Tighter Turns

I am slowly getting better. Today Michelle and I both had the day off and took advantage of the recent snow to hit the slopes. She was skiing while I was snowboarding. I was able to keep up pretty well. She usually beat me down the hill, but I was not too far behind. My turns are starting to get a little tighter which is giving me more control allowing me to go faster. I am hoping to find someone to go with next week so I can keep practicing. Plus, I am having fun.

On the way home we stopped at a Crackel Barrel for dinner. I had not been to one since OBC (Sept 2006). Such good food! I am looking forward to another Crackel Barrel outing!

Our First Snow of the Season

We had about 2-3 inches of beautiful snow fall yesterday. It was amazing. Her are some shots from around DC. I didn't take these but they are awesome shots of our Nation's Captiol.

A friend of mine was supposed to take a PT test this morning. I wanted to go and cheer her on so I got up super early knowing that I would need to get the ice and snow off my car. Thinking ahead, last night I cleared the snow off my windows and windshield wipers in anticipation of an icy morning. As I slid out to my car on the 1/2 inch of ice on the driveway I was amazed at the amount of ice that covered my car. I could not even open the driver's side door. I was able to get a passenger door open to start the car and crank the defrost. It took 10 minutes to get the driver's door unstuck and another 20 to get the windows clear. I was getting ready to get the chains on my tires to give me a little traction while driving to WRAMC when I realized that my tires were completely covered in ice! Let's just say that I did not make to my friend's PT test. Because of the weather I am really hoping the test was cancelled anyway.

I am very thankful that I am off today and don't have to drive on our dangerous roads this morning.

My Apartment

Allison came over today and helped put up some picture and posters making my white walls a little less blah. It looks a little more homey now. Here are a few pics of my new home. The attempted sunset picture has National Naval Medical Center (NNMC). NNMC is to my right and WRAMC is to my left in my view. I can see it all. I will try to put some good pics of view periodically.

Spc. Young is Deploying

I have worked with Spc Young since he arrived to WRAMC. He is gearing up to deploy to Iraq early next month. I hope and pray that he and everyone else from WRAMC that he is going with will be safe.

Meet Cleo!

A friend from work was looking to find a home for her cat. I really want a dog, but living in an apartment I decided to go adopt Cleo. She is amazingly sweet and loves to cuddle. She is lazy as all heck, but once I sit down she is right next to me pawing at my leg for me to pet her.

We Are One Concert

My friend Brittany and I decided to take a walk on the National Mall today. It was a little chilly but it looked to be a nice day. We weren't the only ones who thought hanging out on the National Mall was a good idea. There was a huge concert. (Of course we knew about the concert in advance.) It was awesome! I met so many great DC area residents that I would not have met otherwise. It was pretty dang cold but to get to witness and take part in one of the inauguration events was sweet. A witness to history. Estimated attendance was half a million. So fun!

WRAMC Snowboarding

A group of us from WRAMC went snowboarding today. It was so much fun! Many were snowboarding for the first time which meant I spent most of my time on the bunny slopes helping them get down, but I still had a blast. I am looking forward to going with them again!

Happy 50th Dr Lepler!

Dr Lepler was the first Doctor and Colonel to pull me aside as a brand new nurse two years ago and discuss patient care with me. I was terrified as I had been "in stern conversation" with his Intern earlier that day regarding the plan of care for one of my patients. I thought Dr Lepler was going to cause me to have what we refer to as a "significant emotional event". Instead he pulled me into a room to tell me that I had done the right thing in fighting for my patient and to never be afraid to call the Attending into the situation if I ever believe that my patient is not receiving the appropriate care.

Since then I now work with Dr Lepler often as he rotates through the MICU as our Attending. As we celebrated his birthday I told him my story and to my surprise he remembered it. I don't think I have gone a shift when I work with him that I have not learned something new. He is a great teacher and has amazing bedside manner with the patients and families.

Happy Birthday Sir!

Learning to Snowboard

Just to beat you all to the punch...My face hurts so I know it must be killing you! I have decided that I want to learn how to snowboard this season. The weather was agreeing with me today so I went to Whitetail Resort in Pennsylvania to learn how to fall gracefully. Let's just say that I was not as graceful as I had hoped to be. Multiple falls where I flipped completely over to the point that even my instructor Alex was impressed with how big my falls were.

One was so bad that I didn't even begin to feel it until I started driving home and my face began to thaw. I face planted so hard that I can remember the headstand/flip that I did and then everything spinning for a minute or so while I regained my bearings. It was bad. My many falls were so amazing that we even tried to get them on film so I could show them to you. We weren't successful in filming the amazing falls, but now you can see that I can make it slowly down the hill in one piece. But my turns are getting better...so it was a successful day.

The picture with the sunglasses was taken on the drive home when I began to feel a sharp pain on the top of my nose. The next two were taken when I got home and got to look in the mirror. The left side of my forehead is all scratched up. And there is a little cut just under my right eye and another just above my top lip. Yup, my face hurts. I know I will be sore tomorrow. Good thing I have another day off before I have to go back to work.

Anyone want to come snowboarding with me next week? I will provide the entertainment!