Lucky for you, tonight I'm just me

Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans. John Lennon, "Beautiful Boy"

Me of the Moment

Song stuck in my head: Jessica from Guitar Hero

Last movie I saw: Talladega Nights

Currently reading: The Night Masks, by RA Salvatore

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Thursday, April 20, 2006

Well, I'm long overdue for an update, especially since I do still have intermittent (read: once or twice a week) internet access. A lot has happened.

Chris and I officially graduated. The diplomas came in the mail today.

We moved out of Ellensburg completely. I don't owe the school (our landlord) anything, and we're reasonably well settled at camp. A lot of our stuff is in storage, which is a pain when one of us needs something that's in there, but our cabin has no closets whatsoever, so we need the storage unit in town. I'm settled enough in the cabin that I feel like I can call it "our house" and even, when I don't think about it too much, "home." Visitors are totally welcome, just give some notice because my schedule is weird lately. We have spare beds, heat, and even indoor plumbing! Actually, it's much more like a house than a cabin, aside from its proximity to the woods.

And now, the uncomfortable part. I'll cut the suspense by first saying this: my dad is fine--this is not a lead-in to any totally awful news. Last weekend, my dad was climbing McClellan's Butte with some friends from the Mountaineers. They were snowshoeing down, and Dad basically slipped on an icy patch where the slope was steep, fell 30 or 40 feet and broke his leg in three places. I'll spare the details, but it was pretty gruesome and definitely painful, and the team was still fairly high on the mountain. This was about 6:00 pm. They called 911 from a cellphone, and by 11:00 the first team of Alpine rescuers had reached them and begun to assess the situation. They determined they could begin extricating him around midnight when more help arrived. At this time, they still thought Mom would be able to drive him to our local hospital. Mom and I drove up to the mountain around 12:30, and were surprised to find that the "command post" which Dad's climbing partner had mentioned was not, as I had suspected, a single RV. It was a large Sheriff's RV, and an equally large Red Cross mobile "feeding unit", along with the trucks and jeeps of 50+ volunteers from various Search and Rescue groups. Now, remember, this is in the wee hours of what is essentially Easter morning, and it was so incredible to realize that so many people were out here when it was inconvenient and uncomfortable for them, just to take care of my dad.

Mom and I sat and waited, and had delicious homemade peppery stew and terrible coffee, both from the Red Cross. Around 4:00 am they finally got Dad all the way off the mountain. They had basically backboarded him, and for the first half mile of descent, it was too steep to just carry him, so they had to rig up belay lines and actually lower this sled with my dad on it. The next two miles teams took turns carrying the backboard to where they could get an offroad vehicle in to drive him back down to the command center, where an ambulance was waiting. Once he was down, it was very apparent that he was in no position to get in or out of a car, so Mom rode with him in the ambulance to Overlake Hospital, and I followed in Mom's car. They were able to examine him very promptly upon getting to the hospital (the ER waiting room was completely empty), but I could feel myself getting ready to drift off to sleep, or at the very least, a sleepy stupor, so after checking with Mom, I went home. It was 6 am, and I slept for three hours.

The next morning, I called Mom at the hospital, and found out Dad was going into surgery very soon. This was surprising, since it was Easter, and the surgery was not super-urgent. It took two and a half hours, and they put a rod, a steel plate, and some screws into his leg. You'd have to ask Mom or Dad for the specifics. They kept him in recovery all day and overnight, and though he mostly drowsed from the morphine, Mom didn't leave his side until 8:00 that night, at which point she had been awake over 36 hours. The following day, they put Dad on Percoset and taught him how to use his crutches before sending him home. He still needs a lot of help from Mom, but he's doing really well.

As for me, I basically missed Easter. I actually could have gone to Easter service that day, but it didn't even occur to me to go without Mom and Dad. I cooked Easter dinner for myself, Evan, and Chris, and I had hoped Mom would come home for it, but she wouldn't leave Dad. I cooked orange-glazed ham, potatoes au gratin, and green bean casserole, and it was all very tasty, but it didn't feel like Easter with Mom and Dad away. Also, most of the weekend had this sense of uncertainty, because at any moment we might have to spring into action and rush to the hospital. Plus, I gave myself a wicked second-degree burn while cooking from some stray molten honey.

And in three hours, Chris and I and his parents leave on a car trip to California for Greek Easter. Life goes on. This reminds me I have to get back to bed in hopes of overcoming the insomnia and getting at least some sleep tonight, as I'll be sharing in the driving.

posted by Rena at 3:14 AM

Monday, April 03, 2006

Okay, so I haven't posted in more than a week, even though I'm out of school and now am also done working. I'm easing the pain you'll feel once I move to camp and the internet access slips to almost none. In other news, I'm getting a tattoo later today. I'll try to post a picture. It's going to look sort of like this, except without the face and with different coloring. And in lieu of an actual post, since nothing is really happening except that we're closer and closer to being actually able to move, enjoy this survey thingie.

1. What time did you get up this morning? 5:25, then went back to bed and got up again at 8:41.

2. Diamonds or Pearls? I own no pearls, and there are diamonds in my wedding ring, so I have to go with diamonds, though I'm not the type to focus on gems.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Ice Age 2

4. What is your favorite TV show? West Wing, Gilmore Girls, Scrubs, Survivor, My Name is Earl, the Office. No way I'm picking just one.

5. What did you have for breakfast? Haven't yet; yesterday was cereal and breakfast sausage.

6. What is your middle name? was Marie, now is Windsor

7. What is your favorite cuisine? Italian

8. What foods do you dislike? FSA instant mashed potatoes and gravy, dried-out meat.

9. Your favorite potato chip? Cheddar and sour cream.

10. What is your favorite CD at the moment? Relient K, Two rights don't make a left (but three do)

11. What kind of car do you drive? Taurus.

12. Favorite sandwich? Subway Spicy Italian.

13. What characteristics do you despise? ignorance, misuse of apostrophes.

14. What are your favorite clothes? jeans, tank top and flip-flops

15. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you NOT
like to go? Anywhere super-hot or super-cold, because I'm a wuss. Also war zones.

16. Favorite brand of clothing? Converse

17. Where would you like to retire? Around the Puget Sound.

18.Favorite time of day? Lunchtime

19. Where were you born? Spokane, WA

20. What is your favorite sport to watch? Baseball and gymnastics

21. Who do you think will not send this back? n/a

22. Person you expect to send it back first? n/a

23. Pepsi or Coke? Black Cherry Vanilla Diet Coke

24. Beavers or Ducks? Mountain Beavers

25. Are you a morning person or night owl? morning person

26. Pedicure or manicure? Neither. I guess I need a manicure more, since I bite my nails so badly, they could use it.

29. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with anyone? I just graduated. Wooo! And I'm getting a tattoo in approximately four hours.

31. What is your best childhood memory? Backpacking with my dad, going to the Nutcracker with the whole family, Christmas mornings at Grandma's.

32. Piercings? One hole in each ear. How conventional of me.

33. Ever been to Africa? no

34. Ever been toilet-papering? nope

35. Been in a car accident? Nothing too serious. I got backed into in a driveway once; another time I was hit by a dumpster in a mall parking lot. Most recently, I drove my car into a snowdrift (aka a ditch filled with snow.) For more info, feel free to ask, because I'll admit, it's a pretty funny list of accidents.

36. Favorite restaurant? China-Star in Morehead, Olive Garden, El Charro in Sumner.

37. Favorite flower? Whatever is fresh and in season

38. Favorite ice cream? A really creamy french vanilla. Or cheesecake flavors.

39. Favorite fast food restaurant? Arby's, Taco Del Mar

40. How many times did you fail your drivers test? None, but I did fail the parallel parking, backing around a corner, and right turns sections of it.

41. From whom did you get your last e-mail? Venture Crew update

42. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? How dumb is it if I say Fred Meyers? But hear me out: I could buy clothes, games, electronics, and a whole ton of awesome food. One-stop shopping, baby.

43. Bedtime? Usually between 10 and 11 pm. Midnight last night, hence the current sleepyness.

44. Who are you most curious about their response to this? n/a

45. Last person you went to dinner with? Chris, Evan, my parents, and a bunch of extended family I hadn't seen in five years.

46.What are you listening to right now? The humming of the computer and the tapping of my fingers on the keyboard. It's pretty quiet right now.

47. What is your favorite color? Blue

48. How many tattoos do you have? None, yet.

49. How many people are you sending this e-mail to? n/a

50. What time did you finish this e-mail? 9:01 am

51. Favorite magazine? Isn't this a little anti-climactic, throwing in a random question after 50 and after the wrapping-it-up types of questions? I guess Newsweek, but I don't really subscribe to magazines.

posted by Rena at 5:55 AM

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