"I will not work in outpatient this week"

I said those words all weekend and vowed to not answer any phone calls from work (gotta love caller id). I was strong and I didn't answer the phone when it rang this morning. I even waited a whole 3 minutes until I listened to the voicemail. As predicted, it was work desperately looking for someone to work in the outpatient pharmacy.....but for the first time ever they were offering overtime pay. Well....with the remodeling project, I just couldn't say no. I will be spending Wednesday from 9-3:30 doing what most people think pharmacists do... counting pills!!! Since it's a children's hospital, I'll also get to work with the mortar and pestle and make fun suspensions! It's hard for me because I just don't do it often and I'm not very good at it - I can count and pour pills, but I'm not very fast and I struggle with the crazy computer system. I'm much better sitting in my office and interacting with the doctors and nurses that I know than working in a retail pharmacy and dealing with the scary general public.....AHHHH!!!

Winter Wonderland

View from Kitchen Window

That's 5 inches of spring powder!

March is going out like a lion in Salt Lake City. We had snow yesterday, but it was the typical spring snow that you don't have to shovel. This morning we awoke to 5 inches of powder.....yuck!!! Thanks to Joe for shoveling while I slept in this morning! I'm ready for spring. The good news is that the Canyons Resort had 10 inches of snow last night with another 6-12 inches expected today. My co-worker and I are going to take advantage of the weekday lack of crowds tomorrow and get a few runs in. She's a beginner so I plan on hanging out with her the cruisers and having fun, laidback ski day.

Blueberry Carrier

This is the new Blueberry transporter. Glad REI has 20% discount for members and with the yearly refund, and it's nice to have something specific to shop for.
I don't know why kids have to be in the front (I'm sure Laurie knows) but it seems awkward if the kid gets motion sickness and throws up all over my face. Oh well, I'm sure I did worse when I was little. --- Joe

Mistaken Identity

I saw bits of this story on the Today show this week. Students from Taylor University were driving in a van back from a university function and were struck by a reckless semi driver. 5 students were killed and a few survived. One blond girl was in critical condition. The police thought it was Laura, but after 5 weeks they discovered it was mistaken identity and it was really Whitney. Whitney's family had burried Laura, thinking it was their daughter. HOW SAD!!! The families have come together and written a book and their story will be featured on Dateline tonight. I am amazed how well these strong, Christian families have come together to cope with this horrible situation. Watch it tonight if you have a chance. I will be working on weekend, so the Tivo is set and I'll watch it next week.

Have a great weekend!

Too Cute!!!

Aunt Alyssa sent this adorable onesie for Baby Blueberry. You are the best internet shopper I know - you can find anything!!! Thank you for the kind, thoughtful gift.

Baby Blueberry

Our baby already has a name....Blueberry. We have enjoyed spending lots of time online reading and when we read the baby was the size of a grain of rice, we called the baby "rice baby", before we knew it the baby was the size of a blueberry and thus became "blueberry baby". This baby will forever be blueberry. We even ordered this blueberry fur berrie for the nursery.

We are Pregnant!

We are so excited to officially announce that we are expecting a little one in October. He or She is due on October 12th. It's already been quite a ride. Our first step is remodeling a room in our home into a nursery. We've had 3 window guys and one contractor in thus far. I will keep everyone updated through this blog.

Cheerleader dies after breast surgery

This is such a sad case. This 18 year old went in for corrective breast surgery (the media is making it sound like breast augmentation). She died from a bad side effect of the anesthesia called malignant hyperthermia. It's not entirely understood and seems to have a genetic component. I just have to broadcast that you need to ask questions when having surgery. I would recommend that everyone simply ask if the surgery center/hospital is prepared to treat malignant hyperthermia if it should occur. Chances are if you have had anesthesia once, you don't have the genetic defect and will do fine with anesthesia, but I still think it is good to ask. The medication used as an antidote to the metabolic defect is expensive and often expires on pharmacy shelves. Please make sure it is there!!!! We saved 2 kids in the last year that I know of!

MSNBC Link to Story

American Idol

We watched American Idol tonight. Oh My!! Are the long, black satin gloves with jewelery really going to come back?? Paula looked mighty funky. I wish I could find a picture to post. Randy was such a crab - I don't think he has ever been so negative. Utah favorite David Archuletta picked a horrible song and really did poorly. I like Jason Castro, but he had to be high tonight. I guess he really celebrated his birthday. It was quite a show!!!!

Knee Update

Good news from Joe's appointment. He does not need surgery at this time! Yeah!!! His meniscus is intact and rest and time should heal it. Joe feels the pain is getting better slowly and we are going to wait another 6 weeks. Jill - you called it!!! We had hoped this doc would have an easy solution for Joe's foot pain and swelling while snowboarding, ice skating, and running, but no go on that. He sure had some good ideas and did a series of X-rays and it wasn't anything he thought it was. Stretching the foot muscles was his best suggestion. I'm relieved we didn't have to schedule knee surgery!

Oprah's Big Give

I am an Oprah fan - I actually Tivo all her shows and watch them as time allows because I'm rarely home at 4:00! Today I watched the episode with Simon Cowell and I was so impressed. I am a Simon fan and I enjoy American Idol. Simon is rough around the edges and says what he's thinking. He had quite a moment on the Oprah Show. My guess is that he was pressured by the Oprah Show to Give Big and he did. The story hit home for me. A 3-year old from Claremont, MN was diagnosed with cancer and her parents have to drive 100 miles to Mayo and needed financial help. Simon paid off their $162,000 mortgage and told them it won't end there and he will help more if they need more help. He just sat on Oprah's stage with his dorky smile and just "got it". Giving feels great and he had the feeling for the first time. It was cool to watch. We've started watching Oprah's Big Give and I call it "the apprentice, but doing good with money". I haven't seen last nights episode, but it sounds pretty cool - everyone gets $100,000 to do good with. Maybe we'll watch it tonight.

Sadness in Iowa City

I lived in Iowa City for 6 years and I still feel I have a connection to the town. I am so saddened to hear that a family of 6 was killed this morning. I held a Hills Bank account all through college. It blows me away to think that a man had been embezzling money from the bank for 7 years and this morning he likely killed his 4 children, wife, and then himself. I'm thankful no one else was killed when he drove his van into a concrete support on I-80. It just makes me sick.

Press Citizen Story

I am #1 for now....

I am very proud to say that I am tied for first place with Joe in our tournament pool. I think I deserve extra credit, because it only took one bracket entry to get me to 1st place and Joe had to do two entries! I am going to enjoy the glory while it lasts because I don't have a lot of confidence in my Final Four choices. I just wish I could have watched the games all weekend.

Tournament

I am happy to say that I am currently in second place in my tournament pool. I'm bummed that Duke lost of course and I need my picks to be correct today. I'm suprised the tournamnent is happening over Easter. It feels too early to be Easter - it's still too cold!

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone has a lovely day. I already had my favorites - a Cadbury Egg and a bag of black jelly beans! It's off to work for me for the day.

Too Comfy and Spoiled!!

This morning when I got out of the shower, I was looking for Nicky. Sure enough this is where I found him! I guess we must have gotten up too early for him this morning and he chose to go back to bed - in our bed!!!! I have been reminding him lately that we got him at the pound and he should be darn appreciative of his nice life he has with us. He is beyond spoiled! Yes, he is still sleeping on our pillows! This is why he goes to the basement when we're not home - he would become a permanent fixture and bring the outside in!

Go Duke!!!

What a nail-biter! I just love the tournament and the last few seconds of those close games. I have Duke going to the Final Four, so I am relieved that they pulled off the game last night.

We watched basketball and celebrated Easter with food last night! I made a ham, hasbrown cheesy casserole, mashed potatoes, and scalloped pineapple. We'll both be eating it all weekend!

I would much rather be watching basketball all weekend, but the scoreboard on ESPN.com will have to due. I'll be at work all weekend.....

I'm in the Club!

Today I attended my first "Breakfast Club" with my co-workers. I am fortunate to have some great co-workers, but you always have some that are more fun. This group works evenings together and it is tradition to go to breakfast on Thursday before work (that's 10:30 AM, since they work at 12:30). This occurs every 9 weeks because we work a 9 week rotating schedule. I was invited to breakfast today!!! It was fun to hang with them outside of work and catch up with everyone and catch up on the work gossip I missed over the last week. I hope to continue this tradition!

Where was You Tube when I was in school?

Calling all healthcare nerds! I think I would have done much better on the cardiology tests if I had thought of heartblock to a Justin Timberlake song! We had a few extra minutes in rounds one day and the interns showed me this video and it still cracks me up!!! They should teach this dance in every ACLS class!

PS I'm pretty proud I figured out how to post a You Tube file!

I went to college with Diablo Cody

The Minnesota Stripper who wrote Juno attended the University of Iowa with me. It said she lived in the dorms for a year and then moved to an apartment on Iowa Ave and worked for KRUI. I am racking my brain to see if she looks familiar to me! I knew we shared a midwest connection, but this is the first time I heard she went to Iowa. Interesting....

Des Moines Register Article

I miss my old TV shows!

I have missed TV due to the writers strike. I really liked Cashmere Mafia and then they ran out of shows, so now I have been watching Lipstick Jungle. I think if there were other shows on TV I wouldn't be grasping to this show. Brook Shields looks weird in this show....but it's growing on me.

Joe is still home sick and has trouble sleeping at night and then sleeps until almost 9! I was up early this morning and catching up on Lipstick Jungle. This is my favorite week at my job - I'm off from Saturday - Thursday in my transition from days to weekends. This is the sweet spot to make up for working so many weekends and evenings! I go back and forth deciding if I like it, but this week of course I LOVE my schedule! I won't be so happy when I go into work on Friday afternoon and everyone else is celebrating their weekend off.....

Joe's starting to feel a bit better and going into the office for a while today. I am planning on running errands and then taking him to see his doctor. I don't think the ER doc gave him enough antibiotics and I am going to go plead my case!!!!

Jack's Pizza

I have always loved Jack's Frozen Pizza and my mom knows to always have a few in the freezer when we come home, because Alyssa and I haven't found it outside of Iowa. I FOUND Jack's Pizza at Walgreens! Yum! We just had frozen pizza for dinner. It appears that Kraft is marketing Jack's pizza and I was a bit worried it wouldn't be the same....but it was tasty! AT - check out Walgreens and you may be able to find our favorite pizza. I guess I can't make fun of my friend who only buys groceries at Walgreens anymore.

PS We are craving Irish food and will be having corned beef and cabbage tomorrow night....long story.

Gridiron Gang

We also saw Gridiron Gang. It was released in 2006 and I didn't remember seeing any previews for it. It was AWESOME!!! The Rock works at a juvenille detention center and is saddened by the number of kids who get out and return to gang wars. He started a prison football team and made a world of difference to these young men. It made me think of all my sister does in Louisiana and reminded me to be thankful and proud for people like her dedicating their lives to improve the lives of these poor kids who have been lead so far astray. I am so proud of you Alyssa!!! AT - if you haven't seen this movie - go rent it!!!! Great feel good movie.

No Country for Old Men

We netflixed this movie and I was anxious to see it after it won so many awards. I didn't like it at all. I felt it went no where and then just ended. I don't recommend this movie. Did I just miss it???

St Patrick's Day Parade

We went with Dorothy to the St. Patrick's Day Parade downtown Salt Lake yesterday. We decided that this is the parade that brings out all the non-Mormon's in town! There were some controversial and floats that made strong statements. We also had no clue there were so many Catholic highschools in the valley. Our favorite float was the "Wyoming State Line where you don't have to buy Near Beer". We also saw the owner of our favorite local pubs and he gave us some flashing shamrock necklaces. Nicky had fun with all the kids and many people petting him. He got extra attention from the people walking in the parade because from a distance he looks like an Irish Setter. Remember to wear green on Monday!

We finally have Guitar Hero!

The Best Buy gift card we were expecting finally arrived yesterday and we headed out to get Guitar Hero. We bought the last one on the shelf! This Wii shortage is crazy!!! I was bummed because they were out of the guitars, so we could only buy the game bundle which included one guitar. I wanted 2 guitars so we could play together. I'm glad we weren't able to buy that extra guitar quite yet! I am not very good. I would have lost EVERY battle I would have played. It's going to take some practice for me. I'm bummed because I thought for sure I would pick this game up faster than Joe, but no go. I think I will eventually get better. It's still fun. I'll be rockin' like all the teenagers soon enough!

Knee Update

Joe has his MRI on Friday morning. We have not heard any results. He will call his doctor on Monday and his Ortho appt is on the 25th. He is just moving carefully and I think it might be getting a little better with rest. No snowboarding for him.

Sad Addiction

Joe and I are addicted to "The Moment of Truth". It is so sad. It is the lie detector show on Fox Wednesday nights. It just blows me away to watch these stupid people flash all their dirty secrets on national TV for the potential to win money. The smart ones all stop at $100,000, the worst ones keep going and eventually LIE and think they can beat the detector and lose all their money and relationships with family and friends! Tonight I decided it is Jerry Springer without body guards and people throwing chairs! I guess we both work stressful jobs if we like to come home at night and watch mind numbing TV and make fun of the idiots willing to go on these shows!

March Madness

Joe is running a tournament pool. Entry is $10. Please let me know if you want me to email you the link. It will be fun and I just have a feeling this is going to be my year to win! Unfortunately, I think I get that feeling every year and it's been a while since I won!!!!

Tax Time

It's that time of year. Last night I thought I was so organized to take everything to the accountant today. I went over everything with Joe and told him I thought we were set. He replied with, "we just need last years taxes and we're ready". I couldn't even respond - where could I have put them? I quickly went to my cupboard of "need to file and organize" and spotted it instantly! WHEW!

We met with our accountant today and will find out the results next week. I think we just HAVE to get a refund this year....but I will be satisfied with not having to pay in too much!

Dorothy happened to have her tax appt today just before ours so we met for an early dinner. We went to Wingers and had some great wings!

Spring is in the Air

I am ready for Spring. It can stay cold in the mountains so I can get some more ski days in....but I want Spring at my house!! Today was gorgeous. It was sunny and 65 degrees. Joe was home early from work and we took Nicky to the park and let him run like mad. It was nice to get some sunshine and enjoy the weather. I think it was just what I needed after a long day at work. I have 3 co-workers that are challenging my patience and they are currently winning!!!!

MRI?

Joe is scheduled for an MRI on Friday. I feel bad for him - his knee moves on him for no apparent reason and causes great pain! He called the ortho and they said to get an MRI before setting up an appointment. We should know more next week. Thanks for the great advice, Jill. At first I was disappointed that they wanted to do an expensive MRI first, but it will be better to know what he's in for prior to surgery if needed. I would guess that playing hockey as goalie since 2 years old has caused him to have the knees of an 80 year old!!!!

We had a nice relaxing weekend. We enjoyed the condo in the mountains and I had a good time skiing. Joe took his laptop to the lodge and did some work. I forgot the camera - sorry no pics. We watched many movies and some great basketball!

Yesterday we had a lazy afternoon at home and caught up on our DVR. I can now talk to people about American Idol because I am caught up!!!

Joe Update

He saw his favorite doctor at Urgent Care and she thinks it may be a torn meniscus. I know nothing about knees...but she can't see it on an xray and recommended an ortho to scope him. Sounds like fun stuff to deal with next week. Joe will be my chauffeur this weekend and I guess I'll be skiing solo for sure! He says he tried to get permission to snowboard with the brace, but the answer was a big NO! We'll still have fun.....just more relaxing this way!!!

Weekend

We are heading to Northern Utah for another Ski Weekend. We had some timeshare points to use and thought we should experience Powder Mountain. It's only a 1.5 hour drive.....but they have a hot tub and shuttle to the mountain, so it's a vacation for us!

Joe popped his knee out this morning and couldn't get into his doctor until Monday, so he is headed to Urgent Care after work. I think he'll be out for the weekend. Nicky's already at Campbarkalot and we'll just lose our points if we cancel now.....so it will be a relaxing mountain retreat weekend!

I plan on skiing.....but I think Joe will be in the condo watching movies!!!

Have a great weekend!

Our Pizza is back!!!!

We are so thankful that Este Pizza has reopened. They had a horrible fire on the 4th of July and have been closed every since. They reopened this week and we had the best New York Style Cheese pizza ever! YEAH!!! We finally get our pizza fix!

Generation X

I am a Generation Xer. We had an awseome talk today about the different generations. I work with Baby Boomers, Gen X, and Gen Y and now we have patients that are Generation Z. It was a fabulous talk about why we are the way we are because of what was going on when we were growing up. I grew up with the "latch key kids" and we learned to be very independent and good at telling "lies". We had to learn to lie or bend the truth because we were home alone but weren't allowed to admit that when strangers called the house. We answered (we didn't have Caller ID) and we just said our Mom was in the shower or some scripted line. We were told to find a better way from A to B instead of being told there was only one way. The most impacting thing that happened in our childhood was the explosion of the Challenger - I remember where I was! We have learned not to trust anyone! We are self-reliant and private. We aren't as good at eye contact as older generations because we didn't always have it - we learned to have conversations while doing our homework at the kitchen table while our parents cooked dinner - we don't have to have the face to face conversations. Generation Y is uncomfortable with face to face conversation and are having trouble at job interviews - they would rather text the person sitting next to them!! It was interesting and I think we will look at our different generations at work differently after the talk.

Dorothy Update

I checked on Dorothy a few times today. Her head still hurts, but she is doing much better. Now it's the hassel of dealing with the insurance companies, car estimates, a rental car......ahh, it makes my head hurt. I'm so glad she is safe!!!!

March Madness

I'm not sure when the tournament begins, but today was March Madness at work. They sent out an email stating "Support your favorite basketball team - wear your teams colors or appropriate fan attire - no shorts". We opted for our favorite shirt and jeans. We wore jeans and decided to ask for forgiveness rather than asking for permission. It caused some drama amongst the people who weren't smart enough to think about wearing jeans!!! I was comfy in my jeans and I got to support the Hawkeyes! I was so pumped because I had an excuse to wear the cute Iowa shirt my Mom sent me last fall!!! Thanks, Mom! We had basketball sugar cookies and popcorn to celebrate March Madness - I still can't figure out why they did this 2 weeks early!

I'm sending good luck to the Hawkeyes in the Big Ten Tournament next week! Go Hawks!

Winter Park Ski Trip

Joe and Laurie at the top of Mary Jane
12,ooo feet

Jeff and Nicole at the top of Mary Jane

Ahh....skiing above treeline - gotta love it!

We had grilled burgers at 11,000 ft - the weather was fabulous!

There's the lift - they don't call it the panoramic express for nuthin'

Brats taste better when they are grilled in the snow

There's Nicole hanging with her homies

They even let old guys in the half pipe!

That takes teamwork!

Why else would they sell old skis at a pawn shop?

Casey - the Winter Park Ski Trip Mascot!

We had so much fun for our first trip together to Winter Park. We visited Jeff and Nicole at their new mountain home. It was so great to see our Colorado friends that we miss dearly. We are sad that we had so many last minute cancellations due to sick kiddos and the horrible road conditions due to the snow storm. Next year - you all better be there!!! :-)

We joined Jeff and Nicole at the local pub for a beer and enjoyed the local band upon arrival. They hitched a ride and escorted us to their new home (some of the signs are covered in snow - so this made it easier).


We were up bright and early (sort of) and enjoyed a great breakfast followed by a great sunny day on the slopes. The pictures are from the top of Mary Jane. Friday night, the boys grilled for us in the snow and we enjoyed dinner followed by a game of Risk. It was my first time playing and I didn't really get it and I wasn't a great sport!!! Needless to say I was the first one out and excited to be the first to bed!!!


Saturday brought another fabulous day of skiing including some time in the terrain park and a trip down the Half Pipe for the brave (or maybe crazy) snowboarders Joe and Nicole. Skiing was followed by great apres skiing sitting on a patio with our beers and a great band. We headed home for homemade lasagna and the inauguration of the SHOT SKI!!!! We have been waiting for a year to finally use the infamous Shot Ski! It worked well on the first try....but we needed to make sure we had it perfected and figured 3 times is a charm! We signed it and have convinced them to mount it on the wall and I think our picture will make the wall as well. The night continued with a game of Fact or Crap - it's OK, but not highly recommended by us. We moved on to Risk and I had a better attitude and we all had a little more fun.


Sunday we woke up to fresh powder and it was still snowing! YEAH --- Powder Day!!! Thanks to Jeff''s great pointers, I became a better powder skier and had a blast!!! After the hot tub, we headed to Smokin' Moe's for incredible ribs! Ahhh...what a great ending to such a perfect ski weekend.


Monday we met Meredith for lunch in Denver. We went to the Rio - I really miss that place. It was great.


We are sad we didn't get to see everyone we wanted to see, but it was a fabulous trip and we couldn't have ordered better weather!!!! Thanks to Jeff and Nicole for being great hosts!!! Enjoy the photos!

Long day....

I really planned on posting our Winter Park trip tonight, but it didn't happen. My mother-in-law was in a car accident and we spent the night with her in the ER. It was scary and she bonked her head pretty good, but she is fine and home now.

I will post tomorrow - I have many great pictures to share!!