Charleston is BEAUTIFUL!

So, I got to Charleston at about 6:30pm last night (only a half hour late - not too bad considering the problems there have been with airlines lately...)

First we went to the Isle of Palms beach for a bit to get an ocean view before the sun went down.


Then we at at the Kickin' Chicken

Snow??? I need out of Minnesota...

So, I think those doomsday global warming people should have been in Minnesota last night. I can't believe I woke up to snow this morning... April 26th... ridiculous.

So, what I've been considering for the last week or so... I jumped on it today. Rose & Korey just moved to a suburb of Charlotte, NC... I'm going to go visit them. Next weekend. Turns out that they will be in Charleston, SC for a couple weeks for Korey's work... so I'm going to go visit them there instead, which works out well considering it's further south, warm, and includes the ocean. I love the ocean. And I've never been to the Carolina's... at least one more to check off on my goal of making it to all 50 states! Charleston, South Carolina here I come! (May 2-6th) Yay!

Day off...

My day off was semi-productive after I finally rolled out of bed around 10am.

I hung out with Daisy for awhile. Daisy does not like getting her picture taken.


Then I went to get my hair cut and highlighted. I struggled to get a good picture of it for you... this picture doesn't do it justice... it's pretty fun. :)


I stopped at Scheels while I was at the mall and got myself a chair to sit on outside and read in the BEAUTIFUL weather.


And, last but not least... I changed my license plates! My car has Minnesota plates for the first time! Yay!

Brownie goo...

Last night I got to hang out with Sheree, Corey, & Zach. They are so fun. After dinner Sheree and I decided we needed something sweet. So, first idea was Special K Bars... but, unfortunately there was no more Caro Syrup in their house. But, there was a box of fudge brownie mix. We decided brownies would work well too. Turns out Sheree doesn't eat eggs anymore because she's allergic to them, so she had a box of powdered egg substitute. That should work right? Well... no. The mix looked good when it was liquid... but we opened up the oven when they should have been done... and the brownies were boiling! I've never seen brownies boil. Turns out the oil kind of came to the top of the brownies... so when it cooled off Corey tried to dump the oil off the top. What we left underneath was fudgy brownie goo... but it was actually kind of yummy.




And... a week later, I finally have my Colorado pictures up for you to look at... link on the left.

Focus on the Family Medical Conference

Wonderful. This is where I've been the last few days.

I have gotten 12 hours of continuing medical education... but more importantly i got to be encouraged in my faith by hearing some big names in the Christian world who are wonderful speakers and can proclaim God's word in amazing ways.

Thursday night: John Trent, PhD

Friday morning: Henry Blackaby - who wrote http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Experiencing-God-Member-Book/Henry-T-Blackaby/e/9781415858387/?itm=3.
He said we must have an unhurried time with God every morning, and that that time is the best way to always be aware of and responsive to God's leading in your life. That was something I really needed to hear.
AND...
Del Tackett from The Truth Project.

Friday afternoon: JAMES DOBSON!!!


Friday evening: Gene Rudd, MD who is the Christian Medical and Dental Association Senior Vice President
Gene Rudd on suffering: "Is it necessary for you to know why? Or is it acceptable to know God who knows why?"

Saturday morning: Henry Blackaby again (see link above)
"In EVERYTHING you should seek to please God"
AND...
John Patrick
Dr. Patrick on how not to offend people with your thoughts or beliefs: "Never make a statement. Always ask a question. There are no politically incorrect questions."

Saturday evening: KEN HUTCHERSON
"You cannot fear and have faith at the same time - you can switch back and forth real quick - but you can't do both simultaneously.

This is just a short summary of the last couple days. It was totally worth it... if you want to know more, just ask! :)

Exploring in the Colorado Springs Area...

Yesterday was my day before the conference begins to explore the Colorado Springs Area. This morning was supposed to be as well, but unfortunately the weather did not agree, so I'm hanging out in the hotel until the conference starts at noon. Here's a synopsis of yesterday...

I started out the morning at the Garden of the Gods. It's a big area of red rocks standing upright in interesting formations. Beautiful. The sad part is that the coolest part is paved trails that you're not supposed to leave. Bummer. But there were some other areas I discovered that you can hike around.


I had to leave Garden of the Gods before I saw everything to make my reservation for the 1:20 Cog Railway ride up Pikes Peak. Here we go... you can see the peak out in front of us...


Unfortunately, we couldn't go all the way to the summit because of all the snowstorms and wind in the past week, they can't keep the tracks clear. The road hasn't been open in over a month either. So, the only way up to the top now is to hike through snow deeper than you are tall... or a helecopter. This is where we had to stop and turn around because of the snow.


Then I headed to see the ancient cliff dwellings. They were cool, but not my favorite part of the day.


Then I went back to Garden of the Gods and did a bit of hiking around and taking more pictures from the good photo opp places before the rain/sleet/snow started. I got wet getting these pictures, but it was worth it. :)


All my pictures will be up soon... you can see them using the link on your left...

Drive to Colorado Springs

Today I dropped Daisy off at a new kennel in Mankato and drove off to Colorado Springs. In the just over 13 hours alone in the car I learned a few things...

1 - My newly LASIKed eyes are still sensitive to bright sunshine.
2 - I re-discovered how yummy Little Debbie's Star Crunch. Yum.
3 - Did you know Nebraska is the "Home of Arbor Day"? How can a state be a home of a holiday? I mean... Israel could be considered the home of Christmas or Easter... but how is Nebraska the home of Arbor Day?
4 - 13 hours in the car alone is about the limit of my sanity.
5 - I really miss the mountains. I could spend a lot more time out here...
6 - Why is Jesse Ventura back in the political scene? We had enough of him in Minnesota.

Well... now some rest. Tomorrow is my day for adventuring before the start of the conference.

Goodnight.

Oh my, finally de-stressing...

So, this transition hasn't been too smooth...

Scheduling is kind of a mess, and overwhelmed me yesterday... hopefully we'll get all that worked out tomorrow. I'm just praying I get at least full-time hours every week that I don't have days I need off. Hoping at least the next couple weeks will be planned out by tomorrow.

Housing... I am moving into the Windsong Executive Townhomes this week. I'm in the GrandStay Suites until Thursday morning. Thursday morning I'll move my stuff over there... and at 10am they will deliver me furniture.

Then... I'm driving back to LaCrosse, hopefully leaving Mankato by noon on Thursday. Packing up my stuff in LaCrosse. My dad is coming down early Friday to load up his truck and trailer with my stuff. Then I'll stick around and clean, see if I can get all the cleaning done or not. I have to head out Friday evening back to Mankato, because then I work Saturday. After working Saturday I'll be heading to Mora for about 24 hours and get stuff unpacked and see my family for Easter.

Whoo... In a week I think life may finally be somewhat normal. I hope the transition isn't this rough with every new assignment.

Arrived in Mankato...

So, I arrived in Mankato today. My condo was not quite ready, so I'm at the GrandStay Suites for a few days or a week until the condo is ready. It's nice, small... but nice. The challenge is going to be getting Daisy to stay quiet enough to not get us kicked out... the rules say dogs are supposed to be "Quiet (no barking or whining) at all times." That may be a challenge for Daisy. I feel mean, but the bark collar may just have to stay on. So, I have about 36 hours here with Daisy to convince her that she can't bark at the noises in the hallway. Right now she's relaxing at my feet. She's a good dog in general... but barking is one of her faults.

Monday I start at Mankato Clinic's urgent care. And hopefully I'll get a schedule for at least the next couple weeks so I can plan when I'm going to get back to La Crosse to finish packing and get moved out of that apartment before the end of the month.

No work on Friday?

So, today was supposed to be the day that the fancy laser machine made me see. The apparently the fancy laser machine didn't want to work yesterday. It couldn't be repaired until today. So they canceled my appointment. Tear. Like everyone keeps saying... at least it didn't break while they had my eye sliced open. So, now I have the day off. Well, except that I had to drive 40 miles to pee in a cup for a urine drug screen for my new job. Joy. Now I'm packing and trying to sell stuff on craigslist so I don't have to store everything. Tonight I'm going out to dinner with some friends. Yay. I think I need a nap first.

Mike Huckabee -- Faith. Family. Freedom.

Agree with me or not... but today is a sad day knowing that Mike Huckabee is out of the race. I have been a Huckabee supporter since last spring when I first heard about him and his desire to be our president. He made it further with little to no resources than anyone has in the past. I believe he ran this race with intregrety, and conceeded with intregrity and humility.



Today he sent a letter to his supporters, copied below:

Dear Faithful Friends,

Last night was a tough one for all of us. While Janet and I stood on the stage, we felt as if we were surrounded by a much larger family than our immediate family. We have been surrounded throughout the process by a large and growing family of faithful friends whose efforts in the campaign have humbled and amazed us day after day. I regularly wept or choked back tears just reading comments on the blog when I realized the sacrifices that so many have made for the campaign.

We had held out hope that we would win enough delegates to keep the contest going, but had vowed that if Senator McCain actually got the 1191 delegates, we would accept the will of the voters. In the end, the relentless hammering of the media that we "couldn't win" influenced enough voters and while we campaigned long and hard in the final states, it simply wasn't enough. I congratulate Senator McCain and will do what I can to assist him and influence him to take strong stands for issues that we conservatives cherish.

I don't see the long journey having reached its destination, but merely taking a detour. As my Marine friend Clebe McLary says, "I didn't lose--it's just that the game ended before I got finished playing."

In the immediate days ahead, we will be transitioning from campaign mode. For 14 months, there have been a lot of things put on hold in our lives. We have to join the many incredible people on our staff to figure out "what's next?" But this much I can tell you---we want to stay in touch and start now building a platform to continue addressing issues that brought us together in the first place.

Throughout my life, I've found that there are sometimes three possible answers to our prayers--"Yes," "No," or "Not Now." I would like to think our prayers were answered with a "Not Now."

We will keep our website up and as we transition, will want to create a way to keep in touch and continue the battle for our families, our freedom, and our future. We will also focus on assisting conservative Senate and House candidates, in places where we know our investment of time and energy can make a real difference. You can expect us to be active online as we do this and to regularly solicit your opinions and support. Too many big issues are at stake for us to sit on the sidelines.

In the immediate time, we have to make sure that we help our staff find ways to earn a living, and make sure that we don't lose the momentum of the past 14 months, but instead follow the plan:

REFLECT, REST, RENEW, and RE-BOOT!

I really welcome your input and thoughts during these coming days. Pray for us as we seek wisdom as to what steps we take now. Despite what some have thought, we really didn't have a "Plan B' in the wings--we always thought we'd be in this until the inauguration in January of 2009!

God has been so good to us! We can never fully express our gratitude for all you have done and how you have touched and blessed our lives. I truly hope I didn't let you down. I promise to you that I gave it all I had to the last minute and left it "all on the field." What is more amazing is how you were willing to be "poured out" to the point of empty in order to be with us all the way. I stand amazed by it all and overwhelmed with gratitude.

We will dust off, pick ourselves up off the canvas, and answer the bell for the next round, whatever that may be. We love you all, and trust that the journey has just begun!

With tired bodies and grateful hearts,

Mike and Janet Huckabee

Pictures! Finally!

On the left is a link to my new online photo album. So far it contains pictures from the two biggest events of 2007... Alison & Jeff's wedding, and the top 150 pictures of my trip to England. More to come.

I'm Back!

So, apparently it's been exactly one year today since I last blogged. I stopped because my life has been farily boring this last year except for a few exciting interruptions like my sister's wedding and a trip to England with Rose & Korey. Now, in the next couple weeks my life is going to be fun agian (I hope).

1 - On Friday (March 7) I'm getting LASIK... no more glasses or contacts! Woo hoo!

2 - I am quitting my job, March 14 is my last day with Gundersen Lutheran - this job has driven me nuts for 14 months too long and it's almost over!

3 - My restless spirit has taken over and I took a job with a Locum Tenens medical staffing company called Delta Flex Travelers. Assignments are usually 13 weeks in length and I get to help pick where I go. My first assignment is in Mankato, MN working in an urgent care. I will be there March 17-June 20. Then I don't know where yet, anywhere in the US, depending what's open and what sounds good. This job is sounding great because like I said, I'm restless... I can't decide where I want to "settle down"... ALSO, they pay amazingly, I get a free furnished apartment, my dog Daisy can come with me, on top of my amazing houly pay I get a car stipend and a per diem that are untaxed. I'm going to pay off my student loan debt! Yay! My new goal = Debt free by 30!

4 - If approved, I am going to start doing some independant contractor work with a company called Logistics Health which is based here in La Crosse, WI. They do Periodic Health Assessments and Post-Deployment Health Re-Assesments for military personel. That's a good gig too.

5 - I'm going to Colorado in 6 weeks! It's for a Christian Medical Conference sponsered by Focus on the Family. Sounded fun. Plus it's right by Pike's Peak, so at minimum I'll get to go up Pike's Peak on those fun train-type things!

So, that's my life now! I will keep you all posted!

It's official...

I'm a Wisconsinite. Yesterday afternoon (since I didn't go to work yesterday due to the fact that the river road I take all the way there and the sleet and wind didn't sound too great) I went to the DMV after the roads here got somewhat clear. My car now has Wisconsin license plates. My car title is now in Wisconsin. They took the Minnesota title. They also took my Minnesota drivers license. Now I have a piece of paper until I get my real Wisconsin license plate. Seriously, this is weird, living in Wisconsin and all. Now it's official, people can pick on me even more. Bring it on.

Snow Snow and More Snow

When I came home from work on Friday there patchy snow with mostly brown grass showing. All week had felt like spring with temps between 40-50 degrees. It started snowing late Friday night. It hasn't stopped. Well, it stopped briefly twice, and the started up agian. I know La Crosse hasn't won the snowfall totals, Winona has, but it's still a lot of snow. The national weather service said La Crosse got 17 inches as of 1pm this afternoon. I think it's a little more than that. When you move it, it makes for some big piles of wet snow. If I was a kid with a lot of energy - I'd be making the bomb of a snow fort with these big snow piles. This is my home. The snow is still coming down, but more lightly now.

My life the last few weeks...

It was pointed out to me that I have not written in awhile. My excuse is that life hasn't been too exciting to talk about... Here's my life thus far...

* Everyone has bronchitis. And they expect me to work a miracle. Bronchitis sucks, but I can't make it go away any faster. Sorry.
* There'a house I drive by every day that recently went up for sale. From the outside I love it. Good thing it's $289,000... way out of my price range. If it was half that, I might be looking at buying a house. Not a chance at that price.
* I saw my first patient with mono. Wasn't expecting that, but ran the test just to rule it out. Turns out it was positive.
* And I'm pretty sure there's an influenza-type something going around that isn't showing up on the rapid-flu tests.
* I think rumor is getting around there's a female provider at the clinic that nobody knows. I'm getting more STD patients than anyone else. I had to tell a 46 year old woman she has genital herpes. I had listen to a girl younger than me tell me about her abusive boyfriend she won't leave. And another my age tell me about how her cheating fiance gave her chlamydia.
* I hung out last weekend with a guy I went to high school with and his wife. Hadn't seen him in years. Then we realized we lived in the same town. That was pretty cool.
* She grew up in Lino Lakes and knows people I know... small world.
* Finally found a Bible study of young professionals to hang out with. Other people at a similar point in life as I am, wonderful!
* In a week I'll have a dog. Well, not my dog, Kurt's dog. Kurt joined the national guard and is leaving for basic training and AIT and I get to watch his dog, Daisy, until December or so. She's a great dog. And it's even better since she's very well housebroken and can be alone for at least 12 hours without peeing on anything. Perfect for my job and my long days.
* My hands are so dry from washing them all day. The soap is horrible. I can't keep up putting lotion on them, because as soon as I put lotion on them during the day, I wash it off agian. Seriously, my hands need a new alternative. Super-moisturizing soap or something.
* I love sleeping. I wish I could do it more. 5:30am comes really early some days.
* Edy's is making Girl Scout Ice Cream. I have a coupon. Super excited for Girl Scout Cooking Ice Cream.
* My baby sister is getting married... In June. well, she's not a baby, she's 21. So that's a little crazy...
* That's my life thus far... nothing extradorinarly fun. Just my life! :)

From La Crosse to Prairie du Chien and back...

I love all the little towns nestled up in the bluffs.
I see houses daily that I love.
I also see run down trailer homes.
Today, I noticed that the cows must be cold, because the snow just sits on their backs and dosen't melt.
Why are there 2 dams within 20 miles?
Ferryville = "A Sportsman's Paradise"
Do you find it a little disturbing that the funeral home is next door to the clinic and across the street from the community hospital? At least nobody has to go very far...
Can I tell you agian how beautiful it is?
And... My favorite thing I see every day on my drive is... a bait shop/hunting liscense/carpet store/bar. All in a building smaller than my apartment.

Grown-Up Job

I've been seeing my own patients starting yesterday. It's great because I get to do what I've been working so hard to get to do. But, I doubt myself too much. I see a patient with an upper respiratory infection, a simple cold, and I send them home and wonder... "Did I miss something? Are they going to come back here more sick in 2 days? What if I dosed that medication wrong (even though I calculated it twice) and the kid gets too much medication (even though the pharmacy typically catches those things)?" Sigh... I can't leave it at work. I need to read more so it dosen't take me so long to come to a conclusion. I need to fast forward 6 months to a time when I might feel more confident with my abilities.

Another thing... having a grown-up job is exhausting.

I'm driving an hour each way to work, and overall, I don't mind it. It's a BEAUTIFUL drive. The only day I minded was yesterday night when I had been at work 10.5 hours, then it snowed. The road wasn't slippery, but the visability sucked. So, it took forever to get home. That's the only time I've minded.

First grown-up paycheck comes tomorrow. It's only a partial paycheck becuase I haven't worked a full half month yet... but it's a real paycheck. Yay! :)

New PA

So... 2 days of sitting in a conference room learning about history of the facility, policies, and the like... very long, very boring, and sometimes overwhelming. Done. Turns out that they need me in Prairie du Chein longer than origionally thought. Apparently they're short 3 physicians... and have some issues getting doctors to want to work in middle of nowhere Wisconsin. So, I'm going to be orienting there the rest of this week and then starting to see patients down there on Monday. I get an office that's mostly just mine, occasionally have to share it with a medical student, so that should be pretty good. I hope it has a window. So, I could easily be there for at least 6 months depending on how long it takes them to fill those positions. At least I usually like driving and I'll be getting paid mileage. So... that's my life so far. I'll keep you posted!

What I've done with my week so far...

*Finished unpacking all my crap
*Made cookies
*Finished making a knitted teady bear
*Found at store #4... drawer handles with 2 1/2 inch centers (didn't think it'd be that hard, but apparently it's not a standard size) Menards is awesome.
*Went to dinner with Teri, Kevin, & Tabitha
*Checked out a few different gyms
*Found out I have a MN liscense... and a DEA number
*Watched the first two nights of American Idol Season 6... Yay! (Minneapolis kinda sucked up auditions though, sad...)
*Almost finished the book I've been working on "Shadow of the Almighty"
*Started my One-year Bible read-through
*Got a new cell phone: 608-397-2880
*Finally got cable set up
*Found out I get to start work on Monday for sure! Yay! Orientation all week... fun fun! But I'm getting paid, that's a plus. :)

GOALS FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK...
*Get a new social security card (mine is definately MIA)
*Pre-employment stuff (badge, getting pay and benefits set up...)
*Sending out "I moved" cards
*Join the YMCA and start working out
*Get some CME hours done from reading journals
*Work on knitting a scarf
*Check out Bethany Free Church (I hear it's a good church)
*Try not to get bored between now and Monday morning

Whoops!

So, I've been anxiously awaiting the Season Premire of American Idol for months... ANd I was just laying here on the couch of my new place watching the movie Sahara... and all of a sudden I got this horrible thought that today was the season premire. I thought for a few moments that it was Tuesday. And I got really upset. Beacuase if it was the season premire, even if I turend off the DVD right now... I'd only get the last 5 minutes. And the even suckier thing was that the first show is the Minneapolis auditions. And I really want to see the Minneapolis auditions becuase I want to see if I know any of the people at the auditions. There's a chance. I know some people crazy enough to give it a shot. I know one for sure that went to auditions but didn't get a "gold ticket" to Hollywood... so we'll see who else. But the lucky thing is... I didn't miss it, it's tomorrow. Yay! I really need to start work so I quit loosing track of days.

On a more grown-up note... Added to my liscense to practice medicine in Wisconsin... I also now have a liscense to practice in Minnesota. Yay!

Today

Today, January 11, 2007 is a good day...

1. They finally granted my liscense to practice medicine in the state of Wisconsin. (MN to come Saturday hopefully)

2. The movers are currently bringing all my things into my wonderful apartment.

The only downfall of today... I officially live in Wisconsin... dang.

Welcome to the world baby girl!

My cousin had a new baby girl today. I'm excited it's a girl. They have two boys, who I love, but I wanted a little girl to play with. She was born just before 1pm today. She dosen't have a name yet.
6 pounds 8 ounces
20 1/2 inches



Also... pictures from New Years are up... link on the right...

Goals for 2007...

I refuse to call them resolutions... resolutions just get broken.

Well... here's 10.

1. Get a dog
2. Get back to the weight I was in high school (I know, that's on everyone's list)
3. Travel to England
4. See Jessica in Louisianna
5. Read at least 20 new books... For fun
6. Go on at least one date (it's been awhile...)
7. Start working my way out of student loan debt
8. Quit drinking caffine every day
9. Start enjoying exercise agian
10. Read the whole Bible

My first scarf...

So, after wanting to learn how to knit for over a year... and being very unsucessful at trying to teach myself. Then I kind of learned from a fellow volunteer in Bolivia... only to have Bolivian airport security yank the knitting needles from my yarn on my way home. I hadn't had enough time to practice and I couldn't figure out how to begin agian. So... finally. My mom's friend Caramel, as a Christmas present, paid for me to take a knitting class with her one night a week for 3 weeks. We've had two classes. I made a scarf. And a half a scarf, but I need more yarn to finish it... But anywho... this is my first scarf. It has errors, but it's a scarf.

Crazy animals...

These are the crazy pets I'm house/pet-sitting for this week. They're kinda cute.


That's Max.


This is Moses... he looks a little snotty in this picture, but he is, so it's ok. :)

FINALLY!

Look what I finally got in the mail today. Two months after I finished my requirements it was finally granted, hence the date on the diploma... and now, a month later, I finally have it. I FINALLY can finish my liscensing process to start my job!

It's been awhile...

So, back when I was a very little girl... my Aunt Lue used to rent attic space to live in from this family. This family, called the Jones' family, had children my age. We used to play with them. It's probably been 20 years since I've seen them. In college I realized that Alli, the girl from the Jones family, was friends with one of my high school friends, Kate... and eventually became her roomate. Still didn't ever see her. Just heard her name here and there. Heard she wasn't their roomate anymore because she did something silly like, go and get married, last year.

So, high school friend Kate had a Christmas party last night. I went to said Christmas party and so did Alli, the girl I haven't seen in 20 years. We talked for awhile. We took a picture together so my Aunt Lue could see it. This is for you Aunt Lue. :)

It's the season...

It's the Christmas season of course... but it appears to me that it's also the season for Aleathea's friends with the first name of Jen to get engaged.

The first one was last weekend. Jen Tripp that I went to Jamaica with in the summer of 2003. She's engaged to a guy named Todd. Now, being I haven't seen Jen in person since we returned from Jamaica and have only talked to her via the computer... I have never met Todd. But, I assume, from the way she talks, that he is a wonderful man. They're getting married this June. Here are Jen & Todd.


Then you have of course, Jen Falck. I met her in college and she's an awesome friend that I don't get to see nearly enough even though we're living only about an hour apart agian. She's really busy. I haven't found out the story yet... but she and her boyfriend, now fiance, got engaged just today I'm thinking. I knew it was coming though. 'Cuz she told me... not because I'm psychic or anything. They're getting married next year (2008) in May or June. So... here's Jen & Mark.

(sorry, that's a 2 year old picture, but it's the only one I have without stealing one from facebook)

Congrats to the newly engaged Jen's of the world! :)

World AIDS Day...

Today is World AIDS Day. Every day 5,000 to 8,000 people die from AIDS. Every day. Below are websites that you can check out for more information or ways you can help to find a cure.

Wickipedia Information
World Vision - Sponser a child orphaned by AIDS
Red Ribbon Ride
(RED)
AVERT
World AIDS Campaign

It's the weirdest thing...

Tonight I got into my car and I was going to swing by the 35 cent pop machine by the police station and use a quarter and a dime from the coin thing in my car. I reached down for the quarter and... no quarters. I could have sworn I had 5 quarters in there last time I checked. Dimes and nickles, still there. Successful in still getting a pop. Then I realized, not only were 5 quarters missing, but I had thrown a folded up $1 bill down by the coins too... My sister and my dad both drove my car on Tuesday, so I figured one of them used it. No prob, just wanted to know where it went. So, I called my dad and he said not only did he not touch it, but he left a quarter in the cup holder. No quarter in the cup holder. Called my sister. She didn't take it either. I'm living in Mora... I'm starting to not lock my doors all the time. Someone could have easily come in my car and taken the $2.25 I think I'm missing... but if they did... why did they leave the nickles and dimes... much less the various car chargers and the GPS thing that plugs into my computer and is worth at least $50. Odd. Just plain odd. I hope that of all the things that could have happened to it, I hope it fed someone who was hungry.

On another weird point... I got my UPS pants, and when I tried them on, they still had the tag on them, so I assumed they were new and not left over from someone that used them last year as a seasonal helper... but I reached in the pocket and there's a $5 and 2 $1's in the right front pocket, all crumpled up like they had been washed in there and left. But the attached tag did not look washed. Weird combination. Maybe they re-tag their pants for organization sake? Either way, it was just odd. But, I got $7 since there's no way to figure out who it belonged to...

So, lost $2.25... gained $7... I guess either way I'm up $4.25. Who knows.

Oh and just to get this off my chest... my mom made Christmas cookies, and I believe in 2 days I have eaten enough Christmas cookies to feed an orphanage of starving children. Ooops.

So...

So, I'm still in Mora. I'm so tired of being stuck in limbo here. I have nothing to do. I am waiting for my life to start agian and for the meantime... I just get to hear about how everyone else has stuff going on. I mean, techinically I'm working for UPS for a month duirng their peak time... but I've only actualy worked one day. They haven't needed me more than that yet. I wait for my phone to ring in the morning, if it does, I go meet a driver somewhere. If it dosen't, I keep sleeping. Tonight I'm babysitting for I think, 7 kids? Otherwise, I fight to keep myself entertained all day. I'm so ready to move. If I could afford December rent, I'd just move down there now and be bored in La Crosse and learn about my new town there. Ok, enough venting. I'm done.

I joined the bandwagon...

I finally joined facebook.com. I couldn't before because 1) I can't get into my St. Scholastica e-mail and therefore can't verify I went there... and 2) PCOM (my grad school) isn't registered with them. But now, you can join without a college so all is well. Yay. I've only been on there for 3 hours, and I already have 26 friends. We're all loosers that are online way too much. Especially those of you who added me at like, 11:30pm. Get some sleep people. Oh wait, that means I'm up too... hmmm... Maybe I'll go to bed now...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving all! I was just going though my pictures trying to decide which of my actually-really-there-Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade pictures I was going to put up for you today... I'm not going to lie. If you know me, you know I was not there this year, I'm in Mora for the first time in a few years. I watched it in person Thanksgiving 2004. I was going to put up Garfield... but then I realized I had this picture. One of the things I am thankful for is that one time in my life, I was like, 20 yards from none other than... The Crocodile Hunter.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I couldn't beat this one... had to re-post my friend Heather's Thanksgiving story... for more writing by Heather, click here.

************************************************************************************

Oh, Thanksgiving. The day that we Americans celebrate the Pilgrims and the Indians and their friendly co-existence. I remember it like it was yesterday, my elementary school reenactment of that fateful day on Plymouth Rock.

Little Jason Evans played the lead Pilgrim. “Ha!” he said, as the Indian women set about decorating the picnic tables with cornucopia. “You bring turkey and we bring smallpox! Ha! Ha! We are in the process of launching an unprecedented biological war on your people. You will lose 75% of your population because God has given us this land from sea to sea!”

Then Sally Jones, the Narrator, said, “The Indians were only the first step in conquering the new world. Early Americans also marched across the continent and took land from Mexico and Canada, and ultimately moved into the Atlantic, the Caribbean, and the Pacific, claiming islands and finally stealing Hawaii from Queen Liliuokalani so that the state count could be a nice round 50 and the stars would line up right on the flag.”

Out in the audience someone’s dad shouted, “Queen Liliuokalani! Pshaw. More like Queen Lilliputian!” And everyone laughed, because people who are not even 6 inches high, that’s funny stuff.

Jason Evans: Lead Pilgrim then continued shouting at the Indians, “I am still working on my plan to gain the middle part of the continent. My sources tell me that pesky old France is going to grab hold of it.”

The lights went dim over the Thanksgiving feast and the spotlight shone brightly again on Sally Jones. “Fortunately the Americans would never have to fight the pesky French for control of the middle of the country. God saw fit to send slaves to Haiti where a guy named Toussaint (which ironically rhymes with croissant) led a big rebellion. The French were kicked off the island, which meant Napoleon no longer needed the middle of America for sugar cane supplies. So he sold it to Thomas Jefferson dirt cheap.”

And everyone laughed again because, get it, dirt cheap!

The Thanksgiving stage lights came back up. “My plan is called Manifest Destiny and it means Americans can do whatever they want because God wants them to have all the land! Ha! Ha!”

Then the audience clapped really big and my class took a good long bow.

It was a very accurate play.

Man of the Year

So, I saw Man of the Year tonight... It's pretty funny, laugh out loud funny like... But then they throw in this action movie stuff that wasn't any good. Plus a love story. I mean... comedy + love story = normal movie. Love story + action = normal movie. Comedy + Love Story + Activion Movie = way too much. Not normal. But, Robin Williams is great. All the men in the movie are great. The lead woman though stinks, at least in this movie. She does not add to it at all.

"Politicians are like diapers. Both should be changed often; and for the same reason."

It's getting closer...

I finally made a decision on where I'm going to live starting in January...
It's a sweet deal for the price...
Building is only a few years old,
Gas fireplace in living room,
Big dining room,
Big kitchen with dishwasher,
Utility room with supplied washer & dryer,
Big bathroom with jacuzzi tub,
Attached 1+ car garage,
Quiet complex of 4-plexes... Yay...

This is my soon-to-be kitchen:


Yay, I'm excited to have a home agian. It's been awhile since I've had a space that's mine.

Moving somewhere around the 2nd week of January. Starting a week or two after that... Spending about 6 weeks from February to March driving to Prairie du Chein to fill in for a doctor that will be on maternity leave.

So, that's the La Crosse update. :)

Girls can work too!!!

So, I got a temporary job (like 5 weeks) with UPS helping deliver packages. Well, I need dark brown or black work boots. Not a problem I didn't think. Until I went looking for some. I wear a 7 1/2 women's shoe. They don't exist. Most stores only carry them in mens. And the smallest men's size they carry is a men's 8. I wear probably a men's 5 1/2. I was even told by the man in the shoe department at Sears that they shouldn't have hired me because if I don't fit into men's workboots I'm obviously too small to do the job. He showed me some wussy women's boots, I told him they wern't good enough. He told me of course they are, what do I want? A steel toe? I said maybe. He said there was no way I should want a steel toed boot, I'm a girl.

My mom called and I told her I couldn't find boots. She told me to go to Fleet Farm. Why didn't I think of that? I found a woman in the shoe department that helped me pick out work boots. Now I have brown work boots. In a woman's size. Yay.

Maybe not politically correct... but funny...

Ok, so my friend Joslyn posted this the other day... and I think it's pretty funny. Not politically correct... but funny.

Election Day

Today I did something for the first time. I voted actually at my local polling site. It's the 4th time I voted, but the first 3 were all absentee ballots.

Yay for the political ads to be done tonight! I can watch TV without yelling at the TV agian!

The ultimate question lingers until later tonight... will we get a old MN 4-Her in Senate? Hmmm... polls don't look promising... we'll see I guess!

Saturday in Florida...

This morning we slept in a bit, and I mean a bit, it's sleeping in for my dad... and left at 9:15am or so. We went back to Montverde, where my grandma's house is, and went to the Montverde Days Festival. There's a lot of people at Montverde Days for how small the town is. We saw some of the other retiree's from home that winter down here... Then we went off to see a cool sculpture garden that Alison had found in a tour guide thing... although it took us awhile when the sculpture garden was in Winter Park and we first went to Winter Garden... oops. Anyway, that was cool, and I took a bunch of pictures. Then off to Old Towne in Orlando. We walked around there and checked out the classic cars that were there. Then mini golf at Pirate's Cove. I lost both rounds. I'm not so good at mini golf anymore. Then... off to Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville at Universal City Walk. All 3 of us were going to get a Margaritaville Margarita... only... my ID was not in my bag when we got there. Grrr... he wouldn't serve me. So, below, my dad and sister with THEIR Margaritaville Margarita's, while I sipped my diet coke.

EPCOT

When we were kids my grandpa told us that EPCOT stands for Every Person Comes Out Tired. It is so true. 10 hours there and we were drained.

I met Pooh and Tigger... Tigger "Grrr"ed at me and tried to take me out the door with him. :) Funny Tigger...


I had a fun day, it's just interesting how different things seem when you're 5 versus 15 versus almost 25... I haven't actually been in Epcot since our band & chior trip at 15. Was there quite a few times between 3 or 4 and 15. First time since 15 today. Anywho... I'm tired.

More pictures at My Kodak Gallery Site ... plan on putting more up each evening.

We were driving out at the end of the day and my dad said something to the effect of, "All of these roads here are still Disney's, not the city's."
Alison responded, "Wow, that's a lot for Disney to plow in the winter."
True northerner talk there...

Warm weather here I come!

My dad is bringing me and my sister to Orlando for a long weekend. Yay! We're leaving bright and early tomorrow morning. It sounds really nice especially since the temperature just plumited here in MN. Yippie!

Trick-O-Treaters?

Well, It's 6:30pm, the porch light has been on and the Jack-O-Lantern has been lit since dark... Candy is in a basket by the door...

And no Trick-O-Treaters yet.

They don't love me or something. Or it's really cold. It's only 30 degrees. It was 63 yesterday. What's with that?

But you know what? I don't care if it's cold... back in 1991, we went trick-o-treating in a BLIZZARD. We were tough kids back then. Although I did whine a lot about the fact that my mom made me put on my jacket and snow boots on over my costume and that was no fun 'cuz they couldn't see my costume! I believe that was Sock-hop costume year...

Anyway... waiting on the trick-o-treaters. If they don't come... I'm going to have to eat all the candy myself. And that will not be good...

AMMENDMENT:
My cousin brought over his 2 kids, they're dragons, they're cute. :)
Then there were two unknown kids.
That's all.

Trans Fat Free...

Ok, so all day I've been hearing about how KFC is switching to Trans Fat Free cooking. Wendy's already did. Lots of groceries have gone Trans Fat Free. But you know what? As much as it's kind of a step forward... they have to replace it with other fats. And mostly, still saturdated fats. Which are not good for you either. Or other fake stuff that they're eventually going to decide kills us too. It's still fat. It's still Wendy's... It's still KFC. Eat it if you like it... just eat it sparingly. It's friend chicken and burgers for gosh sakes, it's never going to be good for you.

Why?

Ok, so one of the random things I'm getting paid for is to help my dad build furniture for Pamida. You know, the cheap furniture they have, and they have a display of each one up? Yeah, that.

Anyway... today I built a gun rack. It's not a bad looking gun rack. But... here's what I'm thinking. It's made of particle board and has a cardboard back. Not bad if there's only adults in your house and you just need somewhere to put the guns. Here's my question though... There's locks on the front. But the back is cardboard. What's the point of locking your cabinet when you can very easily just pull the back off?

SIMS

So, I finished delivering Yellow Books. Waiting for my money from them, probably made about $300 in 4 1/2 days... not too bad.

BUT... now I'm bored. I've been playing SIMS2 almost contantly. Yesterday I played for so long that I dreamed in SIMS all night. That's sad.

I Passed!!!!!!!

I just wanted everyone to know that I passed my board exam!!!! Yes!!! So, now I just have to do paperwork and such before I can work. Soon.

Today I saw Open Season...

"Boog! Rabbit Fight!!!"

Yellow Book... Not the other book

So, I took a temporary job delivering Yellow Books. Right now I'm working on rural Milaca, MN... woo hoo! I've seen awesomely cool farm houses... I've seen falling down farm houses. I've seen super cute dogs and ugly matted dogs. I've seen loud jumping dogs and lazy quiet dogs. I've seen cats that think they're dogs. I've had people refuse the new phone book. I've had a guy ask for 300 of them so he could wrap them up tight and use them as firewood. Anyway... back on the road tomorrow to pass out some more phone books!

Still anxiously awaiting board results...

Barter System

I just got back from spending 3 full days with Rose & Korey. I have a good barter system going with them. I paint, clean, rake leaves, whatever they ask me to help with... and in turn they give me a double bed to sleep in, some home cooked food, and they pay for me to eat out. Works well since according to The Five Love Languages for Singles, my primary love language is Quality Time... which pretty much means I feel loved by my friends as long as we spend time together, dosen't matter what we do. So, we all win - they get things done with my help - and I get to spend time with my friends. Yay! :) On Sunday night when we were all done with everything, we went to Space Aliens, and played games, and got about 50 cents of prizes for $9 in games we played. But we had fun!

Done

I finished my test... and I kinda feel so-so about it. Don't feel like I failed it for sure... but not feeling extremely confident either. So, I don't know, so I'm going to try to avoid talking about it until then.

So, I'm in Fargo staying with Rose and Korey until Monday. :)

Hmmm... Which One?

Ok, I'm exhibiting in an art show in a few weeks... but I have to decide which picture, and I have to decide soon, like in enough time to get it postmarked by Friday, in 2 days Friday. Yup, so here's my choices... please cast your vote. Every one of you that look at this, please.


NUMBER 1
This one would be cropped along both sides so it's tall and skinny with just the woman and her daughter.


NUMBER 2


NUMBER 3

A little early... but okay...

So, I've been whining that I haven't really gotten to play in snow the last couple years. In Philly it melted right away when it snowed, and when I've been home at Christmas both years there hasn't been much snow. But, God heard my whining and gave me some snow a little early this year. Maybe it shows that there will be plenty of snow this winter. Here's a glimpse of what my front yard looked like around 9:15am today, and it's still snowing. :)

Seriously, loosing my mind

My brain is full. I can't remember any more. I'm not a great test taker. I'm terrified. My board exam is on Thursday at 10am for 6 hours... I'm told not to study the day before the exam. I'm scared of not passing... I'd have to wait to take the test agian for 90 days... that comes out to January 10th. I don't know what happens to this whole job thing if I fail... I don't know what they'd do, or if I'd still have a job. This is scary. Please pray that I can be calm until then... and on Thursday that I can pull out of the corners of my brain everything I've learned in the past 2 years... That I can concentrate on the questions and not worry... and that when I really have no clue, that I can make an educated guess. Your prayers will definately help. Thanks for all your support! :)

Happy 25th Birthday Jessica!!!

This is Jessica and I and "Uncle Al" in 2001 - he's a statue in Duluth that we named "Uncle Al" in about 1996 on a marching band trip. We still visit him and sit on his lap.

Today Jessica turns 25. That's a quarter of a century.

Jessica is my longest time friend. We met when we were about 6. That's almost 20 years.
Jessica I think is my craziest friend. We've had some fun adventures together.
Jessica I think is my only friend that's traveled more than I have.
Jessica was the last person I expected to get married before she was 30... she's married. Weird.
Jessica has two funny looking dogs. She thinks they're cute. I think they're funny looking.
Jessica and I can not talk to eachother for months and pick up right where we left off.
Jessica moved to Louisianna with her husband. That's far away, so I don't see her much anymore.
Jessica and I have seen eachother through lots of good and bad.
Jessica used to be able to predict when there was a fresh fruit pizza at our house 'cuz she'd show up every time before we even cut into it. So, when she got married, my mom got her a pizza pan and a recipie for fruit pizza for one of her bridal showers.
We've had a lot of fun together. I need to go visit her! :)

Again - HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESSICA!!! :)

Ahhhh... How Sweet...

Free Hugs. Isn't it sweet? I was lead to see this by another friend's blog and finally decided to post it myself.

Happy PA Week everyone!

Today is the first day of National PA Week. October 6-12th it is. It's always those days, no matter what day of the week, it's weird, I know... but anyway... It's National PA week. Which means... since I'm taking my National Board on the last day of PA week, the 12th... I'm in cram to learn as much as possible in 6 days mode. So, We'll chat later...

What?

Ring Ring Ring (507 number on caller ID)

"Hello?"

"Hello, this is Sue calling from the Yellow Clinic, is the Althea?"

"The WHAT clinic?"

"The Mayo Clnic... Is this Althea?"

"Oh.... the MAYO Clinic... and this is Aleathea."

Sometimes I swear I can't hear... And who would of thought I'd ever reject a job interview at the Mayo Clinic. But I did. And the job I accepted is better anyway.

In my "spare" time...

Inbetween studying... I'm looking for a bunch of work to fill my time from October 13, the day after my test, until I move in January-ish... The range of potential jobs are...

Target Cashier
Walmart Cashier or Stocker
Early Morning Menards Stocker
Administrative Assistant
Waitress
Child Care Aide
Medical Transcription Assistant
Lab Secretary
Merchandiser (drive around and fill shelves with Pepsi products)
Personal Care Attendant
Hotel Housekeeping
Kennel Assistant
Bartender
Bank Teller
Home Health Aid
Adult Foster Care
Stuffing Envelopes
Delivering the Phone Book (my personal favorite of the moment)

Isn't this exactly what you go to school for 6 years to do?
Gotta love life's ironies...

Still a kid at heart...

So, I flipped on the TV this morning... and...

VEGGIE TALES IS ON THE TV!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!

I love Veggie Tales. Do you love Veggie Tales? You should love Veggie Tales.

Plus I have to love Veggie Tales... it's made in Minnesota.

You should all love Veggie Tales.

Job Offer!!!

I have an offocial Job Offer with Gunderson Luthern in La Crosse... and I have to say, it's a pretty dang good offer, hard to even consider turning it down. The job consists of living in or near La Crosse, and floating between the rural clinics surrounding in MN and WI, up to an hour drive, or as little as 10 minutes. Living in La Crosse because it's pretty central. So... I have to decide in a week's time... But I'm really leaning toward yes since I haven't really interviewed with anyone else who seems promising. I have some others pending... but I need to be hired somewhere and have an offocial supervising physician before I can apply for state liscensure in either MN or WI... so this would make the process much easier. So... if all goes as planned (I pass my boards in 2 weeks, I get certified in both states as quickly as possible, and I pass hospital credentialing, which there's no question really in anything but the board exam since I've never gotten in legal trouble...) Anyway, if all that happens as planned... I'm moving to La Crosse, WI in January to start my first real job! Yay!

A little humor...

One of my study books has an occasional humerous question, humerous mostly because it probably happens more than you think... this was my favorite today.

How can Krazy-Glue be removed if a patient has stuck their eyelids together?

This does present a problem... the two common ways to remove Krazy-Glue are acetone (finger nail polish remover) and ethanol (an alcohol)... both which can under no circumstances be used on the eye...

The answer, incase I got you curious... Irrigation with water immediately... then mineral oil. But sometimes you still have to surgically seperate the lids which is a very difficult and risky procedure.

That's your lesson of the day.

Hmmm...

Last night I attempted to make my first Rachael Ray recipie. If you don't know who that is, especially since most of you have real jobs, tape her, she's great - NBC at 11am central time. ANYWHO... I tried to make the Turkey Tetrizini she made on the show yesterday. It sounded wonderful. But... when I made it, it was just kinda bland. I have two theories...
1) Rachael Ray's food isn't really that good, she just makes her guests say it is...
2) Rachael Ray is a far better cook than I am...
As much as I want #1 to be right... more likely it's #2. I need more practice I guess!

Rose & Korey... or is it Korey & Rose...

The Saga of my relationship with Rose & Korey...

1997
*When I met Korey, we were both 15 and weird not cool in high school kids... but we wer cool in 4-H, so that worked.

1998
*A year later when he brought his new girlfriend Rose with to 4-H stuff, I swore I hated her... not because I had a crush on Korey, but because guys don't have as much time for friends when they have girlfriends, and therefore, I had to hate the girlfriend...

1999
*In July, Rose and I went on a 4-H trip to Washington DC together. She introduced me to her friend Jerry... yay. ;)
*I believe this was the summer that Rose & Korey PROMISED me that I could be their flower girl if they ever got married some day.
*That summer, Korey wasn't at the fair, and Rose & I were practically inseperable, she slept at my head.
*Not only did she sleep at my head, but she liked me enough to know I hated getting up early, so every morning she'd get me a bowl of cereal and a carton of milk for me and wake me up at like 9:30am after she had eaten breakfast and everything. Yay Rose.
*Becuase she also woke up earlier than me every day, she got the news that some fellow 4-H friends died the night before... and she had to be the one to wake me up and tell me.
*We grew up a lot together that summer.
*In the fall Rose & Korey attempted to bring Jerry to a 4-H artsie party in Mora without telling me ahead of time that he was comming... but oops, I found out. But yay for them making it possible for me to see him!
*I made the bowl in socks at Mora Lanes. I won. They all fell down.
*I stood in Rose's field in the middle of the night looking at stars or something, and we almost got stampeeded by cows.

2000
*Korey and I graduated! Yay!
*Rose e-mailed me a lot with problems she and Korey were having. The same problems most couples have when one's still in high school and one went to college. I figured that would be the end of them and my dream of being a flower girl...
*Korey's parents sold their house in Henning so he didn't have a house where he grew up anymore.

2001
*My friend Nick and I took a road trip and suprised Rose by showing up at her high school graduation party... she didn't expect me since I had just gotten home from Isreal the day before, PLUS they live 3.5 hours from me.
*Rose ended up going to Moorhead State instead of the U of M because she'd be closer to Korey.
*They started visiting me in Duluth. At least once a year I think.

2002
*In the spring - he proposed... she said yes.
*Rose and Korey got married in September at the ripe old age of 19 and 20. I didn't get to be the flower girl... something about being too old to be a flower girl... I got to be their maid of honor instead... I guess it's a cooler job... but I still give them crap about it. :)

2005
*They became home owners - and I have a room in their house. :)
*They visited me in Philadelphia! Yay!!!
*I helped Rose learn how to make pillow covers to make cool pillows for their living room.

2006
*On Labor Day they came to see me IN MORA since I got home from Bolivia so late I didn't go to the State Fair.
*Rose and Korey are currently on their first real vacation alone together since they got married. Yay for them!

SEPTEMBER 27, 2006 - HAPPY 4 YEAR ANNIVERSARY ROSE & KOREY!!!!!!!!!


There's a ton more cool stuff about them, but I'm gonna stop now. :) If you know them - share fun stories here.

This post was going to include pictures.... but, blogger is refusing to upload them. Sorry.

Panic

Ok, so I panicked... I decided October 6 was coming too fast - so I changed my Board Exam date to October 12... 3 weeks from tomorrow. A little more time. I really need to get my butt in gear and STUDY... I so do not feel ready. STUDY STUDY STUDY.

FINALLY!!!

Finally... All my Bolivia pictures are up. And my pictures from Leah's Bachlorette party and wedding. Now I can quit worrying about, they're there. Yay. Now I can buckle down and study. Sigh... I hate studying. Nothing interesting to tell you about. Sorry.

Except for this little tidbit from Heather... it's "Talk Like a Pirate Day." So... Argh matey... where's your parrot?

What the heck?

So, I have a textbook size bag that I carry around most days... today I had it with me when helping with school pictures. When I got home and I was looking for my keys, in the bottom of my bag I found a large bread knife. Why did I have a large bread knife? I really don't think I put it there... I haven't even USED a bread knife lately... I don't get it....

Aleathea's life...

What has Aleathea been up to?

*Playing with silly Bolivia pictures trying to get them online (151 are now there of over 500... more to come tomorrow night). Check them out: www.kodakgallery.com/aleathea
*Helping organize children for school pictures days!
*Helping with volleyball and football team pictures
*Applying for temporary jobs at Target and Mernards... waiting on that...
*Working on getting a full time job as a PA... say a little prayer please...
*Studying for the PA board exam... more prayers please...
*My dad advanced me some money, so I owe him 20 hours of work, mostly on his rental properties... mowing lawns, trimming along houses and such, pulling weeds from the sidewalk and driveway cracks... manual labor
*Went to my friend's bachlorette party last weekend
*I met my friend Sheree's little boy Zach... pictured below... he's super cute.

Grrr...

I'm having some mild problems uploading pictures and it is taking much longer than I thought... so some will be up today, but probably not all. Sorry. I have over 500 pictures and it's being really slow.

Settled in back at home...

Hey everyone. So, I finally made it home on Sunday night. My luggage followed about 8 hours later. But, it was at my front door by the time I woke up Monday morning, so all was well. I would have written earlier, but my blogger has been acting up and not letting me post. Wednesday I gave my final grad school presentation and I'M DONE!!! Well, I don't have my paper diploma to proove it yet... but hopefully I get that soon. You need it to get state liscensure. So... in the meantime, I'm studing for the national borads (which I take on October 6)... and I'm dead broke, so I'm working part time doing whatever people will pay me to do. My dad is paying me to do yardwark and painting and such at some of his rental properties. My mom's boss, Linda, is paying me to help with school pictures and such at the photo studio. And I'm thinking about getting a part-time job at the new SuperWalmart about 20 miles from here. I hear they'll hire anyone for whatever hours you say you'll work. Oh, and I'm also applying for jobs and interviewing and such. So, I'm mostly keeping busy. Tonight I'm going to see Sheree and her 6-month old Zach, who I haven't met yet. I haven't even seen Sheree in a year! Then, I'm going my other friend, Leah's, Bachlorette party. I'll be back around sometime tomorrow. So, that's me. As I type I'm working on uploading all my Bolivia picutres to Kodak Gallery... so within the next couple hours you'll be able to check them all out at www.kodakgallery.com/aleathea (along with all my other pictures). That address is also on the right of this post.

Almost done!

SO... last night I was having dinner with Korey and Rose and we were discussing a random topic and...

I said, "I'll have to google it... What did we ever do before Google?"

Korey, "Yahoo."

Anyway...

I finally got home from Bolivia 28 1/2 hours after origionally planned...
I was at home for a day...
Now I'm in Philly to give a presentation on Chagas' disease tomorrow - last hurdle to graduation...
Then I will be home studying until October 6th when I take the national board exam... and at the same time I will be working part time...

On my way home

Hey everyone. I finished out my last week in Bolivia very busy. I'll share more later. I am currently sitting in the VIP lounge in La Paz, waiting for my flight to Miami, which should board soon. I hope. I'm in the VIP lounge because after this flight got delayed... then I wouldn't make it through customs in Miami to my next flight. So he tried to change my ticket. But he changed it wrong. Then when I went back and showed him, he fixed it. Now it should work. I hope. So, because of the hassle, he stamped my ticket that I could sit in the VIP lounge. It's nice in here. Did you know that they supply free beverages, including bottles of water and soda in the VIP lounge. And CNN. I haven't seen news in a month. And comfortable chairs. It's nice. Yay. Ok, our pilot is in the VIP lounge now, so I should be on my way... See you all soon.

Week in review...

Sunday - After wrote Sunday afternoon, we went to the futbal game. It was pretty fun, but in a way frustrating because they faked injured so often, got carried off the field, and then ran right back on. I didn´t think that was part of the game... Oh well. Then we went home and relaxed the rest of the night.

Monday - Well, I got sick during the night. So, I spent most of the day in bed. No, I don´t know what I ate. One of the other volunteers got sick too. Anyway... Also on Monday we recieved "the container." The container is the size of a semi that was s shipped from Kansas by boat then truck a few months ago and got held up in customs until Monday. It´s nice to have all this new hospital equiptment... but it´s a lot to inventory, find a place for, and teach the doctors how to use. So...

Tuesday - I still wasn´t feeling wonderful, so they didn´t want me in the hospital around the patients. So, I got organizing tasks that didn´t require a lot of physical energy. I sorted hundreds of pairs of eyeglasses that were used, donated, and measured to see the prescription. They were all in a big box. So, I got to make someorder out of them. I also did some more work in the library with the new books that were donated. I did something else too... but now I can´t remember what...

Wednesday - I worked a 7am to 8pm shift in the ER and with the inpatients. Part of the day was interesting. Part was slow. Nothing to really write home about though.

Thursday - I went in at 8am and worked until 4pm or so in the hospital. Then we moved a big box of laproscopic surgical supplies into another place and I got to inventory it all. Then we watched The Intrepreter. My first movie since I got here. And I´m a movie person.

Friday - Went into the hospital at 8:30am and around 11am we took off with a girl about my age who had attempted suicide with rat posion. She wasn´t breathing, Before I had gotten to the ER, they had done CPR and got her heart going agian. But she wasn´t doing well. We also discovered that she was about 20 weeks pregnant by the looks of it. We don´t have an ER, so we loaded her in the back of a SUV type vehicle with me, 2 doctors, a nurse, and her husband and drove her, very quickly into Cochabamba. It took about 45 minutes. When we left her there she was stable, but still on a ventelator. So... pray for her, her husband, and the baby. Then, I went with Amy to some other missionaries house and figured out what a bunch of donated medicine was. Because on Monday and Tuesday we´re going a couple more hours out into the mountians to do a clinic for 2 days. Then we went out to dinner for Anticuchos. I´m not sure if I spelled that right, but it´s cow heart cooked on a bicycle spoke like schiscabab. Agian, I´m a horrid speller. Then we dropped off 2 volunteers at the airport and came back home.

Puppy update - they´re starting to walk. Not well, but they are. They look like drunk sailers. It´s super cute.

Halfway...

So, halfway through my Bolivia trip... here´s some updates...

*Bolivia is beautiful. The hosptial is right in the Andes mountians, I see the mountians all day.
*The first week was mildy frustrating because they don´t have PA´s here so the doctors don´t know what I can and can not do. So... all I was doing were the same things Michael, the 19 year old pre-med student was doing. The second week they started to figure it out, so things are much better now.
*Twice we´ve helped another ministry with kid-washing. They bring water out to a community without running water, bathe the small children, and give then a new pair of clothes every thursday. Also, on Saturdays they do it for the street children in Cochabamba. It´s very rewarding even though the kids hate baths and scream the whole time.
*The hospital is still getting up and running, more new things being purchased all the time. Especially the last week because Mike, the founder of Hospitals of Hope, is down here with more funds. So, I´ve also been the manual labor, helping build desk chairs, move book shelves, organize medical textbooks into a library... and other things.
*The puppies I told you about last time... Four of them are thriving and getting fatter every day, they started opening their eyes this weekend. The one we worried about died the next day.
*There are a lot of stray, angry, hungry dogs on the streets here in Bolivia. I think there´s as many stray dogs here as there are squirrels in Minnesota. Anyway... Friday morning I was doing a 12 hours shift covering the few inpatients (I think 3 that day) and the ER with one of the doctors... A 10 year old boy came and an had been attacked by 3 dogs. One of his legs had gashes all over. I got to help take care of him, he was very brave though, barely cried at all. I´ve noticed that here. Bolivians are much tougher when it comes to pain than Americans. It´s interesing how much they can tolerate.
*Tuberculosis is also a big problem here, I´ve seen 2 guys my age with severe TB. One had a big pleural effusion (there´s a layer called pleura surrounding the lungs, a pleural effusion is when fluid gets in that sack around the lungs and takes over the room the lungs should have to expand)- anyway, I got to help drain that. I had helped with a pleural effusion once in the US, but not one due to TB.
*Bolivian people are very resourceful. Even when they don´t have to be. For example - there´s an EKG machine at the hospital, and there´s the little EKG electrodes that are like little stickers you sick in certian places to read the heart´s activity. They´re supposed to be used once ´cuz they won´t stick much more than that. Well, the doctors use them over and over and tape them down. At first I thought, what a good idea, they´re working with it even though they don´t have enough resources. Then I went in central supply a couple days later. There´s litterally thousands of EKG pads in there. Tomorrow I´m putting out new ones.
*I´ve been doing some 12 hour shifts in the hospital side, and I only have an interpreter for a few hours of those 12. The doctors here are awesome, they work so hard to be understood. One night it was slow and Dra. Santa Cruz and I sat there for 2 hours with my Spanish-English dictionary. Her teaching me Spanish. Me teaching her English. When I´m over there and it´s slow, so many of the Bolivian staff come to me and ask me how to say certian phrases in English. It´s interesing teaching English, espeicially when they´re so willing to learn.
*Where the clinic and hospital are... it´s countryside, about a half hour outside a city. But next week, Monday and Tuesday we´re going out to "the campo" which means way out in the countryside up in the mountians for 2 days to do medical work there. That should be really interesting.
*There´s so much more to talk about but for now I will leave you with that.
*Pray for me and the other voulunteers here that we can be as effective as possible in our ministry and be good examples of followers of Christ. Pray for the people we come in contact with that they would be open to hearing the gospel. Pray for me that I can keep up my energy and excitement for what I´m doing even though there´s long days.
*Well, now I´m off to go see a professional Bolivian Soccer/Futball game on our day off. Should be fun!

If you get my e-mails update... this is 98% the same message...

I just wanted to let you all know I arrived safely in Vinto, Bolivia.. around 8am yesterday (Sunday) morning. As soon as I arrived, they brought me to another missionary family´s home so I could shower and change and get ready for church. We went to church at an English service that mainly caters to missionaries. Then we went to another missionary families home for a big lunch. Yesterday was Bolivia´s independance day. I missed the parade Saturday night because I was still at the airport in La Paz, so I didn´t get to really see how Bolivians spend their Independance Day. Oh well. Today the clinic is closed because of the holiday and there´s only one patient in the hospital, so there´s not much to do today. I woke up this morning and was told that the guard dog had her puppies overnight. There are 5 of them. So, actually my first medical experience was with a puppy - one of them was struggling, still is actually, but it is very cold here overnight in the mountians - when the puppies were born this morning, one had already died and one was very cold and pretty unresponsive. 3 of us took turns for a couple hours this morning rubbing her and blowing the hairdryer at her on low. She´s doing better now, more responsive, but still the least active of the bunch. So far the mom is not a very good mom and is not letting them nurse much. Also, we think she might still have another puppy in her because of the way she´s acting. We´re trying to get ahold of a vet. So... that has occupied most of the morning. Then the three of us short-term volunteers that are here carried 16 sets of bookshelves up a flight of stairs to the offices and library at the hospital. So, we got our workouts. Now we´re here at the internet place. The other short term volunteers that are here are: Andrea who is a 20-year-old pre-dental student who got here just a day before me; and Michael, a 19-year-old pre-medical student who has been here a month already and leaves the day after I do. Then there´s the guest house hosts, Kyle and Amy, who are in their late 30`s. So... that´s my trip so far! No cool medical stories yet. Those will come. Oh yes, sorry, but I will not be putting any pictures online until I return because there is only dial-up internet here and it would take far too long. Typing this has even taken awhile due to the fact that everything but lower case letters is not in the same place as it is on an American keyboard. So, keep us in your prayers and I will keep you updated as I can.

Off to Bolivia I go!

I am leaving Mora at 3:00am - about 6 1/2 hours from now. My dad is driving me to the airport. I am flying American Airlines from Minneapolis to Miami, then Miami to La Paz, Bolivia. When I arrive in La Paz, I have to collect my baggage and go through customs. Then I need to find a ticket counter for either LAB or AeroSur airlines and get a flight to Cochabamba, these tickets cannot be purchased before I get there. I land in La Paz at 7:53pm, so I pray there's a flight out after 8:30pm or so and that I can get on it. Otherwise, I will be spending the night in the airport in La Paz and getting the first flight out in the morning. When I find out what flight I get, I give the full time missionaries a call, and someone will come pick me up at the Cochabamba airport.

My first full day in Bolivia, August 6, is the Bolivia Independance day. So, hopefully I'll get to see a bit of how they celebrate their independance.

So, I am asking for you to pray for safe travels for me. Pray that my flights leave on time and are safe. Pray that my luggage arrives with me at my destination. Overall - just pray my travels go smoothly.

I hope to be posting updates and possibly pictures on here, so keep checking if you're interested. I don't know how often I will get to the internet while I am away... it may be only a couple times the whole month... it may be every couple days. Not promising anything at this point.

I'm off to weigh my luggage, put it in the car... and hope to sleep for about 5 hours before I have to get up agian! :)

Who woulda thunk it...

So, on Friday my cousin-in-law calls me and asks if I ever got her e-mail..
"Ummm... I don't think so..." I say.
"Well, I sent it from my mom's comptuter, so I might have sent it under her name."
"I know your mom's name, and I didn't delete it... and I check my junk mail... I didn't see it there."
"Hmmm..." we both say.
So, she tells me what the e-mail was about and we figured all that out.
The next day I get an e-mail from her mom stating that she spelled my name wrong in the e-mail. She sent it to: aletheaanderson@yahoo.com instead of aleatheaanderson@yahoo.com. And she didn't get a cyber message saying the reciepent didn't exist. So, she sent an appology e-mail to the other Alethea. Thought that was the end of the story.

Today... I got an e-mail from aletheaanderson@yahoo.com. The people at Hospitals of Hope that I need to talk to before I leave... THEY spelled my name wrong too, in the SAME WAY. And the e-mail went to the other Alethea. She was kind enough to forward it to me. Very nice considering the subject was "Very Important Information." Craziness.

So, after thinking of the craziness for awhile today... I googled her.
She exists.
She has a website. www.aletheaanderson.com.
Wow.

I mean, if your name is John Smith. You've heard of other John Smith's. But man, my name is Aleathea Anderson... that is crazy.

Mario Brothers Lovers...

For those of you who played Mario as a kid... you have to watch this video clip. It made me clap and laugh out loud. It's awesome. Must watch it.

Mario Video

Thank you to Talena on Heather Anne's site. You guys are awesome.

I travel a lot...

"I travel a lot; I hate having my life interrupted by routine."
-Caskie Stinnett-

I think this is my new life motto. That quote is one of quite a few good ones in the journal my friend Amy bought for me as a graduation gift. Amy also was wonderful to take time out of her day to take the subway over to my commencement ceremony. Then we hung out on Saturday for awhile. It's awesome to have Amy in Philly. For those of you that don't know - I met Amy when we went to Jamaica together 3 years ago. This is me and Amy.