Hospital-ity

We have had some real blessings during these days and nights in the hospital.

• Hospital care packages. My friend delivered us homemade sandwiches, fruit, chips, sodas, and home baked goods for a few days. We also have some cookies and such. So so nice.
• Food for the home folk. People dropped off dinners now, when we need them, so the littles and their caretakers would not starve.
• Care for the littles. My in laws and some other nice friends have kindly taken care of our young kids who couldn't come to the hospital - you must be over 18 to visit this flu season.
• Parent voucher for the cafeteria and parking pass. So nice. Thank you, hospital.
• Friends to take over my work. One person took an interview. One made me plane reservations for a trip. One postponed a call until next week. One covered for me on calls I couldn't make.
• Flowers and balloons. They just brighten up the place.

Our situation is not ideal. But I sure appreciate the kindnesses we have received.

Just Breathe, Dawgg

So every time Randy Jackson says "dawg" during American Idol, Naomi has to use the breathing exercise machine thingy.

She has been using it a lot.

Ridiculous Murals

So, here are some of the crazy murals at the hospital.

Here is Tom Sawyer fishing for a dolphin, while Ariel watches on. And the octopus holds a snow cone on top of an ice cream cone.



Here are penguins playing volleyball against human children. These are great big penguins, the same size as the children. And they have hand sanitizer in the middle of the court.

Here is a boy eating fried chicken next to a Walrus.

And rubbing his belly. While the walrus thinks "hmm, maybe I will have some nice chicken fed boy today."

Naomi Update

Well. It's been quite a week.

Naomi's gall bladder procedure did not go according to plan. After we came home we had to return to the hospital in the middle of the night due to pain. The kind that makes a kid throw up three times in the lobby of the ER. The kind that makes a mom park in the ambulance parking spot and hijack a wheelchair to take their kid to the ER. The kind that makes a mom ready to whack the ER person who takes too long to check their kid into ER.

Then, we found that Naomi was leaking. Bile. Which is poison. Right into the pelvic cavity. Yech.

So there was an easy fix, laparoscopic. Yay. Signed us up with the rock star doctor who would lead our rock star pediatric surgeon to do this.

Easy fix did not work. Had to do a complicated intestinal surgery to improve the problems caused by a slip in the first laparoscopic GB surgery. Grr and Wah.

Now, I am trading off nights at the hospital with DH, and essentially taking off a week to take care of Naomi who is still in the hospital as of Tuesday, with a few more days expected.

She is dying for mashed potatoes. The hospital only apparently has baked. Will try to acquire some mashed potatoes tomorrow.

Tonight, we will rest until her roommate comes back from her appendix surgery. Exciting times here on the pediatric unit with the teenage girls.

Values

When I interview, I will often ask a person what values they bring with them into the workplace, based on their experiences and learnings from early years and school/college. Here are some of mine.

• Modesty. Mom told me not to tell people that I skipped a grade in school. Or brag about various things I ever did.
• Treating people with respect. Every person is worthy, and should be given proper and due respect. And they should not be made to feel bad about themselves. My friends' mom told us never to speak with a vocabulary more advanced than the person you were speaking to, so they wouldn't feel bad.
• Loyalty. My dad worked for 30 years at the same company. He stayed with my mom through a lot of things that would have driven a marriage into the ground. I have been at my company for 20 years so far. And I have stayed with my husband even though he has been stealing my keys and leaving me stranded at home for 22 years. ;-)
• Fear. Mom believed there was always a rapist or a robber in arm's reach, trying to get us, and though I tried to fight it I would rush to the car with heart pounding when leaving the house until the doors were locked.
• Group over self, and extended family. Growing up, in my grandparents' apartment building. They lived next door to us; there was usually an uncle or cousin living in the building as well. Our family all lived within a half hours' drive of each other, and we got together often for potlucks. You were expected to swallow individual grievances with others in the family for the good of peace and the whole of the group.
• Self-preservation. During times of great trouble or sadness, you still needed to take a trip to Disneyland, or buy a new car, or have some sort of a break because sometimes, no matter how bad things may be, a person needs a little joy.

Hmm. A bit of a dreary list.
So what are your values?

Blog Anger

The statcounter told me that my blog came up because someone googled "overweight hapa girls."

Grr.

Merry President's Day

Part of me thinks that Martin Luther King Day and President's Day are holidays made up by white people so they can go skiing.

But I'll take the holiday anyway.

Here's a picture of my father in law at that place with all of the rock Presidents, Mt. Rushmore, from Rich and his visit to the Dakotas in the summer.

Now that I am doing a lot more international work, I am finding that some holidays, like US President's Day, are not universal.

I got a meeting request for 6pm on Valentine's Day from someone in Asia, and also for various other holidays. I turned them down, though.

Our neighbor gave us some yummies that appear to be fried mochi and red beans to celebrate Chinese New Year. Gung Hay Fat Choy to y'all! And Merry President's Day!

Olympic Hapa

Apolo Antonio Ohno is on the brink of Olympic history - becoming the most decorated winter athlete for the US or something like that.

All I have to say is that you are a pretty darn big deal if your likeness is on the side of an airplane!

He seems to have a very nice backstory too.

Here is a pretty amazing look at Apolo's training - his leg strength must be incredible.

Go little brother! We are rooting for you. But please, no more girls and kids wearing the soul patch, it's weird.

Sawyer's Nicknames - Recap

Hurley's Blog

Our own Jorge Garcia has a blog!

http://dispatchesfromtheisland.blogspot.com/

Medical Excitement

We took Naomi to the doctor, and got a date for gall bladder surgery: February 18. Please pray for Naomi and her surgery.

Then, I stopped by the dentist to pick up a receipt to turn in to the company that does our health care savings account. Asked for an appointment for Luke, who is having toothaches. They had me bring him late in the day. Net net, he has to have two teeth extracted on Tuesday, February 16.

I am a little faklempt.

Celebrity Doppelgangers

All right, for some reason I can't rearrange uploaded pictures on blogger very well, which means that the comedic punch of this post is going to be all messed up.

Celebrity doppelganger week on Facebook. So who

are the celebrities around our house?

Well, I have a few I would like to claim.

My doctor thinks I look like Natalie Merchant.

Jennifer Tilly has been suggested to me by Miss Cindy. Here's a picture where she is not showing her enormous bozooms.

I'd like to say Moon Bloodgood.

But the most common celebrity lookalike comment I get is Jo from the Facts of Life, Nancy McKeon.

Fr. Hubby has a few. I'd say Alec Baldwin.

Or Dane Cook.

Or his half latin brother, Charlie Sheen.

I found out that Naomi's BF could pass for Gerard Butler.

We know that SteVB could be brother to Matt Giraud.

Naomi has a good Katy Perry look.

And Jessica always would get confused for Hilary Duff. For some reason especially when she worked at Coldstone. I guess people who go to Coldstone think Hilary Duff's twin would work at Coldstone serving them ice cream.

So who is your celebrity?

Rest in Peace, Chick the Dog

Chick passed away today. Very sadz.


She had a tumor and internal bleeding on the inside. She will be buried at the home of her breeder. Returning to her homeland, so to speak.



We will miss our Chickie. Even though she was all broken legged, due to a car accident in her youth, she was a great hunter. She was a very rare German Shorthaired Pointer who was a family dog as well as a hunting dog.



Most GSPs are so crazy and hyper. She was very calm. A little passive aggressive, and didn't like to be told what to do. She never really retrieved that well, but she could smell out birds like a champ.



She liked to sun herself in the yard, and she was not ashamed to show her many nipples. She didn't like the cold. She would go bananas when birds were in our front yard, and would get her head stuck in the gate trying to go after them. She would react like crazy when she could hear the firing range in the distance - she thought it was time to hunt.






She liked to sleep on dirty laundry. Sometimes she also enjoyed eating dirty underwear. She was amazingly smart, and could use the handle and open the door to the laundry room and get out, even though the door opened towards her.



Sometimes she liked to escape, and she would end up at the animal shelter and show up on their website with a prison photo.


She would let Nadia ride her like a pony. She liked to lean against you, and put her head in your lap.

We will miss you, Chick. May you rest in peace, free from pain.

Glue Glider Pro

There is something magical about great adhesive.

If you are a scrapbooker.

This Glue Glider Pro is great. And the permanent adhesive little cartridge adheres Bazill and other bumpy papers together where many adhesives will not.

It also looks like a mini box tape machine, and that's pertty cool.

Our scrapbook store stopped carrying the Kokuyo adhesives, and began carrying this one. So far, me like it.

She Has Gall

But not for long.

Amazingly enough, Naomi had to go to the doctor today for a gall bladder ultrasound. The verdict: she is old enough and the gallstones are bothering her enough that the pediatrician feels the gall bladder should be removed.

We consult with a surgeon on Tuesday.

LOST Food Helper

Super cool site - where you can get pdf's to label all of your food to be Dharma Initiative food!
http://maxpictures.com/weblog/2007/04/10/lost-labels-for-your-dharma-initiative-needs/



If we have enough time, we will have a complete Dharma meal by the time of the premiere tonight...

Catching Up On LOST - 5 Season/8 Minutes