Friday, June 27, 2008

Short trip to the City proves painfully slow for readers.

Well rats.  Now I've simply lost all will to post about our week in OK. City because I've waited too long.  That's a bummer since I did take some pics and I suppose it would be fun to share some of the sights and scenes I took in while I was away....

Alright!  I'll go ahead and put up some pictures.  But I may not explain them at all because I barely remember any of it now so...Ok I'll explain them too -Good grief!  Will it keep you all from pestering me so about it?  I mean come on. It's like I've got paparazzi at the gate of my blog just beggin' for me to throw them a bad angled shot of myself driving around with a kid on each knee or something!  GeeYaw!

I'm stalling to see if I can muster up a little blog vinegar but clearly it's just making me go into my "imagination brain" as Ratchet would say.  So I'd better get on with it before things get out of hand.  

We had a nice week with my parents.  The boys and I left Jamey and the pups at home and though we all really missed each other by the end of the week, I think we had a nice visit and a fun adventure that sent our little trip scooting by.  

While the kiddos went to Camp Dakani during the days and learned all about what to do in the out of doors, My mimsy and I decided it would be fun to redo her master bathroom with a new wall color and some different lighting and mirrors.   It's funny how channels like HGTV can make you think do-it-yourself manual labor "updating" is inexpensive and exciting?   I like to pretend I'm one of the designers walking an audience through our clever color choices and ideas but then I always want to say "CUT" and  go sit down with a cold drink and watch a huge crew come in and bring my vision to life.  

 The thing about the t.v.  is that they never seem to get dirty or tired looking at all while knocking down walls and constructing custom furniture by hand.  And the project is ALWAYS finished to entirety in two days!  Sadly, WE were only down two layers of wallpaper in two days time and still had to finish hosing down all the walls with warm fabric softener water and scrape the remaining paper sack colored layer off and sand before priming and painting could begin.  Here's a portion of the  large room minus the three layers of paper.  Somebody please cue the work crew already!

My mom took off Monday, Tuesday and Friday, so on Wednesday she sent me around to do some accessory shopping for our new "spa" themed room.  She knew all it would  take to keep me happy was to hold out some money and point me in the direction of the stores. So that was what happened on the third day of camp.  I'd swear that was surely the shortest day of the week because I didn't have to muss myself at all AND I was able to get fully immersed in The Zone (Sometimes when I'm gone from home for hours at a time on a "quick store run" Jamey has to call me to try and get me back on task.  Occasionally I don't even hear my phone in this state, but when I do, I can barely recognize his voice faintly calling as if from inside a well, warning me I've gone into The Zone and to please come back to them before the weekend ends.) 

So needless to say, I had an enjoyable day and managed to bring home eight huge vases from Hobby Lobby for my mom's perusal. And I also picked out some pretty spa related items from Pier One and Target.  Woot a woo!  

I'm realizing it might have been nice to have a picture of our completed look but it was far from complete when the campers and I pulled out Saturday.  Maybe once it's done we'll get the "after" for all my decorating friend readers. ;) Meanwhile here are the campers before heading off for a rainy  day outside (awww shucks ;).

The next day I was left to my own devices, I decided to summon the brave and social me and go visit my old workplace pals at the O.U.-College of Dentistry.  I took some pictures of the clinic I worked in from 1995-2000 so I could share them with all who just know me as  Siloam Shan-now specializing in childcare and housewifery.  Here are some of my favorite ladies who still work there eight short years after my departure!  It was SO FUN seeing them.  HI GIRLS!! ( I showed them my blog so hopefully they are tracking along with me now :)

We had two sides to our Oral Surgery clinic. 

 This side, where the dental students saw patients cattle-style who were brave (or just plain desperate) enough to come in and have teeth pulled by someone who had quite possibly never attempted such things before.  Oh the wild times we saw in that clinic!  This place was a bundle of nerves for student and patient alike, so you just never knew who'd be up and fainting on you or crying out with the barnlike glottal sounds of childbirth.  It was strange, funny and sad all at once.  As assistants we tried to respect the young students who were learning the art of giving effective mouth injections and going through the various steps to loosen a badly decayed tooth.  But most of the time we wanted to rip the giant plier out of their trembling hands and get in there and get down to business!  

The other side of the clinic was for the Oral Surgery residents and the private practice of the Oral Maxillofacial Surgeons on staff at the college. 

 This is where I worked most of my stint as a surgical assistant.  It was fun working with so many different residents during their four years in the program.  And when the seasoned surgeons did bigger cases involving the whole face, we really were able to see some exciting procedures. Here is our #1 scrub tech Frank who was our front man for the big stuff. 

Once I almost offered up my own nose for a visiting surgeon who was teaching the art of rhinoplasty to our senior residents.  At some point while pondering my new narrow nose, I realized even though it would be entirely free, I would need to be passed out in front of all my coworkers and a huge group of students, all gathered around my gigantic shnozz opened up and spread  out over the room.  And if that wasn't enough to deter me (which it was) I would also have to have yards and yards of packing removed from my smaller nose days later.   I had seen how that tended to go for those before me and I wasn't prepared to suffer that for a button snoot either.  So I kept the one I was given.  Here I am with the lovely Angelia.  Guess which one of us is an avid coffee drinker.  Ding!

My favorite thing about my job as the clinic coordinator was being the great drug keeper.  I loved knowing about the various sedatives, and all the different meds we used for pain, swelling or special conditions.  Part of my job was to order supplies and  and keep our crash carts stocked and current in every clinic of the school and I found myself very interested in the pharmaceutical side of medicine while learning about the different uses of the drugs in our inventory.  If my grades from the early years of school weren't so mediocre(to hideous) and I thought I could ever finish, I'd love to have the chance to study medicine or pharmacy.  
Ah, but I'm getting too old and thick headed for such lofty goals now, so I think I'll set my sights on less time consuming and brain contorting things like wall paper removal and shopping for sea glass and toilet room accessories.  

And that brings me to back to my week.  Here are some cute pictures of the boys golfing in my parents back yard.  Ratchet played hole #5(behind their house) every evening after dinner and was able to play nine on Friday with Gido.  Dandy waited with us until they got to the backyard portion of the course and hopped in for a spin on the golfcart as they cruised by.  


The boys also enjoyed swimming at the pool in Ginger and Gido's neighborhood.  Dandy is so happy when he swims.  It's like all of his physical frustrations go away as he enters the water and he just squeals with excitement from beginning to end.  

Camping proved to be a challenge for Dandy even though he loves the outdoors.  He tended to spend a little time in the office each day when he found himself leaving the other campers and going off on his own.  Apparantly he also felt the need to scream with alternating happiness and impatience through the flag raising ceremonies and song times.  In result, the Dakani staff politely requested he become a half-day camper and that seemed to help a bit.  He was super big showing us the different things they did in their "home in the woods" though.

Ratchet really enjoyed himself as well and decided he might want to save his money for a bow and arrows because he loved archery so much.  That's kind of like wanting a Red Rider BB gun to a mother though.  "Everyone get your safety glasses and protective vests on if your going to be in the backyard.  And STOP aiming at the chihuahua!"   

And now that you are all collectively nodding off in your chairs from my inability to self edit, I will close this post.  It's true that I left out some details.  But I WAS hoping to have one brave reader left by the time I stopped typing.  Anyone there?  HELLO?  Oh, it's just me so I'll quietly sign off. xx

 

 


10 comments:

Tally said...

Woooooo! That was your longest blog to date! Great job!! Sometimes I felt like I went on the trip with you! Great descriptions. Loved the pix. Wish I could see your mom's bathroom when it's all done. I'm sure it's gorge!

sarah cool said...

i'm here! i loved it! welcome home! (a while ago)

also, i need to have my teeth whitened. that lady's shining beacons for teeth put mine to shame. sigh.

MmeBenaut said...

I'm here too and I read every tiny little word (and the big ones too).
Wow Shan, where to start? First, I think your snoot is just fine - don't mess with it. Second, the boys look adorable in their raincoats and in all of their other activities. I can barely believe the golf course in your parents' yard. What fun for the boys!
I'm looking forward to the "after" photos of your Mimsy's bathroom update. Sounds like way too much work - I loved your description.
And, your former work colleagues in their gorgeous hot pink uniforms, beaming at you as you take their photo. What an incredibly interesting job you had before motherhood. My maternal grandfather was a pharmacist and I'm fascinated by medications too and what they can and can't do and how they interact. I was going to study pharmacy - all the way through school that was my goal but it petered out when I had some trouble with chemistry. I passed my exams but my enthusiasm for the intricacies wained so I went on to do something else instead.
This was a fantastic post Shan dear and you look soooo pretty and young in the photo.

dive said...

Wowee, what a great week, Shan (other than all the wallpaper stripping … sheesh).
I read the dentistry bits all tensed up; determined to keep reading but longing to get out the other side with my mouth unmolested.
Brr … Shudder!
Looks like the kids had a great time, too.

Bekah said...

I read all the way to end! I enjoyed your travel post! I guess I need to watch some more HGTV myself as my walls are only partly covered with wallpaper while the rest is bare from when I started tearing it down 3 months ago! Yeah, so if you see the work crew around your moms house, be sure to send them my way next! :-)

Maria said...

My first thought was that you were fracking insane to tackle home improvement on your vacation....

Just thinking about it gives me the willies.

And I have a dental appt in two weeks. I am dental phobic, so the thought of some dental student probing around in my mouth almost made me feel like swooning...

Fifi said...

Hello there!
It was great catching up on whole lot of your posts!!

My greatness....... 87!!!!!!

dean r said...

I LOVE D in that last photo.. ahh ha ha.. he looks so UNINTERESTED to be in that picture.... so cute.
glad you had a good week. great post!!

AfricaBleu said...

Well, I skimmed and then skipped to the end--I didn't see my name anywhere, so I lost interest.

Oh behave! Nice post, good pics. Yes, yes, little Rachet, AIM for the chiuaua. (Dang, I hate having to look up how to spell things. Why couldn't you just have a C-A-T for me to dislike?)

More oh behaving--I like Tully all right. I like Tiki more...but there ya have it. The truth--I favor one of your poochies more than the other. But I like your kids equally, so that's something, isn't it?

Glad your home. Glad I'm home, too. The pool is still green, but the Wii is HOT, so come over.

AfricaBleu said...

Arrgh. Possesive "your." It should be "glad YOU'RE home." That's what I get for posting at 1:30 a.m.