Bob-bob

I'll get to the calf in a minute. This morning, after a short nap, Stephan called the Illinois Department of Big Jerks Who Could Really Care Less About Your Question (and that's putting it nicely) and found out that the person who told me that his license would be processed in 2-4 days was fired. She was fired because she was wrong. There is no way, no amount of money, or urgency, that will get the Illinois Board to process a license faster than 4-6 weeks.

Then, we tried just applying for licensing in Montana (Montana, where you can be a licensed "Wrestler"). They need Stephan's test score sent over... from the Illinois Board, which apparently 'owns' the score once the testing center gives it to them. The testing center claims to not even have the score anymore. And quess what? The Illinois Department of Kiss My Butt will, under no circumstances, release that information to anyone. Ever.

Then, just for fun, I went with Laurie to see the house we're "moving into" tomorrow. Turns out that the previous tenant physically tore the washing machine from the wall and water supply, thus breaking the water line in a way that required the water supply to the house to be turned off. And then the pipe leaked. There's not much damage, but there is no water. Laurie's husband can fix it tonight if (seriously, I'm not making this up) the two cows he's watching give birth their calves by then.

Stephan promises that I will look back at today and laugh at everything that's happening. Once we figure out how to pay back his student loans without the scholarship, once we start moving into the house we've bought, once I've set up my corporation and get back to work, I will think that the birth of a calf being responsible for the water condition of our house is hysterical.

I'm not there yet. Not even close. After I dropped Stephan off at work (an hour early because they were short-staffed all day due to the snow storm) I sat on the couch. Elysium crawled up to me, wearing nothing but a diaper, and sat in my lap. She pulled a blanket over the two of us, and we watched Sponge Bob together. For 30 minutes there was nothing more important in the world than whether or not Patrick Star was going to get a driver's license and win a boat-mobile.

Trivia: What is the only North American gem to be included in the Crown Jewels of England?

FAQ: Does Stephan have a sense of humor about being a male nurse?

Answer: no. He asked me to take down the Male Nurse photo. I figured I could leave it up if I made it more fair.

He got home this morning (Tuesday) at about 7:45 and went straight to bed. He slept until 3pm, when he ate, made a few phone calls about his student loans, and left for work. I stopped by just now to bring him 'lunch' and he asked if he could come home with me. He has about 6 hours left, but he said they haven't gotten a chance to sit down yet! It's a busy night. They had one ER patient when I was there, and with the snow coming down in blankets, they may have a few more before the night is over.

He was upbeat about it, though. I could see he was tired, but I also know that the excitement keeps him going. I would feel more sympathy if things were boring and he wanted to leave. Last night we talked a bit about a patient he has who may die soon. That will be something new for him. He seemed a little cautious about spending time with her, but it's his favorite part of the job. I know he sits with patients, talks to them whenever he can, and really takes time to make sure all their needs are being met. Beyond just temperature and physical comfort- he holds their hands. Kayle says he has a way with the older women. I don't doubt that. I think he has a way with everyone he meets.

Even though I miss him tonight, I know he's with people who need him. As important as he is to folks, I don't mind sharing at all.

Trivia: What is the ratio of cows to humans (or humans to cows) in the state of Montana?

It's Tuesday in Chicago

That's how I'm justifying another post today. Stephan is working, almost half way through his shift. While I was looking for a good picture, I came across the Emergency Nursing World Website. I started to look through it, but realized that my love of nursing had not hit this level yet.

If you want to read articles about what it's like to be Stephan, and see the issues he's dealing with, and learn how to survive the night shift, please click on the link above.

If you're like me, and are very tired because you've spent 24 hours helping your partner learn how to survive the night shift... then please, call me. Because I can't sleep.

Goat-pond

I figured that I might as well post something, since I've been sitting in front of the compter most of the day, refreshing the Illinois Division of Professional Regulation License Look-up page constantly. I've been wanting to post about two things for a while- one is the old, "if I could have changed anything about this move, what would I change?" The answer to that one is simple- I would have packed more. I would have been just slightly more prepared. I would have carried more than 5 days of underware with me, more comfort items, like pillows and conditioner. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to be too prepared. As my mom has always pointed out, the only kid who's mom brought an extra set of clothes to the zoo is the only kid who falls in the goat pond.

Which brings me to my second thought. My Dad used to tell us stories as kids, right before bedtime. One of these stories, and it's one of my favorites, was "Super Goldilocks." Never heard of it? Well, it's Goldilocks, but instead of coming upon a clean house and messing it up, she comes upon a messy house and cleans it until it shines. Why have I been thinking about this? Because for the last 3 weeks I've been completely unable to sit still. I've done laundry as soon as it was dirty, reorganized the cupboard upstairs in the kitchen, cleaned our bathroom every few days, and organized, and reorganized our pile of bills/important papers/things to do. Somewhere in my little impressionable head, Super Goldilocks became an idol. If you see something that needs to be done, go ahead and do it.

I really hope this hasn't annoyed our guests too much. But I do think it's about time for me find a job.

Trivia: For many years, outside the Prairie Schooner Restaurant located in which Montana town, were tourists entertained by two 12-foot tall oxen statues that would 'urinate' whenever someone in the restaurant turned the secret handle?

Countdown to Plevna: 4 Days

Yesterday we drove out to Miles City again, this time, to buy paint! We're really getting geared up to move into the house at the end of this week. We also bought bug bombs, and some groceries. The trip out was nice. Since Stephan worked all night Friday, he slept on the way there. We stopped for coffee on the way back, and bought a bluegrass CD.

Stephan is working nights this week- Monday night, Tuesday night and Wednesday night. He gets there at 5:45pm, and leaves at about 6:15 in the morning. During those hours the PCP (primary care practitioner, like the MD, nurse practitioner or the physician's assistant) is on-call, not actually in the building. So all the meds, ER visits, or new patients are taken care of by the RN's. They decide whether a problem warrents waking up the PCP's or not- they deal with everything they can before making that phone call.

At the end of this week, Stephan will be on his own! We've been working really hard to get his license taken care of. We have his finished application already sent to the State of Illinois, with a priority overnight envelope so hopefully they will get the license back to us promptly. Once he is issued a license number, it will appear on the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation's website. We can take that number and apply for a "verification of license" to be sent from Illinois, to Montana as rapidly as possible. Hopefully the license number will be a reality by Tuesday, then we can overnight the verification request, and that will hopefully arrive back at the State of Montana by ... let's say ... a week from Monday. They will have the Montana license number by Tuesday, giving Stephan the title of RN in Montana!

The second issue we're dealing with at the moment is the scholarship application. The US Department of Health and Human Services has a Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program that Stephan qualifies for. Their deadline for the 2007 application is March 9th. What is required for this? Well, a Montana RN license for one. A list of all of Stephan's loans for two. A two-year commitment to work at a qualifying facility for three.

Do we have all these things? Will we by March 9th?

Stay tuned to find out!

Countdown to Plevna: 6 Days

Yesterday Stephan and I were looking through a suitcase for nice clothes so we could go out to a fancy place for dinner. We were in a bit of a rush, trying to get a few things done yesterday, with signing house papers, some other errands around town related to actually being Montana residents, when Stephan found his full-sized Polish flag. He immediately draped himself in it and ran upstairs to show Matt, Kayle, and the kids his "cape" and to suggest that he wear the flag to dinner.

And I said, "There are about 10 things you could be doing that are more productive than strutting around in a Polish flag." He couldn't argue with me, so, after making me take a picture of him, he took it off and continued to get dressed.


The dinner was quite good at The Tavern. Luckily we were the only people in there, so Elysium's games of hide-and-seek were uninterrupted. It was a true Atkins meal, steaks, ribs, some salad, and "Pepper Pot" Soup. We'd never heard of it, so when we asked what was in it (remember, this is the fanciest restaurant in town) the server told us, "hamburger meat, some rice, and some peppers." I thought it was funny. Maybe you had to be there.

Stephan got his first paycheck this morning, so we had a very exciting time going to the bank to make an actual deposit. This was also the first real evidence we have that we live in Montana!

Don't Drink the Water

Seriously, we were cautioned when we arrived in Boliv... I mean, Baker, not to drink the tap water. I was a little offended, having drank well-water at my parents' house since I was 12. But when I tasted this water, is was just bad. It was salty. Even if you're boiling the water for tea or coffee, the salt taste is always there. Then we learned that there is also a high calcium component to this water, leading to increased incidence of kidney stones in the local population. Well, I've never had a kidney stone, but from what I hear, I don't think I want one now either.

The water here is also very soft. I can't tell if this is a location-specific fact, or a town-wide fact. But, even more than anywhere in the Chicagoland area, this water is very slippery and gooey. It took a few showers to get used to this feeling. And even now, my hair is just not the same.

This morning I borrowed a hair dryer in hopes of accomplishing some sort of style. But what happened was an odd sort of dread-lock effect due to the heat and the salt. It's "Bob Marley meets the Cowardly Lion." As I complained to Stephan of this today he looked at me straight in the eyes and said:

"It's all going to turn grey one day anyway..."

He saw my quickly saddening face and added:

"And I'll love you even more."