happy birthday dear sister!

Ode to Sarah

Sarah, Sarah we love you,

You're so fun and really nice, too!

I miss you when you're far away,

I'm glad you live closer than East A.

You live in Denton, nice and near,

I like it when you come stay here!

We share our clothes; you take them home,

But that's okay... it saves us dough!

You wear jellies like we used to,

Good thing they're back in style or I'd laugh at you!

You are so great at what you do,

You tell people about Jesus, woo hoo!

Matt and I, we sure love you,

Hope this year is full of blessings, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

hubby minus beard

Matt (very, very reluctantly) shaved his beard this week because he's on a new rotation (Critical Care Anesthesia) at the V.A. The VA's OR is pretty strict and if you have a beard, apparently you have to wear a "darth-vader-type" mask which is described as "hot, annoying, restrictive, and incredibly dorky-looking." Thus, the shave.

He's still soooo handsome. Don't you think?

Baseball with the Langstons!

This week we did all kinds of cool Dallas stuff! Matt got free tickets to the Rangers game and in the midst of their busy schedule, we were privideged to have the Langston's accompany us! It was way fun. And the Rangers won, which is a plus.

Some highlights of the night:

1.) We caught the pic below while we were trying to take a picture of ourselves and a foul ball happened to be coming toward us at the exact same time. Pretty neat pic, we thought. As you can see, I was terrified.

2.) 2 broken bats! And I told Melanie that if they break the bat they get 10 extra points. She believed me. :) just for a second.

3.) One of the player's names is "Milton Bradley." Josh called him "Connect Four."

All in all it was just a fun night. We love the Langstons!!

today

Today I had the privilege of telling two new moms that they are pregnant!

One of them is a beautiful, excited, young hispanic girl who came to me basically complaining of morning sickness. She just got married 3 months ago, doesn't have a job, and her husband is a blue-collar worker. I know they will love their baby well. (and I hope it will be my future patient!) They are so happy about the new little member of their family and are surprised to find out that the little one already has 4 limbs complete with nubs of fingers and toes, pigmented eyes, a beating heart and a spinal column. I love these visits.

The next one didn't even smile when I walked in the room congratulating her on her pregnancy. She was visibly annoyed and told me that she wants kids eventually but "this is not the time." She's a full-time nurse and her boyfriend has a job, but they don't want to be inconvenienced with a baby. I took a deep breath (and said a quick prayer) and realized I needed to explain her options. I already knew what she was thinking, but I wanted to try to convince her to have her baby. I talked with her about adoption, and told her that there are adoptions agencies that will pay all the medical bills (including hospital bills) if you give your baby up for adoption. I printed out some info about the Dallas Pregnancy Resource center and hope that she'll give it a second thought. In the end, she told me she's going to have an abortion. This was one of my most difficult situations at work.

I will be praying that she doesn't go through with it, but the sad truth is that this is reality in America. It happens every day:

- Nearly half of pregnancies among American women are unintended, and four in 10 of these are terminated by abortion. Twenty-two percent of all pregnancies (excluding miscarriages) end in abortion.

- In 2005, 1.21 million abortions were performed, down from 1.31 million in 2000. From 1973 through 2005, more than 45 million legal abortions occurred.

1.21 million is unacceptable. I need to pray that there would be fewer abortions in America... that doctors, politicians, and just normal good people would realize that there are other options.

Sorry for such a depressing post... this is just what was on my mind today...

my wife

I love my wife.  She takes such good care of me.  Just today she went to the grocery store and made a fantastic dinner (chicken sopa) for me.  She is also folding laundry for me as I "study" right now:)  She's the best!

to galveston...

I'm so glad it seems that the hurricane wasn't quite as bad as it could have been, and everyone I know in the Houston/Galveston area seems to be safe. What a blessing! I think I've had a little different perspective on this hurricane than I've had on other natural disasters, just because I lived in Galveston for a couple years. I feel sorry for the people in Galveston and South Houston who have lost even a little, because so many people down there just don't have much at all. In a way it would make sense for them to try to stay behind and guard their few possessions, especially if they don't have a greater hope apart from this life....

"Now if the earthly tent that we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. "

Here are some of my favorite places in Galveston. Trust me, there weren't many. If you know me very well, you know that I wasn't a huge fan of the town. Nonetheless, I have wonderful memories thanks of great friends that I wouldn't have if I didn't live there!

MOD - the coffee shop where I would frequently study

This was my neightborhood grocery store - it took me over a year until I finally had enough courage to go inside.....

our landlords' yard art

our apartment in galveston!

good friends

me and meghan :) I miss her.

labor day weekend

This post is kind-of old news, but for Labor Day weekend we took a trip! To Lake Tanglewood, which is just outside of Amarillo. Matt's parents have a comfy little house on the lake and they were so generous to let us stay there. We did all kinds of relaxing and enjoyed the outdoors... for 3 whole days! It was very refreshing.

slow days...

This week at work has been very very s . l . o . w . .... probably because school just started back up, so none of the little kiddos are sick yet; and it's not flu season yet; and people aren't outside doing summery things, stirring up their allergies and breaking their ankles, etc.... Those are my theories anyway.

This afternoon it is my turn to do "Walk-In Clinic", which means I don't have any scheduled patients in the afternoon, I just see whoever walks in the door between 2 and 4:30 needing to be seen. I am assigned to this job once a week. In the winter, the walk-in provider averages about 20-25 patients per afternoon, and I think the record is 57!! (which required a lot of help from other doctors for obvious reasons). In the summer, we average about 10-15 each afternoon, which is nice .... but not today! I haven't had one patient yet this afternoon! (Thus the blogging.) So, I'm enjoying a nice peaceful afternoon. So far today I have read all my favorite "friend" blogs, all my favorite "political" blogs, and I tried to do some online shopping for certain people I know who have b-days this month. :) And they're paying me - yikes! My job is not often slow, but when it's slow, it's really slow. nada enchilada. There's nothing to catch up on, because I have to be caught up by the end of every day no matter what. I could open my books and try to learn something, but...... hmmm, no excuse.

a thousand words