The Peds Resident Christmas Party

Friday, December 22nd we had our annual holiday party. All the residents go up to the lounge (instead of noon conference) for lunch and holiday cheer. Secret Santas reveal themselves and give their last present. I had Jen Schrieber... I think she was suprised. Sheena had me and I am so thankful for my Target gift card, boy do I love that store! Jackie, Tara, Sarah, and I also exchanged gifts. I got a Cardinals welcome mat, a Tshirt, and a cookbook; all very useful items! Then some very creative residents entertained us by singing their version of "The 12 Days of Christmas" in this case "The 12 Days of Wards." These words are similar but may be out of order:
On the 12th day of Wards my senior gave to me:
12 directs coming
11 trachs a plugging
10 Crohn's a bleeding
9 nurses paging
8 fevers spiking
7 kids a puking
6 hyper bilis
5 RSVs
4 seizing kids
3 transfers
2 spinal taps
and a pager for the ward team.

Unfortunately, after the festivities I had a ROUGH night of call in the NICU. ***Note that when you click on the title above it will link to other pictures, I hope! I will add others to the previous posts if they are available. Best wishes!

Jen and Jenn

Wednesday we were lucky enought to get another visitor... Jenn Rigg came to town! Besides the fact that Jenn is one of my nearest and dearest friends, it is super special to see her because she is a traveling NICU nurse and you never know where she is going to be. Lucky for us, she had taken time off for the holidays between assignments and fit in a visit on the way to pick up her Grandma for the holidays. When she got into town she got to have lunch with Ari and I before he headed off to work. I took her to Children's to drop off my secret santa gift and then show her our NICU, which she really liked. Unfortunately, CHW doesn't hire traveling nurses... that would be too much fun! That night she got to join us for resident happy hour which was at the Milwaukee Ale House. John Trost, one of my classmates friends, was singing/playing the guitar and he was so talented. Finally, we decided to take off and rent a chick flick... The Devil Wears Prada (a movie I am quite sure Ari has no interest in seeing). Poor Jenn was exhausted from traveling and fell asleep on the couch. The next day we had planned to do some shopping in the Third Ward but the weather just did not cooperate. We ended up eating sandwiches and watching You, Me, and Dupree which was hysterical. I then took off for a meeting and Jenn went down to Chicago. Thanks for coming up Jenn!!

Ari's Mom Comes To Visit

Last Friday night, Ari's mom flew in to visit from Oregon. Her trip was unfortunately a little eventful with one of her planes being late causing her to almost miss a connecting flight. For those of you who fly Northwest Airlines, beware that there are no snacks! His poor mom flew all day and didn't even get a pretzel. When she arrived, I took her to one of our favorite local restaurants to get a bite to eat and Ari came to join us after work.

Saturday, I took Ari and his mom to an Indian restaurant I discovered a couple of months ago. Lunch was delicious! We then walked it off at the Milwaukee art museum, which had more art than I suspected. There was also this creepy display with a talking baby doll... wierd. Tom, Sarah Beth, and Conner came over for dinner and I made home-made pizzas which were accompanied by Tom's famous salad. Dinner was great but the company was better. Tom and Sarah also brought us a Christmas gift - a card shuffler. Get ready poker fans, we are now planning the next party!!

Sunday we slept in and then did a little holiday shopping. We then got ready for a night out. Dennis and Davette, a classmate of Ari's and his wife, came over and we headed off to see the Nutcracker. I was the only one who had seen a ballet before. Everyone enjoyed the show. We then went for Tapas at a restaurant down the street called Swig (that's where the picture was taken). It was delicious for the carnivores and the vegetarians.

Monday was back to work for me. Marshan and Ari actually came to visit me while I was on call in the NICU since things were quiet. Then Marshan flew back home EARLY Tuesday. We are so glad that she got to visit!

Our New Hang Out

After a few weeks at Leff's Lucky Town (home of the world's largest urinal... boy am I sorry I missed that one!), Wednesday night resident happy hour has moved to Mo's Pub conveniently about a mile from the hospital. This Wednesday residents from all classes and most of the PICU nurse practitioners met to celebrate our move. Let me tell you, the place was hoppin'. The service left something to be desired (and was probably related to my prior comment) but the food was good and the beer was cold! They also had a live band as an added bonus... unfortunately their song list did not include Polka!

Friday Night Fish Fry

In Milwaukee, you can hardly go anywhere that doesn't serve fish fry on friday, even the hospital does! So the interns requested that our weekend outing include fish fry at the Lakefront Brewery... the added bonus being that the Polka Kings play live every friday. So you can imagine the fun we had after a few beers and a couple of sets of polka music. Most of the interns got up to try their hands (well, actually feet) at polka. It was a riot! Here I am with a couple of stars of the intern class Aaron Weiss and Melissa Turner. Ari actually did eventually join us after his Flight for Life shift. I promise we do spend time together, I just don't have the pictures to prove it!!

Mother Daughter Bonding

As I alluded to in my previous blog, my mom braved the weather to come visit last weekend. Normally, the trip takes about 6 1/2 hours... as she painfully found out, in a blizzard of snow and ice it takes 12! For the couple of hours we had left of Friday, we took her out to dinner with our friends Andy and Tara and had a few laughs.

Saturday, Ari was feeling under the weather so after a quick breakfast with him we dropped him off at home to recuperate. In our usual style, mom and I then went shopping!! We bought some Christmas decorations and presents. That night, mom totally spoiled us by making dinner... when will she just move in?! Then mom and I played games while poor Ari dozed on the sofa.

Sunday morning Kristen came in by train. She was looking a little rough around the edges but perked up after a bloody mary at brunch. I then took them on a mini tour of Milwaukee and showed them all the beautiful houses by the lake. They were decorated for Christmas and snow covered... Gorgeous! We did more shopping... I am sure you are shocked!... and then came home to get cleaned up for dinner. I took them to Carini's (most out of town guests end up there so come visit!!) and we had such a wonderful girly dinner. The wine was fabulous, the dinner specials succulent, and the chocolate cannolis are still the best I have ever eaten. We then headed to the Martina McBride Christmas concert. It was really entertaining, she has one of the most amazing voices I have ever heard. Mom and Kristen spent the night and left early as I went to work Monday morning. Luckily, mom's drive was a bit smoother!

A New Addition

Meet the new addition to our family, Eckstein the cat. Eckstein actually started out in St. Louis and was found by John. He went to live at mom's house which is where Ari and I met him. He was so friendly and sweet that I wanted to take him home, but decided not to because I was not sure Sassy would take it well. She has been an only cat for 4 years. We parted ways after the Thanksgiving holiday but I knew in my heart he would find a good home. This past weekend, mom came up for a visit, braving Blizzard '06. Guess who was with her? Eckstein!! He turned out to be an early Christmas present from my wonderful husband. He made himself right at home; Sassy did not take that well at all. She hissed, attacked, and made some of the most horrific noises I have ever heard come out of an animal. Eckstein was just upset that she wouldn't play with him. Finally, tired of her antics he took a swat at her and she has a scratch on her nose to prove it! Believe it or not, now they are pals. They like to be in the same room together and have even been caught giving each other Eskimo kisses! Welcome home Eckstein!!