I love Packages!

Nothing better than getting a package full of surprises, right?! Well, we are blessed to recieve them often from our sweet families. My family sent us a fun Valentine's package and I just had to post a few pictures to say thank you!

As you can see, there is something for everyone including brownies for Ryan, imported cinnamon bears straight from the mother land for me (they don't exist in Michigan), new bones for the babies, and a cute wall hanging for our house! We feel so loved! Thank you, we miss you guys!!
(Don't let these nearly perfectly positioned dogs fool you, it did take some discipline and several tries but they were rewarded for their patience) :)

For the Grandma's and Grandpa's...

even if you don't want to be called Grandma and Grandpa (you know who you are), that is what Norris and Baby think of you as :)
Life has been pretty monotonous lately, not much to blog about so I though I would add some pictures of our darling babies.

This is our backyard on a sunny winter day (sun being a rare commodity). Norris the snow bear keeps a close eye out for squirrels.
Baby prefers to keep an eye on things from inside
Besides keeping watch for squirrels and invading cats, Norris and Baby enjoy a good nap. Ryan restuffed their dog beds to make them bigger and better and boy do they love them!
You will notice Norris is modeling his ever so popular "spread eagle" sleeping position while Baby is sure that she requires both beds to get adequate rest.

All tucked in for the night (in mommy's robes)
These last few pictures are to remind me that after this bloody winter a wonderful spring, summer, and fall where the beautiful, lush Michigan returns!

Just another night in the ER

So I thought I would share some highlights of one of my recent shifts at work...

11:30pm...I was walking down the hall to the break room to have my lunch when i look down another hall and see one of our regular drunks (let's call him Tom) walking towards me in nothing but his dirty t-shirt and his hands over his goods. Here's the conversation...
Me: Tom, what are you doing?
Tom: Lookin for food
Me: Well where's your pants?
Tom: I pooped em.
Me: Huh. Well you need to go back to your room.
Tom: You know there's a magic word, it's called please. Now GO get me some food!
Me: Tom you know we dont feed you here. You can have water and crackers. This is an ER, not a resturaunt or hotel.
Tom: Well f*%& you b*&#*!
Me: Ok Tom, time to go (as I quickly dart down the hall so he doesn't chase me).

Needless to say, Tom was quickly escorted out by security just to return again the next day...

2:15am...Another frequent flyer who we will call George walks up to the triage desk with his boombox in hand and mardi gras beads around his neck. Here's what follows...
Me: Hey George, what's up?
George: I need to see a doctor. (in the meantime he is mumbling a bunch on nonsense at a rapid pace).
Me: Ok (I procede to get his medical history as he continues to ramble between answers). Hey George, are you schizophrenic?
George: (his eyes get wide) Hey, you know that word?! You're pretty smart! (ramble, ramble, ramble) Nope, not schizophrenic.
Me: (smiling) Ok. Well that's a nice boombox you've got there.
George: Yeah, my buddy gave it to me, pretty sweet huh?
Me: Sure is, okay, have a seat in the waiting room (he sits down and continues his "word salad" conversation as we smile).

3:45am...An older (and somewhat crazy) gentleman walks out of the department into the waiting room after being discharged. He takes a seat in front of us and makes friendly conversation about the nice weather and his boat and whatnot. He tells us he loves East Lansing (home of MSU) and sits in the coffee shop every morning to watch the girls walk by (we're a little creeped out now). Here's the rest...
Old guy: You know I just got out of prison.
Me: Oh, what did you do? (a bit nervous for the answer)
Old guy: Killed a guy
Me: (my coworker and I are now exchanging glances, trying not to turn beet red)
Old guy: He had it comin..tried to hurt my sister...shot him right in the face.
Me: (too shocked to say anything)
Old guy: You know it's supposed to be 50 degrees tomorrow? I think I'll take the boat out fishin.

We almost fell out of our chairs between laughing and shock.
I love my job, it's things like this that make up for the crappy stuff. Plus we get cooler stuff out here in Michigan, unfortunatley because of the drugs/alcohol prevalance. Keeps things intersting, that for sure :)