Would you rather?

This is a great game! Want to play? Rules are easy, you must choose one of the two options given to you. I know, I'll go first!!

Kyle: "Would you rather get stung by a thousand bees? Or, would you rather work 6 (count 'em, 6) 12 hour night shifts in a row?"

Me: "Neither, but if I must choose... I'll take my luck with the bees."

Kyle: "Would you rather eat chitlins for every meal for the rest of your life,"

Me: "Wait, what are chitlins?"

Kyle: "Lower intestines of a pig"

Me: "Go on."

Kyle : "Or, work 6 night shifts in a row?"

Me: "Chitlins. Next question"

Kyle: "Would you rather live in Death Valley, in the dead of summer with nothing to eat but the hottest wasabi and nothing to drink, til the end of time? Or, work 6 night shifts in a row in a busy ER that is somewhat short-staffed?"

Me: "I don't really see much of a difference..."

Kyle: "Would you rather have Hillary Clinton for President of the United States? Or work 6 night shifts in a row, in a busy short-staffed ER with crazy busy/crazy nuts patients?

Me: "The things I do for my country..."

Okay, okay, so maybe I'm being a tad over-dramatic. But, do you want to know what I've been doing for the past six days? Do you want to guess if I enjoyed it or not? I love being a nurse, and I love my job (most days) but I do not....wait let me emphasize... I DO NOT like working 6, 12 hour night shifts in a row. I don't know how people do it all the time. 3 in a row, no problem. 4 is a cinch. 5 kinda stinks, but that number 6 is downright nasty.

Anyway- enough with the begging for sympathy. I just thought that I would share with you all the reason that there has not been a posting for such a while. I'm sorry, but I've been a little preoccupied.

working 6 shifts.

in a row.

busy shifts.

with some insane patients.

but, it's over.

that's all that matters.

and I survived.

and (more importantly) so did my patients.

So, let's move on and play some quick catch-up as to what we've been up to!

*We went to Moab for the last week in April to celebrate Dave's birthday. Happy birthday Dave! We went hiking through Little Wildhorse Canyon. It's a beautiful little slot canyon. A busy little slot canyon. We're talking tiny. I mean if you run into someone coming the other direction, you either have to back up, or do this:

We also hiked up to Cable Arch. This was a fun little hike and a really pretty arch. (That's one more for my list, bringing the total to 13 thus far!) For those who haven't been, it's named Cable Arch, because on the large hill behind it is a cable that you can climb up to get a great view of... well... everything, including Cable Arch.

(thanks Drew for climbing up again in the dark so I could get the shot.)

It was a short trip to Moab, but we sure enjoyed ourselves and the hospitality of my in-laws who are always so welcoming.

*Then we came home and I had a message on my voicemail. A message from Dixie, asking me to interview with them for a job in their ER. Later that same day I had an interview. Even later that same day I had a new job. And a little bit later that day I gave my two weeks notice to my current job. That was a good day.

Quick side-note: As I was headed out of my interview, I was so excited. I was positive that I had the job. I walked out of a set of double doors on one end of the ER waiting room to head to my car. From across this very, VERY large waiting room I hear someone yell out, "DID YOU GET IT??" I looked up, the waiting room was practically empty except for a very large, very capable security guard who somewhat resembled Michael Clarke Duncan from The Green Mile sitting at his post at the opposite end of the room. I looked around and pointed my tiny fingers at my chest while raising my eyebrows as if to ask, "Big sir, are you speaking to me?"

He smiled such a friendly smile and nodded, "YOU HAD AN INTERVIEW RIGHT? WELL, DID YOU GET IT?" I made my way over to his station and told him that I thought it had gone very well, and I was pretty sure I got the job. He smiled again and reached out to shake my hand. "Welcome to Dixie. I look forward to seeing you again." I shook his hand and introduced myself. He then introduced himself to me and told me that everyone calls him "Gater" and that I should refer to him as such.

Thank you, Gater, for being the first to officially welcome me to Dixie.

*Such a long post, I'm sorry. You can take a nap at this point and come back if you want to read more. I promise not to make it much longer.

*After I landed my new job, and Porter had his fun trip to the ER, we headed up to visit my family in Lindon for a few days.

We had a family dinner to celebrate Phil and Craig's birthdays. Happy birthday boys! Porter was a little subdued during the whole visit though. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with being on round-the-clock benadryl for an entire week though. But, he enjoyed himself all the same. We spent a few days shopping and hanging out with family. Papa introduced Porter to Maggie and by extension, the game of fetch. It was a great trip, as always, and we look forward to going again. Thanks Mom and Dad for your hospitality as well!

*Porter's doing great. He's back to being himself. Just a happy, smiling little kid with normal size kid lips and a normal size kid uvula. He's just so darling, I can't seem to get enough of him. We've started him on regular milk at the recommendation of his pediatrician, and Porter just loves it! We now have to carry an epi-pen with us wherever we go, and have to be very cautious when trying anything new. Small price to pay for such a cute little boy though.

*I start my new job Sunday. I also got my hair on it's way back to blonde. It's sort of strawberry-blondish at the moment, but I feel more like myself again.

*And that's about it. Looking back over this post, it's anything but a quick update, but here it is. Mostly it's me just rambling, but I thought I would share what we've been up to. We've had a fun couple of weeks... busy... but fun.