The Office Part 2

The top ten things you should know if you're ever going to work at a Doctors office:

#10 If your employer (Dr. of course) is going to perform surgery on you, make sure you are "out of it" before he comes into the OR. If you can't see him....he can't see you.

#9 If you are having an ultra sound at the office where you work, be sure and drink lots of water, if you don't....it could be really awkward.

#8 While honking the horn and waving enthusiastically at a co-worker in the parking lot, be sure it's actually your co-worker.

#7 Know the correct pronunciation of all medications given to women. It's really bad if you pronounce something and everyone is laughing except you.

#6 Be sure you know that RSV is a respiratory illness, and that RSVP is a response to an invitation.

#5 If you ever do a pregnancy test for a patient....wear gloves.

#4 If your child (or anyone for that matter) asks to borrow a pen, be sure you give them a regular one and not one from the office that happens to be in your purse. You never know what "logo" you might be sharing.

#3 Don't ever get a throat culture in the office lab, especially if it involves a tongue depressor.

#2 Never; under any circumstances use a patients cell phone, have them re-route the call to the office phone.

#1 This is the most important thing of all....don't abbreviate the word follow-up when writing it in your schedule book. I promise....you will humiliate yourself.


It looks like the girls are enjoying the top ten list

The Office Part 1

Now don't get all excited, I'm not referring to that office, but I thought that the title might catch the attention of some of you that read my blog. It seems that if there is anything in life that is constant, it is change (didn't someone say something like that?). For the past 3 years and 10 days I have worked in a Doctor's office. An OB/Gyn; you know, a Doctor who delivers babies and other (ahem) exciting things like that. It has been a great job and I have loved it, but other opportunities have come my way and it is time to move along. Unfortunately for me I have always been a "tenderheart", I don't like good-byes in any way, shape, or form and I'm going to be saying good-bye to people that I have spent 2-3 days a week with. My co-workers. What is a co-worker actually? Is it just someone you see day after day at work, someone you may share your lunch hour with, or talk about the movie you saw over the weekend. For me my co-workers are people who are more than that....they are people who I've really come to care about, so I wanted to share some of my feelings for these people who I've spent part of my life with. I'll begin with Dr. Steele and Susan. Dr. Steele is of course.... the boss. He has been a great employer and I have truly enjoyed working for him. He is very easy going which makes for a relaxed atmosphere in the office. At this point I will insert "small world" factor. Dr. Steele delivered my nephew Sean 19 years ago, and next week Sean will fly out to Australia, to the same mission where Dr. Steele served. Susan is Dr. Steele's MA (Medical Assistant), she is the one who told me that the receptionist job was available. I have learned a lot from Susan as we have carpooled and worked together. We share an office with the U of U gynecological cancer clinic. Heidi (the MA) has been at the office much longer than me, she is an amazing worker. As I've seen patients come and go from their office (with types of cancers that you'd never know existed) I've occasionally thought that if I were ever one of their patients, Heidi would be a welcome and comforting sight. Although Heidi is one of the "little sisters" in the office she is more like the "mother" because she looks out for every ones best interests. She doesn't like to see anyone treated un-fairly. Kylee (another MA) is probably the "baby sister" of the office. I have been very impressed with Kylee. She has been married for almost two years and is very committed to her role as a wife. I'm amazed when I hear about the meals she cooks, and how wise she is with her resources, and her dedication to her church calling. She is the only girl in her family and I have sometimes thought as I've listened to her sharing her experiences with us, I hope my daughter (only girl) grows up as happy and as well balanced as Kylee. Megan is "the teenage-sister" of the office. For 2 1/2 years she was a voice at the other end of the telephone as we called back and forth scheduling ultra sounds for our patients; six months ago she came to work at our office. When I heard that Megan was coming to work with us I was so excited, although I had never met her I knew she was such a nice person just through our brief conversations over the phone. I was right. She is also a "tenderheart" like me. She is so kind to others and helps people in need, even if she doesn't know them very well. The two of us have shared the front office together and have enjoyed many meaningful conversations (and a lot of laughter). It seems funny to think that Megan is the same age as my oldest son, if I were her mother I'd be very proud of her as I'm sure her mother is. Of course I can't forget to mention Brad our ultra sound tech or Michelle our Phlebotomist (I'll always think of Michelle on her birthday) and others that have come and gone....Jacque, Meradee, Jenna....these people truly are more than just co-workers to me. They have become my friends. I know you guys are reading this so I just want to say....Love ya! Mean it!! (Stay tuned for part 2 to be posted at noon on Friday)

Megan, Kylee, Susan, and Heidi

Family Fun Dance

The West Bountiful Stake is having a "Family Fun Dance" this Saturday night from 7:30-10:30 pm. Guess who's performing? You got it. The famous Endless Summer band.

Just Like Riding A Bike?

While enjoying a New Years Eve party with our kids the subject of skiing came up. "We should plan a family skiing day", one said. "Yeah!" piped in a few others. I am not the athletic type and I don't love being out in the cold, but I've always loved skiing. I'm happy to report that I've just enjoyed one of the funnest and memorable days with Michael and several of our kids. We started out at "ski school" first thing this morning. Remembering that I hadn't been on skis for almost 8 years, I was feeling pretty good when early on I discovered that it really is like riding a bike. Mike, Andy, Kristin, and I had cute Jason from upper New York state as our instructor. Jeremy, Emily, Jeff, and Caitlin had Joshua. Andy, Caitlin, and Jeff were the only ones who had never skiied before, although Jeff had snowboarded. I was pretty impressed with how well they did. After an hour or so on the "bunny hill" we graduated to something bigger. And suddenly there I am at the top of the mountain. I. LOVED. IT. The entire day we were hit with snow, rain, and ice pellets but we never let it stop us. Poor Jason, he was riding the ski lift with Mike and I and we were being hit hard with ice pellets. I needed windshield wipers in the worst way. Jason offered me the soft cloth for his goggles to wipe my glasses off and when I handed it back to him he was concerned that I had icicles on my nose. "I don't think so", I said. "Well you look like you have frostbite on your nose, there's a big white spot", he seemed very concerned. Then it dawned on me what Jason was talking about, he was so apologetic when I explained to him "oh...that's just my skin graft." While taking a break for lunch I discovered that I was soaking wet, all the way to my first layer. I had some money rolled up in a zippered pocket of my ski pants, every bill was completely soaked. I watched as Emily was wringing water out of her gloves, but we still went back for more. Finally when I knew my legs weren't going to hold me up much longer, Mike and I did one more run and then we hung up our skis. The sore muscles are starting to settle in, I doubt I'll be able to stand up straight tomorrow, but it was a great day and I can proudly say that I didn't fall down the entire day. That is a very good thing, one less set of pains to endure.

Andy, Kristin, and Michael getting ready to head up the mountainJeremy is still dressingJeff, Caitlin, and Emily are set to goAt the end of the day soaking wet and smiling Drying my bills off and hoping I don't get reported for "laundering" money

A Sad Tale

This is how the end of my hallway used to look.It doesn't look like that now. I was awakened abruptly by a loud crash at exactly 1:20 am on Monday morning. I was disoriented for a moment and then got out of my bed to see "what was the matter" and this is what I found. My little red flower pot lying on the floor broken, with it's little flecks of fake dirt all around it (this picture is a re-creation of the crime, the evidence had already been swept away).The culprit (she who cannot be named) had a "convincing" explanation. She was going to her room (at 1:20 am?) wrapped in her favorite quilt (Granma made it, how do you get mad at a child wrapped in Granma's quilt) when her quilt knocked into the plant stand and....well, as you can see the rest is history. Now certainly I can understand an accident to be sure. But then the excuses start. "That really isn't a good place for that plant Mom, that was bound to happen." Now I must say at this point that those plants have been there a couple of years and never been disturbed. Next comment from the guilty, "I really didn't like that flower anyway, it didn't look very good." Should I be offended? I loved my red flower. So I decided maybe I'd try something new (I didn't really have a choice).So I thought I'd put it out there and ask for some opinions.
How about this? Is it to much?Or this? I really don't want my London clock to end up all over the floor.I really do love my red flower. Do you think anyone would notice this? It is clear down at the end of the hall after all.I'm open for suggestions. If you have an idea, even for a complete change I'd love you to share.

Christmas Wreaths

The Christmas season has come and gone. I wanted to post a little more about Christmas traditions and collections but due to the "hospitalization" of my computer earlier in the month and extreme busy-ness on my part throughout the rest of the month, I didn't take the opportunity. But yesterday Michael and I fulfilled one final tradition that I would like to write about, this was when we drove up to the cemetery to retrieve the Christmas wreaths. This has become a tradition that has now been 18 Christmases for us. Yesterday as the two of us prepared to go out and do some errands I asked Mike if he had some boots. Yes, he did. I suggested that we'd better go up to the cemetery and get the wreaths because if we didn't the cemetery clean-up crew would be disposing of everything soon (we've lost former wreaths due to clean-up). So we headed up the mountain. As we arrived I could see that the cemetery was still covered with Christmas decorations, we weren't to late. However, the cemetery was also covered in deep snow. As we drove up to our usual parking place we looked up the several yards to our spot and could see that Christopher's wreath was still standing; Ashleigh's appeared to be gone....but then we could see one leg of the stand sticking out of the snow, evidence that the wreath was not lost. Mike put on his boots and I stayed in the car and watched as he trekked through the deep snow to the two graves. I watched as he carefully lifted Christopher's wreath and shook off the abundance of snow that had collected on it. Then he dug through the snow until he found Ashleigh's wreath and shook it off as well. As I watched him perform this loving service and as he headed back to the car with the two wreaths in hand, knee deep in snow; I couldn't help but roll down the window and call out to him what a good daddy and uncle he is. The wreaths of course, didn't get to the cemetery all by themselves. On December 12 my Dad took them. I wasn't there, but I imagine that he cleared the snow from the headstones, carefully placed the wreaths (double checking to be sure that they were securely attached to the stands) and making sure that they were securely in the ground. I'm sure that Granpa's loving service was accompanied with a silent prayer and then a final look around to make sure that all was well. There are other times throughout the year that we make trips to the cemetery, some are for special occasions and others....just because. But oftentimes Michael and I just look at each other (as we did yesterday) and still can't believe that we are doing this. The world has made Christmas into a busy, hectic, and stressful time; but as I stand at my daughters grave and I think about Christmas: the birth of the Savior and what it means to me, it is about nothing else but Him. It really is "Joy to the World". I know that someday I will stand at that spot and I will feel joy that right now I can't even comprehend. It reminds me of something Ashleigh said many years ago...."oh, what a day". She's absolutely right.

A Brand New Year

Caitlin had an amazing experience this past fall as she was invited to audition for and then participate in a church DVD made for the youth. It is called A Brand New Year and is available to watch online today (we already watched the opening musical number where we saw several Caitlin sightings). She had the opportunity to attend many rehearsals at the Relief Society Building and the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, as well as a recording session at the LDS filming studio in Provo. The production was taped before a live audience of 21,000 youth and their leaders on the nights of November 5 and 6 in the Conference Center. A highlight for me was when 21,000 For The Strength of Youth pamphlets were waved high in the air as a commitment that our youth will follow these values in their daily lives.

Caitlin at A Brand New Year rehearsal