I didn't fall off the face of the earth...

...though I certainly feel like I've gotten close to the edge. Since my last post, I have been buried in work...and, as of today, I am buried in SNOW. I'm not pleased. I mean, really, I have seen enough snow for the season in Boone (already...and yes, I know more is coming) and now, I have about 5 inches dumped on me here in the Raleigh area (and it's STILL snowing). I really feel like I'm back in Boone. I came home to get a break from the cold weather and white stuff. That has obviously not happened. :(

So, my last week has gone something like this:

I have been baking like crazy on my two days off (Monday and Wednesday). I made some yummy goodies: mint chocolate chunk cookies and pumpkin crunch. I'll likely share those in a later post. I have gotten good reviews on the cookies...but none on the pumpkin crunch (don't think it's been tried yet). I tried it and decided it tasted pretty good. I gave a plate of baked goodies to my grandparents and to my boyfriend's parents as a Christmas gift. (I have a difficult time coming up with things to purchase...but I can come up with things to bake or make, so that's what I generally do.) As I write this, I am eating a nutritious and delicious breakfast of those cookies. Yum! (Church is canceled and I'm going on the assumption that Christmas, part 5, is also canceled/postponed. So, here I sit, in bed, on the computer, updating you on my life...)

I worked two 24-hour shifts this week. One was done the standard way (come on in the morning and get off the next morning) while the other was done in reverse (come on in the evening and get off the next evening). I like the reverse for many reasons: I don't feel so rushed when I am getting ready and heading into work and the fact that when I get off, it's really bedtime so I can go to sleep and not have to worry about sleeping all day (those are the main two). However, the major downside is that if you have a bad night, it's the first thing that happens so you know you'll be up for 24 hours (or more if you're not likely to take a nap before you go into work, like me). Monday night-->Tuesday night shift was pretty simple. Nothing too major to worry about. Thursday morning-->Friday morning was very rough. Difficult calls (emotionally and physically) and difficult patients. I was glad to see the end of my shift on Friday. However, my day was not even close to over...

Bring in Christmas celebration, part 1: I came home from work, showered and cleaned myself up from the mess I had become over the previous 24 hours only to leave the house again for another 12 hours (all on about an hour of sleep or so). I picked up my amazing boyfriend who agreed to accompany me on the rounds to the grandparents' houses again this year (he must love me if he agrees to put up with my crazy family). We went to lunch with Dad's Mom at Ruby Tuesday's. We went back to her home and everyone opened gifts.

There was a small break between parts 1 and 2: Christmas Eve service at church. I played paramedic (or was at least at the ready) during the service simply because I can't seem to get enough of it.

Part 2: Mom's Dad's house...with all his wife's family there too. You must understand that this is a small house. When you put my grandparents, my parents, my brother, his girlfriend, her son, me, Jon and my uncle all in there...there's not much other room. We had appetizer-types of food for dinner there. We stuck around for about 2 hours. I was getting really tired and needed to get home for some sleep. So, we left, I returned Jon to his parents' home and I came home, crawled in bed and crashed.

Part 3: Christmas Day with Mom and Dad. This was probably the shortest of all the celebrations/gift opening sessions. Mom and Dad finally got up around 8am and we opened gifts. I had to finish getting ready and leave soon thereafter to head out for part 4...

Part 4: By far...the best part. I spent the day with my amazing boyfriend and his family. I am thankful for his/their hospitality and allowing me to join them on Christmas Day and celebrate with them. We had an absolutely delicious meal prepared by Jon's mother: turkey and rice and green beans and rolls and potatoes. It was so delicious! Jon surprised me with a beautiful locket necklace. He did not put pictures in there (slacker) so I need to find some to put in there...but it is gorgeous and I love it! To top off the evening, it had started snowing by the time I left his house. (Now, there are several inches on the ground.)

Part 5: Was supposed to take place today...not sure when that is going to happen now. It was supposed to be at Mom's Mom's house. I doubt it will happen today simply because Mom and Dad are afraid of the snow...haha.

This coming week: lunch date with Heather-bear, work on Tuesday night...and (saddest of all) preparing for Jon to leave the country for a few days to go visit family in Canada.