I don't know if a cruise counts as sailing exactly.
Woke up to more snow and -3C. I am should be playing softball tonight and it has warmed up to 4C. I am thinking of staying home with PJ, who is very tired from a busy week. Not sure yet what I am going to do.
Right now I am off to finish packing. I am not sure if I will blog from the ship or not.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Fun Stuff
I have been having a great time getting ready for the cruise. I am not ready in a packed with my bags by the door kind of way, but I am crossing things off of my before I leave to-do list.
I finished the socks last night. I am happy with them, the colour is wonderful the pattern was fun, but I found portions of it could have been worded more clearly.
We had another ball game tonight, it is about -2C right now so it was a cold game. We had a great time and the cows got skinned alive. I don't know if we have ever played with it this cold and clear, it hurt your hands so much to catch the ball and to bat. At least there was no rain.
Today was observation day at school for PJ and Q. I love this day and so do the kids. Parents get to go to school with the kids and we see what they learning. The kids pick activities to show us and tell us how they work and what they are learning from the activity.
I enjoy seeing the different ways in which each of my children learn and hearing what their interests are in the classroom. Wednesday we have parent teacher conferences with these two. Sebass received a great report card not to long ago and we did not do a parent teacher with him at that time. I am sure we will have one before the year is out.
(gotta love PJ's tank top)
I finished the socks last night. I am happy with them, the colour is wonderful the pattern was fun, but I found portions of it could have been worded more clearly.
We had another ball game tonight, it is about -2C right now so it was a cold game. We had a great time and the cows got skinned alive. I don't know if we have ever played with it this cold and clear, it hurt your hands so much to catch the ball and to bat. At least there was no rain.
Today was observation day at school for PJ and Q. I love this day and so do the kids. Parents get to go to school with the kids and we see what they learning. The kids pick activities to show us and tell us how they work and what they are learning from the activity.
I enjoy seeing the different ways in which each of my children learn and hearing what their interests are in the classroom. Wednesday we have parent teacher conferences with these two. Sebass received a great report card not to long ago and we did not do a parent teacher with him at that time. I am sure we will have one before the year is out.
(gotta love PJ's tank top)
Saturday, April 19, 2008
House Hunting
I was surprised when I opened my blog to post today that I had not posted since Tuesday. I have so many post ideas in my head that I can't I have not gotten any of them typed up.
It has always been one of our dreams to own a bit of property. A couple of weeks ago we saw an ad in the paper for this house on 20 acres within the city limits. It is only 7K from where we live now and on city water. We decided to go and have a look at it.
The house has great bones but is very outdated and needs a lot of love. The current owners are also asking to much for and seem to be very firm on what they want for it.
Just for kicks I did a search on the MLS web site to see if there was any similar properties available in the area. (MLS= Multiple Listing Service) I wanted to compare apples to apples if you know what I mean and see if the house we liked was as overpriced I believe it to be.
I found this house and we went to have a look at this afternoon. Bang for your buck you are getting a heck of a lot more than the first house we looked at. This house is not within the city limits and that saves on the property taxes. It also means the house is on well water and I don't think you even get garbage service. We are asking a lot of questions about the house.
Meanwhile we had a real estate agent have a look at our house to find out what we could sell it for, we also have Deb working hard for us to pre-approve us for a mortgage in the event we do decide to purchase.
All this spontaneous house hunting has kept me on my toes. I am learning an awful lot as well. I find my mind so restless with all the possibilities that I can hardly sit down for a few minutes let alone knit or blog.
It has always been one of our dreams to own a bit of property. A couple of weeks ago we saw an ad in the paper for this house on 20 acres within the city limits. It is only 7K from where we live now and on city water. We decided to go and have a look at it.
The house has great bones but is very outdated and needs a lot of love. The current owners are also asking to much for and seem to be very firm on what they want for it.
Just for kicks I did a search on the MLS web site to see if there was any similar properties available in the area. (MLS= Multiple Listing Service) I wanted to compare apples to apples if you know what I mean and see if the house we liked was as overpriced I believe it to be.
I found this house and we went to have a look at this afternoon. Bang for your buck you are getting a heck of a lot more than the first house we looked at. This house is not within the city limits and that saves on the property taxes. It also means the house is on well water and I don't think you even get garbage service. We are asking a lot of questions about the house.
Meanwhile we had a real estate agent have a look at our house to find out what we could sell it for, we also have Deb working hard for us to pre-approve us for a mortgage in the event we do decide to purchase.
All this spontaneous house hunting has kept me on my toes. I am learning an awful lot as well. I find my mind so restless with all the possibilities that I can hardly sit down for a few minutes let alone knit or blog.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
It's That Time
I barked like a cow today.
Most of you know that signifies the beginning of soft ball season.
There is some fresh meat on the Barking Cows this year (lets call them veal) and we had a great time. We won our game for the season; we are happy to have that out of the way.
We won by default, the other team had no women show up. You have to play with at least 3 women on the line up and in the field. We played out the game just for fun, they had more runs than us but we go down for the win.
When the weather warms up a bit I will take my camera with me and show you what we are up to. It was a whopping 6C today on the ball field. We had snow on the hill up behind the house last night and a couple of flurries today.
I am so ready for spring, it is usually cold around here for the time of year.
Most of you know that signifies the beginning of soft ball season.
There is some fresh meat on the Barking Cows this year (lets call them veal) and we had a great time. We won our game for the season; we are happy to have that out of the way.
We won by default, the other team had no women show up. You have to play with at least 3 women on the line up and in the field. We played out the game just for fun, they had more runs than us but we go down for the win.
When the weather warms up a bit I will take my camera with me and show you what we are up to. It was a whopping 6C today on the ball field. We had snow on the hill up behind the house last night and a couple of flurries today.
I am so ready for spring, it is usually cold around here for the time of year.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Random
I have a bunch of random for you today. I forgot to download my most recent Leafling pictures and I am at work so I will show a bunch of stuff I have been meaning to mention.
I took a bunch of pictures out the airplane window on our way home from Vegas in Feb. (I know, I know, I should have posted these long before). I like the shadows the clouds created in this one.
This one I just love the texture of the land at the bottom of the picture. I tried to get some pictures of the really snowy mountains but they all come out blurry for some reason.
Here are some of the spring break Peter Puck pictures. Q's face made me laugh out loud in this picture. It does not look like he is having a good time. I bet the poor guy that has to dress as hockey puck has the same expression on his face inside his costume.
One of the mom's or dad's at the event took the picture above and below and was kind enough to email them to Paul. I am glad for the kindness or I would have no pictures of the event. Paul was busy bench coaching. He had as much fun as the kids did. Sebass is not in the photo below, he must be on the ice.
When we were in Vegas I cast on these socks at the first say of the seminar. It was a three day gig and the socks were done at closing ceremonies. I gifted them to Theresa, who had given me the yarn for Christmas. Is that re-gifting? I knit them with no pattern, just a plain standard sort of sock.
I thought having a completed pair might make her want to finish her first socks that have been on the needles for a while. (Granted she has been busy raising babies and making new ones). I saw on her blog today she cast on for a new pair this weekend.
I took a bunch of pictures out the airplane window on our way home from Vegas in Feb. (I know, I know, I should have posted these long before). I like the shadows the clouds created in this one.
This one I just love the texture of the land at the bottom of the picture. I tried to get some pictures of the really snowy mountains but they all come out blurry for some reason.
Here are some of the spring break Peter Puck pictures. Q's face made me laugh out loud in this picture. It does not look like he is having a good time. I bet the poor guy that has to dress as hockey puck has the same expression on his face inside his costume.
One of the mom's or dad's at the event took the picture above and below and was kind enough to email them to Paul. I am glad for the kindness or I would have no pictures of the event. Paul was busy bench coaching. He had as much fun as the kids did. Sebass is not in the photo below, he must be on the ice.
When we were in Vegas I cast on these socks at the first say of the seminar. It was a three day gig and the socks were done at closing ceremonies. I gifted them to Theresa, who had given me the yarn for Christmas. Is that re-gifting? I knit them with no pattern, just a plain standard sort of sock.
I thought having a completed pair might make her want to finish her first socks that have been on the needles for a while. (Granted she has been busy raising babies and making new ones). I saw on her blog today she cast on for a new pair this weekend.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Picture Fun
I was playing with the settings on my camera a week or two ago and I thought I would share the results with you. It is the same picture over and over again with different camera settings. I hope I don't bore you with it.
The only setting I was changing on all of these pictures was white balance. This first picture is the control if you will. It was taken with the plant in full sun and the camera's white balance setting on "Sun"
This second picture I changed the white balance setting to 'shade'. This warmed the picture up a little bit, it adds a bit of pink/red to the picture. A good setting for people pictures, gives them a healthy glow.
The third photo I set on 'cloud' This warms the picture up even more, adding some orange to it. When I was taking fall leaf photos I had the camera on this setting all the time. It make the colours of the leaves richer. It gave the colour a bit more depth to me.
Incandescent (the image of a light bulb) in your white balance setting. It adds blue to the photos. The light from light bulbs is a bit yellow and I guess this is to balance that out.
Fluorescent the camera adds magenta to the picture. It is easier to see the difference in the this picture and the one above if you look at the background of the picture (upper left-hand corner)
Last but not least, the flash setting in the white balance.
Amazing how much you can change a picture with those settings. I learned about some of this in the camera class I took a few months ago. I don't know how much I retained, but it has made my pictures a bit better and helped me learn about my camera.
The only setting I was changing on all of these pictures was white balance. This first picture is the control if you will. It was taken with the plant in full sun and the camera's white balance setting on "Sun"
This second picture I changed the white balance setting to 'shade'. This warmed the picture up a little bit, it adds a bit of pink/red to the picture. A good setting for people pictures, gives them a healthy glow.
The third photo I set on 'cloud' This warms the picture up even more, adding some orange to it. When I was taking fall leaf photos I had the camera on this setting all the time. It make the colours of the leaves richer. It gave the colour a bit more depth to me.
Incandescent (the image of a light bulb) in your white balance setting. It adds blue to the photos. The light from light bulbs is a bit yellow and I guess this is to balance that out.
Fluorescent the camera adds magenta to the picture. It is easier to see the difference in the this picture and the one above if you look at the background of the picture (upper left-hand corner)
Last but not least, the flash setting in the white balance.
Amazing how much you can change a picture with those settings. I learned about some of this in the camera class I took a few months ago. I don't know how much I retained, but it has made my pictures a bit better and helped me learn about my camera.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Lucky
This is what we woke up to on Saturday morning. It was only about -1C and the snow did not stick for long. I love the snow, it is so pretty and peaceful, but I am ready for spring now.
I am not picky. I would be totally happy with 12C or 15C I am not asking for the moon here. Just a little bit of sunshine.
I got the cuff done on the lucky socks and then tried them on. I was only little bit surprised when I tried them on and they were to big. I thought about it when I read the pattern, cast on 72 st. I cast on 72 for the STR lightweight yarn for a size 10. So why on earth did I go ahead and cast on 72 for the medium weight STR? I was following the pattern. Lesson learned, again.
Next time I will listen to my brain when the pattern does not sound right to me. This is what my first sock looks like now:
Before I ripped it out I started a medium size sock (66 st) from the other end of the yarn and knit it for a while so I could try it on and make sure it was not to small. It fits perfect. Now I have a sock going from each of end of the ball.
I love the colour and the pattern seems to be pretty simple so far. The chart is well written and the instructions are clear once I got the size thing figured out.
I am not picky. I would be totally happy with 12C or 15C I am not asking for the moon here. Just a little bit of sunshine.
I got the cuff done on the lucky socks and then tried them on. I was only little bit surprised when I tried them on and they were to big. I thought about it when I read the pattern, cast on 72 st. I cast on 72 for the STR lightweight yarn for a size 10. So why on earth did I go ahead and cast on 72 for the medium weight STR? I was following the pattern. Lesson learned, again.
Next time I will listen to my brain when the pattern does not sound right to me. This is what my first sock looks like now:
Before I ripped it out I started a medium size sock (66 st) from the other end of the yarn and knit it for a while so I could try it on and make sure it was not to small. It fits perfect. Now I have a sock going from each of end of the ball.
I love the colour and the pattern seems to be pretty simple so far. The chart is well written and the instructions are clear once I got the size thing figured out.
Friday, April 04, 2008
Coming Along
My socks seem to be coming along. I keep wondering if I am going to run out of yarn before the socks are finished. I think I will make it.
Today was a wonderful day. The kids played 'adventure' together all afternoon without fighting once. I ran into Mom online and chatted with her for a long while, then I called my sister and had a chat with her. I was even lucky enough to catch Dad at Shannon's place and got to say hello to him too.
Today was a wonderful day. The kids played 'adventure' together all afternoon without fighting once. I ran into Mom online and chatted with her for a long while, then I called my sister and had a chat with her. I was even lucky enough to catch Dad at Shannon's place and got to say hello to him too.
Thursday, April 03, 2008
WTF Photos
Pardon my language, but it seemed right for the post today.
As I looked through the pictures of the party on Saturday night and I came across several of them that made me think WTF. So I thought I would share the experience with all of you.
I spent most of the day playing with kids Thursdays are our crazy days but we sure have a good time with them.
I signed up on Ravelry yesterday and spent a little time surfing there today. There is a so much to check out!
As I looked through the pictures of the party on Saturday night and I came across several of them that made me think WTF. So I thought I would share the experience with all of you.
I spent most of the day playing with kids Thursdays are our crazy days but we sure have a good time with them.
I signed up on Ravelry yesterday and spent a little time surfing there today. There is a so much to check out!
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Beer Bong
It's not all sticks and string around here. Occasionally its beer bong time. These pictures will make Paul's mom so proud.
Paul has been playing in the city Hockey league and having a great time with it. He keeps telling me he is the worst player on the team and that he is having a great time. He is pretty new to hockey and there are some guys in the league that have been playing all their lives and seem to be quite good at it.
Last Tuesday his team won the league championship. Saturday night they celebrated at our house. This means lots of testosterone and lots of of booze.
The team was great, different people were stopping by all day Saturday with beer (a kegerator) and lots of eats, one of the guys went to costco and bought tons of food. Paul and I did not have to anything but open the door as they showed up and provide a garbage can for the empties.
I have lots of great pictures of drunken men I am going to share with you my favorite. Mike (a pharmacist ironically) brought a beer bong and loaded it up for Paul. When Mike open the valve on the beer bong he accidentally pulled the hose out of Paul's mouth. The following mess resulted:
you should click on the pictures to make them bigger, they get better when they are big.
Paul has been playing in the city Hockey league and having a great time with it. He keeps telling me he is the worst player on the team and that he is having a great time. He is pretty new to hockey and there are some guys in the league that have been playing all their lives and seem to be quite good at it.
Last Tuesday his team won the league championship. Saturday night they celebrated at our house. This means lots of testosterone and lots of of booze.
The team was great, different people were stopping by all day Saturday with beer (a kegerator) and lots of eats, one of the guys went to costco and bought tons of food. Paul and I did not have to anything but open the door as they showed up and provide a garbage can for the empties.
I have lots of great pictures of drunken men I am going to share with you my favorite. Mike (a pharmacist ironically) brought a beer bong and loaded it up for Paul. When Mike open the valve on the beer bong he accidentally pulled the hose out of Paul's mouth. The following mess resulted:
you should click on the pictures to make them bigger, they get better when they are big.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Lucky
I love the latest STR kit. I am not sure if I would have bought yarn this colour if I where browsing a yarn shop, but now that I have it I really like it.
I love the whole idea of it. The yarn is called Lucky. The way things have been going I think we can all use a little luck. I plan to knit these with lots of positive thoughts and with luck in mind. Shannon will you please post a picture of yours too, I notice sometimes they are dyed differently and I would love to see yours.
I am thinking of setting a little goal for myself. Do you think I can finish the socks I have on the needles and my lucky pair before our cruise?
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Finishing Weekend
I spent a fair bit of this past weekend doing a bunch of finishing. Paul and I spent an entire day (I thought it would take 2) finishing the ceiling painting.
Mid-winter I had done the dinning room and kitchen, but I stopped in the hallways. Saturday Paul and I did all the hallways and we did our big front room. I am glad to have the front room done, a portion of it is about 12 feet high at the peak. I was so glad to have Paul's help on this part. He climbed the ladder and did all the highest work for me. He also used his long reach to do the part over the stairwell. So glad that is done. Now I need to think about painting the walls in the hallways.
More importantly:
My finished sweater having a bath. It is still a little damp from the blocking and I have to confess. I have not sewn up the two seams yet. The only thing left is to seam from wrist to shoulder on both sides and then it will be time to find the buttons.
We also puzzled all weekend long. The red was the hardest part. I felt like the puzzle was pretty hard, but when I think about it it came together pretty fast. There were 5 of us working on though.
Two close-ups for APL:
Should I drop it in the mail for someone else to try?
Mid-winter I had done the dinning room and kitchen, but I stopped in the hallways. Saturday Paul and I did all the hallways and we did our big front room. I am glad to have the front room done, a portion of it is about 12 feet high at the peak. I was so glad to have Paul's help on this part. He climbed the ladder and did all the highest work for me. He also used his long reach to do the part over the stairwell. So glad that is done. Now I need to think about painting the walls in the hallways.
More importantly:
My finished sweater having a bath. It is still a little damp from the blocking and I have to confess. I have not sewn up the two seams yet. The only thing left is to seam from wrist to shoulder on both sides and then it will be time to find the buttons.
We also puzzled all weekend long. The red was the hardest part. I felt like the puzzle was pretty hard, but when I think about it it came together pretty fast. There were 5 of us working on though.
Two close-ups for APL:
Should I drop it in the mail for someone else to try?
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Easter
We went Deb's house for the annual Easter Egg hunt. What a good time we all had. They are on half an acre and they hide eggs all over the place. This year the kids even found couple that they missed last year.
I love this picture of the boys of the boys hunting together. There were at least 12 kids hunting plastic eggs filled with goodies. At the end of the hunt all kids empty the treats into one great big bowl and they are divided up equally. I love the system, it is fair and the kids are into it so everyone is happy.
Wren went a-hunting for more than eggs. She had me laughing so hard, here she is putting a old ear of corn into her basket.
Not to long ago I was complaining to mom about not having any family here and how hard that can be sometimes. As we all sat around the table with the kids I realized that I do have family here.
After the Easter Egg hunt we took Sebass out for his first dirt bike ride. He had a bit of a rought start. Paul told him to wait for minute and he would show him how to ride it. Paul turned his back and Sebass hopped on the bike and took off. Needless to say he had his first fall and was a little cautious to get back on.
He did get get back on and took his time and paid attention to what Paul had to say after that. He did a good job for his first time out. The bike is very small and gutless, perfect in my book.
I can't tell if he is having fun in this picture or if he is scared out of his wits. What do you think?
I love this picture of the boys of the boys hunting together. There were at least 12 kids hunting plastic eggs filled with goodies. At the end of the hunt all kids empty the treats into one great big bowl and they are divided up equally. I love the system, it is fair and the kids are into it so everyone is happy.
Wren went a-hunting for more than eggs. She had me laughing so hard, here she is putting a old ear of corn into her basket.
Not to long ago I was complaining to mom about not having any family here and how hard that can be sometimes. As we all sat around the table with the kids I realized that I do have family here.
After the Easter Egg hunt we took Sebass out for his first dirt bike ride. He had a bit of a rought start. Paul told him to wait for minute and he would show him how to ride it. Paul turned his back and Sebass hopped on the bike and took off. Needless to say he had his first fall and was a little cautious to get back on.
He did get get back on and took his time and paid attention to what Paul had to say after that. He did a good job for his first time out. The bike is very small and gutless, perfect in my book.
I can't tell if he is having fun in this picture or if he is scared out of his wits. What do you think?
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Catching Up
Today Paul worked and I got to catch up with the kids. We had a great time together until I ran out of patience.
For some reason they are all amped up and over tired. They played 6 games of hockey in 3 days and they played full ice. The kids team won all 6 of their games. They did not have a 1st place team or second ect. in the tournament. Every one who participated got a t-shirt and medal and a goodie bag. The whole thing was about having fun and not about winning. Pretty cool.
Speaking of goodies, Angie Peg Leg sent me a little care package. She spoiled us with some Peeps and a great puzzle. It is one of those mosaic puzzles, (like your mickey mouse Shannon) I picked a bit at Shannon's when I was in Ca. but I have never tried on by myself.
The kids are quite the puzzlers and they have been waiting for me to open it so they could put it together. Sebass is really quite good at puzzles. He helped me with it for a long time. After an hour or so he had put in a fair number of pieces. He was so proud of himself he put in one piece and said, "Mom! Did you see that I put in another one, I must be genius!!!"
I laughed so hard. Thank you Angie, you sent us a great puzzle! And the laugh with Sebass...priceless.
For some reason they are all amped up and over tired. They played 6 games of hockey in 3 days and they played full ice. The kids team won all 6 of their games. They did not have a 1st place team or second ect. in the tournament. Every one who participated got a t-shirt and medal and a goodie bag. The whole thing was about having fun and not about winning. Pretty cool.
Speaking of goodies, Angie Peg Leg sent me a little care package. She spoiled us with some Peeps and a great puzzle. It is one of those mosaic puzzles, (like your mickey mouse Shannon) I picked a bit at Shannon's when I was in Ca. but I have never tried on by myself.
The kids are quite the puzzlers and they have been waiting for me to open it so they could put it together. Sebass is really quite good at puzzles. He helped me with it for a long time. After an hour or so he had put in a fair number of pieces. He was so proud of himself he put in one piece and said, "Mom! Did you see that I put in another one, I must be genius!!!"
I laughed so hard. Thank you Angie, you sent us a great puzzle! And the laugh with Sebass...priceless.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Quickie
I like a good quickie now and again, don't you???
I only have a couple of minutes Paul and I have been invited to the season end Blazer dinner. We are the team chiropractors so we get a free ticket every year. Can't miss a meal that I don't have to cook or pay for.
We are enjoying our spring break so far, we spent a lazy day playing games with kids yesterday and today Paul took the kids to their first hockey tournament. It is a fun little spring break camp, they play 2 games a day, all three kids are on the same team. Paul is bench coaching them during the three camp so I will be working a little extra this week. I don't mind, I think Paul needs a little breather.
Good news about our medical community, two doctors in town, one a neurosurgeon called us to apologize for not coming to our open house and both have made arrangements to come visit our office on Wed to see what we do and learn more about the SpineMed Decompression table. Slowly restoring my faith in humanity.
Now if I can babysitter to help Paul so I can cruise stress free that would be wonderful. (I have not registered online yet, I was hoping to on my lunch today but ran out of time)
I only have a couple of minutes Paul and I have been invited to the season end Blazer dinner. We are the team chiropractors so we get a free ticket every year. Can't miss a meal that I don't have to cook or pay for.
We are enjoying our spring break so far, we spent a lazy day playing games with kids yesterday and today Paul took the kids to their first hockey tournament. It is a fun little spring break camp, they play 2 games a day, all three kids are on the same team. Paul is bench coaching them during the three camp so I will be working a little extra this week. I don't mind, I think Paul needs a little breather.
Good news about our medical community, two doctors in town, one a neurosurgeon called us to apologize for not coming to our open house and both have made arrangements to come visit our office on Wed to see what we do and learn more about the SpineMed Decompression table. Slowly restoring my faith in humanity.
Now if I can babysitter to help Paul so I can cruise stress free that would be wonderful. (I have not registered online yet, I was hoping to on my lunch today but ran out of time)
Friday, March 14, 2008
Medical Community?
I think everyone knows that we have a Decompression machine at the office; Decompression is the newest technology to treat ruptured/bulging disks of both the lumbar and cervical spine. It is a non-surgical technique to heal these problems, it is incredibly effective (around 88%-91% the exact number is not coming to head right now) and non-invasive.
We have spent the past several weeks putting together information packages and delivering them to all the medical offices in our area. Our goal has been to educate the medical community how to take care of these patients without meds or surgery. We sent out over 128 packages, some of which were hand delivered. We followed up with phone calls and an invitation to our office to come and check out what exactly decompression is and check out the Spine-Med table.
We asked the doctors to RSVP and we sent out faxes reminding them the day before they event. We had only 2 doctors RSVP and less than 10 doctors show up. All that showed were chiropractors like ourselves, a physio and a massage therapist. We had several of our patients that have gone through the treatment protocol in attendance so that they could share their experience and answer any questions that might come up re pt care in our office.
One part of me is so positive about what we did, I think any energy we put out to educate our community is great. Another part of me is disappointed with our local medical community. If I had the chance go into every doctor office in my area and meet the doctor and learn what he/she is about and how they practice and what their medical philosophy is, I would jump on it. It would make me a better doctor. I would be able to refer my patients to the right practitioner for their individual needs when I needed to do so. We would all provide our patients with a higher level of patient care if we knew one and other and opened the doors to discuss our cases working together to get our patients well and keep them well.
When I look back at the last paragraph I think, utopia. It will never happen. Then I think about the way our office works. There are a few MD's in town that refer us patients on a regular basis. When this occurs, we treat the pt. for a bit and then we send the referring MD a letter. We talk about how the pt. first presented to our office, our exam findings, our treatment protocol and how the pt. is doing after x number of visits. This is not utopia, this is standard opperating procedure in our office.
Is really so hard to open the door and create relationships in the medical community? We can't be the only doctors in town looking for the best way to treat our patients...so why didn't more doctors show up? Really the term 'medical community' is a misnomer if we don't take the time learn about one and other and use each others strengths to benefit our patients
We have spent the past several weeks putting together information packages and delivering them to all the medical offices in our area. Our goal has been to educate the medical community how to take care of these patients without meds or surgery. We sent out over 128 packages, some of which were hand delivered. We followed up with phone calls and an invitation to our office to come and check out what exactly decompression is and check out the Spine-Med table.
We asked the doctors to RSVP and we sent out faxes reminding them the day before they event. We had only 2 doctors RSVP and less than 10 doctors show up. All that showed were chiropractors like ourselves, a physio and a massage therapist. We had several of our patients that have gone through the treatment protocol in attendance so that they could share their experience and answer any questions that might come up re pt care in our office.
One part of me is so positive about what we did, I think any energy we put out to educate our community is great. Another part of me is disappointed with our local medical community. If I had the chance go into every doctor office in my area and meet the doctor and learn what he/she is about and how they practice and what their medical philosophy is, I would jump on it. It would make me a better doctor. I would be able to refer my patients to the right practitioner for their individual needs when I needed to do so. We would all provide our patients with a higher level of patient care if we knew one and other and opened the doors to discuss our cases working together to get our patients well and keep them well.
When I look back at the last paragraph I think, utopia. It will never happen. Then I think about the way our office works. There are a few MD's in town that refer us patients on a regular basis. When this occurs, we treat the pt. for a bit and then we send the referring MD a letter. We talk about how the pt. first presented to our office, our exam findings, our treatment protocol and how the pt. is doing after x number of visits. This is not utopia, this is standard opperating procedure in our office.
Is really so hard to open the door and create relationships in the medical community? We can't be the only doctors in town looking for the best way to treat our patients...so why didn't more doctors show up? Really the term 'medical community' is a misnomer if we don't take the time learn about one and other and use each others strengths to benefit our patients
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Pot Party
A patient of ours invited us to pot party on Sunday night. That is a cooking pot party not the smoke it if you have it kind of pot. I have to say the pot party was so fun that we are going to have one of our own in 2 weeks or so.
Are you all wondering what a pot party is???? It is all about Saladmaster pots. (I hope I spelled that right) They are a specially designed cooking pots and pans made out of surgical grade steel. They are made of metal with no impurities to contaminate your cooking. The same metal that is used for hip and knee replacements.
For the party a rep/cook from company comes to your house, brings the raw food and cooks it up for you and 6 guests using the pots and a cooking technique with no oil, no butter and no salt and pepper. They serve you dinner and do the dishes. You get a hostess gift every time you have a party and there is no obligation to purchase the pots.
The pots are crazy expensive but the free dinner party in your own home that you don't have to cook...priceless. The dinner party we went to was fun and informative and there was no hard sell to buy them. They do ask you to book a party so you can get the word out for them and of course you can buy the pots if you like.
The salesperson/cook told us stories about people who have earned the whole set by having dinner parties and never purchased a piece of cookware. I am ready to sign up for that plan. Free food and free pots???? It sounds to good to be true.
We are hosting out first pot party in a couple of weeks, I will let you know how it goes. Next time you come to visit, expect a pot party in your honor. I am going for the whole set.
Are you all wondering what a pot party is???? It is all about Saladmaster pots. (I hope I spelled that right) They are a specially designed cooking pots and pans made out of surgical grade steel. They are made of metal with no impurities to contaminate your cooking. The same metal that is used for hip and knee replacements.
For the party a rep/cook from company comes to your house, brings the raw food and cooks it up for you and 6 guests using the pots and a cooking technique with no oil, no butter and no salt and pepper. They serve you dinner and do the dishes. You get a hostess gift every time you have a party and there is no obligation to purchase the pots.
The pots are crazy expensive but the free dinner party in your own home that you don't have to cook...priceless. The dinner party we went to was fun and informative and there was no hard sell to buy them. They do ask you to book a party so you can get the word out for them and of course you can buy the pots if you like.
The salesperson/cook told us stories about people who have earned the whole set by having dinner parties and never purchased a piece of cookware. I am ready to sign up for that plan. Free food and free pots???? It sounds to good to be true.
We are hosting out first pot party in a couple of weeks, I will let you know how it goes. Next time you come to visit, expect a pot party in your honor. I am going for the whole set.
Friday, March 07, 2008
Hell of a Week
I feel like this week has been a little rough around the edges. Stress levels have been a little high around here. Paul has been feeling pressure at the office and he is bringing it home with him. He has been short tempered and the kids and I seem to have responded in kind.
We spent a bit of time this talking as family and trying to get everyone on board with doing their part to make things a bit easier around here. The kids are doing their chores with no more whining, Paul is trying to be more patient and I am trying to spend a bit more of my time at home playing with the kids.
I had a nasty experience on Tuesday afternoon. I was on the way to pick up the kids at a friends house and then I was to pick up Sebass at school. I stopped at the stop sign at the bottom of the hill and looked both ways before crossing the highway and turning left.
As I made my left-hand turn I glanced in my side view mirror to keep my eye on the semi-trailer that was going up the highway. I saw him start to fishtail and lose control of his truck and then I heard the crunch of metal hitting metal.
It seems that the woman who stopped behind me at the stop sign did not look both ways before crossing the highway and she pulled out in front of the semi-truck. I saw what was left of her car and I had nothing but dread in my belly as I figured I was first on scene and have enough medical knowledge to be of help.
I was so afraid of what I would find I took a couple of deep breaths before I got out of vehicle. As I walked across the highway I could not believe it when I saw the driver of the car standing on the side of the road with not a mark on her. I was shocked that someone had walked away from this accident. The woman was in shock, she had no idea what had happened and only complained of knee pain. As I took her hand and looked into her eyes I realized that I knew her. She lives two doors up the street from me. Can you imagine???!
The driver of the truck was out and walking around he was so concerned for the woman in car I don't know he had paid any attention to his own body. I don't really know to much about what happened from here, a couple of other people pulled over to help. I waited until medical attention arrived, made sure another witness had my contact information for the police report.
The woman in the accident has a daughter that goes to school with my oldest. She asked me if I would let he daughter know she had been in accident and make sure that her daughter got home safely and her husband was informed about what was happening.
I have seen accidents before, but nothing like this one. I am telling you it is nothing short of a miracle that everyone walked away.
On the lighter side:
We have had a little trouble with our online service. We did an upgrade on our internet service and it has sucked since. We had tech support have a look at it and we seem to be up and running better than ever.
We spent a bit of time this talking as family and trying to get everyone on board with doing their part to make things a bit easier around here. The kids are doing their chores with no more whining, Paul is trying to be more patient and I am trying to spend a bit more of my time at home playing with the kids.
I had a nasty experience on Tuesday afternoon. I was on the way to pick up the kids at a friends house and then I was to pick up Sebass at school. I stopped at the stop sign at the bottom of the hill and looked both ways before crossing the highway and turning left.
As I made my left-hand turn I glanced in my side view mirror to keep my eye on the semi-trailer that was going up the highway. I saw him start to fishtail and lose control of his truck and then I heard the crunch of metal hitting metal.
It seems that the woman who stopped behind me at the stop sign did not look both ways before crossing the highway and she pulled out in front of the semi-truck. I saw what was left of her car and I had nothing but dread in my belly as I figured I was first on scene and have enough medical knowledge to be of help.
I was so afraid of what I would find I took a couple of deep breaths before I got out of vehicle. As I walked across the highway I could not believe it when I saw the driver of the car standing on the side of the road with not a mark on her. I was shocked that someone had walked away from this accident. The woman was in shock, she had no idea what had happened and only complained of knee pain. As I took her hand and looked into her eyes I realized that I knew her. She lives two doors up the street from me. Can you imagine???!
The driver of the truck was out and walking around he was so concerned for the woman in car I don't know he had paid any attention to his own body. I don't really know to much about what happened from here, a couple of other people pulled over to help. I waited until medical attention arrived, made sure another witness had my contact information for the police report.
The woman in the accident has a daughter that goes to school with my oldest. She asked me if I would let he daughter know she had been in accident and make sure that her daughter got home safely and her husband was informed about what was happening.
I have seen accidents before, but nothing like this one. I am telling you it is nothing short of a miracle that everyone walked away.
On the lighter side:
We have had a little trouble with our online service. We did an upgrade on our internet service and it has sucked since. We had tech support have a look at it and we seem to be up and running better than ever.
Monday, March 03, 2008
MakeUp Case
I out grew my old make-up case a little while ago. My addiction to Bare Minerals is perhaps a bit out of control. Maybe not, the stuff lasts forever and I only buy a bit here and there...
I ordered a make-up case from the same web site that Shannon got hers. I think that mine might be a little bit different. Shannon, I can't remember if yours has that double decker slide out thing on both sides or just one. Mine has a double-decker on one side and a tall one on the other.
I was a bit surprised when I moved into the mew case and I was able to fill it up. You should have seen Paul's eyes pop out of his head when he saw it all open and full. He wise enough not to say anything, he just popped his eyes back in, gave his head a shake and walked away.
I was a bit afraid that those of you that are not familiar with Bare Minerals would think with all the make-up I own I must look like a clown. I don't. I took this quick self-portrait the same day I took the pictures of the make-up case-Friday? I was on the way out the door to Costco and wearing my everyday face. I have even have on a bit of eyeshadow (gold I think) but BE is so sheer that you would have to try very hard to cake it on.
(Are all self taken photos a little weird or is it just me?)
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Bikes and Ghosts
This bike is on display at Treasure Island in Las Vegas. I had to take a picture of it for mom and Darryl. I think she is named Siren but I could be wrong.
The picture bellow is of the ship in front of Treasure Island. I think it is pretty. Oddly enough the picture above is not TI, I have no idea which hotel it is, I just liked the lighting in the photo.
Trump Tower:
I was playing with my flash when I took this picture of Q, obviously I have a lot to learn about flash photography. I think the image is kind of artsy and ghost-like. I could not reproduce it if I tried.
The picture bellow is of the ship in front of Treasure Island. I think it is pretty. Oddly enough the picture above is not TI, I have no idea which hotel it is, I just liked the lighting in the photo.
Trump Tower:
I was playing with my flash when I took this picture of Q, obviously I have a lot to learn about flash photography. I think the image is kind of artsy and ghost-like. I could not reproduce it if I tried.
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