"The One Where...Life is a Gift"

As I read everyone elses blogs, I admire that they are always so short & neat and then there are mine - long and lengthy! So I apologize ahead of time for yet another long blog!

So, as most of you know, the many duties of my job include taking call. I absolutely dread hearing that pager go off at 2am and having to crawl out of my warm, comfy bed and rush off to the hospital. Once I get there and we end up saving someone's life because they are suffering a severe heart attack makes it all worth it in the end. However, nothing irritates me more than getting called in for a coke-head who has snorted too much cocaine and who arrives in cardiac arrest. Then I go home even more pissed than I was before I was woke up at 2am! And those cokeheads ALWAYS survive - just to be released to go back out into the world and snort the rest of their life away!

The only time I don't mind being called in is for a brain-dead patient who is about to become an organ donor. We do a cardiac cath on every organ donor in the hospital before they are taken off of life support. The reason is we need to make sure the donor heart doesn't have clogged arteries as well as muscle damage before it is transplanted into someone else. It is a bittersweet situation - you have someone who is basically dead with family & friends losing a loved one. On the other hand, they are saving someone elses life and providing their family & friends more time with their loved one. It is always a different "aura" in the room when we do procedures on these patients. I can't explain it, but I would like to think it is because the patients' spirit is looking down upon us & watching over us. It is always surprisingly calm & quiet during the procedure. Eerie, I know!

This exact scenario happened to me 2 weeks ago. It was 1:30am and the pager went off. I did my usual grumble, called the hospital operator and all she told me was a name and the doctor doing the procedure. I then made my way to the hospital. When we get there we are given all the info on the patient. It ended up being a man in his 30's who had gotten into a fight outside a bar. He was punched, hit the pavement and hit the exact spot in the back of the head that will stop your breathing instantly - the brain stem. It was a very sad situation. He was young, just recently married, out for an innocent evening with his buddies and there he was - his life over in an instant. His heart ended up being very healthy, of course and he was taken immediately from our procedure room to the OR to have his organs harvested. I didn't end up driving home mad this time. In fact, I was very sad and bothered that such a young man's life had been taken from his wife, his family and his friends.

This past Friday, I received a letter as did the rest of the cath team that worked on this young man. It was from the Midwest Transplant Network. It started by thanking us for being in this man's care and then told us how this man's death resulted in 5 peoples lives being saved through his organ donation:
-a man in Wichita received his heart
-a woman & teenage boy received his kidneys
-a woman in Chicago received his lungs
-a man in St. Louis received his liver
-a woman received his corneas
-the pancreas was donated for islet cell research that will help insulin-dependent diabetics make their own insulin
-his skin will benefit burn victims
-numerous patients benefited through the donation of his tissues, bone and bone marrow

After you read how one man's life can change so many others lives is the rewarding part of my job - even after having to get up at 2am to come in. Life is truly a gift and ironically, sometimes so is death.

I am proud to say I am an organ donor and have been for many years. I'm not sure how you all feel about organ donation but if you aren't an organ donor and want to know more about it or how you can sign up, please visit the following link: http://organdonor.gov

"The purpose of life is not to be happy - but to matter, to be productive, to be useful, to have it make some difference that you have lived at all." ~Leo Rosten

"The One With...What Happens in Vegas..."

Hello all! Sorry it has taken me so long to write an update. Since we have been back from vacation I have had stuff going on each evening so I've been working on an update each day here at work.

To all those who have been asking - YES, vacation was awesome and a good time was had by all! We returned Monday night from 6 fun-filled days/nights from the city that never sleeps - VEGAS! Our next door neighbors joined us on Friday and flew back with us on Monday. We had so much fun with them on this trip that we vowed to make it an annual event every September just as they do!

Here is a summary of our vacation for your reading enjoyment:

WEDNESDAY:

We arrived into Vegas around 8am, got our rental car and away we went. We drove out of the airport and cruised the strip in search of our hotel - Treasure Island. We arrived around 9:30am and were told check-in was at 11am so we decided to head to IHOP for breakfast then later to Hoover Dam and then come back to check in.

Hoover Dam was amazing! I found it fascinating that this incredible monument was man-made! When you stand next to it, the size is unimaginable. Here are some facts I learned about the dam during our tour: it is over 70-stories tall, the top of the dam is more than 1,200 feet long, at the base, it is 660 feet thick and at the top it is 45 feet thick. The water on the Lake Mead side is more than 500 feet deep, and the lake holds a total of 10 trillion gallons of water. Also, the dam provides electricty (via hydropower) to Arizona (19%), Nevada (24%), and Southern California (56%). Surprisingly, Las Vegas, which has an obvious need for alot of electricity, only gets about 4% of its power from the Hoover Dam.

After our tour of the dam, we figured we would drive to the Grand Canyon and check out the West Rim since it was only 90 miles away. Little did we know it would end up being the roadtrip from hell!

The picture to the left is the view of the entire trip - nothing but cactus trees, desert and Indian territory. Thank goodness we had a full tank of gas and a bathroom break before we took off - not a building in site for miles! It took FOREVER to get to the turn off for the West Rim. It appeared to be a nicely grated gravel scenic road but 2 miles into it turned out to be a different story. 23 miles of winding, rough, rocky terrain later, we finally hit another paved road. Only 5 more miles to the West Rim. We pulled up to the parking attendant and were asked to pay $20 to park - nothing to see, just to park - then we were told that in order to see the Grand Canyon we would have to take a 20 minute bus ride that would cost us each $25 and if we wanted to walk out onto the lookout at the West Rim it would cost another $30. That is a total of $75/person which we were told nothing about before we went on this roadtrip from hell. Now I'm pissed and Shane is beyond livid because we just drove all this way on their hellacious roads because they are too much of a cheap ass to pave them and now they want to charge us $150 to see something that was put there by God?!? He literally told them what they could do with their tour and with that said we made our way back to Vegas. This is considered a "good" section of the road we drove on for 45 miles (roundtrip) at 15 miles/hr:

THURSDAY: Our first official day on the strip. We made sure to put on our walking shoes before we ventured out and by the end of the day we were glad to have had them. We were in and out of several different hotels taking it all in and ended up eating dinner at a Brazilian Steakhouse which was awesome. The servers went around the room with 14 different skewers of grilled meat and 5 different kinds of seafood which we thoroughly enjoyed. After stuffing ourselves silly, we headed to the Luxor to see the Carrot-Top comedy show. This ended up being an excellent show! We have never laughed as hard as we did that night. That guy is hilarious with all his props and stories - a definite must-see!

FRIDAY: By now, we are finding out that our nights seem to get later and later and our mornings we are sleeping in much longer! We ended up sleeping right through breakfast and managed to get up and ready by lunch time. We made our way to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch, toured all the rock-n-roll memorabilia and headed back to the strip for some more sight-seeing.

Today was the first day we saw the Bellagio fountains. I was quite fascinated by them and could have stood there all day watching. We took several pictures along with video and Shane had to literally drag me away. I made sure we came back at night so we could see them once more...and again for the next 2 days :)

Later that night we attended our first real show at the Bellagio: Cirque de Soleil "O". Words can't describe how awesome this show was. We were mesmorized throughout the entire performance and was sad that it had to end. Once you experience it, you will spend the rest of your night wondering "just how did they do that???" It was quite pricey of a show but worth every penny!

SATURDAY: Again, we found ourselves sleeping in late :) We got up in time to meet our neighbors' Brian and Julie along with their 2 friends at Margaritaville for lunch and enjoyed the atmosphere of the Jimmy Buffet bar & grill. Our afternoon consisted of more sight-seeing and I even managed to get Shane to do some clothes shopping at the Forum Shops at Caesers Palace - which ended up being a GREAT place for shopping and people watching.

That evening, we joined our neighbors for a show called Legends in Concert. It wasn't the best show we saw in Vegas but was quite entertaining. We watched performances by incredible look-a-like and sound-a-like superstars such as Jay Leno, Elvis Presley, Donna Summer, Tom Jones and The Blues Brothers. Afterwards, we headed to old downtown Vegas on Fremont Street to take part in the "Downtown Experience" which was really neat. We enjoyed cheap food and cheap entertainment on the four-block long 90-foot canopy above us which features state-of-the-art LED technology where 12.5 million bulbs deliver picture quality and clarity videos above you. It was definitely worth the drive to see it...I highly recommend it!

SUNDAY: This was the morning that I treated myself while Shane slept in. Me & the girls all met at 9am & spent the morning at the Qua Spa in Caeser's Palace. We started our morning off with a massage and then 2 hours in the spa itself which consisted of 2 different saunas, 3 Roman baths with different temperatures, an Arctic Ice room, marble chaise lounge chairs that heated as you laid in them, a warming closet to hang your robe in while in the jacuzzi's and overhead rain showers. It was the most relaxing 3 hours ever and I didn't want to leave! I walked out of there feeling like a new woman! I will definitely be coming back to this place next year. Maybe I can even get Shane to join me?!? :)

After I returned from the spa, Shane & I headed to the Stratosphere to check out the sites of the city from the top. Shane wasn't very excited to be up there and I soon discovered my husband has a fear of heights. As I'm walking along the edge of the observation deck taking pictures & enjoying the view, I notice Shane keeping very close to the inside wall. He did enjoy watching the people experience the rides on the top of the Stratosphere and we both agreed that there was NO way we were making an attempt to ride any of them.

Later that night, we met our neighbors and friends at the Rio for one of the best buffets ever. Afterwards, we watched the local attraction there called Masquerade Show in the Sky which consists of performers, dancers, five floats that move along a track hanging from the sky, elaborate costumes and booty-shaking music. Beads are thrown to the crowd Mardi Gras style - without having to lift your shirt :) It was SO much fun to watch and participate in! Here is video to give you an idea:

After the Masquerade Show, Shane and I had tickets to see the magicians Penn & Teller. It was a GREAT show and we sat there in amazement as we watched them. Afterwards, they both hung out in the lobby meeting guests, signing autographs and taking pictures with fans. After the show, we headed back to our hotel, stopped for ice cream and made our way to the front of Treasure Island to watch the "Sirens of TI" pirate show. We were sad it was our last night of vacation but were both ready to get back home to the dogs and our own bed.

MONDAY: Shane and I enjoyed the breakfast buffet at TI before leaving for the airport. We managed to get the rental car dropped off and boarded our flight without any trouble at all. It was a smooth ride up until we crossed the mountains over Colorado. You know it's bad when the pilot asks the flight attendents to discontinue the beverage service and take their seats. After about 30 long, tense, bumpy minutes, it was smooth sailing the rest of the way into Kansas City. When we got home we were greeted with butt wiggles, slobbery kisses and tons of love which was the best!

And that my friends, are details of our wonderful trip. We had such a good time and we are looking forward to going again next September. Sorry it ended up being such a lengthy post!

More photos from Vegas:

"The One With...An Update"

I have been getting a bunch of emails from my "peeps" wondering if I survived vacation since I haven't gotten anything up on my blog lately! Wow - it's nice to know y'all really do read it :)

We made it back late Monday night and I have been working on a vacation update all week. I will have it posted Saturday along with some pics! We had a great time but are glad to be back to reality. Vegas was fun and glamorous but very expensive!

This week I have been super busy with something going on each night - as usual. I had 2 different get-togethers with the girls for margaritas & catching up and I hosted a jewelry party on Wed evening. Sometimes I feel like my life is like a roller coaster and I just want to stop and get off for a minute :) This weekend we have NO plans other than doing some painting around the house so it will be nice to not have to go anywhere.

So check back Saturday and thanks to all who have been checking in!
Hugs...

"The One With...The Weekend Project"

This weekend we decided to take on one of the many projects on the "to-do list" around the house - tiling the entryway from our garage into the house. Whoever thought carpet would be a good thing in front of the most heavily walked-on part of the floor is an idiot. So last Sunday the project began at the Home Depot to pick out tile and supplies. Much to my surprise, the hubby agreed on the color of tile that I liked the most. And so the project began...

Throughout the week, Shane worked on the entryway little by little and by Sunday morning, it was ready for the grout. We both were on hands & knees pressing the sandy, gritty mixture in and after an hour I felt like I was a tile-grouting expert. We were both really impressed at how nice it turned out and I was even more impressed by Shane's tile-laying skills. He now thinks he is going to tile both bathroom floors as well....we will see how soon he conquers that!

Here is a before and after pic of our "project":

After we were all through with our project, we looked around at the carpet in the family room and decided it was in desperate need of being replaced sooner rather than later. The constant in & out through the garage door by us & the dogs as well as a certain someone never taking off his shoes when he comes inside :) is what prompted all of this. So this afternoon, we headed back to Home Depot to pick out new carpet for our family room. We ended up picking out a dark taupe-colored Frieze carpet and it should be installed in a few weeks. Slowly but surely, the "to-do" list is becoming smaller!

"The One Where...I Get a Ticket"

This whole day has been a dandy one! First it is pouring down rain (thanks to hurricane Gustav's left-overs), so I leave the house 15 min earlier than usual because I know all to well how KC traffic is when it rains. Then I battle the traffic on I-35 which was a nightmare. I creep along at 10 mph the ENTIRE way to the Plaza. I clock in for work 20 minutes late and the scheduler has the nerve to say to me "You should have left earlier"! Um - I left the house at 6:45am and clocked in at 8:20am - that's over an hour and a half to get here - how much earlier would you have liked me to leave the house? Besides, I wasn't the only one late! So, that was how my day began. The ending to my day didn't get any better!

As I was on my way home, battling rush hour traffic again in the pouring-down rain I see that I am in need of some fuel - wow, I just said "fuel" - I've been hanging with Shane too much :) Anyway, I always like to fill up while I am in Missouri since it is always 10+ cents cheaper/gallon! I spot the QT at 72nd/Wornall and put on my blinker to make a left-hand turn. As I wait for an opportunity to turn (since there is NO turn lane), the guy behind me is laying on his horn and doesn't quit. Now I'm getting pissed and as I turn left I flip the guy the bird. Just as I make the turn, a man in a yellow rain slicker walks out in front of my car and stops me right in the middle of the street and traffic. As he approaches my window I see it is a cop and all I can think is "oh god, I hope he didn't see me flip that guy off!?!" I roll down my window in the pouring rain and this is what went down...

O: Ma'am, do you know why that guy was honking at you?

H: Honestly? No I don't!

O: Well ma'am, you made an illegal left-hand turn and that gentleman was warning you not to turn. Can you pull over here in the QT parking lot please?

Now I feel like an idiot for flipping the guy off!

O: Ma'am, can I see your DL and proof of insurance?

H: Sir, I've been driving this way home for the last 10 years now, and I have never seen a "no left-hand turn" sign posted anywhere at this intersection.

O: Ma'am (damn, why does he keep calling me ma'am? I am feeling old) there are 3 signs posted. One there, one there and one there (as he points) and they were posted last week due to the slow down of traffic at this intersection.

After driving this street for 10 years, I am NOT looking for newly posted signs. I'm paying attention to the flippin' rush hour traffic I am driving in! Ugghhh...

So, as the officer makes his way behind my vehicle to write down all my info I take the opportunity to familiarize myself with just exactly where these signs were posted. I also look across the way and see 4 other cops flagging people over as they too made the now-illegal-left-hand-turn. They busted 7 more people in the 10 min I was sitting in that parking lot!

The officer comes back around to my passenger window, informs me of what he is giving me a ticket for, where I can pay it, and that the fine will be determined at a later date and will arrive in my mailbox in around 21 days - WTF? You don't know how much the ticket will be??? Now I'm beyond irritated! So, I bite my lip to keep from saying something I would regret later and go about my way. There were no pumps available at the QT to drive up to, so I left the parking lot (as I see 2 more cars being stopped) and make my way up Wornall to the next gas station. Not 2 blocks away from where the "incident" happened, some a-hole runs a red light and damn near hits my vehicle. He too got flipped the bird :)

Where are the damn cops now?!? :(

"The One Where...I Enjoyed The Cake"

This weekend, my girlfriend Heather (HK) and I had the pleasure of attending our dear friend Jennifers' wedding. It took place on Saturday evening out at Powell Gardens (Kingston, MO) in the chapel on the grounds. The wedding was set to start at 8pm - right before sunset - and it was the most elegant yet simple wedding I have ever been to. For anyone in KC that will be planning a wedding in the future, you must consider this place (hint hint to Meghan :)

For those of you who live in the KC area and have never been to Powell Gardens, I highly suggest you take an afternoon and go. The grounds are absolutely beautiful and the chapel alone is worth the trip! If you love gardening and enjoy nature then the drive out there is a must!

The ceremony lasted about 30 minutes and then we all headed to the reception, which was also held on the grounds. When we walked in, I first noticed the cake - which is the best part of any wedding if you ask me! It was beautifully done with a gorgeous topper and I was amazed at how tall it stood! The picture just doesn't do it justice!

During the evening, we enjoyed complimentary wine & beer and dined on shrimp, meatballs, chicken, toasted ravioli, as well as an assortment of cheeses, veggies, fruit, crackers, etc. It was yummy! Next it was time for wedding cake and let me tell you, Jen & Jason's cake didn't disappoint! It was a super moist vanilla with an almond flavored icing and they served huge pieces - which I was thankful for :) Nothing worse than getting a tiny sliver of wedding cake!

We enjoyed the evening with a few of our co-workers and managed to steal the bride away for a picture of the MAHI crew as well as a "BFF" photo: