Anonymous Commenting

Hello. Sorry for the break in interesting posts. Stephan and I just wanted to make it clear that only constructive comments will be shown here, and absolutely no comments will be published 'anonymously'. Please, if you have something to say to us, refer to the next post about how to contact us directly. Our email addresses are listed in our 'Profile' which can be accessed on the menu bar to the left. Thanks!

FAQ: How do we get a hold of you?

Well, there are a few ways! You can always email us, though Stephan is notoriously bad at responding to electric mail. You can write us a letter to the PO Box, which is listed at the bottom of the page, or you can call us. Now, the deal with the phones is this- when we got to Baker we realized that we get no service here- not one single bar. So we hopped over to Laurie at Mid Rivers and got new cell phones, and new cell phone numbers. Unfortunately, we can't find our old phone chargers, so our phone books are sitting helplessly inside our dead-battery phones.

I know there are many people Stephan would love to talk to, but he's lost the phone numbers, and until we can dig out the chargers from our packed stuff, we don't know how to call you! If you'd like our phone numbers, please email me and I will be happy to send out the number, but for privacy reasons (and piracy reasons) I'm not posting them on the website. I'm sure you understand.


We have plenty of updates for you- The Director of the Montana Nurses' Association personally called me to tell me Stephan's new MT license number. Hurray!!! And now all we have to do is put together the scholarship application! Thanks again to everyone who was sending prayers and good thoughts. I think they really helped soften the hearts of those working at the Illinois State offices.

We moved a lot of our stuff over into the Plevna garage today, with the help of Matt and Kayle's truck. Woo hoo.

The garage we were keeping our stuff in flooded when everything thawed, so Stephan's brag book and all my Healing Touch documentation are sitting out to dry. We'll see later what is salvageable. I have photos, but my camera is being bad right now.

I applied for a business license in the State of Montana today to start my very own LLC here! The name I applied with is Anjali. It is the name of the gesture that often is associated with the Sanskrit greeting, Namaste. The prayerful nature of the name, and my logo, should help me maintain a respectful attitude toward all my patients and clients.

Stephan works Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week- from 6am-6pm. Long days, but rewarding. Hopefully after this weekend we'll be moved into the house! If anyone sees a cute "The Korubas" sign, please forward it to me, we'd like something other than the Bears Flag to stake our claim in Montana.

I almost forgot! Trivia: How did George Armstrong Custer rank in his class when he graduated from West Point? (I made this one easy, there are PRIZES people!)

Illinois License Came Through!!!!!

Yes. This morning I was literally laying in bed in a nice Dramimine Coma when I decided to check just once before I got up. And, there it was. Look it up for yourself. On the pulldown menu select NURSE, REG PROF (RN) and enter koruba for the business name or last name. Click on Search and it will show you the above miracle.

I'm off to make more phone calls to insure we get the Montana license as soon as possible.

YIPPIE!!!

One Step Off

I want everyone to know that I was raised with a very healthy respect for contact paper. Contact paper is a woman's version of peeing on a house to claim it for her own. It stays in the cabinet, usually for years. It gets layers upon layers of other contact paper on top of it. At the end, the layers of contact paper are like the rings of a tree- you can tell much about what the kitchen has been through when studying the contact paper.

A few layers later, including the one I've featured today, I found that the kitchen cabinets are probably the original ones that the house was built with. In a few places, under the contact paper is just a few 1"x6" boards nailed together.

The last time I had to unload my stuff into a kitchen my mom and Travis were there to help. They put everything where it was supposed to go. I missed that this time. I kept changing my mind about where I wanted dishes and food. It may still change a few times before I'm done, but I really miss the time when I came home and my kitchen was just set up perfectly for me. I have a few more cabinets and drawers to clean out- but all in all I have a lot more space now than in Arlington Heights.

Stephan worked all day again today- and is on the schedule for Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week too. It's possible he and Matt might get motivated to move major furniture at night this week, but I doubt it. There's plaster repair in the bedroom and then painting in the bathroom and bedroom before we can move in. That's about it from out here.

Happy birthday Beth Anne and Sam! Stephan forgot to call you last night, but I'm sure he'll call tonight (I'll make him!)

Struck Again

Take a look at our Flickr site for the details on this auto-phenomenon...










Friday we took the crazy trip to Miles City, leaving Stephan's license up in the air, waiting to float gracefully down onto the desk of whomever God deems qualified to fulfill our needs.

Yesterday we stopped at the hardware store for supplies to start cleaning up OUR house! The drive out was impressive, lots of blowing snow across the road. But, undaunted, we got 'home' and dug in. Stephan sprayed the perimeter for bugs, helped the water-leak problem with a little tape, and discovered that it was actually snowing in the basement. There's a crack in the foundation large enough for blowing snow to accumulate!

There are a variety of realizations we came to yesterday about 'our' house, most of which were quickly dismissed in that glowing way that buying your first house together dismisses all imperfections (like the bedroom window missing, um, missing a pane of glass and covered up with newspapers and a quilt stapled directly to the window frame). I've been married for less time than it took me to clean that fridge, and Stephan took an equally lengthy amount of time chipping at the plaster walls in order to fix the cracks in the bedroom. Yes, the walls are all plaster.

I have vague memories of my parents deciding to renovate the Palatine house when I was little. I remember hitting the wall with a sledge hammer, wearing dust masks, Dad getting blood poisoning, pink foam insulation, and wall-fairies. What I don't remember seeing is the part that must have happened at some point- my parents looking at how much there was left to be done, and looking at how much money they had left to do it, and the inevitable, "Let's go to the bar because I need a break." Our house is perfect, as each of us are, in its own way. It's perfect for us, just as every house is perfect for its owners at the time it's being lived in.

What has "struck again?" Well, I hit my head last night and attributed the resulting dizziness to the blow, but today Kayle took a look in my ears and saw that a eustachian tube has done something it's not supposed to do (flattened or sucked in or something medical) and is causing my balance to be off. It's an ear infection basically. So I'm on antibiotics and Dramamine and sitting in bed today, with one foot on the floor and one hand on the wall (remember that, Jimmy?) to steady myself. The painting will have to wait until tomorrow.

This is a Snowball

Theoretically, with enough of the proper insulation and care, and if the snowball was travelling at a high enough rate of speed both into and out of, a warm southern climate, it could potentially have a chance. At least, that's what we spent the day experimenting with.

Our snowball is a verification letter from the State of Illinois of Stephan's passing grade on the NCLEX exam. It's destination is the desk of the Montana Board of Nursing. If the snowball arrives at the destination, it will then be in the hands of a human being. A living, breathing, caring, loving human being. There is a rule in Montana that in order to qualify as a "new nurse", without requiring licensure in another state (see previous post about getting the Illinois license), you must take and pass the NCLEX exam IN Montana. It's the exact same test, folks, that Stephan took in Illinois. What we are counting on, what our dear little snowball needs to survive, is for the person sitting at that desk to think to themselves, "Well, he's sent everything he needs to in order to qualify, and, although he didn't take the test here, he does already have a job here. So, what the heck, we can bend the rules for this one."

They will issue him a license, we will get that before March 9th, and we will apply for the scholarship that day. Everything will be postmarked by the 9th, and we will breath full deep breaths.

A related problem that the medical center has is that without a state license, Stephan is not allowed to cover a shift by himself. They have him on the schedule for the month of March on his own, so today the Director of Nursing (DON) was scrambling to get supervision for Stephan as long as he will need it. That's costing FMC more money, and more time. Not a happy thing for them- DON Michelle spent some time on the phone today as well with the Montana Board of Nursing, trying to plead our case.

If you're involved in a prayer group, please remember our little snowball on its journey this week.

Trivia: In the Butte mines, why were unstable slabs of rock that were prone to collapse without warning known as "duggans?"

Only in Montana

This is an email that Melanie sent me last night in response to yesterday's post. When I read it I cried so hard I was sobbing. I have her permission to share it with you...

Only in Montana…

…can major home repair be put on hold because of a cow giving birth.

…can tourists watch 12 foot tall fake bulls peeing.

…can a town multiply in size because of a fair.

…tight blue jeans, denim shirt, cowboy boots and hat are the top fashion.

…can you get two alcoholic drinks for under $5.

…there are more cows then people…3 to 1.

…can you buy a house.

…you need heaters for you car so it doesn’t get too cold at night.

…can you learn everyone’s name in your town.

…is liquor still regulated by the state.

…you can find 3 bars, but 12 churches.

…may your car actually be more expensive then your house.

…are the sweaters that your mother gave to Salvation Army 10 years ago are still in fashion.

…can you buy a house that comes with a chicken coop.

…can you call up Illinois Department of Big Jerks and get hung-up on and then call up Montana and talk to someone nice and then realize Montana, with all it quarks and laid back nature, might be exactly were you need to be at this point in your life. That people might be way different then where you came from, but they are very welcoming. You realize that this is going to be your home for a while so might as well start acting like it is home. You come to the conclusion that your life has been thrown up side down and that, even though you don’t have all your underwear or the shampoo and conditioner you would usually use, you are truly a survivor. Although there have been tears, you’ve wiped them away and have carried on. Suddenly a feeling comes over you. No longer a feeling of sadness or self-pity, but strength that you did it. And then the Dora the Explorer song runs through your head as you gently close your eyes and go to sleep.

At Melanie's request, here is more trivia: How long can a moose keep its head under water? (we have moose in Montana!!)