Tag Archives: vacation

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Tell Me How to get to Disney World

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It seems as if anything I try and plan turns into a comedy of errors. The start of this trip to Disney for the fiftieth anniversary is no exception. I scheduled this week because it is typically when the parks are the least crowded. Sadly, it didn’t dawn on me that in February that the weather had a mind of its own.

Naively after the snowstorm hit I thought MODOT and the airport would have their act together. We awoke on Friday to an email that our flight had been delayed. As the morning went on it was delayed more and more to the point we’d never make our connecting flight. There option was to leave on Saturday and arrive at eight at night.

So I attempted to call the airline. I was on hold for two hours and accidentally hung up. My good friend Gary advised us to go to airport and talk to agent at the desk. So we drove up there with the roads still pretty crappy. It was quickly apparent we were not leaving today after all the previous flights that had cancelled and had been rebooked. So we were put on a flight for six am this morning.

I check my email as we arrived and I thought they had changed our flight going home which would still work but we did need to reprint tickets. So we do and I thought it was odd only Chicago printed but it’s five in the morning and I’m not awake. Well the flight was delayed because they did not have a flight attendant. The one they were expecting was on mandatory rest. While waiting for her it dawns on me that our connecting flight was not happening and they wanted us to reschedule for tomorrow and arrive at 8pm again. This would mean both days at universal missed with non refundable tickets. So I sprint to another gate to see a red phone that goes straight to customer service.

The gal looks around and tells me there is nothing. I said look we will fly to LAX at this point. So she says what about flying into Tampa. I’m like yes we will do that as it is only about an hour and fifteen minute drive. At this time the plane is boarding and she’s having computer issues. Finally she says go get on plane, I’ll get a hold of help and confirm this for you. I sprint to the gate and before take off I get flight confirmation. I inform the family we will be flying to Chicago, then Nashville, then Tampa. Driving to Orlando switching rental cars and hopefully arriving at hotel by eleven. They have now missed an entire day at universal. So I say look if you all want second day you can go over there while Emily Micheal and I go to Disney. Emily is currently working on a ride plan for them. They mostly want to do all of the Harry potter stuff.

Since I just did universal I’m skipping it to go see friends. I was suppose to meet up with Rose who I met on the cruise Kayla and I went on but that was today so I did not get to see her. She has the cutest grandson I have ever saw with the most incredible eyes and hair. Tomorrow I’m going to see Gary and Linda again. Gary was in the burn unit back in 1991. He took over burns recovered support group and he and Linda started Missouri Childrens Burn Camp. They are wonderful people and Linda has just published a Childress book. More about that in the next blog.

Mole Moral ~ If you travel with me be prepared for everything that could happen to happen. It will be the craziest trip of your life!!

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Pepsi Cola Hits the Spot

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I went on another traveling adventure these past four days. I had not seen my Uncle Larry or Cousin Eddie (yes his name is really Eddie) since Emily and I went to visit in January of 2016. I was shocked when Eddie pointed it out.

I cannot go anywhere without looking on my Roadside America app and seeing what bizarre things I can find along the way. When I saw the drugstore where Pepsi was created was still in business I had to go to New Bern North Carolina to see it. The store was cute with all Pepsi stuff and my sister and I enjoyed looking at it.

We ended up staying to find more roadside America stuff

As the sun dropped all the Christmas lights came on and a band was playing Christmas music. It was seventy degrees outside and I thought to myself this is how warm Christmas should be. Forget snow. Hahaha. So we walked around looking in all the little shops. It was a quaint little town that I’d recommend visiting if you are ever in the area.

Mole Moral ~ Diet Dr. Pepper is actually the best soda. Hmm sounds like it’s time to plan another trip.

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An Amazing Friend

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Since it has been over two years since I parted ways with Mercy, I can finally write this blog. Mercy has rules about not becoming friends with patients and not allowed to be friends on Facebook. I obviously broke that rule and it was a good one to break.

Nine years ago this November Women’s Health was moving from fifth floor to second floor. I came in that day to do what I always did, take new surgeries and admits. Others came in extra to help move the patients to their new rooms. At some point one of my coworkers said Dr. V is on the phone and wants to talk to you. I was like fuck what did I screw up. He never called people while he was in surgery and would get annoyed if nurses called him during a case as it would deflect his attention from operating and wouldn’t you want his full attention. So since I couldn’t pretend I wasn’t working I picked up the phone. He said to me “I want you to go talk to my patient in 2316.” He’s a man of few words so I said ok and that was it.

Everyone was like what did he want. I wasn’t kidding when I said he never calls from surgery. So I said he wants me to talk to 16 so let me at least see what her name is. I’m pretty sure I walked into Melynda’s room and said hi I’m Rachel a nurse here and Dr V just told me to come talk to you but didn’t say what about. I immediately liked her but I don’t remember how long we talked for. She was the first person moved down to the new floor.

Anytime I talk about mesh or mesh removal most of what I learned has come from Melynda. She is extremely smart and very knowledgeable about this subject and many others. I was horrified to learn that training to put this stuff in was a weekend conference using cadavers. Also that doctors that put it in would get a kickback commission for every single one they placed from the mesh manufacturers. So take poor training and combine with greed and disaster ensues. One of the other shocking things about the FDA is their 501k program in which a company can develop a similar device that is already on the market and be approved without clinical trails. Lastly, the hidden database to report complications that wasn’t available to the public until recently. I could go on and on about mesh as the Dr. V patients are about the only thing I miss about Mercy.

So I visited Melynda a few times before she was discharged and we became friends on Facebook before mercy made that rule. Once they did I was suppose to delete her but that wasn’t happening. She’s been back a couple times to see Dr. V and we’ve made sure to see each other. She lived in Florida for quite some time but I never had time during camp to get together. Within the year she moved back to Utah where her extended family is. So once Brian and I decided to visit Utah, I knew we must meet up. We had a wonderful but too short visit so we need to come back sooner rather than later.

If you know me, you will most likely think I am not shy but I am. It takes a lot to just walk up to someone and start a conversation but it was by far the best thing I’ve ever done. I’ve thanked Dr. V. more than once for calling me that day and freaking me out.

Mole Moral ~ Amazing people are out there if one just opens their eyes and their heart!

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Once A Dork

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It was thirty-nine years ago this week that I first met Gary Lindsay. You see I was a sophomore in high school and our band director Mr. Butler sent a note home stating Fox High School would be hosting an all boy marching band from Johannesburg South Africa and he was looking for host families. Of course I immediately asked my mother if we could host one and she said yes. I knew this would be one of those once in a life time moments but I had no idea at the time how much this one moment would change the course of my life.

I remember telling my mother I hope we get a drummer. The boys either played trumpet or drums. I’m not sure why I wanted a drummer but we got a trumpet player named Gary. If I remember correctly their flight was late getting in so by the time they arrived at the school it was ten at night. Gary was assigned to the Carty girls and I swear we didn’t even make it home before we started fighting like brother and sister.

They were with us for two weeks and it really was an incredible time. Their band was amazing and for the longest time we had a recording of them and also of our band on a vcr tape. Someone broke into our house and stole it with some other stuff. I’m sure they thought it was a sex tape and attempted to watch it and were sorely disappointed. By the time they had left some of the American parents had gotten together and wanted the Fox marching band to go to South Africa. So plans were made and fundraising began and I went to South Africa the following August. I spent the first half of that trip with Gary and his family and the second half with Anton and his family.

After that trip we kept in touch with letters that would take close to three weeks to arrive once sent. Oh the horrors as I can post this blog and within seconds everyone in South Africa could read it. Gary graduated from hotel school having studied hotel management but then joined Covenant Players which is a missionary based theater company that has troops in thirty countries. I believe this is where he met Heidi who eventually became his wife. They then came to America with Covenant Players where they worked on the east coast. However headquarters was located on the West Coast so every summer they had to drive across the entire United States and back. They spent their first Christmas in America with my family. Gary and Heidi were also in town when I gave birth to Kayla. It was always such an exciting time when Gary and Heidi were coming.

They eventually settled down out on the east coast and Gary started working in children’s ministry. They had a couple of kids and have lived in Texas, California and Washington. When Emily took her first travel job as a brand new physical therapist she was close to where Gary and Heidi were living and spent her first Christmas away from home with them. So Christmas came full circle.

Gary and Heidi are two of the most amazing, fun, and free spirited people I’m close with. Brian and I wanted them to raise our kids if we both should die. I can’t tell you how many times they asked if we would just die so they could live with Gary and Heidi. With Allyson being twenty now they escaped the nightmare of life with moles except on vacation.

Im pretty sure I started calling Gary a dork that first night we met. I spent the past four days with him and forgot to say it so I decided a special blog was in order. What a wonderful friend. I’m so thankful the school that was suppose to host them all those years ago backed out and that the band teacher and my mom said yes. Such a life long blessing.

Mole Moral~Once a dork, always a dork!

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Mold-A-Matic

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After we came down from the Space Needle I spotted this little gem.

I was instantly transported back to my childhood. I remember these little machines from the St. Louis Zoo and they would make animals. I vaguely remember an orange giraffe. So I texted the girls and told them where I was at as they had to see this. Masks were required inside the space needle so it’s hard to see how thrilled they were at my insanity.

So I put in my five dollars and fired up the machine while reading this was available at the Worlds Fair in 1962. The machine did its magic.

Hot plastic shooting into the mold.
Mold finished.
Our very own Space Needle

The girls were amazed how hot the plastic was when it came out. It took about five minutes to cool down. Emily immediately claimed it to sit on her desk. Her dad tells her that he had a lot of these as a kid and they break easy. He followed that statement up with well I use to throw them and hit stuff with them.

Mole moral ~ Never doubt your mother when she says she has something cool to show you.

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Waldo Park

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My obsession with Roadside America continues. As soon as I read about Waldo park, I knew we had to stop and see it. Fortunately Emily had already planned to take us to Silver State Park to do a ten waterfall hike so it was nearby.

Waldo Park is one of the smallest parks in America measuring 12×20 feet. It consists of one giant sequoia tree planted on his property by Marion Waldo in 1872. It was a sapling when he planted it. When he sold his land to the city of Salem a condition was that the tree must be preserved. The tree became a city park in 1936. The tree is currently 85 feet tall.

After our anniversary trip in 2015 to Sequoia National Park Brian brought home sequoia cones determined to grow his own tree and plant it on our property. So old Mr. Waldo fulfilled Brian’s dream but he used a sapling. Brian did in fact get one to grow to about two inches high and he named it the Great Mobowsky (the biggest tree in Sequoia National Park is named General Sherman). Sadly, Brian’s tree got too hot and died. Yes, he was spying cones at this site to try again but none were closed. So no Mobowsky at the property any time soon.

Mole Moral ~ If at first you don’t succeed move to a cooler zone and try try again.

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The Doughnut Adventure

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Voodoo doughnuts started in Portland Oregon. Two friends got together and realized there wasn’t a single doughnut shop in Portland so in 2003 they rented a hole-in-the-wall storefront scrunched between two Old Town nightclubs, joked to friends and family about being bent on “world doughnut domination,” and opened Voodoo Doughnut. Their initial pastry offerings were a mix of the classic and the unconventional. (This is from their website). They opened a second location in 2008 and to date have twenty stores in five states.

It was Emily’s idea to go there and since they have a huge wait all day long every day we were smart and ordered for pick up. Or so we thought. First I conned Kayla in to posing for this picture.

Then Emily and I proceed in the door while some kid yells at us and says end of line back there. Emily informs him we ordered online. So we walk in and promptly get yelled at for being inside. This girl asks our name and tells us we are at the wrong store. She even looked at the address and said nope wrong place. So this runs off the rest of our group while Emily calls the number. Are you ready for it….

We were indeed at the correct store. Emily tells the guy on the phone the girl was very rude. He says come back and I’ll bring donuts out. As soon as we walk by another guy in line said they called your name as soon as you left. So the guy comes out super nice. He said they have had a mass exodus so short staffed and everyone tense. I said I totally understand I’m a nurse. Anyway he said no excuse to snap at paying costumers so he’d chat with her.

Michael does research and apparently a bunch left with the heatwave. They do not have AC out here because it normally doesn’t run in the hundreds. The staff wanted the doughnut shop to close during heat wave and they were told no. I get working in heat. Our one GI doc is from Puerto Rico and always has the room at 76. He normally has two shirts and PPE and will still say he’s cold. Sometimes he has long Johns on as well. The dude is crazy.

Mole Moral ~ Never doubt your location when you checked it three times before ordering. Doubt the employees who do not know the address of where they work!!

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Training

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Finding Jesus is easy, following Jesus is hard. Surely you do not grow in your comfort zone but when thrown out of it you either grow or die. I’ve worked with several people that were miserable in their job but so comfortable with the routine they have been stuck for years. Inertia is a mortal disaster. To succeed you must keep moving forward.

Godly training is good for all life to come. It’s rather simple in design but often times difficult to carry out. John 13:34-35 A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so must you love one another. By this everyone will know you are my disciples, if you love one another. I can only speak for myself but there are many people I know that are almost near impossible to love. They are so annoying or time demanding, or difficult that I often forget this simple commandment.

I’m trying to write this on the bus and it’s just not working. The kids are playing bingo and our new bus driver is horning people waiting till the last minute to get over in this traffic jam. The bus is egging her on to park the bus and kick butt. She’s quite the hoot and a good reminder of why the bus ride is one of my favorite parts of camp. I’ll leave you with the most profound statement from last night.

People do not abandon people they love. They abandon people they are using.

Mole Moral~ Love is hard, hate is harder. A week vacation is little to give up to show love to teenagers.

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Vacation Adventures Part Two

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The next morning we got up and were headed towards Salvation Mountain. We were taking the southern route back home since Emily and I took the northern route two years ago when she moved to California.

We were driving along in the desert for miles. Emily and I were in one car and Micheal and Brian in the other. They were ahead of us by about thirty minutes because we stopped to eat at In and Out burger.

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We had come upon the Salton Sea and I was reading up on it and sharing with Emily. It was created by irrigation canals from the Colorado river in the early nineteen hundreds. It was a recreational area in the fifties and then due to pollution and increasing saltiness it started dying off. It is now almost a wasteland and smells from the amount of dead fish that wash up to the shore. It was very interesting, and Emily had just texted Micheal that she was getting nervous about the desert when this happened.

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We were driving along when we heard banging in the wheel well. We were like what was that? I said to Emily, you have a tire pressure light so if it doesn’t come on you know we are good. The words were barely out of my mouth when the tire pressure light came on. Luckily we were at a place in the road that had a huge place to pull off. It would be easy to change the tire. And then I had to make the fatal phone call to Brian to tell him we had a flat. Micheal swears he has no idea what Brian said after he hung up with me. I am sure it involved cursing. They had just gone through border patrol (we were super close to the real border) so coming back they were asked what they were doing. It was at this point I jumped out of the car and said I’m going to check out the Salton Sea. It looked super close. Please keep in mind I have never seen The Hills Have Eyes but the other three had. So Emilys anxiety is through the roof. She is texting me every two minutes to make sure I was ok. It was 107 degrees this day and I barely even sweated walking the one mile round trip. I didn’t get super close because it started smelling like mud and death.

 

By the time I walked back Brian and Micheal arrived and were changing the tire. It was around five in the evening so we had to attempt to find a tire place that was open. The first place I called did not have the tire and then the fun began. I could not keep straight what two towns we were between and Emily was ready to shoot me. I finally called AAA to see if they could locate a place when Emily found one. Of course it was thirty minutes back the way we had just came but they said they would stay open past six as long as we weren’t too much later than that. We arrived at five minutes until six and there were at least three families there that were still being helped. By the time they finished looking at our tire, putting a plug in it for free, airing up the spare (it had lost a lot of air on the ride over), and putting it back on it was after seven. I made the decision to stay where we were and go eat and have a couple of drinks and turn in early. We went to a restaurant that had just opened and their service and food were ok. However I had two gin and tonics and wasn’t feeling anything. The next day would be another adventure.

Mole Moral ~ Smart people do not watch scary movies!

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Vacation Adventures Part One

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I am not sure why I ever attempt vacation because it rarely is a vacation but more of an adventure in the most crazy stuff that can happen.

This vacation started with Brian and flying into SanFrancisco. Emily was in New York at pelvic floor physical therapy course. The plan was for Brian and I to arrive around noon and she and Michael would fly in around eight thirty that evening. We would get up in the morning and drive up to Chico to meet Michael’s parents. Emily had the entire trip cross country back home planned out well. This was probably the first mistake.

Brian and I landed in SanFrancisco on time and then hopped onto the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transport) to head down to the wharf. We both just love not knowing where we are going and how things work but we managed to survive. Now I had arranged luggage storage the day before so imagine my surprise when the GPS took us here.

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Brian was convinced that I had lost my mind but the girl insisted yes, we were in the right place and took our luggage. We then had an awesome meal on the wharf and saw the sea otters and walked around quite a bit. We then had to take the BART back to a different stop and order an Uber. Well, of course at the location there was another transport system and we went there instead. Luckily a really nice worker said go to the other side. This little mishap took money off of our BART card so when we finally arrived at our station we had to add even more money. Oh and I forgot to mention we decided to jump on it right at rush hour. I have never seen so many people in my life.

By the time it was time to summons the Uber I had less than ten percent battery life. I was convinced my phone was going to die. Emily had been texting us and it was official they were not leaving New York as the weather was horrible. Not only that but they were put on a different flight out of Newark and were on their own to get over there. So three subway transfers, a ferry and an Uber and seventy bucks later they made it to their hotel in the pouring rain. I was reading this to our Uber driver and he was cracking up. We made it safely to our hotel and settled in for the night.

Emily’s flight did not leave until five the next evening so Brian and I had another free day in SanFrancisco. Our hotel was one mile from where Emily and Micheal had been staying so we walked over there to use her car for the day. We were not about to deal with the BART again. Of course someone had not finished packing up her car because she planned on doing it when she got home. Her father and I attempted it and made it all wrong but it fit in there. I then said lets drive over to Oakland and see what we can find to do. I then remembered my mother in law telling me about how you can take a ferry over and not pay for parking in SanFrancisco. This sounded like a wonderful idea and a lot of fun…

Of course we arrived and parked five minutes after the last ferry left for lunch break. So we then had almost an hour and a half to kill before the next one came. So we just goofed off and walked around. At least there were a couple Pokemon Go stops.

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We had a nice day in the bay and then we went and picked up Emily and Micheal at the airport and went and fetched Micheal’s car as well. We were now twenty-four hours behind schedule and had to forgo meeting Micheal’s parents. Emily wanted to drive to Los Angeles but Brian vetoed driving until three in the morning. This was only the beginning of our cross country adventures.

 

Mole Moral ~ One risks their life taking Schleprock (me) on vacation!