The Magic of an Ordinary Day

More snow. I'm done.

I woke up on Saturday and found this:

Pretty, yes, but like everyone else in the country...I'm done.  No more snow, please.  I'm ready for spring and lilac blossoms and green. 

I had my first (non-orientation) call shift yesterday for Med Flight.  I was able to go on a flight from Las Vegas (hi Joan!) to Columbus, Ohio.  It was a nice flight, the weather was cooperative and the moon was beautiful!  On the way to Vegas we flew over the Grand Canyon and it looked amazing with the snow.  I was able to snooze on the way back to Albuquerque, and have put together a small pack with some comfort items that makes the trip back (which is usually at night) much more comfortable: a neck pillow, iPod and some noise-reducing headphones.  I can then just stretch out and relax.  I know that some of these long-distance flights can take 12 or more hours to complete, but the time I am with the patient is maybe 3-4 hours.  The rest of the time I am relaxing, visiting with my fellow crew members, reading, whatever.  I can't believe what a great gig this is.  I love it!

The high point of my night, however, was that when I came home Dwayne was home from Tucson!  We has been gone the better part of the week, and I really missed him.  We are all going out for dinner tonight, and the only other plans for today are for a nap for everyone.  (Late night in + Hannah crawling in our bed early this morning = two tired parents.  I wouldn't give up those morning snuggles for anything, though).

Sad week

It's been kind of a sad week here at Casa Frijole.

My Uncle Paul died early Sunday morning after a long battle with lung disease.  He was my Grandfather's brother and I think of him as my last link with my Grandpa.  I hadn't seen Paul in several years but he looked just like my Grandpa, with his warm smile and twinkling eyes.  You just can't beat an Irishman for twinkling eyes, now can you?

Then on Tuesday Dwayne's Grandmother died.  Right after Thanksgiving they discovered a large inoperable tumor in her abdomen.  Thankfully she went fairly quickly and without a lot of pain.  She's just been hanging around these last years waiting to meet up with her husband who passed on years ago.  I didn't know Rosalee too well, but she was a sweet lady.  Dwayne headed to Tucson yesterday to be with his folks.

It snowed again last night. I am so ready for spring!  We also missed the eclipse because of cloud cover.  I guess we'll have to wait until 2010. 

New glasses

Hannah got her new glasses today.  She's getting used to them, and I think she looks so cute! 

Movie night

We have been trying to have movie night on Friday night at our house.  Between Dwayne working nights, me working nights sometimes and being gone on a flight whenever it's hard to plan anything. 

So last night I made a huge bowl of popcorn and we watched Ocean's Eleven.  I had never seen it before (and neither had Mom) and I have to say I really enjoyed it. And I loved the scene at the (private) airport because I had been there to pick up a patient last week!  That was cool.

We are supposed to be snowed in today, but so far there is just an inch or two on the ground so we'll see. 

Have a great weekend, everyone!!

Photo Friday

Life with Hannah

I thought I'd take a moment and talk about all the cute things Hannah is doing lately.  She is growing up so fast, and her mind is working all the time -- it's just delightful to watch!

Right now she is having a tea party with all her babies on the sun porch.  It has been warm enough this week to put the space heater on and let her play out there.  And, make no mistake, this is an "invitation only" party.  I popped my head in to see if she was okay and she said "Mama, can you please leave?"  This from the girl who wants to sleep with me all the time.

She has music, "tea" (water), balloons, place settings for all her babies and she is carrying on a very extensive conversation with them all.  It is so cute. She asked to eat her lunch out there with her babies so I thought...why not? 

Yesterday she came up to me and made a coughing sound while holding Woobie.  "Look!" she said "Now Woobie is sick, too!"  <Insert dramatic sigh and mad arm-waving here>"Now what am I going to do with TWO sick babies?!"  <shaking head>

She's such a drama queen.  The entertainment factor with having her around is great.

She's also into keeping all her babies in a cat carrier we got out for Mom's cat.  She wants to keep them "in the cage" and hauls this thing -- that is nearly as big as she is -- all around the house.  I've said it before, she has a promising future in the field of corrections. 

She's also counting down for her birthday.  Almost every day she asks when her birthday will be and that she wants "the Hannah sized house with the Hannah sized benches."  (There is a small wood playhouse we saw at Costco that she fell in love with.  It's actually in the back of Papa's truck, and I'm not sure we'll be able to wait until her birthday.)  At this point, her plan is to have mandarin oranges and cake and to eat it in her house.  It's so funny how she will talk about all these elaborate plans -- and in such detail!  It's so fun just to have a conversation with her. 

Oh, and the most priceless gem from the last few weeks?  She came into the bathroom right after I had taken a shower and said "Mama!  Look at that big butt you're growing!" 

I had to laugh.  It was just too funny!

Dr. Bob

We all took a trip to see Dr. Bob last week.

There is a fairly new Opthalmology practice just a couple of blocks from us so it was time for all of us to make a trip there. 

The first trip Hannah and myself went, since I needed a check-up and she had some vision issues we wanted to check out: looking too close at her work, and tilting her head when looking at the TV.  The first visit she wanted nothing to do with him and he couldn't complete her exam.  At the second visit (contact lens check for me, Lasik surgery evaluation for Dwayne) she was wonderful and cooperative and he got more done than he thought he would.  He is so good with her, and the whole staff was wonderful.  I can't remember the last time I went to a professional office where I was so impressed.

The great news is that she is totally in love with him now.  The bad news is that she'd better be since it appears she will be having a long and in-depth relationship with Dr. Bob.  Unfortunately, her right eye is very, very bad and she will be wearing glasses.  Her left eye has compensated so far, but her right eye isn't even trying to focus now -- the proverbial "lazy eye" that her Papa and Uncle Carl had.  He's hoping the glasses will correct as much as possible, but he doesn't really think he'll be able to get it to 20/20.  She's excited to get big girl glasses (just like Mama!!) and, of course, to see Dr Bob again. 

Oh, and in other not-so-great news, Dwayne isn't a candidate for Lasik and he needs further evaluation for glaucoma since his occular pressures were high. 

I feel mixed about the condition of Hannah's eyes.  On one hand, I have always hated having to wear corrective lenses and view the whole bad eyes thing as a tremendous pain in the ass.  I was hoping that, along with the fat genes, Hannah would skip the bad eye genes, too.  Of course, there are contact lenses and Lasik surgery and all those things that she will have available to her when and if she chooses them in the future.  It's not such a big deal, I guess. 

On the other hand, I can't wait for her to look through her glasses and really see the world for the first time.  Dwayne and I both want to be there to see the look on her face.  And I can't help but wonder -- had she spent her life in rural China...would she have ever been able to see clearly?  It's sad to think of her in that scenario. 

Oh--and there was even MORE good news.  I don't need bifocals.  And Dr. Bob has a bright, responsible 13-year old who just loves to babysit.  Life IS good.

I was able to get a flight in yesterday.

We picked up a patient in Phoenix, flew them to Kitchener, Ontario, flew to Detroit to clear customs then flew back to Albuquerque.  It was 14 hours all told (which is right where the pilots "time out" for their day--meaning they are not allowed to fly per FAA rules) but we only had the patient with us for about 5 hours.  So although it sounds like a long day--and it is--there are hours spent chatting, snoozing and listening to music. 

I really like this job.  There are some things to get used to -- long flights without bathrooms is one -- but flying in a lear jet is quite comfortable.  The seats are well spaced and comfortable, the pilots aren't walled off from you so you can learn a little bit about aviation.  When you arrive in a new city, a private aviation company has a hospitality area with coffee and snacks, nice bathrooms, a computer for the pilots to check the weather and log a flight plan and comfy furniture to lounge on.  We fuel up, de-ice (if needed) and can get a crew car to go out for dinner if there's time. 

Mostly I like getting out of the hospital, doing something different, meeting new people and challenging myself to learn something new.  I really hope I can get enough flights in to make this my full time, part time job.

Greetings from the Cedar Crest Rehab Center

I haven't updated in awhile, because I've been busy running a convalescent home.  Last Monday my Mom was to the point of not being able to walk on her right knee.  She has bone on bone arthritis in both her knees and gets injections in them and all, but had put off any arthroscopic work that needed to be done when she was in Milwaukee.  Then she fell chasing after her cat on the way here.  So her knee is sore in a completely different way than her usual arthritis pain. 

We we go to the urgent care.  She leaves with a knee brace, a script for pain medicine and the advice to stay off her feet and find a primary physician here in town. 

Then on Wednesday night at work Dwayne's foot starts hurting.  On Thursday afternoon he wakes up and can not even put weight on it.  Excruciating pain.  Makes an appointment for Friday for HIS doctor, and goes to the couch/bed to stay off of it, with a jumbo bottle of Motrin at his side. 

Well,  it turns out he has some sort of overuse injury, or metatarsalgia.  They took an Xray just to be sure, but are pretty sure of the diagnosis considering he's been hitting the gym pretty hard, and has lost 11 pounds since the new year.  He needs to stay off of it, keep it elevated, take Motrin around the clock and get better shoes for when he works out.  (I wish he had gotten crutches because he has to be absolutely non-weight bearing it hurts so much.) 

Well, that leaves me and Hannah as the only people who can use their legs around here.  Running for things, cooking, dishes, errands...it's all me.  Which doesn't seem like a big deal until you do it.  I even split wood on Saturday because I wanted a fire (and there wasn't anyone else who could do it).

Mom is back on her feet for an hour at a time, and I'm driving her to see her brand new Albuquerque version of her primary care physician this afternoon.  She is actually up for getting a little work done on her knee while she's here since we're right here to take care of her.  I just want her to feel better.

Dwayne's a bit better with his foot and was able to stand for about 30 minutes and load the dishwasher for me yesterday, but of course his foot was throbbing when he was done.  Silly man, he wanted to go to work tonight at which point I pointed out that he couldn't tolerate 30 minutes of standing much less the walk from the parking lot to the CCU. I'm just hoping he's strong enough to fold some laundry today...that would be sweet.