a thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat

thanksgiving was great... good food.. good fun.. a now we're tired.. and not doing much of anything..

trevor waiting for dinner to get done
 
 

ben and the asian martha stewart cooking dinner
 
 

kai and her babies

 
 

sigh..

did you know we have have an ocean view.. on a day like today we do..
 
 

Seriously... it is so beautiful out

The Santa Ana's have brought us great weather and clear sky for miles


 
 

19th nervous breakdown

only one more month of school, and then i get a break.. i am so done..

It is ridiculous how beautiful it is today

Seriously

today is why I live in California.

its the middle of November and its mid 80's, windows down, cruising to work with the sun beating down on you, radio turned up

If I had my surfboard at work I would not be here writing this post

seriously it is so gorgeous out right now

Going for a run today at lunch. looking forward to it

Ben...

Part 2: not so fast....

Ok so i'm sure everyone already read the article in the post below right?

while i can agree with a lot of what its saying, what do we do about it? What is the other side of the coin look like?

In what ways has technology made a difference? made things better?

its all to easy to sit back and complain about technology and how our world is going to hell in handbasket. How do we fix it? I believe the same tools that cause these problems are the very ones that can be used to make a difference and to make things better.

so here's a couple thoughts to start you off:

This Christmas i will take a DVD i made from video and photo's of my family, dogs, house, travels etc up to my grandmother who is too old to travel and has not been able to come down and see us.

also found this great site today that helps expose you to new music that you will like. Its quite cool. check it out. Simply put in a few songs or artists and it creates a channel of music you might like. and its quite accurate a lot of the time.

ok so thats 2 from me...

what do you think?

Ben...

Look around. Our collective humanity is dying a little more every day.

Eat, Sleep, Work, Consume, Die

is technology making our lives better?

There is a great article from Wired you should read.

i don't want to copy and paste the bits and pieces here because the whole article is very good. give it a read and think about it.

Ben...

mmmm good

actually haven't eaten him yet. he's on the BBQ now. But that is the lobster i caught.



 


update: he was good.

went diving last night. lots of lobsters, but most of them too small. this one was barely regulation limit. so home he went with me. Chara wanted to set him free. but instead i am cooking him now.

and yes i do look damn sexy after scuba diving

Ben...

You can also watch a video of the advanture.

You'll need the latest version of DivX to watch it. (Grab the Play Bundle)

just another manic monday

have you ever had one of those days that you just wanted to fast forward to the very end to get it over with? those days that you just don't want to live through?? a day where you wish disappearing for the afternoon was an option? today was that day... today was my first 'real' day in the hospital.. with responsibility for an actual patient.. i didn't want to have to go through the pain of living through it.. i just wanted it to be done..
but.. disappearing wasn't an option.. i had to just suck it up and do it.. and i did..
and it was horrible and yet not so bad..
i picked a wonderful patient, who was very kind, patient, and understanding.. this patient has a terminal illness (like a couple more weeks terminal)... she was the greatest first patient i could ever have.. there was only one tiny little problem.. her family..
let me say this first.. she has a great family.. they were very supportive.. they were nice... they really love her..
but they were always there.. they never left.. which may not be a problem for most people.. but when i'm doing an injection for the first time.. and i have 9 different pairs of eyes staring at me.. it kinda freaked me out.. this patient needed a lot of care.. and i was happy to help.. but seeing as i have never cared for any one before.. it was all new to me.. and it was all new to me with 9 different people critiquing my style..
i like to be good at things.. i like to know what i'm doing.. i like to be capable.. but there was no way.. on my first day, that i was going to be capable of anything.. and i hate that.. i'd like to believe that i was born capable.. and not only was i not capable.. but i was not capable in front of an entire family..
and really.. it's not like i messed anything up.. i made no major mistakes.. but i wasn't perfect.. and that makes me want to cry...
a couple good things did turn out today..
i did three different injections.. i tested a blood glucose level... i administered a ton of meds... i saw some gnarly wounds.. i help turn a patient with a hip fracture (very very hard to do.. and very painful for the patient..).. i hung an IV piggy back.. flushed a saline lock.. took vital signs.. saw a lot of ass.. and did a head to toe assessment..
and above all.. i fell in love with my patient.. a kind, wonderful, and touching person.. and i realized that as sad as i am that she probably will not make it till christmas.. i got to be a part of her life today.. i got to take care of her. i got to feed her breakfast, and hear about her fabulous family.. i got to hold her hand.. and that made today worth living..

hmmm..

did you know that up until the 14th century the word homosexual never appeared in the bible.. up until then it was translated as masturbation.. interesting..

couple things...

ben forgot to mention a very important part of the recipe for a great party..
if you want a great party have loan cook the food.. she did a more than amazing job..
she totally spoiled me.. and ben.. poor ben doesn't like corn beef and cabbage.. and cannot be asked to eat my special meal on my special day.. so loan cooks different food for him, and my brother.. who are both big babies.. either way.. she had everything totally prepared.. i didn't have to lift a finger.. it was the best corn beef and cabbage ever.. Seriously .. i cannot thank her enough for all the food she made.. i can't imagine how much work went into that delicious meal.. thank you home..

anyways.. also.. learned an interesting fact in my history class.. the word hysterical comes from the greek word for the uterus.. hence hysterectomy..
but that's crazy.. could be why we tend to referred to women and not men as 'hysterical'.... just thought that was interesting..

Big Bounce House Birthday party

Recipe for some serious fun

Ingrediants:
one big spiderman bounce house
add a few kids
throw in a few adults to bounce with the kids
add 2 puppies that just want to be in the bounce house with you
and mix it all up as you bounce around

 


so we had a party for Chara's Birthday this past weekend, much to her shegrin. But the party turned out awesome. We rented a big spiderman bounce house from these guys and it was just awesome. we bounced all day long. I can't believe we bounced so much. it was great. We also had chara's favorite meal; cornbeef and cabbage and poatoes. (yuck) and everyone had a great time. 

Seriously... who carves better pumpkins?

Part of the big birthday bash festivities was pumpkin carving. Many begrudgingly carved thier pumpkins, but they all turned out great



 
 

missing you..

 
 

I love it when a plan comes together

there is nothing that i love more than when you plan and work for something to happen and it happens exactly how you planned and worked for it to.

nothing better.

Ben...