The Magic of an Ordinary Day

randomness

Some assorted randomness:

• Dwayne went on his first flight this week and was just thrilled.  He got home late, told me he had an awesome time and that he needed a GPS.  Oh no, I thought.  He had been with the techno crew, Steve and Dominic.
• I'm getting some cheap thrills (cheap as in frugal) from Pandora, where you can listen to custom radio programming from your computer.  I use it at work and it's awesome -- you put in a song or artist you like and can exclude those you don't like.   I am also digging the Paperback Swap online book club where you swap your gently used paperback (or hardcover or audio) books. I've cleaned out my bookshelf and have gotten a bunch I've been wanting to get.

• I'm on day two of a migraine.  It's currently down to a low roar but I've decided to try acupuncture next.  Why not?  I'm hoping it will behave itself today ... I had to come home from work early yesterday and crash out. 

• I've decided I'm not completely loving all the new features of the "new revamped" typepad.  Like not being able to format things the way I want to.  Notice the unexplained break in the text above us?  I've just spent five minutes trying to get it to be formatted like the rest of the post, no breaks, bulleted... with no luck.  I'm not wasting any more time on it.  Case in point.

• I'm feeling like less of  a dumb ass at work as the weeks roll by.  

• It's the end of January, so of course I'm ready for spring now.

• I'm really enjoying having Mom here this winter. I've got the old Mom back, and it's wonderful.

• We've decided to take Mom to Las Vegas at the end of March for a little family vacation.  The weather will be nice by then, and she hasn't been there for awhile.  Besides, she just has to meet Aunt Joan!  

• The first sip of coffee in the morning is one of the finest things in life.  And it isn't diminished as time goes by.  Every morning it is the same wonderfulness!

• Have a great day, everyone! 

More from the aquarium

Here's some more photos from our little trip to the aquarium:

 

this guy has this great camouflage thing going on...

 

This one turned out a bit blurry, sorry.  Only the ugly ones swam slow.

 

Hannah was digging it:

The rays were cool/scary:

 

You could see the tanks from underwater:

 

and you walked under a tunnel of water:

 

 

We ended the day with a snack at the cafe with a table right next to the tank.  What fun!

family day

We decided to have a family day and go to the Aquarium today.  We had a great day, and I took some nice photos.  My favorites were the jellyfish:

   

 

 

 

more from the aquarium tomorrow. 

twin set

Dwayne and I have worked together at three different hospitals and under many different conditions and circumstances. And as of yesterday we are adding to that list.

We now have two flight nurses in the house.  He signed on with Medflight yesterday to fly with us PRN. Both sides couldn't be happier.  Us (being Medflight) because we are getting a kick-ass nurse with tons of experience  and the kind of personality you wouldn't mind being stuck in a small aircraft with for hours at a time; him because he has always wanted to do flight nursing but thought he was too big (some of the smaller aircraft and definately the rotors have strict weight requirements).

He's so excited!  I am hoping that flying is going to be the shot in the arm to his career that it was for me. 

happy day

 

Yes!!!

The whole office was riveted to the TV this morning.  The whole crew was there except for the unfortunates that were flying when history was being made.

 

This is our chief flight nurse:

 

"On this day we gather because we have chosen hope over fear."  --President Obama

I feel hopeful again.  It's a great feeling.

a blast from the past

Here is a vintage photo sent to me from a classmate I have reconnected with via facebook.  It is from 8th grade marching band and I am playing the bells.  My friend Jim is playing the snare drum right next to me.  It brought back a lot of happy memories.

 

We are having a relaxing day watching football today.  I'd love to see an all Pennsylvania Superbowl.  Wouldn't that be cool?

The crepes were wonderful, by the way.  And yes, I had to throw the first one out but after that they were perfect! 

crepes 101

I am making one of my favorite suppers tonight: crepes.  I've never made crepes before, but have a renewed interest in trying new things a la Julie & Julia since I don't have time to cook during the week any more.   One of my fondest memories of Paris was the crepes we got from a street vendor. Soft, fluffy yet substantial, it was heaven.  Crepes is one of those things I adore and have never made so I have a well-rated crepes recipe from my go-to site, epicurious.com that I am trying tonight.  

The ingredients are pretty straightforward: eggs, milk, flour, salt and beer.  Yes, beer.

  

I had to pick just the right beer to go into my batter, you see.  Of the six different beers I had in my refrigerator (don't ask) I went with a nice Scottish Ale from a fine Wisconsin Brewery, Sprecher.  It will go fine with the Black Forest Ham and gruyere cheese I plan to tuck into the crepes.  

I plan to serve them with a salad and a cold Chardonnay.

Hannah informs me, of course, that she wants sprinkles on her crepes.    What can I say?  Her four year old palate has some developing to do. 

Bon Appetit!

Welcome to our new bathroom!

I purposely haven't revealed bits and pieces of our new bathroom because I like the impact of a brand new room.  So here it is...

It's kind of hard to get the color just right on the photos... it's a light caramel color.

 

We kind of built our bathroom around this onyx bowl.  It's a beautiful varigated piece of solid onyx in rich tones of caramel, sage with ribbons of red.  It's truly stunning.

 

 

The shower and floor are an Italian porcelain tile with some glass tile accents in the shower.

 

 

 

The toilet is tucked into a little alcove behind the shower. 

 

We are still waiting on some hardware for hanging towels and I need to buy linens but it's mostly done.  Dwayne put in so much hard work!  We are very happy with it.

real life

I am finding that a real job is totally getting in the way of my other pursuits such as taking photographs, blogging and internet surfing, scrapbooking and making gourmet meals for my family three times a week.  It kind of sucks, truth be told.  Oh, well.  I actually like having a paycheck so I'll quit whining about having a job in this shaky economy and get to the business at hand.

Which was what?  The business at hand, that is... oh, yeah.  Blabbing about my life.

The good news is that Mom is here and is like my Mom again.  Engaged with life.  Involved.  I think the fog of grief she has been experiencing after the death of my stepfather is finally starting to lift and she is ready to move on.  It is such a welcome sight to see. She's actually been such a huge help around the house and with Hannah... I have been coming home to suppers that have been made, laundry that is folded, a child that has clothes on.  It's like I have a wife. It's awesome.

Work is 95% of the time great and then I'll have a day like today where I feel like there is some funk hanging over the office and the owner just goes from one employee to the next to explain to them how they are the stupidest person on earth.  It was particularly tense today after having a Monday through Thursday filled with fun and laughter; then today was the rotating dumbshit awards.  Strange.  We all just bailed out early and probably started drinking.  I know I had a cocktail when I got home. 

I'm on call tomorrow -- lots of call this month since our clinical coordinator is on vacation for two weeks -- and I hope all goes well. 

Photos on a snowy day

It was snowing when I woke up this morning.  Beautiful, delicate, tiny snow.  I grabbed my camera and my new macro lens (which I haven't really used too much yet I'm sad to say) and headed outside after there was a few inches down.  Here's a few shots that came out nicely.