February 27, 2008

So much to do. . .

SO LITTLE TIME!

Man, it seems like its been FOREVAH since I last checked my blog. Let's just say we're having a more fun than a barrell of monkeys, as Guthrie likes to say. That's only true if by "fun", you mean trips to the ER and by "monkeys" you mean dental work. :) If that is REALLY what you mean, then I guess I should have said we're having just as much fun as a barrell of monkeys. :)

What I'm trying to say is that a variety of circumstances are plotting to strip me of my sanity. For fun, we'll list the fun that we're so funningly having:
A) Mysterious swollen, red toe on the 21-month-old. Bug bite? NO. Broken bone? NO. Seriously disturbing infection of the oozing,excruciating, hideous variety?? YOU GUESSSED IT!
B) Realization that we are currently insurance-less and this sucker is NOT going away without some medical help. (Note to self: Send thank-you note to Murphy for that fabulous law. Are you healthy right now? Of course you are; YOU have insurance.)
C) URGENT CARE. 'nuff said.
D) Middle of the night, severe reaction to antibiotic in before mentioned 21-month-old.
E) One middle of the night E.R. trip, 1 steroid dose, 8 seriously nice members of the Gilbert Hospital staff (tangent: they really mean it when they say "Door to doc in 31 minutes or less." Thank goodness for small favors.), 1 prescription for new antibiotic, 1/2 bottle of Benadryl, and 1 seriously needed afternoon nap for mom and baby = "fun" (refer to aforementioned definition of this word.)
F) Temperature of 102 degrees for 48 consecutive hours in one 4-year-old female, accompanied by 3 vomit sessions; two of which landed on liquid-permeable surfaces. Also present are 2.5 days of lethargy, sleepless nights and 1/3 bottle of Febreeze. (Oh, the fun just keeps rolling in, doesn't it?)
G) New job requiring more concentration than a sleepless mother, with 2 out of 3 children ill, can muster.

Special thanks to SMASH and my mom for picking up some of the slack these last few days. Last night I was *this close* to throwing in the towel. Apparently, even with all that drama, the only thing I need to revive me is 1 sister-accompanied Gymboree shopping trip (baby sale ends soon - hurry RUN!) and some Paradise Bakery for a late dinner. It really was more fun than a barrell of monkeys - no re-definition necessary on this one.

Pictures coming soon!

February 13, 2008

I smell the stars and stripes!

1) The flight was actually pain and drama-FREE! The kids were sweet and calm. Sullivan slept for 80% of the flight. I think the secret to flying solo with three kids is booking yourself in the last row. This is in contrast to the normal thinking of the booking agents. Usually when they see I am flying with kids, they offer to move us to the front of the plane for easy boarding and un?boarding. It was nice to be hidden in the back AND the flight attendants were great about letting me stand up in the little clearing near the restrooms so I could sway Sullivan to sleep. (I was still close enough to keep an eye on G and A. . .standing immediately behind my seat.) The worst part was getting my luggage from customs and taking the trek out of the terminal. If you've ever arrived from an international flight into Phoenix, you know what I'm talking about. These seemingly endless walkways with an elevator ride in the middle. Not easy with 2 walking kids, 1 stroller and 2!!! luggage carts. I'm glad the stroller is easy to push and Guth can manage it on his own.

2) I was able to get my transcription equipment set up on the computer here at my moms and am all caught up with work. The best part? My boss emailed me today and asked me to take on more! YAY! I was hoping it would eventually get to be more work, but figured I would wait a couple of months to "prove" myself first.

3) We're all missing Kyle. He is spending his days at the hospital (Surgery rotation) in a small town outside of Guadalajara. I keep missing him when I call, so we haven't had a chance to talk much. I'm hoping that means he's studying up a storm and getting ready to kick A**;)

4) Guthrie is going to school here now. I feel kind of bad for him because he is definitely behind academically. I was pretty confused because I thought we had him all up to speed for normal kindergarten stuff. The teacher said that they've already completed their K-curriculum and the 2nd half of the school year is all 1st grade work. Yikes. I am pretty glad that we decided to come back at least for this part of the year. He can get caught up, and when we go back to Mexico I will insist that they put him in the next grade up so he doesn't fall behind again. He really loves school and his teacher. Yesterday we were walking by a jewelery store when we went to get valentines. He saw the diamonds and told me that we needed to buy his teacher a present. LOL. Ummm, not today dear.

5) Ashley made a surprise visit to Arizona! She is going to stay for a few weeks which means we are all going to be cramped. BUT - the girls have been playing all morning without a single fight, bicker or whine. I think Ainsley was just what the dr. ordered for Adeline. She was feeling pretty left out without a school to go to.

That's about it. I miss all my friends and moreso my husband. But, we're going to settle into a routine and hopefully the time will pass and life will go back to normal. :)

February 6, 2008

Farewell to Guadalajara! (for a little while at least.)

I can't believe its my last day with Kyle before I go. Everytime I walk by him (even if he's in the middle of talking, whining, or studying) I have been giving him a hug and kiss. He thinks I've lost my mind, but really I'm just missing him in advance. I remember the last time we were separated for an extended period of time. I believe my exact words were, "Nothing will ever be worth doing that again." And here we are, doing it again. I think I said the same thing about flying solo with three little kids. Everyone has my permission to roll their eyes the next time I make the same type of vow. I guess you just can't underestimate the roller coaster that is foreign medical school.

We had some friends over to watch the Super Bowl. Its actually a funny story. A classmate of Kyle's asked him a week or so ago if we were having a party. Kyle informed him that we weren't really planning on it. This classmate then says, "Well, you should. Otherwise, I won't get to watch it." (He's the bishop of a different ward and they don't have television.) In a 'what the heck, why not?' moment, Kyle agreed to have some people over. A few days later, I was talking to this classmate's wife and asked if they were still planning on coming on Sunday. Her response? "We're still thinking about it. (husband) really wants to come, but you know. . .its Sunday." My response: "Are you serious? It was *his* idea!!!" Wife is shocked. I think she actually said, "(husband) said that Kyle invited us and he felt like we should go." LOL! So then I start to wonder if maybe it really was *Kyle's* idea and the story just got twisted. . .which is possible, but seems unlikely as I usually agree to party-type arrangements so there wouldn't be much of a need to twist it. And unfortunately, we all know my Sunday scruples aren't what they could be. (Hey, here in Mexico, EVERY friend is like family to me. . .and isn't that what Sundays are for? family??)

When I got home, I made Kyle re-tell the story to me. When I related the other side of the story, we got a chuckle. We placed bets on their attendance. I bet they wouldn't come. I underestimated the appeal of the Super Bowl to a former football player. :p It ended up being a really fun party.

While talking to Melanie (HI Melanie :) ) and others at the party, the subject of the licensing problems and 5th pathway came up. [Background: The problem with 5th pathway is that the AMA recently issued a statement basically dissolving their support for the program as an accredited route to a U.S. residency program. They are now requiring us to enter the U.S. as *actual* foreign medical graduates which would require us to complete the 6(!!!!)-year program at UAG. Our other option is to transfer to another school and start again at the beginning of clinicals; in essence, having wasted the time and money$$$ that we've invested in this last year. The AMA initially set a deadline of June 2009 to end their approval. All students who complete the program by the deadline will still be allowed to enter a U.S. residency. We were set to START the 5th pathway program in June 2009; so we're left high and dry.] From Melanie we learned that somehow, the AMA was convinced to extend the deadline by 6 more months, ending the program in December of 2009 instead. This allowed those students who are currently in 7th semester (one semester ahead of us) to pass through the problems, but again we're left out. While this is very good news for 7th semester, I think its pretty bleak for the rest of us. If it was so easy for the AMA to extend the deadline, why wouldn't they have extended it to include the rest of us in the latter half of the program? (This is what the student association is trying to accomplish, but so far it seems the AMA is avoiding any meeting or phone call that could lead to that end.) Yikes. Other than all that, the SuperBowl party was a lot of fun :p

Yesterday, we took the kids' teachers a little present and card. I was able to pick up the rest of their supplies and a letter certifying that Guthrie has been enrolled in school here. I don't know for sure, but I wondered if I would need something like that to enroll him in KinderG in the states.

Today, I've got laundry and packing on my to-do list. I can't believe that by tomorrow afternoon I'll be in Arizona. :o

February 5, 2008

Ears

Last night was one of *those* truly miserable, endless experiences. Kyle and I went to bed around 11:30. No sooner had we climbed into bed than we heard Adeline wimpering across the hall. She was so tired, but managed to grasp her right ear in agony; so we got the hint.

Kyle grabbed his diagnostic kit and it didn't take long for us to see her ear drum was ruptured. I was pretty surprised, as I thought that normal ear infection pain would be present prior to a rupture and Adeline hadn't said anything about her ears during the day.

My initial thought was just to give her some Tylenol and to call a pediatrician in the morning and ask about localized pain drops for her ear (if that's even advisable for a rupture, I honestly have no clue. I can't WAIT for Kyle to do his pediatrics rotation :p ) Well, around 2:30 a.m., all of my desire to avoid systemic antibiotics flew out the window. Sully has had 2 ear infections and Adeline 1 in the last few years and they were both able to fight them off without abx.

Addie had come into our bed and for several hours she had been writhing in pain. I actually got up, dressed, and was about to put shoes on so I could go to the pharmacy. I suddenly remembered that I had a bottle of abx (the powder you mix into a liquid) in our medicine box. I mixed that and gave her the first dose. Then I crushed up some adult Tylenol and put it in some juice (I gave her the last dose of children's chewables before we went to bed.) It was 5:00 a.m. when she fell asleep. I think it was a mini-coma (she must have been exhausted) because everytime I opened my eyes to peek at her, she was in the exact same position she started in.

Of course, Sullivan woke up at 7:00, so I'm feeling a little zombi-ish. Hopefully its nothing a hot shower and a toothbrush can't fix.

I really hate that her ears are messed up right now. We're getting on a plane in 2 days. :o