I Will Make It Up To You

I took Benji to a new babysitter this morning.  Everything seemed okay; I visited them last week and we worked out all the details.  She made it sound like he wouldn't be a problem, and honestly--he's a pretty chill kid.  I dropped him off about 6:15 a.m.  So I was working at Riverton--a very nice day of ENT with Dr. Dahl, and between cases, my boss comes in with a message for me.  "Call this number about child care."  I check my cell phone.  3 new messages, 3 missed calls.  At least 3 pages.  Crap.

Text Message 1 (7:52 a.m.): "We tried to take his coat off and he started kicking.  I'm sorry, but I have infants around and it won't work."

Text Message 2 (7:52 a.m.): "I have a feeling this isn't going to work, he hasn't stopped crying, won't listen, & I won't be able to watch him with the other kids I have."

Text Page (8:59 a.m.):  I need ur son picked up asap.  I have tried every possible way to get ahold of u.  His behavior is unacceptable for my care."

Text Message 3 (10:34 a.m.): "I need someone to come pick your son up in the next 30 minutes!"

My heart sank.  What am I supposed to do?  I get off work at 3pm, and I told her I'd be there early (2:30pm or so).  Luckily things are low-key enough at Riverton that my boss let me leave.  We had an extra nurse on hand and only a couple of cases left, so I took off.  I feel so guilty about leaving my sweet little man with them.  I feel bad for the babysitter, who doesn't know how to deal with him, and for the other kids who may have been neglected because of his behavior.

So I took him home and cuddled with him and gave him chocolate milk and apple juice and let him watch t.v., and now he's taking a nap.  I still feel incredibly guilty about putting him through that ordeal at all.  I know he does better with a routine, and I totally killed that this morning with a new place, lots of new faces, etc.  It doesn't help that he woke himself up way early this morning (like 4:30-ish) and he was probably hungry and grumpy.  Bad combination.

I called my old babysitter and asked her if she could take us back.  She can (thankfully), but we were looking for someone else because she is kind-of expensive.  Even so, Benji knows her and she's very nice, and I really don't want to do that to him again.  Poor little guy.

I haven't posted any new pictures here for a while; I have put a few up on my photography blog, but not much of the family.  Here are a few from Father's Day weekend.  I didn't get many spectacular ones of the Phoebster's birthday, and I didn't have my camera at all for Miss Lily's, so sorry--this is what you get.

My cute Mom and my Lily-Bug

I couldn't believe the huge smooch Phoebe planted on Lex!

Lily applying her chapstick sparingly.

BFFs Benji & Noah.  Guess who's in charge.

I love the way the water turned out in this.  Hooray for the DSLR!

Cute Sarah Banana

Sarah probably won't appreciate this one very much.  It's at a rather unflattering angle, but I like it.  Yes, it's pretty Picniked, but maybe that way Sarah won't be too mad at me for posting it.  I love it--Sarah has such a fantastic smile, I had to share.

Et puis voilà quoi.

16th of June, 9:05

Today was a good day.  I have spent the last week at the main hospital, and I finally got to go back to Riverton today.  I missed it!  It was good to be back!  I worked with Dr. Peterson (who said, sincerely, "Call me Dave").  Sure, it was a day full of eye surgeries, but that was okay.  I'm finding that I don't mind the repetition or lack of variety.  With variety comes responsibility and the fear in the back of your mind that you'll have to be there for a crazy horrible surgery that will scar you for life.  At Riverton, they only do surgeries on patients who are pretty healthy, who can go home the same day.  That's a huge contributor to the relaxed atmosphere.  I love it.

I have actually been called off for my shift tomorrow.  I can't really afford to take the time off, but Allen's mom is in town.  This is the first time she has ever visited us, and we have been married for almost five years.  Allen and Benji went out to lunch with her and Irene (her friend who she's traveling with).  Since I am off tomorrow, I think we'll all go to Thanksgiving Point.  Maybe we'll rent a golf cart. :o)

I was also pretty excited about a deal I got at Walgreen's.  I had $10 in 'register rewards' that were set to expire tomorrow, and I found some binders on clearance.  Yes, I got excited about binders.  Sad, I know, but I really needed a new one, and I didn't want to pay $6 for one!  So I found two 2" binders for less than $5, plus some nail polish, tape and staples for $1.85.  Aw, yeah.  I love scoring a good deal.

I celebrated my 10-year mission birthday on Monday.  I can't believe that an entire decade has passed since I was in the MTC.  I'm working on getting my negatives scanned so I can make books and such.  Until then . . . I'm not going to buy just anyone's cockatoo.

What's Going On

So . . . apparently I'm working at Riverton now.  Nobody really told me this personally; I heard it second-hand.  I was talking with the Ortho team leader at PCMC, because I really do want to be on the Ortho team, but she said that she had talked to my educator, who said that I was going to Riverton.  All right; if you say so.

I was out there today, and it was good.  I really do like it there; I had a great team today, there was good music on Pandora, and although I'm not particularly fond of ENT, it's not difficult or stressful.  That's good for me.

The thing is, I said I would go to 5 days/week (working 7-3pm, or rather 6:30-whenever I leave) because Allen said that he would be able to work evenings (daycare is sucking us dry!).  Unfortunately, the company he works for is totally flaky and decided they wouldn't start the 24-hour schedule yet.  I seriously suggested he start delivering pizzas.  He's thinking about it, and he's looking for another job.  He's not sure what's happening with the top-secret clearance he has applied for, so we are stuck for the moment.  Grr.

In other news, I got a new camera.  No, I can't afford it, but it is nice.  I got a Nikon D5000, and I love it.  This is one of the better pictures I have taken.  I love Benji's sweet little face in this pic.  I also love the clarity and versatility of the DSLR.  I'm still getting used to it, and I'm having problems downloading some of my pictures, but we'll figure it out.  Here's a slideshow of some pics I took over Memorial Day weekend (with the new camera).  Ne vous inquietez pas--they will get better with time and experience.

This Could Be

It's 9:18 a.m., and I'm pooped.  Days like today are frustrating: it can be nice to have down time, but there is so much that I need and want to do outside of work.  The fact that I actually have time to write this at work is a testament to how weird today is.  I'm pretty sure this is a rare occurrence (it certainly hasn't happened to me before, and I have been here for three months), and it is most likely connected to the fact that nobody (not even doctors!) wants to work on a holiday weekend.  Unfortunately, I'm stuck here because I need a pay check.  Grrrr.

I'm back in the Neuro room today, which is fine, except that we have one little case (that cancelled yesterday, and may very well do a repeat performance today) that doesn't start until 11:15 a.m.  I should be doing something more productive, like observing in Dental or helping turn over rooms, but this week has been killer.  I'm just exhausted.  At least my head is feeling better.

Speaking of . . . I'm not sure I wrote about my head injury.  I posted a couple of things on facebook, but I should really write it here, too.  It was a couple of weeks ago--the last time I was in the Neuro room, in fact.  We were doing some VP shunt revisions, and I was all set up and ready to go, but the circulator and the surgeon needed a few more minutes to get our patient ready.  I didn't want to break scrub, so I thought I'd sit for a couple of minutes.  I went to sit on a rolling stool, but either I missed it or someone kicked it out from underneath me (probably the former).  I fell to the floor and hit the back of my head on either the wheel post or the Gaymar machine.  I hopped up pretty quickly, and the nurse gave me an ice pack and I felt okay.  I went to the Employee Health nurse, who had me fill out some paperwork, then I had to go back downstairs to get it signed and take it back upstairs to her.  By the time I went back upstairs, I started feeling really tired and a little bit dizzy.  So she sent me to WorkMed (a worker's comp outpatient clinic; the same place I went for my nose last year).  I drove there, which probably wasn't the wisest thing I have done of late.  The doc checked me out and said I was probably okay, but she didn't want me to work or drive for a few days.  That sucked, but it was for a good reason.  As long as I didn't move too much or too quickly, I felt pretty good.  But then I'd start trying to get things done, and I'd start feeling dizzy again.  It took a good week to feel like things had gotten back into place.

Well, things just got exciting, and I may have a little more to do now.  Yay.

You've Got to Get Yourself Together

I was driving home from Peggy's house tonight and I thought of several things I wanted to post on my blog.  Now I can't remember any of them.

I have been going to Peggy's house on the last Tuesday of every month for a scrapbooking night.  I have been fairly productive there; it's nice to have a time set aside to work on projects, to sit around and gab with friends, etc.  I enjoy it, and I look forward to it.  I need some good social time, and I always appreciate being able to talk with Peggy.  I love that girl.

Today Allen told me that his work will be going to a 24/7 service, so he might be able to work evenings now.  That would mean that I could work at Riverton full-time!  Yay!  I left them a message today telling them that I would be available if they wanted me.  If I hear anything back, I'll let you know.  I really do like it there; when I'm there, I feel the way I expected to feel when I started at Primary's.  I like Primary's, I like the people and the variety and such, but I love Riverton.  It fits me.  Since I realized that I will probably be working forever anyway, I might as well find someplace where I enjoy what I do.


I'm so sad about Bono.  I was seriously stoked for the concert on June 3rd, but it has now been postponed to sometime in 2011.  I paid a lot of money for my ticket, and I'm not sure what to do.  I could get a refund, though we have been told to hold on to them, as they will be honored at the rescheduled date.  At this point, we don't even know if they will be able to tour.  Bow-wow.

I need to go to bed . . . getting up at 4:45a.m. isn't my favorite, but it must be done.  Okay, okay, that's allegedly when my first alarm goes off, and I may or may not snooze until 5:15.  It seems I am stuck in a moment and I can't get out of it.