Happy Birthday (to me :o)

It was my birthday yesterday and I had a fabulous day. Joe and I went to breakfast with friends, played in a soccer game, and I saw old friends at a wedding reception; I thought my day was complete. Then, Joe gave me a book, Sushi for Dummies, (the dummy is me) and all the supplies to create our own sushi masterpieces, so last night we had a sushi making date. We cooked 2 varieties of tofu and created hand rolls and finger sushi complete with wasabi, chili sauce, and ponzu dipping sauce. By the time we had finished eating my eyes were watering, my nose was burning, and my mouth was on fire. That was not mild mannered sushi, but it was surprisingly delicious.



Our first sushi attempt . . . . definitely a success.

If you haven't updated your blog in 2 months . . .

What do you do if you haven't updated your blog in 2 months? Since my last update we have passed 2 major holidays, Joe has been into and out of an arm cast, and a new year has started. That seems like a little much to cover in one post, but I guess I will try to give just a brief update of the last 2 months.

One big event . . . Joe got screwed. Really. He was playing flag football just before Thanksgiving and broke his 4th metacarpal. He had surgery on Wednesday night before Thanksgiving and had 5 screws put into his hand. Ouch!

While he was still half asleep I threw him in the car and we drove to St. George where we spent a wonderful Thanksgiving with my wonderful family. Joe slept through most of the weekend, but we were extremely grateful that he had a chance to rest before getting back to school (and we went swimming outside in November), making for a generally great Thanksgiving holiday.

You may have noticed, but my cute little sis Mindy was more than a little bit pregnant at Thanksgiving. . . and on December 22 she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Tabria Orgill. Congratulations Mindy and Nick!! I am so excited to meet my newest niece and am looking forward to making another trip south hopefully in the very near future.

We spent a wonderful Christmas with Joe's family. On Christmas Eve we all went to Temple Square to see the lights; then Joe and I spent several days at his sister's house. Christmas is always more exciting when the house is buzzing with little children.

Rocky Mountain Rivals

Our soccer teams played our final games of the season. Joe's team took a trip up to Couer D'Alene to play the college of Northern Idaho. After driving all night they were completely exhausted and got dominated 3-0, but both of our awesome mothers came along for the trip, and my dad drove across from Richland where he was on business, making it well worth the drive.

Joe's team redeemed themselves by ending the season with 2 huge victories. First, they beat the Mexi League All-Stars 5-4 (they beat the Real Salt Lake reserves and defeated Joe's team 8-1 earlier in the season) and in their final game they defeated Utah Valley University (formerly UVSC) 3-2.

And we are the cheering section. Go my favorite sport's team, Go!

Seattle

I flew from New England (see post below) to Seattle. I had originally planned to drive up to Seattle with Joe's sister Amanda, her husband, and five children, but took a 2000 mile detour to New England when Joe research trip got planned for the same time. When I arrived in Seattle, I spent a couple of days with the very awesome Jen and Mike Kelley (It was sooooo good to see you guys). They live downtown in a beautiful apartment. Jen took me on a tour of downtown Seattle (including a stop at the famous Pike's Place Market).

Then, I met up with Manda, Teri (Joe's other sister who lives in Seattle) and all of their adorable children. I spent the next few days exploring other parts of Seattle with them including the aerospace musaum, Snoqualmie Falls, and Ensign Ranch. We stayed at Teri's beautiful home in Duvall.

It was a wonderful trip. The only hitch was a snow storm that hit as we were driving home across the Idaho/Utah border. We traveled approx 2 miles in 3 hours. Our fourteen hour drive turned into 20. It is definitely an adventure to spend 20 hours in the back of a suburban with 5 kids. Luckily, they are five of the cutest, coolest kids ever, and even a 20 hour drive turned out to be fun and memorable adventure.

New England in the Fall

Well, I have been somewhat of a slacker lately (haven't posted anything new for 2 months) so I guess I have some catching up to do.

Joe made a trip back to New England to do research for his thesis at the beginning of October. I spent the first half of the trip with him. We drove around New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine. It was the beginning of October, and the autumn colors were beautiful.



We spent some time in Laconia, NH where his mother grew up and visited the famous Lake Winnipesaukee (even spending a night at the Margate resort with the beach right out our bedroom window.

While in Maine, we visited some old family friends. They live on a fjord in Bar Harbor. We walked down to the ocean (only 20 yards from their house) and collected sea water to keep our lobsters fresh until we were ready to cook them; I ate and cooked my very first Maine lobster while watching sail boats out their picture windows as the sun set. Maybe we should move to Maine . . . .

(I have to credit google maps for the above 2 photos, both were taken very near our friends' house. The pictures recreate very well the atmosphere from their beautiful home).

Leaving ER LAND : (

Well, I had my last full time shift in the ER last night. Tomorrow I am starting a new job in the Medical Oncology Unit at Central Utah Clinic. It is with mixed feelings that I leave the ER; while I am excited to have a job with normal hours (no more nights, weekends, and holidays for me) I am going to miss my awesome co-workers and all the crazy, exciting, and unpredictable nights that I have spent in the ER. I am a little bit afraid that my life will seem dull and all too normal in the coming months; after all, there is a reason that so many TV shows (although dramatized) originate in the ER.

I would like to point out the clock on the wall is reading 4:51 A.M. and that I am drinking a half gallon of Vodka that was most likely left (or confiscated) from one of our grateful (or inebriated) patients. At this point I have to give a shout out to the patient that we were trying to sober up a few nights ago. After waiting and waiting for a drop in her blood alcohol level and watching her stumble around the ER for 8 hours someone finally realized that her "water-bottle" was actually filled with something a little bit stronger than water. Go team, Go!



We all look happy enough (see above) (and we all love the night shift) but this (see right) is how I actually feel at 3:00 A.M. when I realize I still have 2 more hours left in my shift. It makes me smile as I think of Bret, one of our nurses who swears that he could be sound asleep one minute and doing CPR the next without missing a beat.

Last but not least I have to include a list. Anyone who has been a nurse for any length of time will appreciate this list (and it makes me chuckle as it reminds me of my last 2 years of dedicated service :)

You know you are a nurse if...

1. You would like to meet the inventor of the call light some night in
a Dark alley.

2. You have ever had a patient look you straight in the eye and say "I have no idea how that got stuck in there".

3. Your sense of humor gets more warped each year. Almost EVERYTHING
can seem humorous eventually!

4. You are able to identify different diarrhea by the smell.

5. You check the caller ID on your day off to see if anyone from the
hospital is trying to call and ask you to work.

6. You've been telling stories at a restaurant and someone at the next
table throws up.

7. You notice that you are using more four letter words than you did
before you started nursing.

8. You believe that all bleeding stops ... eventually.

9. You believe that "shallow gene pool" should be a recognized diagnosis.

10. You've told a confused patient that your name was that of your
co-worker and to holler if they need help.

11. Your bladder can expand to the size of a Winnebago's water tank.

12. You say to yourself "great veins" when looking at complete strangers at the grocery store.

13. Your idea of gambling is a blood alcohol pool instead of a football pool.

14. Your finger has gone places you never thought possible.

15. Your idea of a good time is a cardiac arrest at shift change.

16. You disbelieve 90% of what you are told and 75% of what you see.

18. You believe that unspeakable evils will befall anyone who utters the phrase "Wow, it's really quiet, isn't it?".

19. Your most common assessment question is "what changed tonight to make it an emergency after 6 hours/days/weeks/months/years?".

20. Your immune system is so well developed that is has been known to attack squirrels in the backyard.

21. You find humor in other people's stupidity.

Redemption

On Sept 13th my soccer team took on Western Wyoming again; we were determined not to lose to that team a second time. The game was intense. Wyoming players didn't like the possibility of losing to a non-college squad. They had players crying; one girl picked a fight with one of our players . . . punches were thrown . . . red cards given . . . even Wyoming's coach (6'3" and 250 lbs) decided he needed in on the action. He started throwing elbows and pulling hair. I am very happy to say that, despite the heated emotions, we were victorious with the final score being 3-1.

Joe's team also played 2 games this weekend against Utah State and Salt Lake Community College. They didn't win either game this week, but are hoping/determined to have better luck next week.