Nope, I didn't fall into a huge crack in the earth's surface!

We finally got our internet hooked up today!!! Yay!!!!! I had 43 blog entries waiting for me on my Google Reader and a ton of emails to catch up on. I noticed several of the titles included words like vacation, Orlando, and Spring Break--I am just a little jealous!
We have been living in a whirlwind the last few weeks. We would have never made it without some great friends and family to help us out. Thanks, thanks, thanks.
Bob and I are now 98% moved to Joplin. We have to go back this weekend to fetch the aquarium and tie up a few loose ends. It has been a complicated process to get it all done. Nothing has been easy. However, we love Joplin and our jobs and being close to family and friends.
I am working in the hospital in a department they are still developing. It's an admission and discharge lounge. We don't do a lot of in depth pt care but we can take care of pt's while they are waiting for a room to open up or waiting for their ride to pick them up to go home. We try to make the transition as smooth as possible coming and going. We do a lot of the admission stuff--ask the 5,000 very personal questions that the pt has already answered a dozen times that day. I know, I wish there were a better way, too. Someday....I'll come up with a better system.
It looks like it will be a while before my exact position is up and running --I was hired for night shift and they are only open during the day right now. They are planning to expand the hours to 24/7 soon. So in the meantime I will be crosstraining to other departments.
Believe it or not, that is actually alright with me. It gives me a chance to get to know the hospital and to stretch my brain. I am looking forward to it. I wouldn't want to do it permanently but it will be nice to do short term. Freeman is the nicest hospital I have worked at. The people are very friendly and helpful.
Bob has been putting in long hours trying to learn everything he needs to know about his job. He loves the actual job part but does not like the paperwork--yuck! He has been drawing on all the experience he has had in drug/alcohol, sheltered workshop, and delinguent boys' home. He also likes the people he works with and his "clients" too.
We have unpacked about 75% of our stuff. If I had one more day to really work on it I could get most of the rest of it done. We love our house. It is on a quiet street. After living on a street by the hospital with sirens and the helicopter coming and going 24/7 and two main highways close by--we have really enjoyed the peace and quiet.
We did manage to stay in Troy long enough to experience the earthquake. I woke up mentally going through a list of things that could be shaking our house--my first thought was a very long train. (I lived very close to some tracks as a child and was used to sleeping through the trains coming through.) Then I realized I couldn't even think of any train tracks in Troy! My next options were helicopter circling, semi braking, cars crashing, transformer exploding...it wasn't exactly like any of these and it just kept shaking the house and rattling the stuff on my dresser. Bob rolled over and mumbled that it had to be an earthquake. ZZZZzzzzzzzz......went Bob.
The next day we found some fresh cracks in our basement. Naturally, we don't seem to have earthquake insurance. We both thought we had it but guess we don't. That's kind of how our luck has been running lately....EXCEPT....
For one huge answer to prayer. Most of you know that I have had horrible problems with my sinuses/allergies for years. I have been tested three times in three different states. I have had allergy shots twice with several months or years in each round. I have had sinus surgery once and it was recommended that I have it again. I declined and had been managing my issues medically the best I could. I have even tried sublingual (under the tongue) drops instead of shots. None of these things helped in the least. I have not been able to wear perfume, be close to fresh flowers, use a feather pillow, even dust my house without issues. I have had chronic sinus infections that would go away and return in a matter of days or weeks. Every time the weather changes my head has been like a barometer--pressures changing and causing a lot of pain when fronts were moving in. Dad had told me about an older doctor here in Joplin who treats allergies with muscle testing and pressure points. (Don't shoot me, here, but I am not usally a big fan of "natural medicine." I have not been impressed by most of what I have seen but even I can't deny this one!)
Well, I had a few minutes the other day before I had to pick up Bob from work so I made an appointment and went by to see this guy. He did some muscle testing and punched around on a few pressure points on my back. I walked out 30 minutes later and have only had to take half a dose of medicine one time-and that was after we stayed all night in a hotel. I have gone from quite a bit of medicine twice a day to NONE! I am so grateful.
One day when I was stocking up on my sinus medicine at the hospital pharmacy where I worked in Troy, the pharmacist warned me about the medicine I was taking and the risks of prolonged use, etc, etc, etc. I tried other things and I tried doing without it but would end up sick in bed every time.
This doctor says that he has treated 20,000 people for allergies. He treated me to 5-6 things that I tested positive for in his office. He says I will not be allergic to those things any more. I may be allergic to things that he didn't detect on the first visit and will have to be treated for them in the future if necessary. But so far so good.
He didn't do any weird voodoo tricks, try to sell me snake oil or set up a bunch of follow up appointments. He just charged a reasonable price for his services and went back to his office. I may just hug his neck the next time I see him!
Well, I have rambled long enough. Sorry for the dearth of pictures lately. If I can ever get the camera, cord and computer all in the same place at the same time, I will try to post some!