Travel Tips

This is my top ten list of travel trips. It's developed after my somewhat problematic travel experience to and from the US and Germany over the last week and a half involving one canceled flight, weather problems resulting in diverting to Lexington then back to Cincinnati then one missed flight and a 24 hour stay in Cincinnati (or actually, northern Kentucky).

1. Put a change of underwear in your carry-on. Wearing the same underwear for 48 hours is not fun!
2. Don't finish your only book on the short domestic flight leaving you nothing to read for the rest of the time.
3. There are no direct flights from Lexington to Frankfurt, Germany (this wasn't much of a surprise for me).
4. If you just went to a wedding and have hundreds of pictures to download to your computer, remember the computer, camera AND the cord that connects the two!
5. Refer to comment one but insert "socks" instead.
6. If your cell phone doesn't work in the US, always remember to have a calling card (This I did thankfully have).
7. Be sure to always have money/credit card with you. The airlines are nice enough to pay for part of your hotel, but not the entire hotel and likely you'll want to eat at some point.
8. Delta gives a really cut overnight kit, complete w/ an XL t-shirt, so you don't need to sleep in your clothes. However, wearing the t-shirt on your next flight is probably poor form!
9. Make friends, even if temporarily, with others in the same situation as you (especially if you're walking across a dark street to a gas station to get food).
10. Be nice to the employees trying to help you: it's not their fault and they can't fly the plane!

Back to the US (part 1)!

After one delayed flight, one canceled flight, 2 trips to Starbucks, and 6 hours trying to sleep in JFK airport, I made it from Frankfurt to the Reagan National Airport. I have never been so thankful to see my sister!

I relaxed w/ my sister, her fiancé Mike, and their two dogs, Copper and Filson, Sunday morning; frantically searched for silver high heels Sunday afternoon; and then was off to visit my friends, Pat, Lynn and Adeline. As my sister was driving me to my friends’ house, it started to snow…and it continued for the next 12 hours! Surprisingly, we don’t get much snow in Germany, so it was nice to see (even if the prospect of another canceled flight loomed on the horizon!).

Poor Pat had to go to work on Monday morning, despite the snow, and ended up being the only one there seeing everyone’s patients for several hours. I know it was painful, but thanks for your sense of duty and responsibility, Pat! Thankfully, he made it home by late morning to play in the snow!

We tried to make snowmen w/ Adeline, but the snow wouldn’t cooperate. Pat settled for placing Adeline in a deep snow drift and throwing snowballs at me (okay, I threw a few at him too!) We headed inside when Adeline had decided she’d had enough w/ the snow and stated “All done, snow!”

I have to say, I’m very jealous of Adeline’s toys! She has a bouncy castle that I would have loved as a child!

She’s much bigger than when I last saw her about seven months ago. Now she’s coloring…

Doing puzzles….

And helping Mommy cook!

One other secret about Lynn, she’s a mean ping pong player! At seven months pregnant, she beat me easily. She was bending and twisting in ways I did know were possible!

After visiting Pat, Lynn and Adeline, it was back to the airport (thankfully my flight was NOT canceled, only delayed) to fly to my parents’. I was thankful to relax w/ my parents for two days. I was able to play chess w/ my dad (and lost twice!), go to a movie w/ my mom (He’s Not That into You-cute!), go on a walk and just enjoy being w/ my parents. It was great getting to see them!

Next it’s off to Charlotte for my friend’s wedding. More to come!

Optic Neuritis

So, as a doctor, you think you're prepared for lots of medical problems. However, when you suddenly lose vision in your left eye, it takes you by shock. I was diagnosed with optic neurotis (see http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/optic-neuritis/DS00882 or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optic_neuritis) and one brain MRI, two ophthalmology appointments, two optometry appointments and one neurology appointment later everything is fine. Or not. They still don't know what caused it but I don't have mutiple sclerosis (thank goodness) or cat cratch disease (can't blame my cats). And my vision's back to normal, so I'm very thankful for that.

Through this experience, I:

1. Have been strengthened in my belief in God (I had to go immediately back to work after my MRI (which was looking for signs of multiple sclerosis) but my first three patients no-showed, allowing me more time to relax and breathe)

2. Found out that being in medicine allows you to get appointments faster but that some medical professions lack compassion when one of their one is sick/injured

3. And learned how valuable depth perception is (The first couple days, I couldn't figure out why I kept missing the small test tube when I was trying to place a swab in it!)

I'm very glad to have my vision back now. The only thing I still notice is that my vision gets hazy when I excercise (see below; just an example of what it looks like to me. Despite the label, I don't have MS).

I am actually somewhat thankful to have been able to see (or not see :) ) what my patients go thru, but I hope not to have to be a patient again anytime soon!

You know you're a military spouse if....

I saw this t-shirt in the BX the other day. It's funny because of how true, and crazy, it is (back me up on this one Lynn and Kristin!)

Who, other than members and families of the military, would consider this normal?!

Hide and Seek!

Yet again, Thea has found a new hiding place. While the B's were visiting, I realized I hadn't seen Thea for a while. I searched for her in all her normal hiding places and couldn't find her. Finally, after almost giving up, I saw her here.











When I first found her, her head was down and eyes were closed, so I had to shake her to make sure she was still alive.



Thea, you will never cease to amaze me!

Visitors from England!

It truly is a small world! Last weekend (yes, I'm a bit delinquent in posting), the 'B' family came to visit me in Germany. I met them when I was in Korea last year and they are now in England. Strangely enough, we're all American but have never seen each other in the US!

The four of them (E, K and their two sons N (3) and e (2) ) drove from England. Yes, I said drove. This was a 14 hours trip involving a ferry ride, driving thru snow and rain and ending with a 3 year old screaming in the back seat of the car. I'm with you N; I would have been screaming too!

On Saturday, we went to the Landstuhl fortress (Berg Nanstein) which is about 5 miles from my house. N loved going up and down the steps and wanted to explore everywhere! Luckily, I love to explore too!





We found a cute cafe to have lunch in (yes, this town is 5 minutes away from my house, but that was the first time I had eaten in the town!) Then it was time for the boys' nap.

Saturday afternoon, K and I went in search of wine. She had been told about a good Italian wine store in Kaiserslautern and we found it. However, I think she overestimated how helpful I would be in the wine selecting endeavor. When she said something to the effect of "which ones do you think are good?" I responded with "Well, this label looks pretty." K and E, you'll have to let me know which ones you like! (and if the label beauty correlates with the taste!)

On Sunday, we ventured out to Trier. Trier is thought to be one of, if not, the oldest cities in Germany. It was first settled in 16 BC. Yep, you read correctly; that's BC, as in Before Christ, more than 2000 years ago!

Below is the Porta Nigra which was built in the 200s.




We climbed up to the top of it (way to go, K!) and had an amazing view of the town below. Thankfully the stairs have been remodeled in the last 1800 years!




We had crepes and waffles for lunch (it fit right in the with pizza for breakfast!) and then were off to see more sights.

E and N entertained us with their imitations of airplanes. Do I see another pilot in the B family future? Based on his organizational abilities (you should see this kid do puzzles!), I'm thinking maybe an engineer.




Here's a great picture of the B family!




Thanks for the great visit (and for the Hob Nobs!) Hope to see you in England soon!

Wonder

I had previously introduced you to my cat, Thea. Here's my other, Wonder, doing what she does best, sleep!