Airport wireless

I love free airport wireless. This post comes to you from the Jacksonville International Airport in Jacksonville, Florida. I've been here since Wednesday and am now on my way home. While I was here I got to experience the big company holiday party - 1500 people at the club house of TPC Sawgrass (that's a super duper swanky golf course for those of you not in the know).

It was okay - I've had more fun parties in my life, but it was a sight, that's for sure. There were every level of dress, from dresses out of t-shirt material to the most lavish prom dress (and hair) you can imagine.

I was worried about being over dressed, but that was not an issue. It was hard to be at a party where I didn't really know anyone. The people I went with scattered as soon as dinner was over, so I planted myself at a blackjack table - they gave us play money to play with. I left up "$4,000."

Everytime I come to Jacksonville I leave with the same impression. I am not part of this group. Visits to our office are a vivid reminder that I am an outsider. That's so incredibly hard to deal with, especially since I work with these people every day. Our communications are limited to phone and email, so I miss out on the interpersonal stuff, the lunches, the hallway conversations and the "driveby's". My team knew that I was coming, they've know for a while. I have to give credit to some of them, but my boss didn't actually spend any one on one time with me until right before the holiday party Friday afternoon. That was my third day in the office. He claims that I am important part of his team, and that I add strategic value, but that is a tough pill to swallow when he can't carve an hour out of his schedule to talk to me.

I digress...enough talk about work.

Dad is home, he was released on Wednesday. It was decided that he was mobile enough to go straight home. Mom told me that his post-hospital pharmacy bill was just over $1,600! Most of that is recoverable by insurance, but YIKES...

Oh - gotta go they are starting to call my flight.

Good news

So, effective yesterday, and thanks to the hard work of some of the folks at the hospital, mom and dad officially (and finally) have health insurance. They haven't had anything approaching decent health insurance in ages, and now they have really good coverage from Catamount Health and Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Also on a positive note, Dad is bored. There is talk of moving him into a physical rehab location by the end of next week. Now that they have insurance, he can finally be placed somewhere. So, things are looking up for Mom and Dad.

To answers Kate's query on eight random things about myself...let's see...

* I'm the only person in my immediate family to have never ridden in an ambulance.

* I've been wearing glasses since I was three years old.

* I've seen every episode of ALL Star Trek series.

* I play three musical instruments (the piano, trumpet and glockenspiel)

* I want to own and drive a motorcycle.

* I learned HTML because I could.

* I still own my Barbie dolls (but don't play with them - they are in Chelsea)

* I graduated Cum Laude from college.

Later Days!

What a week...

This has truly been an exhausting week, both personally and professionally. The professional stuff is all related to managing the expectations of the people you work with and some growing pains with new team members.

Personally there as been good news and bad news. Dad was moved out of the ICU last night and is now in a standard room. He's off dialysis and the ventilator. His speech is slurred and he is pretty confused, but improving.

The bad news is that the ignition in my car has frozen up, making it impossible to turn my car on. Not what I needed this week, but at least I was near home when it happened. It's going to the dealership on Tuesday for a new ignition. Can't wait to see that bill!

If you don't hear from me - have a most happy Thanksgiving. Be thankful for both the joys and struggles, for they are what help you to make you who you are.

Nothing to update...really.

Well, spoke to Mom this morning, they are going to wean him off the sedatives over the course of today and tomorrow. She'll probably head down tomorrow, and will have more information then.

Update

The last time Dad was in the hospital certain family members (you know who you are out there in the Central Time Zone) were concerned that I didn't post enough updates, so...

UPDATE:
Dad is still at Dartmouth, still sedated, still intubated, and is now on dialysis. IF he is off the ventilator tomorrow I will probably head back down to see him, but if not, there is not real point as he will be sedated and completely unaware.

We are currently planning to have Thanksgiving at Dartmouth, which is a new and interesting experience for us.

That's all I have right now.

Dad's back in the hospital

After and ambulance ride to Gifford Hospital in Randolph, Dad was taken via DHART (Dartmouth-Hitchcock Advance Response Team) to Dartmouth Hospital in Hanover, NH.

There he was sedated, intubated and placed in the ICU. Mom and I were there last night, and Mom went back today. At last update this afternoon, his condition hasn't changed. He had a CT scan which was normal and they are currently giving him antibiotics for his various infections.

I'll try to update again when I know more, but for the moment he is serious but stable.

Home from Charlotte

I am home from Charlotte, the Sox are up on the Rockies 3 games to none and my Ravelry invite arrived...life is good.

Mom did really well on her trip down. I was impressed. We had to rush through DCA, but she kept up. She got a bit plane sick on the little plane, but once we boarded an AirBus she was fine. Things in Charlotte were fine. I got to see Lowe's Motor Speedway, which while large was smaller than I thought it would be. It was raining just about everyday I was there, so the sunny weather I was expecting was no where to be found, so were my sunny weather clothes.

Mom got a pedicure - and even admitted that she enjoyed it! She and Aunt Joanne are off to the Biltmore today and tomorrow and Mom flies home on Wednesday.

Say bye-bye

The more aware and attentive person out there might have noticed that the address of the family blog has changed. The old blog was posted on the old cable company's server. Well, when we moved we were booted off that server and now we are here...lifeinvt.blogspot.com.

So, how are we all anyway? Good question. We settling in. Sophie is loving the fact that the windows are lower to the ground. She spends hours staring out of the bedroom windows. I haven't had a chance to put a lot of stuff on the walls yet, so it doesn't quite feel like home, but I'm hoping to have time to do that soon. Not sure exactly when, but someday.

Work continues at a rapid clip. Good days and bad days, but so far the good days still outnumber the bad. Chris is still working tons and traveling to loads of games all over New England. He was in Connecticut yesterday following the Middlebury College football team to Weslyan.

Mom and I will be traveling to North Carolina next month to visit Aunt Joanne. She is really looking forward to flying - and I'm looking forward to watching her fly. I'm so jaded that I don't see the wonder in it anymore, so I'm excited to see flying through Mom's eyes.

Knitting Celebrity

I'm almost a knitting celebrity....Jill mentioned my name and the two things I've made for the store in her blog!

We now return you to your regular programming, already in progress.

Tomorrow, Tomorrow

I'm stressed about you tomorrow....

Okay, so tomorrow is officially moving day. I think we're in pretty good shape, but really, how prepared can you be for a move? I took the first load over this afternoon. It's okay, smaller than where we currently live, but I think we can stick it out for a year or two. By then, we should be in a better place to finally purchase a home of our very own.

Keep us all in your thougths tomorrow - hope no one is injured.

We're moving

It is with some amount of sadness that we announce that we are leaving our townhouse in Colchester. The building has been changed into condos and we weren't prepared to purchase, so we are leaving at the end of July.

It's frustrating, but there is an upside. We are moving to Burlington to a slightly smaller and much cheaper apartment. All told we should be able to cut just over $100 from our housing expenses. This money will clearly be used in other areas to help get us that much closer to purchasing a home of our own.

On similar moving news, Hannah has a new job and is moving from Florida to Temple, NH. No firm moving date has been set, but it should be sometime in the next month or so.

Two posts in one day...

Okay, I just have to share this post from the blog of Kaleidoscope Yarns (http://kyarns.blogspot.com).

Let's just say cats and yarn don't always get along....

Vegas, baby!

Chris and I are getting ready to head to Las Vegas next week. I have to go to attend a tradeshow, The Las Vegas Money Show, and we had a voucher from Delta, so Chris is tagging along. Should be fun.

Updates on Chris' life can be found on his blog (see link in right hand column). Updates in my life are slim. I've been really busy at work recently, we've recently launched a completely updated EverBank.com. I am currently working to improve our lead process and have been heavily involved in updating our advertising partners regarding the new site.

The day after I get back from Las Vegas I have to work at the yarn store. Note to Aunt Jean - K Yarns is having a big sale in the 19th...check it out! :-)

No real news on Dad, except to say that no news is good news.

Happy Pi Day

No, silly, not piE, PI...

Today is 3.14...pi. Check out piday.org...

Okay, so that's about the most exciting thing about today's post.

Sorry for the delay

Aunt Jean informed me recently that people actually DO read this blog. She chastised me for not posting an update on Dad's condition. So, I am sorry for the delay, but here is your update.

Dad is well. He spent approximately a week in the hospital, but is now home and seems to be doing better. The key is that it is entirely up to him whether he stays healthy or not. If he falls off the wagon and stops taking care of himself, there is only so much Mom can do before he gets sick again. So, in short, so far so good, keep your fingers crossed.

I stumbled across this way cool YouTube video...many thanks to the guys at WDEV for mentioning it on the air several times early last week. Check it out...it's a video of what happens to boiling water at -34.8 degrees Fahrenheit.

A minor weather update...it was brutally cold most of last week. We're talking daytime highs of 5. No, I didn't miss a number. Today is proof that Spring is springing, it's 40 degrees and the snow is melting everywhere. One thing to keep in mind though is that Hannah's birthday is in another week, so we're bound to get at least one more event of some kind, but I'll take 40 while it lasts, and it should last a while. The weather gurus are talking about sugaring weather - Bring on Spring!

Back to the hospital we go

Dad is back in the hospital. The doctors seem to be positive though.

He went in late on Monday and was diagnosed with a severe kidney infection and a bladder infection. Today I learned that he also has a blood infection. That said, however, he's getting good care and is expected to be released on Monday. Apparently it was a bit touch and go for a little while, but he's doing much better.

On a lighter note...

Chris and I will be taking the Lake Champlain Housing Trust home buying class on Saturday. It's very exciting! We are thinking of perhaps purchasing a two bedroom condo with a finished basement. Ideally, we'd LOVE to have something with three bedrooms, but I fear that is outside our price range at this point.

Work continues to go well for both of us. One of Chris' blog posts will be featured in this week's Seven Days newspaper. It's great exposure for him!

Alex has been instrumental in helping to position her company against the forthcoming launch of a competitor product. Check it out at www.whyruwaiting.com.