We got it!!!

After days of negotiations with the builder, we secured a signed contract today (no foolin'). From the way they treated us though, you would have thought it was a seller's market and not the other way around. We had to give up a few things. Instead of a cement driveway, we're getting asphalt. We had to pay extra for a patio extension and a dishwasher upgrade. We will also have to do all our own landscaping. Those things aside, it's a GREAT house! Here is part of the description from the listing:

"2344 SQ FT INCLUDES GRANITE COUNTERTOPS & GREAT ROOM W/13 FT CEILING! CERAMIC TILE IN KITCHEN, BATHS, FOYER, & LAUNDRY. MAPLE CABINETRY, STAINLESS STEEL APPLS & BRUSHED NICKEL ACCENTS! MASTER HAS LARGE WALK-IN & PRIVATE SPA-LIKE BATH W/GARDEN TUB & VAULTED CEILING! WHITE TRIM/SIX PANEL DOORS! FULL BASEMENT! PERRYSBURG TOWNSHIP!"

This house is in a great location. We will live right behind a great family in the ward, the Dworczyks. Emma is friends with the oldest daughter, so they are very excited to be so close. Other friends are close by as well. Kroger, Wal-mart, and Target are just over a mile away, so shopping is very convenient. The Y is 5 minutes away, and Rick's hospital is only about 15-20 minutes away.

Some of my favorite features about the house include the large laundry room and kitchen pantry.

The kitchen cabinets are a dark espresso finish, which I love.

The carpeting in the bedrooms and great room is a neutral frieze. I especially love the tile throughout the rest of the house because it will hide many sins, unlike the unforgiving flooring we live with now.

The great room fireplace is gas, so we won't have to clean it (yay)! Also, there are many LARGE windows all throughout the house, which will let in a lot of natural light.

As soon as my realtor delivered the signed purchase agreement, the kids and I went straight over to Woodland Elementary to register for school. They start April 13, right after Spring Break. It's hard to know who is more excited, the kids or Mom!

We close on June 1st, though we don't have to be out of our current house until late June. This will give us plenty of time to move and clean. It should be a pretty low-key move. Let's cross our fingers that the rest of this process will go smoothly!

Springtime in Perrysburg

The calendar announced the arrival of spring on March 20th, but this desert native isn’t so sure that Perrysburg got the message. When I lived in Arizona, I marked the arrival of spring by turning on the air conditioning and packing up my jeans. In Perrysburg, spring still looks and feels an awful lot like winter. There are signs that give me hope though. Here is my top ten list of signs that prove spring is really here:

10. Road kill

In these parts, animals hibernate during the chilly months. I guess the critters must have “burrow fever” because they are out and on the road. The incidence of road kill has spiked dramatically.

9. Bugs

I found a big black spider in my bath tub this morning. I was so excited to see him that I spared his life. Heaven only knows where he is now. If spiders think it’s safe to come out, warmer days must be in store.

8. Legs

Someone wore shorts to my step class on Saturday! It was the first time I’d seen the bare legs of another in quite awhile. A guess it feels warmer to the more “seasoned” residents of this town. You won’t see me sporting that look anytime soon though! It would be hazardous to others to display my pasty white skin at this point.

7. Ice Cream

Mr. Freeze is open. This town hangout is already packing ‘em in, so we can all pack it on in time for swimsuit season. Never mind the sleet and wind. Spring is here and the folks gotta have their Buckeye Sundaes!

6. Pups

The pooches of Perrysburg are giddy because they own the roads again. Dogs of all kinds can be seen dragging their owners around town. Our recently shorn Shelby has stopped her shivering too. Pretty soon she’ll be ready to ditch her turtle neck sweater.

5. Kites

There is a devoted group of extreme kite enthusiasts that gets together on the weekends to fly. They light up the night sky. It is a welcome change from snow flurries.

4. Mud

Normally I wouldn’t be so excited about mud, but in this case I can see it as a glass half full sorta thing. Mud means thawing ice and rain. It’ll be a beautiful, green summer because of all that mushy gushy mud!

3. Neighbors

It turns out that other people actually live in this neighborhood! I’ve seen them with my own eyes! Last week the kids and I took the bikes out on a ride. Just as we arrived back home, a minivan pulled up alongside us. The driver rolled down her window and said, “Hello. You must be new to the neighborhood. When did you move in?” Ummm…we’ve been here 9 months people! Get out of your house once in awhile. Yeesh!

2. Bikinis

I always thought it was weird that Arizona department stores would try to sell us fall sweaters when the temperatures still hovered around 100 degrees. It’s just as strange to see bikinis on sale in Perrysburg.

1. Change

After so many months of waiting, we’re now heading full speed down a new path. We have so many changes flying at us so fast. Today we wrote an offer on a new house. The home sits on a street aptly named Spring Trace. Isn’t that fitting? I’m praying that our offer is accepted. What a joy it will be to own a home that doesn't need to be updated! It's not quite finished yet, but it's close. More pictures will follow if we get a contract on it.

Going the extra mile

Hey Readers!

I'm so excited that my sister-in-law, Debra, has started her own blog. She is AMAZING and has some stinkin' cute kids. She wrote a particularly touching story that I want to share (I really hope she doesn't mind). It's a good reminder for me to go beyond my duty or what is expected. I hope you'll find it uplifting too! Here's the link: http://phelanphamilyphun.blogspot.com/2009/03/overlooked-old-man.html?showComment=1237557360000#c5199761370248226495

Holy Toledo Part 2

The final results are in. I matched at St Vincent's ER program. It was our first choice. We will be here in Toledo for the next 3 years. Start planning your visits. Now to find a house....

The Results Are In....Sort Of.

Well, I received notice today that I have been accepted for my residency in Emergency Medicine. I have to wait until Thursday to find out where. It is either at my current hospital St Vincent's in Toledo, The University of Toledo, or Texas Tech in El Paso. Any of them would be great. Of course, we have our favorite, but we'll wait to see what happens.

I also had a pretty cool experience yesterday. One of my patients had been slowly going downhill overnight. About 1:00, there was an overhead page for the "Rapid Assistance" team. This team is called when someone looks likely to go into cardiac arrest. If they are found already in arrest, a "Code Blue" announcement is called.

Well, I was the first Doc to arrive on the scene. There was also an ER resident that arrived shortly after. In the hospital, the ER residents generally run codes. Once he arrived, I turned over management to him. However, I continued to do the compressions. It is a sickly feeling as you feel the ribs crack, but given the alternative. I like to think that it was my miraculous hands that brought him around, but I guess that it might have had something to do with the meds we gave him. We stabilized him and transferred him to the ICU. Unfortunately, he ended up passing away later in the day, but not on my watch. Thankfully, it doesn't happen that often, but it is nice to feel a bit more confident. It is always very different to study it in lectures and practice on mannequins than to do it for real.

Exercise Diary of a Wounded Woman

I feel like a cripple. When I get up in the morning, everything hurts. My joints sound like a bowl of Rice Crispies as get out of bed. Not only is my sprain still holding me back, but me knees are rebelling too. I’m too young to feel this d*** old!

I’ve been trying to take it easy with the exercise. I tried an aqua jog class last Friday at the recommendation of a friend. I was the youngest one there. I actually got called a “slender thing” by a heaven-sent elderly lady. I haven’t heard that in awhile. I guess it’s all a matter of perspective. Anywho…It was a lot of fun. I found some new places to be sore, and I got my heart rate up without putting strain on my deteriorating joints. I do have to say one thing though. I will NEVER get used to the whole locker room scene. YIKES!

On Saturday I hobbled down to my dungeon to ride the stationary bike I inherited from my in-laws. There’s something so unnatural about riding a bike in a cave, going nowhere fast. After 5 minutes I was so bored! I grabbed some dumbbells and incorporated some weight lifting with my ride. As I stared at the Arnold Schwarzenegger posters adorning the basement walls, I wondered what he would say about my predicament. “Here me now, believe me later. You’ll be back.”

To my dismay, none of the other fitness instructors answered my plea to cover my 5:30 am Step class on Monday morning. I guess they prefer sleep or something. I hauled my carefully wrapped self down to the Y and taught to 3 people. Lame! Later that day I taught Kid Fit and let the kids run through my “obstacle course” of steps, cones, and tunnels. No one noticed that I wasn’t running along with the group. What a bunch of suckers!

My best adventure yet had to be my Tuesday outing with Shelby. She’s been acting a little blue lately, so we’ve been giving her “walk therapy” to perk her up. I was excited to get out of the house too, since I’d already met my Emma quota for the day. The first 50 minutes of our walk was delightful. I could feel my spirits lifting as we marched toward the park and through my dream neighborhood (if we end up staying here). Things took a turn though once we started back to the house. The gray skies turned even darker, and little droplets of rain turned into a full on shower. Pretty soon I was RUNNING home, practically dragging Shelby behind me. 15 minutes later we were at our front door step, soaked through to our skin. Our unsympathetic family received us with gawking and laughter. Rude.

The kids have swimming lessons on Wednesdays, so I accompanied them into the water. Some of the lanes are left over for lap swim during class so I took advantage. It’s been FOREVER since I swam laps. In fact, I haven’t had any kind of swim training since I was Jake’s age. Well, I was humbled. Swimming is pretty challenging, and I kind of stink at it. I struggled to see through Emma’s tiny little blue goggles she so selflessly loaned to me. Those little buggers kept fogging up! After awhile I gave up and did some more aqua jogging (a.k.a. thrashing about the deep end). I figure I need some coaching from a trained authority the next time I swim so I don’t ruin my reputation.

Well, I’m not going to give up. Spring is right around the corner. The snow flurries outside my window today don’t fool me one bit. Pretty soon the sun will shine, and I’ll take the ol’ Klein out for a ride. Until then, it’s simulated adventure for me. Hooray for treadmills and stationary bikes!

Callings, Facebook, Parties, and Cankles

New Calling

The Primary Chorister in our ward is expecting baby #4 and she's due right around the Primary program this fall. Last week, I got called to be the new chorister. She's taking my old class, so it all works out, even-steven. I'm going to miss my 5 and 6-year-olds though . I had an outstanding class. But, I'm super excited about being the chorister. It has long been my favorite calling in the church.

Goodbye Facebook

I love Facebook, maybe a little too much. That's why I decided to delete my account. I realized it was sucking up way too much of my time. I've lost count of how many times I've stayed up late on that site, reading everyone's "25 Random Things" lists. I got to thinking...maybe I should spend a little more time the people who live with me instead of that random chick that I used to sit by in English class. Was I too extreme?

A Study in Contrasts

Last week we had a shin-dig with all the aerobics instructors from the Y. I decided to go and get to know some of the girls better. I've been praying to make some friends, and I thought this would be a great opportunity. I was assigned to bring a dessert. I made (from scratch) a delicious banana sheet cake with cream cheese frosting. This has been a popular treat at parties past, so I was confident it would be a hit. I should have know better. Apparently, other fitness instructors don't indulge the same way I do. Instead of reaching for the sweets, they were reaching for the wine. It sure made for some entertaining and LOUD conversations as the night wore on though. Plus, I had lots of leftovers!

Yesterday, I joined a potluck lunch group with some gals in my ward. Again, I made THE CAKE. My sisters raved about it, redeeming me from last week's disgrace. The entertaining and loud conversations were still there, but that was because everyone was trying to talk over the kids. Different worlds...

Oops!

So, I'm afflicted with cankle-itis on one side of my body. While peparing for a BOSU class last night, I rolled my left foot and got a 2nd degree sprain. My doctor/husband wrapped me up and sent me on my way. I got through the class, but once I sat down to eat dinner, that sucker swelled up. I now have a lovely, purplish-red goose egg. The thing that really ticks me off is that I can't move around so well. I'm scrambling to find subs for my classes at the YMCA so I can let things heal. No more cardio on the BOSU for me!