Six on Saturday

1) I love the day before my first night shift.. its kinda like a little vacation.. yesterdays was particularly nice as I had a blustery riverside walk with one of my monster puppies and then met a wonderful old friend for lunch.  The afternoon was cozy little nap and then some games with friends before heading off.
2) Im 4/5ths through a set right now.  I found out this week that statistically the week following Christmas is the busiest week of the year in the ER. This is one stat that I am a believer in. Crazy shifts with such a fabulous variety of patients.  That being said I saw nothing but the inside of the trauma rooms for 2 days straight so am ready for it to slow down a touch... but that may just be wishful thinking.

3) This tidbit from the book Im reading:
"True gratitude is not an incidental ingredient. Nor is it a standalone product something that never actually intersects with life safely denying reality out somewhere on a  little happy island. No, gratitude has a big job to do in us and in our hearts. And it is one of the chief ways God instills joy and resilience into the daily struggle of life."

4) Working my last shift of the set tonight.  My co-worker Darla wrote this little poem following last New Year's Eve night shift.. should be a fun night =)


5) The last sunrise of 2011 was a gorgeous watermelon pink.

6) I have hope that the first sunrise of 2012 will be just as gorgeous.  May you all have a fabulous evening reflecting on the blessings and trial that have been 2011 and may you go forward in to this year trusting in the Lord for his plan for your life. 

SunPeaks

We headed up to Sunpeaks this week with the parents and brothers. The snow was minimal, up until we rounded the final corner to the village we wondered if there was even any at all. Skied the first full day up there and then the second decided to try out snowboarding.  Went reasonably well and was surprisingly not to sore.. that is until I sat in my truck for 4 hours and drove home... then I felt like I was 90!!!

Got out one morning for some pics... got to at least have some of the scenery as everyone in my family is extra-ordinarily cameraphobic

Love love love the blue/yellow buka that is the reflections of sun, blue sky and snow

Sticky Sap

Warm up with some coffees

Thursday morning went to go home.. and poor Oliver had a flat tire.  Thankful for a brother who takes mechanics... not that I can't change a tire but the metal tools in -10... not a fan

Frosty Morning

1) God so so knows what message we need at every moment in life.   I was on amazon, killing time ( 2hours of it) after missing my ferry cutoff time by 2 mins.  I was looking for a new devotional , browsing through some others others from the same author that I and the title popped out to me.  Choosing Gratitude: Your Journey to Joy. As I started reading I just stopped and really was grateful.. grateful for that time to recharge after a marathon of work, grateful for the friends I had to spend the next day with, for my parents, for my years of life and health and so much more. It turned that grumbling over a missed boat in to a conscientious choice for Joy.

2) Spend a lovely sunshiny time with the family this week. Snow, Sunshine and Sore Muscles!! Pics to follow shortly.

3) You know the small non readable print on the bottom of you TV screen during commercials.. the kind that is so small that even with a massive TV is still unreadable.. the kind of print that usually says "do not attempt at home".  Perhaps they should have made the print a little larger on the commercial that shows the guy washing his windshield with a water bottle through the sunroof.  Perhaps if they had done that, the person who decided that spraying his windshield with washer fluid in a Gatorade bottle though the sunroof while going down the highway, would not have ended up in ER with chemical exposure to his eyes and mouth when all the fluid sprayed right back in his face!!

Waxed

So the picture is not the clearest.  All of the squiggly lines are a visual representation of the electrical conduction of the heart.  The first two strips so the fastest heart rate I have ever seen on a walking/talking person. 248  So fast. So cool.
So this person had fast tracked straight to the trauma room where I proceeded to stick cardiac leads, and IV in and the "pads" on.  I pulled up my most favorite drug EVER.. adenosine. Its a medication that temporarily stops ones heart so the regular pace making center of the heart can take over and resume a regular rhythm.
However I never got to push the medication.  The ECG tech showed up and I had to move the Pads so she could put her stickies on.  As I peeled the pad back, the patient gave a shocked gasp as with them came a significant amount of hair off his hairy chest.. within seconds the shock of the unexpected waxing became evident on the monitor and down down down came the heart rate to a respectable 120. 

Banana Split

Billy and Bob Banana were beaten and bruised.... 

....But no longer bleeding.

 I am learning to suture. My mad suturing skills with a South African flair are the result of the expert tutelage of Dr. E.  

Now all I have to do is wait for my first real victim !!

Splurge Christmas

Had Splurge/Christmas Party Last night. Had a fabulous time with an amazing group of girls. So hard to believe that 3 years ago we sat in a circle in Michelle's living room and introduced ourselves.  So much fun food, laughter (and babies) since then. As per Christmas Party everybody brought appies and gifts to share so I maxed out on the Drinks and Sweets with a Starbucks Theme.  Unfortunantly once the girls got there I was busy making drinks and then totally forgot to take any pics. 

Marshmallow Stir Sticks

Cranberry Bliss Bars (I added orange zest to the batter and icing)  For the Drizzle I used melted White Chocolate.

Drinks

Peppermint Brownie Cake Pops

Thanks So much Girls for the Fun and the Love. 

Best Use of your tax dollars - Episode 456

So let me make sure I'm getting this right,
 her friends called 911 because they thought she might have taken some pills, but when you got there she deined taking any and stated she had run out of them last week.  But if the ambulance was there anyway could she get a ride to the hospital to get her prescriptions refilled.
Paramedic - that would be correct

Photo of the Week

This morning's gorgeous butter yellow sky with blue mountains made me want to forget all about sleeping the day away and to climb and mountain instead. Maybe with one of these puppy dogs.

Five on Friday

1) Buzzer goes off.  Code Blue... obscure out patient area of hospital. Run, stop.. "where on earth is that??"... Run Run Run. Get there. Mon Medical support staff direct me to the room. I go in, stop back out .. must have the wrong room.. No that is the one  The patient is sitting in a wheelchair his back to the door while two people standing staring at him. . I come up reach for his radial pulse " Hi" I say while taking a quick visual of the pt

"Hi, how are you" he responds.

 Alright lesson in Code Blue button pushing.. patients who complain of chest pain do not equal Code Blue Button pushing.  

I will go back up and finish eating my lunch now.

2) Ever wonder what it takes to make 1200 croquettes?? Well... Lots of butter

,

Lots of Beef Stock

Which adds up to lots of goop

Rolled into little goopy balls

All rolled and ready for the freezer and the nearest Christmas Party

3)Busy day at work when...

  Lisa " oh mel,  you're working today"

  Mel ".... ah lisa.. we carpooled"

4)You know you are in a foreign country when the stoplights look like this.   Corina and I headed down to Seattle for a little get away on Monday Night.  I normally am not a shopper AT ALL. But for one night and with Corina.. its manageable.

The proper fuel.. oh and we had  a coffee from the original Starbucks =)

Our amazing Priceline deal hotel.  The Edgewater. It was my first priceline experience and it was great. A super gorgeous hotel for the price of a seedy dive.. and its a bit of an adventure because you don't know which hotel will accept.  It was a do da do moment and then "You are staying at...... the Edgewater".. and then we googled and found out what/where that was.

Pike Street Market.. a wee bit fishy

Then amazing grilled cheese sandwiches at the Beecher Homemade cheese place. 

Order then take a seat on these sweet seats and watch the cheese making process.

Amazing Sandwiches.

Kinda nasty lobster tails.

Blue night over the cranes.. I love cranes

Dark Night over the city

Morning over Mt Rainier

5) Faith isn't the ability to believe long and far into the misty future. It's simply taking God at His Word and taking the next step. Joni E Tada

We squeaked out the last day of fall last week for this family shoot. After the rainiest Remembrance Day in recent memory we managed to reschedule for Tuesday and were blessed with gorgeous sunshine and warm temperatures. Krista had found this amazing location to have their pictures done at and it was such a blast to do pictures with such fall colours and natural props. 

m