3-27-12 #2

Zach has a new ball cap, and some Cheerios in the secret compartment of his plane.

3-27-12

Zach fixed my boo boo with a kiss, bandaid, and a couple stickers.

3-19-12

Milk at the secret picnic table under the playground equipment. 

Third shift at St. Mary's. Things coming together.  It is fun to be at a community hospital, because patients treat you like a neighbor, for the most part.  I have a cold, got worse throughout the day.  Now I have no voice.  I am off tomorrow. May be able to move Wednesday shift if needed.

Mike is jogging every other day. He is up to over 3 miles already.

Last weekend we went to Manhattan for a surprise 75th birthday party for Mike's aunt Bobbie. Her whole family came. It was really neat. Zach did great. He fell asleep on Mike's shoulder during dinner.

Zach had to take his new Easter Eggs on the trip.

We went with Warren's family to the former site of, what was at one time, the largest oak tree in the world. It had died from storm damage and vandalism. It was a beautiful place. Except for the graves of the 5 unnamed soldiers (above), the fact that the tree was dead and down the road was a cemetery for pioneer victims of a cholera epidemic. 

Zach liked running in the cornfield.  Mommy could see him for a country mile with nothing for him to get into. Yeah.

And here you see the fence around the charred remains of the dead tree. 

Zach wanted Mommie's attention.

We planted the garden last Wednesday and things are already sprouting!

Zach got the closest thing to a buzz cut he has ever had. It looks super cute. Not seen in these photos though.

3-13-12

Zach is called the bird in his book a Cawk last night. Hawk that caws.
New phrases. Oh no. Not again! You'll never find me now!  I miss my Daddy. My tummy hurts, I am hungry.

3-13-12 #2

My first day of work at St. Mary's hospital yesterday. It still seems like a nice place. I cannot begin to
describe the thrill that was the drive to work. I didn't even have time to drink half of my coffee.  The thrill was back for the drive home. I clocked out at 7:43 and was home by 7:58.  At KUMed, which is still my beloved, I would have just reached my car by 8:00 p.m.

The nurse that oriented me yesterday has been with the hospital for 25 years. She managed the unit for a while then went back to bedside nursing. Technically she can be put into the old-battle-ax crowd, but she is nice.  She had some bloody, gruesome stories featuring herself as the source of knowledge. None of which required getting help above floor staff and MDs.  For now, I am filing her stories under bragging rights and BS. I can guarantee if someone is puking 'buckets' of frank blood the last thing I am going to do is wait for the doctor to call back.

The nurse I will orient with the most is Robbie, who I will meet next time I work.  She was a combat nurse in Iraq!

The pulmonologist I met was very friendly. Then he turned to my orienting RN and told her that he had given up cussing for Lent. So there. He does cuss. He believes in Lent. He is a physician.  The orienting RN said another MD had given up cussing while charting for Lent. Different deal than KU.

First impressions:

There are hospitalists around. Every one of them seems reasonable and nice so far. This makes me feel like there is some help around for orders when needed.

When I get more familiar with the system, I think I'll be fine.

The panic that ensued with admits yesterday was laughable. Where else are they going to go? Sit in ER while we have a room open and plenty of nurses? We'll see.

This unit has more cardiac patients. Recent heart caths, cardiologists around, chest pain diagnosis types. KU had a whole "heart hospital" so we didn't see much of the specific cardiac cases unless they happened on top of another condition that got them hospitalized. I am looking forward to gaining that knowledge. Cardiologists tend to have a lot of nurse practitioners around.

It is still floor-style telemetry nursing, but I am in the door at St. Mary's, which apparently is no small thing in this day and age. I really want to be where I have the orders, the know-how and the physicians present to address every possibility instead of being a sitting duck on an intermediate level. That means ER or ICU which at St. Mary's is a different thing. It is a small regional hospital not a trauma facility. The nearest trauma facility is Centerpoint near Independence Center. It is HCA, god save their souls.

3-13-12 #1

Time capsule:

Some stories I recorded in August 2010, when Zach was 1 year 7 months old (19 months).

8/11/10 - Zach is 19 months old now. He still wears 12 mo shorts, 12 mo pants are short, and right now he is sleeping in 24 mo jammies that I just bought today. They are green with dinosaurs and the footies have smiling dinosaur faces on them. His vocabulary grows each day. Today he said "fish" several times and he has started yelling for Eddie when we call for her. We are working on animal noises for the Iowa State Fair which we are going to with Mom and Dad this weekend. He can say Moo and BaaBaa, and Grrrr. Grrrr is the favorite.

8/18/10 - Zach had to come home early from day care today for the first time because he was sick. He was throwing up. Mike had to leave work and get him around 3:45 p.m. So far he is in bed sleeping, but I hate to think that he'll wake up and vomit on himself in bed or aspirate and we won't hear it. Hopefully it is just a passing bug and he is on the mend already.  Last weekend he went to his first Iowa State Fair with mom and dad and us. He loved it. He was still have a good time long after I was tired. He loved all the animals and the big red balloon that looked like a man falling over. Mom and Dad enjoyed having him enjoy the fair. Mike took him to the fountains and let him play in them too.

8-25-10 Zach says, "no way" now instead of just no. Also every bird is a duck. He giggles like crazy with the head of lettuce moves away from the watering can on his Baby Einstein DVD. He loves running around with sidewalk chalk and sometimes draws a line with it. Mom and Dad are have a great time drawing pictures. with it. He rubs his little hand on your shoulder when you pick him up. 

3-10-12

The mallard and hen ducks are back on the pond. They come through every spring. I love it when they arrive.  You can always tell when there is a duck on the pond based on the ripple pattern. Zach likes them too.

Zach is learning how to put his things away at school. So after he finished eating, he took his spoon over to the silverware drawer and put it back. Another day, after washing his hands, he carefully placed the dish towel back in the towel drawer.

Today we are headed to Manhattan, KS for Bobbie's surprise 75th birthday celebration.  Sunny, crisp, not a cloud in the sky this morning.

Mom and Dad arrived in Hilton Head yesterday for their vacation with Barb and Walt. Wish I could be there.

3-4-12

Steve and Kyle made a spontaneous trip to KC this weekend. Mike and Steve marked Kyle and Zach's height on the wall. 

Zach had a great time in the timber with the boys and Ray. 

He was walking around with his hands in his pockets. Mike taught him how to do it to keep his hands warm.

The tree house is a favorite spot. Of course it couldn't be the leaf pile or something risk-free.

Steve and Kyle camped out on Saturday night.  The next day, Kyle put one of their emergency bags over his head. I think he looks like a walking Ho-Ho.

Tonight, Zach discovered there is more than one way to skin a cat when it comes to shooting baskets.

Today, 3/5, was my first day of orientation for St. Mary's Medical Center. It was at St. Joseph's Medical Center. So far, I think it is all really nice.

3-2-12 #2

I saw an eagle about a mile from home on Milton Thompson Road. It was circling a field, but it was really high. Maybe eagle eyes are the real deal, because a mouse or snake etc would appear very small from that height.

3-2-12

Slow wake up today.