1st Weekend

I was very happy to receive a phone call yesterday from Dartagnan's grandpa in MN.  He said he'd be coming through Rochelle, IL, if we wanted to meet him there and pick up some of D's things that he had left at his Aunt Steph's house.  He went up and stayed with her and went to school in Minneapolis in the Spring for the 4th quarter of 8th grade.

Dartagnan and I got on the road to meet Dick around 5:30 pm and reached Rochelle by 7:30.  It was our first time seeing Dick since he lost his wife to cancer this summer.  It was good to see him.  I think he really misses Dorthe and so do we.  I think about her often and how sometimes certain people really are the glue that hold a family together and she was that for their family.  She loved children.  I mean, she loved spending time with kids and was really great with them, too.  She preferred them to adult company.  She'd been a foster mother to several children through Lutheran Social Services and many of the children were special needs children.  She was just excellent with them. 

It also seems to me that Dick has taken over her role of keeping communication going between everyone too.  He calls and asks about Dartagnan now; something he didn't do much when Dorthe used to do it.  He's really seemed to become more social and talkative, too.  We had a pleasant time chatting at the diner there at the truck stop where we met.

We've been back in class now for 4 days, since Tuesday.  I found out the first day back that I would not be able to take the classes I had planned to take because I failed PNS for a second time.  So I am now on Academic Warning, which means Palmer limits how many credits I can take this term.  This is fine, because I was a little nervous about the schedule I'd planned to take, thinking it may just be too much for me to handle, especially adding PNS back in on top of it.  So I am enrolled in PNS, Toxicology, Cervicals, and Physical Diagnosis.  My favorite so far is Phys Di.  I have Dr. Littrell and she is making the material so interesting.  Her teaching style is very engaging.  The class is so interesting because we'll learn how to take vital signs, interview the patient, etc.  Feels like really getting into the stuff of practice!

I've been wrestling with which thermometer to purchase.  Jon had already purchased all of our diagnostic equipment last term, so I didn't need most of it, but we have only a thermometer that is not terribly accurate, so I was doing so checking this week to see which I wanted to get to replace it.  Found one for $20 at WalMart that goes in the ear (a tympanic thermometer) and does not need covers (you just clean it with an alcohol wipe after each patient).  Hopefully it is a good model.  The Welch Allyn one I really wanted is $300 at the Palmer Bookstore and I'm not sure we are ready to spend that just yet on our office equipment.

Toxicology will be interesting.  I like the subject and Dr. Ansari is so nice.  I enjoy Dr. Schmiedel, our PNS professor, however, I really didn't want to take his class a third time.  This time, I'm going to attend the PNS tutorial as well.  Perhaps that will help me out this time around.

Cervicals is moving at a very brisk pace.  I'm planning to attend the tutorial for it and to also practice palpation on my family so I can start "teaching" my fingers what to feel.  I practiced on Dartagnan the other night and he loved it.  Delaney loves it too, when we just palpate her.  Both sit very still as both are used to seeing a chiropractor.  Lani's first adjustment was when she was 1 hour old!

Today we worked hard on the house and yard.  I painted siding in the garage and got about 28 boards painted.  Jon worked on putting the siding up and Dartagnan caulked it.  When D and I were done with our work, we worked on raking and bagging leaves and weeds because this is the last week of free yard waste pick-up in Bettendorf (normally, you must put a sticker on each bag and the stickers cost about $1.50 each).  So tomorrow I want to get the rest of the yard tidied up as much as possible.  We are planning to get up early and head to church and then work on the house and yard the rest of the day.  Fun!

Time to go and read some Phys Di!