me to a T - Tracey Odachowski

May 25th - 2 years since my last day of work
May 26th - 2 years of being on disability

and, by far the most important…

May 29th - 7 years married to the most perfect man in the universe.

Not that we got to do much for it. Didn’t have a babysitter, so we spent the day entertaining the kids, spreading weed and feed, and taking naps. Hopefully, when and if Dad comes next week, we’ll get a night out, just us and the X-Men. It’s funny, though - we seem to make more hooplah over the day that we met than the day that we were married. We even call it our metaversary. I know; sickeningly cute. Deal with it. We’re cute. And I love it.

Now, about those other two anniversaries. They suck. Such a hard realization that it is occurring. I miss my job. I’m terrified that I won’t remember a thing when I get back to it. I know I’m progressing, but gosh, some days it sure doesn’t feel like it. This evening, I had to meet with Gabe’s teacher about next year, and she showed me a prayer that he dictated to her today…something along the lines of, “Dear God, My mommy is hurt because she had a baby. Please take care of her…” I sobbed like a baby after reading it. I hate that he knows. Hate being like this. But I just have to keep reminding myself that it won’t be this way forever.

Funny, all I could think about on Thursday was how I spent my last day of work. I had a patient who was dying. He had alot of post-surgical complications, and we were keeping him alive for his family to get there. He and his wife were one of those cute old couples that still held hands. They were just like Chris and I - totally in love, no matter how many years are behind them. And I just wanted her to get there. I knew we were going to withdraw support on him sometime during that day, but I just didn’t want him to die before she got there. He almost did. I vividly remember it. He had been taken off of dialysis, and his electrolytes were at dangerous levels. His heart started to slow to a rate of about 30. He was dying.

I frantically called the resident, and started the medications that he needed to stay alive a little while longer. Thankfully, he started to stabilize. His wife walked in about 20 minutes later while I was giving him more medicine - glucose, I believe. She asked what I was doing. I explained what had just happened, and that I had wanted to give him the medicine so that she could make it there.

She cried.

She hugged me, whispered ‘Thank You’ in my ear, then asked me to stop. We would just let things take their course. So be it. But then, I was even more determined. You see, he was not in a private room, and, gosh darn it, he should have been. So I fought and argued, and I made them allow me to move him to a private room. A family should be able to grieve in peace. And moreso, the 3 other patients in those rooms, and their families, should not have to watch someone die. Within an hour or so, we moved him. I hobbled with my pregnant belly, pushing his heavy bed down the hall, having contractions. Probably part of the reason my doctor wrote me out the next day. But I didn’t care. I was going to be there for this man and his wife if it was the last thing I did as a nurse. Little did I know it would be.

His immediate family slowly trickled in, both sad and relieved. Asking me about my pregnancy to get their mind off of things. Then, finally, around 2:00pm, they were ready. I explained what would happen. We would turn his medications off. He was on several medications supporting his heart function at the time. I was fairly certain that within 10 minutes, he would pass, but there would be no guarantees. I turned off the monitor, choosing to watch it from my station across the room. I turned off the IV pumps. His family chose not to disconnect the ventilator. So, I sat back down and waited. His children started to say their goodbyes. And within about 5 minutes, he was gone.

I remember walking over to them, and telling them. I still remember their cries. I remember almost every little detail about that room. They stayed with him for a few minutes, then I gave them the option to go to a private room while I cleaned him. Sometimes it is easier for families to see them without all of the tubes. So they did. I removed everything. Washed him. Put fresh linens on, and drew up his bed. He looked so peaceful. I went to get his family. His wife thought he looked wonderful. Some of his children just couldn’t look. But every last one of them came up to me and gave me a hug, thanking me.

That is why I am a nurse.

Because sometimes, it is about taking immaculate care of a family rather than a patient.

And that is why I miss it so much.

Tuesday, May 23, 2006…

The Good.
While talking to her Poppop on the phone, Emily said, for the first time, wubboo. Then she saw the elation in her mommy’s eyes and said wubboo again. Then we called Daddy’s cell phone (cuz he’s in Pennsylvania right now), and after some encouragement, said wubboo again. Beautiful words. All of you parents probably know exactly what this translates to - I Love You. Three words that you long to hear. And, it seems, the last they are willing to say. My daughter will say ANY word you prompt her to…she soaks words up like a dictionary. Except these. These she would not say, until yesterday. It’s like God’s cruel joke - making sure they don’t say it until they actually MEAN it.

The Bad.
My son. A phone call from the principle. A visit to the office. Yes, that’s right, my son, the angel boy, the apple of Mrs Bennett’s eye, was sent to the office. It seems he’s been hitting a few too many times lately. Felt bad for the kid, though. It was totally an accident…they learned in circle time how to ‘chomp’ their arms up and down like Jonah the whale. So, while waiting to go pee, he chomped his arms and hit Hunter on his back. Most likely a very innocent act. HOWEVER, he was SUPPOSED to have his arms at his side, which seems to be the problem each time he has been caught ‘accidentally’ hitting someone. Had his arms been at his side, it wouldn’t have happened, accident or not. So they sent him to the principle to scare the pants off of him. Rightfully so. And it worked. Today he was so freakin angelic that he came home with not one, but TWO treats from the treat box. That’s my boy.

The Ugly.
Two, count them, TWO trips to the trash can to empty out the vaccuum from the gobs of hair sucked out of my carpet thanks to a shedding dog. She isn’t SUPPOSED to shed! That’s why I got this dog! Can’t wait to go to the vet on Friday to figure out why. My best guess? She’s turning into an adult and replacing her coat? Maybe. It’s very downy in texture, so that may be it. Either way, I wish it would stop. B/c as much as I sucked out yesterday, I’ve picked up no less than 8 more gobs of hair today from her. And I know it ain’t mine cuz I don’t have white hair (yet).

Even though it seems Karen is the only one brave enough to admit she wants to read it!

A synopsis:

1. Chris and the kids wake me up dressed in their Sunday best, looking way to darn cute.
2. Gabe gives me a plant that he potted at school for me. While reading the card and book that he made that came with it…
3. Emily pulled the plant out of the pot and shook wet soil all over the carpet.
4. Chris decided to vacuum it up and…
5. Ground the wet dirt into the carpet.
6. So we sucked up the extra dirt w/ the hose, and…
7. I vacuumed while Chris used the steam cleaner on the now ground-in dirt.
8. The kids gave me my other present - an ice cream maker (YUM!)
9. And within seconds of me opening it, Gabe started asking me every 2 minutes when we were going to make it (this lasted until the next afternoon when the ice cream was finally made)
10. Chris started making breakfast.
11. I took over (breakfast is my thing).
12. We had a great breakfast together (yummy pancakes).
13. I hovered in my scrap room for a while.
14. Early dinner at 3:30 with the Kropp’s at our favorite restaurant. Including sharing a bread pudding w/ Monica (so much for WW points THAT day!0
15. Back to the Kropp’s to hang out.
16. Put on a jacket that Mo let me borrow to go outside and picked Emily up…
17. To have her vomit (projectile) all over me, head to toe, and on the kitchen floor, and down my v-neck shirt so that a pile of it was sitting on top of my bra. Lovely.
18. Clean up vomit on the floor.
19. Go back home (it’s just around the corner) to shower (again).
20. The Kropp’s come over to play at our house instead.
21. Give Em some milk - she seems fine now.
22. NOT. She vomitted all over Chris this time.
23. Clean up more puke, this time on MY kitchen floor…
24. Only to find we had run out of cleaning solution. Great.
25. Put Emily to bed while Chris showered.
26. Played cards for a bit.
27. And got puked on two more timeschanged my shirt 3 more times, and spent 30 minutes on the phone w/ ask-a-nurse before midnight (yes, I called ask a nurse. Hey, I may be a nurse, but my specialty is adults, NOT kids!)

So, yeah. Happy Mother’s Day to me. A 24-hour crash course in what it truly means to be a Mom. And, well, aside from having puke in my bra, I loved it all.

but I’ve got a long Mother’s Day story to talk about, photos to upload, and just got about 14 assignments. (no - I swear I’m not complaining about the assignments! Money is always a good thing!!!)

But, it is also currently 12:30 am, and I’m tired. Soooo, if you want to see me blog so darned bad, then leave some comments, people!!! I know you are out there!! Who is checking up on me????

That has a birthday party for their dog.

Ok, it wasn’t TOO bad. We sang Happy Birthday, gave her a gourmet doggie ‘ice cream cone’ cookie from the pet store, and Gabe blew out the candle. She even got a new ball that she will most likely have to fight with Emily over. Perhaps even more revolutionary is that CHRIS, not *I*, CHRIS let her stand on the TABLE!!! Shocking, I know. No party hats or doggy spas, but still, it was a Dog Birthday Party. I would have never thought.

This is what happens when you have a dog AND kids.

The kids (well, Gabe, namely), made me do it.

Let me preface by saying that I RARELY read junk mail. But, sometimes, I get something that looks interesting. So, I opened this one. And, OMG, this is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO me! And probably SOOOOOOOOOOOO everyone else that I know. So, enjoy!!!

YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2006 when…

1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.

2. You haven’t played solitaire with real cards in years.

3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3.

4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don’t have e-mail addresses.

6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.

7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen.

8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn’t have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.

10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your
coffee.

11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )

12. You’re reading this and nodding and laughing.

13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message.

14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.

15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn’t a #9 on this list.

AND NOW U R LAUGHING at yourself.

Go on, forward this to your friends. You know you want to~

Get ready for a totally pointless post! But I was at the Village, and someone asked about city name stories. This is what came to mind. Do you have one?

My story…

I grew up in a town named Pittsville. Try not to laugh too hard. To give directions to my house, when choosing the three roads at the fork, I had to tell people to take the one w/ yellow lines because, yes, the other two didn’t even have lines. Even more, if you’ve watched the Wizard of Oz, then you could get to my house. ‘Follow the yellow brick road to the Emerald Green City’ became ‘Follow the yellow dotted lines to the mint green house’. Yes, the dotted lines ended just feet before one of our driveways. My husband now drives past my mother’s house every time we go home because, God forbid, they extended the dotted lines. Good thing that mom has a large half circle driveway that he can catch the second entrance. I have freaky hick stories (like…my brother’s ex-wife was my father’s ex-wife’s ex-husband’s sister, which made my ex-stepbrothers my brother’s nephews…I’m not kidding, by the way). I laughed at people on game shows who said, “I live in a small town of about 5000 people.” Yeah, they don’t know what ’small town’ is. Pittsville had a population of 450 people. I’m sure it’s in the 1000s now b/c of some development (heck - they are even getting a Food Lion, which is SHOCKING!) I never used drugs because when I would go out, my mom would say, “I know people. I have eyes. They are watching you.” I was too scared that there really were people watching! (which, I’m sure there were!)

But here’s the thing…why do people laugh at the word ‘Pittsville’, but not ‘Pittsburgh, Pittsboro’ or any other ‘pitts’ town that I have encountered over the years? Pittsville was actually named after a very prominent doctor named Dr. Pitt. Yeah, lucky us that was his name. US Rt 50 runs right through the town - you know, the national highway that starts in Sacramento, CA and ends in Ocean City, Maryland? (btw - I have actually seen both ends of it…kinda funny. Growing up I always saw the sign in OC that said, ‘Sacramento 3053 mi’ at the start of Rt 50. And you know what? There is a sign in Sacramento that says the same thing about Ocean City!) Anyway, years ago, before Rt 50 was built, the only way to get into OC was via train, and the main train depot was in Pittsville. It’s now a tax office. Oh, and Pittsville was once the Strawberry Capital of the World. Our little claim to fame.

The point of my story? I don’t know. Perhaps just to prove that a name shouldn’t define the place. Perhaps just to prove that where I grew up really wan’t half bad! But that is my name association story.

Well, the day is winding down, but I had to get on here and say Happy National Scrapbooking Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, I’m an addict. Today consisted of doing some gardening (or, rather, directing Chris to do it), a trip to Costco, then having Traci and Erin come join us for dinner. Unfortunately, Erin couldn’t stay long, but at least Traci and I *kind of* got to scrap! As much as Will would let us, that is!!! He’s such a cutie. But he will NOT sleep at my house! We figured that it must me my voice - I don’t think he likes it much. That or he likes it so much that he wants to stay awake to hear it! (NOT!) I did finally get to work on the Scraphype kit, too, so I’ll have to get those up soon. But generally, most of my mind was devoted to scrapbooking today - and that is a very good thing! Hope everyone else enjoyed the festivities, too!

Pounds lost, that is. Gotta love the first week of Weight Watchers. It’s like guaranteed success. Now, on to week two!!!!!

If I don’t write something on here. So here goes. In the last week I:

1. started a diet. I’m totally serious this time. Today is day 7. My first weigh-in tomorrow. And, gosh darn it, I’m gonna be successful this time. I did take before photos, but there is NO WAY you are going to see them until after some of the weight is gone and I can look back and talk about how gross the pictures are.

2. worried about mom. But she’s home now, and hopefully ok. We are waiting on the results of her bronchoscopy; they found a lesion. And I think that I’ve drilled into her head to throw away her cigarettes. (Right, Mom? Are you reading this? They had better be gone! LOVE YOU!)

3. Helped run a crop at Scrapvillage. I love the virtual crops there. Always such good people and tons of fun. Of course, now that the girls did so many layouts this weekend I probably have to take a picture of me w/ a frozen bra on, but that’s another story.

4. Tortured myself by having my eyebrows threaded. But, gosh, they look good now!

5. Hung out in the scraproom w/ Traci. Of course, we didn’t get a darn bit of scrapping done, but it sure was fun just talking for hours! And it made us realize why we are SOOO much alike…not only do we have the same name, but we are both Cancers. Her birthday is 2 days before mine. Of course, she is way cuter and has a much more fun blog than mine, but it’s all good! Karma, I tell ya!

4. Watched Chris pull an all-nighter to do a final paper. And then get sick. He’s not 20 anymore.

5. was asked to be on the Hambly Screen Prints design team! A HUGE honor. Allison is doing a design team call, as well, but I didn’t have to go through that process. Gosh, that is a super nice feeling to be wanted!!! And I get to be on the team w/ my rockin friend Alexis. The woman who makes me thankful that I have unlimited long distance on my phone. Love that girl!

6. won the guest design team spot at Scraphype. Another huge honor for me. Just amazing to think that people like my stuff. Just waiting for the mail to come so that I can play!

7. finally figured out the bribe to make Gabe listen to me on a daily basis. The prospect of him receiving Drumstick ice cream as a treat next weekend worked like a charm.

8. started a fun month-long challenge. ‘Once a Day in May.’ See the details here.

I think that’s it. I’m sure there is tons more, but that’s all this brain can remember right now! (happy now, Shirley?)