Just a few family pics!

While we are on the topic I wish to share with everyone the trauma we go through to get a good pictures:

First I come up with the idea that we should take pictures. Then Joe dreads every moment. Then I call my dad who says he wants to take pictures. Then I pick out outfits for everyone, to which Joe wrinkles his nose. He then goes into a tantrum declaring that he will only sit for pictures for one hour. He also tells me if anyone says anything about how he smiles (which looks like a second grade picture) he is done.

My dad comes over and I explain the rules. He takes this for an open invitation to harass Joe about his smiling. Joe is mad, I am mad, Jordy is crabby...

It is humid and I am sweating buckets.

We didn't get the perfect picture, but a few are okay...

Beautiful View...

On Tuesday night I saw the most beautiful sight I have seen in a long time,
Valentine in my rear view mirror!!

Finally our two month rotation out there came to an end. I was thrilled to come home.

Overall the rotation was really good. The staff at the hospital was great, the patients very nice, the town very pretty. I did learn quite a bit, and feel a lot more confident working on my own.

But there is no place like home! I was so sick of going back and forth between Omaha and Valentine. I would always forget something in one place or the other. Jordy was hurting himself constantly b/c the floor was cement with a thin layer of carpet. And Joe was convinced that something was wrong with the apartment b/c he was constantly exhausted while we were there. The last night we were there i thought I smelt gas...

Here are some pics of our time there, including a secret trip to Mt. Rushmore...Shhh!! Future President: Jordan Carter Negroni

Bento

I am at work this morning, an hour late! The power went out yesterday, and I think when I set my alarm I set it for PM....ARRGGGHHH!

So while perusing the internet, because I only had one patient this morning, I came across Bento.

Apparently Bento is a japanese style of boxed lunches. The goal is to make the lunch as beautiful as possible. I found this girls website where she photographs her lunches- above is her "spa bento". I thought it was amazing!

For a moment I began to look at bento boxes and make all sorts of plans of how I could do this...then I thought- who the hell has this kind of time! This woman probably took upwards of an hour strategically cutting cheese into shapes and dying rice blue and mayonaise green!

I subscribe to the lunch strategy "If it stays still long enough, eat it". While I do appreciate their efforts to create a beautiful dining experience, these bento people obviously need to get out of the kitchen and do something more beneficial!

A Woman's Right to Shoes

I have loved these shoes ever since I saw the Sex & the City Episode, "A Woman's Right to Shoes".

They are beautiful Manolo Blahniks, running a mere $400+

Unfortunately I can't afford such shoes. So instead I dreamt of what life would be like if I had such shoes. Suddenly my outfits would come pouring out of the closet perfectly matched and accesorized. My hair would fall magickly into place, never a wild strand to speak of! I would instantly become a size 2 and look as hot as any of the women on Sex & The City!

Well thanks to designer "knock-offs" we will soon know if all that will come true! I found the shoes, well okay, a cheaper alternative that looks very very similar- on (where else) E bay!!

Thanks to my sister's sleuthing, we found them. They are being shipped to my house as we speak. I will post a picture of them on my feet once they arrive! Stay Tuned!!

Operation Stork Attack Update

I am about to reveal a shocking revelation. Please ensure you are sitting down before reading on...

Losing weight is HARD!!


I want to eat and eat and eat!! It is so hard because we go out to eat a lot and at every meal I want a dessert. I keep rationalizing each one; we don't come here very often, it is a special occcasion, it's date night....

I find myself fantasizing about chocolate ice cream.

Over the weekend I didn't make it to the gym. We had so much to do there that I was exhausted. Today I tried to go to the gym between clinics, but apparently my leaving was premature. As I was doing cardio the owner of the gym came over and said I had a phone call. It was the clinic saying I had two patient in clinic. Oops. I came rushing back...

To further thwart my weight loss efforts I forgot my running shoes at home in Omaha. I was trying to run in my skechers- not such a good idea as now my feet are cursing me.

The diet part isn't so bad. Since I am alone I have been eating special K for every meal.

Today I am supposed to take more stork attack pics, but have no one here to take them for me. It will have to wait until this weekend. Eventually I will be able to post these pics, once I am not so hideous and the general public is not at risk of dying from seeing my massive carcass.

All Alone again....

So this weekend Joe and I spent getting the house ready for our guests. It was quite a project. We had to clean the hallway, move Jordy's dresser into it, dismantle his crib and move that into our bedroom. Then we dismantled the futon downstairs and moved that into the "guest room". After all that was set up Joe put up two baby gates to prevent our precious little boy from hurling himself down a flight of stairs. It was quite an exhausting weekend.

Sunday I had lunch with mom, dad, and Joe for father's day. Then I drove back to Valentine, with Pez (my mini-schnauzer). Joe decided to stay with Jordy in Omaha so that he could get things ready for visitors. The house requires much cleaning! And I have to admit, I wasn't too sad to have several nights of uninterrupted sleep.

Last night I slept like a champ! I woke up at 5am to feed Jordy, realized there was no baby, and rolled back over and slept for another three hours. I was almost late for work!

I am not sure what I will do on my own this week. I plan to take Pezzy for a walk, and go to the gym. Not sure what else there is to do alone...

Overwhelmed...

I am looking at my schedule for the next month and it is crazy!!

Moving to South Korea is no small task. There is so much preparation that we need to do before hand. I have to organize and get things ready for the moving people to come and pack up al l our stuff for storage, and have a separate pile for stuff that is going to Korea. I need to get the passports and Visas taken care of so that Joe and Jordy aren't deported. Also I am worried about finding a place to live once we get there....

This weekend we are going home to Bellevue for several graduation events. But I also need to start cleaning for all of our visitors! Joe's daddy and Ruth will be coming June 20th, then Erica and Jeremy the 27th-July 1st. Then the same day that Erica and Jeremy leave, Maarqui & Harry arrive. I am not sure how long they will be in town... But then mid July Joe's mom comes out for a visit. After not being at our house for the past few weeks, things have gone to hell in a hand basket...it is in need of some serious cleaning!

Also we want to turn Jordy's room into the guest room again. So that means I will have to do a lot of rearranging this weekend.

Joe is also very stressed...the new Playstation comes out this Thursday and we won't be near a Game Stop or Best Buy to purchase one. He has enlisted the help of my mom to go and secure one for him. This has left him freaked out! He is so concerned that she won't be able to accomplish the task...I can't wait for it to be over....

Weekend Call

This weekend I was on call, for the entire weekend! I am exhausted. There was so much crazy stuff. The bust was a 15 year old boy who was working on a table saw. His hand got caught and this is the result. All four fingers were involved, but the ring and middle were the worst. He could not move the ring finger or feel at the distal tip.

I spent two hours on the phone trying to find a hand surgeon. I called North Platte who doesn't have a hand surgeon on call. I called Kearney, their hand surgeon said he didn't do micro surgery. I called Creighton which is the on call trauma center for the state on Saturdays, they refused, yes that is right refused!! They said it was an isolated trauma so they didn't have to take it. I called Creightons hand surgeon on call who said he did not take care of pediatric patients- the kid is 15 and 170 pounds! He told me to call Children's Hospital, their ER gave me the phone book listings for a Hand Surgeon. We paged several, finally one called back and said they could see him Monday....MONDAY!!

I was horrified. I was so worried this kid was going to lose his fingers, especially the ring finger. His father was surprisingly calm, and said Monday would be fine. From what I hear they drove down yesterday (Sunday) to Omaha to see the surgeon today. I hope he does okay.