500th post!

Huh. Apparently, I've been under the impression 500 times that people want to read my ramblings! Ah well, if they didn't, why do they keep coming back? These are the questions!

On to the delightfulness of the week! Right now, I'm sitting in Michael and Jennifer's house, bundled up in a blanket and surrounded by four happy puppies. Liberty is buried under the blanket, smushed up right next to my leg. Oliver is on my right side, happily shredding a tennis ball. Every once in awhile, he puts his head up and chews the ball in the air. He's SO bizarre. Sam, the older and wiser terrier, is carefully watching for Oliver to look away so he can steal the tennis ball. Max, the younger and fatter terrier (I call him whale baby), has left the pile o' puppies to go investigate why the living room curtains just fell down. It's most likely because Oliver just threw himself into the window whilst chasing the aformentioned shredded tennis ball.

Michael and Jennifer are off cruising the Carribean this week....and I am here holding down the fort in the freezing weather. Okay, for you east coast readers, it's not really cold...but it's cold for a Texas October! It's supposed to get down towards freezing tonight. Thank goodness for heaters! And warm dogs to sleep in the bed with me! Anyways, I decided it was better for my sanity to bring Lib and Ollie here to play in the yard, rather than bring the other two to the apartment. So far, it's a wise choice. The pups LOVE the yard and Oliver gets to kick squirrel butt on a daily basis.

**Update** Oliver has grown tired of shredding yellow fuzz all about and is now content to lay with the ball. Max has come to sit on my left side. Now I'm definitely not cold.

I planned a vacation this week! I'm SO SO SO excited! On April 25th, I will be flying to Ft. Lauderdale and going on a CRUISE! I've been excited to go on another one since I got back from my last one, almost four years ago. Now I just have to start the saving. I figure that Betty will need a one year anniversary present!

Okay, guess i should go dig up the warm blankets. I have no warm clothes that fit, so I have to layer up with blankets. Sadly, I'm not supposed to be bundled up at work...so I spend the day in a fleece jacket, which is OH so unprofessional. Ah well...guess I'm gonna have to break down and go find warm clothes at Goodwill or Salvation Army! Maybe I can afford that.

Anyways...much love from the herd here! Stay warm!

Why did the chicken....?

Okay, I stole this from my friend Chris (thanks!), mostly because I couldn't stop laughing! It doesn't matter who you've decided to vote for...this makes fun of everyone! Hilarious!

Why did the chicken cross the road?

SARAH PALIN: Before it got to the other side, I shot the chicken, cleaned and dressed it, and had chicken burgers for lunch.

BARACK OBAMA: The chicken crossed the road because it was time for a change! The chicken wanted change!

JOHN MC CAIN: My friends, that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road.

HILLARY CLINTON: When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure right from Day One that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn’t about me.

GEORGE W. BUSH: We don’t really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.

DICK CHENEY: Where’s my gun?

COLIN POWELL: Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road.

BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with that chicken. What is your definition of chicken?

AL GORE: I invented the chicken.

JOHN KERRY: Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken’s intentions. I am not for it now and will remain against it.

AL SHARPTON: Why are all the chickens white? We need some black chickens.

DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that this chicken doesn’t realize that he must first deal with the problem on this side of the road before it goes after the problem on the other side of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he’s acting by not taking on his current problems before adding new problems.

OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I’m going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN: We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed access to the other side of the road.

NANCY GRACE: That chicken crossed the road because he’s guilty! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.

PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.

MARTHA STEWART: No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer’s Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.

DR SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I’ve not been told.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die in the rain, alone.

GRANDPA: In my day we didn’t ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.

BARBARA WALTERS: Isn’t that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart- warming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to accomplish its lifelong dream of crossing the road.

ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

JOHN LENNON: Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.

BILL GATES: I have just released eChicken 2008, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your checkbook. Internet Explorer is an integral part of eChicken 2008. This new platform is much more stable and will never crash or need to be rebooted.

ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?

COLONEL SANDERS: Did I miss one?

Recovering!

WOWSERS. What a 72 hours I have had!

Thursday was Boss Day. I got up nice and early to make a delightful breakfast casserole for the brunch we were having. While it was cooking, I decided to take the dogs out. I came back into the house to hear my phone ringing. It was my co-worker...which was odd because she was supposed to be off the next two days. When I called her back, she told me there was a really good heart offer for one of our kiddos. She was off and wanted to know if I would take care of the transplant. I'm sure she'd say now that she "offered" to come in, but it was one of those half hearted pathetic offers. She was technically on call, and if I had known what was to happen, I would have let her. This transplant was going to be extremely high risk and I was NOT excited about doing it.

I spent the day on the phone with pretty much what seemed like the entire world. I got the transplant set up and we headed to the operating room at 8PM. God was truly watching out for this precious little one because all the bad and horrid things that could have happened didn't! About 3/4 of the way through the transplant, we got an offer for one of our kids that's been waiting about 5 months at the top of the list. It was a GREAT heart, so we accepted that one too! Our first kiddo came out of the OR about 4:30AM and the next one went in at 9AM. I didn't have time to get a nap or anything because there was a bunch of drama with the donor hospital for the 2nd heart. Thankfully, I had some buddies in the OR for the 2nd one, so I at least had someone to speak to! We got out of the OR at 8:30PM and I FINALLY headed home. My puppies were so happy to see me!

It was 38 hours without sleep, but TWO sweet kids got new hearts in less than 24 hours! Last time I checked, they were both doing amazingly well!

Needless to say, I am exhausted. I slept 11 hours last night and 3 more this afternoon. My entire body hurts, but hopefully it will feel better with more sleep.

Off to bed....hooray!

And it beats on...

What beats on? Well, hopefully my heart does! :)

This week has been busy, but I guess that's a good thing. We haven't done any transplants at work, but then again, I'm not currently on call. I go back on call Friday morning. Until then, I'll happily sleep without the host of phones and pagers on my nightstand. I'm alone the rest of the week, so I'm sure there will be about fifteen kids who need stuff ALL at the same time! Most of the time, I prefer to be alone instead of dealing with the daily drama! Today, I went to lunch with my favorite surgeon, which was a nice break in the middle of the clinic day madness!

The weather is AMAZING! I don't particularly care for the rain, but the fact that it is bringing cooler temperatures is phenomenal! It's so wonderful to go to sleep hearing the fountain outside and bundling up in my duvet for warmth! It's surprising I'm still cold, with all the dogs in my bed!

I got offered a new job this week! The director of the transplant program offered me the nurse manager position. When I got my bachelor's in nursing, I didn't ever intend to use it for management...it's just not my style. I absolutely love the interaction with the patients and their families and I'm not ready to give that up. Once I mentioned the offer to one of my cardiologists and my surgeon, I was told that I will NOT be abandoning them for management. It's nice to feel needed and loved! I am extremely flattered, and told my director "thanks, but no thanks". He completely understood and said I was the only person in the department he offered it to. Guess that means I have the management skills, even if I don't want to use them right now.

I'm currently cooking (yes, GASP!) something for the Boss day brunch tomorrow. I'm attempting to get as much of it ready tonight in order to just throw it together tomorrow morning and climb right back into my little bed whilst it cooks. So far, I've cooked bacon and sauteed green peppers and onions. I have SKILLS! :) Since the brunch starts at 9AM, I'm just gonna go in a little late so it can stay nice and warm, right out of the happy oven. It's nice to live so close to work!

I also have to leave early tomorrow for a stupid nerve test on my legs. Remember the jelly legs? Yep, they are STILL around...although not as bad as they were. What really worries me now is that I have strips of numbness and I don't understand why I'm still weak. Today, while taking the puppies outside, I completely missed a step and fell flat on my face....so attractive! I almost drove myself to ER on account of the swollen wrist, but hopefully the swelling will go down and I'll have just sprained it nicely. I am such a klutz.

Last night, my aunt and I went out to dinner at the Four Seasons! WOW was that an experience! I never get to go to those kinds of places, but we decided to just do an appetizer meal. We had divine seared ahi and some lobster yumminess. I also had a glass of phenomenal red wine. I have to be SO careful with wine...one sip too many and I'm pretty much ready to make inappropriate choices! Guess that's my reason not to drink at all! :)

Okay, enough rambling. Better go finish prepping my breakfast casserole! :)

Seriously?

Not to steal a line from one of my all time favorite shows, Grey's Anatomy....but SERIOUSLY? Is it even possible? Are people really REALLY that afraid to say what they are feeling that they have to rely on excuses? What the heck? I nearly ALWAYS say exactly what I am thinking...or at least I try to. This is ridiculous.

Cryptic, huh? :)