Annabelle Goes to the Hospital

Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/ultimadj/AnnabelleVisitsTheHospital

Annabelle broke all of the bones in her wrist last night. Those of you who know Belle, know that she rarely cries and when she does, it's not for long.

She was balancing on top of a climbing tower (not in the climbing part, but actually up on the structure (That's my girl!)). Several adults were in the room, but nobody saw what happened. All we know is there was a loud thump and a distraught Bella-boo sprawled on the floor. After 30 minutes of screaming, she fell asleep for a short nap on mama's lap while mama iced her wrist and kept it steady. I was already on the way as we were planning to hang out at our friend's for the evening. When I got there, Belle woke up and started crying (hard) again. It was pretty obvious that this was worse than the normal spill.

We weren't sure exactly what to do... do we go in and spend the night at the ER, or could this be a bad sprain, is it something we should wait til morning to figure out an action plan for? A few quick web searches and we called in to her pediatricians after-hours line who referred us to several local hospitals. Hospitals? Oooh, I hate the wait! The last time I went to the ER, I passed out on the desk and still didn't get a bed for an hour, narrowly missing the point of no return...

So I asked about after-hours clinics. There weren't any on the list, but the after-hours lady knew of some in the area, so we called one near us. The after-hours clinic said we needed an xray, but because Annabelle is so young, we should really hit the ER. (They expected that Belle would not be able to pose for the x-ray by herself, and the ER was capable of sedation.) Gah! Sedation!? This night just got bad!

After pleasantly presenting the possibilities of the night, much to the alarm of my wife, we talked options. A mere 30 minutes later and we were off to the Park Ridge ER (a 2 minute drive, hooray for convenient location!!).

Belle was so sweet. It was obvious that it hurt a lot. She shielded her arm at every turn, and would whimper at the mere thought of contact. :*( I tried to put her coat on and she was distraught. She put one arm in and was softly crying "No daddy, no daddy" as the other arm's turn came up. She didn't pull away, she just knew it would hurt. :*0 Ahh! Poor baby!

I didn't put her arm in the sleeve. I zipped it into the coat against her ribs, and she was much happier about that.

Side note: When Cheryl and I were discussing options, I told Belle that we were going to take her to the doctor. She asked why. "Well, because the doctor will be able to look at your arm and make it feel better," I said. Her immediate response was, "Really?" with a HUGE smile on her face. I assured her it was true and she told us "Let's go!" It took us a full 10-20 minutes to get out the door. Belle was prodding us the whole way, "Go now! See doctor. Make my arm better! Hurts huuuurts. Go now! Come on. :)"

When we arrived at the ER, we registered and sat in the waiting room. 2 things to note:

1. Registration took less than 3 minutes

2. The receptionist was EXCEEDINGLY friendly

We took our seat amid the sick and broken people. Belle asked what was wrong with each of them, smiling and providing reassurance to each while coddling her own arm. She was definitely a hit.

By the time we made it in to the triage nurse, Belle was in high spirits and excited that the doctor would now fix her arm. (Major props to Park Ridge, we only waited 30 mins for the triage nurse.) The nurse took her temperature, checked her heart rate and O2 level, then examined her arm. Annabelle took a little convincing to stick the thermometer in her mouth, but after mama demonstrated the proper technique, Belle followed right along.

Now for the scary part. The nurse started to examine the arm and wrist. I flinched with each movement, but Belle, thoroughly filled with faith in the nurse's skills, submitted to a thorough exam and didn't make a peep. So much so that the nurse was convinced that nothing was broken. (So was I! Belle didn't flinch or make a sound despite the acute pain that was, without a doubt, shooting through her limb.)

They asked us to have an xray, and we asked if it would make a difference in the treatment. The triage nurse totally understood where we were coming from (minimal unnatural intervention since birth), so she asked the dr to see us before the xray. The doctor took a look and recommended the xray without a doubt.

Belle posed well for all of the shots, sitting on daddy's lap and holding her wrist very still in the x-ray's cross-hairs. I asked the tech if we could see the pictures (as I had been telling belle that we were imaging her insides, so she was very curious). The tech was really nice and pulled the shot back up on the computer, though he told us in no uncertain terms that we could not ask him any questions about them for legal reasons. :) Belle thought the pics were great! She held her hand up towards the screen and told the tech "Pictures of my insides! Those are my bones!" *big awwww! moment*

The doctor came back with the, now surprising, news that Belle did indeed have broken bones. Bone(s) plural I asked? Yes, she broke all of the bones in her wrist.

Ow! Poor Annabelle! Her pain tolerance must be amazing. The nurse splinted her arm and we were on our way with a number to call in the morning to get a hard cast. Belle had waited patiently between doctor moments in the ER for about 3.5 hours total, and had waited patiently through mom & dad's decision making process, and the car travel. She is such an incredibly patient and trusting child! I love my little gymnast!!

Selling the Drums

I just realized that I'm going to be in an apartment for a while. For 5 years, I felt that purchasing a house was just a few months away. Allan's offer to help me sell the stuff I've had laying around has really snapped me out of my stupor and had me re-evaluating the acceptance criteria for what I really want to fill my precious 100 sq ft of storage with.

A few of the things to go?

PS2, Gamecube, Gameboy Micro, 2x old P4 gaming computers and the big kicker, my drum set.

Selling the drum set is a BIG step. I paid a lot for that kit, and I've loved it dearly. Unfortunately, like my PS2 with DDR MAX 2, it's too loud for apartment living. 5 years of sitting neglected in my parents basement is enough for me to realize it's time to move on.

It goes beyond that, I expect to clear out a lot of old clothes, 6 of the 7 crappy frisbees I've got in the garage, and nearly everything under $20 that I haven't used in a year (lots of computer cables & equipment, some sporting goods... ). I'm expecting this year's spring cleaning to be a big one, and I'm really feeling good about shedding some of my history's weight. :) The move has left me profoundly attached to my family, profoundly unattached to my belongings, and distinctly more peaceful. :D

Annabelle's Happy Feet

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnJYhmALvbw

Annabelle, like Cheryl and myself, loves to dance. Often when we pass by the computer, she'll ask for music, or pretend to turn the music on using her keyboard, then ask for help when the PC doesn't spring to life. Once the music is it, the festivities begin. Ska-like dancing, scarves, ring-around-the-rosie and more are soon to follow.

Sometimes, Belle takes a quick break and Cheryl and I get to cut a rug, serving up some fresh 6-count, or westcoast lindy... Man! I love my dancin' family!

Catch the Bus - Are You Up to the Challenge?

Here's what I wrote on the "contact us" section of the rgrta.com website today after a very frustrating morning. True story below. My backpack is intact and so is my arm (though a little sore from being jerked).
-------------
Funny story: My bus broke down, so I hoofed it to the next stop (corner of main and winton). Busses kept whizzing by my stop. I couldn't flag them down. :( I even went so far as standing in the middle of the road, but to no avail. (NOTE: the driver didn't even slow. The impact from the bus hitting my bag almost took me off my feet. If I had been any closer, hospitals and lawyers would have been involved :/)

So, I called the rgrta phone number to figure out where I could catch a bus that would stop. (888-288-377). The schedule option couldn't understand me (odd, I've never had trouble with an automated phone system before.) After 10 minutes looping through the phone system, I decided I'd have to bother an operator.

I called the number above again and hit 0 to get an operator. I was put on hold in the queue and waited. And waited... 20 minutes later, one of the busses actually stopped! I boarded and spoke with the driver. Turns out the other busses were headed for the garage (1100 E Main was displayed)! I figured busses that wouldn't stop would be labeled "Not in Service". Haha!

Is there a flowchart for how to navigate your phone system? It would be great if I could get schedules using the phone's keypad instead of voice because the system just doesn't understand me.

I don't think there are operators though... I've tried dialing several other times today and after 30 mins in the queue each time, I've never reached an operator.

Cash Money Money

I had a crazy day today. It started well! I was productive, had a great lunch with some developer buddies, and was enjoying the sun...

Out of my window I saw a car accident. It's kind of unreal when it happens right there in front of you. A car tried to pull a u-turn on main street across three lanes and ended up meeting head on with a pickup truck. They had to pry them apart...

That wasn't the crazy part though.

An hour later, around 2:30pm, I saw two guys stash something in a nook by my building. It's a really difficult to see nook, unless you happen to be on my floor, in my building. I called the cops and they sent someone down to check it out. The officer arrived just as someone else arrived... the other guy smacked the railing and kept walking. I didn't assume anything. The officer asked me what it was, and I didn't have a clue... I just pointed him to where it was. The officer carefully kicked the leaves off to reveal a bag. The officer then opened the bag and muttered, "whoa". "Whoa what?" I asked. He replied that it was a bag full of money. A LOT of money. There were only a handful of people that walked by while the cop and I were there. He was photographing the area and waiting back to hear from dispatch if the money was related to any downtown robberies. Eventually, I went back to my office and the officer went back to his car.

No sooner had the cops left, then the people who stashed it, and the people who had come to pick it up, came back to the site. Seriously?! Who the heck comes back to the scene after something like that? The bad news? They had each walked by individually while the officer and I were talking. They've been walking up and down my street since... I called the cops again, but they are always gone by the time the officer is there. Carazy day man... I'm not waiting at the corner bus stop (they keep walking by) or taking my bus home today.

Magnetism

The left side of my body has recently become highly magnetized. Maybe it's the fact that I consume plenty of iron and work in front of a computer, maybe it's the fact that I sleep north-south, or maybe, it's because I love my ladies and they adore me. :)

Annabelle is on a solid, mixed diet of food and milk. This morning at around 6:30am, she had exhausted the milk supply. Cheryl, spectacular keeper of the watch that she is, struggled out of bed to fetch some more rice milk from the fridge. No sooner had she left the bed than I felt *bumbadum jiggle jiggle oomph*. The baby slid all the way from the other side of the bed, firmly attaching herself to my left side... still asleep. :D We slept for another 20 minutes then got up for breakfast, books, and the wonderfully creative world of our two year old. :)

Night before last, I went to bed before the ladies. This happens fairly frequently because Cheryl is usually on a project or enjoying the downtime by the time I resign, so she stays up 20-30 longer. She had been working on a sewing project, so she made it to bed well after I was asleep. When I woke up in the morning, she was fast asleep in the crook of my arm, (the same area that Annabelle frequents). (Side note: between the period and this side note, Annabelle called me over for a brief tower building session on "Daddy lap! Daddy lap. :)".)

I love that my ladies like to cuddle whenever I'm around. :) I'm one happy dude. :D

Windows 7 - Virtual XP Mode

Here's a screenshot of my work PC's desktop from my home computer. I'm viewing my work PC via remote desktop over a VPN using Cisco's VPN client (v 4.7, yes, that's right, a program that definitely will not run under Windows Vista) running in Windows 7 VXP. http://screencast.com/t/5WzOVFZabv8

Unfortunately, since the vpn client requires direct access to the network card, I can't use seemless mode.

Read more about Windows 7's VXP (Virtual XP Mode) here: http://techpp.com/2009/10/20/download-windows-7-xp-mode-usage-guide/