Things that are on my mind...

Things I am really happy about right now:

• My little Jordy, he is so cute! He learns so much everyday and is starting to really talk more. He says Hi and Bye accompanied by a wave.
  
• My Job. I really enjoy it, except for the night shift...I love the guys that I work with- we have a lot of fun together. Eric, Travis, and Trent have become like brothers to me. I really feel lucky to have them as friends, and privileged that I get to know their families too!
  
• Getting to go to Hawaii and see my mom & dad & Jenn & Adam next month.
• Joe & I are getting our finances together. We actually have a spending plan!
• Being married. I love coming home to Joe everyday. After 7 years of marriage and 9 years together, I can't believe that we still get along so well! I am so glad that I said, "I do".
  

Things I am excited about:

• Moving to Florida and getting a house with a yard. I want to start gardening and can't wait to get Pezzy (my little schnauzer) back.
• Having a garbage disposal again! Having more than two outlets in the kitchen. Having a regular heating system- here the heat comes from the floor! Getting a bed that doesn't feel like a rock.
  
• I can't wait to have another baby. Joe is not sure that we can handle another little terror, but I am ready!
• Passing boards next month (hopefully).

Things that I am worried about:

• Boards. I take the big test in two weeks. I really haven't studied as much as I should. It is hard to study since I feel like nothing I will study will actually be on the test!

Things I am sad about:

• Being so far away from our families. It is hard to be away and miss so much. I miss hearing all the news from everyone.
  
• Not talking to Heidi, my sister, often enough. She has been so busy that she never calls me anymore...
• Not reaching my sexy goal, AKA Operation Stork Attack. I wanted to be sexy in Hawaii, but I think that people will think I am a land cow when I get there. I full intended on working out regularly, but that kind of fell apart once we got to Korea. It was really hard to go to the gym here. I just feel really bad coming home and then leaving Joe again to go to the gym. I tried to do some work out videos at home, but wasn't very dedicated. In a way I did reach my goal- I am back to my pre-prego weight, but it looks nothing like it used to :( Much more jiggly :( Joe and I have decided to shoot for a new goal- be as fat as we can in Hawaii. To kick of this goal we have eaten like pigs today. I made a pumpkin cheesecake with a pound of butter and 4, yes 4, packages of full fat cream cheese. In addition to a slice of this, Joe also ate a small tub of Ben and Jerry's. We are well on our way to fatdom...
  
• Jordy growing up so fast. I want to savor every moment with him. The other day I was at work and I called Joe to see what he was up to. Joe was putting Jordy into his "jammies" and getting ready for bed. I was so sad that I was missing everything. I do enjoy my job, but really want to be here to take care of Jordy.

Working the Night Shift...

I don't know how people do it. I worked the last two nights and it was hell. Everyone kept telling me how slow it would be, that I would have tons of time to study for boards, I would be so bored they said... WRONG!!

We were so busy both nights. Everytime I would even think about laying down on my office floor- seriously there is no call room!- they would come in and wake me up again. It was pretty much non-stop the entire time.

It is pretty sad to look in my office. There is an exercise mat that someone left in there and an old wool blanket. I roll the mat out and use the blanket. Hey when you get desperate, you will do anything! Unfortunately I didn't get much sleep d/t constant patients and constant questions regarding my orders. Apparently I stuttered when I wrote the orders down...so frustrating when the nurses just ask a billion questions, "Are you sure you want to do this, what about this, what about that?" Seriously my patience was wearing thin... murderous rage building...

Then this morning they had a recall and everyone had to come in. I didn't mind that part since I was already there- it was kind of nice to have all the company for the last part of my shift. But then I had to stay an hour later until we were released. I was dead for the day. Joe watched Jordy and did a really good job of keeping him quiet. He had to confiscate his new favorite toe- the push-corn popper dealie (not sure what the real name is for it!). Jordy found it at the Bx and pushed it around the store for an hour and a half while we shopped. We ended up buying it for him b/c it made him so happy!

As soon as we got it home I wished we hadn't gotten it. That thing is so shockingly loud in our house. It didn't seem so bad in the store with all the other noise going on, but now it is like a machine gun going off constantly. To make it worse Jordy can't push it in a straight line so he periodically picks it up and slams it back down in front of him...it is so loud! We have to yell at eachother to communicate! At least Jordy is entertained!

So since I am on this night schedule, now I don't know whether I should stay up all night tonight and sleep tomorrow, or go back to a normal schedule. But I work Thursday night, then Friday night off, then Saturday and Sunday night....

Waste Report

Well this week I didn't do much better. Partly b/c last week I didn't clean out the crisper, which many years ago my dad renamed, "The Rotter". Unfortunately it's tendency to rot food has carried onto my household as well.

Pictured here you will see all my good intentions of eating good. I full intended on eating celery sticks (bottom right of picture), salads (which I actually had a few as evidenced by the partially eaten lettuce). I planned on eating cucumbers with my salads, but forgot they were there...

I accidently bought too much cilantro for a recipe and meant to make some salsa with it...but forgot. This one really pisses me off since at the commissary cilatro is 2.50 a bunch!! In the states we got 3 bunches for a dollar!

In the back of the photo is a tv dinner for babies that Jordy would spit out everytime we forced him to take a bite.

There is also a jug of some Korean drink that I thought was aloe morning- not the same. It is "Be Original" and is not quite as yummy as the Aloe Morning. The Aloe Morning has a yummy tropical flavor and tastes like the carribean (if you can imagine that).

Anyways, I can't add up how much all this waste has cost me this week. Partly b/c I just polished off a bottle of wine and no longer have the ability to add two numbers together. Also b/c sadly, this picture does not detail all the waste we actually incurred. Today I tried to make a salad out of some lettuce that looked okay in the bag, but when I got it out it was pretty slimy :(

For my birthday I asked Joe for Quicken. Being the wonderful husband that he is, he got it for me instantly. I have been learning how to use it. It is harder than I thought. My friend at work has a genius wife who is a financial wizard. Katie is helping me get my finances in order and become a responsible money manager. She actually tracks every penny they have and has a yearly budget! I don't know how she does it! Maybe someday I will actually know how much money is in my bank account at any given time. Interestingly enough, she did suggest the "envelope system" until we get the hang of it! Joe and I rolled laughing explaining that Joe's mom LOVES the envelopes!

I will keep you posted on the evolution of the budget and the waste report...

My baby boy...getting so big so fast!

It has been a while since I have written much about the ever changing Jordy.

He is now 14 months old. I think he is about 28lbs (just a guess though as I don't own a scale). He is getting really tall and can take things off of our table, and on his tip toes can take things off the kitchen counter. Most of the time when he pulls things off the kitchen counter it is disastrous- pulling down plates of food or sharp knives. Luckily we have had no casualties yet.

Jordy has three teeth!! I know, I know it is a miracle! About three weeks ago he started to get his lower left front tooth, then the top front two popped out. Poor guy has been miserable. I think that all his teeth are gonna pop out now pretty quick. I am amazed he made it this long with no teeth. Actually I was started to get a little worried as his little cousin Isabella practically has a full set of choppers- including molars!

Jordy still isn't a big talker. He says Bye-Bye with a wave. A few times he has said hi, but not too often. He says momma and dada. But despite the endless babble that comes out of his mouth, no other actual words.

He really enjoys pushing buttons. Our dishwasher makes all kinds of fun noises with every button push. He keeps turning on the dishwasher to all these crazy cycles.

Joe and I are constantly being stalked by Jordy holding up books. He loves to be read to, but doesn't have the attention span to make it through the entire book (all 3-4 pages of a board book!).

He loves when Joe does his crazy scream. Jordy will stop whatever he is doing and just let out a big hearty laugh. It is adorable. Whenever he does this in public (the laugh, not Joe's scream) everyone smiles and laughs with him.

His favorite food is by far hot dogs. He sees us making one and he goes bezerk! He screams until he is served the whole thing. Then he dives in with both hands shoveling little hot dog bits into his mouth! For a while he loved grapes, but that obsession had died down a bit. Chocolate is another favorite, but we don't give him too much of that.

Jordy Bugs Laugh

Jordy used to love the bath, then for some reason he got really scared of it. For about two weeks whenever we would put him in there he would scream bloody murder.

So we tried to make it fun again for him. We taught him to throw stuff out of the tub, and Joe screams, and Jordy laughs so hard! Of course we end up soaked at the end of the bath, but at least Jordy isn't screaming!

The Waste Report

Right now there is a package of hamburger that has gone bad in my refrigerator. It was only 2.00 b/c it was in the reduced bin at the commissary, but still it was wasteful. Last Sunday I took it out of the freezer with the intent of making a meatloaf. It was defrosted when I came home from work on Monday, but I was so tired I didn't make it.

Then Tuesday Joe picked me up and had got Burger King for us, yummy! So I didn't make the meatloaf.

Wednesday I had the day off so I had fully intended on making meatloaf, but didn't do it.

Now, Thursday, I am afraid of the meat. It has kind of turned a funny brown color. SCARY!

Normally I would just toss it out and move on with my life, but today I am realizing how much we waste. Joe and I are pretty awful when it comes to food. We will make a meal and never eat the left overs. Nearly every time I open the fridge I find various foods in different stages of the decay process.

And it is not just food, we buy a lot of things that we never use. For instance Joe and I bought a baby carrier that was supposed to be a little backpack carrier. After one trip Joe said it was the most uncomfortable thing to wear, and Jordy hated it. So we never use it. Thank goodness it was only cost 20 dollars.

So I would like to keep a weekly update of all the things and money we have wasted.

This week:

1. 1lb hamburger meat- 2.00
2. Portable Crib (couldn't find mattress that fit it- wondering if I should spend additional $ to have mattress shipped here, or just stash it away and not use it, or sell it)- 50.00
3. Bedding for the Crib- 54.00
4. Accidently turned the heat up too high and had to open all the windows b/c we were roasting- Unknown $

Well that is all I can think of this week (so far), but that totals at least 110 bucks!

Maybe next week will be better.

Never say Never

Yesterday as I was pacing around the hospital in full chemical warfare gear, huffing and puffing in my gas mask, I can't believe my life has taken me here.

I remember in high school there were three things I knew I would never do. Number one was get married. Marriage signified the end. Once you were married you were locked in, no more variety, no more fun. A husband would only hold me down, keep me from achieving my goals, and overall make me miserable. Turns out I was wrong on that one. Once I found Joe, I didn't know instantly he was the one. But after he stood by me through some really hard times, I still didn't know. Luckily Joe didn't give up easy and after cancelling our wedding- not once, but twice....we finally did it! I couldn't be happier. Being married hasn't stopped me from achieving anything. Joe has only made my dreams possible. Without him I don't think I would have finished medical school, or residency.

The second thing I was sure I would never do was have children. If getting married locked you down, children were a million times worse. I didn't want to worry about kids and raising them properly. When Joe and I finally got married we agreed- absolutely no children! Then after delivering several babies at work, I started to think more and more about it. Then I think biology took over and then I really wanted them. Fortunately Joe really likes kids and was willing to compromise on the issue. Now that we have Jordan, I can't imagine life without him.

Everyday I look forward to seeing what new tricks Jordan has learned, what new thing he will do, and what he will destroy. The funny thing about it is that I don't even care what he breaks-most of the time!

The third and final thing I would do was join the military. I was sure that this would be an awful decision and I would regret it terribly. And pretty much I was wrong about everything, except this rule. The military does suck completely. I can't wait to get out.

My first Exercise

At our base we do these exercises quite frequently. We pretend that we are actually at war and go through all the procedures that we would do in the event of a catastrophe. This week has been quite exciting. At work we had to wear all of our Chem Gear over our regular uniform, carry our gas masks and be ready to put it on at a moments notice. Yesterday we ended being in MOPP 4 (wearing everything; gas mask, rubber gloves, rubber boots, chem suit, hood, kevlar helmet) for about 90 minutes. Plus when we go outside we have to wear a FLACC vest which is really heavy, and I don't even have the bullet proof plates in mine! Then during that time we had to "bug out", and evacuate the entire hospital. It is really hard to see wearing our gas masks. It is kind of like walking in a tunnel with no peripheral vision.

After about an hour in the gas mask I thought I was gonna pass out. I was sweating like a pig, my lenses on the gas mask were fogging, and I just wanted to sit down. Finally I sat down and started to close my eyes. Then I thought, If I pass out, I could really die in this mask and no one would realize it. I forced myself to open my eyes and concentrate on taking big deep breaths. Finally they announced the all clear and we could take them off.

I don't know how I would ever be able to actually work and treat patients in all that crap!

Thank goodness I am off work today and tomorrow. I have to work on Friday, but that is the last day of the exercise so hopefully it will be all wound down by then.

I hate all this exercise stuff, but it is nice that if we ever actually had to do it we are prepared. They pretty much make us do it so often, that when it happen for real it wouldn't be any shocker, just another day at work!

Halloween

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Our "Romantic" Anniversary

October 27th is our anniversary. This year we celebrated 7 years of wedded bliss in the most unusual way.

Originally I had intended on buying Joe a remote control helicopter (he has been wanting one since Geoff Cooper got one) and taking it to a park to fly it. But plans changed when I got the stomach flu last week and never had a chance to go buy it. Then our car starting making this funny noise and wasn't turning corners very well. We went to the repair guy on base who didn't know what the problem was- and also wouldn't talk to me about it, he actually asked to talk to "my husband". I called Joe over from the lobby by exclaiming "My tiny woman brain just possibly couldn't understand!"

I did some investigating and figured out (yes my tiny woman brain worked) that it was the rear differential that needed attending.

So instead of a leisurely day flying helicopters we decided to go to Seoul to get maps loaded onto our GPS system and get fluid to change our rear differential.

Several people I had talked to at the base said there was a Garmin store in Seoul. I asked where, and the said to take the bus to Yongsan and any cab driver would know. Well apparently that was wrong. We asked a cab driver who had no idea. Joe had called a friend of ours and think that he heard "garment" store because his directions ended us in Itaewon (eee-tay-won), which Joe kept calling "Itchy-Taiwan", where there were tons of clothing stores. We combed the streets for about two hours asking every white person we saw about GPS, no one had any idea.

Joe then thought we should head back to the base and go to the PX and ask them where they sell their GPS units. Once at the PX, no one had any idea. Then we headed to the library and registered to use their internet. Once on the internet we were able to find the website for the place, but it was all in Korean. Joe asked the librarian to interpret for us. He looked on several maps and wrote directions down on a piece of paper in Korean.



We took the directions to the cab driver- who nodded and off we went. For all we know the directions could have said, "These are stupid American's. Take them for a long ride and then rob them." Luckily though we actually ended up at the Garmin store.

At the Garmin store the guy was really nice and loaded our maps onto our unit. Joe then asked him to write down directions to the Honda dealership. I really just wanted to call it a day. It was already 4pm and I was exhausted. But we decided to stick it out and finish the mission...we pressed on...

We sat in the cab for a long time in rush our traffic. The Koreans really love their heaters and we were sweating in the backseat. Finally I couldn't take it and cracked the window. Jordy had a good time hanging his head out the window like a puppy.

Finally we got to the Honda dealer. It was quite a scene trying to explain to a Korean mechanic what the problem was when no one there spoke fluent english. It was like playing charades! Finally the mechanic pretended to crank over a stearing wheel and then bump up and down in his seat while making a grinding noise. "Hooray" we screamed! That is it!

Then they brought out two quarts of rear differential fluid and loaded it into our stroller and we rolled away!

We had dinner at Sizzler (yes they have a Sizzler) and then headed back to the bus station for our hour ride back to Osan.

Victorious we disembarked our bus and headed home. I told Joe he sure knows how to show a girl a good time. Our most memorable anniversary yet!

Eye Glasses for under 10 bucks!

I heard about a website that has eye glasses you can order for under 10 dollars a pair!

The website is zennioptical.com

I haven't personally ordered from there, but intend to considering I have never got a pair of glasses for less than 150bucks!

Come be my Follower

This is a call for followers!

I work so hard to come up with witty fun to read updates of our adventures here in South Korea, but wonder if anyone reads it!

So right now, look to the right of this posting and see where it says "Follow this Blog". Just click and the darned thing and become a follower will ya?

Thanks to Kameron and my mommy who are already my two followers.

The Plague

Me in my Chem Suit, with my glasses on the outside so I can see!

At work on Thursday, I felt so tired. I just couldn't wake up. Three cups of coffee and nothing. Then I started to feel really nauseated. So nauseated that I started to wonder if I had taken my birth control properly. The last time I felt that awful was when I was prego! I took a prego test on the down low and it was negative. Actually in that short time that I wondered if I was prego, I got really excited about that thought.

About two hours later after draining a butt abscess (I feel so bad for that guy- such a nice sweet young man with this slow healing thing on his butt), I started to feel awful. Robert had gone to a meeting and I was alone. Finally I realized things were on a downward spiral and asked the techs to call Robert back.

He was there instantly and before I knew what hit me, I was hooked up to an IV and getting some Zofran (a miracle drug that fixes nausea without making you too fatigued). I called Joe and he came to get me. Once at home I was in bed and didn't feel too bad. I actally had wondered if maybe I had over reacted.

Joe went to the market to get some diapers for Jordy, and some gatorade for me. Almost the exact moment he was riding down the elevator away from ear shot, the bomb hit!

I was in bed and felt it like a mack truck hitting me- intense nausea, gagging, swirling in my head..it was awful.

I jumped up and ran to the bathroom. Miraculously I made it to the bathroom door, was able to aim appropriately at the toilet, and let loose with explosive vomiting of some stuff I don't even remember eating. The only flaw- the toilet lid was down! I then had the intense pleasure of watching my vomit ricochet off the curved lid literally ALL OVER the BATHROOM!!

It was just awful. But that didn't end it. There was more in my tummy. I grabbed a pile of laundry and sat on that while I finished the business of completely emptying my stomach, and much of my small intestine I imagine.

When Joe finally returned I had him put the stuff in the washer since it was now covered in my gastric juices.

I laid back down and Joe told me I was the messiest sick person ever. He is right. Everytime I get sick I never make it to the bathroom. Thank goodness he is such a good sport and helps clean up the aftermath!

If only I kept this outfit at home to clean up the disaster! This is our chem suits to wear in the event of chemical warfare. I think it would also do well for the stomach flu!

Trent, me, Eric

Work Rant

Okay I have seriously had it.

Today at work I was pushed to my limit. The military has wasted my time
yet again. I wish I could say it was the last time, but I am sure that
tomorrow I will waste another several hours, reinventing the wheel yet
again.

The military is so damned obsessed with training. They are always
training us for something. It would be one thing if this was useful
training, but most of the time it really doesn't pertain to my job, or
my day to day duties. They military M.O. for this training is randomly
emailing you and saying you are due to complete this training- in the
next FIVE MINUTES!!! So go right now to this website and do it- or you
will be in trouble!!

So you drop everything, go to some random website to complete the
training that is only due once per year, and somehow you are just
finding out five minutes before you are about to be overdue. Patients
are piling up while you go to the website, you computer locks you out,
you have to call systems to get you back in. Patients are leaving b/c
they are mad they haven't been seen. Techs and nurses keep stopping by
your office to tell you that patients have been waiting...

You finally make it to the site and login. Error, log in ID not
recognized. You try again...nope doesn't like that one either. Great,
now you are locked out of that site too. But not to worry they will
email you a password in 72 hours...crap you will be expired by that
time.

Thankfully the password comes through almost immediately to your email
account. It gives you a temporary login and password to use. Back to
the site...try again- VICTORY....almost.

Now they want you to answer a series of questions to prove that it is
you. You answer all the questions, but it says some of the answers are
wrong. Some idiot has put your info into the system wrong and there are
major issues with not having a middle initial. Ten minutes on the phone
to get this error corrected...ten minutes of listening to "don't drink
and drive, always have a wingman, gay is not okay in the military..."
okay so that last one isn't really in there...

Back to the site again..."Dr. Carter, you have three patients waiting,
one is having crushing substernal chest pain with radiation to the left
arm and taste of metal in his mouth"...can't worry about that now, you
have training to do!

So finally at the site, logged in, ready to get down to some serious
learning. Five thousand six hundred and fifty two powerpoint slides
later, you are comatose, have learned nothing, but print out your
certificate- at least 2000 copies for everyone who will want it.

So you email back the person who wanted the certificate, put your copy
away and think that is the end of it. But no, up to two months later
people are hitting you up for the exact date you took this stupid
course. It wouldn't be so bad if it was one course, but they military
has one for everything and I am not kidding; Hazmat, Environment of
Care, Laws of Armed Conflict, Human Traficking, Homosexuality, Infection
Control, HIPAA, CBRNE, ORM (which I haven't even figured out what this
is yet), Hand Shaking, Ass Kissing, Butt Wiping, it can really get
ridiculous.

Then there is not a unified system for this record keeping. Since I
inprocessed here I have had to do so much training my head will explode.
Everytime I turn around, somebody else wants me to put all my
information into their data base. It is not enough that Medical
Readiness went through all my stuff and updated their system, then
Education and Training did the same and gave me a nice summary showing
all the dates for stuff, then the training monitor in the ER wanted me
to fill in all the exact same dates for her in her Excel data sheet,
then today (what instigated this rant) I got another folder in my
mailbox that wants me to fill in all the dates again!!

Are you kidding me? Do you realize I have probably spent at least 20
hours doing this? Why are so many people doing the exact same thing. I
am glad to see that my tax payer dollars are hard at work employing at
least ten people to do the EXACT SAME THING!!!

What a waste of my time.

Just Go Here!

This isn't actually the kid, the real kid was much bigger. I found this on the internet
apparently this practice is common in a lot of places...

Today Joe, Jordy, and I went grocery shopping. On the way back from the commisary, we drove out the main gate of the base to the main street of in Songtan. As we were driving down the street there was a kid about 10years old standing with his mother at the bus stop.

From down the street as we were driving towards him, it looked like he was pouring something out. When we got close I realized, and saw everything, that he was peeing right into the street!! I screamed and pointed.

Now remember this is a busy street, there are tons of people walking up and down the street, cars driving by...tons of people everywhere! There is also a big building right behind him with an alley that I am sure would have been a much more private place to do his business...but no, he decided to just go there.

Joe said several other people have told him this is common practice, even for women! This is the first I have seen of it, and was floored. I actually saw his "junk"!!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Trash Nazi

At our apartment complex has these management guys who stay out in this booth in our parking lot. There is someone who is there all at all times. I think they are supposed to be security, but really I would feel a lot more secure if they would just go away.

We are supposed to sort our trash, which in theory sounds like a good idea. I feel like we are saving the planet, but lately I feel like we are just getting yelled at.

Every time we head out to the trash pile, which is right at the front of our building (very unattractive) the little security man comes tearing out of his little booth to investigate. While we sort our trash he hovers over us making sure it is done appropriately. One time the guy yelled at Joe saying we were in violation and that he would report us to the authorities.

And when I say we have to sort our trash, I truly mean we have to SORT OUR TRASH! They want everything separated. In order to do this completely correctly we would have to have 19 different trash bins in our house...

Finally we have given up. We now pile up our trash and take it to the base like the rest of the Americans. I feel like we are failures, but my life is much easier! I will continue with the American tradition of raping and pillaging the land! God Bless the USA!!

One month and counting...

We have already been here for one month. Fortunately things are starting to feel more settled. We finally got our lease signed, which means we will be getting an additional 1900 a month to pay for housing.

We also got the car completely registered...which probably took, no exaggeration here...over 8 hours of leg work. It was a ridiculous process. First we had to go to Pyeongtaek City Hall. Fortunately our friend Trent took up, because we never would have found it on our own. It is about 5 miles from our apartment and all the signs are in Korean. There are a few scattered English signs, but they suddenly stop about a mile before you actually reach the place.

Once we were there we got some wooden plates, seriously wooden- like from a tree wood! Then we went to the base got on a bus, rode it about an hour to Yongsan Army Garrison, wandered around there for several hours till we found the car place. We got the car back, with the help of a guy who was turning in his car, but still couldn't get it registered on our base. We went back to the Pass and Registration Office and waited for an hour for some guy to tell us to go back to Pyeongtaek City Hall and get permanent plates.

So we jumped in the car, confident we could find the right building again, boy were we wrong. We drove around for about an hour. Finally I pulled up to this little booth with a woman in it and asked her where city hall was. She very nicely stuck her head out of the booth and blabbered in Korean for about 2 minutes. Joe and I sat in stunned silence. Finally Joe said, Thank you, that really clears things up for us. We drove away...scared.

Just when we were about to abandon all hope, I found it! We went inside where a woman was a total bitch to us. Finally we got the metal plates, but the holes were in the wrong spots to fit on our car. A little old man drilled holes in them while I sat in the car and had a little melt down. Why are these people so mean? By the time he was done drilling holes in the plates and attaching them to our car, Joe realized I was melting down, and took over driving (he is so wonderful). He got us back home where we ate lunch.

But we still weren't done.

Back to the base Pass & Registration Office. After waiting in their crowded waiting room for another hour, and watching countless of other people who had gotten there after us get waited on, we were finally called. The guy gave us the sticker to put on the car and we were done!

Joe was shocked that we didn't have to walk over the bed of hot coals barefoot while doing the hula hoop and singing the National Anthem in the native tongue of Papua New Guinea.

It is ridiculous! But thank god we are done!

Oh Happy Day!

Today Joe and I did the most romantic thing we have ever done together. We got up early and got Jordy dressed and went to the base. Our friend Trent dropped us off at the bus station. We rode one hour to Yongsan Army Base. There we wandered around for about an hour before we found the building we wanted. Then once inside I talked to a Korean man for about ten minutes. Then he left and returned with.... OUR CAR!!!

It was heavenly sitting behind the wheel (on the normal side of the car mind you) and driving. Luckily we started talking to a guy at the vehicle place who was dropping off his car and needed a ride back to Osan. He knew directions, and we had a car! Turns out he was a really nice guy and was a treasure trove of information. It was a really nice drive back.

Once we were back to Osan we went grocery shopping and bought tons of food. We are now well stocked and have transportation! It is wonderful!

Now the only thing standing in our way of being completely settled is the lease. Unbeleivably we have been living in this apartment since the 12th and haven't signed a lease yet. The person who owns this unit is in the process of selling it, so we can't sign the lease yet. B/c we have no lease, we can't get our OHA (oversease housing allowance) which is an extra 1900.00 a month. So I really want to get that done! Hopefully it will be this week...

Work has been good. The beginning of the month my schedule is wonderful-I work one day, then three off, one day then three off. Mid month I switch to a three on- one off. I haven't seen any real emergencies in the ER yet, just lots of whiny people who don't want to got work. At least most of them are nice about it.

I have this weekend off, not sure what we are gonna do. I wanted to go on another tour, not sure if Joe is for it though...

Seoul City

Jordy fell asleep so we just held up his head!

-

Today we went on a tour of Seoul with a tour group. The base has all kinds of tours for only about 20 bucks. They provide transportation and a tour guide who actually speaks English! We went with Eric (friend from residency) and Robert (head honcho of the ER). Joe didn't sleep good last night, but did a good job of not complaining too much.

The first stop we went was the Seoul Tower. It is like the space needle in Seattle...kind of... At the top there is all kinds of locks all over the railing. Apparently they are what the teenagers put there to symbolize their love- and they throw the key over the side! There was also a big display of hearts with different designs on them. In the park surrounding the tower there was some guys practicing some sort of martial arts. It was pretty cool.



Next stop was some city street that had a lot of shopping. There was an Outback Steakhouse. We ate there, but it wasn't quite right.

Then we walked along this pretty waterway and arrived in some place with more shopping and roadside food places. There was actually a big pot of beatles and worms. It was quite disgusting. The tour guide said they are really good and salty. Uggggghhhh!

We went to the blue house (like the white house in the US, it is where the prez lives). It was the cleanest place we have seen in this country so far! It was a fun day- but we were pretty tired when we got back.

My first three shift in ER

I just worked three shifts in the ER and just have to say that there are so many whiny patients out there!

I don't think that there was really any true emergencies, just mostly primary care stuff.

There were so many coughs/colds that I wondered if these people have never been sick before. There was one guy who went to his primary care doctor and was told he had a cold two days ago, he then came to me today wondering why he wasn't better.

It was so annoying.... The hard part is that I am too nice...I have a hard time telling them to suck it up. I did give out less get out of work free slips today though. I think I was just sick of having to put up with this shit.

We still haven't found a car yet. I have been looking online and around base and no luck. I have been riding my bike to work and back. It isn't so bad in the morning, but in the afternoon it is all up hill and hot as hell. I arrive home looking like I just jumped out of the sauna- all red in the face and sweaty. Today Joe borrowed our friends car and came and picked me up. I was so glad.

I am supposed to not have to work tomorrow, but there is some training to do so I have to be there anyways...GREAT!! I am so thrilled. I am also supposed to take the test for my drivers license in Korea. Hopefully I will pass...

Pics from Korea

Here is jordy In the airport with his monkey leash on.

This is the main street by our apartment.

This is Joe infront of the front gate to Osan.


This is near the main gate. There is a big shopping area there. They even have a Baskin Robbins and a McDonalds.

Korea Update

We have survived almost two weeks here!

Our stuff that we had shipped over arrived. We finally have internet in our place, and a working phone. Last night we went and got cell phones. The only thing we are still missing is a car! Our is arriving October 20th, but I am working on buying a used car. It is really hard to find one- they sell almost once they are posted online!

We are adjusting to live in Korea. There are some small but significant differences. First off I finally figured out that we don't have a garbage disposal in our kitchen. It looks like there is one, but I could never find the plug. Finally I asked my friend Trent who taught me how to use the contraption. All the food goes down the drain and catches in this little netted trap. Then you put this lid over the trap and it centrifuges all the food particles down to a dry lump. Then you take the dry lump out to the trash pile. At the trash pile they have these yellow bins that you put all the food stuff in. It is really gross.

They recycle everything here. We have to separate all of our trash. I still haven't quite figured out where to put the dirty diapers? Having to work so hard to throw things away really makes you realize how much trash you create!

The next thing that is really different is the laundry. The property manager assured us that we did have a washer and a dryer, but in the laundry room was only one machine. Turns out that it is both a washer and a dryer. I assumed that once it was done washing a tumble cycle would then start. I was wrong. What happens is it washes the clothes, then heats up like an oven. Then it proceeds to bake your clothes for about three hours. Sometimes they turn out good, sometimes they are still damp. Out on our patio is a clothes rack for hanging the clothes to dry. I am using it quite frequently.

All of the appliances sing- whenever they are done with anything it sings a little song. Jordy really enjoys it!

I start actual work on Tuesday. Kind of scary since I will be all alone for three days because our flight commander is gonna be gone! I guess I will survive (hopefully the patients will too).

On Friday I picked up all my chem warfare stuff. They have two separate bags- training stuff and real world stuff. On Monday I get to go practice wearing everything, gas mask and all. I am sure I will be drenched in sweat by the time we are done!

Since we have been here I haven't been able to work out at all! I am so exhausted from the time change. I am starting to adjust. Jordy has done better than Joe and I. He is adjusted to the time. Hopefully by the end of this week we will be all settled and in a routine. It is hard for me to change my schedule all the time.

Next weekend we are going to take a tour of Seoul with the military tour group. I am looking forward to seeing the big city.

Only 364 more days to go...

We survived the journey here. Surprisingly Jordy did really well on the plane. On the long flight from San Francisco to Seoul, we were in the middle seats and no one was in the two seats next to us. We were able to lay Jordy down and let him sleep. Joe and I couldn't sleep though, so uncomfortable!

Once we landed we had a two hour bus ride to the base. We were greeted at the hotel by Trent and Eric, two of the guys I was in residency with. We got signed into the base and got checked into the hotel. Our room is pretty tiny, especially with all our luggage and crap. I was so exhausted from the trip, but as soon as I laid my head down, Jordy was wide awake! Thank goodness Joe took him out to the lobby for several hours to sleep. Poor Joe didn't sleep at all that night...

In the morning I went over to the hospital and got signed in there. They gave me a huge check in sheet of all the places I need to go for inprocessing...I actually had to sit down I was so overwhelmed. I didn't get any of it done yet....

Today we met with the housing office and went and looked at an apartment. It is 1.2 million won (1200 dollars per month). We can move in tomorrow. Negotiating the deal was the scariest thing I have ever done. At one point there were three Korean men yelling at eachother in Korean. I had no idea what was going on. The whole process is very confusing!

This is the living room of our apartment.

Kitchen

The apartment is about a ten minute drive off base. Joe is a little terrified about how far it is. It seems pretty overwhelming when there are no signs in English and crazy drivers everywhere. I hope we get the hang of things. Our car doesn't get here until mid- October, so I guess I will be riding my bike or taking taxis for a while!

This Monday is a Korean holiday, Chusek, kind of like our Thanksgiving. Joe asked our realtor what they ate for the holiday and he said something that sounded suspiciously like dog. Joe tried to clarify what he said and at one point started barking and panting to signify he meant an actual dog. The realtor laughed and assured us it was not a dog, but rather some sort of rice cake... It was really funny!

Our last day...

We are headed to South Korea (map shows North Korea, sorry only map I could find)

Today was our last day in the "states"... I kept help but look back over our last three years here. So much has changed in those years.

We moved to Omaha Nebraska, a place I had never even thought about moving before. I was lucky enough to have a wonderful husband who supported me without any doubt and moved out here with me. Joe and I bought a huge house, backed out of the deal, then bought a condo. I started residency and wondered what the hell I was thinking and wanted to quit. Joe encouraged me right till the very end.

We started a family, first two dogs, then our precious son Jordan. He changed our lives in so many ways, mostly good...I do miss sleeping in. But it is entirely worth it getting up to play with Jordy before anyone else is up. I treasure everyday with him because he changes so quickly. He looks at everything with amazement and wonder.

Joe worked for Best Buy and then Pay Pal. We were fortunate that we could survive on one income and Joe decided to stay home with our Jordy. Then we found out we were headed for Korea...

At first we didn't know what to think. Then we decided it would be best to embrace this adventure. When I had Jordan I was a little scared that my traveling days would be over, but then a few months later we are ready to fly off to Korea, see China, and hopefully Japan too. It is amazing how everything works out.

Joe and I have also changed as individuals and as a couple as well. Being alone out here we have really learned to depend on eachother. I know that Joe is there for me unconditionally. I can depend on him and he will always be there. Joe and I have a wonderful marriage and I feel so lucky to have him. After seven years I still wonder how he puts up with me...

Our cell phones are shut off, our mail forwarded, our place rented, our bags packed. It is just me, Joe and Jordy and the open road/sky... After a long trip we will arrive in Korea and start a new chapter of our lives...

Jordy Videos

Another Video!


I realized that I only have videos on here with Jordy having a screaming fit. He really does not cry every second of the day, contrary to what Joe will tell you. Jordy does some really cute tricks. This is his dancing that we call Baby River Dance.

Jenn came out to visit us before we left the country and Jordy warmed up to her pretty quick. He then was always trying to give her Jordy Kisses, which she found gross. We were all jealous with how many Jordy Kisses he gave to her, since he is usually very stingy with them.

We leave on Monday. It will be nice to have everything all done. It is so stressful moving from place to place and not having a regular place for everything.

'Hood workout

In my quest of sexiness, I found a great blog called phit-n-phat. She also has really good videos on youtube about exercise and motivation and stuff. The lady's name is Corinne Crabtree. She used to be a whale, but now is freaking hot! Hopefully someday soon I will be down the path to hotness!

On her videos she talks about the "hood workout". She does a power walk around the neighborhood for 4 minute intervals. The she stops and does "power moves". There are several of these; suicides, push-ups, hopping up on the curb, pop squats, etc. Then after these she resumes walking for another 4 minutes, then repeats.

Joe agreed to go with my on this 'Hood Workout. We started out from my mom's house and got half way down the block when it was time for the first of the power moves. Joe started out doing them, then stopped. He said that the "spectacle factor" was too high. He just kind of walked away from me while I was doing the moves.

We walked all the way to the end of the neighborhood, stopping every 4 minutes. At the end of the block I stopped in one yard to do these, when I heard clapping and hooting coming from one of the houses. Joe was horrified to even be seen with me! He started to walk away.

I really didn't care if I was jeered at or heckeled! I am trying to lose weight not win a coolness contest (which I would lose anyways).

When we got back (after a solid 34 minutes of doing this) Joe explained to my parents what I had been doing. They were also pretty horrified that I would do this outside! So I guess I am on my own next time!

Check out the Phit-n Phat Site, it is really inspirational! http://phit-n-phat.typepad.com/
To see the 'Hood workout look on youtube!

Homeless!!

If only we could ship Jordy to Korea...that 12 hour plane ride is gonna be a killer!

All the moving was too much for Jordy, he finally crashed in our empty place.

We officially moved out of our place. I was pretty sad to see all of our stuff go. Thank goodness the military does all the work for us. On Friday we had three women come and pack up all of our stuff. They packed the entire house in about 5 hours. Then on Monday three guys came and moved all the stuff out, packed it into a truck, and away it went.

Since then we have been staying at my mom's house. It is really nice to have some extra help with Jordy. He loves grandma and grandpa.

Last week I finished residency!! Hooray, it has been a really long three years... Now that I am a "real" doctor, I am allowed to work for extra money. Over this past weekend I did some moonlighting in rural Nebraska. It was a pretty good deal, 3500 for 48 hours of call. And they let Joe and Jordy and I all stay in a house that the hospital owns. In addition I got a call from one of the staff there asking what kind of food we wanted in the house. When we got there the fridge was stocked with everything I had mentioned. Plus they even got Jordy a birthday present! I couldn't beleive it!

It was a crazy weekend; we flew one guy out with an acute MI, nearly coded one lady (she survived), did surgery on a 20 month old boy, removed a toenail, sewed up a head, knee, and arm.... It was a lot of fun and really confidence building.

I kept hearing all my attendings in my ear "Don't let that diabetic fool you, he's having an MI" Dr. Harrison kept screaming, "Get the ESR and CRP" Dr. Smith said, "She's allowed to have a few seizures with all that dementia" Dr. Malloy said. Dr. Hall looked over my shoulder as I read the EKG and said, "Get this guy out of here!" It really amazed me how much I have absorbed in the few years I have been here. This weekend for the first time I really felt like a competent doctor, I knew I could handle anything they threw my way. For that thank you to all my wonderful attendings and teachers.

We leave for Korea in one week. My best friend Jenn, is coming to visit on Wednesay. It will be fun to have no work or stress for a few days before the packing and chaos begins. I am just pretty anxious to get settled...all this moving around is killing me.



Make a Smilebox scrapbook

moving...Operation Stork Attack Update.

Tomorrow the movers come and take all the boxes away. I am pretty overwhelmed to be leaving our first real home. This is the home that Joe and I bought and called ours. We started a family here. This is where I looked forward to coming home to after every hard day at work. It is hard to leave.

Joe right now is at the gym. I am not allowed to work out since the surgery was just yesterday. Actually I am a little glad to have an excuse not to work out. I have fallen a bit off the wagon on operation stork attack, but vow to start again with new vigor and determination.

The movers came!

On Friday bright and early, the movers came and packed up all of our stuff...and even some stuff we didn't want to be packed. I left some of Jordy's clothes out, they got packed. Joe left some DVDs, they got packed. I took a shower after they left and realized I had no towel...I blotted myself dry with one of Jordy's bibs.

Earlier in the week we drove down to St. Louis and dropped our car off to the shipping place. It should arrive in South Korea on October 20th. That is a long time with no car! At least it is warm weather, so I won't be hiking back and forth to work in the snow! The drive down to St. Louis wasn't too bad, we used my dad's Magellan. It was nice to not have to navigate. But when we were driving to our hotel, it randomly announced in the middle of some street that "You have arrived." There was no hotel in sight. Luckily we were able to spot it about two miles down the road.

While we were in St. Louis getting gas, Joe saw some guy putting a gun into the trashcan. He jumped in the car all freaked out demanding that I drive away fast- I interrogated him right there as to what we getting away from. He told me I suck as a getaway driver

As if this whole week wasn't stressful enough, I had surgery today. I had a little mass on my right cheek, just under the skin (pre-auricular mass, likely a parotid tumor). It had been there for years, and I never worried about it. Then I told one of the attendings at work about it, and she sent me right away to ENT. He said that the natural history of these things is for them to be stable in size for years, then suddenly increase drastically in size, turn into cancer, etc. So he thought, and I agreed, that it needed to come out.

The procedure didn't take long. I came home wearing a huge pressure dressing over my right ear. I seriously look like I am trying to direct air traffic. It really hurts having my ear mashed down so hard. I have to go back tomorrow, and have my ear muff removed, and the drain underneath it. I was really worried that I would have a huge scar on my cheek, but my ENT guy is also a board certified plastic surgeon so hopefully it will turn out pretty!

This next week will also be a busy one. Monday they come and take away all the boxes. Then this week is my last week of clinic. I am working at a ER in rural Nebraska Saturday and Sunday. Then Jenn comes next week! Also my little man will turn 1. I can't believe it!

7 days and counting...

Only 7 days until the movers come to pack up all of our stuff. Even Jordy is feeling the heat.

I am feeling so overwhelmed. I keep coming up with more stuff that I can't live without for the next year....what about the shampoo that I have been stockpiling for the last three years, my heating pad, my wok- yes I know I haven't used it in the last three years, but we will be in Korea. Maybe I will need to make stir-fry while we are there. You just can never be too prepared.

Since the movers already took the stuff that will go to Korea, the movers coming next week will be moving all this stuff to storage. So literally, we will not be seeing it for one year!

Joe seems surprisingly calm. Blissfully playing on his PSP....if he could only catch a glipse of the inner workings of my mind, he wouldn't sleep for the next month!

I am to the point of stress level that I can not concentrate on any task. While I am at work listening to whiny patients I am really thinking about how we have to drive to St. Louis on Wednesday and drop the car off to be shipped to Korea. While I am on the phone coordinating this drive to St. Louis I am thinking about what I will need for my moonlighting shift in rural Nebraska....I can hardly fall asleep b/c my mind is racing in circles about stuff that needs to be done. It is a endless circle. I just need to stop!

My sister was supposed to come up and see us, but then wasn't able to get the time off of work. Then with the car needing to go to St. Louis I thought we would be able to see her there, since she is working there now. But turns out she will not be in town anytime in the next month, and infact got a new job in Kentucky, so getting to spend time with her is a negatory. I guess that she will not get to see our little monster unti he is in his terrible twos, and she will really wonder what on earth we were thinking when we had kids!

To be honest I am a little glad to be leaving this base. It is so lonely without the rest of my classmates here. It is almost like I am invisible at work. Our program director even took me off of his email list, so I don't get any of the group emails. I am constantly lost and hearing stuff through the grapevine.

Hearing the guys in Korea talk about how sweet our jobs will be is pretty exciting. We (Trent, Travis, Eric, & me) will all be working in the ER together! Allegedly we only work 3 twelve hour shifts per week. It sounds too good to be true! I will wait and see before I get too excited...

We have Renters!

Hooray!! We found someone to rent our place. I hope it all works out. In preparation of getting the place ready for renters, I wanted to paint over the trees...

For those of you who don't know, I have two huge palm trees painted on the main wall in the entry way. I chose to do this b/c it is a huge wall- two stories high, and I didn't want to paint the whole thing. Mostly to avoid climbing a ladder and scaring myself silly, not to mention that Joe would have no part in it- seeing as he is afraid of heights.

So I found these trees, palm trees to be exact, on QVC. Now I know what you are thinking, QVC? But I assure you, I am not turning into my mother! These trees are called tatouage, and they have a whole line of things such as trees, vases, flowers, all kinds of stuff. They boast that you can have a custom painted look, and when you tired of them you can paint right over them....

THEY LIE!!

We primered the area with a good coat of primer. Then two coats of white paint later we were horrified to realize that although the tree was covered and not a speck of green was shining through, you could see every bump of every frond! It looked like our wall was embossed with a huge palm tree! I was so mad....

then we got a call that our place had rented, to the people that really loved the trees!

Damn it!!

So off to Menards ("save more money at Menards"), and bought a little sander. My dad spent about an hour sanding our wall. At one point I thought that he was going to sand a porthole right over to our neighbors house.

But alas, after over an hour of sanding, Joe then slapped on two more coats of paint, and VOILA!
A brand new wall.

We only painted up to the line that was even with the lower ceiling of the living room, now I can only focus on that damned line where we painted, and where we didn't....that damn line...

I talked briefly about breaking down and painting the whole wall, Joe told me to never speak of painting again...I think I agree.

Four Thousand Dollars!!

Yesterday while at work I got an urgent page from Joe. Since he hardly ever pages me at work, I immediately called back.

He said that a UPS man showed up at the house with an URGENT Letter for me. Since it was so URGENT he opened it. Inside the envelope was a check for 4 thousand dollars made out to me!

Joe was all excited!

I said to shred the check! There is no way that I am randomly gonna get a check for that amount without expecting it.

Then I remembered earlier in the day I got an email from "Eric Johnson" saying "you should have received my check by now." I just deleted it and thought it was junk mail.

My mom and Joe did some investigating. They called the bank the check was from. They said the routing number was bad. They said there were several checks floating around like this.

When I got home I got another email for "Eric Johnson", Here is what it said:

Hello ,

how are you doing today ? am glad to inform you that the payment as now been delivered to you Via ups....

All you have to now is now is go ahead and have the payment cashed and take off your own money fior the Item and have the remaining balance send to my Shipper today Via Money Gram money transfer. and don't forget to take deduct the transfer charges before sending the money.

Below is the Information you are to send the money to...

NAME----CHRISTOPHER CAJUMBAN
city-----ROSEMEAD
STATE---CALIFORNIA
ZIPCODE--91770

I wrote back instructing him to fornicate himself with a metal pole.

This is obviously a scam. I hope that everyone who reads this will not fall for such a scam.

I actually saw it on Oprah about a year ago, and while I was working in Valentine there was some girl who fell for it. The scam is they send you a check. Then you deposit it, and wire some money back to them. After they get their money, your bank tells you that the check didn't clear and you owe them the money, plus any returned check fees.

It is really sad that someone would do this!

No TV??!

So in preparation of getting ready to go to Korea, we are shutting things off.

First to go was the house phone (but you can still call the same number- we got Vonage!). Getting rid of the house phone wasn't painful since we had vonage, and we still had cell phones.

Now the next step, cancelling Direct TV. Now this one is gonna hurt. The official day is August 10th. The countdown begins. Joe has already started staying up nearly 24 hours a day to watch tv nonstop.

I am kind of looking forward to a life without television. There was one week when we lived in California that I demanded we not watch tv for one week. I remember that week as so much fun- Joe and I did all kinds of fun things; played cards, listened to old CDs, and the most exciting thing was we talked! Joe looks back on that week as one of the worst weeks ever! He is such a couch potato!

After the tv goes off we have to mail back the boxes. I am sure Joe will dress in black and say a small eulogy. I will try to capture the moment on film for everyone to enjoy.

This afternoon we have some people coming to see the place. Hopefully they will like it. I think it would actually be perfect for them as they need daycare for their daughter and there is one right across the street. Also the wife works for a local business right down the street. Hopefully we can dazzle them into taking it!

Jordy Bug

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Jordy 11 months old!!

I can't beleive that Jordan is already 11 months old! It has gone by so fast, I feel like we hardly got to enjoy him as a baby... He runs around the house and picks up interesting things, and carries them around until he finds something else interesting, he then leaves the old item right there and picks up the new item with fervor. He then will wander around babbling excitedly. We call him the collector.

Operation Stork Attack has lost some of it's gusto. I did manage to lose, and maintain a 5 lb weight loss. Things sadly though, are not the same. I need to get motivated again. Here I am with my friend who works for the Bellevue police department. I couldn't get my hair right that day...

The movers came and took our stuff to Korea, we still have some stuff in our house, but not much. The movers will come again at the end of August and take all the remaining stuff to storage. We still need to find someone to rent our place...hopefully someone will want it.

The best meal Joe ever ate!

A few months ago I made this and Joe declared "this is the best meal I have ever eaten!" Just thought I would share it. I got it from a magazine (Family Circle).

Korean-Style Short Ribs (appropriate since we will soon be there)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
4 cloves garlic crushed
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
5 pounds beef short ribs
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1.5 cups shreded carrots
3 scallions
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
3 cups cooked white rice

Blend soy sauce, sugar, oil, vinegar, ginger, garlic and red pepper in bowl.

Place ribs in 5 quart slow cooker, add sauce. Cover and cook on high for 6 hours or low for 9 hours until meat is tender.

Transfer ribs to a platter, skin and discard excess fat from liquid. Combine cornstarch and 3 tablespoons water. Blend with liquid in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook for two minutes. Stir in carrots. Top ribs with sesame seeds. Serve with cooked rice.

Overwhelmed...

Okay so this last week has sucked.

The people who agreed to rent our house are having problems with the lady we hired to be the property manager. I keep getting calls of the she said, he said variety. Finally the people backed out b/c they can not work with our property manager and they were making a big deal over wording in the lease agreement. So they are out. I was up last night worried about finding new people. I got it listed on two websites and put up fliers around base temporary housing. Hopefully we will get someone in time.

The homeowner's association meeting was last night and apparently the builder of our complex has or is about to file for bankruptcy and will no longer be completing the units in our complex. There are several units (over 20) that are empty and they are possibly going to sell that at drastically reduced pricing- bring down our property value. Bottom line we may never be able to sell this place. We weren't really planning on that anytime soon- but it is bad news anyways.

On Monday the movers are coming to get the stuff for Korea. We have spent much of the last week getting that pile of stuff together. I have no idea how much itweighs, but hopefully that pile will be less than 2400lbs or else we will have to pay for some of it to be shipped.

The car...

So since we are going to Korea, we decided to sell our cars. Joe posted the CRV on AutoTrader and almost a month went by with no calls. Then someone emailed me asking why the price for a Mazda 3 was so high....turns out Joe had put the description and pictures of the CRV, but listed it under the mazda VIN #. Somehow we ended up selling the mazda from this screw up. We fixed it and now the CRV is properly posted. Hopefully we can sell that now!

We found people that will rent our place. They went back and forth on it for a while, but they say now they want it. I hope that it will all work out.

Summertime fun

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

I love my boys...

Last night Jordy had a fever- 101.8. It was the first time he has had a fever. Unbelievable since he is already 10mos!

I gave him a bath and noticed that he was shivering violently. I checked the water, it was warm...then I got him out and tried to warm him up. Within minutes he was blazing hot. I wrestled him down and got the thermometer in his little ear to find the temp.

Joe and I were pretty worried. We gave him tylenol, no help, motrin, no help. We cuddled and loved on him until he fell asleep. Then we put him to bed. He slept like a champ until 5am. He was burning up again. Joe got him a bottle while I snuggled with Jordy in bed. Ravenously he sucked down an entire 6 ounce bottle, then while I snuggled close he became a fire hydrant and projectile vomitted it all back in a fountain at least a foot high! I was covered, Jordy was crying...Joe scrambled to get a towel.

After that trauma, Joe was scared to be home alone with him. My mom came to the rescue yet again. She came over while I had to be at work. I was so worred I could hardly think about clinic. I rushed home as fast as I could.

When I came home this is what I saw: I just love my boys.

Air Force Graduation

So finally we got to graduation. It has been three long years, and I am still not done.... Because I took maternity leave, I still have to stick around and do clinic for two more months. I am not too disappointed b/c we have so much to do to get ready for Korea! But for that reason, graduation was kind of anti-climactic. I went back to work the very next day :(

Here are a few pics of the graduation. Jordy met a little girl, which he really liked! He tried to give her "jordy kisses" which is basically where he grabs your face and slobbers all over it. She wasn't into that and pushed him to the ground! Then he cried. It was very sad to witness his first rejection.

Erica and Jeremy were out for the graduation and we had fun seeing them.