Mini Vacation with an update

I'm sorry I've not updated my blog until now. I've been busy working and pretty much dead on the days that I'm not. So, last weekend starting on Sunday, July 31st, Jason and I loaded up the kids and our boat and went down to Delta where Nikki's in laws have a house on Gunnison Reservoir meeting the Radcliffe clan. We had a blast! Of course, Jason and I forgot our camera, as we always seem to do when we do things that are picture worthy.

Here's a pretty sunset picture I got on my phone. This was the first night we were there and a few storms had rolled through earlier in the day, but we got a pretty sky after.

Stacey is sporting her life jacket as we take some family members out for a trip on the boat for the first time.

Nikki and Jeff with Lissie about the jump out of the boat. It was a fun little time to take a trip on the water and explore the area.

Jayden and Kail wanted to sleep next to Amie, so they got to. They were all over the floor the next morning, but my phone was dead and I couldn't get the picture of that.

What I didn't get to take pictures of was everyone tubing. We had to limit the amount of people on the boat, of course, so we could pull someone on the tube behind the boat. Nikki, Jason, and Jeff rocked the tube staying on the longest times. Ricky was our winning roller when he got knocked off the tube. He'd roll at least 3 times before sinking into the water. We all had our turns on the tube, except me. I didn't feel like tubing and it was much more fun to watch everyone else do it.

We intended on staying until Wednesday with everyone, but Jason had a work party that we were all required to go to since we'd said we would before we found out about this little vacation. The party was pretty fun too. They had games for the kids that they could win some prizes at and a couple bouncy houses. They fed us some pretty yummy food and gave away prizes for the employees. Sadly, luck was not with us this party and we didn't win anything. They also had a face painter and it was held at a park, so we barely saw the kids. It was nice. We had fun and went home.

After that few days filled with stuff, I am resting as much as I can this week during my days off. My work schedule changes this Sunday from me working Wednesday through Saturday 5pm to 5am to Sunday through Wednesday 8am to 8pm. I am looking forward to having Fridays and Saturdays off so I can actually go on a date with my husband every now and then. I'll also be home for the kids on Thursdays and Fridays.

We are getting close to school starting for me and the kids. Stacey will be in 3rd grade this year and Jayden will be in 2nd. Kail is still too young for school, but we are looking into some preschools as well as a daycare center that does preschool while the child is there.

I have also changed by major's emphasis. I have change from emergency care, which is the paramedic program, to emergency management. This change means that as long as I can pass all of my classes, I graduate in December! I will walk in the graduation ceremony in April. I'm really going to be working as hard as I can because I want to wear a medal during graduation and I have to have a cumulative GPA of 3.60. I currently have a 3.06. I probably won't make it, but it'll still look good on my transcripts if I decide to do grad school.

I almost forgot

Again, for all of those who do not have facebook, or are not on it often, I got a new hair color and style. This was part of my Mother's Day gifts from Jason and our kids. I got a bunch of spa treatments. I got the cut, color, and style; a full set of acrylic nails; a hot stone pedicure; a 30 minute massage; and a 30 minute facial. I feel quite pampered and love every second of the gifts. I also got really cute "stained glass" (more like painted plastic) cherries and a flower from Stacey and Jayden that they made at school. I really love those too! I have them hanging from my mirror so I can see them everyday.

So, here's my new do!

Good news!

So, for all of those who are not on Facebook, or are not on there a lot, my search is over. I finally got a job! I now work for Gold Cross Ambulance services. I am so very excited because I now feel like all the work I did in school to get my certifications was not in vain. I will be working as an EMT-Intermediate in the Salt Lake area. I haven't gotten my permanent schedule yet, but I was told that the schedules are either four 12 hour shifts or two 24 hour shifts. I'm all for the latter. I would love to only work 2 days a week and have the rest of the days to do whatever I want/need to do. Plus, that means we wouldn't have to spend a lot on daycare. My sister Mallory volunteered to babysit for the summer while she doesn't have school, if she doesn't get hired somewhere else first. This is a very big help because it saves me time in finding a babysitter.
I was fitted in my uniform today and will be doing paperwork on Friday for all of the new hire stuff like showing them my social security card and such. My first paid day is the 31st of this month. I can't wait! From what I understand, I'll be doing some company training from the 31st to the 4th. After that, I'll be doing ride alongs. I'm not sure when they'll give me my real schedule though.
That is the most exciting news here. We're pretty boring and don't venture much out of the ordinary.

Easter

On Saturday we joined my family up in Millcreek Canyon for an egg hunt and breakfast. Although my outside temp thermometer said it was 50 degrees, it felt much cooler than that. We had fun though. Nikki, Jeff, Mom, and I attempted all sorts of things to get the fire started so we could stay warm and start cooking, but it took forever. We finally got it started when Mark brought lighter fluid to us. The paper Nikki and Jeff are trying to light here was too wet for a flame to catch.


This is the kids crossing the bridge over the river at our picnic area.


The kids had a blast doing the egg hunt and Rick and Mallory were very nice in where they put the eggs so that kids who are not so observant were able to find them. They each got 16 eggs filled with candy.
On Sunday, my kids did a little egg hunt around the house. The picture thing on this website is not working with me, so I am not able to post anymore pictures. They each got a cool prefilled basket. Stacey got a Glee tv show themed basket that came with a three ring folder, a mouse pad, a pencil contain, and a few other things. She also got a small purse and a bracelet.
Jayden got a football and a couple of Star Wars action figures. He's completely stoked and has played with them constantly all day yesterday.
Kail got a big monster truck toy and Boba Fett gun. He has been running about with that gun shooting anything he feels like.
I promise that if I can figure out how to get the picture thing working again I will post more pictures.

Final Medical Adventures

I got the "OK" to no longer where the boot. I am fully in a shoe now and I am totally excited. It's been too long. I have good range of motion and very little pain in the soft tissue and the doctor said I've healed well. I cannot do any running yet, but that's okay because I wasn't much of a runner to begin with. I can do low impact Zumba, which means that I won't be jumping around with them, but I can at least get back into it. I've missed Zumba.
I do have to have a tooth pulled today because it is causing a huge amount of pain and I have to have an endontist do a root canal on it if I wanted to save the tooth. But, we don't have the $704 to pay the endotist or the extra $300 for the build-up and crown, so I'm opting for the pull. That gives us time to save up for the bridge or whatever they will do to hold the space of the tooth that was pulled.
Otherwise, we are all still the same here. School for the older two kids and me. Kail is Kail. He'll be 4 in 2 months. I can't believe that. He's getting so big. Stacey and Jayden are doing well in school and they are looking forward to Spring Break next week. Yikes! A house full of kids for a week. Crazy!

Medical Adventures Update

On the 14th the Orthopedist took my cast off and I was left in a boot that I can take off whenever I feel the need. He told me to take it off while I was resting and start to flex and extend my ankle to help get it working again. I did that and have most of my range of motion back. It still feels like there are some bones out of place in my ankle which I went to the Chiropractor for and he adjusted one of them back into place because it was really out. He said that's all he'd do for now and to have him look at it again the next time I go in.
The Orthopedist also told me on the 14th to wait 2 weeks and then start bearing weight on my right leg. So, I waited 13 days. My instructions were to start putting a little bit of weight on my leg with the assistance of the crutches until the location of the break does not hurt anymore and then slowly ween myself off of the assistance of the crutches. Well, I was able to bear full weight on my leg yesterday without the crutches. My ankle and knee hurt because of the soft tissue damage done when I broke my ankle and they also feel unstable because of the muscle atrophy. The strength and stability of both joints will hopefully come back quickly as the muscles regain their strength through walking and exercise.
On April 7th, the Orthopedist will take my boot off forever. I still take it off to walk and help build the stability when I am at home, but when I leave the house, I will have the boot on and a crutch with me to help make sure I don't fall and re-injure myself.

Medical Adventures.

For anyone who has not heard the news, I will let you know. I've heard complaints that people were not told right away, so I figured I'd let all those who have not heard, and are on the blog mailing list, know about our latest medical adventures.
Jason and I took the kids roller skating on Wednesday night. Stacey had roller blades on for a while and decided that she wanted skates instead. I told her I'd help her exchange the blades for skates and we started heading to the counter on the carpet. As we were walking, my skates did something really weird causing me to lose my balance. I did the skates on the feet while trying to catch your balance dance and lost. My right foot turned to my right side and my knee followed causing me to collapse. In turn, I broke my fibula. For those who don't know anatomy well, the fibula is the smaller bone in your calves that forms the outer ankle bone. Needless to say, I was in quite a bit of pain and we headed to the ER. They splinted my leg, gave me crutches, a prescription for Percocet, and referred me to an orthopedist.
Today I saw the orthopedist that did a couple more x-rays to see if there is a possible need for surgery. He is kind of on the fence about the surgery. He's worried about some tendons on the inside portion of my ankle. If I've torn them, they need to be surgically repaired. The break is actually very stable and is not out of place at all. There was no expressed worry that the break will not heal. I've been told that some fibula breaks do not actually heal without medical help other than a cast. So now the biggest worry is the tendons. The break is just a break and will heal with the usual treatments.
He sent me home with a stabilizing boot and tightly wrapped my ankle with an ace bandage to hopefully help the swelling circulate out of my ankle and to see if I really did injure the tendons. I will go back on Monday to check on the swelling and to have my leg casted. If my leg and ankle do well in the boot for the weekend, the doctor will just leave the boot on.
A plus side to this is that I get a handicapped placard for 2 months. Sweet deal! I'm glad to have that because I cannot bear any weight on my foot for at least 2 weeks, but if my leg is put in a cast, it will be at least a month.
The down side is now I cannot continue to do my cardio workouts at the gym. I cannot do the Zumba which I was thoroughly enjoying. I was even starting to see results with weight loss and some strength and endurance. I guess I will just have to stick to upper body workouts until I can bear weight again.