Play us a song, you're the guitar man

Mr. Serious

On the Phone Again

Daniel plays drums with Uncle John

Go to this website to see Daniel and his uncle (he calls him Tio) (Spanish for uncle) playing drums together:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CJ9TAiIaAI

Thanksgiving

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We spent most of ours driving! Sunday we drove up to Ocean City, MD to spend some time with aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents, who are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in December. Tuesday we came home, slept in our own beds for the night, and went to Salisbury (NC) to spend the night there, eat Thanksgiving dinner at my dad's house, and come back to Rocky Mount Thursday. We forgot to take our camera to Maryland so I will have to wait for someone else to send me some pics of our time there.

However, we remembered to take it with us to Salisbury and boy am I glad. Probably the highlight of the day was watching my 17-year-old brother let Daniel play his (John's) very nice drums. He even sent home a practice pad for Daniel to use!

New Meaning to "Wearing a Diaper"

Thank you, Peele

That's what Daniel told his pediatric nurse practitioner, Mrs. Louise Peele, after she saw him today. Being the kindly soul that she is, she just laughed.

He will also love the Augmentin she put him on. He LOVES to take medicine.

Venting post

Please feel free to skip this post, as I am only venting because I am ill about something that happened today. So there, you have been duly warned!

I called the doctor's office where I take my boy for his checkups etc. which happens to be the clinic where I used to work until I started working at Wakemed. He is a little sick, nothing serious but I want to catch it before it has the chance to become serious, esp. since we are going out of town Saturday. So I called the clinic and when I spoke with the front office staff who answered the phone I explained that my son was a little sick, I wanted to know if he could be seen today and if I could talk to a nurse about it. Now, since I used to work there I know the procedure for that is that the staff pulls that patient's chart, takes down the complaint and a phone number and the nurse calls the patient (or the parent) back. Instead, she transfers me directly to speak to a nurse.

When the nurse picks up, I explain the situation all over again and ask if it's possible for my son to be seen today. This is not a nurse I have worked with. She was hired in the time since I've been gone. Instead of asking me what his symptoms were, she flat out told me, "Her schedule is full today and she won't be able to see you." Oh really? She told you that? I doubt it. Mrs. Peele (that's who sees him) is known for seeing her patients no matter what. I tried another tack and asked if there was a time I could bring him in that would be better. Her response was "Maam, like I said, her schedule is full today. You can bring him in as a walk-in tomorrow." Not great customer service.

My problem, however, is not that my boy couldn't be seen today. It is the way the situation was handled. This nurse did not ask me what his symptoms were. She did not volunteer to ask Mrs. Peele if he could be seen. She took it upon herself to make that decision, and that is not how you do things. Fortunately, it is something that can wait til tomorrow. And fortunately, I know enough about health and illness to recognize when something can wait or when he needs to be taken to the hospital. But what if I were a parent with a low level of health knowledge being told to wait til tomorrow and bring him in? What if I had been told that when my son has symptoms of meningitis and she didn't bother to ask?? That is the whole reason why you triage people and let the provider make the call. You don't make that decision yourself. I came about this close to calling back and talking with her supervisor. I may still do it when I take him in tomorrow.

This scenario would be a lot different had it gone like this: I call and even if the front office staff doesn't pull my son's chart, I tell the nurse he's sick and I would like to know if I can bring him in. She tells me, "Mrs. Peele's schedule is full today and I can't promise you that we can see him. Please tell me what's going on; I'll talk with her and give you a call back." I tell her that he's got a wet cough, a little decreased appetite, no fever, no runny nose, no complaints that his ear hurts. We hang up and she talks with Mrs. Peele who says to bring him in. Or she talks with Mrs. Peele who says that her schedule is indeed too full but she could see him tomorrow. She calls me back to let me know. Either way, the decision has been made by the provider, and I know that she has at least asked.

Right now I am mad as a hornet. I realize a) that there are wars and famines going on and this is not nearly as tragic; and b) my child is not gravely ill and can indeed wait til tomorrow. But when you are a nurse you do not go beyond the scope of that and make decisions that aren't yours to make. And if you have to tell someone they or their child can't be seen today, you at least do it nicely.

Venting done.

Saturday mornings as I am coming home from work and getting ready to sleep, my boy and Papa are getting ready for boys' day out on the town. One of their favorite stops is the park, where they walk around the lake and feed the duckies...rather, Papa feeds them and the wee one chases them. However, he is never too busy to stop and ham it up for the photographer.

Papa's hat & Dinosaur PJs

As Hubs was getting ready to take Wee One outside to play soccer yesterday afternoon, he accidentally put one of his (Wee One's) on the wrong foot. He says, "Look, man, I put your shoe on the wrong foot!" To which the wee one responds "Silly Papa!"

My boy in PJs

People I know who are pregnant:
Friend & former roommate Naomi (#3)
Friend & former neighbor Wendy (#2)
Our niece Ana Bertha with #2 (#1 is 6 months old.) (!)
Friends at work: Susie, Alicia, Suzanne, Carol, Jennifer, and probably several more that I've left out.
NOT ME. (at least not now, anyway.)

Things I love:
When Hubs gets home from work early.
Being able to put my cold feet on him when we get in bed.
Watching Hubs & Wee One play cars.
When I do something for Wee One & he says, "Thank you Mama."
Snuggling with my boy at bedtime.
Green tea. (decaf, with Splenda)
Watching "Prison Break."
The fact that no more Republicans or Democrats will be calling our house clamoring for our vote. At least not til 2007/08.
Listening to Hubs talk about his mom. (died when he was young.)
Going to work & realizing I'm in the nursery.
The fact that I only go to work 2 nights a week.
Realizing that God knows what I really need even though I've asked for something different. (like when I prayed for our first pregnancy to be twins...)
My husband's feet.
Watching "The Return of the King."
Watching anything having to do with LOTR, for that matter.
Hot soup/tea on a rainy night.
When Hubs really likes something I've made for dinner.
Watching my wee one sleep.

One for fun & one for serious

First the serious: An article I found in a monthly newsletter that I subscribe to from "The Voice of the Martyrs," which features articles about Christians around the world who are persecuted for their faith. From the founder Richard Wurmbrand:

The Unreasonableness of God
"I shared and viewed the sufferings of many fellow prisoners in an underground Communist prison. What intrigued us most was that we did not obtain from heaven what it was obviously reasonable to expect: a slight improvement in our situation, food to quiet our hunger, and abatement of our cruel torture. We did not get what we expected because heaven is not -- humanly speaking -- reasonable.

Jesus said, "There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance." (Lk. 15:7) This is surely not reasonable.

Nowhere does the Bible speak about the reasonableness of God, according to man's reasoning, but rather about His foolishness (I Cor 1:25). He is unreasonable as are the thoughts of little children. Christ became a child and recommended that we become as children too.

Was it reasonable to sacrifice the unique Son of God for witless, dirty, dumb sheep? I have asked many shepherds what they would do if they saw a wolf. They all replied, "We would run for our lives." No man dies for sheep. Yet Jesus did. He died for beings worse than sheep -- for those who denied and betrayed Him, for those who demanded His crucifixion. He died for His killers, for all who blaspheme and hate God.

Do not be surprised if you fail to get from God what you might reasonably expect. If He were truly reasonable, He would never listen to the prayers of people like us, nor would we have salvation. Rather, God loves to the point of folly.

If you are in the sad situation of experiencing neither His reason, nor His mad love, you might consider the fact that in the parable of the ninety and nine, only the lost sheep had sure proof of His love and concern. The others could reasonable say they were neglected and abandoned. Those who are faithful should simply be glad that others experience His love to folly.

While in solitary confinement, I waited for years for God to come to my aid. In solitary we were happy about His mad love even in moments we were not its recipients.

Do not count on reasonableness in heaven and you will never be disappointed. Count only on the fact that there is One who loves you to such folly that He died for you. In response, forget about sweet reason and let yourself fall madly in love with Him.


For fun, from Reader's Digest: "From television shows to sports events, everything seems to have a sponsor. In an effort to make sure that no person or historical event is without a backer, The Washington Post asked its readers to come up with logical patrons for some historical events and life stories.

The Strom Thurmond Story, brought to you by Pop Secret
The Life of Captain Kidd brought to you by IHOP
The Success of Jeb Bush, sponsored by Hasbro."

Now, didn't at least one of those make you smile??

Pictures forthcoming in the next day or two...