Angry at the blog.

I've now spent an hour of my life attempting to put a new template on my blog...and not one of these horridly ugly blogger ones! I've struck out!

Stupid thing even erased all my blogs that I follow...so if you don't see your blog in my list, remind me to add it!

Does ANYONE know how to put fun templates on? I'm so frustrated!

Fighting off the usual

It wouldn't be a fall/winter season if I didn't get sick at least once! More specifically, if I didn't get pneumonia and spend several days miserable and hacking! It came a little early this year seeing as it likes to come around February, but maybe this means I'll be free for the rest of the winter? One can hope. I started feeling the asthma act up last week and my doctor called me in the steroid pack for weenies. I felt better, but starting Saturday, felt the crud coming on again and worse. This time, it came with fever! Delightful!

I ended up going to the doctor on Monday who listened to my lungs and found some nice "dense" areas and started me on antibiotics and the "BIG GUNS" steroids. If you know me and have been reading for any amount of time, you know this is BAD news for my psyche. Steroid rages are pretty bad for me...ranging from insane emotional highs and lows, hot flashes, insomnia, and insane eating needs. Three hours after taking my first dose, I had already yelled at Liberty for sitting too close to me and then cried about it because I felt like a horrible mom. Welcome to my dramatic steroid world. Since then, I've mostly just had the hot flashes and insomnia, because let's be honest, I RARELY get hungry. If I do, it's most likely because I haven't eaten all day...which really isn't a good thing for me to attempt!

I feel SO much better now. I've still got the lovely cough, but that will be around for awhile.

Tomorrow I am headed to my grandma's house in Fort Worth for Thanksgiving goodies! It should be quite interesting to see what I'm able to eat. I'll probably try and steer away from poultry (stupid aversion!), but I don't CARE what it does to Betty...I WILL be having some of my mother's dressing. YUM. I won't be eating dessert, so it will all even out! :) Friday...shopping! Can't WAIT to see the ads in the paper tomorrow and plan out my attack.

I hope you and your family have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving weekend!

Another jet setting experience...

I think my travel days are numbered for the time being! I went to Houston on Thursday afternoon for a conference on pediatric mechanical hearts. This company paid for all of us to attend a day of lectures and a fancy dinner! Guess I wasn't gonna say no to that! They flew me to Houston, picked me up in a LIMO (where I actually had a driver carrying a sign with my name on it!), and took me to the Woodlands Resort and Conference Center. It was really a nice place, very rustic and woodsy....hence being in the WOODlands! :) They did a really nice dinner (crab AND filet mignon! YUM!) and sent us off to bed. I got up early the next morning and spent the day with my favorite surgeon in lectures. Yippee. She and I ended up on the same flight home yesterday. It was a REALLY quick trip!

After I got home, I grabbed the puppies and we went to Michael and Jennifer's house. The pups played with their cousins whilst the three of us went to dinner. After dinner, we stopped by my friend's house to see the puppy she was puppy sitting. Of course, the fact that it was a DOXIE pup didn't hurt at ALL! Such a cute little thing! It made me remember how small Liberty was when I brought her home. Oliver was small too, but never that small!

Today, I haven't done much. I did go grocery shopping, got my mail, and the Sears guy came and fixed my washing machine. I did have the attempt to be productive and changed my sheets...and then Oliver promptly threw up on them. Lovely. I have yet to replace the sheet.

Can you EVEN believe that Thanksgiving is next Thursday? It should be an interesting one...especially since it will be the first one where I haven't seen either of my siblings for the day. It's okay...I get to have them BOTH at Christmas, which will be just DANDY!

After next week, it all goes CRAZY from there...like it does every year! I'm going to be in the Children's Christmas Parade again, but I'm not sure exactly as what! Since I'm shrinking, I did tell the guy I would be an actual character this year, instead of just the person who leads them around! I don't know if I'll actually get to do it, but I will still be a character escort if they need me to! It will be my fourth year to do it. I've already found out that one of my FAVORITE transplant patients was asked to be in it this year, so I know I'll get to see her!

Okay, enough rambling. Keep my pitiful lungs in your prayers...the weather changes are creating havoc on their wee frailness. I've already done steroid run last week, and I think I might be headed towards another one if I can't get my lungs to open. Right now, I'm just doing a bunch of dry hacking. It's so attractive. :)

Happy weekend!

St. Louis adventures!

I am happily home! I spent the weekend in St. Louis at a transplant certification review course...whoopee! :) I hope to be taking this test in the next few months and I think the course was good for me...at least one would hope!

I flew in Friday night in some sort of winter freeze watch. It was delightful! Thankfully, it was only rain, not ice! I got to the hotel, only to find out that my room had been switched to two doubles. Why do I need two beds? I called to see if there was a king bed room available, but only smoking rooms were free. ICK! I resigned myself to the fact that I would just pick a bed. The front desk guy called a few minutes later and said he had a new room for me! I went and got my new key...to my SUITE! Wow! Apparently, the front desk guy felt sorry for me and gave me a bigger room! How delightful! I dragged my stuff all over the hotel, but in the end, it was worth it! I ate dinner and went to bed LATE...which was stupid because I had to be up early the next day!

Saturday, I had the class ALL DAY. Yawn. There were some parts that I was exceptionally bored, but some of the classes were quite good. That night, Jennifer came and picked me up! She was in St. Louis visiting her family and busted me out of the hotel for the night! I ate dinner with them, then she and her brother and I watched movies the rest of the night until I had to go back to the hotel. The only thing that was crazy was I had the WORST stomach issues I ever have had...not quite sure yet what caused it, but I think it might have been some ranch dressing. Angry Betty!

Today, I tried to sleep late, but I couldn't. Sadness :( I got on the plane, got back to Dallas earlier than I thought, picked up Lib, and came home. Now I'm getting ready for bed, sad at the thought of going back on call tomorrow after three weeks of being free. I have another trip this weekend...which is just seeming to be typical after two weekends in a row of travel. I'm going to Houston for a ventricular assist device seminar. Thankfully, I am only gone Thursday night and part of Friday. I do get to stay in some fancy "Woodlands Resort"...so that should be interesting. I'm probably going to be happy to not go anywhere for awhile after that.

I'm so addicted to Food Network. It's just sad. If I was a housewife, this channel would be so bad for me. I'd probably spend the entire day watching it, and when I wasn't watching it, I'd be realizing how UN-food networky I am. It's all good...some people can cook, some can not. I will gladly say that I am in the "not" category. I DID make some fabulous green vegetable curry tonight! It tastes REALLY good and I'm excited to have it for the next five meals! I split it up into wee containers so I have portion control...not that this is an issue! Last week, I made my mother's modified "porcupine meatball" recipe. YUM-O! (Oh dear, another Food Network reference!) I used ground buffalo, cream of mushroom soup, and water chestnuts instad of rice. I have one tiny container left and it is DELIGHTFUL!

Okay. Guess I should head to bed. I'd like to be able to take a day off this week because I had today off, but I don't think that's gonna happen. I hope your week is wonderful!

Wedding weekend!

I was in a wedding this weekend for my beautiful friend Trena! She and I went to Honduras together this past February and she works in the Cardiac ICU. She always ends up taking care of my sweet transplant babies!



The bridesmaids and Trena the night before...at "Prime Cut Steakhouse". This was before the wild country dancing broke out...you can be assured I was sitting and hiding during that!


Crazy candid of me!



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My friend Amanda and I. Amanda and I lived in the same apt complex until she bought a house and I moved here. She, Trena, and I all went to Honduras!


Trena and I!

She got married in Nocona, Texas on a ranch...so far out in the country! Let's just say that a donkey (yes, there actually was one!) started braying in the middle of the vows! SO hilarious!

This week has been busy already, but isn't that normal for me? One of my sweet kids is getting a heart today! SO precious! That will make the rest of the week exciting! I've also got plans to go to St. Louis on Friday for a review course for my transplant certification test. Ironically, my sister in law, Jennifer, who is FROM there, will be there this weekend too! CRAZY! I think she has taken pity on me and is going to come get me from the FABULOUS St. Louis Airport Hilton on Saturday night so I don't have to be bored in the room!

Ah well, it wouldn't be my life if it wasn't busy, right? Hope your week is going well!

A funny LU memory...

I think I was in "Introduction to Philosophy". It was my first experience in a Dr Batts class. For those of you who attended LU, you know all about the CRAZINESS of a Batts class. The man LOVES memorization. His tests are like 10 pages long, single spaced, 12 pt font...all complete regurgitation. Yes, there are essays involved, but 85% of the test requires you to spit out everything he's talked about for the last month or so.

It was a jolly October 31st...Halloween to everyone in the class, except Dr Batts. He walked in wearing his graduation robes (which are more hilarious than any other professors...mostly because his mortar board is all poofy and not flat), proclaimed it "Reformation Day", and then gave us a talk on Martin Luther and the hanging of the 95 Theses on a church. He then passed out copies of "A Mighty Fortress is our God" and made us sing.

I don't remember one single thing about philosophy, but I will always remember that October 31st is also Reformation Day. Thanks Dr Batts!

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? :)

A blessing

Today, I went to a family reunion. It was for my great grandma's (on my mother's side) family. This reunion takes place every year, but we usually don't go. This year, I kept getting the pressure from EVERYONE to go! I couldn't figure out why this year was something special!

If you have spent any time with my family, you know that my mother has three sisters that are just as crazy as she is....and as I am, I guess! One of my aunts has been separated from us for quite some time. In fact, the last time all four girls were together was my grandpa's funeral in 1996. Thankfully, this aunt decided to come back to the family reunion and see everyone! It was amazing to see her...and I completely think it was one of the hardest things to do after being gone for so many years! Hooray for her! I hope she continues to stay involved.

I had a great time with my crazy family, as always. I continue to be blown away by people who don't have the great relationship with their families as I do with mine. Even though we were just together for a few hours, I think it was absolutely worth it!

Yesterday, I went to the FAIR! Oh, it's Fair time again! Michael, Jennifer, and I tried a host of fair foods....from Chicken Fried Bacon...to corn dogs (always yum!)...and my favorite....deep fried grilled cheese! Delightful! I only did one or two bites of the food, and my stomach grumbled a bit, but no disasterous results! I don't like to tempt fate with the stomach, but I figured it was the fair, and NOT something I plan on duplicating on a daily basis.

Tomorrow...back to work...ALONE! :) I'm alone at work for the first three days, so it should be quite interesting...as always. It's either feast or famine...part of me hopes for famine! :)

Ok. Must do laundry. ICK!

The big one!

Guess you've figured out how much weight I've lost in the last five months! INSANITY!

Back from vacation!

Sadly, I've returned from my fabulous vacation! Even though I had one less day in the Pacific Northwest, I still had an amazing adventure! I walked SO much in those six days! Here's a run-down of my experiences!

Sunday-Up bright and early. My wonderful brother took me to the airport before the sun came up. My flight was uneventful, thankfully! A short layover in New Mexico...then on to Seattle! Tammy and her mom (who was visiting too!) picked me up at the airport and we headed off on a waterfall discovery adventure. We went to three different waterfalls and hiked A LOT! Remember, I still have jelly legs! :) I actually was pretty impressed with myself! We wandered home, through the gorgeous mountain ranges!

Monday-my birthday! Happy 31 to me! We took Tam's mom to the airport and went off to a Seattle landmark...the Pike's street market! The fish throwers were there in full force, throwing giant salmon and halibuts! Hilarious! I absolutely salivated over all the fresh produce and flowers for sale, sadly wishing it could come home with me! We ate lunch at a great crab house right on the water...clams and mussels! YUM! We got pedicures, relaxed for awhile, and then headed out for dinner. Dinner was a great seafood restaurant on the lake. It gets about 20 kinds of fresh, never frozen seafood daily! I had some delighful ahi and my first experience with wine. Let's just say, I'm pretty fun after MUCH less than I used to be! Thankfully, the cowboy game was on and I was able to cheer happily and without reservation! No eagles fans in the whole place!

Tuesday-Space Needle! We walked over to the Seattle Center (the site of the Seattle world's fair!) and I did my most touristy adventure 600 feet up to the top of the needle. It was an absolutely beautiful day and my pictures turned out GREAT! We walked around the Seattle Center for a while after that and had a great picnic lunch sitting by this enormous fountain. All the water was choreographed to music and it was a great thing to watch! We were in the hot (hot for Seattle!) sunshine, and I actually got a sunburn! Go me! Afterwards, we walked back to Tam's apartment and went to see The Women...cute, but at times depressing!

Wednesday-off to Canada! We headed out in the morning, the first gray day outside since I'd come to Seattle! Crossing the border was only about a 5 minute adventure! Hooray for us! Guess I didn't look threatening. We made it to our hotel about oneish. The nice people let us check in early! We walked to Yaletown, a big restaurant district, to find some lunch. Afterwards, we walked around to get our bearings and find some tourist information. We ended up finding out about a bus that had 23 stops throughout the city. There was an additional pass that included five of the biggest Vancouver attractions. We decided that was the best plan and went to bed kinda early to prepare for the busy day!

Thursday-the walking begins! We caught the bus around 9:30 and headed off to the Vancouver lookout...basically the equivalent of the Space Needle. Afterwards, we headed to Stanley Park, a 1000acre park at the tip of downtown. It's absolutely beautiful! It houses the Vancouver Aquarium, home to a three month old baby beluga whale! They also have some dolphins, sharks, turtles, sea otters, sea lions, and lots of fish...but the highlight was the precious beluga! They have an outside viewing area and an underwater viewing area as well. After we were done at the aquarium, we decided to walk to the IMAX instead of riding the bus because brilliant Stephanie thought it was at 5pm. We HAULED across the city only to find out that the next show was at 6, and it wasn't even the one we wanted to see! We ended up going to a pub for some dinner and waiting until 7 for the 3D IMAX. Afterwards, we took a cab home because we were exhausted and tired of walking!

Friday-the adventure ends. We got up early again, but the buses were running WAY late! I think it was almost 45 minutes off schedule! We went first to Chinatown to the Classical Chinese Gardens. It was very pretty, but not something I would have paid extra for. Afterwards, we rode the bus back to our hotel, stopping along the way to grab some food at a great French restaurant. We headed off to the Capilano Suspension Bridge in North Vancouver. It was CRAZY! The bridge never stops moving! The gorge is wide enough to let two 747's side by side through the ravine without touching wing tips! Nuts! On the other side of the canyon, there was lots of hiking and roaming around. After spending about three hours there, we were pretty exhausted and decided to head back to Seattle. We got in the car at 5pm. By 6, we were on the other side of Vancouver. At 6:46PM, we got to the US/Canadian border. At 9:20, we were finally into the USA! Two and a half hours to get across the border is RIDICULOUS! We got back to Seattle about 11PM. I think I completely collapsed into the bed at that point!

Saturday-flying home. Not much to do...except get on the plane. My flight home was uneventful. Michael picked me up at the airport, with Liberty in tow. I slept in my own bed!

There's my trip in a nutshell! Well, I'm pretty verbose, so I guess not QUITE a nutshell! I posted a whole bunch of pictures on Facebook, but if you don't have access to that, here's the link to the album.

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=31226&l=98395&id=777629419

I go back to work tomorrow, not happily at ALL. I'd much rather stay off work for another week. Thanks for reading!

Impact of Ike

My parents live outside Houston, off I-45, about 45 minutes from Galveston. Even though both of them had off work since Thursday, they decided to stay and weather the storm and protect their turf. I talked to them several times yesterday, the last time being about 9pm, when the wind had gotten too strong for Jack to go outside anymore.

I also talked to them this morning, after the storm had passed through. They currently have no power (lost it about 2AM), have no fence, and have tons of tree branches EVERYWHERE! They have some water damage in one of the bathrooms and their street is flooded...but they are safe and alive! They have food and water, and thankfully, their cellphones both still work! My dad has wired one of the TV's to a car battery so they can keep up with what's going on around town. Jack's mad because he can't roam the backyard freely.

I should have been in Seattle already, but Southwest Airlines got freaked out and cancelled a lot of flights this morning. The weather here in Dallas is just now starting to get interesting, but they claim "dangerous crosswinds" as their cancellation reason. Originally, they closed the airport until Monday morning. I had to reschedule my trip until then, and was quite angry about it. Once we heard the majority of the storm was going to miss Dallas, I started calling Southwest hourly to see if I could get out earlier than Monday. The first few times, I was still told the airport was closed until Monday. FINALLY, I was told that they had openings on a flight tomorrow, so I begged and pleaded! Normally, you're only supposed to have one switch for free, but I threw out the "Monday's my birthday" card, and was able to convince them! SO, tomorrow morning, I'll fly out, only losing 24 hours of my vacation!

Liberty is lounging around, getting freaked out by the wind noises in the hallway. I guess having a day to relax on this side of the trip probably isn't such a bad idea...it gives me a chance to pack smartly, instead of throwing crap in a bag...which was the plan!

So, if you think about it today, please say a prayer for my parents and their lack of power...and all the other families in Houston/Galveston who are experiencing loss today.

SO SO ready!

I am going on vacation in TWO days. I am so excited I almost can't see straight! I haven't been on a true vacation in over two years. Being off for surgery doesn't count. Going to Honduras for paid slave labor doesn't count. This is a true, I'm not gonna think about the hospital vacation!

My friend Tammy is a travel nurse. She roams around the country in fabulous exotic places, doing fabulous nursing things. Right now, she's in Seattle...which is a place I've never been! I decided that I needed to go visit her while she's in one of these fabulous places that I haven't been! I leave on Saturday and return the following Saturday. I'm actually going to be there for my birthday, so that should be fun! During the time I'm there, we're also going to go up to Vancouver, which I hear is beautiful! Exciting!

Work has been crazy, life here at the house has been crazy. Too much craziness! I'm ready to be on vacation and not think about it! I've been on a lot of call recently with very little sleep...which is not my favorite thing. If I am gonna not have sleep, I'd rather be having fun instead of being tortured at work! As long as I can go through tomorrow morning at 7AM, I'm FREE! Whoo hoo! :)

The klutz returns...

I am RETARDED. I think if I went back and looked at how many of my blog entries involve me falling down and/or injuring myself, I'd be amazed. Today was no exception. I went to my "old" apartment to finish getting some boxes out of the garage. While carrying one box to my car, I completely tripped over a concrete bar on the floor of the garage and decided to say hello to the concrete! Aside from a skinned knee, elbow, and bruised hip, I've survived unscathed! :)

I laugh at myself when this kind of stuff happens because I am ALWAYS on my mother to be careful. I don't let her get on ladders or ride scooters...because she's accident prone. I'm beginning to think that the older I get, the more I become like her, in more ways than one! Thankfully, I still have some meds from my surgery left over, so I was able to help the pain go away. It stinks not being able to take ibuprofen! ARG!

This week, I have found a new food to love. I've become addicted to Morningstar farms Asian Veggie Patties. They are divine. I've only really liked meatless patties and things for the last few years. Sometimes, they are too full of rice and other fillers. These patties are almost all veggies...carrots, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots....YUM! It's still so wonderful to be able to actually EAT and not get sick! I think the hardest part of this journey is still waiting a 1/2 hour to be able to drink after I eat! Ah well, I'm starting to get used to it.

Okay, it's Saturday afternoon, and I am going to NAP. I'm very VERY excited about this. Perhaps it's the meds making me slightly sleepy...but I care not. This week has been BUSY with lots of late nights...and now I get to sleep! :)

My new apartment!

Here are some pictures of the new place!!

All moved!

I'm here! I made it! And the boxes are GONE!

I am safe and sound in my new apartment, literally three minutes from work. If I go walk Liberty, I can see the looming Children's Medical Center sign. If I go to the parking garage, I have the most beautiful view of downtown. From inside my apartment, I see the pool and the palm trees surrounding it. It's a very tranquil existance.

The movers (yep, I sprung for movers. I have very little I'll put out money for, but that is one of them!) came yesterday morning about 8:20AM and were done just after 11AM. My parents helped by cleaning the old apartment so I can get my pet deposit back! Michael and Jennifer came over around 1 to help get rid of boxes. I am actually very humbled to say that the boxes are gone! We got everything unpacked and the house actually appears mostly livable! That's not to say there isn't clutter, but it's MUCH better than I anticipated! I'm just one of those people that needs to get as much unpacked in the beginning or I'll put it off and it might stay that way for months! The cable guy came yesterday afternoon, ending my seven hours living in fear that I might get a donor call that needed a response. I'm having issues with the wireless, but as long as it works with a cord in place, I will do without wireless for the moment!

Okay, I should probably get moving. Liberty is adjusting to the new place, mostly by barking. She'll get over it.

Have a wonderful week and a relaxing Labor Day! I sure hope mine is!

The end of the packing nears....

Oh, I am so tired of packing. Tired Tired Tired. I'm getting so close to that end point, but I'm at a tough stage. There's stuff all over that needs to be packed, but by this time, there's not going to be a good place to put it. It's gonna all end up in one box in a big jumbled mess. If you look at my apartment, there's lots of boxes strewn about, but also clutter...which makes it seem like I haven't packed at all! ARG! All I know is that I want to stop packing, but I can't. I'm moving in 36 hours!

My parents are coming tomorrow to assist in the moving fun. They should get here in the evening, just in time to assist in the fun of taking down pictures and puttying nail holes. Yippee! It will be wonderful to have someone help with putting up curtains, hooking up the electronic, and giving me opinions on where things should go.

Oliver had to go to Becca's two days early because the poor little man got sick. Liberty was sick over the weekend and I believe Ollie got the sickness two days later. He's doing much better now, but I couldn't stand another day of cleaning the carpet after "accidents", even though the poor boy couldn't help it. Liberty is coping pretty well with the stress of the move, which she doesn't normally do. I took her to the new apartment today to sniff around and explore. She sniffed around and then sat in the corner and wagged her tail. Silly thing.

Okay, I should probably go throw all the clutter into one box and get it off my counter. One sweeping motion is all it should take!