This is my life…

If I ever got lost in the woods, I hope I have a deck of cards on me. I’d play solitaire. Eventually someone will show up and say “Black nine on red ten.”

I had to find something to do…


So, since we don’t have any good tv and I read too fast, I recovered some chairs I’ve been meaning to take care of since we moved in last summer today. Here’s what they look like, with the “before” on the left and the “after” on the right. Other than that, I have a job interview tomorrow for a job that I really want, so think good thoughts around nine tomorrow morning!

Hey!

I just set up a calendar with gmail, so if any of you want a minute-by-minute update of what I’m doing and you have a gmail address (and I care about you), let me know and I’ll let you in on it. Plus, you should all use it too so I can see what you’re up to! Oh, and I told Dana that my email address would be here and it’s not and putting it here is easier than making it fit somewhere else, so: jbrooke23@gmail.com. Other than that, heading to Hannibal for a couple of days to quench my boredom with some Rachel time!

Yum!

So, we were actually in town all this weekend and it was great to just relax here for once! Saturday, Josh came over to play computer games with Andy and Sharon came in the afternoon and we went to the pool at our apartment complex for some sun time since it was such a nice day (don’t worry Mom, I wore spf 30 and didn’t burn). We came back inside and watched some Food Network and did some research on interesting restaurants. We ended up picking a Honduran restaurant in the city. We were the only people in the place the whole time we were there, but the food was really good and not too pricey, so if you’re looking for an adventure and up for pointing at things on the menu you want, I’d say give it a try. I found out about it in the Riverfront Times restaurant review section of their website and they had lots of helpful reviews that we’ll probably be checking out in the future! Oh, I’m sure Andy will write a review for you, but we also saw CSA: The Confederate States of America at the Tivoli and had Blue Moon at Blueberry Hill before since we were there a little early. All in all, another good weekend, and there’s the possibility of a bit a of a job that I’m waiting to hear about!

And So It Goes…

…Well, my 23rd birthday has come and gone and I am now an old woman with wrinkles (according to my cousin, Griff). All in all, it was a good weekend, though. Andy made me a green Jello poke cake on Friday and we barbequed some pork chops and watched Sin City. Then, we drove to Columbia on Saturday morning to do some laundry and go shopping for the strand of pearls I wanted from Andy for my birthday, but alas, could not find. Went to church, ate some tasty enchiladas, had a nice chat with the in-laws, and headed to bed. Went for a walk on the MKT on Sunday morning, then headed to Millersberg for some chillin with the Poors. Got a bit of a sunburn and ate too much, drove back home and here I am, watching CSI and working on a quilt. Not too bad of a weekend, if you ask me…now if I could only find a job, I’d be the happiest girl in the world!

Miracles Happen…

Real ones. Here’s the story for all of you doubters:

Wednesday night, my dad went to his weekly Hannibal Rural Volunteer Fire Department meeting and training. Everything was as normal, and Dad has been on the department for probably almost 15 years now. All of the guys had just finished their training with some sort of pump apparatus and were standing around chatting when my dad suddenly fell face first to the ground. Good firefighters that they are, the men standing nearest my dad quickly realized Dad wasn’t breathing and didn’t have a pulse, so they began CPR and ran to get the department’s defibrillator, charged it, and shocked him three times before his heart started. During all of this, someone radioed for an ambulance, which my youngest sister heard on the scanner. Rachel has some weird sense about these things (when Mallory, Ben, and I had our car accident she knew it was us on the scanner before anybody else did) and started freaking out and ran to get Mom who was doing laundry and watching tv. At this point, Mom raced out the door to go to the hospital (Rachel stayed home to study for her Algebra final) and called me and Andy so we could come to be with Rachel. Needless to say, we were both pretty shaken up on the drive to Hannibal and got there right before Mom pulled in the driveway to tell us that they’d flown Dad to Columbia and she was on her way there. Apparently, in the couple of hours Dad had been at Hannibal Regional Hospital, they’d run every test they could think of and could find absolutely nothing wrong with him except that his heart had stopped. Mallory met Mom in Columbia since she was coming from the Lake of the Ozarks where they were up all night as more tests were run. Anyway, during all of this, Dad was sedated and hooked up to all kinds of medical implements and Andy and I were in Hannibal cleaning and mowing and taking Rachel where she needed to be. Nothing much changed until we finally had a chance to make it to Columbia on Friday afternoon. By then, Dad was awake, but still confused and having problems with his short-term memory. He asked Andy about school at least 3 times in the few hours we were there, but by Saturday, he could remember most everything that happened after Friday morning. So, the final verdict is that Dad has Brugada Syndrome, which has something to do with a part of the small arm of the third chromosome that controls some kind of sodium channel that makes the heart pump. Because of this, though, it means that there is a possibility that members of Dad’s family could also have this syndrome, which is not as scary as Dad’s heart stopping, but is still something to think about.

The moral is that it seems that this thing would have happened no matter what Dad was doing or where he was, so it’s pretty amazing that he was at the fire station with capable people instead of anywhere else. The crazy thing is that not enough people have actually lived through this kind of thing to have any sort of standard for treatment or to even know anything about it. So, on Monday, Dad’s having surgery to put a defibrillator in his chest, in case it happens again when Dad’s not in such a lucky place. He’ll be home on Tuesday and it will be a few weeks before he can do anything too physically strenuous and then six months before he can drive, which will be an interesting life for him. That’s about all we know for now, and I’m not sure I understand all of the physiological aspect of it, but that’s what Andy’s for!!

Glad That's Over…

Well, I finished the last of my Fontbonne classes last Thursday and just checked my grades and will be leaving that part of my education with a 4.0. Now, my mom could verify this for you, but I’m pretty sure I haven’t had all As since about 2nd grade and two semesters in a row is pretty crazy. The really terrible part is that this was the most expensive, but easiest educational endeavor I’ve ever encountered, and it has been frustrating the whole way through. You could check the archives of my Blogger site to really see, but I guess in the end, I’ve just been lucky before with Hannibal and Truman and hopefully I won’t keep being disillusioned with higher education in the future…

Glad That’s Over…

Well, I finished the last of my Fontbonne classes last Thursday and just checked my grades and will be leaving that part of my education with a 4.0. Now, my mom could verify this for you, but I’m pretty sure I haven’t had all As since about 2nd grade and two semesters in a row is pretty crazy. The really terrible part is that this was the most expensive, but easiest educational endeavor I’ve ever encountered, and it has been frustrating the whole way through. You could check the archives of my Blogger site to really see, but I guess in the end, I’ve just been lucky before with Hannibal and Truman and hopefully I won’t keep being disillusioned with higher education in the future…

Help Wanted

I’ve been looking for a job for about 2 months since I decided not to be a teacher and so far haven’t had any luck at all. When I started this search, I gave myself until May 15 to find something and if not, then I need to find a job at Barnes and Noble or something. It’s getting really close to that deadline and I’ve probably applied for about 35 jobs and not heard ANYTHING back from any of them. Now, I’m not applying for jobs that pay a lot or take a lot of experience that I don’t have, so I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong or how to find something in the next few days before lowering myself to retail again. Anyway, if anybody out there has any ideas or good connections in Saint Louis, let me know, or at least pray for me and my hunt.

You Found Me!!

Congratulations! So, new format here…with no jokes I might be more likely to post since the pressure’s off to be funny. But not to worry, if I hear something hilarious, I’ll let you know. Like, Do you know why a chicken coup only has two doors?? Because if it had four, it would be a sedan!