Texas and came to visit us (hopefully we find a place for them here soon). Can you tell how much Wookie missed him? I think the feeling was mutual. The weather has been bitter cold here and it snowed…
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The Midwest (Week 1)
There was snow on the ground when we arrived this past week, much colder than where we had come from! I had to unpack Wookie’s little fleece suit. He was very excited to see it. We had not used it since being in the high desert. I think he had forgotten all about it (it…
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Intermission III
We had to “kiss” the coast goodbye this past week (along with the tropical climate). We had a week to spend at home preparing ourselves and the camper for the next location (miscellaneous repairs are necessary after every move). But this time we performed a little re-model. My husband has fulfilled his commitments at home…
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The Gulf Coast (Week 15)
I don’t always have the opportunity to stay at an assignment long enough to see the official results or impact of my presence. I usually get verbal affirmation for the positive impact, but since that is subjective I don’t place too much value in it. I prefer to have both subjective and objective data for…
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The Gulf Coast (Week 14)
I made a trip back home last week and was greeted with this (ice). I forgot how cold it could be! I was quickly missing the tropical weather on the gulf coast. The trip home was eventful. Of all the miles that I have traveled (driven) over the past year, I have not been stranded…
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The Gulf Coast (Week 13)
I had to make an emergency trip back home this past week. My husband had another horse accident which resulted in multiple rib fractures and a collapsed lung. He doesn’t own any horses that buck but apparently when you put on a brand new saddle (that doesn’t fit quite right), it can end with a…
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The Gulf Coast (Week 12)
It has been a very busy past two weeks. I find myself getting close to the end of this assignment, which is always bittersweet. I have extended here twice. What started out as an 8 week assignment has turned into over 3 months so far. For the first time since I have been in this…
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The Gulf Coast (Week 11)
For my entire life I have been asked what it was like to be a twin. I don’t really have a simplistic answer to that question, so I usually answered it by telling them that “I don’t have anything else to compare it to” or “I don’t know any other way”, because I don’t. Let…
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The Gulf Coast (Weeks 9 & 10)
I always struggle with gift giving expectations during the holidays. I love giving gifts to friends and family throughout the year as I see special items that they would enjoy, but it is often difficult to find something personal under pressure during the holidays. What do you give your parents/spouses/grown children that have everything or…
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The Gulf Coast (Week 8)
On my last trip back home, I decorated the house for Christmas so that it would be ready for when I return. Here, I bought a little potted evergreen tree to put on my dining room table. It was my feeble attempt to add some type of Christmas decoration or have a Christmas tree at…
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The Gulf Coast (Week 7)
It rains here almost daily. It seems like everyone has a rain coat, except me. That is not really something that I have ever kept a part of my wardrobe. I don’t like to wear coats and never carry an umbrella, but I am totally considering the purchase of a raincoat to use while I…
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The Gulf Coast (Week 6)
My husband frequently tells me that I have great “fortitude”, and that it is a rare quality. I ponder this sometimes wondering what he means by it. By definition, fortitude means a strength of mind that enables a person to encounter danger or bear pain or adversity with courage. I can tell you that I do…
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The Gulf Coast (Week 4 & 5)
Meet Mary. She is a feral kitten that my daughter caught on our property. She domesticated it for me so that Wookie could have a playmate. I named her Mary and it seems to fit her well since she is “quite contrary” as the childhood rhyme goes. When I was trying to find a name…
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The Gulf Coast (Week 3)
One of my favorite things about this assignment is that I don’t have to wear scrubs. It may sound like a small thing, but it is big to me. People tell me all the time that it must be so nice to wear scrubs to work everyday, so comfortable like pajamas. That is part of…