Us.

Monday, March 14, 2011

papa.

Danny Wilson

January 30, 1927 - March 14th, 2011

Sunday, March 13, 2011

As I write this, Christian is at home in bed without me and Miss V. My trip to Tucson has been prolonged for unfortunate circumstances. My grandpa, Dan, has been sick for a while and had problems off and on for a few years. He was admitted to the hospital on Friday talking took a turn yesterday/today. St. Joseph's is waiting for a hospice bed to open up for him, hopefully any minute now. My grandma is doing as okay as one could be doing at a time like this. I'm finding it incredibly strange to be on the opposite side of the hospital system and I don't really know how to feel or react. I've been extremely fortunate to have been constantly surrounded by family and friends who have all stuck around. My papa will be the first person I've known all of my life that has passed away and I'm trying to figure it all out. Right now, it's about being here for my grandma and praying for no pain. Thanks to those that have been thinking of and praying for my grandma.

We have had a full and fun weekend in Tucson, besides the turn for the worse near the end of it. I've got some pictures of Miss V (who got to see other mom, Gina!) and some shenanigans at my mom's house I'll post later. I also got to see Megan, nurse buddy who is here visiting from DC, plus some friends from high school and sweet little Emily who turns one week old on Monday. I didn't get to catch up with Miss Sarah Orzel, who I've been dying to see. Sorry, love. :/

I love all of you so much and am thinking about how grateful we are to have you in our lives. Thanks for the thoughts and prayers.

Christian, if you're reading this, Viesa says goodnight (me too, I guess). :)

<3
Ash + V

Thursday, March 10, 2011

[untitled]

It's been 13 hours at work, forgive me if I can't think of anything creative. :)

Today, I was late for the first time at my new job. And got [sort of] chewed out for the first time at my new job. And I was irritated and didn't care for the first [more like fourth] time at my new job. And then we moved on and the day got better. Anyway.

I took care of a super sickie guy/gal today! In an effort to not get fired for HIPAA violations, all I can say is that he/she was pretty unstable all day, which meant lots of titrating of medication drips, managing of fluids and electrolytes, keeping on top of the ventilator, and monitoring the crap out of him/her. It was a great learning experience and the day ended up a success. I found out I have another six weeks or so before I have to switch to the dreaded night shift. :/ Eeek. I am SO not looking forward to that.

Source!

In other news, Christian got some solid confirmation that he will be able to join the fine researchers at the University of California San Francisco this summer for a month of medical research, contact-making, and ~~vacationing~~ learning. Christian has been interested in matching at UCSF for residency (a mere three years away!) and this will be a great opportunity for him to meet some of the people up there and to sell himself as a great candidate for their emergency medicine residency program. One of the things I love most about Christian is that when he has a goal, he never stops putting in the hard work. Many people will spend their summers going on vacations and hanging out, but Christian will spend his doing research (for FREE) for UCSF. And I have a sneaking suspicion that his efforts will pay off in the end. But this (most importantly) means, I'm going to San Francisco this summer (if only for a weekend or two)!!!! Yay for me. :) Something has to offset spending an entire month without my roomie/husband/buddy/doggy-dad. Who wants to come stay with me and Viessey in July??

Also: our taxes got accepted (yay for refunds), I'm getting closer to making a decision about grad school, we might take a mini-vacation again in a few weeks, and Christian is trying to woo me off the computer by blaring Paul McCartney/Wings love songs from across the room. Viesa's not into it, but I think I'll sign off and spend the last 20 minutes of my night (before I'm unconscious) with him.

CRAZY THURSDAY! Hope everyone has a magnificent and super safe weekend. We will be down in Tucson, trying to do/see a million people/things. Hit us up.

Ash + Chris + Baby V

Viesa - exhuasted after helping me make some appointments and field some phone calls yesterday.

Monday, March 7, 2011

SURPRISE!

Take a gander at this little beauty.

I got a phone call this morning, causing me to make a little surprise trip down to Tucson. It always reassures me to know that I can hop in my car and be with my family at a moment's notice. I got my call around 10 AM, I was in Tucson by 1 PM and I got to meet my new friend, Emily, around 7 PM.

Congratulations to one of my favorite friends and nurse compadres, Kristin, on her BEAUTIFUL new baby girl, Emily Cove Othon. She is stunning, as we all expected.

Childbirth is amazing and never gets old. I miss OB so much. This makes me feel even more determined to go back to school ASAP!!!!

Chris is at home with Miss V, living it up, I'm sure. I'm sending internet kisses to both of them. I'll be keeping baby fever at bay by spending a whole night with someone else's (the best form of birth control). I haven't done this since Sandie had sweet little Jaidan and I can't wait to baby snuggle all night long.

Love from Tucson. SOO MUCH LOVE. :)
Ash

Sunday, March 6, 2011

holy guacamole.

That is probably the title to more than one of my posts as it is one of my favorite phrases and it also happens to perfectly describe the feeling of working two 12s in a row. When you're a new graduate nurse, there is always something complicated about your day. Whether it's complicated because you have six or seven patients (not me, thank GOD) or because your patients are ICU patients (gulp), it's just complicated. You feel like you're constantly playing catch up and you're a dummy surrounded by smart people. I know that I'm not a dummy and that I'll improve with experience, yada yada yada, but sometimes it's hard not to feel that way.

I worked Saturday and Sunday, which really bummed me out because the Melrose District Street Fair was on Saturday and I was DYING to go. A street fair in my favorite thrifting district PLUS a car show?! Can you say died and gone to heaven?? But apparently it wasn't meant to be. Instead, I was here all day. I learned a lot and took a patient on a ventilator on my own with a few drips. I'm starting to get my bearings and that feels good. Today was also a good day as I took another patient on my own and: inserted an IV, put in a foley catheter, gave him two shots, and a TB skin test. Poor guy, I was hitting him from all directions. But the more things I do, the more routine they become for me and that is a good feeling.

I'm off for a bit and I couldn't be happier. Chris has some friends over and I'm thinking of sneaking off to bed because it sounds like an AWESOME idea. I hate text-only blog posts (what fun is that?) and usually at this point I'll grab a Photo Booth picture of some sort if I have nothing else to offer. However, I just attempted about 25 and I look high on crack in every single one of them, plus Viesa is loving hanging out with her dad so much she refuses to come in here and take photos with me, so I'll instead show you the almost finished product of our bedroom!!!

The bedroom was the VERY last thing I've even thought about since moving in because only he and I have to see it and we tend to dump things in there. We finally cleaned it out and I hung some things up and it's on its way (still looking for the perfect curtains and a few other things). Oh...and please excuse the massive pile of laundry next to the dresser. Oh...yellow photos, too. I was too lazy to pull out the flash. I think we sleep better now that there is less junk everywhere...