Have you ever had human feces "show up" at your work? What? That doesn't happen to everyone while they are working.....well it happened to me...TRUE STORY!
Here's what happened....
So I am trying to give an exam to a 30-something year old man while his rambunctious-maybe 3 or 4 year old-nephew was not-so-patiently sitting in the corner. This exam was off to a rocky start anyway both because of the hyperactive child and because the patient was having some real troubles reading the chart and performing many of the tests I was asking him to do. Suddenly a very "funky" smell started to fill the room. After a few minutes it grew so intense I was using all my brain power just to fight off my gag reflex and keep my composure. I had no idea from whom or where the smell was coming. I excused myself from the exam room in order to go ask my preceptor for some advice. When I returned to the room, the uncle (my patient) asked me if there was a bathroom they could use because his nephew had just POOPED ON THE FLOOR of the exam room! Luckily, if you want to call it that, he had cleaned it up and thrown "it" in the trash. Needless to say we were not able to use that exam room anymore. We had to relocate (me, patient, and poopy pants nephew) to another exam room to finish. Should have known with my luck that this gentleman would be one of the more difficult cases I have had this year and he (and nephew) would be with me for another hour and a half!
Needless to say, it was a day (and smell) I won't soon forget!!
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Fine Dining
After 13 months in our basement, we finally put our China to use! Unfortunately, we don't have enough room in our kitchen to keep all of our china and serving pieces so many of them have been packed away safely in the basement in the meantime.
So what was the special occasion??
Travis Swanson (Sig Ep and groomsman in our wedding) and his girlfriend Carly were on their way from Richmond, VA to Kansas and called and asked if they could spend the night here with us while passing through. Our first real non-family dinner guests and our first non-family over-nighters too. So why not pull out all the stops?
For dinner, Brian cooked his new fish creation...its pretty good. We also had rice, broccoli, salad and the famous (at least with the Bolz girls) Berried Delight for dessert.
For our first dinner guests, I think we did a pretty good job.
If anyone else wants to join us for dinner, you're more than welcome, but hurry while the house is still clean!!
So what was the special occasion??
Travis Swanson (Sig Ep and groomsman in our wedding) and his girlfriend Carly were on their way from Richmond, VA to Kansas and called and asked if they could spend the night here with us while passing through. Our first real non-family dinner guests and our first non-family over-nighters too. So why not pull out all the stops?
For dinner, Brian cooked his new fish creation...its pretty good. We also had rice, broccoli, salad and the famous (at least with the Bolz girls) Berried Delight for dessert.
For our first dinner guests, I think we did a pretty good job.
If anyone else wants to join us for dinner, you're more than welcome, but hurry while the house is still clean!!
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
The Only Wisdom I Had
Around last Thanksgiving my lower third molars (AKA Wisdom Teeth) started moving around on me. Sometimes they were elevated and I could feel a bump, and other times they were recessed and I could feel squishy gum over top. Off and on they would raise and lower, no big deal, just a little sensitive. In May one of them broke through the fum and again it was a little tender at first, but that tenderness subsided in a few days and would come and go over the next month. In mid-June the pain came and, this time, was not going away and then my cheek really started to swell. So I went to the dentist and she said that when your tooth erupts through the gum, it allows bacteria from your mouth to become trapped under the tooth - leading to infection. So I started on an antibiotic and made the appointment to have all four wisdom teeth removed on 7/1/08, just after I returned from Seattle. The other three had not yet erupted, but more than likely it was only a matter of time so I might as well get them all taken care of at once.
So yesterday afternoon was my surgery, I chose to be put under general anesthesia. I have had some experience with dental work before. One time I had to do the same procedure twice and it was much more painless and was successful the time I chose to be put under general anesthesia, so from experience I chose the GA route. The surgery was really easy because all of the teeth were straight up and not imposing on the near by teeth. It was just a simple incision and then pulling.
I really wasn't that goofy as I was waking up from the anesthesia, apparently the only funny thing I did was tell Brian "Happy Anniversary" first thing when I woke up. Then I asked him 2 different times if he knew what we were supposed to do, even though I was sitting there the whole time the nurse explained it.
Eighteen hours later, all is going well...knock on wood! They have me on an antibiotic, a pain pill (oxycodone; AKA percocet) and an anti-nausea to accompany the percocet. Thus far, no pain and no real problems. The pain pills make me a little sleepy and my body feel like it does when I'm a little tipsy, but that's about it. (Any grammar/spelling errors I blame on the drugs. HA HA) I also am forced to eat some of my favorite foods: milkshakes, pudding, yogurt, and applesauce!
I must share that for as much flack as I give Brian I have to sing his praises. When I got home from Seattle he had been to the store and bought some "Naked" juices that can act as meal replacements and soups in case I couldn't eat. Yesterday he made sure that I changed my gauze and took my meds exactly on time, changed my ice bags out frequently, encourage me not to talk much (although I never saw that on the list of rules they gave us, so he may have added that in for himself) and made sure I drank lots of water and got enough to eat. It's not that I didn't expect him to be supportive, but he really went into full-on nurturing mode yesterday; a side I have not really seen before. He's a keeper!
So yesterday afternoon was my surgery, I chose to be put under general anesthesia. I have had some experience with dental work before. One time I had to do the same procedure twice and it was much more painless and was successful the time I chose to be put under general anesthesia, so from experience I chose the GA route. The surgery was really easy because all of the teeth were straight up and not imposing on the near by teeth. It was just a simple incision and then pulling.
I really wasn't that goofy as I was waking up from the anesthesia, apparently the only funny thing I did was tell Brian "Happy Anniversary" first thing when I woke up. Then I asked him 2 different times if he knew what we were supposed to do, even though I was sitting there the whole time the nurse explained it.
Eighteen hours later, all is going well...knock on wood! They have me on an antibiotic, a pain pill (oxycodone; AKA percocet) and an anti-nausea to accompany the percocet. Thus far, no pain and no real problems. The pain pills make me a little sleepy and my body feel like it does when I'm a little tipsy, but that's about it. (Any grammar/spelling errors I blame on the drugs. HA HA) I also am forced to eat some of my favorite foods: milkshakes, pudding, yogurt, and applesauce!
I must share that for as much flack as I give Brian I have to sing his praises. When I got home from Seattle he had been to the store and bought some "Naked" juices that can act as meal replacements and soups in case I couldn't eat. Yesterday he made sure that I changed my gauze and took my meds exactly on time, changed my ice bags out frequently, encourage me not to talk much (although I never saw that on the list of rules they gave us, so he may have added that in for himself) and made sure I drank lots of water and got enough to eat. It's not that I didn't expect him to be supportive, but he really went into full-on nurturing mode yesterday; a side I have not really seen before. He's a keeper!
Monday, June 30, 2008
Seattle Vacation
For our one year wedding anniversary and summer vacation we decided to take a four day vacation to Seattle, WA. Why Seattle you ask? Well, Optometry's Meeting was scheduled to be in Seattle from June 24th-30th and I was getting my way paid to go as President of the UMSL American Optometric Student Association; so we took advantage of the opportunity and flew out before the conference for vacation.
We flew out on Thursday 6/19 and got into Seattle around 10:30pm. We stayed at Hotel Max in downtown Seattle.
On the first morning (Friday) we woke up early and started our day like everyone in Seattle does....at Starbucks. However, neither of us are coffee drinkers so we got juice and pastries; its a wonder they didn't throw us out of the city right then. We walked down to the famous Pike Street Market. Since it was early it wasn't too crowded yet, but by lunch time its packed! And yes, we did get to see the fish throwing too. Just a couple blocks behind the market are the piers at Elliott Bay. The view is just beautiful from he piers, the water is breathtaking and the snow-covered peaks of Olympic Mountains can be seen across the water on a clear day. The Seattle Aquarium sits on one of the piers at the Bay as well. It was a nice aquarium, but probably geared a little more to small children than mature adults like us. 
We were really excited about the "petting zoo", we got to touch star fish and sea cucumbers, and the sea otters (I think we are going to build a pool and buy a sea otter as our first family pet - they are freakin' hilarious). We had lunch at the tip of an adjacent pier at a restaurant called The Fisherman, and had the best view in the house because we sat at the very tip of the pier. 
The weather was absolutely beautiful the entire time we were there too! After lunch we took an hour long Argosy boat tour cruise around the bay and got a great view of the city skyline. After all the walking we had done that day we went back to the hotel and took a nap before going to dinner, this wound up being a tradition we carried on everyday we were there too.On day two we started in an area called Pioneer Square, which was the original Seattle, and too the Underground tour. The underground is the original ground level of Seattle that is now under the sidewalks because the raised the city. All of the buildings in Pioneer square have a hidden floor underground that used to be the original first floor until the ground level was raised.
On the left are some of the old buildings. What is now the first floor used to be the 2nd floor and the first floor is now underground.
On the tour, we walked by the most wonderful smelling BBQ joint, and it was just as good as it smelled. Then we ventured across town to the Seattle Center, home to the Space Needle and Experience Music Project (EMP). We chose not to go up into the Space Needle but did go to the EMP which is a music museum. It was pretty neat, but some of the displays were a little too crowded. Again we went and took and nap and ate dinner.
Sunday, our third day, Brian had scheduled a tour outside of the city to visit two wineries and a waterfall.
I am not a wine drinker so Brian had more than his fare share of wine that day, but I did try every one of them. 
I did find one that I liked, not surprising it was the sweetest one they had. The stop at the Snoqualmie falls was really pretty as well. It was really nice to get out of the city and see the beautiful countryside. The area is SO incredibly green and luscious. They say anything can grow there because of the steady amount of rain and mild winter/summer seasons as compared to the midwest. 
Couldn't resist posting this last one. Some day he will learn....some day....Our last day (together that is) we took it pretty easy because we had seen most of the sites we really wanted to.
We decided to ride the ferry (the first ride on a ferry for both of us) across the bay to Bainbridge Island. The ferry ride was very nice and allowed great views of the city, Mt. Rainier, and both the Olympic and Cascade Mountains.Brian flew out on Tuesday morning to head home and I traveled about six blocks to another hotel where I would stay with some classmates for the next 5 days while attending the Optometry Conference.
It was a good vacation and we had a lot of fun together, great first anniversary.
Seattle: Optometry
Brian flew home Tuesday morning 6/24 and I just moved to another hotel where I would stay until Sunday while attending Optometry's Meeting. My friends arrived throughout the day Tuesday and Wednesday. 
I was the unofficial tout guide since I had been there for the last week. By the end of my whole Seattle trip I had been to the Market 5-6 times, the waterfront three and rode the ferry twice, but that's ok because it was different every time. The week during the meeting the weather was again beautiful and downright hot on Saturday, not ONE cloud in the sky....I got a bit of a burn while riding the ferry. The cloudless, sunny sky allowed for great views of the mountains too.
The meeting's opening session featured Christopher Gardner, the man whom the movie The Pursuit of Happyness is based on.
He was a very entertaining speaker, so much so that even having seen most of the movie I was captivated as if I had never heard the story before. One little tidbit that surprised me was that his son was actually only 14 mon old when the plot of the movie happened, they chose to make him older in the movie for the dialogue. The closing celebration of the meeting featured Jay Leno! I am a Leno fan anyway, but after seeing his stand-up I am an even bigger fan! I absolutely recommend seeing him live if you have the chance.
My flight home was to leave at 8:30am with a connection in San Fransisco, putting me in STL at 6:30pm. So I was at the Seattle-Tacoma airport by 6:30am on Sunday only to find out that my flight to San Fran had been delayed and I was going to miss my connection, so they put me on a direct flight to STL leaving at 11:55am. I had a bit of time to kill, but it was worth it to fly direct. However, since I was switched flights my luggage would not be making the trip with me. I had to file a complaint once I got to STL, and it was delivered to my door the next day. I would much rather have delayed luggage on the way home than to my vacation!
The meeting was a lot of fun and we had about 15 people from our school attend too. Though some of us don't always hang out together we all had a lot of fun!
That's me and a drop of Opti-free contact lens solution.
I was the unofficial tout guide since I had been there for the last week. By the end of my whole Seattle trip I had been to the Market 5-6 times, the waterfront three and rode the ferry twice, but that's ok because it was different every time. The week during the meeting the weather was again beautiful and downright hot on Saturday, not ONE cloud in the sky....I got a bit of a burn while riding the ferry. The cloudless, sunny sky allowed for great views of the mountains too.The meeting's opening session featured Christopher Gardner, the man whom the movie The Pursuit of Happyness is based on.
He was a very entertaining speaker, so much so that even having seen most of the movie I was captivated as if I had never heard the story before. One little tidbit that surprised me was that his son was actually only 14 mon old when the plot of the movie happened, they chose to make him older in the movie for the dialogue. The closing celebration of the meeting featured Jay Leno! I am a Leno fan anyway, but after seeing his stand-up I am an even bigger fan! I absolutely recommend seeing him live if you have the chance.My flight home was to leave at 8:30am with a connection in San Fransisco, putting me in STL at 6:30pm. So I was at the Seattle-Tacoma airport by 6:30am on Sunday only to find out that my flight to San Fran had been delayed and I was going to miss my connection, so they put me on a direct flight to STL leaving at 11:55am. I had a bit of time to kill, but it was worth it to fly direct. However, since I was switched flights my luggage would not be making the trip with me. I had to file a complaint once I got to STL, and it was delivered to my door the next day. I would much rather have delayed luggage on the way home than to my vacation!
The meeting was a lot of fun and we had about 15 people from our school attend too. Though some of us don't always hang out together we all had a lot of fun!
That's me and a drop of Opti-free contact lens solution.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
We're Famous!
Or free marketing as Makenzie said.
Makenzie called and informed me that Harrington Photography used some of our pictures in the Wedding section of the website. There is one under the engagement, one of me under bridal (the first one!), one under couple (my VERY favorite pic), 2 consecutive under party, and 2 consecutive under memories. Maybe they are trying to make up for how long I had to wait for my pictures by putting using us on their website! Ritchie and April Herbster also have a picture or two up.
Here's the link: http://www.harringtonphotog.com/WeddingSlideHtml/wdslideDetail.html
Makenzie called and informed me that Harrington Photography used some of our pictures in the Wedding section of the website. There is one under the engagement, one of me under bridal (the first one!), one under couple (my VERY favorite pic), 2 consecutive under party, and 2 consecutive under memories. Maybe they are trying to make up for how long I had to wait for my pictures by putting using us on their website! Ritchie and April Herbster also have a picture or two up.
Here's the link: http://www.harringtonphotog.com/WeddingSlideHtml/wdslideDetail.html
Wedding Season
UNO
The first wedding was a solo trip for Brian. One of his friends from Sig Ep was married in Wisconsin in May. Many of Brian's other friends from Sig Ep also made the trip up for the wedding, their girlfriends did not so neither did I. From the stories I have heard I think they enjoyed their guys weekend.
No. 2
On May 31st Brian Gentry was married in Scott City, KS. Where??? Scott City, AKA the middle of nowhere. This time I made the trip solo because Brian would have had to take off work to go. Scott City is 5 hours from Valley Falls in the southwest portion of KS. I drove back Friday (5 hours) to my parents house and stayed the night. Got up early (for a Saturday) and rode to no mans land (5hrs)with Mom, Dad, Mak and Jeff. Went to the wedding and reception, both were nice. Reception was pretty fun...especially after some bottles of Arbor Mist. Woke up early (for a Sunday w/ a hangover) and rode back to my parents house (5 hrs). Was chased back to STL by a big storm Monday morning (5 hrs).
Brian and I have talked about what a culture shock it would be to live in VF again after having been in bigger cities for the last 6 years. Having experienced RURAL KS - land where trees refuse to live it is so bad - VF seems like a metropolitan city!! You just cannot believe how barren and flat the rest of the state is until you spend a weekend there.
Me, Ashley, and Makenzie
Brian, Kendall and Megan
#3
Last weekend we were in KC for another Sig Ep wedding. Brian was an usher in this one (the groom, Ben, was an usher in our wedding last summer). The wedding and reception were in Overland Park. Makenzie now lives in Olathe and was just minutes from both of the locations so we crashed at her house. We got into town on Friday afternoon, Brian went and picked up the tux and we went to the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. Saturday Brian had to be at the church early so Mak and I hung out and played Guitar Hero as well as after the wedding while killing time tile the reception. This was a unique wedding, Catholic/Jewish combo, and despite the fact that there was double the religious material to cover the ceremony went really fast. Brian was excited because they got to do the Jewish chair lifting at the reception. It was a fun night and weekend hanging out with Makenzie, wish we could have stayed longer but she was probably ready to get rid of us. Thanks Mak!!!
Beautiful cake!
"chair lifting thing" Brian iss near the bride's right foot, he said it was kind of hard because her dress was in his face.
Ben, Brian and Mark
The first wedding was a solo trip for Brian. One of his friends from Sig Ep was married in Wisconsin in May. Many of Brian's other friends from Sig Ep also made the trip up for the wedding, their girlfriends did not so neither did I. From the stories I have heard I think they enjoyed their guys weekend.
No. 2
On May 31st Brian Gentry was married in Scott City, KS. Where??? Scott City, AKA the middle of nowhere. This time I made the trip solo because Brian would have had to take off work to go. Scott City is 5 hours from Valley Falls in the southwest portion of KS. I drove back Friday (5 hours) to my parents house and stayed the night. Got up early (for a Saturday) and rode to no mans land (5hrs)with Mom, Dad, Mak and Jeff. Went to the wedding and reception, both were nice. Reception was pretty fun...especially after some bottles of Arbor Mist. Woke up early (for a Sunday w/ a hangover) and rode back to my parents house (5 hrs). Was chased back to STL by a big storm Monday morning (5 hrs).
Brian and I have talked about what a culture shock it would be to live in VF again after having been in bigger cities for the last 6 years. Having experienced RURAL KS - land where trees refuse to live it is so bad - VF seems like a metropolitan city!! You just cannot believe how barren and flat the rest of the state is until you spend a weekend there.
Me, Ashley, and Makenzie
Brian, Kendall and Megan
#3
Last weekend we were in KC for another Sig Ep wedding. Brian was an usher in this one (the groom, Ben, was an usher in our wedding last summer). The wedding and reception were in Overland Park. Makenzie now lives in Olathe and was just minutes from both of the locations so we crashed at her house. We got into town on Friday afternoon, Brian went and picked up the tux and we went to the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. Saturday Brian had to be at the church early so Mak and I hung out and played Guitar Hero as well as after the wedding while killing time tile the reception. This was a unique wedding, Catholic/Jewish combo, and despite the fact that there was double the religious material to cover the ceremony went really fast. Brian was excited because they got to do the Jewish chair lifting at the reception. It was a fun night and weekend hanging out with Makenzie, wish we could have stayed longer but she was probably ready to get rid of us. Thanks Mak!!!
Beautiful cake!
"chair lifting thing" Brian iss near the bride's right foot, he said it was kind of hard because her dress was in his face.
Ben, Brian and Mark
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