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.

Just a few family pics!

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

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

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

It is humid and I am sweating buckets.

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

Beautiful View...

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

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

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

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

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

Bento

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

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

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

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

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

A Woman's Right to Shoes

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

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

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

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

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

Operation Stork Attack Update

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

Losing weight is HARD!!


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

I find myself fantasizing about chocolate ice cream.

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

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

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

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