nurses rock

A full picture of the dresses, girls, and guys....

2011-06-07T08:47:00.005-04:00

Officially Mr and Mrs Laskoskie- I loved my dress and felt like a princess. Mike chose tails and looked incredibly handsome :)

Groomsmen- (left to right) Mike's best friend Semmel, my brother Larry, Mike's brother Frank, and Mike's nephew Frank. Mike picked out the morning jackets- they looked awesome.

My girls ( right to left)- My friend Jenn, my friend Meredith, my sister Helen, and my sister Mary Beth.

My dad and I walking down the aisle. You can see the dress here. It was beautiful- all lace and short. The shoes were torture and came off after the ceremony but looked damn good when they were on :)

This and That... (talks of the honeymoon and wedding photos)

2011-06-07T08:25:00.006-04:00

Now pronounced Mr and Mrs Laskoskie :)

Mike's brother Frank.

Mike seeing me for the first time.

Mike and I returned from our honeymoon at the Jersey shore on sunday. Unfortunately, we took absolutely no pictures. I don't know what happened except we were having such a good time that we never thought to take the camera... It was a lazy week of sleeping, reading, eating, and just enjoying each other's company. We were originally scheduled on a cruise but with all the madness of wedding planning, wedding payments, work etc- we rescheduled the cruise for our first year anniversary. Instead, my parents handed over their beach house to us. It was a much better plan. We had so much fun doing lazy walks around the lighthouse, eating at fabulous restaurants ( I gained 6 pounds, Mike gained nothing), reading, and sleeping.

I managed to read 4 books (all fabulous and I recommend them all)- the forgotten garden and the house at riverfront by Kate Morton and Shopaholic and baby and Mini shopaholic. The Shopaholic books are light chic lit. TheKate Morton's are phenomenal and I would tell you all to pick them up. They are english novels/ mysteries set in the early 1900's and flipping between present and past. I inhaled them. I could not read them fast enough. Mike and I had bought the ereader/ nook color from Barnes and Noble the friday before we left. Mike barely used it, I however got our money's worth within the first 3 days...

OFFICIALLY MR AND MRS

2011-05-22T20:48:00.002-04:00

Instead of a "Rapture" party, we had a wedding. At 5pm on May 21, 2011, Mike and I officially became Mr and Mrs. It was a wonderful time but flew by. We are floating....

We return after a prolonged absence

2011-04-30T19:13:00.002-04:00

I am afraid that I have neglected my blog. Life has been in fast forward and, unfortunately, my poor blog has suffered...

Life has been good. We have had nothing but good news here. My sisters left their hated 9-5 jobs and opened a retail store in Redbank NJ. Visit their website at feplush.com and show them some love, they have awesome stuff. My middle brother was married last month and is having a baby in October; and Mike and I will tie the knot in 21 days. Every thing but the last minute things are done. We had our engagement session with the photographer last night at Valley Forge Park and also finalized the details with the country club. Today was my second to last fitting and my bridal shower is next sunday.

I am typing this from our new (to us) refurbished iBook G4. Mike got it for us as a "wedding gift", I have been coveting this for quite some time now and we are trying this out for size before we spend the money on a brand new model... I am LOVING it :)

I hope this finds everyone well. I ask for prayers again, Perry (a fellow blogger) has a daughter Andi who is suffering from horrible headaches and has been hospitalized with confusion and difficulty with speech. She is a young woman with 2 young children and a loving husband. Tests have been negative thus far and she is being discharged home with plans for speech therapy but no answers for the time being. Please pray for a speedy recovery and answers for this family... Also, my friend K is pregnant again. Good thoughts/ prayers are appreciated for a peaceful pregnancy with a healthy birth...

Prayers are needed

2010-08-11T21:20:00.003-04:00

Have you ever felt guilty because you are having the time of your life and can't stop smiling while someone else is experiencing hell on earth?

Two of my work friends are having some pretty awful times and I am asking for the praying type to add these families to their prayer lists.

My friend K has been trying to get pregnant for the past several years. Six months ago, after several failed fertility treatments, she concieved. I can honestly say that I have never seen a happier pregnant person, she glowed. At her 5 month ultrasound the brain was not clearly visualized and a more in depth ultrasound was ordered for the next month. Last week, she had that ultrasound to find that the baby's brain had never developed and would not be able to survive. She was induced last week and delivered her baby girl last week, stillborn. K and her husband are devestated but are talking of trying again to concieve once able.ung

T's young wife has cystic fibrosis and has had a rough year. She is around 30 years old, a nurse, and a loving mother to 2 beautiful girls. She has been sick on and off this past year, having had a feeding tube placed because she could not maintain her nutritional status, has become oxygen dependant but still living her life as well as she could. They were recently on vacation at the shore and she became ill. She was hospitalized at the shore but has since been transferred to the University of Pennsylvania's intensive care unit. She is now intubated and unable to breathe on her own. She has been added to the Lung Transplant list. She is fighting for her life. I cannot imagine how terrifying this is for her husband, her family, her daughters...

So, if you are the praying kind, please pray for these families. They are going through certain hell.

Making Progress...

2010-07-25T08:34:00.002-04:00

We have been quite busy here. Unpacking continues and for all but one room, the house is guest worthy. A huge accomplishment, let me tell you. Last weekend, Mike worked quite hard, while I had a fabulous afternoon with the girls and my mom, to clean the dining room and make it presentable for my friend Jenn (who was coming to dinner and spend the night).

Last Saturday was spent shopping for wedding dresses. That makes it sound like we spent the day jumping from dress shop to dress shop. We did not, we went to Priscilla of Boston in Ardmore, Pa and had an awesome time. I tried on 7 dresses- some better than others, long and short- but ultimately narrowed it down to 2. After looking at the pics Mary Beth (Cats, books, life is good) took, it was clear which dress it would be. This Saturday, my mother and I had a larky day ordering/buying THE dress and wandering through the lovely shops at Suburban Square. AND as a final topper to the day, my mother bought Mike and me an iPad :). Mike spent last night playing with said iPad and all I kept hearing was "this is so cool" over and over again.

Sunday, we went and met with the photographer. I am amazed by his pictures and his personality is laid back and friendly. He is a little nontraditional and has a wonderful way of capturing candid moments. Check him out, Sean Marshall Lin. (I am having issues getting his website to post but here it is seanmarshalllin.net).

Today we are cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning, babysitting for our friends seven month old son, and yard work. Right now, Mike is on the computer, I am posting, and pioneer woman's spicy pulled pork is filling the house with yummy smells... Happy Sunday :)

We have a date!

2010-05-31T22:20:00.002-04:00

Two weeks ago, Mike and I had dinner at the Reading Country Club. We loved the food, loved the setting, and really loved the deserts. I emailed the staff and found that very few saturdays were available for 2011. Not wanting to wait until late 2011 or (heaven forbid) 2012, we agreed to meet with Angela S. and see the ballroom and grounds. It was love at first sight. The ballroom is light and airy with little balconies around the room. The patio looks out on the 16th green and is lovely. They offer a very nice menu with decent liquors and tasty wedding cakes. It was a done deal. We signed a contract and gave them a deposit. Mark you calanders, we are getting married May 21, 2011 at 4pm...

Now for more fun, I get to go dress shopping :)

A truly Romantic proposal....

2010-05-14T20:26:00.004-04:00

Mother's Day we headed to the beach to spend the day with my family. The beginning of the weekend had been spent emptying the guest bedroom of the accumulated clothes, boxes, papers, furniture that had managed to completely fill the room. We were clearing out the room to allow for the moving in of my apartment. I will have officially moved in by May 22. After all day of clearing and cleaning, Sunday was a well needed relief.

Sunday morning, Mike kept carrying on about how he hoped the weather would be nice so that we could walk on the beach. This has never stopped us before but he seemed obsessed. I chalked it up to being exhausted from the day before. The weather was beautiful at the beach; 59 degrees, sunny, a brisk breeze off the bay. We walked on the beach and watched the birds and dogs and kids and just enjoyed the weather. When we were ready to walk back, I decided take off my socks and sneakers. As I was taking them off, I realized that Mike was no longer standing behind me. When I turned around, he was on one knee and said "Would you do me the honor?"I started bawling and pretty much continued for the rest of the day.

We have made no set plans, yet. We thought maybe the end of fall 2010 or early spring 2011 but it all depends on availabilities and finances. We are leaning towards early spring....

ENGAGED!!!!!

2010-05-10T21:14:00.002-04:00

That's right, my blogger friends. Mike and I are engaged. He proposed on the beach on Mother's Day. I am overwhelmed, excited, overjoyed, euphoric.... Pick an adjective, it probably applies :)
More to follow.

snow, snow, and more snow...

2010-02-10T14:17:00.002-05:00

I don't know that this snow will ever melt...

Friday night through Saturday evening, we got just over a foot of snow. Since last night we have gotten a foot and a half and it is still snowing. Let me be clear, I grew up in the northeast, I spent 9 months in Massachussetts, but I HATE snow! I now live in southeast Pennsylvania where snow removal is not well done. ( I know this is hard to believe.)

I was on call the weekend and had to travel to philadelphia both days to round on patients. I was not a happy camper. Mike questioned my career choice as he drove me into work on saturday morning. (My practice agrees that Mike has earned a spot in heaven for that drive alone.)

I was fortunately able to stay home today. In the crock pot, I have turkey tenderloins with potatoes, carrots, and onions. The house smells wonderful. Mike, however, did have to go to work this morning. The highways are closed and roads are treacherous. I am waiting for him to come home on pins and needles...

Jasper on the other hand, LOVES the snow. He romps around in the snow drifts, tackles hidden foes, and rolls around in the snow. He refuses to come in and needs to be dragged inside when the time comes. Pictures to be posted later...

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

2010-01-10T10:19:00.010-05:00

This is one of Mike's favorite meals of all time- a pot pie. It is incredibly easy and very tasty. This time, I used left over turkey but have used beef, pork, and chicken in the past as well. Everything is store bought or left over and requires very little effort on your part. It makes the house smell fabulous and your family will love it.

You will need:

-a pie dish

-pillsbury pre made pie crust- can be found in the dairy aisle and comes with both the top and bottom crust

-1 can cream of potato soup

-1 can cream of celery soup

-1 can mixed vegetables

-2 cups cut up meat of choice

-1/2 cup milk

-palmful herbs de provence

-tsp of pepper

preheat oven to 375 degrees

In a large bowl, mix together everything but the crusts.

Line a pie dish with one of the pie crusts.

Dump in the filling.

Cover with second crust and crimp the top and bottom together.

Place slits in top of crust to allow steam to escape during cooking.

If you want, brush top with a little beaten egg to have a shiny crust (not necessary to taste good).

Cook at 375 for 40 minutes.

Allow to sit for 10 minutes before diving in.

Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday, a day late

2010-01-07T16:11:00.002-05:00

Pork and Sauerkraut in a crock pot

2010-01-06T11:02:00.002-05:00

Here is the recipe for the pork and sauerkraut:
This was incredibly good and suprisingly easy!

1 3-4lb pork roast, salted and peppered
1 cup hard cider (I like woodchuck)
1 cup chicken stock
6 cloves of garlic smashed
1 red onion sliced

Mix everything together in the crock pot and let it go for 8 hours on the low setting. Every so often, during the last 4 hours, baste the pork with the juices.

Enjoy.

Happy New Year

2010-01-05T08:42:00.002-05:00

This is hopefully a year of wonderful things- we did all the right things to ensure that, i.e: had pork and sauerkraut for dinner on New Years Day. This is an old Pennsylvania Dutch tradition and Mike was insistent. Having never made it before, I did pretty well. I threw the pork roast in the crock pot with hard cider, chicken stock, garlic, onion, salt and pepper and let it all go for about 8 hours. It was divine...

January 3 did not start well. I was working the weekend and when I got out of the shower at 6am, Jasper was crying to go out. Mike was still asleep, so while still in a towel, I walked into the garage with Jasper and promptly stepped on the edge of the rug, twisted the bad ankle, and fell on the garage floor. Poor Mike was woken up by my screams and found me essentially naked on the garage floor, in tears. He picked me up and put me on the couch, brought me water, advil and ice, and then insisted that I get it xrayed. Xrays revealed no fracture but there are bone chips in the joint and the tendons are calcified from multiple injuries to them. I need to make an appointment to follow up with the orthopedist. In the meantime, I am supposed to be on crutches and Jasper is practicing his nursing techniques. (Actually, he is practicing not leaping on the ankle).

Christmas was the usual fun with all of us home to my parents house in North Jersey, only this year it included Mike. I was worried that he would feel out of place as we are close and loud and Christmas can only be described as intimate in our family (my sister Helen coined that description and it really does nail it). I should not have been worried, my family has embraced Mike from the first time he joined us and Christmas was no different. We all had fun and dinner was its usual barrel of laughs.

Mike and I spent the following weekend with my parents in a low key, relaxed way of reading, naps, and tracking my sisters journey to pick up their two puppies. Saturday night, Mike found time alone with my Dad to ask for his blessing in asking me to marry him. Mike says it was a nice talk but shared no other information other than that blessings were given. This of course prompted congratulations from my brother but he has yet to ask me... I will let you know when it happens.

Here's hoping that this is a happy, healthy, wonderful New Year for all my blogger friends!

Introducing Jasper

2009-12-08T20:39:00.005-05:00

Allow me to introduce Jasper. Jasper is a one year old golder retriever. Mike and I rescued Jasper from his friend Tracy's home.

Tracy and her husband Simon are getting divorced. It is ugly. A year ago, Tracy got Jasper for the kids. Simon did not want another dog but agreed if he could buy another flat screen tv. Apparantly, this relationship has been ugly for many years but has become much, much worse. Huge amounts of fighting in the home and this poor little man has suffered... Initially, the plan was that Simon would keep Jasper for one year, until Tracy was able to buy a house. The townhome she is renting will not allow dogs. A week before Tracy moved out, Simon told her that the minute she moved, Jasper went to the pound. Needless to say, once we heard that - we knew we were adopting a dog.

As you can see, Jasper was a little thin when we got him. He had not been eating and had spent the previous week in his crate in a cold garage (Simon is a cruel man). He is adjusting well and eating like a horse.

He is a big puppy with unbound energy. Fortunately, Mike's yard is big and the perfect venue for a dog to run and play. He has several issues. He jumps on everyone, he is unused to eliminating on a leash, he is in his chewing phase, and he is not aware of the meaning of the word NO. Jasper was brought home to their home when they had no time to train him. So when did things they didn't like, they threw him out on the patio. The patio was also his bathroom and they kept him from eliminating on a leash because they didn't like to carry a plastic bag. He has come leaps and bounds in the 3 weeks we have had him and has probably put on 7 pounds. He is still a little thin but looking better every day.

At a loss for words

2009-10-08T11:17:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was my birthday. It was also the last day of my sister's (Mary Beth) good friends life.

Jules was a unique gentleman with a sharp wit and sense of humor. He lit up rooms when he walked in and brightened many a unhappy person's day.

He will be dearly missed.

Mike's Birthday

2009-08-10T21:21:00.002-04:00

Thursday was Mike's birthday. He celebrated by an appointment with the surgeon for a follow up. I celebrated by making dinner and a pecan pie. I was unsure of what to get him for his birthday because he gave me no ideas. Left to my own devices, I gave him: tickets to see the Lion K1ng in NYC in september, two xb0x games, and dinner at Emeril Lagasse's Chop House restaurant on sunday.

He LOVED it all and spent 12 hours playing the one video game on saturday night. Thursday was a long day and we did not get home until almost 8:30pm. I made the pecan pie and let it cook while we watched S0 Y0u Think Y0u Can Dance. Sunday, we went to Emeril Lagasse's Chop House and, let me tell you, IT WAS AWESOME!!!! I wish I had brought my camera with me to take a picture of all the fabulous food. It was a little expensive but well worth it. Emeril, we will be back :)

Weekend Fun

2009-07-27T22:25:00.004-04:00

This was a jam packed weekend. My friend Terry got married and we went to A11egria from Circue du s0liel.

The wedding was beautiful. Terry had beautiful weather, good company, and a beautiful reception.

Mike and I had a wonderful time

even though my bra strap is showing in this picture. We wisely chose to stay overnight at the hotel, so that we could have a good time and not worry about the long drive home.

Sunday, we went to Circue du S0liel and had a wonderful time. Unfortunately, we are exhausted today because we ran and ran all weekend. We have just finished clearing off my porch so that the landlord can start construction. Mike is dozing on my couch,the cat is asleep on my feet. Life is good.

Belated Wordless Wednesday (A day late...)

2009-07-16T14:15:00.002-04:00

Eeyore has the right idea. It is hot and humid and miserable in PA, today.

I hated High School....

2009-07-14T14:11:00.003-04:00

My sisters agree with me on this. High School was hell. I am not one of those people who expound euphorically about how high school was the best years of their life. Now there were some good times but overall, you can wipe those four years off the face of the map.

There are still some people that if I saw on the street, I would have to resist the urge to sucker punch them. Missy is one of the individuals. We went to a very small, all girl, catholic high school. I graduated with 39 girls. 39 catty girls... In junior year, Adam came from one of the all boy high schools to be in the play. He was funny, good looking, and we got along well. I asked him to the prom. He said yes. I will never forget it, my family was in the kitchen bolstering me to call him and ask. I went out in the hall and called him and he said yes. I didn't say anything to anyone else in my class that I was going to ask him. I was an awkward, insecure female and was scared of ridicule and rejection. Apparently Missy and Adam had been talking but she had not asked him to the prom. When he told her I had asked him, you would have thought the end of the world had happened. She was angry. She and several of her friends tried to talk him out of going with me. I think by this point they were dating. To do Adam justice, he did go to the prom with me and danced with me and all but ignored her. However, the weeks leading up to the prom were pretty awful for me. She was brutal at school; called me every name in the book, had people in the class taking sides.

When I signed up for face book, Missy was one of the people who requested to be my friend. I initially was just going to ignore it but then I thought better of it. I could look into her life by pictures and see whether all my bad wishes had come true. Did she have awful acne, was she fat, maimed in some way? Seriously, I thought it was high school and we were a bunch of immature girls. Let bygones be bygones. Right? No. Today, someone got me with the post this paragraph as your status and everyone posts a memory about you. This could be fun, I thought. I have friends that go all the way back to grade school on face book. Don't you know that Missy posted her memory that I asked Adam to the prom and how upset she was then but it was laughable now.

Now, people, I could lie and say I am laughing about this now. Truth be told, I am not. I still have very strong feelings about this. CLEARLY. I have discovered this: 1. no one is meaner than a teenage girl and 2.the scars of high school run deep and are likely not to fade away completely.

Wordless Wednesday, my favorite pic from the last couple of months

2009-07-01T20:28:00.002-04:00

Isis 1995-June 29, 2009. You will be missed....

Monday was not a good day...

2009-07-01T11:49:00.002-04:00

My grandmother always said the minute you get a pet, you open yourself up to heartache. But we keep doing it because it is so worth it....

This was not a good weekend at the house. Isis, Mike's 14 year old doberman, has been steadily declining for the last couple of months. We have tried a number of different things: dog aspirin, antibiotics, multivitamins with glucosamine, poached chicken and all natural dog food, and finally rimadyl. She would improve for a couple of days and then take several steps back. All the while she continued to play with her toys and eat well. Friday night, we noticed she was having problems with the front legs. Her back legs have been bad for years but she compensated well. This weekend, she couldn't walk more than a couple of feet without having to sit and her front legs kept sticking. She stopped eating her treats and spent the day sleeping. It just kept getting worse and Sunday night, Mike came to the conclusion that it was time to put her to sleep. I kept hoping she would fall asleep and go that way, but no.

We cried, ALOT. I said I would come back out Monday night and go to the vet with him. I got to the house first on Monday. She clearly had not moved all day and was just wiped out. Mike came home and got her outside and as her final push, she went jaunting across the front yard. I wish my camera had been charged because she ran out of steam and sat down, Mike walked over to her and she got a final burst of steam and jaunted over to him and sat there looking up at him, smiling. The camera was dead, I am unsure I would have been able to take the picture anyway, I was a little bleary eyed.

The vet was wonderful and examined her and found multiple weaknesses in the legs and her heart was not beating regularly. He gave Mike several options but pointed out that they all were essentially plugging the hole of a sinking ship. Mike and I were crying from the time we got her in the car and he choked out that he felt she was in pain and not having fun anymore... They gave her a tranquilizer shot and let it kick in, leaving us alone with her. After about five minutes, her legs gave out and she slipped down to the floor and laid her head on Mike's knee and fell asleep. They gave her the final injection and left us with her. To say that we were a mess is putting it mildly- I had snot pouring down my face, neither of us could breathe or see. But she is no longer in pain and she had her favorite person to rest her head on.

The house is empty without her. Her toys are on the living room floor and her food bowls are still in the kitchen. Neither of us can bear to move them. When I walk through the dark bedroom in the middle of the night, I still step over where she should be on her bed on the floor... We both walked in the house last night calling her name. Neither of us have slept well the last two nights, we both keep seeing her lying on the floor as we left the vet. They wouldn't take her away until we had left. I wish we had brought her blanket with us to be cremated with her...

I don't like dobermans but Isis was the exception to the rule. She was a love and will be missed, greatly. I shouldn't have typed this at work, I am a mess all over again...

Because You Asked....

2009-06-19T10:28:00.002-04:00

Several of you have requested more information about the boy. Here it is....

As you may remember, I posted about a blind date back in the beginning of January. That blind date was Mike. Around Christmas, I became determined to shed old baggage and start a new campaign to meet new people. Not "the one" necessarily but get myself back in the dating game. I had tried Match.c0m and EHarm0ny with little success but I decided to give Match.c0m another try. Part of match is Chemistry.c0m. I filled out the profile, determined to be clear about myself and what I was looking for, no hedging on the weight or vagueness about what I wanted from my life or potential dates. I had several matches and I went through the motions of answering their questions and reading their responses but noone struck me as interesting. I was ok with this, though. I figured if nothing else, I would meet new people and regain the confidence I had lost over the last several years.

Then somewhere in between Christmas and New Years, I was contacted by Mike. We went through the motions of the beginning levels of communication for Chemistry and then began emailing and instant messaging. After about two weeks of talking, we agreed to meet for dinner. Dinner was an enlightening experience. Here was this very pleasant individual, exactly as described, who was easy to talk to. We spent 3 hours talking. I walked away from dinner saying WOW. Mike says he walked away thinking I was the one. (I knew on the second date when he showed up at my apartment with flowers and chocolate.)

Neither one of us have looked back. Everything has been easy and natural. It is amazing to find this person, the one that completes the spaces you didn't realize were empty until you meet them. We have looked at rings, he has asked my opinion, but I want him to pick it out. He has seen what I like but also wants me to be surprised. I don't know when it is coming but he says sometime this summer.

Mike is one of 5 children ( the other 4 are half siblings) but is estranged from all but one. His parents each brought children to the marraige, Mike is the only child from their marraige. Both parents have died. He has been on his own for the past three years. He is divorced, having married someone he admits he knew he should not have. They got caught up in the planning and did not know how to reverse it all. They remain friends, although I have not yet met her. She is 5 years younger than we are and it seems that they were immature when they met and that carried into the marraige. She must be a good person because although they were in the middle of a divorce she moved with him into his parents home to care for her mother when they brought her home on hospice.

I am hoping this answers burning questions...

The Day After

2009-06-16T08:32:00.001-04:00

We arrived at the hospital at 10:30. Mike was registered and ushered into a room where he was handed a paper gown, instructed to wear that and only that, and then subjected to a barrage of questions and stuck with needles. He said he was fine until they made him put on the paper gown; then reality sunk in... We only had to wait about 20 minutes once the admitting nurse was done with him before the OR tech came to usher him off to surgery. In the elevator, he began to shake and when we got to the doors of the OR suite, he started to tear up. I could go no further with him and kissed him good bye, told him I loved him, and went to wait in the surgical family waiting room.

Now, my family has had a number of surgeries and we have congregated in these waiting rooms together. It is a stark difference to be waiting alone. Don't get me wrong. We still worry and watch the time pass but when you are with others, there are a number of distractions. The females are knitting (I think the last surgery, 3 out of 4 were knitting pumpkin hats), Damian is reading the paper and we all are texting brothers 2 and 3. 15 minutes passes quickly. We are all worried but we are bolstered by family. Yesterday was torture. Minutes seemed like hours and I couldn't knit or read, it took too much to concentrate. Someone foolishly had given Mike a time of 1-2 hours for surgery so that when I hit the 3 hour mark, I began to worry. Friends from the hospital would stop by to check but still time stood still, it seemed. The physician came out after three and a half hours. Surgery went fine, he was able to do everything he wanted but Mike would be sore and off his feet for awhile. I would be able to see him once he was moved out of the recovery room, another hour at least.

When I did finally get to see him, he was groggy and sore but he smiled when I saw him and the first thing he said was, I love you. He is swollen and sore and exhausted. The next two days will be spent sleeping on the couch, he has to sleep upright so no bed for him. He can eat only cold soft liquids- my favorite type, ice cream. As I type, he is asleep next to me on the couch, the dog is asleep at my feet and we have Yo Yo Ma playing in the background. Life is good.

Thank you so much for all your well wishes and prayers. They mean so much. I am honored to be among such lovely people in blogistan...

Tomorrow is the day.

2009-06-14T21:35:00.002-04:00

Mike is scheduled for surgery tomorrow at 12noon. I am a little freaked out. Although he is having surgery at the hospital where I work, by a surgeon I trust implicitly, I am still scared. I will feel much better tomorrow night when we are home and Mike is on the other side of the knife....

Wordy Wednesday

2009-05-27T12:12:00.003-04:00

The last month has flown by. I have felt largely like what pond scum scrape off their feet for some time and finally went to have it investigated. What we discovered is: a. I have put on a large amount of weight and my body is not happy with it, b. my blood pressure is through the roof (150/110) and my body does not like that, and c. hormonally I am a mess. What it came down to was being started on not one, but two meds for my blood pressure and restarted on an estrogen based birth control pill. WHAT FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously, for the first 2 weeks I was dizzy and lightheaded 24 hours a day. Even driving, when I turned a corner the inside of the car would be spinning. Standing still, I swayed. I apparently scared the crap out of Mike- he just let on to that this week. He kept telling me to lie down and would bring me cooling drinks :) And when I melted down because I was tired of feeling so lousy, he held me in those big arms, kissed my hair, and told me that it was OK. All the while feeling lousy, himself.

We wrapped up our week of finding out what was wrong with me with a ear/ nose/ throat doctor appointment for him. Mike's sinuses are a mess and every one needs cleaning out, his septum is deviated and needs to be corrected, and his adenoids need to be removed. Why all this? Because he has had five sinus infections since February, he has sleep apnea from his sinus disease and enlarged adenoids, and he has constant migraines. Surgery is scheduled for June 15, 2009.

The doctors appointment was enlightening... Mike was filling out the paperwork and I felt him pause next to me. When I looked over at him, he was looking at the paperwork blankly. I asked him what was wrong and he said he didn't know who to put for his emergency contact. I was at a loss for words. If not my parents, then definitely one of my sisters I could list but he has no one. Both his parents have died and he is estranged from his half siblings. I am his emergency contact. It was an easy decision; we are looking at engagement rings and talking marriage but I was sad for him. We take for granted how lucky a family we are. We are many and we are close and would do anything for one another. He has none of this, right now. They will and already are welcoming him to the group with open arms.

WW- Hello from Princess Piglet's favorite perch in the house :)

2009-05-20T16:06:00.001-04:00

Happy Nurses Week to all My fellow Nurses....

2009-05-06T13:46:00.003-04:00

It is National Nurses Week. Marybeth has nicely posted this on her blog http://www.marybeth494.blogspot.com/. Which was very nice because the office has not made any note of it. It is ok, the docs think of me during the year (like getting me a ticket to the game 5 world series that the Phillies won!). So, if you encounter a nurse- feel free to thank them. They will appreciate it more than you know. So, I am posting a picture of my favorite nursemaid- she is never far from my side when I am home, always reaching out a paw to make sure I am ok. Here she is clearly testing the bed to make sure it is alright.

Tranquil Thursday

2009-04-30T22:15:00.002-04:00

I hate my clothes, nothing fits. This is me most mornings....

2009-04-23T21:09:00.001-04:00

Somewhat Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-22T16:37:00.002-04:00

Meet Isis. Isis is Mike's 14 year old doberman that he inherited when his mom died three years ago. I am not a doberman fan but this one has my heart. She is a sweetheart that brings me shoes and socks as gifts when I walk in the house. When I leave the house, she brings Mike whatever article of clothing I have left behind as a way of saying, she is coming back- right? Isis is not long for this world. She is eating like a horse, playing, happy but losing weight, has multiple tumors, and frequently urinates blood. This is going to be awful all the way around. Isis is one of the last tangible things of his mom that Mike has. In the meantime, I am determined to spoil her rotten.

A post to make you all go AWWWW!

2009-04-20T17:45:00.002-04:00

Mike and I were supposed to go to the Phillies game tonight. It has been postponed due to rain. But not until Mike was already on the road. He is coming to my office. We will have dinner and he will head home. He is not happy.

We have spent the greater part of the afternoon IM'ing as to whether or not the game would be postponed. The Phillies site had the game to be played as scheduled. He was not happy and I knew he was not but I was determined to go to the game- good weather or bad. He was a trooper and never once asked me to reconsider.

He called me from the turnpike and said "Guess what just came across KYW? The game has been cancelled." I mumbled something I will not share. Then I asked if he wanted to come to me and have dinner before going home. He said, yes, a little less enthusiastically. I said "At least you won't be wet and cold, and you get to see me".

His response: "The only reason I was coming down was because I love you. The Phillies are not worth it". That was when I melted.

Happy Easter...

2009-04-11T12:06:00.003-04:00

A picture from one of my favorite books, The Country Bunny and the Golden Shoes. A mother rabbit wins a spot from the Grandfather Bunny to be one of the select Easter Rabbits. It is worth finding the book and it will take you all of fifteen minutes to read it but it will make you smile.

April Showers Bring May Flowers and....

2009-04-03T12:41:00.000-04:00

Rainbows.

Baltimore (updated to include post and title) :)

2009-03-30T20:05:00.004-04:00

This weekend, Mike and I went to Baltimore to see Kooza and go to the National Aquarium. Circue du Soliel was incredible and for three hours, all we could say was HOLY CRAP! The show was INCREDIBLE and I recommend it to all. Mike purchased the Tapis Rouge tickets which involved a cocktail hour prior to the show and during the intermission and a picture taken on arrival. The picture is cute but my hair is awful. The curl took over... It was straight as a pin when I left the hotel but it was misty and damp. However, it gives you an idea of the boy.

Sunday, we headed to the National Aquarium with two Flat Stanleys in tow. For those of you unfamiliar with Flat Stanley, it is a paper cut out that school children color and pass onto family members and track their travel. My friend Penny's children, Caroline and Ben, are doing the Flat Stanley routine- both came to Baltimore with me.

The Flat Stanley's stayed at the hotel with us....

Ben's Flat Stanley said hello to the sharks....

Caroline's Flat Stanley said hello to the dolphin (who was saying "Talk to the Tail")...

Then the Flat Stanleys came home to the farm.

In Pennsylvania Dutch country...

where apparantly Darth Vader lives. The kids are going to love it!

The weekend overall was AWESOME and returning to reality was a a huge shock...

Scary Times

2009-03-26T20:11:00.002-04:00

Mike went into work this morning to find out that two men from the IT department were being laid off. They had heard rumors of lay offs but had not seen the rumor come to fruition until this morning. One of the men was Level 3 and from Mike's office in Allentown. The other man was Level 2 (Mike's position) but from the Harrisburg office. For all intents and purposes, it seemed that Mike should have been the Level 2 man to go, since he has been in his position the least amount of time. However, Mike has volunteered to take on call time, stays late to learn new things, offers help whenever he can, and most importantly will go wherever the powers that be tell him too.

It would seem that Mike will now be splitting his time between the Allentown and Harrisburg office. He will need to take call for both offices (2/4 weeks out of the month) and will be living in limbo for the time being. As he puts it, it is gainful employment and only makes him more valuable.

The whole situation is terrifying to me. As an RN, I am secure in a job. I may not always have my position I am in now, but the bedside nurse is always in demand. And although, I may not want to go back to the bedside, I am guaranteed a job there. I cannot imagine the insecurity of not knowing if your job will still be there from one day to the next.

Tomorrow morning at 9am, Mike will meet with the powers that be to discuss his time at Harrisburg. Send good thoughts if you will, please.

Wordless Wednesday- Warped edition

2009-03-25T16:04:00.003-04:00

So, in my usual good timing, I managed to tear the ligaments in my left ankle- AGAIN. (This is getting very old, peeps.) I was carrying in my laundry and managed to put my foot into the hole in the driveway and completely turn my ankle. The resulting tearing noise was enough to make me ill. I dragged myself into the house, laundry basket and all, and cried quite a bit while nursemaid piglet tried to make it all better... It sucks to do this at any time but this is the weekend that Mike and I are headed to Baltimore for Circue du Soliel and the Acquarium. We are still going just with me at a much slower speed.

Mike sent the above picture to make me laugh today. It worked. The look on the banana's face is priceless.

Happy Spring

2009-03-20T15:19:00.003-04:00

Happy Spring, my fellow bloggers. Of course, it is flurrying and only 43 degrees outside here in PA, but still officially the first day of Spring. March Madness is underway and in an unprecedented move, I am leading the pool. My cynical family was sure Mike had helped me with my brackets. He did not, I did my research and chose not one emotional pick. When I told Mike that they thought he had helped, he snickered and said I should have helped him :)

Happy

2009-03-17T20:50:00.002-04:00

I have become hesitant to post alot because it is such a wonderful journey that I have found myself on and one that is both exciting and intensely private at the same time.

So, I will say this: I am Great, Mike is Great, and together, we are incredibly HAPPY.

My idea of a perfect saturday

2009-03-02T16:46:00.003-05:00

630am- get up and let aged dog out (not perfect yet)
645am- climb back into bed and into the arms of the man you are head over heels in love with (now perfect)
645-830am sleep in aforementioned arms
830am- man lets dog out
845-0930am - lie in aforementioned arms discussing anything
0930am -get up, drink caffeine of choice (diet coke) and eat girl scout cookies for breakfast
0930-1045am watch nephew of love play video games
1045am make the wise decision to go back to bed
1100am love joins you
1100-145pm sleep
145pm shower and head out to get food for lunch/dinner
300pm eat phenomenal hoagies from local mom and pop shop
400 - 7oopm sleep on couch with love

This is where perfect ends... Mike was called into work, i headed home and did not sleep much because of all the sleep I had had during the day and Princess P was more than angry with me for leaving her alone... It got better sunday afternoon when I headed back out into the land of open fields to have dinner with the love :)

And then it started to snow...

A Very Good Day

2009-02-22T21:47:00.002-05:00

Today, Mike and I joined my family at the Franklin Institute for the Narnia Exhibit. The ehibit, although smaller than I had hoped, was fun and a good time was had by all. Unfortunately, the museum itself closed shortly after we finished the exhibit and we were unable to see all the Franklin Institute had to offer. Instead, we braved the frigid winds and walked the two blocks to TGI Friday's where we had a fun dinner that showed Mike the family I love and am proud to be a part of...

Could someone define extravagant? Because I am confused...

2009-02-17T18:39:00.006-05:00

So, a week ago I mentioned to Mike that we could ignore Valentines Day because we had only been dating a month and it was a lot of pressure to put on a new relationship. He was appalled that I would suggest such a thing. He mentioned that he was not going to ignore it but hoped I didn't expect anything extravagant. Ok, sounds good. Right? I found a perfect card, made homemade meatballs, and his favorite dessert of pecan pie. Mike started Valentines Day on thursday by sending 2 dozen long stem roses to the office. I was overwhelmed and briefly thought I was behind the eight ball with my efforts but did not want to go overboard. A homemade dinner and dessert takes time, effort, and thought, I was good.

So Mike arrives on Saturday afternoon to find the pecan pie on the table with the card. He paused, seemed upset, and said he didn't get me a card. I replied, yes you did - it came with the roses. That was not good enough apparantly because then he said he had instead gotten me something else and hands me this:

I thanked him appropriately and then told him I was frightened to see what extravagant was if this was not. He laughed... The night went downhill from there. I have fairly severe acid reflux and was taken down flat. I am afraid that our first Valentine's Day was spent with me throwing up and Mike rubbing my back telling me how much he had fallen in love with me. Sunday, I was feeling better and went to Mike's so that he could watch the Nascar race on his 50 inch high def tv while I slept on his couch. Unfortunately, I kept him up all night with continued belly issues of the lower end. As I left in the morning for work, he told me again how much he loved me, had fallen in love with me, and was enjoying himself. I think he has survived the trial by fire...

Today the girls called me to tell me that once again I had something waiting for me in the office. What I found waiting for me was another two dozen roses. Apparantly, the first 2 dozen were not acceptable being 2 roses short and another one being beheaded on the delivery. Mike politely emailed the company and told them he was unhappy. They offered to either refund or resend and since I was not feeling well, he thought they would brighten my day and had them resend new ones. Seriously? This is not extravagant?

A Lovely Suprise

2009-02-12T21:57:00.003-05:00

HTL has left for Costa Rica for 2 weeks. This leaves me with the neurotic GSW for 2 weeks, alone. Work is going to be hell with our normal patient load. On a normal day, we (me, GSW, HTL, and LR) see 20 patients in the office, 20 inpatients in the hospital, and (on average) 6 new patient consults. Today, we (just GSW and myself) saw 24 office patients, 27 inpatients, and 22 new patient consults. I did not think the day would ever end.

At lunchtime, I was drowning in the emergency room and recieved a page from my secretary. "You need to come downstairs right NOW". I went down an hour later to find a huge box on my desk. I opened the box to find one dozen multicolor long stem roses, a box of chocolates, and a card that read- "will you be my valentine? All yours; Mike"

I cried like a little school girl and called Mike to tell him how much I loved them and how, without even knowing, he had made an overwhelming day AWESOME.

Beware the Penquins

2009-02-05T17:57:00.003-05:00

I am sure that my faithful readers, all 6 of them (I love you guys), have noticed that the majority of my patients are mental midgets and need to be heavily medicated. Penquin lady was no different.

Penquin lady was my new patient for the day. I came in to find my list of office patients on my desk and heavily highlighted. The girls have a meathod. Green for a new patient, blue for an outpatient followup, and yellow for a hospital followup. I discovered today that purple and green means a really CRAZY new patient. Hard to imagine that one would be able to ascertain that the new patient was crazy by just speaking to her on the phone but they had. AND her daughter called the office to warn us about her.

Let me tell you, my friends, their assessment was not wrong. This woman was certifiable. The reason she came in to see the pulmonologists- TO BE EVALUATED FOR INHALING PENGUIN POOP. Yes, readers, you read that correctly penguin poop... while on vacation in Antarctica, she tripped and fell face first into penguin poop. She has a legitimate concern, bird feces when inhaled can translate into histoplasmosis. It is the tale she told that confirmed her mental instability.

I am not making this up, you can't. APPARANTLY, the patients tall thin stature was threatening for the penguins. (They are short, fat birds after all). She chose to wear a red sweater to the penguin area and that angered the penguins and they pushed her down. Yup, they pushed her down. She proceed to tell me that she intimidates all birds and is often attacked, EVEN when driving.

We ordered the appropriate tests to rule out histoplasmosis and offered her the name of a psychiatrist to help her come to terms with the fact that birds are so threatened by her... Seriously people, I had to walk out of the exam room 4 times, feigning being paged, to keep from laughing out loud in her face...

When I IM'd Mike about her, his response was Beware the Penguins- Dooby Dooby Doo, from one of my favorite bud lite commercials.

A No Good, Very Bad Day

2009-02-05T13:32:00.002-05:00

Yesterday started like most days, an irritating drive in to work, a long list of patients, irritable doctors, and a very tired me. Mike and I had talked late into the night, about nothing at all but neither wanted to hang up the phone until exhaustion took over for both of us.

As I pulled up my hospital list, a name jumped out at me. A young patient that I have followed in the outpatient setting had been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit. She had seen us for a benign lung nodule but had a long history of breast cancer and had been struggling of late with multiple health issues. The last time I saw her, she seemed to have plateaued and was beginning to find her way with the new infirmities. But now, here she was.

It became clear, quickly, once I saw her and reveiewed the chart that my friend was not long for this world. The cancer treatments had erroded her bowel and her body was falling apart from the inside out. She was quickly failing and no matter the intervention, her blood pressure remained in the toilet and she was requiring a machine to breathe. Her loving family surrounded her bedside. Discussions of surgery danced in the air but it was clear what the outcome would be regardless of the intervention. As I sat down with her family to discuss what would be our recommendations, my heart broke. This patient and I have had a connection because of similiar ages and angsts; but also because of her placement in her family of 8. She is the youngest of the three girls and her family makeup is the same as mine with the oldest a boy followed by three girls and then two younger boys. And now, I was recommending the withdrawl of life support and the addition of morphine to make her comfortable. At the family's request, I was at the bedside as she passed away and for the first time in 17 years, said the rosary.

I went back to the office and put my head down on the desk and cried. And later in the morning when Mike instant messaged me, I told him about my morning. He was good, he didn't ignore the uncomfortableness of the situation. Instead, he asked about my patient and her family and me. When I saw him last night, he said nothing about it but wrapped me in those big arms of his and held me as I became ugly, sniveling, snotty, and blotchy doing the ugly cry...

So it was a no good, very bad day that might have made me move to Australia that turned into a wonderful evening of discovering that this wonderful man is as mad about me as I am about him. And once again, it was 1:30 am as I was heading to bed because neither one of us wanted to acknowledge the time that would make Mike head home. I am exhausted today but for some reason I can't erase this Cheshire Cat grin from my face...

Who Would Have Thunk It?

2009-01-28T19:30:00.002-05:00

I am afraid that I might need to rename my blog to something referring to Mike....

We have seen each other, now, 4 times and continue to communicate every night. I am in awe, really, awe. I never anticipated finding this connection. I honestly thought I would meet new people and refind the confidence to put myself back out into the world of dating. Instead, I have found a charming, funny, peaceful, gentle man. I am excited to speak to him every night and am staying up late because I don't want to end the conversation.

Sunday, we went to see My Bloody Valentine in 3D. His choice, I had chosen dinner and the movie the night before. The movie was not scary but gory in a campy sort of way; very similiar to Scream. I am not sure why, whether it be to add to the atmosphere of the movie or simple malfunction, but the theatre was sub zero temperatures. I was in a cashmere turtleneck sweater and was freezing. I was wrapping my hands in my scarf and trying not to shake like a leaf. Mike, noticed my discomfort and asked if I was ok. Ever the independant female, I insisted I was fine. He simply reached over and took my hand, wrapping it in his much larger paw. He held my hand for the entire movie, frequently checking that I was warm enough. At the end of the movie, he walked me to my car and hugged and kissed me goodbye.

I have invited him to join me to go to the Franklin Institute to see the Narnia Exhibit with my family. This is big, HUGE. I have dated a bit and my family has met only or two of my former boyfriends. I hesitate to type this, but I sense something different here... I hope I am not wrong. I have been grinning since the weekend. So much so, that the docs (males) are asking to meet this poor man so that they may give their approval. (I have realized that I have 2 fathers and one new older brother that I acquired through this job.) I am looking foward to what the next few weeks, months hold :)

Happy

2009-01-25T08:26:00.002-05:00

I have spoken to Mike, either on the phone or through the instant messanger, almost every night since we went out for the first time. I like him, alot. We had our second date, last night. An informal affair, we watched Kung Fu Panda (awesome movie) on my miniscule tv and talked late into the night.

He arrived with carnations for me to say thank you for having him over. We are going out again, today. I think he might be a keeper.

Pleasantly Surprised...

2009-01-17T21:40:00.002-05:00

It was a very nice dinner with good conversations and laughs. I had a wonderful time... As we were talking outside, he could see me visually shivering and said "I had a really nice time and would like to see you again, if that is ok with you".

I said yes. I will keep you all updated.

Nervous

2009-01-17T16:33:00.003-05:00

I have been awake since the crack of dawn and have been jittery since getting up. Why, you ask. I have a date tonight, that's why.

His name is Mike. He is from Hamburg, PA (about 20mins west of me) and is a computer nerd. We met on one of the dating sites (chemistry). We have talked several times on the phone, have im'd and emailed for about 2.5 weeks. He is very polite, asked me out on a date formally (i.e. "I would like to ask you out on a date") not just suggest "meeting". He has a friendly face (I know, Mary Beth, so did Jeffrey Dahmer!). We are meeting at the mall at 5:30pm to ensure safety and plenty of people around. But I am nervous...

Here's the deal- It has been a long time since I have been on a date with someone I do not know better than myself. What if he doesn't get my sense of humor? What if I mumble or drool or cackle or talk with my mouth open? There are a lot of what if's.

Wish me luck. I will let you know how it all goes. And if I dissappear, Mary Beth and Helen, you have all the info the police need to go on the site and find him....

Update

2009-01-02T09:14:00.004-05:00

Princess Piglet of Pottstown seems to be feeling much better. We are walking on eggshells here but better all the same. Thank you for all your prayers and well wishes.

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T22:51:00.003-05:00

The past couple of weeks have been a big bad blur. It started with birthdays and my walking pneumonia and flew into Christmas. Although still not feeling well, I headed to my parents for Christmas on Christmas Eve. Princess P stayed behind because of bad weather (torential downpours) and I was heading back to work on the 26th. When I came home, she had shown her displeasure at being left behind by puking from one end of the apartment to the other. I headed back to my parents on saturday night. When I came home on the 28th, I was greeted with more puke.

I noticed the food bowl had barely been touched but this is not abnormal, she goes dormant when left alone. Monday night she barely ate, vomited after drinking some water, and I swore the litter box had not been touched. I thought P was on a hunger strike, punishing me. Testing her, I brought wet food on the way home tuesday night. She inhaled the food and I thought I had caught her at her game. But then an hour later, P was crying and vomiting from her toes. Tomorrow, I thought, we go to see Dr Allie. At 1:30 in the morning, I awoke to the sounds of her vomiting, yet again and again. I was terrified and off to the emergency vet we went.

The final vote is she has a virus. They gave her some intravenous fluids and sent her home at 6 am. We have spent the afternoon on the couch, asleep. P has eaten twice and kept the food down. We are taking it slow and easy but are ready to head back to the vet should we need to.

The ex was supposed to come out tonight for New Years. I kiboshed that. I was prepared to spend New Years eve with the cat and my couch... At 5pm, my friend Jenn called. She was at the supermarket and had deserts if I could provide dinner. We had chinese food, carrot cake, chocolate cake, and cheese cake. It is 11pm, Jenn is headed home and I am headed to bed with P in tow. It was my type of New Year's eve- good conversation in confortable clothes with good food...

Happy New Year's, all my blogger friends. Here's hoping it is a year of dreams achieved, good health, and the making of wonderful memories :)

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone in blogger land!

2008-12-24T10:54:00.002-05:00

This is one of my favorite Christmas Cards. I sent it out several years ago and have yet to find one I like as much. The painting is by William Beard, titled simply Santa Claus, and can be found at The Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design.

Dear Santa

2008-12-21T22:30:00.002-05:00

This year I have a simple request. No diamonds or pearls, no catnip or tuna. Simply this-

I have been sick, now going on three weeks. It started with a nice case of sinusitis, traveled to my chest and bronchitis, and NOW it has progressed to walking pneumonia. I feel like garbage. So much so, that I have not put up my Christmas tree and am pretty sure it won't get done in the next three days.

So Santa Baby- I would like a magic pill to knock this bug on its rear so that I may enjoy Christmas with the loved ones I hold so dear!

One sick little elf...

2008-11-29T15:07:00.002-05:00

So my friend, Happy Wife Happy Life, over at http://mommimusings.blogspot.com has tagged me to do the meme, 7 random tidbits about yourself. Here are the rules, do the meme and tag 4 others to do the same.

So without further ado, here are 7 fascinating and random tidbits about me...

1. I sleep in either the middle or left side of the bed. I cannot sleep on the right side of the bed, no matter how hard the cat tries to push me to the right.

2. Although I am not always watching it, the tv is always on in my house. Living alone can be lonely and creepy at times. The tv provides background noise.

3. I have many guilty pleasure tv show: Dirty $exy Money, Real Hou$ewives, Grey$ anatomy, Say Yes to the Dre$$...

4. My friend Jenn and I speak on the phone every night, often watching the aforementioned guilty pleasures together, on the phone.

5. I drink coffee in the morning on my way into work. I would kill a small man for that coffee most mornings.

6. My worst nightmare is recurring from childhood. I dream that a Vampire is levitating above the bed, only inches from me. I always wake up with my heart pounding and usually cannot go back to sleep.

7. I love stovetop stuffing but the stuffing on thanksgiving grosses me out. Something about being cooked inside the bird skeeves me out.

I tag whomever would like to play along...

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T21:47:00.002-05:00

Thanksgiving in our house is always a hectic experience with preparations that we all bitch about and then dinner is served and we gather around the table and a sense of peace ensues. The conversations fly around the table with three or four going on at the same time. Laughter rumbles around and eventually the dinner ends and those who must go home leave and the rest lapse into a slow coma...

The fact is that I would not trade this for the world. If and when I marry, I hope that my beloved will be willing to accomadate my need to be with my family on these days. There is nothing that I would rather do on these holidays.

Here is hoping that all my bloggie friends have had a wonderful Thanksgiving spent with loved ones.

How could it possibly be 16 years ago, today,

2008-11-20T15:18:00.002-05:00

that my grandmother died?

Because in my mind, she is still waiting in her warm, cheerful kitchen, with a huge hug. I see her in the kitchen window watching us come in the gate and meeting us at the front door. Of course, her mountain of a dog, Saki, is still in the yard running to meet us.

I miss this graceful, classy, wonderful woman every day. And as I write this, I am crying in my office... I got dressed this morning, knowing what today was the anniversary was. I can still see my mother coming in the front door to tell us she was gone. I put on the Winnie the Pooh necklace she gave me and hoped it would bring me a good day. It is a cold, snowy day. No snow accumulating but it is the biting cold that reminds me of Christmas at her house. Appropriate, don't you think?

Anyway, it seems like yesterday that she was with us and we all miss her, terribly. So much so, it seems, that I am having a hard time articulating it.

The Flat Tire Was a Sign

2008-11-19T19:10:00.002-05:00

The flat tire on monday morning was just an indication of the rest of the week. It is only wednesday and I am already exhausted. The life of the Nurse Specialist in Critical Care and Pulmonary Medicine can be rather depressing at times.

In the past three days, I have informed 3 families that their loved ones had less than 6 months to live. Two of those families will probably not even get to spend Christmas with their loved ones.

I love my job and find it largely rewarding, just not this week...

Not a Good Start to the Week

2008-11-18T20:59:00.004-05:00

Monday started like any other day. I was assaulted by a starving (NOT) cat once the alarm clock went off, I got out of the house 10 minutes late, I spilled coffee all over the driveway, and traffic was horrendous. As I drove over the river, I thought my car felt a little off but figured it was the grating on the bridge. A couple miles down the road, I heard that unmistakable flapping noise. I pulled over and confirmed the obvious - I had a flat tire. I called AAA.

AAA: AAA, this is Alan. How may I help you?

Me: AAA, Amanda here. I have a flat tire and need to be rescued by a tow truck driver in shining armour :)

AAA: Uh, OK.

The tow truck driver arrived, not in shining armour, but a nice guy all the same. In a matter of minutes, he had the donut on the car and we were on our way.

Now, I was only a mile from home. I am about 30 miles away from my job and the donut was not going to cut it... I headed to the nearest Pep B0ys and was suprised by the idiocy I found working there. I waited in an empty store for 15 minutes before the manager of customer service asked to help me. I explained my situation, gave her the make and model of my car, and smiled nicely. She looked up my car and told me that they did not carry my tire. I had already explained that I would need 2 tires, so we were looking at around 400$. I asked her if they would be able to get my tire that day, that I was willing to wait. "I told you we don't carry that tire" (insert obnoxious eye rolling and teeth sucking). I lost it and became the angry white woman in the Pep Boys.... I told the manager of customer service that she had failed her job requirements and that I would make it my mission to dissuade everyone I knew from providing them with business.

I wound up at the Firestone store, where they had 5 tires in stock. 2 hours later and I had 2 shiny new tires on my car. I came home today to a nice card from Firestone thanking me for my business.

Moral of the Story: PEP BOYS BAD! FIRESTONE GOOD!

Back in the Saddle Again

2008-11-10T15:10:00.003-05:00

For the past several ( too many) months, I have been seeing the ex again. He reappeared with promises of successful counseling to repair the damage of being stupid enough to marry someone in need of greencard (she played him like a fiddle), increased maturity, and undying love. Things were going fairly well and then last week he decided marraige and children were not for him. Uh yeah, I am not budging on those two things. Yellow house vs blue house, Italian vs Chinese- fine. Children and Marraige- NOT OK. I cried, I yelled, I walked away.

Yesterday, I renewed my Match.Com subscription with a renewed sense of determination. I am 35, funny, and a damn GOOD catch. We will see- the last try was a disaster and I swore off online dating forever. However, with guidance from friends, I have updated my profile and narrowed my requirements. I don't know what I was thinking but I didn't give any requirement for education or income. (It may explain the poor response I recieved.)

Pray for me. I may swear off dating if this doesn't work and become the crazy cat lady...

Piglet is giving me the high five to restart Match.com :)

My Other Family

2008-10-30T15:15:00.003-04:00

I have been blessed in that I have found a job that has me working with phenomenal individuals. The doctors, although they will drive me insane some days, are marvelous human beings who treat me with respect and love. I am one of their family, as they are mine. We go above and beyond for each other. Here is a prime example.

It was going to be one of those weeks. It is the CHEST conference, here in Philadelphia, and the docs were attending. This left me with one doc a day. The hospital is insane, as is the office. We would be running short and running long days.

My cell phone has assigned rings to individuals (because I can) and the docs all have the same one. I did this so that I would know to answer it when they called without looking. On sunday, I was getting ready to leave the shore to head home when my cell phone rang. It was GSW.

-(GSW) I have a big favor to ask. I am at CHEST tomorrow and was wondering if you could go in early so that HTL is not alone.

- (ME) Not a problem

- (GSW) Good. I have another big favor. It is a big one and will take alot of your time. It might be a big inconvenience.

- (ME) ok, spit it out.

- (GSW) I have a ticket to game 5 of the World Series for you.

- (ME) silence

Ok, so for those of you who are not baseball fans. Game 5 was a 2 night affair of rain, sleet, cold, suspended play, and then a second night of cold excited fans who witnessed the Philadelphia Phillies win the World Series for the first time in 28 years. It was INCREDIBLE. It was a once in a lifetime experience and they included me. I bawled like a baby when they won. (So did HTL...)

In any case, you can see what I mean. These guys work with me day in and day out. We bicker, we joke around, and we worry about each other. I could not have picked a better group to work with....

35

2008-10-09T19:21:00.003-04:00

Tuesday was my birthday... I turned 35. I heard from many friends that 35 would be a killer, one of looking at your life and bemoaning what you have yet to accomplish. I am happy to say that I have had very little of that. Yes, I am not where I thought I would be when I was 16 but it is ok... I would love to be married with kids but I have time yet and I have a great job and a few priceless friends that I would not change for the world.

Enough about that. The birthday was wonderful. My mother, father, and I spent the morning at the kitchen table with dogs running around while we read wonderful books. When Dad went off to take a nap, my mother and I went shopping. With Dad having surgery, birthday shopping was not in the cards. She felt guilty, I was ok with it. So off we went... I decided that I wanted a watch and we found a beautiful citizen with a couple of diamonds around the edge. When we got home, we found that my sisters and my youngest brother had arrived. The middle brother was on the way. Dinner was the usual raucaus fun affair with lots of laughs and good food. Helen made chocolate chip pumpkin shaped cakes that were delicous and they gave me a bag full of fun- the final 3 books in the Twighlight series, the latest book in the Inkheart series, and a book about Peter Pan by Dave Barry/ Ridley Pearson plus a fun picture of a frog taking a bulldog's picture...

The Week from Hell!

2008-10-03T22:42:00.002-04:00

The household has had one hell of a week.

1. We began almost 2 weeks ago with the blind diabetic dog walking into the stool my mother was sitting on, becoming startled, and biting my mother's calf. She sent me a picture that following wednesday, the docs and I scrutinized over it, and advised she get it checked out. But here's the thing, last year about this time, Morgun bit Dad. The health department came out and quarantined him. My parents were convinced the town would take Morgun away. So, my mother didn't want to go to the ER. She, instead, agreed to keep it clean and call me the minute it looked worse. Friday, Helen called me and said that my mom's leg was really bothering her and maybe I could call and check on her. I tried, but the storm from hell was knocking out the cellular sites and I couldn't get through.

I had planned to get my hair cut on saturday. It took much longer than planned but I got to the shore around 4pm. When I walked in the living room, I immediately smelled infection but could not be sure where it was coming from. My mother wanted me to see the leg, so out to the deck we went to get the most light. The minute I took the bandage off, I was hit with the smell and her leg was swollen and red from above the knee to the tips of her toes. The wound was horribly infected. Off to the ER we went and after many tests, we all agreed that she had a nasty wound infection with associated cellulitis, and would need pretty severe antibiotics. The Doctor wanted to admit her for IV antibiotics but agreed to give her one dose via the IV and then send her home with antibiotics on the condition that she would come back if it got worse. My mother realized that the only reason she got to come home was that I was with her... It pays to have your own Advanced Practice Nurse! The leg did improve but the bite is still pretty ugly and will take a long time to heal. The worst part was telling this fiercley independant woman, who never stops, that she could not drive or take care of her animals and that the one thing she could do was sit with the leg propped up. The inactivity lasted until tuesday when she no longer could take it but driving was still out.

2. Several weeks ago, the parents called me because Dad had an awful stomach ache that had been going on for 8 hours. He had tried the usual tricks and nothing made it better. I was pretty sure it was his Gallbladder by his description and managed to talk him into going to the ER to get it checked out. I met them at the ER and 5 hours later, we discovered my amazing powers of phone assessment were correct and that he needed to have it removed. He went to see his family doctor who referred him to a surgeon. He got cardiac clearance from his cardiologist. And today was the day to have the offending organ removed.

I was sure that he would do fine but my job allows me to see all that possibly could go wrong. Subconciously, I have been agonizing about today, all week. I have been short tempered, irritable, and my back and shoulders have been incredibly tense. Dad did great, better than his 3 daughters fared from the same procedure, but the tension has yet to release. They will keep him overnight and I will bring him home tomorrow.

We all have been agonizing over this. They took him off to surgery and my mother dissolved into tears- "He will be alright, won't he?" So, when she insisted on driving the two hours back to the shore house, how was I to say no? It was her form of control. She did turn the car over to me an hour into the drive and passed out in the passenger seat. Finally able to relax, she slept the remainder of the trip home. Her foot is slightly swollen but no worse for wear and with any luck I can keep her relatively off it for the remainder of the weekend.

3. This morning, Helen and MB were taking the dogs to the North Jersey house while Dad had the surgery and my car was blocking them. I moved my car and pulled back in, inches from my mother's bumper. Something possessed me to move my car when we got back to the house tonight and the damn thing would not start. I tried and tried and it just sputtered at me. I cried. Seriously, I could do nothing else. (I would like to point out that it was this same day last year that my previous car died a painful death, causing me to buy this car!) On a whim, I went out an hour later and the car did turn over. Not easily but it turned on enough for me to move it. I will take it to be checked on monday. I am sure that it is the original battery to the car but I thought I was going to lose it if the damn thing was dead... The week has to get better, all the bad stuff is behind us, now ;)

Post #100 shall be a picture of Princess P lounging :)

2008-10-02T12:05:00.001-04:00

It is possible that my patients are retarded....

2008-09-29T19:11:00.004-04:00

I saw a total of 15 patients today in the office (on top of the 33 hospital patients) and I am sure that half of them were suffering from varying degrees of mental retardation....

1. If you have qualified for oxygen and you do not wear it when you exhert yourself or when it is hot and humid out- YOU WILL BE SHORT OF BREATH (and I do not have a magic wand to make you better).

2. If the instruction for your medicine state take four pills each day- I cannot understand how that translates into taking all 36 pills at one time.

3. If you weigh 350 pounds and get short of breath climbing the stairs -chances are you are deconditioned and if you lost weight you would breathe better. No amount of medication is going to make it better.

Seriously, this is the fun I had today. And the doctors just laughed and laughed....

HE HE

2008-09-13T14:34:00.002-04:00

Lest we should ever forget...

2008-09-11T15:38:00.003-04:00

Every one remembers that awful day. I read the posts and continue to cry and it is 7 years later.

I thought I would take a different spin and remember one victim, in particular.

Father Mychal Judge.

At the age of 15, Judge began the formation process to enter the Franciscan community. Upon entering the Order of Friars Minor, he took the religious name of Michael. (He later changed the spelling to Mychal.) In 1957, he graduated from St. Bonaventure University, the Franciscan university near Olean, New York. In 1961, he was ordained a priest and assigned to service at St. Joseph's RC Church in East Rutherford and Sacred Heart in Rochelle Park, both in New Jersey. He then served as assistant to the president at Siena College in Loudonville, New York. Judge was later named pastor of St. Joseph's Church in West Milford, New Jersey before being appointed Chaplain of the Fire Department of New York in 1992.

Upon hearing the news that the World Trade Center had been hit by hijacked jetliners, Judge rushed to the site. He was met by the Mayor of New York, Rudolph Giuliani, who asked Judge to pray for the city and its victims. Judge then rushed to those lying on the streets to administer last rites. Judge then entered the lobby of the World Trade Center north tower, where an emergency services command post was organized. The south tower collapsed and debris filled the north tower lobby, killing many inside, including Judge.

Five individuals took Judge outside in their arms. Upon entering the outside courtyard, they propped his body in a chair they found to carry him down the outside steps. It was then that Reuters photographer Shannon Stapleton snapped one of the most famous images of the attack, of a police officer, two firefighters and an OEM responder carrying out their fallen spiritual leader.

Father Judge's body bag was labeled "Victim 0001," recognized as the first official victim of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Former President Bill Clinton was among the 3,000 people who attended his funeral, held on September 15 at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Manhattan.

My new name is Gimpy...

2008-09-03T14:04:00.002-04:00

We have a varing degree of Respiratory therapists in our office. They range from smart to incredibly stupid, from no personality to too much personality, and from turtle like work speeds to Speed racer. Amy is very sweet, middle of the road intelligence, but she is a flippin' turtle. Remember the turtle that took 20 pages to cross the road in The Grapes of Wrath? That is Amy...

So yesterday, Amy had the doctors and I running 45 minutes behind (this is bad, people- like patients waiting 45 minutes to be checked in and another 45 minutes to be seen, bad). We were not happy but we were coping the best way we could. In order to slow her even more, I made the decision to show my patient how to use the inhaler and walked to the med closet to get the demonstrator. Our office is carpeted, except the bathroom and the med closets. As my cute little heels hit the tile, my heel slipped and I turned my foot completely on its side. And then, I hit the floor. Dee heard the crash, came to help, and found me dry heaving in the closet. This damn ankle is the same one that, a year ago, I tore the ligaments in. I am pretty sure that I did it again.

Today the ankle is still swollen, bruised, and throbbing. To say that it marches to the beat of its own drummer would be an understatement. I am limping my way around in my trusty Asics and hoping it heals quickly. I keep getting pages from Dr L calling me Hop along... I wonder how he would feel if Hop along took some time off??

Wednesday vignet

2008-08-20T17:44:00.003-04:00

I was in my office performing a patient interview and obtaining necessary bloodwork when Dr GSW walked in. Clearly flustered, I could not ignore him.

"Greg is there something wrong?"

"This damn thing keeps blinking at me. Look blink, blink, blink." (this thing is his pulse oximeter- a machine that measures the percentage of oxygen in the patients blood).

I looked at it and had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing. IT NEEDED BATTERIES PEOPLE! (The man is helpless...)

I replaced the batteries (because it was faster than trying to get him to do it) and returned to my patient. Her response: "Is he special ?" I had no answer for her.

Overheard on the phone... (aka- how delusional one becomes while watching the Olympics)

2008-08-19T21:09:00.005-04:00

While watching men's springboard diving....

Me: These guys are cut out of flippin' marble.

Jenn: mmmhmm

Me: Seriously, they are amazing.

Jenn: I know.

Me: I could do that.

Jenn: Ok, now you're just lying.

Me: No really, I could do that.

Jenn: Idiot, you are afraid of heights!

Me (snarkily): Minor technicality.

The End of an Era

2008-08-18T15:34:00.002-04:00

Since June 1997, I have been an ICU nurse. I have always worked at the bedside caring for the patients and their families.

Four years ago, the Pulmonologists approached me about working for them on the weekends. I would presee the hospital patients for them, write the physicians progress note, write orders for medicines and tests, and be a liason between the patient and the physicians. I still worked full time at the bedside.

Two years ago, these same physicians approached me about working part time for them doing the same job but during the week. I accepted and went to part time at the bedside.

A year ago, I was offered full time with the practice and went to casual perdiem at the bedside, working one weekend a month.

Today, the hospital called to inform me that the perdiem requirements would be changing and they would be requiring dayshifts during the week as well as weekends. That is a committment I am unable to make.

Today, I resigned from the hospital and will no longer be considered a bedside nurse. I am not sure how I feel about this but it is a done deal...

Trapped in PA

2008-08-16T19:14:00.003-04:00

So here I am trapped in PA because of my weekend call committment for the practice. It is 81 degrees outside, no humidity, and not a cloud in the sky. I would much rather be at the beach. Instead, I am trapped here in my apartment, tied to the phone and ready to return to the hospital at a drop of a hat.

So, this is what Piglet and I have planned for the rest of the day...

Wordless Wednesday (well, somewhat)

2008-08-13T12:11:00.003-04:00

This is one of my favorite pictures of Piglet. She is so completely vulnerable and HAPPY. It is the picture that I have framed of her in my office. I came down from the hopsital this afternoon and it was gone. I went out to the desk and there is the pic sitting in front of Dee, our phenomenal secretary.

"I am having a very bad day and this picture makes me smile".

Ok, then...

The Saga of the Lost Book

2008-08-11T13:28:00.002-04:00

For those of you who read my blog and my sisters' blogs, you will know that we all are avid readers and come from a family of the same. Last night, my mother appeared and asked me if I knew where her book was. She is reading Loving Frank and is almost done and managed to misplace the book. She was beside herself. She knew she had had it in the morning but here it was 12 hours later and no book to be found.

A search ensued. We called Mary Beth and Helen, they didn't know where the book was. We turned the house upside down and still no book. She had been out on the porch in the morning- which did not bode well as it was pouring rain and had been for 5 hours. I did a perfunctory look but did not see the book while she looked in her room, bathroom, and the attic. Still no book. I decided to do a more thourough look of the porch and stepped out onto what was now an oil slick. With the first step, I had done a split (I have never been able to do a split) and wrenched my left hip, knee, and ankle. Ever so ladylike, I cursed the heavens and burst into tears which brought my mother running. After I was standing again we looked over the porch and still no book. As I was walking back into the house, I HIT THE SLICK SPOT AGAIN and once again found myself in a split...

After limping back into the house we decided the book had to be upstairs even though she had turned her room upside down. I headed up the stairs, paid homage to the cat gaurding the door, and heard my mother behind me say - "there it is". The damn book was right inside the door covered by a pillow. She had stopped behind me as I said hello to Henrietta and caught a glimpse of the book because she was at the right angle. I don't know that we ever would have found it had we not gone back up. She felt horrible that I had now fallen twice and the book had been under her nose but I completely understood. Last year, I had left my book on the mantle and had made it just off the island before I remembered. She drove the book to me so that I did not have to backtrack, about an hour roundtrip.... Paybacks are a bitch, aren't they?

Neighbor Update...

2008-08-10T19:07:00.002-04:00

The rats carried on until 3 am, on and off. I planned all sorts of evil revenge... But tonight, I rejoice- it is raining and cold- not the type of night to be gallavanting on an outdoor porch until the wee hours of the morning. This is good as I will be leaving for work at the brisk hour of 5:30am. If the shenanigans begin, I am afraid that I may need to lodge a formal noise complaint. Way to friends, huh?

Crabby and Tired- not a good combination

2008-08-10T00:15:00.003-04:00

I am at the shore for the weekend at my parents house. Like many of the shore communities, Long Beach Island was not built with large pieces of property. Although my parents house and the one next door do have nice pieces of land, noise travels and there is not a large amount of space between the two houses. For close to 40 years, the house next door was owned by a quiet, albeit stuck up and rude, family. They would spray their yard with pesticide wearing full body armour and tell us in the adjoining yard that it was not harmful. But you rarely heard them or saw them after dark. We are a quiet group, with the exception of the animals and do our best to respect those around us knowing that noise travels as it does. The couple sold the house last year and I am fairly sure that it is a rental, now. At the moment it is 1230 am and the idiots next door are carrying on on the porch outside my bedroom. We do not have airconditioning here (it really is not needed with the ocean breezes) and my windows are wide open.

Both last night and tonight, I headed to bed at 1030pm and both nights I have been woken up by the monsters on the outside porch. I know they are on vacation but seriously 1230am seems a little inconsiderate to be screaming outside. Last night, there were long discussions about role models for teenage girls and Lindsay Lohan and, her father, Micheal Lohan. By that point, they were tapping their 5th bottle of wine. Tonight, we are discussing (at the top of their lungs) John McCain's wife in a leather thong. I am quite possibly beyond help here. If it carries on much longer, I might be tempted to march myself over to the house (in my pajamas) and request that they shut the hell up. And to make matters worse, they have stirred up my parents dogs who are now barking their heads off above me.

I cannot believe that I am going to say this, but I cannot wait for summer to be over. No more rude renters next door just back to our nice quiet corner of the island....

Wordless Wednesday

2008-08-06T19:11:00.002-04:00

How is that for a sexy beast... (the cat, people- not my legs!)

Tired. Oh so Tired...

2008-08-01T14:48:00.002-04:00

I slept last night in an armchair next to Danny's bed. He was comfortable, thanks to the amazing efforts the bedside nurses. They came and turned him every 2 hours, making sure his sheets were smooth and dry. They rubbed his back, they moistened his mouth, and I held his hand. His step mother arrived at 7 am; just in time for me to grab a shower in the OR and start work. She cried when she realized he had never been left alone and could not even begin to thank me for sitting with him. "I was so worried that he would be scared and alone".

Today he will be transferred back to the group home where he has lived for the majority of his adult life. There are nurses there that have taken care of him for 30+ years. They should be the ones who are with him at the end. Hospice will come in and make sure he is comfortable and the home has made arrangements so that his step mother can stay until he dies. He is 61, she is 84...

As an aside, this is not the same Down's Syndrome patient who cried when he had to miss Halloween. That is Tommy, who at his last appointment was doing well.

What a difference a week makes....

2008-07-31T13:53:00.003-04:00

Last week, I was posting about the lighthearted mood in the office with Dr G on vacation. Dr L and I joked our way through a very busy, stressful 2 weeks. The office staff was lighthearted and giggling was often heard.

This week, Dr L is on vacation and it is just Dr G and me. Dr G seems to have left his sense of humor in Martha's Vineyard. There is no joking going on. Instead, I am hearing rumbles of mutiny- Can't you hear them (mutiny, mutiny, mutiny). Seriously, this man did not even crack a smile when he handed me his company credit card to but Dr K her new office furniture and I asked if he would mind a detour to Tiffany & Co. Nothing. It fell flat. Dr L would have made suggestions. Part of my mood change is the end of an insane month with only one MD, rather than 3. I am feeling the effects of the extra workload and long hours. It is almost friday, it is almost friday, it is almost friday, it is almost friday damnit!

The day was not helped by the fact that I spent all night talking to the nursing staff about one of our patients. He came from the group home with a severe pneumonia, he has not been able to eat without aspirating food into his lungs for a year, his mental status has progressed to nonverbal - BUT he is one of our Down's Syndrome patients... Those of you who have ever come in contact with these individuals know that they are the most loving, innocent of individuals. It breaks everyone's heart that Danny will not get better. Trust me, we all cried this morning when I talked to his power of attorney and she made him a Do Not Rescusitate and asked that we make him comfortable with morphine. "I cannot bear the thought of him suffering", she said. Neither can I. And so, my blogger friends, I am on my way to check on him and to make sure that he is not alone. I may be spending the night here- all his family is in California and will likely not make it here before he dies. He shouldn't be alone...

Perfect weekend

2008-07-28T18:54:00.003-04:00

2 books read +
2.5 days spent with family +
1 Completely Incredible, Awesome, Jaw Dropping Bruce Springsteen Concert = 1 perfect weekend...

Read WATER FOR ELEPHANTS by Sara Gruen. I read it in one day and want to start it all over again. I will say no more because I don't want to spoil it for anyone. It is now one of my favorite books. I had no idea what the book was about and fell completely under its spell. Enjoy!

Have you ever

2008-07-21T21:33:00.002-04:00

Found yourself singing along with the fruit of the loom commercial? You know the one, "Daddy was the apple of my eye" and been caught by the friend you were on the phone with at the time....

Me either

We're having a heat wave.....

2008-07-20T19:26:00.003-04:00

It is 100 degrees outside and 1oo percent humidity and looks like it will last through the week. Thank God for air conditioning!!

Yesterday, my friend Dee, her daughter Michelle, Michelle's sister in law, and I went to the Kenny Chesney concert. Kenny Chesney concerts are all day affairs with several acts, starting at 3:30 in the afternoon and running until after midnight. Yesterday's concert was outside at Lincoln Financial Field. I think I lost 11 pounds of water weight from perspiration....

The concert was awesome. For you country music fans, I have a question. What act does not belong here: Gary Allan, Leigh Ann Rimes, Sammy Hagar, Keith Urban, or Kenny Chesney?
Every one was incredible with the exception of Sammy Hagar. A little past his prime, he lost the audience and most of the seats were empty during that portion of the show. The kicker of the day was when the stadium ran out of water. SERIOUSLY EAGLES CORPORATION, 100% HUMIDITY AND 100 DEGREES OUTSIDE AND YOU RUN OUT OF WATER! POOR PLANNING PEOPLE, POOR PLANNING. All in all, though, a great time. I recommend the concert to anyone who gets the chance to go- you will have an awesome time.

Office Shenanigans

2008-07-18T21:57:00.004-04:00

Dr W is away for 2 weeks which leaves Dr L and me the only full time peeps behind. It also lends itself to a very laid back environment. When I was hired, Dr W worried that Dr L and I were entirely too similar in personality and sense of humor and he would be outnumbered. It is times like these that I realize how right he was.

Yesterday, in the hospital:

Me: why is it that every chart I pick up is falling apart? Why can people not put them back together? Did you know that the human head weighs 8 pounds? (Ok I did not say that but I do have a habit of editoralizing my day as go along but so does Dr L.)

Dr L: Do you realize you that you are a walking commentary?

Me: Uh, Hello Kettle, It is the Pot calling. You're black.

Dr L: Any other comments from the peanut gallery?

Me: Sure. How would you like to spend the rest of your life with my stethescope as part of your cranium?

Dr L: What would my wife say when I got home?

Me: Nice accessory, what did you do to make Amanda that mad?

Insert maniacal laughter from both of us here and strange looks from the nursing staff....

The new doctor started this week. When Dee showed her the office she would be sharing with Dr R, she asked if she could paint it pink. (Dr R would HATE that.) I think I LOVE the new doctor :)

Mouse 1 Piglet 0

2008-07-18T21:45:00.003-04:00

The great mouse roundup continues here at Chez Amanda. So far, I have only found the evidence of said mouse and seen nothing more. The first night after finding his mess, Princess P sat in wait, staring at the pantry door. Since then, she has kept her vigil from the bed. I am hoping that this means the mouse has left us to move on to less feline occuppied house and not that she simply has given up the hunt.

I HATE....

2008-07-14T19:19:00.003-04:00

That's right bloggers, Mice. Princess Piglet, the great mouser (she has 1 to her credit), went to summer camp at the beach for the last 9 days. Apparantly her absence was noted by the vermin in the area. When I went into the pantry this afternoon, I noticed some droppings and something had eaten its way through a bag of bread mix. After I finished screaming, cleaning up the mess, and putting out traps- it occurred to me that I have not seen hide nor hair of mouse since Princess P came to live with me, 3 years ago. The landlord has had a lot of cosmetic work done to the house and there is a lot of construction going on in the area. Clearly the saying is true- "When the Cat's away, the mice will play".

Beware mice, the great mouser is back in residence....

It is not nice to laugh at your patient's expense...

2008-07-10T11:43:00.004-04:00

I started off the morning with a doozy of a consult. As specialists in pulmonary medicine and critical care, our practice is consulted on a large majority of the patients in the hospital. Some of these consults are genuinely needed others are more mindless. This one was a DOOZY.

I walked in the room and was told by the patient (before I even introduced myself): "I do not have Munchausen's Syndrome". (For those of you unfamiliar with the disease, the patient makes themselves ill for attention...). Right off the bat, I am thinking that this is going to be, at the very least, amusing. We continued with the routine questions about shortness of breath, cough, fevers, chills, chest pain- and then got to the social aspect of her life. I asked her what she did for a living (I had read the chart and knew she was disabled and had been living in a motel because her mother had kicked her out of the house). She told me she was a clinical psychologist (REALLY!). This woman has had more admissions to psych units than I can count on two hands but I played along.

What type of patients did you treat?
Famous people.
Really, hmmm.
I have counseled every age- children, adolescent, adults, couples, inpatients, inmates...
That is a wide range, you must have gotten many degrees.
Duhhhh. I also counseled the OJ Simpson jurors but that burned me out and I had to leave the state of California. Actually the state asked me to leave for my own health.
Mmmmhmmm.
I also was on staff at General Hospital.
What hospital?
General Hospital- I was good friends with the Quatermaines.

Ladies and Gents I had to leave the room to stop shaking I was laughing so hard. The sad thing is she was dead serious....

Sleep is overrated...

2008-07-08T14:54:00.002-04:00

My mother has been plagued by her right arm for 2 weeks now. It started with pain and numbness and then, July 3rd, she woke up with it swollen 3x's its normal size. The swelling prompted a phone call to me and she finally agreed to see the family doctor and do what he recommended...

Early monday morning (6am), my mother and I left the shore to head to North Jersey to appear at the doctor's office and hope that he would see her. He did, but I must say that I really disliked the man. Disliked in the way that made my skin crawl. There are several reasons (in no particular order):

1. He walked into the exam room and addressed a woman many years his senior by her first name. Etiquette (medical in this setting) requires that you call the individual by Mrs So and So and ask permission to call them by their first name.

2. More time was spent talking about his perfect 4 children than talking about the reason why we were there to see him.

3. He essentially poo poo'd my mothers concerns and spent no time explaining why he wanted her to take a short course of steroids or why he wanted her to see a neurologist.

4. He is increadibly fake and makes my skin crawl....

I have worked with a large number of doctors in the past 11 years and have come across some real sleaze balls. I realize that I am fortunate to work with the physicians I do that are incredibly dedicated and genuine with their patients. This man, however qualified he may be, is an a**. I am hoping that the neurologist is much more indepth and genuine.

eta- Have just spoken to my mother, she liked the neurologist (he's a met fan) and will have the tests he ordered in two weeks. Hopefully more answers for her then...

Office Update

2008-07-02T21:05:00.000-04:00

Comments have been made. Dr LR is very unhappy about having to share an office with the poor new doctor. She starts in 2 weeks and Dr LR is acting like a petulant child. It was suggested that one of the partners share an office. Dr LR is not a partner... So apparently, it would be appropriate for one of the full time senior physicians to share an office but not appropriate for her to share with the doctor who will never be there when LR is.

Things that make you go, Hmmmmmmmmmm. Dr LR and Calvin apparently share the same mindset.

I, of course, am LOVING all of this :)

Rudeness!!!!

2008-07-01T20:56:00.000-04:00

If someone asks you to do something and you decide that you would rather do something else with another friend, does not Emily Post suggest that you let the person who extended the original invitation know????

Of course, Emily does...

Home Again, Jiggity, Jig

2008-06-29T15:14:00.000-04:00

I have been away at a conference since thursday. A fellow advanced practice nurse, from the cardiology practice, and I went to National Harbor, Maryland for the conference and had a wonderful 2 days of great classes. While there, we stayed just down the street from the conference at the Westin with a room that looked out on the potomac. Classes started at 7am and finished at 6pm equalling long exhausting days but we still managed to have fun.

On friday night, we drove to brother #2's restaurant, the Dogwood Tavern, where it was nice to show off my outgoing successful brother. He, of course, took care of the bill for our food and only charged us for drinks. The waitress made out very well - I tipped her what we would have paid... (It has to be good politics to keep the manager's employees happy!)

While at the conference, I made the practice buy me a toy.

It is a palm T/X and has all the medical programs preloaded onto it. I had talked to the docs about getting me a palm treo phone but they balked at paying part of the monthly fee and I wasn't sure I wanted the phone portion. One of the vendors had this and the treo. I compared and found that for the same price of the phone, I could get this with more features and no monthly fee for a cellular internet. This has wifi capability and is awesome. I called the office prior to purchase, talked to a Dr who is realizing how much he misses me when I am gone, wound up with a credit card number, and WALA :)

Meanwhile, I am glad to be home. Gloria is very nice but silence is a foreign word to her. For 3 hours on the ride home she barely took a breath.... I got into my car and thought how lucky I am to have travelled with people and family who are comfortable with quiet times. I walked into the house to a neglected cat, who is asleep next to me. In catching up with all my blogger friends, I found that DragonFly had awarded me with this:

I will share it with Kyla over at The Journey, who is back in nursing school and has some lovely children and Sarah over at Slouching Past 40, who has an eye injury....

For The Time Being....

2008-06-24T15:53:00.001-04:00

I get to keep my office. The new Doctor will have to share with Dr LR....
Until the next battle, when the office manager decides to use my office for something else and we go nose to nose, again...

In honor of Flag Day (heard whild driving into work today...)

2008-06-14T17:42:00.000-04:00

"I Am Your Flag''

Traditionalists say I was born of a woman's hand -- fashioned from bits of colored cloth by a seamstress in a small house in Philadelphia, a year after the new country was born.

Historians are less certain of my origin. Yet, no one doubts my existence. I was created out of necessity to serve as the emblem of a people whose experiment in nationhood was as unique as the arrangement of my stars and stripes.

I have proved my adaptability to change. I've accommodated growth. I've stood up to time and troubles. I fluttered in the Fall air with General Washington and his loyal French allies at Yorktown. My fabric was shredded by cannonballs from British frigates in the War of 1812. I was carried in triumph by Andy Jackson at New Orleans. The British could see me clearly in the mists of "dawn's early light," waving from the standards at Fort McHenry.

I've witnessed turmoil and bitterness, even lost some of my glory in mid-century in a war between brothers, but I was restored as a nation's emblem at Appomattox.

I traveled West with the new frontier. I flew from the headlamps of the Iron Horse in Utah. I was with the prospectors at Sutter's Mill, with the cavalry against cattle rustlers, with the Rough Riders at San Juan Hill.

I crossed the Marne with the doughboys anxious to make the world safe for democracy. I was with brave GIs storming the beaches at Normandy. I was raised over a shell-pocked hilltop at Iwo Jima and I stood by the grim-faced negotiators at Panmunjom. I was on that last helicopter from Saigon and with the men and women of Operation Desert Storm.

I have been around in victory and defeat. I've seen pleasure and pain. I was raised over the rubble of the World Trade Center and at the Pentagon. I've been folded smartly by soldiers and handed to weeping widows. I've covered the coffins of those who've served country and community.

I also decorate bandstands and concert halls. I am saluted in parades, in schools and at ball parks.

I am part of political campaigns, high holidays and ice cream socials. I fly from skyscrapers and bungalows. I've been to the moon and the ocean floor.

I am everywhere my people are. I am saluted and, occasionally, scorned. I have been held with pride and I have been ridiculed, because I am everything my people are: proud, angry, happy, sad, vengeful, argumentative, ambitious, indifferent.

I was created to serve a people in struggle and a government in change. There are now more stars in my blue field than there were in the beginning and, if need be, there's room for more.
But, those red and white stripes remain as they've always remained: clearly visible through the struggle -- the symbol of the "land of the free and the home of the brave."

I am your past. I am your future. I am your flag.

by Bob Nelson

Just When You Think You Are Having a Bad Day!

2008-06-13T19:09:00.001-04:00

Just when you think you are having a bad day, you meet someone like Laura. Laura is a 28 year old, who was diagnosed with metastatic non small cell lung cancer in January. It all started as a bad cold that progressed to pneumonia. When the pneumonia did not clear up with antibiotics, her family doctor ordered a chest cat scan that revealed a large tumor in the right lung. She was taken immediately to surgery and found to have metastases to her lymphnodes, bone, and kidneys. She has never smoked, had rare second hand smoke exposure, no exposure to any known carcinogens, and no family history. It is a case you rarely see nor want to.

Laura started chemotherapy and radiation right away but the cancer was already advanced (stage IV) when diagnosed that it had little effect. Her oncologist had followed serial cat scans to evaluate progression of the disease and last week noticed some fluid around the heart. It was decided that she would come in this past wednesday for surgery to drain the fluid but on tuesday, she became acutely short of breath and was rushed to the emergency room and ultimately surgery one day early. Surgery was sucessful but her shortness of breath remained. I was consulted to see her for a possible pneumonia and what we found was that the cancer had narrowed her airway and nothing more could be done. A decision was made to discharge her to her childhood home with hospice.

This morning I recieved a page asking me to see Laura immediately. She had become increasingly short of breath overnight, was now on high levels of oxygen, recieving morphine with little relief of her distress, and was experiencing quite a bit of pain. We met with Laura, her family, and our palliative care nurse- a final decision was to provide morphine and allow the inevitable to happen at the hopsital with her family at the bedside. As I walked out of the room, she asked if she could see her cats. My heart broke because if I were in her position, I would want the same thing. We arranged for her husband to bring the cats to my office and then we brought them up the back way to her room. They simply curled up on her bed at her side. She died at 3:53 this afternoon with her family and cats by her side.

Please keep Laura and her family in your prayers. Her family, understandably so, is devastated.

Transformers (the movie)

2008-06-11T19:44:00.000-04:00

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Big Bad, Frustrating Week from Hell....

2008-06-11T19:04:00.000-04:00

This has not been a great week.
And it is only wednesday.
It has to get better.

Dr W (GSW) was long call this past weekend. Long call involves covering 2 hospitals during the evening and night of friday, saturday, and sunday. It also involves covering Lankenau Hospital during the weekend days. Lankenau is a city hospital. Paoli is a busy hospital but on a smaller scale. GSW is not one for new experiences and change. He hates covering Lankenau and begins to stress about his weekends of long call, at least, 5 days prior to the event. We spent last week with GSW in such a funk that I almost purchased M1dol for him.... He now has been working 10 days without a day off. All work and no play makes Greggy a crabby boy... I started this week and realized that this was the week in which if I said black, GSW would say white. Day 3 and I am offering electric shock therapy to the man!!

Every morning, I have entered my office to find a significant pile of patient issues that need my attention prior to starting seeing my patients in the hospital. Yesterday, GSW inquired if I thought I might be able to make it up to the hospital on time because it slows him down (BITCHY!!). I would like to mention that I smiled and mentioned that the delay was caused by what he had left for me to do... "Regardless, I need you in the hospital on time. You simply need to come in earlier". Alright, no problem- I am already working 48 hrs a week but I can add a couple more hours, no problem! (Asshole).

Finally, Donna (the woman who plays at Office Manager 2 days a week) has decided that she would like to use my computer and office in the mornings when I am in the hospital. This really is not an option. These girls have destroyed every computer in the office, except mine and the doctors, with viruses from their web surfing. I refused and managed to keep my cool when I explained that my office was off limits and that simply because I was an RN did not mean that she had free reign. My office had the same limitations as the doctors. She argued and I won. However, when I mentioned this whole exchange to Dr L (HTL), I was suprised to learn that GSW is considering giving my office to the new doctor joining our practice in July. I have yet to hear this from him. The discussion with HTL revealed that the new doc will be working part time and splitting days with Dr R (LR). So the logical explanation would be to share an office with LR. Apparantly, it would seem that LR is too much of a slob to share an office with and Donna suggested that, rather than suggesting that LR clean up her act, I give up my office. Another option would be that the new doctors office be the conference room that we never use. It has a door, it can connected to the hospital system, and it is a nice huge room!

Now, I should explain that my office is a cubby hole that has no door due to the fire code and cannot get wired to the hospital system. It would not work as a doctor's office as it has no privacy. I know this and Donna knows this. Donna, however, is GSW's pet and has worked with him for the past 20 years. She can do nothing wrong in his eyes. The office was part of the job offer and is one of the few perks I have. I work long hours, I have not had a raise since I started because in December they started paying for my benefits, and the payroll police constantly harass me about my hours. (They don't like to pay overtime....) Donna dislikes that I am beyond her reach in the office. I am an extension of the MD's and I override her. She is choosing to poke the rabid monkey in the cage (me) and is doing a really good job.

I have to talk to GSW abd HTL about my office but GSW is clearly menstruating and beyond being rational. In the meantime, I may kill Donna....

Laughed until I cried....

2008-06-01T10:37:00.000-04:00

This is an actual letter from an Austin Texas woman sent to American company Proctor and Gamble regarding their feminine products. She really gets rolling after the first paragraph. It's PC Magazine's 2007 editors' choice for best webmail-award-winning letter.

Dear Mr. Thatcher,

I have been a loyal user of your 'Always' maxi pads for over 20 years and I appreciate many of their features. Why, without the Leak Guard Core or Dri-Weave absorbency, I'd probably never go horseback riding or salsa dancing, and I'd certainly steer clear of running up and down the beach in tight, white shorts. But my favorite feature has to be your revolutionary Flexi-Wings. Kudos on being the only company smart enough to realize how crucial it is that maxi pads be aerodynamic. I can't tel l you how safe and secure I feel each month knowing there's a little F-16 in my pants.

Have you ever had a menstrual period, Mr. Thatcher? I'm guessing you haven't. Well, my time of the month is starting right now. As I type, I can already feel hormonal forces violently surging through my body. Just a few minutes from now, my body will adjust and I'll be transformed into what my husband likes to call 'an inbred hillbilly with knife skills.' Isn't the human body amazing?

As Brand Manager in the Feminine-Hygiene Division, you've no doubt seen quite a bit of research on what exactly happens during your customer's monthly visits from 'Aunt Flo'. Therefore, you must know about the bloating, puffiness, and cramping we endure, and about our intense mood swings, crying jags, and out-of-control behavior. You surely realize it's a tough time for most women.The point is, sir, you of all people must realize that America is just crawling with homicidal maniacs in Capri pan ts... Which brings me to the reason for my letter. Last month, while in the throes of cramping so painful I wanted to reach inside my body and yank out my uterus, I opened an Always maxi-pad, and there, printed on the adhesive backing, were these words:'Have a Happy Period.'Are you f------ kidding me? What I mean is, does any part of your tiny middle-manager brain really think happiness - actual smiling, laughing happiness, is possible during a menstrual period? Did anything mentioned above sound the least bit pleasurable? Well, did it, James? FYI, unless you're some kind of sick S&M freak, there will never be anything 'happy'about a day in which you have to jack yourself up on Motrin and Kahlua and lock yourself in your house just so you don't march down to the local Walgreen's armed with a hunting rifle and a sketchy plan to end your life in a blaze of glory.

For the love of God, pull your head out, man! If you have to slap a moronic message on a maxi p ad, wouldn't it make more sense to say something that's actually pertinent, like 'Put down the Hammer' or 'Vehicular Manslaughter is Wrong',Sir, please inform your Accounting Department that, effective immediately, there will be an $8 drop in monthly profits, for I have chosen to take my maxi-pad business elsewhere. And though I will certainly miss your Flex-Wings, I will not for one minute miss your brand of condescending bullshit. And that's a promise I will keep. Always. .

Best,

Wendi Aarons Austin , TX

New Levels of Insanity

2008-05-29T14:41:00.000-04:00

I have jumped back into the pool and am submitting my application to the University of Pennsylvania's Nurse Practitioner Program. Aside from being Ivy League, it is one of the most expensive programs in the country. I am hoping that 1. I am accepted, and 2. I am the person scholarships are made for....

Wordless Wednesday

2008-05-28T14:35:00.001-04:00

I am with you, Mr Polar Bear. Some days it is almost too much of an effort to remain upright :) I am having that day. For the past week, I have seen every hour pass on the alarm clock...

Porch flowers

2008-05-25T11:19:00.000-04:00

Tuesday, my friend Anne and I went to Rice's Market to find flowers. Although the day was rainy and cold, we found many a great deal. For 100$, I was able to get two lovely huge barrels of flowers, three hanging baskets, and basil, rosemary, thyme, parsley and chive plants.

We started out at 6am and arrived as the vendors were unloading. We found many a more great deal... cheap knockoff coach sunglasses, mets flags, and hot pretzels.

Graduation pic

2008-05-23T15:04:00.000-04:00

These are the professional pics taken at the ceremony. I will point out that my hair looked lovely prior to having to put the damn hat on my head. I am not a big fan of the shots but they show me in the garb :)

My Plans for the Summer

2008-05-23T14:42:00.001-04:00