Mother's Day

Mother's day this year was pretty special. I had scheduled to work on the ambulance in St. James the 12 and 13 never realized that the 13 was Mother's Day. But I went ahead and kept my word to show up and decided I would just leave at 5pm and go home to Kenny and the boys. They were still sleeping when I left that morning.

When I pulled in the driveway Nathan greeted me with a huge hug and smile and told me he wear unner wear today (with many many accidents I heard) and he wore his tennis shoes and runned super fast (the child has only wanted to wear cowboys boots for the last year). It was so great to come home to the kids being happy to see me!

I took Nathan with me to do some grocery shopping and when we got home we grilled steaks, brats, hotdogs and hamburgers and had a nice dinner. After the kids were in bed Kenny went outside to clean up some tools and came back in and told me he had something for me. He took my hand and then handed me this:::::

I was in total shock and couldn't think of anything to say! It is two rings the wedding band is flat so I can wear it while on the ambulance which is so nice. I hated not being able to wear my rings makes me feel naked. He had told me a while back that I would have to wait until our 10 year anniversary for a new wedding set. I loved that he picked it out himself, considering that my first set I picked out because he was scared to get something I didn't like. Also means so much to me that he found a set that I could wear just the band while working on the ambulance. Made me really feel like he finally supported me in this journey which means the world to me.

I now have a second grader... where did the time go...

Today was Blake's last day of first grade, I can remember him starting his first day of preschool!!! Where has the time went????

Yesterday he had his awards assembly and while I was off work I was going to be doing clinical time on the ambulance in St. James. He asked me several times to come and I really wanted to I knew he would get an award for having perfect attendance all year and that he was the only one in his room to get it. I didn't feel right going in and asking to either leave and go to his assembly or to get one of the crews to go over there. So I texted Ashley to see if she would mind getting a picture of him for me, being the awesome person she is she said yes!
Well in talking with one of the EMT's yesterday morning I mentioned his awards thing and she said we will go over there.. I was floored a lady I had only met once was saying it was no problem to take the ambulance over and watch his assembly. Honestly I was blown away so 12:30 came and we headed to the school. Nancy and I went in while the Paramedic stayed in the ambulance. I went up and tapped Blake on the shoulder to tell him I was there and he had the biggest grin ever. Of course we hadn't had a call the whole day and we both knew that we would get one while there. And sure enough right before his class went up there we got a page. He heard the pager go off and he looked over and gave me a big smile and wave as we ran out the door. Last night he told me he was happy I came and then thought it was cool when he found out we drove the ambulance over to his school just to watch him.

He got a certificate with his picture on it that he has requested we frame and hang in his new room! This morning all the Elementary students who had perfect attendance got to go to a special breakfast with the principals and counselors.

I am really proud of him and glad that the school year is over it was a long one and had lots of rough patches. Hope that he has an awesome teacher next year and that things go smoothly.

My Birthday gift



Yes I am aware my birthday was almost a month ago and I am way behind on posting. But life is crazy busy and time got away from me. Anyway I was pleasantly surprised by the gift that Kenny and the kids got me. Kenny had dropped a few hints and I really thought I was getting a new wedding set. He had even took my current ring and put it on to see the size etc. I had told April the day of my birthday that I thought I would get new rings at our lunch date or that night. Well he kept me in suspense all day and part of the evening and then brought out my gift a new pink pistol. I had joked before about wanting a pink pistol and well I got one. He drove all the way to a gun store in Illinois to buy it one weekend when I was working at an auction. Needless to say I was like a kid on Christmas and couldn't wait to go out and shoot it!!!!

Now if only I can find some free time to get to play with it a bit more, I did learn you want to watch where you put your hands because the slide comes back when it fires and it don't feel good!

Some Pictures from EMT-B Class

Really need to catch up on posting however I will do a picture post now and hope to have time later to do more.

Our teacher gave us watermelons and cantaloupe to use as a head and we could cut and make wounds and practice bandaging.

Me using a sharp knife that's scary at least I didn't stab myself or cut myself....

The group I was with last night and our finished patients.

Then we went out and used the teachers car as a "wrecked" vehicle and one girl was in drivers seat and I was in back passenger seat. I was a little worried Josh and Levi would drop me I know there are more pictures of me in the car but I don't have them on my computer yet.

The KED is one of the most uncomfortable pieces of equipment out there and if your a guy well its way more uncomfortable in the thigh region.

Found this picture on my phone not sure who took it but my face is a bit on the red side.

I was warned by other fellow EMT's not to let them strap me to the backboard because they would turn me upside down.. Well being in a group of three I didn't get much of a choice on being patient. Well then they decided to "stand" me up... My feet were still at least 2 foot off the ground and I had a death grip on the guy on my right. Not to mention the straps don't make your bad areas look very flattering.... And today I have bruises where the bottom strap was.

But last night by far was one of my favorite classes she split us in groups and there was 6 in my group and we all worked together very well and we are all wanting to learn because each of us wants to do this as a job. The two helpers who were in there with us assisting gave us lots of great tips for state and national testing as well as what works good out in the field as opposed to what we learn in the book.

Fun Challenge

Well behind again on this.... Seems like there's never enough hours in the day....

Friday the 20 got home and found a birthday card in the mail from a good friend with a very special note written in it that made me cry. It was a nice end to a cruddy week.

Saturday the 21 first day of the Extrication Class followed by a night out with Kenny. We went to Sput's Place for steak dinner and to listen to the band. Played a few games of pool and had a couple drinks.

Sunday the 22 by far the best part and most fun was cutting up cars and getting to use big tools! And it was a great stress relief. Using the windshield saw was a blast and I got out a lot of pent up aggression on it!

Monday the 23 started on the trauma chapters in class and LOVE it as gross as it sounds its super cool to learn about and learn how to treat it.

Auto Extrication cont

Well I am now certified in Vehicle Extrication Technician... Fancy name for knowing how to cut up cars to get trapped occupants out. The class was a two day class and was supposed to be 8-5 both days. We had a super cool teacher he decided to do all classroom work on Saturday and leave at 2 and then do the fun stuff Sunday!

Saturday I was a bit nervous even though I knew a couple people taking the class I was worried I would have to deal with others who don't think women should be in the profession. However I was pleasantly surprised! I got to sit with some of the fire fighters from St. James and well there wasn't a dull moment. I learned you don't want to leave your phone laying on the table they like to lock them up so I took the pass code off then the one guy thought it was fun to play with. I didn't know a iphone could be so entertaining! We finished up with the classroom work and I stuck around to help them put the tables and chairs away. I think it surprised a few of them I stuck around, but the way I looked at it they hosted the class and I was able to attend I wanted to at least help where I could.

Sunday we started at 8am in full gear which as cool as it was out I didn't mind. Other than looking like a big banana dork. Anyway the guy with the camera assured me I wouldn't be in many pictures yes wish I wouldn't have believed him. Anyway I was able to stay with the St. James group while the other misc. departments worked in another group. I was glad to feel accepted and they let me get right in and do it all and several times. The tools were very heavy but I managed to use them all on my own. There were a couple times where you had to have someone else help if you were in certain spots on the car. We decided to do a patient extrication since one of the guys from another department needed signed off on for fire fighter one class. One of the St. James firemen is a paramedic and they were going to have him lead the rescue so I decided to step up and ask if I could be the EMT in the scenario and he surprisingly said yes! However the patient was a bigger guy in full gear but I managed to crawl in car with him and get him on the backboard and strapped down! Plus I got to have that signed off on my skill book for my EMT class.

We were in full gear for around 5 hours and well even with it cold out your still covered head to toe in sweat! I stayed and helped them clean up again. I knew I was going to be sore the next day it was one heck of a total body workout but well worth it.

It was nice getting to be somewhere a whole weekend and be myself and be around others who accept me as being a girl in a male dominant profession. I was able to prove myself to some that doubted my abilities because I was short and a girl. Had several tell me I did good which made me feel even better.

But I think the best part was my mom commenting on my Facebook status this morning she was proud of me for doing it!

Pictures From Auto Extrication

I will post more about the fun I had Saturday and Sunday soon but I decided to do the picture post first since I am short on time....

This was how they set some of the cars up for us.

Yes that is me next to curb yellow helmet way shorter than the rest of the group

Getting to use the window saw which was a lot of fun!

Me getting to use the cutters (which were super heavy)

The cut I made by those wires enabled the ram to push the front of the car apart

I got to use a saws all for the first time which its a fun tool

I got to use the cutters to cut the door hinges

Doing patient care and I got a guy on to a backboard in a senario we did.

That is me on far right...

There wasn't much left of the cars when we were done!

Taking a break after extricating patient I was getting quizzed by a Paramedic and EMT

I dislike this picture very much and mr sneaky camera person told me I wasn't in any....