So tired....

I have worked 6 out of the last 7 days. 72 hours. Nights. Please just kill me.

This has been a hell of a week. The exercise is in full swing. I am wearing almost every article of clothing the military has ever given me. It takes me about 10 minutes to get dressed, and that is just putting on clothes!

Earlier in the week while I was sleeping Joe came into the bedroom whispering saying there were two women out in the living room praying.

It thought I had misunderstood him, but he reiterated and assured me they were there and now he couldn't get rid of them. Apparently they had buzzed on the outside door and wanted into the building. Joe went out and let them in b/c it was snowing, and then they followed him in to our living room, kneeled on the floor and started praying.

I got up and went out to the living room and told them women that there was a misunderstanding and they would have to leave immediately. They knodded and looked like they were leaving.

I got back in bed, Joe didn't come back to the bedroom so I called him...no answer. I listened really close and damn it, those women were going on and on about an earth mother, earth father, heavenly mother, heavenly father...

I jumped out of bed, pissed. In the living room there was Joe, the women reading out of the Bible, and Jordy (who was having a great time!).

"You have to leave." I explained. No one budged. Am I invisible I wonder?

"In heaven there is a heavenly mother..." The lady babbled on, oblivious that I was even there.

Joe is starting to get that worried look on his eye. This is the look that he gets whenever he knows I am about to entirely lose my shit and he is going to be really embarassed.

"I don't think you heard me," I said a bit louder. Nothing. "You need to leave. I work nights and have to sleep. You are making too much noise." The lady kept reading her bible. Joe is panicking. The other woman with the reading lady is looking like a deer in headlights. The situation is growing tense. Jordy is smiling and laughing, clapping his hands- yes storytime brings out the best in him.

Finally I lost it...I clapped my hands together loudly, "Let's move it people!" I screamed. I grabbed the Bible readers arm and steered her towards the door. Surprising she hardly budged. "YOU NEED TO LEAVE" (before I kick your ass, I wanted to add). She smiled a sarcastic smile and said okay. I slammed her Bible shut, shoved it at her, and escorted her to the door, with her little friend.

Finally they were outside, she turned and tried to say something else to me. I slammed the door and deadbolted it.

What the hell was that all about?? Does she really think that by staging her own sit in she will save souls? The only thing she accomplished her was a good lesson for all of us not to let strangers into our homes. At one point I actually thought I would have enjoyed being robbed more.

Be careful...they are out there...

Another Scrapbook Layout

This is a layout from a trip we took to Seoul. The trip was with ITT (the base travel agent). They schedule all kinds of tours and trips. Honestly the trip wasn't all that fun. Joe was pretty exhausted, Jordy was too. Eric and Robert also went along on the trip (two other docs from the ER) and they both slept almost the entire time on the bus.

This was the first time I saw street vendors selling the silk worm larvae though, and that is one memory that I will never forget...

Incase you didn't know...

I am a scrapbooking addict.


This is the page from Residency Graduation from the Air Force.



The other side of this layout is one of those pocket pages. It is easier than making an entire layout b/c you don't really have to crop the pictures, but the page still loos pretty nice. Plus, I used my stamps. I usually have a hard time coming up with uses for my stamps!

My favorite part of the layout is all my classmates having their names labeled.

Is this ever going to end?

I have an awful confession to make....Jordy still sleeps with us most of the time...a lot of the time....okay damn it! If I am coming clean I will just do it! Jordan ends up sleeping in our bed ALL THE TIME!

When he was about 4 months old, I started back on the inpatient service at the hospital and couldn't deal with him waking up every two hours to nurse. I was exhausted! There was no way that I could wake up every two hours and feed him, then get up at 5AM to go round at the hospital, then work until 6PM come home and do it all again. I was sooooo tired.

Joe and I agreed then that we would make him start sleeping in his own bed. For one terrible night we listened to him scream bloody murder for about 4 hours. It was awful. We eventually went downstairs and huddled together around the baby monitor. I cried, Joe cried. We felt just awful. But in the morning Jordy still liked us! He was fine all the next day. The next night we did it again, only when we put him in bed, he rolled over and went right to sleep.

Things were glorious for about two months. Jordy was sleeping like a champ in his own bed, and Joe and I were well rested normal humans again.

Then we decided to go to California to visit family. This one week of vacation permanently destroyed Jordy's sleeping schedule. The time change was hard, we couldn't let him cry b/c we were staying with family, and when we returned to Nebraska things never really got back on track.

Fast forward over a year later, yes that is right A YEAR!! I keep trying to repeat the magical solution of letting him cry for one night, but Joe, having been traumatized by the first time, can not do it!

When we put Jordy down and he cries, Joe makes a mad dash in there like the kid is on fire! Once he goes and picks Jordy up, it is over. The little guy is attached to him like glue. Then before you know it, he is in our bed ripping out my hair at the root and kicking Joe in the pills.

It is even worse now that I am working nights. I am not there to even give Joe a scowl when he goes in there. When I get home from work, I have to fight Jordy for my side of the bed.

Don't get me wrong, I love snuggling with my little Jordykins. I love how warm he is, and all the cute little noises he makes. I love how he breaths, and how he smiles in his sleep. Sometimes he even lets out little giggles. And sometimes, yes it's true, I end up getting him and not Joe.

But now I am starting to become afraid. I picture Jordan being 15 and still in our bed. Tonight I am home, Joe is asleep in our bed, Jordy woke up and Joe jumped up and got him. I took him and returned him to his own bed. He did cry for about 10 minutes total, but now is resting comfortably.

I think I will have to send Joe away for about a week to get the whole sleep schedule down, then I can reintroduce Joe to the mix.

Any suggestions? How on earth do other people do this?

Now this is really scary!!

I just finished watching I.O.U.S.A.

It is really scary to think of what may happen, or rather what will happen.

Please watch it! There is a 30minute version online you should watch!

Only 6 more weeks...

Okay not buying anything for myself for two entire months is really really hard. I keep coming up with all sorts of devious ways that I could get something that I "need". I thought about continually mentioning to Joe that I need a pair of gloves to prevent my hands from getting frostbite and then requiring amputation so that he would feel prompted to go buy me some gloves. Clearly this would be a manipulation of his tiny man brain (just kidding, his brain isn't tiny, or rather it is- he has a surprisingly small head for someone as smart as he is).

I have improved in my website browsing though. Amazon is definitely on my list of do not visit sites. Mostly I have been reading a lot of saving advice and dreaming of houses that I may someday be able to live in.

In my perusal of blogs I came across an interesting post on homeade cleaners. Interestingly this was one of my goals in my 101 in 1001 (goal #58 to use natural cleaners).

I also found another post, sorry I didn't save that link, about all the uses for bar soap. The author used it for everything from washing clothes to brushing her teeth (seriously!, brushing her teeth). It got me to thinking, why are we so brainwashed to think that we need a different soap for dishwashing, clothes washing, and all other kinds of washing. For face and body soap, I can understand that bar soap may be too drying- but does it matter if your clothes get too dry? Most of us use fabric softener anyways-

OH that reminds me. I found a site that recommended rather than buying fabric softener to take cheap conditioner and dilute it. They said you can use it the same as fabric softener for a fraction of the price. Interesting...I will let you know how it turns out.

Well all of these ideas are wonderful, but they still have to pass the Joe test. If a cleaner, food, or other product does not have a name brand slapped to the side of it Joe automatically declares it is inferior and refuses to use it. Then he will go out, behind my back mind you, and buy all kinds of name brand cleaners. What he doesn't realize is that having a closet packed to the brim of name brand cleaning supplies does not do any good if you do not use them!

Oh Happy Day!

I took boards on December 4th, while we were in Hawaii. Truth be told, I didn't feel very good about it. There was so much that I was just flat out guessing on. I was really scared about getting the results.

For the last week I have been obsessing over it, freaking out, and basically losing it. Just ask Joe, he will attest to my craziness!

Finally today the results were out- I passed.

Thank God!

I am don't have to take that stupid test again until 2015!

We did it!....kind of...

One of my goals for my 101 in 1001 was to go on a date night every month with Joe where we get a sitter. (Heidi please refer to the link to get the low down on 101 in 1001).

Well tonight was the first date night where Joe and I left Jordy with a sitter. In preparation for leaving Jordy with someone other than my mom or Trent's family, I did a lot of investigation. I found someone who has three kids of his own, three grandchildren, is an excellent ICU nurse who is up to date on all pediatric emergencies. If anything happened to Jordy, this man would know what to do.

I felt pretty good leaving Jordy with the sitter. Joe wasn't as sure, and nearly broke into tears when we left. Jordy of course was crying and clinging to our legs...

We made it to the movie theatre and apparently I had read the schedule wrong because I thought we were going to watch the Benjamin Button movie, but instead got stuck watching the worst possible movie two parents could watch after leaving their child alone with a practical stranger...."The Changeling".

Incase you haven't heard of it, which I hadn't, this is the terrible tale (true story mind you) of a woman who has her beautiful son kidnapped while she is away from the house for just a few hours. She then embarks on a heart wrenching journey to find him. Finally the police bring back a kid and she hopes it is him, it's not. Then the police think she is crazy, she gets locked up, then released once it is found that there is a crazy maniac who is chopping up little boys into bits. Some of the images were quite disturbing and I thought I would have to leave.

Surprisingly we made it through the movie. Once the final credits ran, Joe and I jumped out of our chairs and made a mad dash back to our apartment to snatch little Jordy up and hug him tight. Of course our sitter wasn't a crazed maniac, but after two hours of watching innocent little boys get brutally murdered and a poor mother screaming "Where's my son"- who wouldn't get a little paranoid.

As I type now I am tempted to go get Jordy out of his bed and snuggle him tight.

Anyways, next month maybe I will find something else for Joe and I to do on our date night! But I will update my list:

7. Once a month date night where Jordy has a sitter. (1/32)

Buy Nothing for Two Months

It has only been 6 days and this has been really difficult. I don't know how I will continue on. There all kinds of things that I keep thinking about that I really NEED!

Okay I don't need any of these things, as they are not food, shelter, or other life preserving items. More of comfort really.

One of the things is a pair of gloves. It is so cold here in the mornings when I leave work. When I am driving my hands feel like they are frozen into position.

Then while checking my email, I keep getting all kinds of sale notices. All the stores are having huge after Christmas sales. This is so painful.

I read a good posting on a blog by Frugal Dad. It kind of reminded me to be happy with what I have now. I really do have enough.

Oops!

I only put 100 goals on my list of 101!

I can't think of another one right now....I am sure one will come to me.

Any suggestions?

My 101 in 1001

So everyone else is doing it....I might as well too- I am gonna start 101 in 1001.

Reading other people's goals has really inspired me to get things done too. Plus if I write it down, then I will actually get it done. There are so many things that I want to do, but never really make the time.
So here it goes....Before October 3rd, 2011, I will:

1. Become a member of AAFP and complete the monthly CME quiz. (0/32)
   
2. Read the ER book by the time we leave here.
3. Every month while I am in the ER, draw blood and start an IV so I don't lose my skills.(0/9)
4. Go to at least 3 social events with work people before we leave here. (0/3)
   
5. Renew ACLS
6. Take on a new task at work, be flight commander next time Robert is gone
7. Once a month date night where Jordy has a sitter. (0/32)
8. Take Jordy to play group at least 10 times before we leave here. (0/10)
9. Find a wonderful daycare for Jordy once we get to Florida, one that is bilingual.
10. Work with Jordy, when he is ready, to learn spanish.
11. Take a family trip to Everland.
12. Take a family trip to Mt. Sorak.
13. Start going to church here, go at least 10 times (hey I am being realistic!) (0/10)
14. Find a church once we get to Florida.
15. Have professional pictures of us done.
16. Have a big family Thanksgiving where I do the cooking.
17. Take Joe on a romantic weekend alone.
18. Take Jordy on a camping trip.
19. Go on a cruise with family.
20. Make a letterbox and place it.
21. Make 8 weekly menu plans to alternate. (0/8)
22. Learn 5 vegetarian recipes. (0/5)
23. Find and start Master's Program.
24. Go an entire two months without buying anything for myself. (0/2)
25. Go without tv for one week.
26. Get one of my scrapbook pages published in a magazine on a website
27. Close accounts that I am not using.
28. Master Quicken.
29. Make and keep a monthly budget. (0/32)
30. Save "enough" for a down payment for a house in Florida.
31. Start saving for Jordy's College.
32. Get Joe a car when we get to Florida that isn't too outrageously expensive.
33. Get an annual credit report for both Joe and I. (0/3)
34. Start a garden to grow vegetables.
35. Start composting.
36. Have a big yard with a doggie door for Pezzy.
37. Make a cleaning schedule and stick to it. (0/32)
38. Buy Joe the tv of his dreams.
39. Have people over for a home cooked meal and a movie.
    
40. Get pictures from my dad, sister, and a few others to have enlarged and displayed in my home.
41. Send 5 thank you cards to people for how they have impacted my life. (0/5)
42. Test drive an extravagantly expensive sports car.
43. Get Botox.
44. Play golf for the first time, and not miniature golf.
45. Read 15 books from the library (0/15)
46. Stop swearing! This one isn't measurable, but I really need to stop being such a potty mouth.
47. Knit a sweater.
48. Participate and complete the 365 Portrait Challenge
49. Take a Class at the Community Center on making paper crafts.
50. Lasik
51. Recycle aluminum Cans Regularly.
52. Once I am doing the cans, move on to plastics.
53. Stop buying individual yogurt cups, buy the big one and put in my own reusable container.
54. Have one day per week where I don't drive and use public transportation. (0/
55. Buy/Find enough cloth bags to use for grocery shopping. (0/10)
56. Consistently use the cloth bags when grocery shopping for one year. (0/24)
57. Donate old clothes and other things rather than throwing them away. (0/4)
58. Start using natural cleaners in my home such as Vinegar and Baking Soda and lemon.
59. Instead of Air Filters that consume energy, I will buy houseplants that clean the air for free.
60. Stop buying paper towels and napkins for a month. (0/1)
61. Take the clothes Jordan has outgrown to the Consigment Shop on Base.
62. Eat Sushi 10 times (0/10)
63. Go to the Seafood Festival in Florida
64. Play video games with Joe at least 5 times. (0/5)
65. Go to 10 movies with Joe, or watch pirated ones here in Korea, that Joe picks. (0/10)
66. Find 15 new ways to tell Joe that I love him. (0/15)
67. Have a spa weekend with Jennifer, my treat.
    
68. Visit Heidi in Kentucky and meet her family.
    
69. Try 10 new resteraunts. (0/10)
70. Make 100 scrapbook layouts. (0/100)
    
71. Go on a picnic 4 times. (0/4)
72. Draw Jordan's Family Tree
73. Make a photo book of all of Jordy's pictures.
74. Go to Disney World
75. Go to Disney Wild Animal Park
76. Get an account on Facebook
77. Watch a Marky Mark movie with Jennifer while we drink strawberry daiquiris
78. Visit the Park's in Alaska.
79. See 5 plays/musicals/concerts. (0/5)
80. Find a Charity I am passionate about and help them raise money.
81. Participate in Gimme your Stuff
82. Send PostCarts in Post Crossing (0/5)
83. Exercise for health, not to maintain some unrealistic goal for myself.
84. learn to love myself, my body, and mind, even though there are countless flaws.
85. Know that having a few jiggles here and there doesn't make me unlovable.
86. Exercise regularly 3x per week. (0/
87. Run a 5K
88. Get a perfect score on my next fitness test.
89. Laser Hair Removal
90. Do pictures for at least 5 groups of people. They can be family, wedding, kids. (0/5)
91. Stop buying bottled water. Get a filter for work so I can use a cup instead.
    
92. Continue to be a nonsmoker and encourage my patients to quit.
93. Have Joe and I both make "bucket lists"
94. Make a list of 100 things I love.
95. Go Hiking at least 10 times. (0/10)
96. Go to the DMZ.
97. Make Joe a new quilt.
98. Wear heels at least once per month. (0/32)
99. Go to the Florida Keys
100. Write in my blog once per week.
     

Happy New Year

I spent the New Year at the ER working. Normally we have 2-3 drunks per night, so for New Years I was expecting an invasion. Robert was nice enough that he came in to help out. Surprisingly it was really slow. In fact the only patient we had before midnight was Jordy! Yes it's true, my son was the only patient.

Joe called me and said that Jordy was running a really high temp that wasn't coming down with Tylenol and Motrin. Then Jordy was letting out some blood curdling screams and shaking. I told him to come in immediately.

Luckily Robert was already there so I didn't have to pin down Jordy and look in his ear myself. I don't like to be Jordy's doctor, just his mommy! He had an ear infection! I was really surprised! I hope that this isn't going to be a recurring problem.

Now we are giving him Amoxicillin twice a day. It is quite traumatic for everyone involved. Jordy is freakishly strong and fights us. I feel like we are killing him as he sputters and tries to spit it out. Last night Joe brought him to see me at the ER and we had one of the nurses give it to him. He actually did much better with the nurse than us!

Only 7 more days of antibiotics to go....it's gonna be a long week!

I resolve to...

It is only two days until the New Year. This year I have all kinds of goals. Here is a brief run down.


Work Goals:
-Become member of AAFP and read the entire journal monthly
-Renew ACLS
-Read that ER book

Family
-Date Night at least once per month
-Find regular baby sitter for Jordy for date night
-Take Jordy to playgroup whenever I am off work
-Menu planning so that we don't waste so much food

Financial
-Do Monthly Budget & meet it!
-Start saving for Jordy for college
-Increase savings for retirement
-Save “Enough” for down payment for house in Florida (not sure how much "enough" is)

Personal Enrichment
-Find masters program
-Start Masters program
-Stop Swearing!

Fitness
-Get Body Fat Measured
-Work out 3x per week
-Give up the fantasy that I will ever look like Giselle or Heidi Klum & love myself anyways!

Friends
-Call my friends and family regularly



While I am resolving to do all this stuff, let's just take a look back at my last years resolutions!


1. get back to my preprego weight of 140

2. exercise at least 5x per week

3. Read one book per month for fun

4. Complete my Senior Project and do that damned presentation I have been dreading

5.Pass the Family Medicine Boards

6.Read the Bible in it's Entirety

7. Learn about History so I don't feel like such a moron

8. Make sure that Joe and I have once a week date night

9.Read Swanson's Family Medicine Review book by June
10. Continue to be a nonsmoker

11. Scrapbook more


Well I haven't completed a few of them...I didn't read the Bible, learn History, and Joe and I are slacking a bit on the date night since moving to South Korea. But I did get down to my pre-prego weight, scrapbook a lot, read Swanson's, haven't touched a cigarette, read a ton of books, but I don't find out if I passed boards for another two weeks.

The Waste Report

Today, rather than telling you how much we wasted (which as usual was a considerable amount), I wanted to tell you what I saved!

Since I had a lot of turkey left over from Christmas dinner, plus drippings for broth- I decided to make soup!

In addition to the turkey we had left over noodles from spaghetti, cilantro from salsa, and celery too!

I mixed it all together, added some water and spices....then voila! Turkey soup!

Rather than throw away all that stuff, the soup provided us with at least one more meal! I feel so accomplished!

I love my Wii Fit

For Christmas Joe got me the Wii Fit, or actually my mother-in-law got it for me since she is the one who sent Joe the money. Thanks Aida!

Anyways, I love the thing. It has all kinds of fun "games" on it that are exercises in disguise. The balance games are really fun and you unlock more as you go, motivating you to keep going. The cardio section has running, and there is a cute running track that you go along. There is also a strength section and a yoga section. All of it is pretty good. Today I did 40 minutes of exercise and it felt like I was just playing the whole time- but I was actually sweaty and stinky too!

By far my favorite part of the Wii fit is the body fit test. It weighs you, yes the balance board is also a scale! Then it keeps track of it from day to day. It is motivating to see how your weight changes from day to day. One part I don't like about the Wii Fit is that it accused me of being a Wii Fit age of nearly 15 years older than I am, then gave me no instructions or recommendations on how to get younger!

Joe also got me another Wii fitness type game/exercise program. It is called My Fitness Coach. That one is really good too. It doesn't use the balance board, which is kind of good and bad. Not using it allows you to do all kinds of jumping and other cardio. The fitness test on this one is really good and has you do all kinds of exercises then recommends a program for you.

The workouts with the Fitness Coach can get a little boring as she doesn't put them into aerobic routines like a real workout program. She just does random aerobic moves; grapevine x2, then lunges, then step-touch...it gets kind of boring. Luckily though I usually have to dodge Jordy while I am trying to workout, so that does keep me on my toes!

Oh on the Wii Fit, Jordy seems to really enjoy the cartoon look of the people and the funny noises it makes. This allows me to exercise a tiny bit longer b/c he is entertained.

Since I failed so miserably at Operation Stork Attack, my goal to get in crazy good shape for Hawaii, I am hoping all this new fitness stuff will help me at least get in shape in time for Florida (hey I am being realistic!)

Jordy's new Hot Rod

Joe and I were talking about how when each of us was little we really wanted a Power Wheels, but never got one. Then we swore we would get Jordy one when he was old enough. But then we saw them and couldn't resist. I was worried that Jordy wouldn't be able to drive it, b/c well he is just a baby...but we found a guy on the side of the road-really the side of the road- selling these!

And the best part is that they are remote controlled! We just put Jordy in and drive him around. It is so much fun! We went for a walk yesterday and just drove him along side of us. He really seemed to enjoy it. He honks the horn and turns on and off the little blinkers!




Here is a picture of our entire fleet- my fancy new 1995 Kia that I found for a whopping 850 bucks, the CRV, and Jordy's new ride!



Today we couldn't take out the car because it is too cold- we actually got about 2" of snow. Finally I got to dress Jordan up in his little Weebok snow boots that light up when he walks. He didn't quite understand what the snow was and tried to eat the entire yard full of snow.

Another day...

Jordy one year ago!

Today was another day at work. Nothing much exciting happened. Nothing remarkable. It just kind of drug on and on.

It made me really want to get the hell out of this freezing cold country (although Omaha isn't any warmer). I am so excited to get to Florida. Everday I spend hours and hours looking at houses for sale on hotpads.com and get excited to have more than two outlets in my kitchen, have a garbage disposal, a washer AND a dryer, normal trash service... OOOHHH the day!

I miss my mom and dad. It was so nice seeing them in Hawaii. Jordy loved all the extra attention.

Christmas is in three days! I have given Joe most of his presents already, there isn't a lot left for him to open on Christmas. We did get Jordy a pretty cool gift, but I admit that it was mostly for us rather than him. I will post pics of it soon!

Joe has started tutoring people at my work. One of the nurses needed help with Organic Chemistry so he agreed to help her. Then people started coming out of the woodwork needing tutoring. Hopefully it will support his pretty serious video game habit! Additionally I am starting to really enjoy the Wii! So much fun! It is pretty addictive!

Parenting is NOT for the faint of heart

Today I was at work when I got a panicked call from Joe wondering if
he should come into the ER for evaluation.

Apparently there had been an incident at home.

Last night we had enchiladas with homemade salsa for dinner. Little
Jordykins really likes to eat tortilla chips just barely dipped in the
salsa. The only problem is he doesn't really understand how to hold
onto the chip. After a few nibbles, he crushes it in his hands. The
end result is tortilla chip crumbs sprinkled all around our house.

Jordy then likes to pick up the tortilla chips, suck on them until they
are soggy, then force feed them to either Joe or I. He is pretty
relentless in his forcefeeding. He will keep jamming it in your face
until you finally succumb to the soggy chip feeding.

Well, today Joe was watching tv and Jordy was eating one of the chips,
sucking the life out of it apparently. Then Jordy crawled up on the
couch next to Joe and began to force feed it to him. Since Joe was in
the middle of something on the tv, Laker game maybe?, he just opened
his mouth and welcomed the soggy chip....only it wasn't a chip.

Immediately Joe sensed it was something quite different.... POOP!

Jordy had somehow gotten a pebble of his poop, sucked on it till it was
good and mushy, then jammed it in Joe's mouth!

Joe immediately began spitting and wiping his mouth and shouting.

Jordy thought this was great and began smiling, laughing, and applauding in
earnest!

When I asked how Jordy was doing, Joe informed me that he had no idea
as he had been brushing his teeth for the last thirty minutes.

He checked on Jordy, and he was fine watching tv. Joe, however, will be
permanently traumatized.

I'm doing my part...

I keep hearing that the key to economic turn around is consumers. To support this goal I have bought several items in the past few weeks- okay, okay, I bought it all because I wanted it (please see previous post on my consumerism)

Video games have never really been that interesting to me until a few weeks ago when I heard about a game on the Wii. So while in Hawaii, I found the game and broke down and bought the Wii and all the accessories I needed. I love it! What is the game you ask? Well it is a little embarassing....it is All Star Cheer Squad! I love it! It is so much fun! My inner cheerleader is busting out! Tonight I made it through the tryouts, and yes I did make the squad!!

I was interested in the Wii Fit, but haven't been able to find a balance board here in Korea. I keep checking at the base, but no dice yet. Joe got me a similar game, it is the Personal Trainer. Tonight I did the first workout on it, and it was pretty good! It tracks your progress and adjusts to your fitness goals. Hopefully it will help me not become a flabby mess!

Speaking of flabby messes- I do remember my promise to post a sexy picture of myself in Hawaii...and plan to make good on that promise. I will post them as soon as my dad sends me the pics.

I'm Baaack...

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

It has been a long time since I have written, and that must have been disappointing for my one regular reader (thanks Kameron!)

We are back from Hawaii, and yes I took boards. After taking it I really am worried if I passed or not. The entire test was more like Trivial Pursuit than a real exam. For several hours I sat staring at a computer screen answering random factoid questions about nothing of signifigance. I hope that I am not doing this again in July- although maybe we could work in another vacation in a fun place.

As for Hawaii- I was somewhat disappointed at the island. My testing site was on Oahu, so I didn’t have much of a choice there. People always rave about Hawaii so I had some pretty high expectations… but it wasn’t the paradise I had envisioned.
Coming from South Korea, Joe and I were pretty excited to see lots of stores, and Oahu did deliver in that regard. We went frequently to Best Buy and Walmart! One day we spent over 2 hours in traffic- a real surprise to us!

My parents and best friends flew out to see us, and it was great to see them. My mom was so anxious to see Jordy, and even watched him the entire night prior to my test so I could be well rested. It was so nice!

I didn’t get to spend quite as much time with Jenn and Adam as I would have liked, but didn’t want to bombard them with my company either! They were really interested in seeing every aspect of the island-which is hard to do with a child in tow. Frankly after that test, I was content to sit on my beach and watch Jordy play in the sand!
We did do quite a few fun things while in Hawaii. We saw huge waves at North Shore, played in the water, went to several really nice resteraunts, went to Best Buy and Walmart (which after Korea was heaven!), and my personal favorite was the submarine!
Right outside of our hotel there was an Atlantis submarine. I really wanted to go but didn’t want to spend the 95dollars per person to go. Finally Joe convinced me that I would regret it if we didn’t go. When we were paying we found out that they did a military discount! Half Price! So we went, and then later in the day, I went again with my dad! We saw so much stuff; 3 reef sharks, 7 sea turtles, countless fish, an eel- it was wonderful!

The trip back was rough. For some reason it only took 7 hours to get there, and over 10 to fly back. By the time we got home, I was exhausted. I thought I had the day of when we got back, but b/c of the date change I didn’t. So I had about 5 hours of sleep before I had to be at work. And of course it was a crazy busy day- I saw 25 patients!