Radio Flyer

"Cart!" "Cart!" "Cart!"

This is the one thing that my 19 monthe old son remembers most of his 4 days in the Children's Hospital. It also seems to be the only word he wants to say since we have been home.

A week ago Friday, he came home from daycare with what looked to be a bug bite or small scratch on his knee. At the time, it didnt seem like anything serious, but over the next two days his knee slowly swelled and became red. By Monday morning, he was limping and doing his best to guard it. He would let nothing come in contact with it, and when something or someone did, you knew by the screech that soundedd like a seal being crushed.

I immediately made an appt with his pediatrician for noon that day. In the meantime, i dropped him off at daycare and headed to work. I headed back to his daycare about 1130 to find his room playing outside. The interesting thing was that he managed to get himself to the top of the playcenter(not sure what they are called any more... jungle gym, monkey house, plastic structure of death), but could not get back down. Apparently it hurt his knee to much to climb down. This was told to me by the crack daycare staff, that apparently had enough brains to figure out what was happening with him, but not enough brains to help him get down. I feel so secure knowing they are caring for my children, but that is another blog for another day.

I arrived at the pediatricians office, and the fun began. He couldnt see his regular doctor due to the short notice, so we saw the doctor who had a "im suspicious of you as a parent" attitude. Wonderful. After she aggressively checked all of my childs vitals, making him cry non stop, she recommended that they he be admitted right away.

The reason for this actually started a handful of months ago. Logan had a rash that started out much like pimples. After everything being done for him, the rash did not go away, it evolved. It started being more like small blisters and exzema. This in turn became two boils on his groin area and buttock. These had to be lanced and drained. Another unfortunate experience that my wife had to handle solo. They finally cultured the infection to discover that he had MRSA.

I will not go into everthing about MRSA, but i will say that it is a staph infection that does not respond well to antibiotics. There are different degrees of MRSA, and some can be deadly. We all carry a form of MRSA, but there are strains that you definitely dont want. And Logan has one of those strains.

The reason the doctor at the pediatricians office wanted to send him to the Children's Hospital is because the infection he had was over his knee, and therefore could have moved into his joint. She wanted him seen by an orthopedic surgeon, as she believed his knee might need surgery. First they needed to take blood. That was a fiasco. The new nurse started her vein fishing on his left arm, and after about 3 minutes of not hitting a vein and daddy getting a little more then perturbed with having to pin his child down while he begged for mercy, the other nurse recommended the other arm. GREAT. The other arm did not prove fruitful for that nurse either. That is when the other nurse jumped in and nailed the vein in seconds flat. This only served to upset me. I realize that the new nurse has to learn, but if she cant do it on the first arm, i think that the child needs to be given a break. Im just thinking that would be along the lines of COMMON SENSE. With that over, we could leave.

I headed back to daycare, picked up his sister and headed to the CH. We checked in the roller coaster of doctors, nurses, and needles began.

Once we were in the back, they immediately decided to hook Logan to an IV. That would be his third stick within two hours. Rough day. Luckily, this nurse had a little more compassion and was a little more prepared to make it easy. Though it hurt, it only lasted about 3 minutes compared to the 10 minutes earlier that day. Later that evening, the doctors decided that they would go with an MRI before the surgery to see if it was necessary. This would mean anesthia, and then another IV in the foot. He got through that. By the end of the day, my name was no longer Daddy, it was Daaaaaaaddyyyyyyyyy. Heartbreaking every time he pleaded to me.

Another rough part about all of this is that my wife was out of town. Her grandfather had died and she and our teenager went to the funeral. Needless to say, she was having more then an emotional week. Knowing her baby was in the hospital and she couldnt be there was driving her crazy. She would arrive on the second day.

They admitted us that night to the hospital. The Drs decided that he would not need surgery, and would just receive antibiotics in the hospital until they felt he was ready to go home.

He would spend the next four days in the hospital, having his vitals taken every three hours, and having his knee squeezed regularly, the crushed seal returning every time. He fell in love with the wagon that he could be pulled around in the hospital, better known as "Cart". Grandma also showed up on Tuesday, helping us greatly by dealing with the other kids. Thanks Mom!

Thankfully the MRSA responded to the antibiotic they chose. Giving our family great relief. He is well on his way to recovery. We have had to clean the house top to bottom, and still are not finished. We have to wash the linens in the whole house seven days in a row. Everyone in the house has to put a topical antibiotic on their nose and we have to wash with a special soap. All this to try and reduce the chances of continuing to sread MRSA.

A very tiring and exhausting week. Many details in between, but that is the short version.

So what did i learn out of all of this? That my wife was right a couple years ago when she said the kids really need a wagon, or as Logan calls it "CART"!

Dont Call It a Comeback

I am going to be returning. I have had a busy couple weeks, so much to blog about.
Stay tuned.

SS of Summer

There is a sweet spot between summer and fall. It is anywhere between 4 to 10 days on average. Its where the temperature is cool at night and gets very warm during the day. These are the days that remind me most of my childhood and obviously make me the most nostalgic. I'm reminded of nights i would spend on a cement pier on Hickam Air Force Base with the cool trade winds cutting across the water. If everyday of the year could be like this, I would be a very happy individual.
The unfortunate part is that it can not.
Fall is inevitable. Through my many years of living in the upper Midwest, i have come to dislike fall, as it is the introduction to winter. If there is one thing people know about me, it is that i don't enjoy winter. I have tried, but it is clearly not in me. So with that, i have to hold for the Sweet Spot.
I have tried to advise my wife that we should move to a beach. This is where i would be most happy. To be able to interact with a wave on a regular basis would be perfection. To hear the surf pounding in the morning over and over as the sun rises is like being next to a warm heart beat of a lover. My wife responds with the greatest of emotion. I can tell she is overwhelmed with my desire by the way she first looks to the floor and then to the heavens and then to the floor again. All this in one fell swoop. Probably more commonly known as an "eye roll". I will keep hoping. For now, the Sweet Spot.
So with that said or written, I wish everyone a Happy Sweet Spot time of year. Go outside. Roll in the grass with your children or loved one. Adore the flowers. Admire the green on the landscape. Breathe in the many final smells of summer. Catch a glimpse of a collector car before it gets put in storage. Take your dog to a park. Bake in the sun. Go for a bike ride around a lake. Just realize the Sweet Spot can be unpredictable, so don't put it off. May you use these final days of summer wisely and breathe the air in deep, as its about to get a little thinner.

Fair Days

I have made it. A full day at the Minnesota State Fair.
At first i was a little worried, but then i realized Brett Williams would be by our side to guide us through the great get together. As an added bonus, Tim Dybevik would act as backup in case Brett became unavailable.
We had four 30 minute shows with Stevie Rays throughout the day. In between the sets, we would be able to roam the fairgrounds. And we did.
We went and found some typical fair food such as a Pronto Pup, which is NOT a corn dog. There is a difference. I had the Pronto Pup. Wrong choice. Enjoyed a cookie and that was about the extent of it.
We did go to the Pirate shoot out. That was a good time had by all. Brett made the unfortunate mistake of putting his bucket of balls (insert joke here) on the upper ledge, exposing it to the shootout. With one swift shot, Brett's balls were everywhere, as was Brett.
The shows went off well. The longer the day went on, the more exhausted the troupe became. None the less, we made the crowd laugh, and in the end, i believe we may have secured a bigger stage for next year. Well see. Thanks Tim for the initial foot in the door.
We all gathered up and jumped in the van that would take us across the fair grounds to our cars. It was amazing how fair goers can become very angry and seething over a vehicle cutting through the street. Luckily the windows were tinted and our identities were protected from the short fused mob. The joys of the fair.
I was glad to get back to my car and head home, knowing i wouldn't have to deal with the fair for a long time to come... or would I?
The answer... no. The family and I would embark the next day.

Aftermath of B-day

I wanted to write about my birthday (as it was yesterday), but i find that i don't have time at the moment. Please stay posted, as i promise a surprise.

Lifes Fare

It was a little hotter then usual that day. Instead of the normal Hawaiian 86 degrees with ideal trade winds , it was somewhere in the mid 90's and calm. Dave, John, and myself had been skating (skateboarding) over most of Hickam Air Force Base and were exhausted. We decided that we wanted to make our way to Wallows and then on to Waikiki to hit some surf to cool down. John usually had his parents car, but it was in the shop. So we turned to the only other transportation that we knew of ... the bus.

It was a little strange and exciting to board a city bus for the first time. It slowly rolled up coming to a stop at a barren corner of the east side of the base. The brakes screeched with the typical air release. The driver was an older gentleman, rather heavy set, with glasses that looked like they were bullet proof. The only words that were uttered were "keep em off the floor". Apparently he didn't care for the skateboards. It was a typical bus. It had hard blue plastic seats, and was rather spacious. There weren't even any bars running the length of the bus for passengers to hold. It was jsut white and blue, void of any images. It was 1985. There was no one on the bus, so we headed to the back to camp out. There was no A/C, but the windows were open and generated enough wind to cool us down. The engine started to roar as we took off. I remember feeling eager to be venture the island with our new found travel. We saw interesting people enter and exit, most of them friendly. Even held some conversations with a few. I saw parts of the island i had not seen before, all while enjoying the company of my friends. Somehow, i felt i had aged that day.

Fast forward 23 years. My sister in law is giving birth to her brand new baby boy, and my wife is by her side in the delivery room. She tells me she wont be able to pick me up after work. That leaves me only one choice... the Bus.

It was a muggy afternoon in downtown Minneapolis. I had no skateboard (its at home), and i had to make a trek from WFHM to Lake and 35W in order to catch the bus. After a ten minute walk I climbed the 30 plus stairs to the bus stop sitting on the edge of the interstate. I waited with about 6 other people for the chariot that would take us to our domain. One by one they all disappeared onto their respective bus. Finally mine rolled up. As it did, i could see that it was full... completely.

The bus rolled up with the familiar release of the brakes. Excitement started rising in me much like my youth. Nostalgia started setting in. Door swung open and the bus driver didn't even look my way. Already i could tell things were different from my youth. I stepped about a foot past the yellow line, that had not been there 23 years ago, and was not able to move any further. Every seat and standing space was taken. No one was making eye contact. No one was talking. People were either reading books, listening to ipods, or staring blankly out the window. I call it City Grey. Everyone is somewhere in between the black and the white. They are just grey. There were advertisements running the length of the bus. Everywhere you looked, there was some kind of information being shoved down your consuming throat. Quite a bit had changed from my youth. There was no communication from anyone. Things had definitely changed. People made great effort not to connect with the person whom their bodies were literally pressed up against. It was sad to see this. It reminded me of my youth and the freedom I had and the freedom people had with each other in general. One by one they would all leave the bus. They would utter "thank you" to the bus driver, but not with some genuine feeling, but an obligation to the fact it was done by the passenger before them. I was the last one to exit the bus. Before i did, i tried to strike a conversation with the bus driver, but he seemed off put by it. I tried. I left the bus with a feeling of disappointment. I wanted to feel that same energy from my early days. It was not to be had.

So, i made the ten minute walk home. Thought about my kids and the new baby born that day, and could only hope they wouldn't become one of the Grey's. After arriving home, i went to the basement, grabbed my skate(skateboard) and tried to refresh my youth. The day was not lost.

Olympic Blog

What a terribly busy and stressful week.

I know what your thinking, is he part of the 2008 Olympics?? Does he have great stress due to all the training? Is his schedule filled with opening ceremonies, and last minute adjustments to the meeting all new people in a foreign land? I know that it would seem these to be valid questions, but the answer is no, I did not attend the Olympics opening ceremony. I did however have lots of training and met lots of new people in my new permanent job (which is on a different floor in a different building which is technically foreign to me).

My new job consists of me learning a whole new program to work in, and it is slow going to say the least. Hopefully i can get a better handle on it next week, so that i can feel more productive.

Along with a new system to learn, came lots of new names to learn... which is hard. The reason it is hard is something i have yet to figure out. You see, up until the age of about 26, i was able to remember every persons name that i met. I had an uncanny ability to remember one time acquaintances. I'm talking names that were useless to remember, like the boyfriend of your girlfriends cousin (Mike Boyd). Something changed in my brain in my late 20's, and now names are like gibberish. I will here a name, and literally, fractions of a second later, it is gone. It is like i leap forward in time when introductions are being made. My brain has turned on me. As a result of this, i can not manage introductions without looking like a fool. There is no finer moment then when you go to introduce your wife to a long time friend and realize you cant remember your... wife's name. Okay, it hasn't been that bad, but it certainly feels like it.

The days were busy, and the evenings were as well.

Tuesday saw the final 6 Ring of the quarter which was fun. It was the last night of CSGG (Club Squad Group Gang), as all the teams will be mixed up for the next round. It will be exciting to start coaching a new team from scratch.

Later that night the wife (whats her name...come on Jason, THINK) and I went to see An Intimate Evening with Mike Fotis. It is one of the many shows of the Fringe Festival. It was hilarious. Great story telling Mike. Nice job.

Wednesday was rehearsal for Stevie Ray's. It was a great rehearsal, as it was time to stretch the brains a little and really start juggling improv skills. I think the expressions left on the troupe was all the assurance i needed to know that i had gave them a work out. Came home that night and grilled and had some great conversations with Dave (something last name... dammit Jason, you can do this!)

Monday and Thursday was an evening busy with children. Insert multiple parenting things here. Thursday also came with a late night get together at Josh and Alicia's new home. My wife (I know its in there somewhere, think boy, THINK) and I went for some grilling and conversations with people we knew and new acquittance's (not even going to try).

Friday evening was also an evening of children and house cleaning. The first time in a while i was home alone with the little ones. The reason for that is because the teenager has begun working. That's right. If your at the BNW on a Friday or Saturday, you may be seated by him. He has a new title, and it is usher boy. Not sure how he feels about it yet, as he is not very expressive, but i am sure the money that can come from it might raise the emotional meter. We will see. The rest of the evening was spent with Karen (wait a minute, that's it, I DID IT!) watching some bad television. It seems like weeks since we were able to do that. Kind of cool.

Well that turned out to be quite the weekly recap blog. Sorry about that. Probably was more of a debrief from all the stress of some of it. It doesn't read very stressful, but trust me, it was in there. I'm off, i have to start stretching out for week two of ...(insert my name, CRAP!) Olympics.