Our Thanksgiving

We had a lovely time at my friend Linda's house. She comes from a large Italian family. Her husband comes from a large Mexican family. She had family, neighbors, friends all together in her log house in Lake Shastina. The ages ranged from 2 to 80. There were artists, blueberry growers, Shasta Opal miners, Thai kickboxing coaches, psychiatric nurses, aspiring tornado chasers, and lots of kids who couldn't wait for pie. Scott was among them. We listened to Eva Cassidy CDs, watched the sun set over the lake bed, played Life Stories, and drank wine. The mood was quietly, casually festive. We had a good time.
I missed you. I missed all of you.
Thank you for the pictures, Daddy.

Happy Thanksgiving

Is your turkey in the oven yet?
Scott and I are going to one of the ER nurse's house for dinner...she usually has about 30 guests, so it should be lively.
I love you guys and miss you especially on this day.
Eat some oyster dressing (extra sage, please) for me, would you?
Annie has been on my mind a lot, lately. I feel her presence very strongly at times. Cody, too.
We're all a little witchy, methinks.

A very cool quote from Edwinleap.com

I always wanted to be a comedian or a writer. So I can tell you with confidence that seeing people in a medical setting is some of the best training a writer can have. They will tell you all of their secrets, all of their pain and all of their comedy for the price of a little kindness. I can’t imagine any better training in the human condition. Medicine teaches me that people can be unimaginably noble. That they can be miserable and cruel. That they can love like angels and kill like devils. That they endure everything from paralysis to cancer with a smile; and at the same time can give up and take disability for the slightest injury just to withdraw from the world. Medicine teaches me the way people speak and the way they laugh, the way the sound when they’re frightened for their child, and the way they stumble when they’re drunk. And it teaches me that all of them, from the ones I admire to the ones I have to laugh at, are just children in search of a father.

Benjamin

I talked with Ben tonight. He's planning on doing the Arrowhead 135 mile race in International Falls, MN this February: check out www.arrowheadultra.com. He is totally excited and pumped about the whole thing. I got on their website and all I can say is WOW! Even Scott says he wouldn't have any idea how to prepare for the thing. That said, there must be no finer feeling than being a young man with a little experience under his belt, with an awesomely hard challenge that he's taking on. I just hope that he has the gear for this. I know what he's getting from his mama for Christmas...warm socks. Maybe a balaclava. Maybe a shrink....

Check out the photo of the day!

http://adventurecorpsblog.blogspot.com/

Yeah, he's hip and cool....

Day off

I worked two nine hour shifts the past two nights, with my foot doing VERY well. Now, I get to re-acquaint myself with nights off. It is too disruptive to my sleep-wake schedule to flip flop from days to nights and back again, unless I'm off for several days in a row. So, after going to bed this morning, I should get up around 6 pm and plan on being up all night. This is my chance to watch girl movies....the last time, I tried to watch Little Women, but suddenly and not surprisingly, the channel was switched to Southpark. Maybe tonight, when all the house is asleep (except me and the kitty).
It won't be long before I can do more physically. I had to slow things down last week, after developing a blistery sore on the center of my skin graft. That was after working six hours, spending a couple of hours with the horses, and then walking 1.8 miles on the treadmill. Things have healed pretty well, but I've decided to limit the treadmill and horses, especially since I've ramped up my work hours.
Still no snow at the ski park, so the ER is pretty mellow. Speaking of mellow, Abby and Ted know how to relax, don't they?

Happy Anniversary

I can see the candle and the photo album on the coffee table.
I love you two.

Going nocturnal

Tonight is my first night back on the graveyard shift, which is my favorite. It's almost 10 pm here at the house, all the dogs, cats, and men are asleep, and I'm sipping Earl Gray and blogging. In about ten minutes, I'll get ready for my shift.
I DO love being up at night. The stuff that comes in the ER is either really bad, really weird, or really annoying. My job is to treat it them all with dignity and compassion. Sometimes it's a challenge, but the thing I love about the people I work with is that they are all generally kind, smart, and patient. They do seem like sisters, especially when things get a little hairy.
So, I'll do my job, then see my horses, then come home to my little house in the morning.
Sleep well, family.

The Elusive Joey Kitten

Joey Kitten has been in our family since Abby the dog and I picked him out at the Humane Society three summers ago. He was very much of an outside kitty while living in Dunsmuir. He would show up every day or so for some food (a couple of times in the winter, he was snowed in on his favorite attic space of a neighboring abandoned building for three days). Scott moved heaven and earth to get him in the truck to take him to Lake Shastina, but he was able to do so on the third try. Now, Joey has decided that the inside life is pretty good. He is Ready Weber's own personal sheep and generally tolerates it pretty well. He likes to bat at Ready's tail when he's not looking. Don't you think he looks like Smokey?

Shades of Dick Thompson

Remember the farrier whose hand was sliced by Maggie? Well, Ralph is our farrier here...he is completely awesome! He is tiny, wiry, and aging, but commands those horses' respect. He doesn't put up with any funny stuff and very effectively and humanely puts an end to the di-dos. The horses pay attention and learn. It's wonderful to see. It's not that they're terrible...even I am comfortable picking up their feet (even the hind ones), but Ralph likes to run a tight ship. Now, they have very tidy, rounded toenails.

Let's see, what else did I do? I made my lentil soup, walked 1.7 miles on the treadmill, and tried not to annoy the Coach too much on this his coaching day.

Autumn

I keep forgetting how lovely November is here. It doesn't get cold and snowy, generally, until the end of December.

I worked my 4 hour shift (which ended up being 6 hours, after all was said and done), went to see Bella and Buddy and clean their stalls, and then did 1.6 miles on the treadmill, while watching Ironman videos. Now, my feet are tired and I can't wait to take off my honking steel-toed boots. Lentil soup is in the Weber's immediate future.

Here are some pictures of my baby horses. Bella is on the top, Buddy on the bottom. As close as you could get to a matched pair.

Abby

Abby the dog LOVES mud! Especially the goopy green kind. This is from our walk this morning along the lakebed (dry at the moment) of Lake Shastina.

That's Ready Weber beside her.

First Outside Walk

Karen's special request

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAMxZulUMaU

For all you silly Arthur kings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hk7_adBPxU

A Picture for Hannah

Lovely day

I worked another shift this morning, which was much calmer than yesterday's chaos. You never know what awaits you...that is what makes it so durned interesting. The rain has gone, and the mountain was radiant. This picture was taken while waiting for the train to go through town. It's amazing to live right at the foot of this giant.

The horses were good today...treated their feet with some nasty green stuff that Shirley says will keep them from getting thrush. Buddy was a little bit of a turd about his back feet, but he settled down and did well. Bella was sweet and beautiful as usual. I have never seen such a sweetheart of a horse.

Got stuff for chicken tortilla casserole....did I tell you that I'm in love with my oven??? Like, it really cooks food???

A good day to be a kitty

It's one of those Seattle days, overcast and drizzly. I find it strangely comforting; I know that we need the rain.

I went to work this morning...it's amazing how draining one critically ill patient can be...exhausting the nurses, me, everybody. It was all I could do to NOT eat fast food on the way home. I was elated to see the horses and shovel some poop. They didn't care that today was hard. They just wanted their noses rubbed. That's pretty good.

Fit Day Journal Entry for Today

I've made several eating mistakes in the past week. I knew I was making them. I knew that they weren't unusual. But I DID write them down (usually). First mistake: fast food. I did go through the McDonald's drive-through yesterday after work. I haven't done that in over a year. It wasn't that great! It sure wasn't worth the 800 or so calories. It is certainly not going to be a big problem for me to not to that again.Second mistake: eating in the evening. I must get emotionally hungry after 8 pm. I need to stop this. I know that when I get back on my night schedule, that it will be a different problem. But I need to stop this for ME right now.Third mistake: eating sugar. I seem to have become addicted to"cane", as Daniel and Holly put it. STOP. It's bad for you.Fourth mistake: overeating. I should not be eating large amounts at one time. The old way of 300 calories at a time was certainly sustainable and worked!
Good things that I've done:First good thing: Kept a food diary. Accountability starts here. If I make a mistake, I need to write it down.Second good thing: Finished off the comfort food brought in by the nurses. Now, all I have is what Scott and I have brought into the house. Third good thing: Been consistent with getting back on the treadmill. "Those who are faithful in little things can be faithful in big ones." (or somethng like that).

Sunday

I went to work again for my four hours this morning. The drive was spectacular; Mount Shasta was radiant on the southern part and covered in clouds on the north. No frost on my windshield yet, but it's coming. The finches have been ravenous, the horses have a nice thick coat of fur, and the air has that tangy nip in it that says winter is almost here. It is so nice to see the mountain with snow on it!

Work is a wonderful thing! I love what I do. I love who I work with. I'm pretty fortunate.

Scott is continuing to do his ten mile loops, but varies them and is enjoying exploring our new neighborhood. His coaching is going well.

This picture was taken during one of our outings while I was hospitalized in Mount Shasta. Scott would push me in the wheelchair "here's a bumpety-bump" to go snag some blackberries from the bushes behind us.

I got on the treadmill today for a half mile, which went well. The plan is to ramp my mileage up by one tenth of a mile every day for now. The graft looks great and my orthotic should be ready for me to use on Thursday.

Beautiful Bella

Back to real life

Yesterday was awesome! I went to work from 8-noon, got out of there by 2 pm, which is pretty good, took Buddy and Bella for little walks, went to the grocery store, then came home to a very foggy, misty Lake Shastina...it was bright and sunny in Mount Shasta. As one of my partners and neighbors says, it's like another world.
I remembered what drawer things were in, relocated my stethescope and palm pilot, reacquainted myself with a bunch of people, and saw six patients. It was lovely!

Shasta Sundancer (AKA Buddy the Horse) meets his little sister Bella.

A whole new blog!

I thought that this would be a good time to start a new blog. The old Shastalife blog was dominated by illness and recuperation. This blog is about what happens after things get back to normal....and hopefully better than normal...