The Magic of an Ordinary Day

Just  a few tidbits from our life:

• Hannah went to her bff's birthday party on Saturday, at a local bowling alley.  She had no interest in bowling, but had a great time with her little friend.
• The garden is doing well.  The spinach, chard and squash have all sprouted and the transplants are great. 
• Dwayne and I went back to the gym yesterday.  It was pretty fun, and I was feeling all peppy when I left and thought "I'll just run home."  Just. about. died.   I guess I'll have to work up to that running stuff.
• Of course, I'm sore today.  Dwayne helped me with an upper body routine for yesterday and today my arms are fine but my chest and shoulders are pretty sore.  It's okay, though -- if I wasn't sore I didn't work hard enough.
• I've got a prescheduled flight tomorrow.  Las Vegas to Boston.  It's going to be a long day.  In fact we are flying to Vegas, back to Albuquerque to switch out pilots then on to Boston (since they can only have a 14 hour duty day) and we have to go bedside on both ends (rather than have them transported to our plane by ambulance).  The danger of having your pilots time out is being grounded for the mandatory 10 hour rest time, wherever you may be.  And heaven help me, wheels up is 5:30 a.m.
• We were saddened by yet another Medical helicopter crash.  Although I fly in a fixed wing aircraft, the losses have been grim this year for medical transport teams. 

I am the Medflight Texas Queen.  Not as in beauty pageant queen, like I think of when I put the words "Texas" and "queen" in the same sentence together.  As in if there's a flight to Texas, Donna's going to be on it.  Especially if I left the house with pretty hair.

I went to Dallas yesterday, transporting a pediatric patient who, sadly, at the age of 17 was rejecting her liver transplant. Dallas, surprisingly, wasn't the dog's breath, humid hellhole that it was last time I was there.  Of course, it was 10:00 at night. 

And in all fairness to Dallas, it isn't as bad a Houston.  And I am developing quite an appreciation for the sweet tea in the Dallas FBO.  Yes, the sweet tea is swaying my opinion of Dallas and giving me a more warm and fuzzy feeling towards Texas in general, since it is ubiquitous in Texas.

We picked our patient up in Las Vegas, during which time I called Aunt Joan and had a nice long phone conversation with her.  I don't know why I don't call her every week -- we always have a great conversation.  I feel like I have  known her my whole life.   

While we were in Vegas I was chatting with the program director there.  Medflight has bases in Albuquerque and Las Vegas and he is currently splitting his time between the two places.  He offered me a full time flight nurse position in Las Vegas.

My dream job.  Living in a place where we have family.  Dwayne being able to spend more time with his cousins, who he was practically raised with.  Joan and Cooney.  My heart paused for a second. 

Then I thought of everything we have here.  Our beautiful home, living in the mountains and it's wonderful climate, a job Dwayne loves, our friends and neighbors.  So many reasons why I love the life I have now.

So I turned him down.  I've just got too much here that I love to make a move. 

A new week

Well, I didn't do much blogging last week so it's time for that Monday morning  afternoon catch-up. 

Hannah is in summer program at her preschool.  Three hours a day, twice a week.  Her teacher is working on getting her to write her letters, since she can identify them all and can identify which letters start words.  She is so stubborn, though, and has to get things right the first time she tries them that she is refusing to try and write her letters. She'll hold her hand over my hand to form the letters but won't do them herself.  I try not to make it a big deal -- she'd really dig her heels in and get upset if I did that. 

We've also been participating in the Summer Reading program at out local Library.  I love the library.  I remember making our visits to the library as a child, checking out books and record albums.  My Mom used to check out The Boxcar Children books and read a chapter a night to us.  Being a good reader (and loving to read) is one of the most important tools my Mom gave me.  I hope to share that with Hannah.

Speaking of cooking, I checked out The Way to Cook by the late great Julia Child.  It's about 20 pounds in hardcover and is a great resource for classical cuisine.  I'm one of those freaks that read cookbooks like novels.

We have been getting our weekly boxes of produce at Los Poblanos and it has made a huge difference in how I am cooking, and the amount of fresh produce we are eating.  It's really great.  I feel like we are eating healthier -- not to mention  safer -- since starting with the organic produce. 

I certified in Pediatric Advanced Life Support this week.  I got called at 11:30 pm to do a flight to Houston and was halfway down the canyon when they called back because they had lost the bed. I ended up not flying this week, but I'm sure I will do some flights next week.

We finally put in our garden on Sunday.  Hey, is snowed here a few weeks ago. It was fleeting, but it was snow.  That's my excuse for being so late.  I just got big transplants. 

Dwayne has a beautiful Navajo rug collection, and this week put together a way of displaying them.  They really are beautiful and I am happy to have them somewhere where they can be admired, rather than sitting in our closet.

And here's Hannah, mowing the lawn and watering Kirby:

It's been hot here

and the birds are loving the water/birdbath I have out for them...

It's been a busy week here. 

Wednesday morning I was at the office at 6:15, breakfast burritos and doubleshots in hand for the crew.  I was totally excited to be going back to Montana.  I'm also very excited about the doubleshots.  In a plane without a bathroom, getting the maximum amount of caffeine in the smallest amount of liquid is paramount.  The pilots loved them, too.

The pickup in Phoenix went well, then we got to Kalispell, where it was 34 degrees and raining.  My partner had strict orders not to let me get a crew car and go down to Moose's -- we had to turn around and get back to Albuquerque for another transport.  He was authorized by the chief flight nurse to physically restrain me if necessary.  So we refueled, grabbed a sandwich and were back in the air about 30 minutes after turning over the patient. 

So here are my fabulous photos from Kalispell.  All taken from the plane as we were leaving.

The cloud ceiling was really low and you couldn't see the mountains.

See the snow?  They had a heavy snow advisory for the Kalispell area the night before we left, but it had turned to rain by the time we arrived.  On June 11th.  I forgot what the weather was like in that part of Montana.

I did get this nice shot of somewhere in Colorado on the way home:

So, despite my unhappiness at not being able to take a trip down memory lane at my employer's expense, I have to say I'm pretty happy to have a Lear jet as my office.  So I'll quit bitching about Kalispell.

Okay, other than that I worked in the PACU for two day shifts.  Only eight hour shifts, so they went pretty fast.  I like the PACU, really, and it's kind of a break from the flight nurse and critical care work I usually do.

I got out a little early and went to the Greenside Cafe here in Cedar Crest.  It is so nice to have great dining in a small town. 

The next two weeks I am doing six shifts at Medflight, and certifying in PALS (pediatric advanced life support) on Thursday.  I'm still looking for that "OB for dummies" class.  The thought of birthing babies in the air scares the crap out of me.