Chris's Visit to the ER

This weekend my parents were in Phoenix visiting. While Mom and I went to the spa on Saturday, Chris and Dad worked on a new desk for the office. They were finishing the desk up on Sunday when Chris had an accident and cut a couple fingers on the table saw.

I was sitting on the couch watching TV with Mom when I heard the guys come into the kitchen. Very calmly, my father asked me to come into the kitchen. Chris was at the sink with his hands in running water. My first thought was he was simply washing his hands but very quickly realized that he was washing a wound. We immediately went into problem solving mode. We first looked up urgent care centers and ultimately decided to go to the hospital emergency room, which was much closer.

Chris got pretty dizzy and saw stars while standing at the sink. He was definitely the whitest I've ever seen him. Dad helped him quickly to the car and once he sat down things were better. We zipped to the ER where we were helped very quickly. By that point, much of the bleeding had stopped. Chris was handling the pain quite well. (Much better than me!)

I haven't spent any time in the ER before so I was very impressed at the efficiency of the process. Within two minutes of walking in the door, a nurse was taking Chris's vital signs. Within 10 more minutes, a triage nurse was evaluating the severity of his wounds. We waited for a little while before getting a room, but once you're in a room it feels like you can breathe a sigh of relief. The true relief came when Chris finally had both fingers numbed. (They call it a digital block because it blocks pain in a digit, the finger. But I couldn't help think it sounded like a technology phrase.)

There were x-rays and cleaning and stitches and super glue and dressing. Chris got ten stitches in all. Then we got drugs from the pharmacy and went home.

All things considered, this wound is a lot better than it could have been. Table saws aren't particularly kind to fingers. And I'm sure the new, sharp, shiny blade didn't help. We're lucky that Chris missed the bones and that the doctor was able to put him back together. I'm sure the healing process will take quite a bit of time, but as long as there's no infection, he should be fine.

I was impressed that afterwards, Chris and Dad talked about the accident. They talked about what they did and what they could have done differently. They're both sorry it happened but were able to turn it into a learning lesson. I know that Chris isn't going to stop working with wood and I certainly don't want him to stop. I just want him to be very careful so he doesn't injure himself again. I love him a lot and don't like seeing him in pain.

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ReadPhoenix.com

Integrum built me my very own website!

http://readphoenix.com

Ever since I moved to Phoenix two years ago, I've wanted a way to find bloggers in the area. Refresh Phoenix was the way I got to meet tons of people in the web, but I still wanted links to everyone's blogs. I've been keeping a long list of blogs that I've stumbled across or of people I know. And for a long time now I've been meaning to post the list. But like many things, it never materialized. My HTML/CSS skills are not what they used to be and building a page seemed daunting. I really wanted a nice little application to maintain the links for me and to give people a way to submit their own sites. Because what use is it really if it's only my list of links?

So at work the other day, I brought up the idea. Luckily, they team said it would be easy. (Isn't that what all developers say?) Then they actually built it! I got to play customer and write user stories. The team came to me when they had questions or ideas. The direction of the site was totally up to me. I learned something - it's hard being the customer and knowing exactly what you want! (I'll have more empathy for my customers from now on.)

I owe a huge thank you to Jade (who built the first half), Gist (who designed it all and helped keep the functionality simple), Heidmo and David (who built the other half)!

If you're in Phoenix and have a blog, please add it! And for everyone else, go read Phoenix!

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Last Weekend

Friday night we went to sushi happy hour at Ten. It was fabulous and so cheap! I love that Chris lives here and we can go on a date every weekend instead of waiting two weeks between visits!

Saturday we played Sloshball with some friends. Since we didn't have enough people to play a real game of softball, we made up a game comprised of kickball, cricket, and something else. It was a lot of fun. Definitely challenging to play a sport with a beer in your hand! Needless to say we laughed a lot.

Saturday night I did some sewing while Chris recovered from the game. (With a nap on the couch!) I'd show you a picture of what I sewed but it's a Christmas gift so no go. I suppose I'll have to take pictures to post after Christmas of all the stuff I'm making!

On Sunday we carved pumpkins! Our neighbors, Christy and Matt, joined us. I'm looking forward to Halloween because my neighbors all hang out in their front yards. We get to socialize and enjoy all the kids' costumes. It'll be really nice to have Chris here this year.

Fwd: Guess who I met today...

Email from my coworker, Josh. He's got me all excited about Obama!!

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From: Josh H
Date: Oct 19, 2007 2:48 PM
Subject: Guess who I met today...

that's right.... Barack Obama! I got to shake the hand of the next U.S. President! :-)

For those of you that missed it, he basically summarized the major talking points from his last book, "The Audacity of Hope". He talked about abolishing the Patriot Act, restoring Habeas Corpus, destroying Guantanamo, bringing our troops home, making healthcare available to EVERYONE (by the end of his first term), making education affordable again, reducing our dependence on foreign oil, increasing support for new and sustainable energy, and restoring America's reputation throughout the world. Given the chance, I really think Barack can make this happen!

Together we all can make a difference! Let's bring America back to "WE THE PEOPLE"!!!
www.barackobama.com
www.barackobama.com/donate