That’s about how I would sum up our honeymoon, at least the part I want to talk about. Matt and I went to the El Dorado Royale Spa Resort about 20 minutes south of Cancun on the Riviera Maya. It was a beautiful. It was an all-inclusive adult resort that had impeccable service, grounds that were perfect and an atmosphere of relaxation and romance. A classy romance that it. Everywhere we went there were couples spending time together, walking, and holding hands. It was really wonderful. It was refreshing watching all these people just wanting to be together and enjoying each other’s company. I was told that these adult resorts could be a place of debauchery and sin, but this resort was nothing but class. Everyone was so nice and there were plenty of activities to do if we wanted to keep busy. I would say it was a PG-13 atmosphere if you take into account the booze, Speedo’s and a couple of topless women on the beach.
The food was fabulous. They served it beautifully and the service was amazing. I came back to the states and when we went to dinner I was amazed I had to pull out my own chair and put my own napkin on my lap (GASP!!). I was also impressed that the proportions were small and not so excessive. This way there was always room for dessert.
I tried to journal for about a day and a half, then my notebook got wet and that was the end of that. It didn’t dry until we were home. That was one thing I have a difficult time getting use to and that was the humidity. Our room was well air-conditioned and even had a dry setting, but please, I’m from Utah. Dry has a whole new definition here.
We were there from Sunday until the next Sunday. I already posted about our “personal car” ride to the resort, which was a funny start!
Sunday we just tried to settle in and acclimate to the humidity and heat. Our room was great and roomy with a huge jetted tub. Giggity giggity!!! Even the shower was big enough for the both of us. (Double giggity!!) The only thing we didn’t do together was sit on the can. I guess this resort never saw the Saturday night live with the “Love toilet”. Although, please, ew. OK, enough with the dirty talk, we were on our honeymoon…sheesh!
Monday we lathered up in SPF 30 and hung out by a couple of the pools. We had one right outside our patio, but it was small without much shade. We tried a couple of the pools and found a cabana by one and did some hanging out there. We had a choice of many restaurants on the property and were able to go to all but one, which was closed the night we went. We were there on the off season, so they closed a restaurant once in a while. That night we went to the Italian one and martini’s at the martini bar. They had some old guy singing Elvis up there with his karaoke machine – it was great!
Tuesday we found a pool farther south (?) and it was a little bit quieter, although they had activities going on all the time. Music, water aerobics and volleyball. It was fun to watch, but we just hung out. They had all sorts of people hired just to get the patrons involved and having fun.
Wednesday morning Matt went on a half day fishing trip. The waves were pretty bad and they wouldn’t let us take out the kayaks. Matt was jonesin to fish and so he went out on a fishing boat. I would have gone, I love fishing with him, but with the waves I knew I would have spent the whole time yackin off the side. So, in my misery, I spent the day reading in the shade of a cabana on the beach. I was sunburned from our 2 days of trying to stay well sun screened and out of the sun, so I kept on a t-shirt and stayed shade side. We got up early together to have breakfast and then I headed out to reserve my cabana by the beach. I read, watched people walk around the big sand bags and every time I had to go visit the little girls room, I walked by the beach bar for another delicious round of refreshing beverage. This in turn made me go to the little girl’s room more, which worked out perfectly. Amazingly I felt no social pressure to be any certain body type there. It was very relaxed and everyone fit in. I felt absolutely comfortable walking around in my swimsuit. Although I did make an observation that a one piece skirted swimsuit is not adequate for dining. My happy husband returned from his fishing trip so happy and damn he is cute!
I loved sitting there watching everyone walking along the beach hand in hand. I have so many great memories with Matt, walking hand in hand on the beach, in the city, everywhere. I think a vacation like this should be a marital requirement. Get away, hold hands, walk, talk and just enjoy being together with no pressure to be anywhere or do anything.
There were multiple weddings while we were there. Starting on Wednesday and by Saturday night we watched at least 3 on one night. I was glad we didn’t do a beach wedding. It is a nice touch, but I was glad to be close to my family and friends and have them celebrate with us. Matt and I would walk around the resort a lot and watch what was going on.
We went on at least 2 walks a day. The resort was laid out along the beach and was pretty big. I am not sure, but it could have been a mile wide. It was fun to walk along the beach and then come back around on the resort walks. We always had to watch for golf carts that are the way the staff got around. There were also golf carts that would take you around if you didn’t want to walk.
In the surf by the beach, the resort had these HUGE sand bags. There were signs everywhere that told us not to get on the sand bags. It looked more like a sign to tell us to stop humping the whales. We also were given 2 cards that got us towels for the beach/pool. I would tease Matt about people or ourselves getting our towel cards taken away if we did something we weren’t suppose to, like climb on the sand bags or feed the animals.
Thursday I decided to try out the pottery. I had looked at it on the first day and finally decided that I had had enough sun and reading and wanted to do something else. They had a table set up and this guy sold you pottery and he had all the paints and equipment and you would paint it, he would take it and fire it, and you would pick it up the next day. The first day I made myself a piggy bank. After that I went back and made a gift for each of my boys. I was hooked! It was so relaxing and the beach bar was within sight!
Part of our Honeymoon package we had wine credit, dinner on the beach and a couples massage. They didn’t have that great of wine, so we didn’t use the whole credit. Although, we did get a bottle of red that Matt was swigging on the last day – that was hilarious. The dinner on the beach was ok. I was tired and the dinner was on the beach, but they had these linen wraps around 3 sides of your “cabana” and so you couldn’t see the beach. I don’t get a big kick out of walking in the sand in regular shoes either. We headed out early with no dessert and walked around, which was much better. Unfortunately we waited until Saturday to have our couples massage. This was amazing. We had them on the beach in a raised Cabana, so we had privacy and the sound of the ocean. The massage was great and next time we are going to have at least 3! It was a Spa resort and so there was so many things we could have done that we didn’t think of until later. Plus, the waves were usually very calm in March, but were not when we were there. We really wanted to Kayak and as we were walking to leave the resort, they were finally letting some people kayak. I couldn’t help but laugh!
It was a perfect honeymoon that followed a perfect wedding. I guess that’s what I get for snatchin the perfect man!! Spending time together is so wonderful and he makes me feel so good about myself and who I am all the time. Even when I’m feeling crappy or limping on my stupid bad foot – I feel beautiful – because Matt thinks I’m beautiful.
We will definitely be making plans to continue these great vacations where we get to spend time alone together. I always want to think of things to keep the romance fresh!! Almost a month down and lifetime to go!
Friday, April 3, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Samantha, the ER and my psychic Mommy powers!
Samantha decided it was her turn for an ER visit. So she waited until I was at work and up to my butt in patient care until passing out and hitting her head on the kitchen floor.
Here is her pictorial as seen through the eyes of her very worried mom.
In her room, waiting to go to CT. Then in the wheel chair waiting for the scanner. The CT tech let me see the CT (I know her from my bazillion trips to the scanner with my patients.)
She (the tech) stated that Sami has a cute brain. I must concur. Not so smart, but very cute!! (just kidding Sami!)
Here is her pictorial as seen through the eyes of her very worried mom.
In her room, waiting to go to CT. Then in the wheel chair waiting for the scanner. The CT tech let me see the CT (I know her from my bazillion trips to the scanner with my patients.)
She (the tech) stated that Sami has a cute brain. I must concur. Not so smart, but very cute!! (just kidding Sami!)
Can I tell you how much I love this man?? He was there when she passed out and woke her up and made sure she was OK. Gave her some juice and took care of her. My worst fear for all those years I was single was my kids and not being able to care for them. I am so grateful to Matt for the love and kindness he shows my kids.
Hooked up. She thought this was a legal maneuver, showing off her pulse ox sticker. Frankly, I think she's just giving me the bird, flipping me off, or as I like to think - showing me that I am number one!
Ruh Roh! Here she is getting ready to Yack! She waited for Dr. Nirula to walk in first, but was kind enough to get it ALL in that little bitty kidney bowl they have.
Feeling better and back to texting. I just love this little girl! She can be a little sassy, but for a 16 year old girl, she is strong, smart and very very very very good lookin!
Her parting gift: A prescription for anti-nausea suppositories and some free lube! (I use the term "free" very loosely)
I offered to help her if she needed some, but she refused.
The day this happened I was feeling very disconnected and odd. I don't know any other way to explain it. When I got home from my day, I wrote down my experience and how I was feeling. I don't know if anyone else (out of my 10 readers) ever feels this way, but I just had to write it down.
Here is my version of the day:
Déjà Vu
03/22/2009
This morning I could hardly focus on anything. Flashes of people I recognized and things I had done and conversations I had had flashed in my mind. It was happening while I was talking to people and trying to do tasks at work. I had a difficult patient with both an LVAD and RVAD with CVVHD and an open chest and belly. He was going to go to the OR after 11 and so his family was in there and I was answering questions and taking care of the patient. I felt like I couldn’t concentrate. It was like I was re-living something I had already lived before only I had this horrible feeling. I was flustered and could not keep on task. I resorted to writing everything down as I thought about it (the tasks to do) so that I could take good care of my patient.
I have had many déjà vu. Most are fleeting, but it seems like I dream stuff and then it happens. Is it for-warning? I have no idea. I have tried to start a dream journal, because I have such bizarre dreams, but I never write in it. This experience was almost like I had dreamt it last night and now I was experiencing it.
I thought maybe I was feeling weird because I hadn’t eaten. I grabbed a cup of OJ and some carrots and wolfed those down. But I still felt disconnected. I told my friend Jen at work that I felt really weird like something was going to happen to my kids or something.
I can’t remember how much later – maybe an hour – Sami called me and I just happen to be at a point where I could answer my cell phone. This rarely happens, even when I’m expecting a call, if I’m at work, chances are I won’t be able to answer it. She said that Matt had texted me that she had passed out in the kitchen and hit her head. I asked her a few questions and then called Matt and told him to get her up to the ER. I’m sure if I would have been at home and watched it I wouldn’t have freaked out as much, but not knowing why it happened and if her head was ok, was causing me some visible distress.
I looked at the Trauma call list to see who the attending was. I work with them pretty closely and I wanted to know if Trauma would see her or if just the ER doc’s would. I found out it was Dr. Nirula and he happened to be our attending in the SICU also. So, I walked the unit and when I asked the resident if she had seen him, he called out from the PAX (x-ray) room. As soon as I opened my mouth to talk to him I started bawling. Why do I have to love my kids so much and get so worked up at the very idea that she might really be hurt? More than ANYTHING I hate crying at work. I don’t know why. I work with some of my very bests friends (as they have come to be) and have cried WITH them for one reason or another.
Dr. Nirula was awesome. He is number one in my book. He is the end all be all to me. He called down to the ER and had Sami listed as a Trauma 3 so that they would take her right in and he could take a look at her. How awesome is that!!! I was still shook up but it made me feel better. I told the charge nurse what happened and started crying AGAIN and since he was training another charge nurse he was able to take over my patient and send him off to the OR while I went down to the ER.
I have to thank my ever present OCD habits at this time. My patient was all ready for the ER and I felt good leaving him with another nurse. Of course, Stewart is mucho smarto and he was my first preceptor when I was a CCNI, so he (my patient) would have been in good hands either way.
Matt texted me and by the time I walked downstairs they had her in a room and hooking her up to the monitor – insert mom beginning to cry again. Long story short, they don’t know why she fainted but it was probably just a vaso-vagal response that just happens sometimes. A CT scan was done and her noggin was in the clear. Her labs looked fine and her exam was negative. The resident taking care of her had already done her rotation in the SICU so it was nice to see her. Then the attending in the ER came in and gave me his card and he watched over her personally. Dr. Nirula came down to talk to us and see her. Just as he walked in she turned gray and vomited. So, they gave her a liter of fluid and some IV nausea medicine and watched her for a bit. She ended up going home after about an hour. I am still worried about why it happened and I think I’ll take her to her regular doctor to just do some checking, but it sure did freak me out. My mother instinct was just too strong.
While this was going on I checked on my patient in the OR and he was hanging in there. Then when they had planned her discharge and I had talked to the attending I headed back up to the OR. Sami was on her way home while I was pushing the VAD’s down to the SICU with my patient.
The rest of the day at work kicked my ass, but really that is inconsequential. I can’t believe how that happened. How I felt. I’m glad I mentioned it to Jen so that I had someone to talk to about it. She is a very great friend and I could tell her anything. I don’t know what it means or why it happened but I definitely will pay attention when I feel that way. Almost like I dream my life before I live it.
Sami is fine, I’m still worried. I’ll watch her close and follow up with a doctor.
Maybe I need a psychic??
03/22/2009
This morning I could hardly focus on anything. Flashes of people I recognized and things I had done and conversations I had had flashed in my mind. It was happening while I was talking to people and trying to do tasks at work. I had a difficult patient with both an LVAD and RVAD with CVVHD and an open chest and belly. He was going to go to the OR after 11 and so his family was in there and I was answering questions and taking care of the patient. I felt like I couldn’t concentrate. It was like I was re-living something I had already lived before only I had this horrible feeling. I was flustered and could not keep on task. I resorted to writing everything down as I thought about it (the tasks to do) so that I could take good care of my patient.
I have had many déjà vu. Most are fleeting, but it seems like I dream stuff and then it happens. Is it for-warning? I have no idea. I have tried to start a dream journal, because I have such bizarre dreams, but I never write in it. This experience was almost like I had dreamt it last night and now I was experiencing it.
I thought maybe I was feeling weird because I hadn’t eaten. I grabbed a cup of OJ and some carrots and wolfed those down. But I still felt disconnected. I told my friend Jen at work that I felt really weird like something was going to happen to my kids or something.
I can’t remember how much later – maybe an hour – Sami called me and I just happen to be at a point where I could answer my cell phone. This rarely happens, even when I’m expecting a call, if I’m at work, chances are I won’t be able to answer it. She said that Matt had texted me that she had passed out in the kitchen and hit her head. I asked her a few questions and then called Matt and told him to get her up to the ER. I’m sure if I would have been at home and watched it I wouldn’t have freaked out as much, but not knowing why it happened and if her head was ok, was causing me some visible distress.
I looked at the Trauma call list to see who the attending was. I work with them pretty closely and I wanted to know if Trauma would see her or if just the ER doc’s would. I found out it was Dr. Nirula and he happened to be our attending in the SICU also. So, I walked the unit and when I asked the resident if she had seen him, he called out from the PAX (x-ray) room. As soon as I opened my mouth to talk to him I started bawling. Why do I have to love my kids so much and get so worked up at the very idea that she might really be hurt? More than ANYTHING I hate crying at work. I don’t know why. I work with some of my very bests friends (as they have come to be) and have cried WITH them for one reason or another.
Dr. Nirula was awesome. He is number one in my book. He is the end all be all to me. He called down to the ER and had Sami listed as a Trauma 3 so that they would take her right in and he could take a look at her. How awesome is that!!! I was still shook up but it made me feel better. I told the charge nurse what happened and started crying AGAIN and since he was training another charge nurse he was able to take over my patient and send him off to the OR while I went down to the ER.
I have to thank my ever present OCD habits at this time. My patient was all ready for the ER and I felt good leaving him with another nurse. Of course, Stewart is mucho smarto and he was my first preceptor when I was a CCNI, so he (my patient) would have been in good hands either way.
Matt texted me and by the time I walked downstairs they had her in a room and hooking her up to the monitor – insert mom beginning to cry again. Long story short, they don’t know why she fainted but it was probably just a vaso-vagal response that just happens sometimes. A CT scan was done and her noggin was in the clear. Her labs looked fine and her exam was negative. The resident taking care of her had already done her rotation in the SICU so it was nice to see her. Then the attending in the ER came in and gave me his card and he watched over her personally. Dr. Nirula came down to talk to us and see her. Just as he walked in she turned gray and vomited. So, they gave her a liter of fluid and some IV nausea medicine and watched her for a bit. She ended up going home after about an hour. I am still worried about why it happened and I think I’ll take her to her regular doctor to just do some checking, but it sure did freak me out. My mother instinct was just too strong.
While this was going on I checked on my patient in the OR and he was hanging in there. Then when they had planned her discharge and I had talked to the attending I headed back up to the OR. Sami was on her way home while I was pushing the VAD’s down to the SICU with my patient.
The rest of the day at work kicked my ass, but really that is inconsequential. I can’t believe how that happened. How I felt. I’m glad I mentioned it to Jen so that I had someone to talk to about it. She is a very great friend and I could tell her anything. I don’t know what it means or why it happened but I definitely will pay attention when I feel that way. Almost like I dream my life before I live it.
Sami is fine, I’m still worried. I’ll watch her close and follow up with a doctor.
Maybe I need a psychic??
No wait, maybe I need to be a psychic.
Big HUGE thank you's to the nurse, Tara, for taking great care of her. Dr. Nirulla for using his special trauma attending powers to get her in quickly and Dr. Linscott for watching over her personally. I would like to send some big props to the resident that took care of her, but in my madness, I don't remember her name! DUOH!
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