Author: knitwitmama

ER trauma nurse and yarn junkie

Backroads Coffeehouse

Backroads Coffeehouse is Alhambra High School’s release party for their creative arts magazine. I love going to this event, the poetry, music, artwork and films that these kids create are amazing. Joe played with his trio, and Tina sang. They rocked the house, Tina has unstoppable energy and when she and Joe do music together it is fabulous. They have chemistry. The whole audience was on their feet and clapping along.

I am always astounded at the passion I hear from the kid’s writing. I love hearing their voice, what they have to say and am so impressed that they are brave enough to stand up and share it with everyone. I couldn’t do that at 17! I also enjoyed watching Pat meeting up with his old high school friends sharing about their year away at college. These are the ordinary proud moments, watching these emerging adults and realizing the world is going to be okay.

Oh and by the way, today was my last day of nursing school, I graduated last Friday and will be pinned this Friday. But more about that in another post.

Happy knitting! and drop me a line sometime

No time for senioritis

Two more weeks of class and clinicals and I can’t stop now for a nagging case of senioritis. Do you think Airborne might keep it at bay? The assignments and papers and group projects are still coming fast and furious as well as 24-36 hours a week at the hospital. AND job hunting. Did I mention I have given up sleep, meals without my laptop and sitting on the couch without a book in my lap. I think I will breathe again once I have my diploma in my hand and a job offer.

I am not the only one in the house doing the last push before graduation.
Joe has managed to finish high school in 3 years and will graduate at the top of his class on June 12. I am so proud of him!

Happy knitting! and drop me a line sometime

Up for air

Here are the first blooms on our roses. They are peaking right now, all of them are blooming at their best. They look good the rest of the summer but never as good as the first bloom. I am always amazed at how stunning they look, I just have to look up from the books and take them in.

Today we had our comprehensive exit exam, 3 hours, 180 multiple guess questions. It was brutal, we all stumbled out of there wondering if we passed or not. We only have to meet the national average which is 72%, it doesn’t seem like it should be so hard to reach. We have 3 chances to take it before graduation, but I sure don’t want to have to repeat it. We all got together afterwards for a beer and tried to remember as many questions as we could to help us study for the next time (if necessary). I have to say that I felt better after that, I don’t know if it was the beer or that I my answers were in line with most everyone else’s, probably the beer. We should get our scores on Monday. Luckily (or not) I have two 12 hour shifts at the hospital and class at 8am on Monday so I will be too busy to fret about the test. It hardly seems like enough time to come up for air before we dive right back into studying. I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel though. We have just 5 more weeks before we are done!
I wanted to show you the finished sweater for my newest niece, Erin.

I finished it a couple of weeks ago, but just got it in the mail yesterday. Good thing she is a tiny baby so it should fit her. Here us the ruffle detail that is on the sleeves and the hem.

Here is the detail on the neckline.
And finally here is the finished sweater.
The yarn is Cabin Fever Cotton Tweed DK 45% cotton, and 55% Acrylic. The pattern is from a Cabin Fever book of top down baby sweaters. The pattern is called Little Tumbler. It was pretty easy and quick. I hope little Erin is cozy in it.
Then I started the next baby sweater for my nursing school classmate that just gave birth last week to a little girl, Olive. Another Cabin Fever pattern called Arabesque. It is the same yarn in red. Here is the beginning of it. The detail is a fake cable, made by slipping a stitch , knitting two and passing the slipped stitch over. I like true cables better, but this is cute.
Got to go, Brian is making a special celebratory dinner, pasta, fish and asparagus, all of my favorite things. I think he is looking forward to the day school is over for me and life returns to “normal”. : )
Happy knitting! and drop me a line sometime

new niece

I haven’t blogged since January, my readers have been telling me.  I thought January was just a couple of days ago but they have pointed out that it is March; and actually almost the end of March. hmm, how did that happen.  I am seeing the light at the end of the nursing school tunnel but there is so, so much work to finish between now and then, I keep hoping it is still January so I have more time to finish.  This weekend I am writing two papers, finishing two other assignments, and planning a teaching topic for Monday.  Thankfully, midterms are over.  The kids think I am a permanent fixture in my chair in the dining room.  However, tonight I took a break and watched Twilight with Rose.  She bought the movie with her own money and was nearly jumping out of her skin to have me watch it with her.  I have decided, I am definitely old, I don’t even think Edward is cute and I don’t follow the dialog very well (maybe because there really isn’t any?) all they do is zip around the screen and look longingly at each other. But… it is the talk of all the 6th graders and I want to peer into their world a little to try to understand them better.   Above is what I did while I was watching; you didn’t really think I could sit in front of a screen and not knit?  I started a sweater for Erin Patricia, my new niece, born on Saint Patrick’s Day.  She is my brothers third child but first daughter so it is exciting to knit a girl thing for her. I hope I can finish it before she grows out of it.  I shouldn’t be knitting, and I shouldn’t be watching movies, I should be writing papers about anxiety and epidemiology.  Tomorrow. I’ll write more tomorrow.  We graduate in two months and then I can knit and watch movies (and blog) whenever and as much as I want to. 

Happy knitting! and drop me a line sometime

Allow me to be proud mama


Joe, our middle child has always been self driven and has been pursuing his dream of being a jazz musician.  The local paper just did an article about him with his upcoming show at the local music club, Armando’s.  Here is the article they wrote about him, only a few misquotes.

I always knew he was going places.
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’twas the night..

The children are nestled all snug in their beds

while visions of iPods flash through their heads
papa has retired and so has the dog
oh rats, I can’t rhyme at this hour.  I just finished watching White Christmas and am about to slip away before Santa shows up.
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Blessed New Year!
Happy knitting! and drop me a line sometime

Whew! halfway point

We are finally at the halfway point in this 1 year ABSN program.  So far we have covered Health assessment, Med-surg, Critical care, nursing research, and Maternity.  Next month we start Pediatrics. The last couple of months have been so intense, I have not had time to do anything but go to school and study. The last post I made about school, was from a sleep deprived, overwhelmed by exams state. That was right before my Critical Care final, the hardest final I have taken so far.  I prepared, and studied, and practiced NCLEX questions but still did not feel I had done well on it.  Somehow, I squeaked an A- out of the class.  After that we had Maternity Nursing, as well as the last half of Nursing research.  I have to say that having 5 week terms is a killer.  You just get to know a teacher and figure out how their lectures and reading assignments relate to their test questions and boom, you have a midterm and a final.  Every 5 weeks, new class, new textbooks, new teacher, new clinical rotation (same lecture room, uggh), it is a whirlwind.  

So let me fill you in a bit on my clinical rotations. This has been my favorite part of school, which tells me I am going to like the work when I get out.  I had my Critical Care rotation at Alameda Hospital, a small community hospital, working in ICU and in the step-down unit (where you go after ICU and before going home).  I really liked this rotation, the cases were complicated and there were many skills to learn.  The doctors in this hospital treated us nursing students as actual people and spent time explaining concepts and discussing cases with us. I learned a lot from them.  The highlight of this rotation was that I got to spend an evening in the ER.  This is where I think I want to work when I am out of school and we don’t officially get a rotation in ER so I was thrilled to get this opportunity.  I loved it.  The night was busy, but not so busy that the other nurses couldn’t teach me. We had an older man with extremely high blood pressure, a woman who had fallen up some concrete steps and needed stitches and a guy who had cut his hand with a kitchen knife also needing stitches, a repeat drunk needing a banana bag, a woman in the last stages of liver cancer needing pain relief, and an older woman in the midst of a heart attack.  I gave tetanus shots, irrigated wounds, gave pain meds, got ice packs, did several EKG’s, hung IV’s, and handed stuff to docs and nurses as they tended to the patients. I learned about keeping track of several patients and making sure blood was drawn for labs, meds got charted, and families were updated.  The drunk guy had been there often enough that the nurses knew him, and they were joking with him, I got to start his IV and take it out when it was done, he didn’t care that I was inexperienced. The older woman having a heart attack was scared and pretty incoherent, her daughter brought her in and her granddaughter came later, there were quick decisions to make and it was incredible to be standing there with them while they talked with the doctor about the options to make her comfortable or intervene therapeutically.  At one point we were trying to get a good EKG reading and she couldn’t be still enough to keep all the leads on; I got her to look me in the eyes and focus on breathing with me while everyone else was doing their thing.  Her eyes were the same pale blue that my grandmother’s were, and I felt like we connected in a way that gave her some reassurance and comfort. In that moment I felt the real power of caring for someone, not the technical medical part that is part of tending to their health but the human part.  I love all of those parts of nursing. I am pretty sure that ER is where I want to work, the challenge of each case and the being with people in a time of crisis, that is what I love.  

The next rotation was Maternity at Kaiser Oakland Hospital.  It was great as long as babies were coming, the rest of the time was pretty boring waiting around for the moment of birth. There is not that much to do while you are waiting.  The labor process can be really long and if the end of your shift comes before the baby shows up, you have to leave and the next shift gets to be part of the birth.  I lucked out that my first day the mom was ready to deliver right when I came on and I got a nurse that was willing to let me actually help.  I won’t gross you out with details because I know many of my readers are not nurses, but the moment of birth was amazing and the baby was gorgeous.  It is another one of those times you are with people at a really magical moment in their lives and words can’t describe how special it is.  I cleaned the baby up, checked her over to make sure all the parts were there, helped get the mom started with nursing, and gave the baby her newborn meds. I worked in postpartum also for several shifts and spent my last day in the NICU holding a 4 pound little girl while she got her feeding through a tube in her nose.  She was adorable, and a great way to end my rotation, in a rocker with a newborn.
Now after a week of shopping, baking, wrapping, addressing cards, and decorating we are ready for Christmas.  It’s a good thing too, since it is tomorrow!  Pat is home from college, Rose is climbing the walls with anticipation and Brian and Joe are making lefse.  I am trying to do as little as possible; I’ve been sleeping in until 10 and sitting on the couch as much as possible.  What? you don’t know about lefse? more about that another day (I took pictures).
Merry Christmas to you all!

Happy knitting! and drop me a line sometime

Yes We Can

I was supposed to be reading my textbook for Maternity Nursing last night but I could not tear myself away from the election results.  Last night was one of the few times I wish we still had a TV.  But we do have internet so we watched the votes coming in on the web while we listened to NPR coverage on the radio (which we also get through the internet).  It was exciting, I don’t think I was this excited about an election since Jimmy Carter!  That was the last time I voted for the candidate that actually won.  We were expecting to settle in for a long night waiting until all the state’s results came in, we had our big bowl of popcorn and everything.  McCain completely surprised us all with his concession speech at 7:30.  I was quite impressed with his speech, I think the race may have been closer if he had run it with the same unifying tone that he had in his speech, but I guess he was bound by his party’s wishes.  Obama’s speech was inspiring and honest, I like that about him.  He inspires, but he also seems pretty pragmatic and realistic. I am anxious to watch the next four years unfold.  The rest of the election in California was not so satisfying. Some propositions passed that I was hoping would fail, and that says a lot about the    Oh well, small steady steps will have to do for now. 

I got back to reading about assessing the healthy newborn and retained enough to get an A on this morning’s quiz.  Some days go well.
Did I tell you my youngest turned 12 yesterday too? I am now the mother of a 12 year old daughter who thinks 12 is the new 16!  
Happy knitting! and drop me a line sometime

EBS….*warning* rant follows

This is what you get when you take 48 overachievers and drop them into an intense BSN program that they paid big bucks for.  Add some inexperienced, xxxxxxxxxx instructors, some xxxxxxxxxx clinical instructors, add a few shakes of time crunch, last minute changes and ambiguous details and those overachievers get exploding brain syndrome.  EBS, it is common I tell you.  Clinical manifestations are; argumentative behavior during class, hyperventilation, low O2 perfusion to the brain, buildup of possibly useful but likely trivial facts in the cerebral cortex, sensation of impending doom and grey matter leaking out of ears.  Treatment suggestions; ear plugs during tests, if it is in the powerpoint memorize it, if it is FYI, memorize it, if it is mentioned in lecture, memorize it, if it is mentioned in last minute bulletins, memorize it, but don’t worry about the details.  Oh, and it couldn’t hurt to give oxygen.  If ICP rises to the point where grey matter starts leaking out of other orifices as well, administer final exam, and apply copious amounts of EtOH, take 2 aspirin and turn off all phones.  I think there was something in the notes about limes and coconuts too but I can’t read it due to the grey matter staining my pages.

Happy knitting! and drop me a line sometime

William and Mary and Pat

Three weeks ago we put our oldest, Pat on a plane traveling  3000 miles east to start his first year at the College of William and Mary in Virginia.  He chose this school because of it’s academic rigor and old fashioned charm.  He had his heart set on going to college on the east coast to have the experience of living in a completely different environment than sunny CA. Neither Brian nor I could go with him to get him settled in and Pat was anxious to be independent and get there on his own.  He originally wanted to take Amtrak cross country to get there, but we convinced him that the likelihood of delays would make that an unreliable way to get to college!  He got there with all his stuff and moved into the dorm and immediately got involved with his new life.  That is Pat, he is gregarious and friendly and gets right into the social scene.  That first weekend we waited for a call from him to let us know how he was doing, I knew he was there because he sent a text that said he had arrived safely, however we didn’t hear any more after that.  So I sent him a text asking him to call when he had a little time.  No answer.  Then I tried calling him, no answer and his voicemail wasn’t set up yet.  So I sent another text.  (Pat is usually good about at least responding with a word or two to a text message) but no answer.  By this time it was Sunday afternoon and we were beginning to wonder.  I imagined that he lost his phone so I emailed him asking him to call us collect if he had to, just check in with us. No answer. Brian imagined something had happened to him and urged me to call campus police to go over to his dorm and make sure he was alright.  (Note that Brian wasn’t going to call campus police but urged ME to do it).  I resisted and started combing the William and Mary website for another way to check on him.  I called the residence hall office but of course they were closed, it WAS Sunday night and VA is 3 hours ahead.  But I found the email listing for all the RA’s in the dorms, found his RA and emailed him asking him to go tell Pat to call his parents! An hour later Pat finally called us, his RA hadn’t talked to him yet, so he had no idea we were worried.  We were cool though, happy to hear from him and made like we weren’t ready to call out the National Guard.  He was having a great time with all the orientation activities, and just hadn’t gotten around to calling.  We felt ridiculous, but urged him to just call us every weekend to let us know how things were going.  And he has done that. I reminded him that it is hard to suddenly let go, and while I do trust that he can take care of himself, I AM his mother and will always wonder what he is doing and where he is.  So on my first break from school I used up my United miles and flew out to VA to see him for myself.




Now I can rest easy, I have seen Pat in his new life.  I have met a bunch of his friends, who are all polite and charming. His dorm room looks no different than his room at home did. This photo is taken in the tidiest looking spot I could find.  All is well. We have been having a good time this weekend, negotiating a new kind of relationship.  He volunteers to me that he is drinking milk and eating vegetables every day, I let him know that he should go to the football game with his friends and not worry about entertaining me.  I take him shopping for a winter coat and some bookshelves and offer to help him organize his dorm room.  He lets me know that he and his roommate can handle it, and thanks me for buying the coat HE wants and not the one I think will keep him warmer.  This is new ground and I kind of like it.  We walked all over campus and he showed me the buildings he has classes in, where he gets his mail, where he eats, where the pianos are, and where they play chair ball. Chair ball? it is some game the guys in the dorm made up. The rest of the time I have been browsing around the colonial vill
age, listening to the street musicians, and sipping iced tea. I brought my knitting along and am enjoying some quiet time without any stud
ying to do, or home projects calling out to me.  Here are some other photos of the campus, William and Mary is the kind of campus you think of when you conjure up an image of collegiate surroundings.  Old brick buildings surround huge open grassy fields, giant old oak trees line wandering brick walkways, bicycles parked here and there, and dried leaves drifting in the breezes. 


Happy knitting! and drop me a line sometime