Party Planning

I lucked out and got a few days off throughout November while my preceptor takes a vacation. The first thought, which I verbalized to Matt, was: "Wow, our entire house might be clean all at one time". Good ol' reliably, realistic Matt replies; "Oh, I am sure you will come up with something you need to do, besides clean the house, that is obviously more urgent." And, I did. Brock's first birthday party!

I think I might LOVE to quit my day-job and become a party planner/creator. And I am pretty sure I can now officially say my favorite hobby is invitation design and construction. Then, once I have created the invite, I really enjoy finding all the right paper ware and party supplies to coordinate. I personally designed and created every element of Brock's invites. I cut out all the paper from 12 x 12 card stock, and typed up the invitation on Microsoft Word (which I get made fun of for using by EVERYONE who has any experience whatsoever in graphic design.) If you're curious how I got the colorful dots - lowercase 'L" in Wingdings 1 is a dot, then I individually changed the font color for each dot with a little copy & pasting. Love it.

PS - I believe you can click on the image to make it larger; if you want to be able to read the invite (nothing too exciting there. Though, not sure there is really anything too exciting for anyone on this particular post, besides me & maybe those few other paper or graphic design types out there.)

I'm a Lumberjack and I'm OK...

...I sleep all night and I work all day.
Brock was a little lumberjack for Halloween. Adorable. Matt and I made the mini-suspenders and found the rest of the outfit at various stores such as Target, Walmart, The Children's Place, Party Warehouse, etc. We just visited all the grandparents, no trick-or-treating for us.

So, was the Brock's first Halloween a success? Not so sure. He hated the mustache and beard. He really did not want anything to do with the plastic axe that I spent a good 20 minutes trying to de-glitter. It was really more for the parents' amusement. So, if we gauge success off of amount of amusement had by the adults, then yes, quite a success! Next year we will get some candy.

Do you believe this weather!?

The weather here in Kansas City has been disgustingly beautiful. I don't want to spend even a moment indoors, and neither does Brock. In fact, he threw a mini temper tantrum last evening as we headed inside; his tantrums are still cute. I am sure that is soon to change.

This weather graced us with the opportunity to visit a local pumpkin patch. I must say, having an adventurous, independent, psychotically active child that can finally walk on his own is...wonderful! Everyone warned us, look out when he walks, he will be everywhere. Well, he is everywhere, and he is happy about it, and his hands and knees are much less dirty. Life is much more pleasant for all involved. I thought I had a happy baby before, but I think he has hit his pinnacle.

Let's PRETEND for one moment this is a real situation...

A patient comes in because of a chief complaint listed as fatigue. When asked by the doc to describe the problem the patient starts from the top; "Well doc, I go to bed at a decent hour, and get a good nights sleep. I wake up feeling completely refreshed, and ready to start the day. I shower, get dressed, have breakfast and a cup of coffee then continue on my way to work. Then, everyday, without exception, I suddenly become exhausted. I fight sleep the entire drive to work. The entire day at work. And then even into the evening, then before bed I start to feel a little better, but then it's bedtime again. I have had to pull over because of falling asleep at the wheel. My daughter even drives me to work now because I am too nervous to drive myself." So, the doc runs through the whole gamut of questions such as: Do you notice yourself waking up at night? Do you snore? Are you falling asleep or losing consciousness? Do you have a history of seizures? Does you have a family history of sleep disorders? No, no, no and no.

So the doc movies on to what medications are you taking? In the extensive list of medications, the patients mentions Ambien (a pill solely meant to aid in sleep). So the doc asks, are you taking the Ambien a full 8-10 hours before you go to bed? And the patient's reply: "Well, of course not doc! I take it in the morning with all my other pills."

Pink and Lace

Two exciting Katie developments over the past week include:

The marriage of long time friend, team mate and competitor, Katie Yevak. She and Malik got married in Wichita, KS at a beautiful Greek Orthodox Church (got to witness the whole traditional ceremony, crowns, prancing around the alter, kissing, lovely.) Cheers!

Katie & Malik Idbeis
October 17th, 2009

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The other Katie, my cousin, had a beautiful little girl! Scheduled c-section, no complications, and lots of happy family. This makes grandchild number 3 for my mother's sister (my aunt) Maliea.

Nolah Jeanne Gillihan
October 20th, 2009
7.01 lbs - 19.5 in