Ready for the Run

Okay 9 miles in 1 hour and 50 minutes.......I ran out of water so I had to stop. It is just too hot down here to run without enough water. I'm ready for next Sunday though. I will leave on October 3rd and return on October 5th. It's still not too late to donate to my run in honor of Dave and in support of TAPS. Here is the website link below

https://taps.kintera.org/army10miler/rachaelalvarez

I'm really looking forward to seeing the girls (Meka and Liz) again. Oh I miss them so much. I have to work tonite, but only 5 more weeks to go (so I'm feeling a little better about that). I know I haven't posted any pictures as of late, but I haven't been taking so many. Not to mention my camera is on the fritz ( I think technology hates me this week). Nothing I touch seems to work. I struggle a little more at times lately with the 1 year anniversary of the crash quickly approaching. I don't really feel like it should be called an anniversary (that should be left for a happy occasion, but I wasn't in charge of naming dates I suppose). Hope everyone is doing well. I will work 4 out of the next 5 days until I leave. The dogs are going to the vet on Thursday (Leah hasn't had any problems with her pancreatitis flaring up, but I just feel more comfortable with her being looked after by the vet). Mom, Dad, and Nick are going on a cruise on Monday and will be gone for a few days. Well, that is about all from here for now.

Well, between working 5 of the past 6 nights and the computer being on the fritz, I've been tired to say the least. The Army 10-Miler is set for October 5th. I'm flying out on the 3rd and will return on the 5th. Training is going well and my goal of completing it within the set time looks very positive. I have learned that I am much stronger (physically and mentally) than I ever thought I was. I have 5 more weeks of my contract at the hospital and am looking forward to the end. I plan on doing a little traveling during the month of November. First to Austin for my friend, C's house warming party. Then on to my sister's house in New Orleans for about a week. Then I'm going to be flying from NO to Northern California. Dave's hometown of Lathrop, CA is dedicating their Veteran's Park on November 15th this year. They began this project with a ground breaking ceremony on Veteran's Day last year shortly after Dave died. Then I will fly back to New Orleans and stay their thru Thanksgiving. After that anyone knows. As I am finding out, I wouldn't call myself flighty, but my plans have a tendency to change very quickly. I would like to start a fulltime job back in the ICU, but I really enjoy the time off that contract nursing affords me right now. Only time will tell......for now the job continues, the house renovations continue and that is about as much as I can say for sure.

More work on the house

The dogs...being dogs.

Watching the hummingbirds in the backyard this morning.

Shopping trip to Home Depot.

Made some headway in putting in the french doors.....to far to turn back now!

The only room completely done....a guest bedroom.

Master Bedroom.....painted

Computer Room....almost done

Guest bathroom after removing all cabinetry.

Guest bathroom renovations....

Just to let everyone know......hurricane Ike didn't end up affecting us down here in Corpus at all. Not even a drop of rain. Here are some more house pictures taken last week.

Home Renovations

This was the first day of paint color on the wall......this is after we retextured and primed so we were so happy to get to this point!

Putting up the ceiling fan in my old bedroom. I know it's a green room Liz, but it is not as bad as your green room...hahaha

Crown molding is up and we are almost finished. The big unpainted space on the wall is where the french doors are going to lead out onto the patio. It's hurricane season right now, so we have to make sure we don't have to rush when we knock that wall out.

2nd bedroom. I need to finish the trim in here and then it will be done. I do the trim at night when I can't sleep. Not sure what the neighbors think about people being there and up at all hours of the day and night.

Guest bathroom...demo day. Keeping the cabinets and refacing them. They are really solid cabinets.

Another view of the guest bath....the hamper wall cupboard is going to be replaced by glass floating shelves coming out of the wall.

Okay, okay, I know it has been a while.....Work is putting a cramp in my blogging. Just to let you know though my schedule has not changed. I'm either at the hospital, working on the house, eating, sleeping, or running. That's it. I do have a little change in the schedule. I canceled my cruise to South America. I think after being gone for 2 months this summer to various places I'm all traveled out for the time being.....except maybe for the occassional trip to New Orleans or elsewhere in the country. I have decided to try and get a full time job and I want to be in the ICU. That took me a little while to figure out, but I made it back. I have pictures of my house I need to post before people start really getting upset.....lol. So here they are. My new house? Doesn't quite seem to sound right being that we are ripping it apart in some rooms. But here goes. This is only the back two bedrooms and the back bathroom. I'll post the others as we work on them.