CPR

Just an update from Pittsburgh.  I have been working in the Emergency Room and on Thursday night we had a man come in with shortness of breath.  While he was asking the nurse for a drink of water his eyes rolled back in his head and he flat-lined.  We rushed into his room and, along with another doctor, I performed CPR on him while the chief ER physician pushed cardiac drugs to restart his heart.  After 45 minutes we were able to a faint heart beat and he was stabilized long enough to Life Flight him to a trauma hospital in Pittsburgh.  Something you don't get to do everyday.

Playing With Annie

This is my 450th post on my blog!  Wow!

Dutch and I have been spending the weekend with the Dittmars.  Annie and Dutch and I had a really fun day yesterday.  We went shopping to buy me a dress for my friend's wedding reception and we found a very cute black dress, as well as an adorable skirt for Annie.  Even Dutch got some new t-shirts.

While Dutch took a much-needed nap Annie and I watched "That Girl" episodes and talked about how awesome her clothes are.

Then, I was horrified to learn Annie had never read The Scarlet Pimpernel!  Now, if you haven't read this book it's one of my top 5 favorite books of all time.  So Annie and Dutch and I went to Barnes and Noble and I bought Annie a copy of The Scarlet Pimpernel, Dutch got Curious George and the Firefighters lap board book, I bought Haroun and the Sea of Stories for Aunt Marianne, and The Hunger Games for myself.

For dinner Annie and I got some Cafe Rio, yum yum!

Then, to end a wonderful day, Aunt Marianne and I watched the Leslie Howard version of The Scarlet Pimpernel movie.  It was a wonderful day and I'm glad I could spend time with my family!

Happy Birthday Mama!

Dear Guh-guh,

I hope you have a happy birthday.  I love you and miss you.  If you were here I would give you lots of kisses and hugs.  I would also clap my hands and dance for you.

Love,
Dutchie

The Bookish Blonde

Okay so I sheepishly realized that I never shared my new blog with everyone when my sister complained she didn't know about it!  So here it is:

The Bookish Blonde

It's where I take the time to review EVERY book I read (since the blog began that is, there will be no retroactive reviews unless I re-read a book).  I try to keep the reviews short, sweet, and to the point.  I rate them all at the beginning so you can decide, based on me, if the book is worth reading.

Please feel free to suggest books on that blog, to criticize my reviews and post some of your own!  In the meantime, happy reading!

Shhh! No Singing!

Every child is, at one time or another, embarrassed of their mom or dad.  Dutch is coming into it a little younger than most.  Four days a week I watch a 3 month-old little girl named Alexis.  Baby Alexis LOVES singing, so I try to sing a little bit all day long.  Well Dutch apparently is already annoyed by my singing habit.  On Thursday as I was singing "Show Me" from "My Fair Lady" he put his hand over my mouth and shook his head.

"You don't want me to sing?"
"Shh."  He put his hand back over my mouth.
"You don't like my singing?"
"Shh."

Favorite Picture Friday

 

Yes sir, that's my baby.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Dutch is imitating people.  Here are a few highlights:

Grandpa Greg: Dutch got into Greg's chair, pulled Greg's slanket over himself, and tried to turn the TV on with the remote control.

Uncle Frank: He got into Uncle Frank's chair at the table, picked up the pencil, put his hand under his chin, and pretended to do the crossword in the newspaper.

Grandma Honey: Every time Kellie yells for Zaque Dutch copies her.

Mama: He keeps stealing my books from me so he can read them.


Funny little monkey.

My Funny Valentines

These are my boys (minus Bo) and they are my Valentines.

Happy Valentine's Day!

An Explanation

So I used to be a very faithful blogger.  It was never much of a struggle for me to write a blog at least 5 days a week.  Lately I have been struggling to even post one a week and when I do it's usually a short, pitiful one.

So I feel that I owe you, all of my faithful blog readers, an explanation.  Here it is:

I have nothing to say.

Chris is in Pennsylvania and Dutch and I are here.  After spending the day watching him (and Baby Alexis) and chasing him I don't really feel like re-living it by writing it down.  I'm tired all the time, I have a short fuse and no patience.  It doesn't matter to Dutch when I've run out of energy, though.  He keeps going, keeps getting into everything he's not supposed to get into, and ignoring his toys completely.  Throws tantrums when I scold him or take something away.  Keeps waking up in the middle of the night and wants to get in bed with me, then proceeds to move around until I feel like punching him.  (For example: last night he woke up at 2am and rolled around on the bed, supposedly trying to get comfortable, until 4am.  I couldn't get to sleep until about 5am.)

In short, if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.  So if I don't blog, you know it's because there's nothing nice to say.

The Kite Analogy

Note: Some of you who read this blog are not religious, but this particular blog post flows in a religious vein.

My little brother Zaque shared a really beautiful analogy in church last Sunday.  For those of you who know Zaque, you know he is rarely serious.  That makes what he said all the more beautiful, if you ask me.

We were discussing the Lord's commandments, but this analogy could go for rules and laws as well.  My brother-in-law said (and I'm quoting as best I can):

"Commandments are like the string of a kite.  You think the string is pulling the kite down, but if you cut the string the kite will fall.  The string holds the kite up."

Don't let your kite fall!

Favorite Picture Friday

Having dinner with some of my friends at my last Writing Popular Fiction Residency.

I was hiding behind my menu, but decided to take a peek.

From L to R: Bethany, Aileen, Todd, Me, Angie's arm

A List for Tuesday

Five Things Dutch Has Done This Past Week That Have Surprised Me (in no particular order)

1. Peed on the floor.  Twice.  (My mom-in-law was talking about how she's a pianist, but Dutch is just a pee-ist.)

2. Was super-jealous when I started watching Baby Alexis.

3. Was super-helpful when I started watching Baby Alexis (he oscillated between the two extremes).

4. Didn't cry when I changed his diaper even though he's had diaper rash so bad it's made him bleed.

5. Slept through the night two consecutive nights!