Minitrip to MN

So I avoided another travel near-catastrophe by deciding, amidst my night shift on the 21st-22nd, to try to be tech-savvy and check in online for my Northwest flight to Minnesota. Now, I had never tried to do this before, it not being practical because of my lack-of-a-printer at home; however, while in the peds ED, I thought I might try to get my boarding passes ahead of time.



GOOD THING I CHECKED!!!! I logged into nwa.com at approximately 4 a.m. and found out that my previously-scheduled NOON flight on 11/22 was changed to a 9 a.m. flight leaving Sacto for MSP. Then my connecting flight was an afternoon flight on 11/23 (yes, that is not a typo) to Grand Forks, which would have been just in time for my RETURN flight on 11/24, but not really great for the whole getting-together-with-family plan on Friday. Geez. So I was frazzled as could be but luckily, the ED was not busy and I was able to get this worked out over the phone with NWA... who arranged to fly me to Fargo, N.D. (farther [about an hour and a bit] from my Grandma's but still a decent plan!), but still had me leaving Sacto at 9 a.m. when I was supposed to end my shift at 7 a.m.

It worked out in the end-- my AWESOME peds senior let me take off early from work, I packed like a champ, drove briskly to the airport, and flew through security (I forget that Sacto has a relatively small airport), and made the 9 a.m. flight. I got to Grandma's around 7:30 p.m., which was about 3 hours earlier than planned, and was STILL able to catch up with Lesley in Minneapolis (I couldn't believe that she was still willing to drive up from her yummy Thanksgiving get-together with friends to hang out with me for a couple of hours... esp. with the change-of-plans, but that is Lesley for you! Can you get any sweeter?!), but GEEZ-- that was a stressful hour or so in the wee hours of the a.m. I can't believe that they (the airline) can do that to you... without an e-mail, call, or anything!!!!! I was lucky also in that my luggage all arrived (might have something to do with carrying it all on with me, but still...)...the travel curses kind of continue!

The rest of the weekend was straight uphill from there! It was soooooo great to see Lesley, as I feel like I haven't seen any "old" familiar friends in a while! I only wish I could have seen more Rochester peeps or joined them for what sounded like a fantastic Thanksgiving feast (Kristen, I'm sure your turkey was awesome)! I miss that girl (and everyone else, too!) so much. It was so good to catch up-- even if just for a couple of hours; it's surprising how, when you are with an old good friend, it feels like no time has passed since you last saw eachother! Anyway, here is my favorite picture she took of us, which I stole from her blog. That is baggage claim behind us :) I can't wait to be reunited again in June, when I will next set foot in MN for the Sviggum wedding :)



I was DEAD by the time I got to Crookston, but tried to be a bit social with my parents (who drove all the way to Fargo to get me!), sis, and Grandma, before I crashed. Friday, we all headed out to Maple Lake to Duane and Marilyn's (my great uncle and aunt's), for a day-after-Thanksgiving party (they had a celebration Thursday but then did it all up again-- I couldn't believe that either!).

Leann was there with her boys, Tyler and Alex. Allison, Peter, and the kids (Natalie, Ryan, and Brayden) were there from Wisconsin. Amy was there with Derek and Jacky (although Richard was on call in Fargo :(). There were some miscellaneous pets. Then Dyno and Heather came and joined us all! It was awesome! As was the food! Enjoy the photos!

These are the bathroom towels-- so appropriate (they can sleep like 22 people in the lake house!)Tigger by the windowsill The lake outside.... Brrr (says Vanessa). We even got snowed on a little, in honor of my trip back to the polar north :)
This is my best "let me take a picture of us with my arm out" picture of my sis and meNow onto the food... this is Peter and Duane busy with the turkeyJacky and Natalie, getting ready to chow down!Ryan lighting like a champ the bday cake my Grandma brought for me (while Allison supervises :))
A little goofy, eh?

I said, "Grandma, you have to stop referring to me as 'Dr. Arness'- I don't like it" (she addresses all letters, etc. to that title.) In response, Vanessa says, "Whatever! When I graduate from grad school in May, I'm going to make you all call me "Master Arness"!

With the proud Grandma

Pumpkin pie from Dyno and Heather
With Sophie (the maltese doggie), and Heather and Dyno

Amy, Leann, Mom, Marilyn, and Vanessa (with Sophie), after the first course of dessert
The boys being oblivious: Derek, Ryan, and BraydenFun new ways to play dominoes (they know Mexican Trains, too!): This is Leann, Dyno, and Grandma playing the legit game "Chicken Foot" ...

...and Vanessa making up her own game, "Jenga dominoes," while we all look on and try to refrain from coughing/sneezing so as to not ruin her creation
The girl cousins -- Natalie, me, Van, and JackyThe group (Nattie, Van, Ty, Brayden, Derek, Ryan, Jacky, me, and Alex (blocked my me):))

What fun times! I don't think we left there until after 10 p.m. or something, which was quite a full day (I think we arrived around 11:30 a.m.).

Saturday, we got our shopping in at the Columbia Mall to make Grandma happy, and then I left on a late afternoon flight (no twists or turns!). It was a short, but very sweet, trip-- definitely worth it! Now it's back to work today at 11 a.m.

Happy Thanksgiving! (and blog recycling)

Well, it's the middle o' the night and it appears that the parents of the wheezy and vomity kids and other peds ED frequenters have decided that they should keep them at home until the turkey is done rather than let an intern mess with their children (among other fun things including discovering "trepanation" of a bloody nail, I traumatically did a spinal tap on a little 2 year old earlier in the evening... in any case, I digress...).

I don't have too much to write and, at this hour (I really don't sleep very well in the day time), don't have the mental reserve to be very original or eloquent about all that I am thankful for. However, I will say that I do have very much to be thankful for.

I am thankful first of all for Wendi's wonderful news-- that the baby they will be taking home in MAY (!!!!!!) is a little growing boy in Bri's belly. This was such cool news to find out on my birthday! And I wanted to thank everyone for the bday wishes and lovely cards/assorted packages that graced my mailbox this past week :) It made me feel like being one year older isn't all that terrible, even though I haven't accomplished very much since the last birthday and am getting close to deciding to get a bunch of cats. I'm thankful that, later today, I will be reunited with my family, and with my awesome friend Lesley, who is planning to drive up to MSP from Roch to hang out with me in the airport during my layover!!!!

And so here I recycle my favorite quotes from M.J. Ryan's book Attitudes of Gratitude, on which I posted back in July of this year:

It seems to me that we often, almost sulkily, reject the good that God offers us because, at the moment, we expected some other good. -C.S. Lewis

If you haven't got all the things you want, be grateful for the things you don't have that you don't want. -Anonymous

Forgiveness leads to gratitude, and not just gratitude in general but, in a beautifully healing movement, to an outpouring of appreciation for the very things that caused such pain in the first place. Thus is our suffering redeemed.

If you look to others for fulfillment, you will never truly be fulfilled.
If your happiness depends on money, you will never be happy with yourself.
Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are.
When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.
- Lao Tzu

We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms--to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances...
-Victor Frankl

If there is to be any peace at all, it will be through being, not having. -Henry Miller

Joy is prayer.
Joy is strength.
Joy is love.
Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.
She gives most who gives with joy.
-Mother Teresa

The more light you allow within you, the brighter the world you live in will be. -Shakti Gawain

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.
It turns what we have into enough, and more.
It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion to clarity...
Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. - Melody Beattie

As you wander on through life, sister/brother, whatever be your goal, keep your eye upon the donut, and not upon the hole.
-Sign in the Mayflower Coffee Shop, Chicago

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Rocks etc

Fun weekend!

• Joined some FP residents for breakfast (I LOVE BREAKFAST) at the famous/popular Tower Cafe (assoc. with the old Tower Theater) on Saturday... pancakes were amazing!
• Worked a teeny bit Saturday at the Peds Urgent Care, where I caught one of the many viral URIs I have diagnosed in the past week. This is a bummer-- it's been a LONG time since I've been sick.
• Fell asleep watching Must Love Dogs with Kate and Amy (some things never change...), but I finished it yesterday-- pretty cute movie. As I love dogs.
• ROCK CLIMBED on Sunday. It was Amy's idea to do something as a group not involving food, so to Sacramento Pipeworks we went!

I'd only been rock climbing one time, back in college, and never learned how to belay and all that, but we all took a little class and then had fun both climbing and belaying for eachother! I am kind of wimp and had a hard time on the ones (i.e. above a 5.7) with little rocks, but it was fun! Enjoy the pics!

Starting out... Brenden looking up while Adeel looks on.

Sean, our instructor, point things out to us

With Brenden (who I did not drop!)
With Amy (who kicked my butt big time but who did a great job belaying me while I fell off walls)...like hereThere was some good climbing, though...It's a race! (Amy and Jeremy)
Amy in action

I can belay, too! Noelle (aka superfast Spiderwoman climber) and JeremyNoelle teaching Fizzah the art of knot-tying Fizzah goes up!

Here we're on at the same time

• Then, to finish a lovely Sunday, was an FP/OB dinner for the Nov. bdays.... here with Sarah

We had awesome deep dish and thin crust pizza at Chicago Fire downtown... mmm. Don't even have to brave the midwest cold for that cheesy goodness :)

(Aline, Suzanne, Sarah, me, and Kyla)

Kyla thinks I need to have people sign release forms because they end up on my blog. See if she reads this, though :) Maybe at a later date.

As for this week... I work in the peds ED tonight, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights, and then I head to MN for Thanksgiving!!! Woo-hoo (if only I could find my coat)....

Fun factoid: this blog has been going exactly one year and one day (started 11/18/06). Wonder how long it will keep going :)

Aww

These are from Erin, and the most G-rated pictures I have ever seen passed on from her aunt. How cute are these?!

Now, time for my coffee (sans chihuahua) :)