My First Real Day!!

Well, the training wheels are off and I officially registered patients today.  I was assigned to the Emergency Department and it was kind of sad.  I registered patients that came in from an ambulance, or walked in or crawled in.  I saw children, elderly patients and people who were in a car wreck.   I talked to Eva, who is probably dead by now.  She is 86 and called 911 to say that she wasn't feeling well.  By the time I went home she was not doing well and her family was called in to give us her last wishes.   That hurts, because I talked to Eva and I touched her and she looked at me with piercing blue eyes.  Don't get connected they say in the Emergency Department, but I did.  Eva was 86 and lived alone.   She called 911 to say she didn't feel good.  And, isn't that something that she was so in tune with her body that she knew something wasn't right?  I think I will always remember Eva.  They say that you do...remember the one that touched you first.

 

It was a fast day...one minute it was 9:00 and the next time I looked it was 2:00.  I enjoyed the pace, but the people stayed with me.  They didn't have insurance, they were there as a last resort. They were in pain.  I saw a little boy that reminded me of Sam.  "Can you take me where my Mommy is?" he asked me.  I couldn't because of the tests she was having. But we passed the time talking about how big he was getting....every minute.  He said, "every minute I am getting bigger."    I picked him up and said...."oh, I can't hold you any more because you're getting so big."  It was a Sammy moment and I loved every bit of it. 

 

I love what I do and I hope I do it well.

 

 

Training in Charlotte, My Birthday and Other Stuff

Well, I made it!!  I drove to Charlotte for training and back and actually found where I was supposed to be!  It was a really good feeling knowing that I made the drive successfully. 

 

Training was good.  I had no idea that registering a patient was such a process.  We learned about billing insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, supplemental insurance and a ton of other things.  I met some really nice people who will be working at the hospital and in general had a good time.  I did miss Tony and Dixie, but we spoke everyday. 

 

I had a wonderful birthday, even though I spent it driving to Charlotte.  I got wonderful cards (especially from Tony) and neat gifts and flowers!  It was nice of everyone to think of me.  Tony took me to Olive Garden last night for a birthday dinner and we stopped at the club for a drink.  They gave me a birthday dessert that was really good. 

 

Today, we are skyping with the kids and I can't wait.  Ben looks so big on Jenna's blog, I can't wait to see him in person.  I can't wait to see ALL of them in person.  Ben will be 7 this week and I just can't believe how the time has flown by.  I still remember that little baby in the isolet, looking at Tony for his first photo op. 

 

I went to a new doctor last week and she has now diagnosed me with eczema....sort of like psoriasis, but not.   It too, is an immune disorder with similar lesions types, so I guess it was easy to mistake it for psoriasis.   I am on new medication and we are seeing a difference already.  Hopefully, I will be able to wear a skirt soon, I haven't in 4 years.

 

The weather here has been beautiful...in the low 80's with a nice breeze....not your typical August weather, Thank God!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I Earned Money Today

Today was my first official day at the hospital as being an employee.  It was great.  I was in Orientation from 8:00 till 4:00, but I sat there thinking, I am earning money for the first time in a year and 7 months.  WOW!!!

 

I met 15 other new hires and learned about the history and future vision of the hospital.  Tomorrow, I go to Orientation for a short while and then I'm off to Charlotte (with 2 others) for computer training through the end of the week.  I am the designated driver....which means we could end up in Texas!!   But, of course, Tony is programming the GPS for me and highlighted the route on a map.  He always takes good care of me.    Driving to Charlotte, what a way to spend my 61st birthday!!

 

I am working again and it is a wonderful feeling.  I am working again and for the first time in a year and 5 months, I will be able to pay some of my bills without hitting our money market account.  I can't tell you how good that feels. 

 

More later....have to pack!!

What Fun We Had...

Having Coleton in the house makes me remember how much I miss Ben, Sam, Ellie and Zach.  It's the constant activity and baby sounds....laughing, crying, making talking sounds and in general "cute-ness" all around that makes me think about them.

 

Coleton was wonderful.....he was all smiles, he entertained us by throwing food on the floor and looking for Tony and Marie's reaction, petting the dogs and most important....he took his first steps here!!!!  Tony (Jr) was sitting on the love seat.  Coleton was by the end table--he pulled himself over to the end of the couch and Tony reached out for him.  Coleton took 2 or 3 steps on his own before falling into Tony's arms.  It was great.  Needless to say, we spent the rest of the weekend trying to get him to do it again. 

 

We had some great food and a really nice visit and I'm so glad they came to see us.  I will be in Charlotte next week for training (Tony and Dixie will be there too!), so hopefully we can get together again.  Coleton weighs 21 pounds (and of course, I thought of Ellie being so small!) and is the 40 th percentile for his age.  Marie went online and found a site that predicts how tall someone may be.  Coleton came out at 5' 11".  

 

The puppies got along pretty well, but I think Dixie was glad to have her house back.  She cuddled up with Daddy on "our" chair and they both fell asleep.  Really cute!!

 

Here are some more highlights of the visit:

 

 

Cole is going through the sunglass stage that Ben did at his age!

 

"I love you, Papa!"

 

Pretty Mama

 

Daddy worked the whole weekend

 

At Compass Pointe Beach

 

Playing in the sand!

 

The prince on this throne!

 

The Swegle Family

 

Reading to Papa

 

He's the champ!

 

Momo, Coleton and Papa

 

He ate shrimp, kielbasi, scallops, rice, macaroni and cheese, chicken, broccoli, sausage, eggs, potatoes, lasagna, spaghetti, bread and RASPBERRIES!!!

Toddler In The House!!

Tony, Marie and Coleton got in yesterday and what fun we are having.  The house is full of baby noises and toys and we are enjoying every minute of it.

 

Cole walks with a baby walker and along the furniture, plays catch (left handed) and  says "NO!"  He feeds himself for the most part and tells you he is finished eating by tossing food on the floor and then laughing!

 

He holds his own with Dixie and Tyson and crawls in, out and around everything and everybody.   He will be walking on his own in no  time and probably speaking in complete sentences!    Cole is a "Chipmunk" in school now and sleeps on a cot instead of in a crib.  Pretty soon, he'll be an "Owl..." can't wait for that!

 

Take a look at our big boy!!!

 

 

Let the games begin!

 

"Look, I'm walking...I'm so cute, I crack myself up!!"

 

Winning the crawl competition with Daddy

 

"Think of the earth as this small, round ball...just a drop in the universe..."

 

"Ha, ha, ha....who is on the outside looking in?....Not me!  The house is mine!"

 

"Seriously, with a face like this, do you really think I just dumped my meatloaf on the floor?"

 

"Gotcha!   I did dump  my meatloaf on the floor, I did!!"

 

"Here, Mommy, I'm learning how to share....have some chewed up food..."

 

"Ah, ha....he's got his back to me....one good jump to take him down and the house is mine again!"

 

"Guess what, guys.....a full diaper!"

 

 

 

Maybe, Maybe Not

As most, if not all of you are aware, I have been dealing with Psoriasis for over 4 years.  It started with a stray cat bite and my immune system just went downhill.   During the course of these 4 years, I have seen 4 Dermatologists.  The first one explained how the cat bite triggered the Psoriasis, the second one (was closer to where I worked) agreed with the Psoriasis diagnosis and treated me accordingly.  She even did a skin biopsy to ensure I didn't have skin cancer.

 

It didn't get better...in fact, some days it was worse.  I would have active flair ups all over my legs,  back and on the left side of my body.  I found a Dermatologist down here and he said it was definitely NOT Psoriasis, but he couldn't tell me what it was.

 

I have been having more active flair ups of late, so today, Tony and I went to see my 4th doctor.  I think 4 may be my lucky number.  Her name is Holly Shaffer and I think if Ben was just a bit taller, they could be dating.  Seriously, she is really, really young.  She examined my legs and everywhere else I had a breakout.  She took some skin/tissue from  one of my legs and is sending it off to a lab in Cincinnati to be examined and defined.

 

She said that while I had a number of symptoms of Psoriasis, I also didn't have some of the key ones, so before she starts medicating me, she wants the lab to tell her exactly what they found.  She also said that she didn't think the cat bite triggered it.   So, maybe it's some form of Psoriasis, maybe not.  We shall see.  I am no further along in getting this fixed, but both Tony and I feel that she is wise to get input from the lab before she starts any type of treatment.  So, I will keep you posted.

 

In other notes, we have been getting out and doing things before I start working.  We went to the Battleship North Carolina and went to see the movie, "We're The Millers."  Don't listen to the "so/so" reviews....go and see it....understand, however, that I lost count of the use of the "F" word after about the first 15 times.  It is SO funny.  There is  a scene where the teenaged boy gets bitten by a tarantula and I guarantee, you will have tears running down your face because the scene is so funny. 

 

Today, we went to lunch after the doctor's office and are going to the City Club for a wine tasting this evening.

 

Tony, Marie and Cole will be in on Thursday for the weekend and it will be good to see them.

 

Dixie has been a pistol of late.  She pooped in the house two days in a row (or 4 poops, however you want to look at it.)  She is getting tall enough to tip over the waste basket in my office and jump up on my hope chest to munch on the creams and other stuff I have up there.  It's so much fun taking the lid off of the tube of hand cream and have it come out like worms from the little teeth holes she has put in it.   She can jump up on the couch now and makes a regular visitor of herself when we have food and are watching movies.

She continues to "help" with whatever it is that Tony and I are doing and we enjoy having her with us. 

Here is she helping me with the laundry:

 

Bling Bling!!

Every day I look forward to Tony and I renewing our vows.   This is a celebration of our growth as husband and wife.  We have learned so much about being married in these past 24 years and we both look forward to learning more in the next 24.

 

The pieces of our ceremony are slowly coming together and yesterday the goal was checking out anniversary bands.  I didn't have any preconceived ideas of what I wanted, but I knew that the right band would reach out and speak to me.  What fun I had trying on different styles and shapes.  I was in jewelry heaven!

 

We did find a band and it did indeed speak to me.  We went to Zales and it was the first one I saw.  It's beautiful, but the most beautiful part was after we got home we opened a nice bottle of wine and turned on some music.  I was thumbing through the People Magazine while Tony was opening the wine and all of a sudden, he got down on one knee in front of me with the ring and proposed.  That made me cry.  And that's the kind of thing we have learned over the years--how to touch each other emotionally and express our love. 

 

We are happy and blessed.  

 

Now, check out the bling!!!   2 carats of pure love!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Word Pictures

Tony and I decided to go to a new beach today, Oak Island.  It's about 40 minutes from our house and very nice.

 

We had chairs, a cooler, towels, phones, the umbrella, the umbrella stand, shoes and my bag with magazines and essentials, so when Tony said, "are you taking the camera?"  I was a bit reluctant to weigh us down with anything else.  "No," I said. "I feel like a pack mule when we go to the beach,"  "OK" he answered, "but when you see great potential pictures, don't complain to me."

 

Guess what?  He was right. 

 

He laughed at me as I did complain and said, "Get over it, dear."  I did, because we had a wonderful time, but I decided to record "word" pictures  share with you.

 

The temperature at the beach was at least 8 to 10 degrees lower than inland.  It was windy and sand crunched in my mouth as we set up our chairs.  It was an overcast day, the water was grey and very foamy.  The waves broke in three or four steps before reaching the sand.  By the time it got to the sand, it was slow and clear, but still strong enough to make puzzle like impressions as it ebbed and flowed back into the sea. 

 

We saw brown pelicans as we have so often.  Normally, I try to catch a picture of them diving into the water for fish, but they are too fast for me and leave me clicking empty sky as they fall from the clouds into the water with a mighty splash; catching their prey in victory. 

 

Today, they posed.  There were 10 of them in a line with exactly the same amount of space in between each one.   They faced the water in profile and seemed to know the drill very well.  They smiled at me as they flew directly over us before going to the water and posing again, screaming at me, "OK, take the picture, I'm hovering above the water for you before I make this glorious dive to catch a fish."   One by one, following the leader, each bird splashed into the water, with the splash coming at least 3 feet above the water line.  They stayed under water for just a moment, but flew up into the sky victorious.  They caught their fish.  I missed it.

 

Then, we saw sky divers.  Yep, sky divers. They shouldn't have been out in this weather, but there they were.   Their parachutes were green against a white and grey sky. They went in and out of clouds that had  dark bottoms and wispy tops.   The wind was whipping them head over heals and from side to side until it finally pushed them down to earth.  There were two of them who emerged out of the clouds....truly, out of no where, and found their way safely to earth. 

 

I missed so much with my lens, but I saw so much with my eyes and ears.  Tony looked wonderful.  He is tan and beautiful.  We talked about so many things--our vow renewal, our children, our grandchildren, my new job, the things we want to do before I start working, and how we love each other.  We talked about being happy and I couldn't capture that with a lens no matter how much I tried.  

 

It was a wonderful time.  I will post pictures of pelicans and sky divers on another blog.  I wouldn't have traded this time for anything.  I hope I gave you word pictures of our day.