On Call....

I was so excited for the three day weekend, then realized I am on call. At least it is home call! I am just fielding phone calls from people who don't know how to care for themselves at home. Seriously do people not know that you don't need to see a doctor for the common cold?? I guess I shouldn't let that little pearl of wisdom out since my future income depends on the idiocy of the common man....

I guess I am a bit bitter....

2AM, can't sleep

It's 2 AM and I can't sleep.

I was so sick last week that I actually took two days off work. Now I am just plagued with a cough that strikes whenever I assume a supine position. Torture. Pure Torture.

I am so tired, but can't stop coughing. All the hot tea with honey, cough syrup, decongestants, Vicks vapor rub, and even a vaporizer has not helped. I even tried putting Vick's on my feet...yes that right, feet. Some family of ours swears it helps. It made my feet feel nice and warm, but still coughed!

So now I am up, on the computer.

With the new year coming up, I will look back at last years Resolutions and see how they went...


Work Goals:
-Become member of AAFP and read the entire journal monthly
-Renew ACLS
-Read that ER book
On these I got 2/3! I didn't finish the entire ER book, but did read a good portion of it!



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
Joe and I aren't doing very well on date night. Jordy started daycare, and I take him there everyday. Since my mom moved close to us, we have a regular sitter. The menu planning is always a work in progress...

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)
3/4 here!! I haven't started saving for Jordy's school, but honestly don't have the money to spare right now. I will open an account and start slowly adding...

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

I actually decided not to start a masters program. I am so sick of school and want to focus on other things now, like family!

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!

Working out is always a challenge... I did get back to pre-prego weight! I am happy with what I look like now, and am doing things to maintain it!

Friends
-Call my friends and family regularly
Doing well on this one, although I use the computer more- easier to do when you have screaming children in the house!


I will have to come up with the 2010 list!

What a week!!!

This week has finally come to an end, and not a moment too soon. Jordy got sick Sunday night and had a high fever. He stayed home from day care all week, which was awful for Joe since he is trying to study for his test, which is one week away. Jordan was incredibly whiny and clingy, and couldn't be put down for a moment. No matter what we gave him, nothing would bring down his fever. By Tuesday, I was sick too. After work I just went straight to bed. Joe was exhausted from 24 hour Jordan whining. I was literally no help!

Tuesday we took Jordan to the pediatrician. He gave him some antibiotics, for what I don't know. He never really said. I think the pediatricians just hand out amoxicillin. Anyways we are giving it to him.

Thanksgiving Joe and I were both exhausted. I did manage to cook a turkey, but d/t the plague Jordan had given us, neither Joe or I could eat very much! Most of the turkey is still in the fridge. I get a little nauseated just thinking about turkey. Funny but the only thing that I have been able to eat since I got sick is fast food! I swear I am going to gain 50 pounds by the time I recover.

Because we were both sick and caring for the whiniest kid on the planet, all housework was completely neglected. I swear every dish in our house was filthy! I spent over an hour doing dishes...and I am still not done. Laundry piled up....clutter and dirty tissues everywhere...oh it wasn' pretty!

Jordan has fully recovered, I am halfway back to normal, but Joe the sickest now. On Monday I am flying to San Antonio for the week for a class. I feel awful having to leave Joe the week of his test! Thank goodness my mom is out here to help out.

Ahhh, the daily grind

So now that the excitement of moving back to the states, getting in our new house, and starting my new job have all wore off what I am left with is.....work!

At my last base I was in the ER which is a much better schedule, sure it was 12 hour days, but I only worked 15-18 days per month! Plus somedays I hardly did anything...clinic is just not the same!

So far everyday I get to work around 7AM and am pretty much busy nonstop. Fortunately I am able to make my schedule how I like, and I am taking on a 20 minute lunch so that I can leave early. I get out of there around 3.

For my entire career so far everything has had a time limit on it. During residency all our rotations were one month. In Korea it was only for one year, and that was broken down into months of either days or nights....now it is for three years!! THREE YEARS!!

Three years is a lot of of daily drudgery. I need to find stuff to make it more bearable b/c right now I am bored with doing the same crap daily!

Victory(s) for this week, and some frustrations too!

1. I got just what I wanted for my birthday, a Roomba. I am sick of sweeping my gigantic downstairs everyday, only to have the dog and Jordy run by two seconds later and ruin it! At least now I don't have to sweep!
2. Joe and I had a wonderful day together this week. We went shopping and watched a movie together, sans Jordy! It was nice to sit and enjoy each others company without chasing a 2 year old...
3. We ate at a new Chinese buffet.
4. I got to spend three days at home with Joe and Jordy this week!

Frustrations:
1. The chinese food place was terrible! I hardly could eat anything there! Then we had to pay 30 dollars!! What a waste!
2. Jordy was so difficult today! He spent 3/4 of his day in timeout!
3. I mopped the floor this week. After I was done I was rinsing out the mop and a dead lizard came out of it. I was so disgusted I nearly passed out! I got all light headed and pasty and had to sit down. I just couldn't get the image of me spreading dead lizard all over my floor...ewwww!
4. I stayed home b/c I had the flu. I was home, but felt like hell!

Victory(s) for this week!

1. Jordy completed his first week at daycare. He did really well! He even was taking long naps while he was there. Plus he is drinking out of a cup like a champ now! At home Joe insists on giving him straws b/c Joe hates cleaning spills.
2. Joe took the GRE-He improved a lot, but was 80 points shy of his goal. I am still super proud of him!
3. I completed my first week of real work at the clinic. After being out of primary care for an entire year I was really worried about how much I would remember. But it seems to be coming back pretty quickly!
4. I may be able to finagle my schedule at work so I don't have to go to the 645 PT! It is still in the works...
5. After three weeks of meaning to, I finally got to the grocery store!
6. Joe and I have been doing good on our budget!

Halloween Pics!

Finally, here are some pics of my little Superman!

Jordy was so cute when he went trick-or-treating. He hardly ever gets candy, so every time he got anything, he wanted to stop immediately to eat it! After one trip around the block he was chocolate face!

Victory(s) for this week!

I got Joe to agree to buy generic diapers and wipes.
I got Jordy signed up and ready for day care.
I actually got some documents scanned and emailed.
Applied for life insurance.
Had date night with Joe, we went out for sushi (yummy).
Planted an avocado tree in our yard.
Got the builders to remove a palm tree from our yard (it was dead).
Celebrated our 8 year anniversary!

Changes

Changes are afoot!

This Monday Jordy will be starting day care. Not because we need someone to watch him, but b/c I think it will be good for him....and Joe agreed (after much nagging and cajoling).

I was beginning to get worried about Jordan's speech, after all his is 2 and hardly says 15 words. We had him evaluated and he was diagnosed with speech delay, and if you have had the opportunity to see him with Joe you will understand why. Those two have some sort of freaky ESP thing going on. Joe will look at Jordy and say, "He's thirsty". Then hand Jordy a drink, which he will happily take. I don't know how Joe knows these things, but somehow he does! The kid doesn't need to speak while Joe is around, Joe can read his mind!!

So Monday will be his first day at daycare. He is going to go to the one on base, right across from my clinic. I hope that it is a smooth transition and that he (and Joe) can survive the separation!

Ashley's Furniture Sucks

Well, not their actual furniture. But their business practices are just awful!

This actually happened about a month ago, but since we have been busy as all heck since then I just haven't had time to write about it. Finally I have a moment, and I think others should hear about this.

We shopped around for a couch. I wanted a large sectional, in a earth toned color. We found one I loved at Rooms to Go, but it was 3000.00! Much more than I wanted to pay considering we have a messy little boy, a dog, and let's face it- I'm messy too!

We shopped around and found one that I liked, not loved, but liked enough at Ashley's Furniture. The price was 1200, which included delivery. The lady said it was not in stock, but would be delivered to us in 9 days. I paid for the couch, was give a simple hand-written receipt, and left the store.

About three days later, a fancier receipt arrived in the mail. I didn't pay much attention to it, other than it had our order number on it.

For nine days, we sat on our uncomfortable tile floor to watch tv. Finally Joe bought a bean bag and we would all pile in that. The day before the couch was to arrive, I hadn't heard from the delivery people to know my "three hour delivery window", so I called the store.

They explained the couch wasn't even in stock yet. I was irritated as the lady assured me that it would be delivered on that specific day. Plus my ass was hurting from sitting on tile!

The couch was supposed to arrive three days later, and they once again assured me that the couch would be delivered on that coming Friday.

Once again, I was all excited to get the couch...of course you can see where this is going- the damned couch didn't show up!

I called and was told that the delivery truck broke down and that the soonest the couch could be delivered now would be Tuesday. The delivery trucks were already loaded for Saturdays deliveries, and those deliveries couldn't be bumped!

Now I was livid. I called my mom to assist me in a good 'ol fashioned hell raising, and we (me, Joe, my mom, and reluctantly my father) all went to Ashley's. We were told again and again that there was no way we could get the couch on Saturday as blah, blah, blah....

My mom really came through here. I finally said I just wanted my money back and that I would buy the couch from the friendly folks at Rooms 2 Go, who had successfully managed to deliver an entertainment center to our home at the appointed time. The manager then said that to return the couch we would have to pay a 20% restocking fee.

My mom literally exploded all over this stupid manager lady! "Are you serious??" She repeatedly screamed at the woman. "You want them to pay for your inability to fulfill the obligations of the contract?"

Then the manger lady directed me to read the fine print of the receipt that was mailed to me three days after the purchase was made- in small print on the back of the receipt it explains that Ashley is not responsible for delays in shipping!!! So literally you could wait for months and months and they don't care!

Finally to get rid of us, they guaranteed delivery the next day- and they actually did it too!

Well I do enjoy the couch, it is comfy and looks great in the room. But I will never purchase a stick of their furniture again due to their poor customer service!

Okinawa

Today court got done early, so we actually got to explore a bit. We went over to Kadena AFB. They have a huge Bx- two floors. I bought a few things for the house, and a toy for Jordy.

Then we (me and two other witnesses testifying in the court case) went to a place called American Village. Kind of a touristy place. We ate a delicious tempanyaki lunch. They weren't up to trying sushi :(

Some family pics

Another thing to check off the list....

I can now check of my mental to do list of life; testify in court martial hearing, go to Japan, sit in a room for 9 hours with three total strangers and discuss nothing for the entire time.

Actually none of those things were on my to do list of life, but that is what I have done for the past two days.

After much speculation, I did indeed get called to testify. It wasn't too bad. I was really nervous, but answered the questions honestly- which is pretty easy b/c all I kept saying was "I don't recall". Really do they expect me to remember one drunk guy that I saw nearly one year ago?

In case you were wondering where your tax dollars go to, here is a brief run down of how the government wastes tons of money. My ticket cost 3500 to get me from Florida to Okinawa. Plus the cost of me not seeing patients in my own clinic, so at least 100 patients had to go off base to have their medical needs met (I have no idea how much that costs). There are 4 witnesses for the prosecution, all at least 3500 per ticket, plus lodging, per diem (food,etc). There are 7 witnesses for defense. You can see how it adds up very quickly.

Now for the ridiculous part. This is all over a DUI!!! Retarded! I don't understand why it is such a big deal?

I got here Monday, and get to leave on Sunday. I hope I get to see some of the island before I have to leave...

Here we go again....

High of the sense of accomplishment that installing the ceiling fan incited in me, I dashed back to Lowe's and bought a new stainless steel sink and faucet for the kitchen. Joe was hesitant about his ability to install such a flashy new item, so I made him watch a video on Youtube, which made the job look ridiculously simple. He agreed it wouldn't be so bad...plus Lowe's charges 450 dollars for installation of a sink and faucet...

Our sink wasn't in bad shape, it was just so shallow that one plate made it look filled to the brim. That combined with the fact that the faucet was so low, made washing anything incredibly annoying. So for the new sink I picked one that was super deep...but this created problems.

Today while on my way home from work, I called Joe to tell him to get ready to install the sink...I was on my way and we would tackle the project. Turns out he was already working. He had called my mom over to watch Jordan while he worked. Well he tried to do it without someone watching Jordan, but realized when Jordan kept stealing tools and pipes and running away laughing something had to be done.

Joe ran into many problems along the way, but fortunately after several trips to Lowe's, he got them worked out. Because the new sink was so much deeper we had to cut pipes, reroute them, and it wasn't easy. Finally around 11pm we were finished. We stood back to admire our work...then saw that damn leak!!

I went upstairs and went straight to bed. I was too tired and too frustrated to deal with all that! Joe pushed on and fixed the damn thing. Thank god for his persistance- I would have called a plumber!

Joe says this is by far the worst thing I have ever made him do...he isn't jumping up and down to do anymore home improvement projects. I may have to give him a rest for a while...

We did it!

The ceiling fan was a success! After about 4 hours we finally got it all on the wall- sure it was supposed to take less than an hour according to the box....but we were beginners!

Now I feel like we can tackle the world. I am thinking about replacing our kitchen sink. The one the house came with is about 2 inches deep! Well not that bad, but just about!

Crazy....

Life is so crazy since I have been home. We are busy all the time! The house still isn't completely unpacked. We have projects going everywhere; painting, installing ceiling fans, planting stuff in the yard, curtains, mini blinds.... I don't think we will ever be finished!

Today we trimmed some trees in the yard. Later I am going to try to take out one of the dead ones in the front yard. We'll see how that goes....

Now that Jordy is down for a nap we are going to put a ceiling fan in our bedroom- neither of us has ever installed one before....hopefully we don't electricute ourselves.

It is Official!!

Today we got our Florida driver licenses! We are now legal residents of Florida!

Unfortunately the trip did not go without incident. On the way there we stopped at Lowe's to run a quick errand. On the way back to the car Joe said he felt like his head was getting sunburned. So once in the car he commenced spraying sunscreen all over his head, arms, and legs. Mind you this was with both the windows closed! I started gagging so I rolled down the window as not to asphyxiate! As I rolled down the windows, I was making a sharp U-turn.

We drove for about five minutes when Joe realized he couldn't find his glasses. He was took them off and put them on the dashboard to spray his face and head with the sunscreen. We think they went out the window!

No big deal, I thought. He needs new glasses anyways and it is time for him to have an eye exam. Once we checked in at the DMV we made an eye exam appt. Then Joe got called up to switch his license to Florida, and had to do the eye exam!!

He couldn't read anything! The lady said he would have to come back unless he could read the lines! Joe rushed over to me and grabbed my glasses! As this was our third time back to the DMV, he wasn't too thrilled to go back for a fourth trip!

Fortunately with my glasses we were both able to pass the exam!

Hooray!

I'm Home!!

I got back home almost two weeks ago! Things have been nonstop since I got here- we have been moving into the new house and unpacking everyday. It has been pretty exhausting. So far I am almost done with the boxes from Omaha that were in storage. Tomorrow more boxes from Korea get here and I get to start on those. I can't believe how much crap we own!

After not seeing Jordy for a few weeks I was really worried that he wouldn't know who I was. Thankfully, he remembered me right away and gave me a big hug and kiss. It was just the perfect homecoming!

My son the make out artist!

This is my beautiful boy hitting on this innocent little girl. Apparently mid make-out the tables turn, and she becomes aggressive and Jordy doesn't like clingy women! He makes a run for it!

Less than 2 weeks!

Less than two weeks left in Korea! Another one of the ER docs leaves in the morning...I am starting to feel abandoned here...only Travis is left!

Joe is getting everything all ready in our in the new house! He picked out new kitchen appliances today, and they will all be installed when we get there. Whoever designed the house picked out the ugliest appliances! Who would build a gorgeous house and then put ugly stuff in it??? Anyways, Joe has been running around picking out stuff.

I am so excited about the new house! It is 4 bedroom, 2.5 bth, 2 story, 2 car garage, 3000sq feet. Joe said that he thought it was too big for us, I explained that I want to fill the rooms with babies! He was a little afraid....