Spectacular!!!

I have been excited for this tattoo forever!  I researched for so many hours its embarrassing.  I also knew that I wanted to give the artist plenty of room to make it look good.  I have no artistic talent, I was really putting a lot of trust in Sarah.  I went to Oni Tattoo in SLC.  I had heard wonderful things about Sarah and it took YEARS for all the things fall into place that had to happen for us to be in the same room.  Thankfully that happened today!  Yeah!

After much discussion Sarah drew up a tattoo that was absolutely right.  While she put the final touches on it I noticed these tattoo drawings on the wall.

Are you kidding me?  I LOVE Bob's Burgers!

Yeah, tattoo's still hurt.

Not as bad as the foot though!

She worked on it for a little over an hour.

And it was SPECTACULAR!!  

The tattoo is comprised of the birth month flowers of my children, plus an Iris.  The Iris flower reminds me of growing up and my grandma and mom.  

Austin - July- Delphinium: means laughter/smiling eyes

Jake - December - Narcissis: stay just the way you are

Sami - February - Violet:  Faithfulness and virtue

Daniel - June - Honeysuckle: Devoted affection

Iris - A message ;)

Sarah's plan for the background and the colors are wonderful.  I'm so excited that I just want to get it all done right NOW.  But getting a tattoo is a mental and physical process.  I want to take it all in.  

I was such a good girl I bought some Baskin Robbins for my treat!

Blog on..........

Truth

Extremely difficult life changes are difficult on the ole blog.  I have had so much to write.  Unfortunately I spend too much time in my head.  It's a dark spot but it's getting so much lighter...


I decided that I'd post a few family pics for now.
Because I can.
And I love these little freaks.

Blog on friends.........blog on.

Ode to Zoe...

On Monday March 11th our sweet Zoe died.  

She was fine in the morning when I got home after a 24 hour shift.  I went to run at Liberty park that day and when I was done Daniel called and told me that something wasn't right.  She was stumbling around and really weak.  He had already called the Vet.  I was so proud of him.  He waited for me to rush home and we picked her up and drove her to our vet.  By the time we got there she was almost unconscious.  We knew we were on borrowed time already but having to make that decision was heartbreaking.  When I asked Daniel what we should do he said, "I just wish this wasn't happening".  There was nothing else to do.  I didn't want to take her home to suffer and I didn't want any tests done on her.  There was nothing I was going to do anyway.  So we had her put down.  Awful and miserable.  Lots of tears!  

Zoe was born Lady Zoee Lacee on October 11, 1999.  She was initially raised by a family with small kids.  When they had twins, one of them was allergic.  I found Zoe in the ads of KSL.  We adopted her March of 2001. Her name was Lacy and we named her Zoe before we even saw her papers.  She was a perfect fit for us!  I needed her!  With my kids going with their dad every other weekend and some summers, I needed something to keep me grounded and responsible.  

She peed on this bed.

We bought her a coat that she hated.

Cuddling with Daniel.  One of my favorite pictures.

Jake and Zoe

Sami and Zoe

2001

I couldn't find a picture of Austin or me with her when she was younger.  I'm sure they are in a box somewhere.  

It's funny because she came from a family with toddlers but she hated toddlers and jumped on them to push them over.  We kept her away from them except my nephew Charlie.  He loved Zoe and would laugh when she would try to jump on him and then chase her.

These pictures are in the last few years.  

Jake playing with her and Sami smooching her.  

Zoe owned the couches and insisted on moving the pillows where SHE wanted them and then sleeping.  

In 2008 we adopted Ted who joined her in play and shenanigans.  Notice her on the chair?  If you sat in her chair she would stare at you to try to get you out.  She was a smart dog and we were sure she was the one telling Ted to get dishes out of the sink and bread off the counter.  

She was also a scavenger.  I called her the bottom feeder.  Especially in the last few months she has been under my feet tripping me as she waits for me to drop ANY food.  She was pretty much deaf and almost blind so she couldn't dance around my feet like she use too and by the end of the day I was sure someone was going to get hurt.  

We were also pretty sure that she KNEW she was smarter and better then us.  She was kind of a bitch, but the kind you could love endlessly! 

When we discovered that she had lost control of her bladder on the couch just before she died we are positive she did that as her last "Eff you".  Because that is the way she rolled.  I guess you could say we were soul mates.

This picture was taken by my kids dad the day before she died.  Getting loves and smooches to the end.  Zoe was with the kids from the time they were little.  We were devastated.

Good bye Zoe!

A most productive week!

It's been a little over a year since my life became sorta topsy turvy when my ex moved out.  For a lot of reasons but this post isn't about him. But there is sure to be more about it...it's just too...odd. This post is about a week that I finally feel like I'm getting my shit together.  It's not completely together but who are we kidding, that will never happen.  It keeps life spicy!!

To start out, I took THREE full days off of any work.  THREE!!! In a row! 

I sure made them productive too!

Monday started out at noon with a long run with this girl!

This is Jill.  I've known her forever at the hospital and we started seeing each other at races.  We started talking about running in Park City and finally were able to get the schedules to sync and the planets aligned and it was a great 11 mile run.  A little slow because we talked talked talked, but it was awesome! Hanging out with Jill is like hanging out with the really smart cool kid that makes you laugh.  A lot.

Running anywhere but in the SLC valley is pretty much what is happening now. Between storms we get an inversion that is a soupy yucky mess of air.  Although I don't have any asthma or health problems I'm not going to chance it by running in basically poisonous air.

Inversion as per freedictionary.com

 Meteorology An atmospheric condition in which the air temperature rises with increasing altitude, holding surface air down and preventing dispersion of pollutants.

I took this picture from our helipad at the UofU Hospital a while ago. I'm taking a picture of downtown, which you can't see because of the inversion.  The hospital sits on the hill so sometimes it's clear of the inversion but the longer we go without a storm the bigger it gets.  The inversion, not the hospital.

Tuesday I took my car in for a good go though.  Like an annual doctor exam my car needed it's "pap and grope".  Over the weekend it did this.

BAM!

No one was harmed in the taking of these pictures but I was going 60 mph.  I don't recommend it.  I'm a skilled iPhone pic taker.

Of course my car situation isn't a subject I like to keep you abreast of.  (teehee - I said breast)  But to recap quickly.

Three years ago I leased an awesome Subaru Legacy.

18 months ago I bought my daughter a Nissan Sentra

14 months ago my ex moved out

12 months ago my daughter was then kicked out (breaking rules!) and I kept the car.

ONE month ago I returned the Subaru. 

I loved that Subaru but with the ex moving out of my house I needed to free up the money for, ya know....a house payment.  

Kapish?

Quiz later.

I took my car into a dealership, which I hate doing, but I had bought an extended warranty on it and I still had 10,000 miles left on the warranty.  Best purchase ever!  I spent 200.00 on 1000.00 worth of repairs.  Now the Nissan is smoothly running the road like it owns it!  I'm hoping for another 100,000 miles out of her!  

While we were down to one car (LaShonda the Honda) I put Daniel to work and did something my daughter thought would never happen.

  The office!  

I gave up the idea of pulling the carpet and painting all the trim to just get shit together.  After I spent a while cleaning out the room with all the crap in it then with Daniels help (thank you son!) we moved the furniture up from downstairs. I didn't have to buy anything new and the bookcase behind the desk is a gift from Austin, my oldest. LOVE!

The next day I cleaned and organized and cleaned the house.

After almost 6 years I have a desk and office that is MINE!  I'm so excited! I'm at the desk right now typing this post.  For years I've been typing on my laptop while sitting on the couch or in bed, but now I can sit at a desk and it's amazing!

 I still have some work to do but it's so much easier with a desk.  As soon as I get my file cabinet in here then I'll be able to file receipts instead of using the old, "throw it in the box" style.  

Here is a picture that was circulating Facebook by AirMed and the University of Utah hospital.

For very strict HIPPA laws I can't talk about the details.

A nurse on one of our other teams took the picture.

I'm in the trauma bay at the U.

It will stand out as one of the most tender moments of my career.  I'm not much of a toucher when it comes to patients.  Because I've seen so much tragedy, death, dismemberment and sadness I have a different view of life that some may construe as a hard heart.  I say a lot of, "Buck up buckaroo, life could be worse".  

This day my patient just wanted to be held, by me.

It was an honor.

All in all an awesome week!  I didn't blog, obviously.  But I still have a few half written posts that I hope will get posted soon.  I mean...I have a desk and everything!

Blog on.............

Easter

It was a great Easter Sunday!  All my kids came to lunch and it was the first day off Whole30.  Although I did make a delicious, completely Whole30 meal for everyone.  

No nitrate/nitrite Ham from Trader Joes, Spicy Tuna Cakes, Deviled Eggs, Asparagus and a HUGE salad with all sorts of veggies in it.  

Part of the NOT Whole30 was the Sangria.  I just wanted some booze after 30 days!

My kids and Jake's girlfriend Emily.  

Clockwise:  Austin, Sami, Emily, Jake and Daniel

Me with my kids.  I can't believe they are adults.  It's crazy.  They can't take a serious picture either.  It's all good, I love them madly!

Later when my glass light broke I thought my son's cleaning technique was some good thinking.  While I was off looking for the proper dust pan, I came back to this:

Boom!  They are thinkers!

The Foot!

No pain at all.  Not even ibuprofen.  That is better then before the surgery.  Of course it's in a boot.  I've been diligent about wearing it and even put a shoe cover on it to work outside.  This Friday I can start small amounts of time in my shoe.  I will probably keep using the night splint until I see the podiatrist again.  

Yesterday I went to the gym and it felt fabulous!  I used the recumbent bike for 20 minutes to warm up and then just worked out on the machines.  I'm going again today to just keep my spirits up if nothing else. 

I also started reading this book:

 

Many runners have recommended it.  I figured since I was basically starting fresh then I might as well work on my form a little bit.  I bought the book from Thriftbooks (used books) so I can take it to the gym while I pedal the bike.  So far..LOVE IT.

Tomorrow I'm back to work.  Yeah!  I'm ready to get back to life!

Blog on.................. 

Holiday Ho Ho's!

What a wonderful Christmas day!!  

Mostly because of these little rug rats!  

It started out a little tense.  Out of the 60 hours I put in up at Rock Springs I only flew one time and that was a late flight at 7:15am on Christmas morning.  We tried to fly at midnight but the runway wasn't plowed and of course they got up early and plowed it in time for us to fly her before our shift ended.  That meant that I didn't leave Rock Springs until noon. I also spent the first half of Christmas in my thermals and sweats that I wear under my flight suit.  Which mean that the day culminated in the most refreshing shower ever!

  Arrrrgggghhh!!

I did get to pass off my patient to one of my favorite nurses and the new ride!

It was so nice to be with my kids and my dogs and just RELAX!

Daniel

Jake

Austin

Sami

Weirdos

Ted is ready for his present!

So is Zoe!

Ted is protecting his new squeaky steak!

Merry Christmas!!

Blog on.............