Little Lessons in Life

I was reminded of a very important lesson in life the other day at work.

I had a little boy, about 8 years old maybe, come into the office on Saturday with a bead stuck in his ear. I sat him up on the stretcher in the treatment room and asked him how he managed to get a bead stuck in his ear. He replied, looking rather sheepish, that he had no idea how the bead got stuck in his ear. Of course he didn't, why did I even bother asking :0) So I was going to try and flush the bead out of his ear with water. We use a squrit bottle with a long tube attached to it to flush ears. When I pulled it out of the cupboard his eyes were as big as saucers staring at it. He was so cute he said "whoa, that's huge!" Well, I told him "you should see the one I have for kids who stick things in their nose!" So I put the tube in his ear and had him help me by holding the water bucket underneath. On the first squirt he let out a scream like I've never heard before. He thought the water had gone into his brain and that his brain was coming out of his ear. Poor kid. So I explained to him that his brain was one of the most protected parts of his body, completely surrounded by bone and he didn't have to worry. That calmed him slightly, at least enough that I was able to eventually get the bead out. The whole time he was promising me and his Dad that he'd never stick another bead in his ear. It was pretty funny. He kept the bead and when he left the office he told his Dad "I'm never getting another bead in my ear and especially not my nose cause I don't want to see the bigger squirt bottle!" He learned a valuable life lesson that day, never stick things in your ear or up your nose. :0)

Moving Escapade!

So Susan and I have now learned how NOT to move! It was terrible. Everything that could have possibly gone wrong did.
It all started on Friday morning. We went to Enterprise to pick up the truck that I'd arranged to rent for the day. They needed a $300 deposit which was fine but I had to call the bank and move money around so no problem but it took a lot longer than it should have. Then we get home and load up the truck with my bed, chair, boxes, skiis and snowboard. We loaded the car up to the max with boxes and pretty much anything we could fit. It's amazing how much a Honda Civic will actually hold. So then we tackle the task of securing the load in the truck with tarps and rope and bungee cords. I had to send Sue to WalMart to buy more bungee cords and when we finally figured we were secure we hit the road. Not even 5 mins down the road we had to pull over cause the tarps were shifting. So we readjusted and hit the road again with Sue following behind me and a set of hand signals and plan for her to blare the horn should anything shift again. Not even 2 mins down the road, at 40km/hr, does she frantically signal for me to pull over. The wind kept catching under the tarp and threatening to fly away. So we drove, very slowly, to Canadian Tire where we bought every bungee cord we could find and pulled them as tight as we possibly could over the load in the back of the truck. We thought for sure we had figured it out this time. We hit the road again. We made it maybe 5 mins this time before I hear the horn blaring and Sue frantically waving for me to pull over. Well we were on a major roadway with semi's and cars whizzing by so it wasn't so easy to pull over this time. I slowed to 30km/hr and pulled off at the first opportunity I had while trying to frantically signal to Sue to not follow so closely behind me should something fall off the truck. So we pulled over into a parking lot at a strip mall ready to quit and turn back home. We were standing in the middle of the parking lot staring at our load of stuff and not quite sure what to do now. Some old guy came over and donated 2 more bungee cords to our cause and wished us luck. I sent Sue back to Canadian Tire to buy 2 more as well. So we hit the road again thinking for sure that we'd be ok now. I've never seen so many bungee cords in my life and we figured the tarps were now secure. This time we actually made it to the highway and I had almost breathed a sigh of relief when I hear the horn blaring again and Sue motioning for me to pull over. So I pull over into a gas station and we finally realized that in order for the wind to not cause liftoff under the tarps we needed to provide an air outlet. So we started ripping holes in the tarp at the back of the truck. We were pretty pleased with ourselves for thinking that we'd finally figured out the problem. So we hit the road again but decided that we should still take it slow so I set the cruise control at 70km/hr heading down the trans Canada highway. Not even 5 mins down the road the tarps go flying off the truck, Sue's driving behind me, having a coronary, laying on the horn. I was ready to sit on the side of the road and cry at that point but Sue made me pull it together and we decided that we had to ditch the tarps and hope for the best. We rearranged things as best as we could so that stuff wouldn't fall out and with our numerous bungee cords, we strapped everything together. Success. We drove an entire 20 mins or so before having to pull over again. We were concerned that the bags on my mattresses were catching too much air and threatening to whip the mattresses out should I take a corner at over 50km/hr. It didn't help much that it was like the windiest day ever! So we pulled over again and yet another good samaritan also pulled over and donated another strap to our cause to help secure the mattresses. That strap was the only reason my mattresses made it to Canmore in one piece. Thank god because I love my bed, I would have been heartbroken if it didn't survive the trip. So we're heading down the highway at 70km/hr and I'm constantly watching in my rear view for Sue's hand signal should I need to pull over. Thumbs up, finally! We made it in to Canmore, an hour and a half late, and the clouds have started to come in and it looks like it could start to snow. Just what we need, snow, with no tarps on the back of the truck. Luckily, something finally went right and the weather co-operated with us. So we finish the walk-in inspection with our new landlord and start to unload the truck. By this time it's 4pm and Sue has to leave for Calgary in an hour to get to work. I was planning on leaving the truck in Canmore and going back to the city with her. Well that plan went out the window, we speed unpacked and didn't make it in time. Sue left for work and I unpacked the rest of the stuff on my own and drove the truck back to Calgary. Well the Enterprise is now closed so I had to drop it off at a different location, farther from the house, and take a taxi to Sue's work to pick up my keys and the car so I could go home, load it up again and head back to Canmore. By the time I finished that day it was after midnight, my neck was killing me, I could barely move and I had to go to bed so I could get up and go to work the next day. Brutal. We finally finished moving yesterday and we only forgot a few things in Calgary. I'm going to have to go in next weekend to pick up my bike that I forgot in the garage and Sue's laundry bin wouldn't fit in the car so I had to leave that with Lindsay. Almost done. Sue's been home unpacking all day today so hopefully there's not much left to do by the time I get home :0 ) I'd better head home though. It's been snowing all day and even though I'm not commuting to Calgary anymore I still have to drive to Canmore.

You Are Sunshine

Soothing and calmYou are often held up by others as the idealBut too much of you, and they'll get burned You are best known for: your warmth Your dominant state: connecting

What Type of Weather Are You?

Pet Peeves

Ok. I have a few things that I need to get out so I'm using the power of my blog to vent. I have some certain pet peeves that have been especially irritating lately. Here goes:

• so this morning at Starbucks, I'm in a hurry and it's like 7:30am and all I need is my morning dose of caffeine to get myself going...well there's a group of maybe 12 year old girls in line with a guy who must have been the Dad of one of them. First of all, who lets their kid drink coffee? Secondly, their 12 (at the oldest) obviously part of a carpool, and stopping at Starbucks on their way to school? Thirdly, if you don't know what you want, go to the back of the line and let the regular, of age, customers go ahead!
• if you're going to the doctors for a physical or bladder problem, don't pee before you go to the doctors because they're gonna want a urine sample, duh, that's why you're there! honestly people, use your head!
• the WalMart parking lot. Need I say more? Don't walk down the middle of the road. Walk to the side so that people driving have room to drive! If you notice someone backing out of a parking spot, stop and let them back out, don't swerve around them and make them slam on their brakes! If you're walking and notice someone backing out of a parking spot, stop and let them back out, don't walk behind the car and make them slam on their brakes! If I die and go to hell, it's gonna be a WalMart parking lot.

Ok, I'm done now :)

Welcome to my Blog!

Hello! Welcome to my Blog. I'm following Jen's and Elizabeth's lead and creating a blog of my own. I know I've been really bad at keeping in touch with family and friends over the last few weeks so hopefully this will make up for it. Now you can check in with me anytime you want and see what I'm up to!

Right now my life consists of working, packing and moving. Since starting my new job two weeks ago, life has pretty much been put on hold. I've been commuting to Banff from Calgary every day so even though I made the switch from 12hr shifts at the hospital to 8hr shifts at the clinic, my days still feel really long. We're moving to Canmore on Friday so my days of commuting are almost over! Super excited. I'm very excited about living in Canmore too. I have a good feeling about it. I think it's smart move for Sue and I. We managed to find a pretty decent apartment too. We were lucky because at this time of year it's pretty slim pickings. I'll attach pics of the new place once we move.

I'm exhausted so I think I'm going to head to bed. I hope you enjoy my blog. Feel free to leave me comments!