Take Your Daughter to Work Day

Well, it was back to school today on Poplar Ridge. We rearranged schedules a bit, since we were actually supposed to be back to school on Monday. That's one of the nice things about Cyber School: we did 2 days of lessons during Spring Break, then took 2 other days off when JP could be home with us.

We had violin lessons this morning, and then I wanted to take the girls to the Surgical Open House at our local Hospital. I decided that this would be the closest thing to "Take Your Daughter to Work Day" that I could arrange in my position, which requires the utmost of confidentiality.

While they couldn't actually go into the Operating Rooms, the girls (and my Mom) met all the OR staff: surgeons, scrub techs, nurses and anesthesia crew. They looked at anatomical models and attempted to intubate a dummy, take endoscopic biopsies of a hot dog, and use laparoscopic instruments to pick up beans and put them in a cup (J was pretty good at that...I think my boss might be thinking of hiring her!) We had a nice lunch provided by the Hospital, which included way too many cookies.

We got home later than I had hoped, but managed to get our school work done before dinner. I would consider that a successful school day!

We also had a lovely visit with our friends in Kentucky over Easter weekend. JP went to Med. School with him, while she and I worked in the OR to support our families. We have been friends for a long time, and while we haven't seen each other much in the last couple of years, we always pick up where we left off. That is always incredibly comforting for me.

Both of our dogs made the 7 hour trip with us. They joined the menagerie at our friends' of 4 cats and one enormous Irish Wolfhound, Chewbaca. Here's a pic of the dogs...I call them small, medium and beast!



The other day, our friends all congregated here for a potluck Birthday party for our 4 year old friend, B. We had 35 people here altogether, which I believe is a record for Poplar Ridge. We are so glad that we are able to fit all our friends here together...even though it gets a bit chaotic and loud at times.

We finally had a quickie Easter Egg hunt for the girls yesterday morning. It was so cold outside that we urged them to be as quick as possible! This morning we woke up to a dusting of snow on the ground. Although I'm incredibly eager to get things planted in the garden, this has been a message to me to slow down, take it easy, it is still early Spring.

So, that's my report of all the happy-nings going on around here. I hope your Easter was equally lovely.