Work humor

I was in the car transporting a mentally ill veteran to the hospital for his injection (medication). I was doing my best to listen to his woes as he was angry for a variety of reasons. I guess I was doing an ok job because he did his very best to pay me a compliment. He told me I would be a great stripper and would make a lot more money doing that than being a social worker. I laughed so hard that he started laughing too although I don't know if he knew why we were laughing. At least it lightened the mood and put a smile on his face.

Stupid people

Everyone has those days when they do stupid things. Today was not my day. Instead, today was the day I was surrounded by others having their stupid day. That makes for a very bad day.

I have a very difficult patient who needed a refill on his medication. I e-mailed the psychiatrist yesterday. I spoke with the psychiatrist on the phone yesterday. I sent an alpha page to the psychiatrist yesterday...all three times requesting a refill of the medicine. After speaking with a very angry patient this morning, I e-mailed the psychiatrist again requesting the refill. She responds with something about "I wonder what this patient is thinking and what he really wants." HE WANTS HIS MEDICINE!!! Stupid person number one.

I was supposed to have a cookie exchange at work today. The planner of the exchange wanted to suck up to the bosses and give them cookies too. Since one of the two bosses was leaving early, another cookie exchanger took her cookies and my cookies to the planner to have them delivered before the boss left. The planner assumed the cookie exchange was then over but didn't tell anyone that and didn't bothering showing up to the meeting place. Stupid person number two.

One of the other cookie exchangers showed up to the meeting place for the exchange but hasn't ever been to this meeting place before. Stupid person number three, who has no idea what is going on and isn't involved at all, tells the cookie exchanger that she is probably in the wrong building and sends her next door. Next door tells her they don't know anything about a cookie exchange so she leaves and goes back to the hospital.

In the meantime, I am wasting precious note writing time hanging out at the meeting place for an exchange that no one shows up to. Maybe it was my stupid day after all. I think I need a vacation.

Thanksgiving leftovers

We had this wonderful Thanksgiving meal in Chicago with my parents over the weekend. We drove home and about an hour outside of Chicago realized we forgot our leftovers. I am very very sad. No turkey, no mashed potatoes with gravy. I was hoping for turkey sandwiches for lunch this week. Turkey soup perhaps? Nope. Nada. Nothing.

Ya know those questions things you hate to fill out...

I received this from a friend of mine the other day. I thought these questions were pretty fun being the holidays and all. It is one of those where you see the answers from your friend, delete their answers, put in your own, and send it off to a million people in your address book who probably aren't interested. Well, I thought I would include my answers just for the fun of it and to say I actually blogged again.

1. Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your family and friends. Okay, here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a SCROOGE!!! Just copy this entire email and paste into a new e-mail that you can send. Change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person that sent it to
you......Tis the Season to be NICE

2. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Gift bags because I lack the knack for nice wrapping. My corners never look right and the paper always gets bunched. My gifts generally look as though they were wrapped by a 6 year old.

2. Real tree or Artificial? I always said real but I'm getting cheaper in my old age and realize the sense of purchasing just one tree and sticking with it. However I do love the smell of a real tree.

3. When do you put up the tree? This is assuming we put up a tree at all. Every other year we are in Chicago and this year we are in Ohio. It kind of kills the desire to put up a tree when you aren't there. Plus we will be in Chicago three weekends out of the next four which is also cause for not getting a tree.

4. When do you take the tree down? When it dies.

5. Do you like eggnog? I love it but realize how bad it is for me so I avoid it.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? If I can't think of one, does that mean I received too many gifts as a kid?

7. Hardest person to buy for? It used to my by brother in law until it worked out that I don't have to buy for him. Now it is my dad. How many years in a row can he ask for socks, undershirts, an umbrella, a belt, a tie, and dress shirts. BORING!!!

8. Easiest person to buy for? My mom. She loves everything and appreciates whatever we give her...even if she has to fake it on occasion.

9. Do you have a nativity scene? No because we haven't gotten that far in buying Christmas decorations. My parents have one and my mom insists putting baby Jesus in Mary's awkwardly outstretched arms because she is convinced Mary wouldn't leave her newborn sitting in hay. (Not a bad point if you ask me.)

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? I send a Christmas letter but it is getting expensive and sometimes the creative juices aren't always flowing.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? I'm not very good at "favorite" questions.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Usually after Christmas unless I'm inspired beforehand and find something that is just perfect.

14. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Too many things to name. Let's leave it at I love to eat anything.

15. Lights on the tree? I grew up with multicolored lights on the tree. I prefer white lights when decorating the outside of the house.

16. Favorite Christmas song? Here we go again with the "favorite" questions.

17. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Always travel but never on Christmas day. I like to arrive a day or two early and leave a day or two after. It's all about the relaxation.

18. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Not a chance. Is there a Dopey?

19. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star or bow.

20. Open presents on Christmas Eve or morning? Always Christmas Day although the Elves arrive Christmas Eve with new jammies for everyone.

21. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? The traffic, the crowds, and the need to give too much when so many others have too little.

22.Favorite Ornament theme or color? Favorite, favorite, favorite, blah, blah, blah...

23. Favorite for Christmas dinner? My mom's buttery turkey, buttery mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, cinnamon rolls, pumpkin pie.

24. What do you want for Christmas this year? Chris keeps asking me this same question and I don't have an answer for him either.

25. Who is most likely to respond to this? My mom.

26. Who is least likely to respond to this? Christopher. He will read it, laugh, and delete it.

It's been a while...

It dawned on me yesterday that I haven't blogged in forever. It is directly related to being on facebook which is an addiction that has captured my husband but which is slowly fading for me...most likely the reason why I'm now blogging again.

A decent amount has happened since I last wrote. First, Chris and I both passed our boards and are officially licensed clinical social workers. For social workers, this is as good as it gets. Most people receive a pay raise with this achievement but for us, we get to keep our jobs which, in a sense, is a pay raise. We took the test October 20th and I think we are just beginning to feel as though we have our lives back after spending so much time with our nose in the books. For fun, we spent one study day at Oliver Winery in Bloomington, IN and yes, we actually studied. At the end of our study session we goofed around in their garden a little.



Chris took me to a Chicago Bear's game as my 30th birthday present and the weather couldn't have been better.


Then right before Halloween, we went to a pumpkin patch and went apple picking with a friend of ours.























Last weekend we went to Gatlinburg, TN for a mini vacation with some friends of ours. We rented a fabulous cabin with three other couples. This is a picture Chris took from the inside of our cabin looking out onto the back deck.

Each couple had their own bedroom and walk in shower. There were flat screen tvs in every room, a hot tub, a huge kitchen, a pool table, etc... We hiked, zorbed (more on that later), ate, and most importantly, relaxed. It was just what we needed and felt like a bit of a reward for our hard work. One hike we did required scaling up some rocks to get to the very top. We got about half way when I chickened out and decided that going further without being roped in wasn't worth the risk. These is a picture of Chris going up and another of me at the furthest point we were willing to go.


There were some beautiful places along the hike. This was one of them, albeit with Chris and I a bit washed out from the flash.

Another little reward for passing the exam was the purchase of a new counter top for our kitchen. We have never liked what we have and have always wanted a seamless kitchen sink that is attached from under the counter. We picked one out and it is going to be installed in a few weeks. Our winter projects are to paint the cabinets, attach hardware, and depending on how our yellow walls look, possibly paint the kitchen. Of course none of this will start until the new year since we are going to be out of town almost every weekend starting with Thanksgiving.

Now, back to zorbing. Our friend did take video of us doing this but we haven't received it yet. I'm sure it won't look much different so check out this from youtube. It is the same company...the only place to zorb in the United States.

There is water in the inside ball we are in which prevents us from going upside down. We get wet but I don't know when I have laughed as hard as when Chris and I did this together.

Needless to say that Chris and I are still enjoying life together and the blessings we have been given. Stay tuned and hopefully it won't take two months for me to blog again.

Time for a change at 8500 hits

Chris and I are sitting here watching the Chicago Bears game (we are currently winning by the way) and playing around on the computer. We decided it was time to change the blog a little bit. Hope you like the new look of it. The only thing it lost from the old version was the counter. I'm very proud to say that I had reached 8500 hits. Either people have a lot of time on their hands or they have a lot of time on their hands because someone clicking on my blog that many times is absolutely crazy. Thanks to all who have visited and I hope that I provided a few laughs over the last few years and will provide a few more in the future.

Neighborhood practical jokes

I was looking out the window onto my deck yesterday to check on my tomato plant when I saw that I had acquired a couch. A rather large and unattractive couch I might add. This couch was sitting right in the middle of my desk. After taking a second and third look, I called Chris in Chicago to ask who he had told could put this said couch on said deck. He was just as surprised as I was and so the investigative work began.

Wayne, our designated neighborhood watch, said he was volunteering all day and didn't know anything. Dave, our next door neighbor wasn't answer his door. Eric however... Eric, our neighbor who lives on the other side of Dave, he was outside and had too innocent look on his face. He admitted that Dave had purchased a new couch and that he thought that his old couch would be a good addition to our deck. Gee, thanks Dave. I spent some time on the couch last night making phone calls and was going to hang out there tonight with my friend Vanessa but it was RAINING! so we stayed inside. We stayed inside long enough until we had a plan. Always beware of paybacks.

Dave now has a bathroom vanity with sink (minus the mirror of course) on his sidewalk directly in front of his porch. It should be a good welcome as he walks out his front door tomorrow morning.

Annoyed

Yup. You heard right. I'm annoyed. A first for me I'm sure. Ok, well maybe not but moving along with the story... In the state of Indiana, for a social worker to become clinically licensed, they have to have 3 years of supervised social work experience post grad school. Then they have to obtain oodles of paperwork turned in at the Indiana licensing agency and pray it isn't lost (which happened to one of my friends.) Once the board reviews the application, we have wait for a letter to confirm our approval before we can register for the exam. Once we register, we have to wait for another letter so we can choose a date and time for the exam. And then we study, and study, and study, and study, because the pass rate in Indiana isn't so hot. So either Indiana has really dumb social workers or the test is stinkin hard. I think it is a combo of the two. Anyway...

I turned in my application. They never sent me an approval letter and after a month had passed I called and was informed I was one month short of supervision hours and needed to submit another form. Gee, thanks for letting me know. I re-submitted the paperwork and finally received my approval letter. Then I got on-line and registered for the exam, of course paying for the exam and study materials. I received an e-mail two days later stating my registration was denied. Apparently the licensing agency forgot to send the registration people my name. Oops. Oh, and thanks for the apology.

I was going to call the registration people back knowing they now had my name when it dawned on me that they had my payment already which the bank said was pending. When I called I was informed that of course I wouldn't be billed twice, that they did need a credit card number again for me to re-register for the exam, and (not quite in these words) that I was stupid. Apparently she isn't a social worker since we are all so nice and cheerful all the time. She said that since my registration was denied that the payment wouldn't go through and "hadn't I checked my bank today?" No I hadn't because I checked it yesterday and was at that moment sitting in a car waiting for a veteran to get out of the grocery store.

So as it stands, my payment (two days later) is still pending, I'm still not registered for this stupid exam that will suck to take, and the clock is ticking. I have one year from my date of eligibility (early June) to pass the exam before I am canned at my job. So yeah, I'm a little annoyed.

Thanks for letting me vent.

Funny stuff

New Orleans vacation/conference

What a crazy trip!!! New Orleans wouldn't normally be our first choice for a vacation spot but I had a work related conference so we decided to make a trip out of it. The trip started with arriving at the airport only to be told that my work never purchased a plane ticket but made some sort of general reservation. We called the travel department at the VA hospital frantically but to no avail and had to purchase a very expensive one way ticket. Then we had to run through the airport after learning Chris' ticket was standby and the plane was full. We got very lucky that others on the place were willing to give up their ticket so Chris was able to get on the plane. Thankfully we made it safely to New Orleans and settled into our very nice hotel room...courtesy of VA hospital.

The first night had some excitement when I woke up in the middle of the night and smelled ammonia. It was really strong and I was surprised when, after waking up Chris to inform him we were being gassed, that he couldn't smell it. We talked about it the next morning and determined I must have had an olfactory hallucination. I was vindicated when two days later I smelled it again and this time Chris smelled it too. It odor came in waves and since we weren't spending much time in the hotel room, it was easy to ignore. The second to last day though, ignoring it became impossible. The smell was so strong it was giving us a headache. After dragging the housekeeper into the room to confirm we weren't crazy, we went to the desk and informed them we wanted a new room which we were given. That night, in our new room, we heard yelling in the hallway. A man was standing outside a room door and was cursing and threatening the couple inside. We called security and despite us staring into our peephole, we couldn't see what happened. We did see the couple in the room (when they walked by our peephole) get escorted off the hotel room floor by the police and we heard the woman say they were separated and this was the first time her husband had seen her with another man. Interesting...

The thing about New Orleans that Chris and I learned is that mid August is NOT the time to go. We were told this by a few locals and were informed that the heat and humidity would improve in about 3 weeks. In the meantime, Chris and I avoided the sun and after walking around each day, would lie on the bed with our hands and feet in the air to bring down the swelling. Imagine a dead bug. That was us. This is a picture of the trolleys. We were going to take the St. Charles trolley to the garden district to walk around and look at the beautiful houses. Instead, we stayed on the trolley until the end of the line and then hopped back on and took it home. It was just too darn hot to walk.

Two other low lights had to do with walking the streets of New Orleans. First, the place smells foul. The French Quarter reeks of stale beer, vomit, and garbage. The garbage is place on the edge of the sidewalk but the streets and sidewalks are so narrow that it is impossible to avoid walking dangerously close to the garbage. Second, the begging for money was out of control. The moment I pulled out my camera to take a picture, someone would offer to take the picture for a small tip. There were different mimes or clowns in the streets, children tap dancing, and the run of the mill homeless person all wanting money. I had one woman put her arm around me and proceeded to call me stingy after I wouldn't give her any money. She then tried to get money from Chris and I informed her that the bad news of the day was that Chris was just as stingy as me. She left quite annoyed. Oh well.

There were a few highlights...Chris getting peed on by a baby alligator, feeding alligators marshmallows during the swamp tour, eating, eating, and eating. And best of all, Chris and I not only remembered to bring the camera, we actually used it.

Just another day at the office

My morning started by meeting a veteran at his house to transport him to the hospital to have some bandages changed. We sat in his house as he smoked his last cigarette before walking out to my car. I sat down in the driver's seat and looked over at the passenger door as he opened it. Sadly I had a bird's eye view of his pants fly that was gaping open and he wasn't sporting any under garments. I got quite an eyefull and gently suggested to him that his zip up his pants before getting to the hospital. That is a horrible vision to have engrained in my memory and it will take years of therapy to move beyond it.

My next veteran wanted to go bra shopping. Not a big deal except that the veteran is a man. We went to a store and he said he needed a 46DD. Funny thing since I wouldn't have put him over a B cup...even with the estrogen patches he wears. (He is a bit mixed up sexually and that is the least of his problems.) Anyway, he purchases 4 bras and then tells me that they didn't have his size. I suggested he return them and said I would find him a place where they did have his size. He wasn't going for it and began to escalate. He started yelling at me that I didn't understand and that his testicles were hurting because his bras were all too tight. Then he pulls up his shirt and demands I look at his breast. I figured I had already seen the bottom half of one veteran, what was the difference in seeing the top half of another? Please note that he was not wearing a bra. I looked at his breast to tell him that yes, I did see it and yes, I'm sure it was terrible to be in such pain. After calming him down and helping him bring his groceries to his apartment, he told me that the bra he was wearing was uncomfortable and too small. I clarified that he was meaning the bra he was wearing at that exact moment and he said yes. He must have been meaning his invisible bra... Or he is crazy. I think the latter of the two...

This all happened yesterday but it must be the week of exposure because I had another veteran pull up his shirt to pinch his nipple during a home visit today. He said he was sure he had breast cancer due to a lump he found. I convinced him to 1) call his doctor and 2) put his shirt down.

Just another day at the office...

The Foot...final update

At least we hope it is the final update. Things are better. We met with the doc last Friday and were finally given some good news. He said he thinks Chris' foot will heal on its own without further medical intervention. The top skin of his foot is pretty hard and the doctor said the skin will most likely sluff (how do you spell that darn word?) off on its own. Chris is also noticing that he is lacking feeling in certain parts of his foot when someone touches it but we are guessing that is part of the dead skin thing and nothing to worry about...we hope.

The part of his foot that was black is still black and has now leaked out blood into a thin layer of skin just above the surface. It is kinda neat to push the blood around with your finger. Chris wanted me to take a video of us doing this but a picture of his foot will have to do and you will have to use your imagination. I'm just not that techy.

Chris went back to work for the first time today. He also spent 45 minutes at the gym which was pretty exciting. He is finally off crutches and manages fairly well with his walking boot. He is almost completely off of his pain killers. He is still finishing off his antibiotics but should be done with those soon. All of the prayers, meals, offers to mow the lawn have been wonderful. Thank you to everyone who helped or offered to help. We are very lucky to have you in our lives.

The Foot II (Still PG-13)

Chris and I went to the ortho doc last Thursday which was the last post. The doc decided Chris' foot was getting worse instead of better and scheduled him to go into surgery the next morning and to stay through the night. The surgery went well and the doc removed 100cc's of red gunk. He said the foot had made a sort of cavern to hold the fluid and it was easy to remove and "power wash" the inside.

The big question was what kind of infection Chris might have...staph, MRSA, etc... We were put into a huge hospital room with a negative airflow sign in the door which wasn't very encouraging. We met with the infectious disease doc who said he wouldn't have the cultures back until Monday but put Chris on hefty antibiotics. The night in the hospital was pretty rough as Chris was in a lot of pain and the morphine was no longer doing the trick. We finally made it back home Saturday around 1:00pm and spent the rest of the day (my 30th birthday) relaxing. My parents were in town and were wonderfully helpful as we made the transition from hospital to home.

Chris talked to the infectious disease doc on Monday and we were told that nothing grew. We took that as good news...until today. Today we met with the ortho doc who removed Chris' bandages from surgery. I think we were all surprised with how bad Chris' foot looked. The doc said that he is doubtful there isn't an infection regardless of the cultures done. He explained that since Chris was on antibiotics since the injury two weeks ago, unless the infection was raging, it would prevent any growth in a culture. He said that from looking at Chris' foot, he believes that it could be strep and that Chris will need to continue on the antibiotics. The other concern was a black spot on his foot which the doc said is necrotic. This is a fancy medical word for dead. I heard the words skin graff, plastic surgeon. The doc also talked about having ongoing concerns that Chris might spike a fever from an infection. When the doc had said post surgery that Chris could return to work whenever he felt good enough to do so, the doc now said that Chris wasn't allowed to return to work for at least a week and that he needed to be seen again this Friday.

So, prayers needed still. We never expected all of this to happen. We figured we would go home after Montrose and that the foot would heal after a few days and this would be over. This continues to be a challenge for both of us. Chris is having a difficult time staying home, especially since he is usually so active. (Think gym workouts 5 days a week at 5:30a.m.) I'm having a difficult time running the show by myself. We have been blessed with a wonderfully supportive church who is bringing us meals every other day. I'll keep you posted. These are the pictures I took in the doctor's office this morning after the bandage was removed and before another one was put on.

The Foot (PG-13 due to graphic content)

Since the majority of my readers consist of family members, most of them could probably write this blog entry since they were all there when this happened. Just in case there are a few random readers, this is for you.

As I was growing up, my immediate family would meet in Pennsylvania with my extended family every summer for a vacation. We stayed in my grandma's log cabin and spent our days building forts in the woods behind the cabin. I hadn't been back to the cabin in 9 years since my grandma died. When my cousins, Chris, and I went wandering back to our old forts, we realized there was nothing left of them. We decided we needed to build a fort that would withstand the test of time. That fort started and quickly ended with a rock wall.

Not having been in the woods for so many years, there was a lot of debris that covered the large flat rocks we were using. Chris picked up a rock that appeared much smaller than it actually was. The rock was so heavy it slipped out of his hands, dropped on the ground, rolled down and crushed his foot. I'm not sure how he managed to get down the hill on his own but by the time my dad and I got to him...roughly two minutes after the accident...his foot was so swollen already that we almost had to cut his beloved Chaco sandals off of him. We rushed him to the tiny small town ER and they x-rayed his foot determining that nothing was broken. We were given no real direction on what to do next, Chris was handed crutches, and we were on our way.

Fast forward to a week later. Chris' foot was still so swollen and painful that he went to the doctor and had an MRI done. His ortho doc that he was finally referred to over a week after the accident said that the ER was correct, that no bones were broken, but that his injury was just as bad, if not worse with all of the soft tissue damage.

He has a large hematoma on the top of his foot that can't be drained because it is too long after the initial injury and all of the blood has coagulated. Chris needs to massage the hematoma in an attempt to break it up. Of course he can barely touch it without extreme pain and that is when he is on the narcotics prescribed to him.

He noticed yesterday that his foot was starting to get red. I suggested he call his ortho doc and let him know since his follow up appointment isn't scheduled for another 5 days. Included are pictures he took today. Keep in mind that this happened almost two weeks ago. He is still on crutches. It is hard to see the bruising running along the sides of his foot but you can see some of the bruising that has moved into his toes. It has been a rough few weeks.

Busy, busy, busy

It's been a very busy summer for the Ray family. We kicked it off by going to Florida the first weekend in June to see my sister's family...see last post. The next weekend we took it easy to celebrate Flag Day. How does one celebrate Flag Day you might ask? Great question. Moving right along... The third weekend I was on call for Clarian North hospital...also see a previous post...and Chris was in Washington DC for a conference. The last weekend in June we drove two and a half hours north to Ft. Wayne, IN to go boating with friends of mine from college. The first weekend in July we were in Pennsylvania for the Torrey family reunion and for this weekend, we just returned from another boating trip in Ft. Wayne, IN about an hour ago.

This coming weekend we will be home to celebrate my 30th birthday. I don't know what Chris has in store for me but I'm excited.

Finally, some pictures

And no, I didn't have some epiphany and actually remember our camera on our trip to FL. My lovely sister Jill sent these to me. They are of my sister, our nephew Deven, and us. Enjoy.

On call

Beep, beep, beep, beep. That was the sound I heard at 2:30 this morning. I returned the page and spoke with the doctor in the emergency room at the hospital I am on call with. She had an intoxicated man who was talking about wanting to commit suicide. In the state of Indiana, the legal limit for alcohol is .08. This man was at a .5. Most of us would be dead. The doc then decided that I could wait to come in until 5 or 6 in the morning since he was so drunk I probably wouldn't be able to assess him properly. Too bad the doc didn't decide that until AFTER she paged me. I did my best to shut my brain down and fall back asleep.

I dragged my sorry butt in the hospital at 5:45, still very tired after not sleeping well after getting the page. I determined the man was no longer suicidal, also not as intoxicated which is not uncommon and which the doc should have considered. I spoke with the patient's 77 year old father who was infuriated with me because I wouldn't have his son sent to a psych unit against his will. I tried to explain the whole, "People have civil rights thing" but it didn't go over too well. Neither did the whole, "I can't tell you what your son said due to patient confidentiality." I think it was then he got into my personal space and said something about his son killing a family member of mine while driving drunk. I knew it was time to go home.

I crawled back into bed and slept for about an hour before I woke up to beep, beep, beep, beep. I returned the page and was informed there was a mother at the hospital with her daughter and the mother wanted to go home, check on her son and do some things around the house before returning to the hospital. Oh, and she wanted the hospital to pay for the cab fare both ways. I was the mean old social worker who said no, was informed by the mom it had been done for her all week, and told her I would call the full time social worker and get back with her. Thankfully the full time social worker is a friend of mine who said her story was accurate and that I needed to inform her this would be the last time prior to discharge that we would do this.

I gave up on trying to sleep so Chris and I walked down to the Farmer's Market. On the way back, beep, beep, beep, beep. This time it was the hospital chaplin who explained that a guy who was engaged to a patient at the hospital was having his utilities shut off due to not paying the bills. He wanted our help with the utilities but didn't want his fiance to find out. I told the chaplain he was out of luck on a Saturday and to try back on Monday.

I hate this job. I actually quit this job but decided to keep this last weekend to help out. Knowing I will never have to do this again is keeping me sane. I'm off to a wedding reception and a goodbye party. We'll see how long I can attend before I hear the beep, beep, beep, beep.

The longest short trip ever

Chris and I planned a short vacation to visit my sister Jill in Naples, FL. Since I am still new at my job, my vacation time is very limited which in turn mean that our trip was going to be very limited. We purchased plane tickets to fly out of Indianapolis right after work last Thursday. We were supposed to arrive in Ft. Myers around midnight and have all day Friday and Saturday. Our return flight on Sunday was supposed to get us back to Indy with enough time to grocery shop and prepare for work the next day. I think you know where I'm going with this...

We arrived at the Indianapolis airport only to be told that our plane was having mechanical problems and would be delayed. The concern was that our connecting flight through Atlanta might be missed but were assured that the connection was also running late so we might make it in time. Despite our frantic runs through the Atlanta airport, we did not make our connection. Instead, we were put up in a smelly hotel that is doomed to shut down based on what we saw. I was planning on using Jill's toiletries because Chris and I didn't want to check any baggage. When we realized we needed toothpaste, I was given plastic disposable toothbrushes with plastic bristles that have the "convenience" of the toothpaste already being included. If you pushed up on the handle, it forced a pathetically small amount of what they say to be toothpaste between the plastic bristles which was just as helpful as not brushing your teeth at all. For all of you who know how weird I am about having fresh breath, I can guarantee you that no kissy face occurred in this hotel.

Did I mention that in this hotel, even the wine glasses in the bar smelled bad? Oh, and the hotel check in lady had to explain that the contractor and hotel owner had a falling out so before the contractor was fired, he installed all of the hotel door handles upside down so when opening the door you needed to life up instead of down.

Friday morning we arrived back at the airport VERY early, especially being that we arrived VERY late the night before. We boarded the plan and then we were told that the plan was having, you guessed it, mechanical problems. We sat for a few minutes before they got back on the overhead to announce that the problems were more serious than previously expected and we would need to get off the plane. So we waited...again. The plane eventually took off and we made it to Florida for a wonderfully relaxing 1 1/2 days. I would show you pictures but I forgot my camera. Big shocker I know. (See previous post.)

Sunday we left Jill's house around 9:00am to catch our plane. We were thrilled when this occurred without a problem. Our flight landed in Chicago on time. Too bad our flight out of Chicago wasn't on time. As a matter of fact, a storm had just blown through and many flights were cancelled, almost all were delayed. We were one of the delayed flights. It was supposed to be a two hour delay. It wasn't. Approximately twelve hours from the time Chris and I left Jill's house, Chris and I drove into our garage completely exhausted and having made the decision that we will NEVER (except for the family reunion trip that is already scheduled and paid for) have a layover again.

Playing hookie

Chris and I played hookie a few weeks ago. We had both already been to the gym and were getting ready for work in our respective gym locker rooms. Chris sent the initial text message with the temptation of calling in sick. The magic words he used were something along the lines of, "We could go hiking." Sold! I called my boss and told her I had been having a lot of headaches lately (true) and that I was going to take the day off to relax (true if you call hiking the most difficult trails in the park relaxing) to fend off any more headaches. I hung up, drove home, and Chris and I packed up for a day of fun.

I finally remembered our camera so here are a few pics of our hike in Turkey Run State Park. The first picture is the dubious bridge we had to cross to get to the hikes we wanted. The last picture is where we ran into three older women who were trying to figure out how to hike through the stream and decided to watch us first to figure it out. Chris and I figured out that the trick was to find the 4 inch ledge along the side of the rock, walk gingerly along it using the sporadic fingerholds, and pray you didn't fall into what ended up being a decent drop into the water. Needless to say the women took their shoes off and walked in the water. Complete cheating if you ask me! The middle two pictures were of great scenery. Enjoy!

Team work

I think that part of what makes a marriage work is having teamwork. Part of teamwork is bringing to the table different skill sets that compliment one another. One of my skills is baking. I have started a new weekend activity of making a new dessert every weekend. This weekend I made lemon icebox cookies. I also made rice krispie treats with cranberries and mini chocolate chips. My job is to keep us chubby.

One of Chris' skills is cooking. For example, he is currently making noodles from scratch, grilling chicken outside, and going to turn it into a creamy pepper pasta dish. It will be delicious. He was out of town the other day and when we talked on the phone before bed he asked what I had for dinner. Cereal and corn dogs of course. Was I actually supposed to cook? Chris' job is to keep us alive.