December snow

A cold front hit here this weekend.  Snow and freezing rain.

The timing was right when I was driving into work on Friday.  What is normally a 30 minute commute turned into 2 hours - no one knows how to drive in the snow.  I worked Friday night, stayed at the hospital and slept during the day (they paid me more to do this, and fed me too!), and then worked again on Saturday night.  Saturday for some reason they pulled me to the ER, a huge change from my med/surg floor.  I was busy starting IVs, and splinting the gazillion bone fractures/breaks that rolled in because of people being outside doing silly things in this crazy ice.  The severity of some of these broken bones - yes, they honestly made me throw up.  I'm not cut out for ER nursing, well, at least not while squeamishly pregnant!

Sunday I can home, slept in, and then debated being a good grad student and studying the day away for my upcoming final, or using my time to enjoy my family.

I thought about how I will never be asked at a job interview "what grade did you obtain in pharmacology."  No, it is just about passing classes, getting the degree, and then passing the licensure exam.  So with that, I gathered up layers of clothes, gloves, hats, socks, etc and got these kiddos ready for the outdoor snow-fest (I am super classy and didn't buy winter attire - given that snow is so infrequent here I find it a huge waste of money)

Today, I most likely kissed earning an "A" in pharmacology goodbye.  But I'd do it again in a heartbeat.  B's still get degrees.  I can do this grad school thing as average, and still have the same outcome in the end = become an APRN and get a great job.  But being a wife and mother, there is nothing that I want to do average in these roles.  Average wife/mother does not have the same outcome as if I choose them.  So always, I choose:

Time spent with my favorite Mr.


and him

and him

and finally her

Because they, they are what make my world go round.

Instead of having my nose burried in pharmacology notes, I got to enjoy snow from their point of view.  Learning about Ryker's amazement and description of "honking huge ice sticks"

and watching their imagination go wild as they later transformed into "ice sabers" and started a Star Wars battle between R and K

Jovie, well she just liked to eat them, right off the trampoline

After the excitement about the "honking huge ice sticks" wore off, throwing snowballs at mommy was the cause of many giggles.  Paul kept them well stocked  -

They kept running back for more snowballs.

Moments like these.  Oh, they make my heart so very happy.  They are filled with forever memories of the look on his face when he really aims to tag me with a snowball.  His tongue sticking out, helps him to concentrate, of this I'm sure.

And laughter, as the little boys turned on the great snowball provider...such little traitors!

Kip wanted to make a snowman, but the snow wasn't that perfect consistency for snowman building.  It was a crumble fest with every attempt.  So he gave up.

And joined Ryker making snow angles instead.

So with that, I'll smile and be happy, knowing that B's get degrees (even though I'm sure I could earn an A if I was willing to sacrifice this...

 But these memories, they will last me forever.  So today I choose them, and accept that being an average student is just perfect.

aftermath of snow-fest Dec 2013...