You've become a fan when....

...the title of the article on washingtonpost.com is "Caps, Trades, and Offsets" and you think it's going to be about your the Washington Capitals' offseason moves to make it further into the NHL postseason next year. Stupid energy policy discussion stuff; so boring.

NY Daily News: Phil Mickelson suspends season after wife, Amy, is diagnosed with cancer

This page was sent to you by: Dan Message from sender: Good for him!! Family first. Sports | 05/20/2009 Phil Mickelson suspends season after wife, Amy, is diagnosed with cancer BY HANK GOLA Phil Mickelson has suspended his season indefinitely after his wife, Amy, has been diagnosed with breast cancer, it was announced Wednesday morning.

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Things I've Learned from 24 - Part Finale

So this is the last "Things I've Learned from 24" in a while. And even though I only caught the last 40 minutes, there's plenty of lessons we learned:

1) Pontification is for idiots - when you are ready to exact your revenge, don't stand there and yell and cry and wussy-whip him with a pistol. SHOOT HIM! First, you put a bullet in his stomach - let him suffer (yeah, I've watched WAY too many movies/shows). THEN, you talk. But of course, we could see it coming, Tony didn't get to finish the job, because he kept yappin'. Serves him right.

2) The President's daughter - Olivia, Livy, MURDERER - still can't act. Anytime she came on screen I yelled, "Furrowed brow, furrowed brow" over and over.

3) Apparently, we are so powerful as to be able to atone to our inner being for our sins. The exact quote: "Let us forgive ourselves for all the wrongs we have done." As my mom so aptly put, if we are able to forgive ourselves, then we couldn't have wronged anyone in the first place, since apparently it's our standard that we've set. (It sounded better coming out of her mouth - and now "Gilmore Girls" is blabbering on in the background, so I can't focus.)

4) Renee won't be a good Jack. And Jack is a bad Jack. So that makes Renee a horrible Jack (she wouldn't be able to torture Wilson if she had a set of dental tools in her back pocket).

5) I need to find a hobby for Monday nights starting in January. That, or Keifer Sutherland needs to totally get arrested and locked away. This show is killing me.

Phlebotomist

~Posted by Ang

I think when I first used this word around my dad, his response was, "Gesundheit!"

In case this was also your reaction, what it means is one who practices/studies phlebotomy, which is, according to Merriam-Webster Online, "the letting of blood for transfusion, diagnosis, or experiment, and especially formerly in the treatment of disease."

For the faint of heart at the mention of the word "blood," you may want to stop reading here, if you haven't already, though I promise not to go into too much detail. :-)

I've had many opportunities over the past few years to interact with phlebotomists. To tell you the truth, the first time I actually realized that that was the term properly applied to the person drawing all those vials of blood from my arm was about 6 months ago. Unfortunately for me, my phlebotomist happened to be of a foreign descent and culture, I soon thereafter discovered, that apparently prides itself on its privacy and restraint from personal divulgence when conversing with strangers. This I didn't know, first of all, because I was ignorant of my phlebotomist's nationality and, second, because once informed of it I was ignorant of the minutiae of that nationality's customs. Of both she spared little time in acquainting me, thus divulging perhaps more of herself than she must have intended in so brief a conversation. The story goes thus...

I was sitting in the chair waiting as my phlebotomist prepped my arm for a blood draw --rubber band around the arm, alcohol, cotton swab, you know the drill. And while I waited I amused myself by looking around the small exam room, taking note of anything that might be somewhat useful or educational for future reference. It was then I spotted it: the placard on the wall beside the door which stated in big bold letters something to the effect of:

Please let your phlebotomist know if you have any questions about your treatment.

"Aha," I thought. "So that's what they're called!" Wanting to be sure of the conclusion I had drawn, having put 2 and 2 together, I decided to ask, especially as it was within the realm of what the placard told me to do. So partially in the interest of making small talk (which I personally find helpful and relaxing in anticipation of the needle about to be stuck in my arm) but mostly hoping to gain information that might be useful later on, I said, "Oh, so is that what you're called --you're a phlebotomist?" Then, in broken English came her reply, and because it was in broken English and therefore a little difficult to follow, I'll just paraphrase the basics here: "I'm from the Czech Republic, and we don't talk about ourselves the way Americans do, always talking about what they do, where they go...we like to keep these things to ourselves."

In my head I'm going, "WOAH, Nelly! What does this woman think I'm asking her?!" Out loud, I said, "Oh, I'm sorry, I was only asking because it says up there on the wall..." In my head I'm going, "You're a PHLEBOTOMIST!! You draw blood for a living. It says that ON THE WALL!! I'm just a halfway curious person asking for confirmation!" More uncharitably, I must confess I was also thinking, "Maybe you should return to your homeland if you can't handle this trifling a discussion with us Americans." Needless to say, the conversation was pretty much at an end before it had even begun.

I've since been a little more guarded in my efforts at conversation with my phlebotomists. You never know who might be sticking your arm that day. Hence, you can never be too careful. Thankfully, my previous run-in with the Czech did not affect her job performance, and I endured no permanent physical damage. However, I have since found most of my phlebotomists to be friendly, talkative sort of people --most of them American, I have to admit--and they actually seem to enjoy their patients and the conversations that arise during the course of their blood-letting, as it were. ;-)

In fact, the last three I've encountered have been such kind souls who have not only initiated conversation but have also kept my mind more happily preoccupied with light subjects such as the beauty and fun of springtime, the hilarious antics of toddlers, and, of course, the idiosyncratic habits of doctors and their penchant for flooding labs with their patients. Of the latter subject, the phlebotomist usually smiles, and I can't help but interject: "At least they're keeping you in business, right?"

Yup, it's funny the things you learn in the college of life.

Thought you'd get a chuckle out of this one

This came from my Dad. They're keeping the girls this week for us.

 

...so as the low rumbling of thunder awakens me and I try to figure out whether today is trash day or not (truck or thunder?) I wait for another sound/ flash.  It doesn't take long and I see a flash.  Thankfully I went to bed early.

I launch into weather monitoring mode and listen for stirring in other rooms as I head to weather central - iMac live Doppler and kitchen TV monitor.  As the storms approach I confirm that they will have heavy rain and some boomers but nothing specifically threatening.  Within 15 minutes Mia is awake and in despair.  I take her to Grandma's bed and haven't heard from her since.

Addy cries a few times but settles back down.  The boomers get more frequent and louder but still far enough away not to be threatening.  By now the storms will be at their peak within 10 minutes.  The Dish feed dies for about 14 of those 10 minutes... yeah, you read that right... so I rely on the Internet for storm monitoring.  The TV was just a backup anyway.

As the rain is it's hardest with a few occasional booms, everything seems OK in Storm Central.  The rain lessens to moderate, one final boom lets loose and Addy starts crying.  Abby woke up with this one and takes care of Addy.  She (Addy) fusses and we try to decide whether she will go back to sleep or not.  Wisely, Abby says she'll rock her and try to settle her down.  I only think of food, naturally.  Here come the chuckles.

I figure I can make a bottle of formula to have ready if Addy needs it.  So I grab a bottle and start pouring the Nursery water.  What?!!!  I must be sleepy, I missed the bottle!  And I didn't just hit the rim and spill a few drops, I missed it completely!  By now you know what happened... I'm clueless and I guess not as alert as I thought I was.

So I wipe up the water off of the floor and go to the sink, thankfully, to pour the water more carefully.  It all goes down the sink!  What?!!!  OH!!! DUH!!!  The rest was uneventful but I had to laugh at myself and thought you might get a chuckle too.

All's quiet outside and in the back.  I'm assuming Aunt Abby got Addy back to sleep.  The bottle is waiting for later consumption.  I'm awake now (I think) and went ahead and made some coffee.  It is an opportunity to get some work done.  It takes a family, not a village.

Thankfully I went to bed early.

Love,

Grandpa

If you didn't catch on, it's not that Grandpa missed the bottle. It's that he  forgot to put the bottom on the bottle. For those not used to bottomless cups, it's a fair mistake. Only once, though. =)

Happy Mother's Day

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Update on Angela's Radiation

Family and Friends -

Angela returned home today after what was a rather non-eventful radiation treatment on Monday (this was for cancer they found in her thyroid after the surgery in March). Praise the Lord that she didn't have any major discomfort, pain, or nausea. In fact, she turned her hospital room into a fairly comfy studio apartment, aside from all the plastic wrap and latex gloves covering doorknobs, faucets, and toilet seat. =)  She also had a very peaceful and cheerful spirit throughout her lonely stay, and she has not lost her sense of humor or love for laughter.

The treatment itself consisted solely of swallowing two pills, and then she was checked daily for her millirem count (anyone have a spare geiger counter we could borrow?) The doctor was very pleased with her strength and seems very confident that this treatment has been successful. We will follow up on Monday with a scan, bloodwork, and consult visit.

Angela is back on her thyroid replacement medicine, so hopefully in a week or so she'll return to full energy and strength, along with dropping all the side effects of being hypothyroid. I'm to continue to keep my distance for a few more days, but on Saturday she can drop the "low-iodine" diet, so we're celebrating with friends at IHOP!

Please pray for the girls, as they are in Tennessee with Angela's parents (and having a ball, so it seems). They will travel to Atlanta on Friday to stay with my parents for about a week and then come back home. By then there should be no leftover radiation or chance of harm to the girls.

Thank you all for your support and prayers. Our church family (and friends, too) have blessed us with meals while Angela is out of commission (that's a BIG thanks from me!), and our family's help has been invaluable with their time, travel, and energy. We're getting pretty good at this routine, but we pray this might be the last time for a long time that we need to go through this.

Blessings and Peace - The Lord is at hand,
Danny

"The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."  (Phil 4:5b-7)