Sunday, March 20, 2011

The Mysterious Phone Call

When I was getting my hair cut at Great Clips about two weeks ago, something funny happened. For those of you that know me well, I tend to preface my stories with a little background, and I will not only do that here, I will do it twice. First, I find many things in life funny, and I therefore laugh easily. Second, I am reminded of an Adam Sandler audio skit where he plays an old man answering a prank phone call from some young boy played by an actor named Steve Koren. When Sandler answers the phone, the boys say something prank-ish and hang up. The next five minutes or so is Sandler talking to a dead line with lines like, "Hullo." "Who is this?!" "For God's sake. Answer me!"

So, with those two things said, here is my story from Great Clips:

When I am seated at my chair, an elderly gentleman walks in, checks in, and sits down. About two minutes later, the Great Clips' phone rings. That's right, the store phone rings. The lady cutting my hair starts to walk to the front of the store to answer the phone. After the first ring, the old man grabs his cell phone, puts it to his ear, and says, "Hullo. Who's this? Hullo! Answer me! Who's this?!" The phone rings again, "Damn phone! How do I answer this thing?!" He puts the phone to his ear again as the lady cutting my hair starts walking slower. "Hullo. Hullo! I can't hear a damn thing! Speak up! For God's sake. Answer me!" The phone rings again. "How the HELL does this thing work?! Hullo! I can't hear you! Speak up! Hullo!"

"Thank you for calling Great Clips, how may I help you," says the lady who is cutting my hair.

"Ain't that damn embarrassing," says the old man. "It was the store's phone the whole time." He then picked up his magazine and started reading like nothing happened. The lady walked back to my chair quietly laughing and said, "I just couldn't help myself."

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Total Loss


Tuesday morning was a little different than our usual morning, even before the above picture happened. Our babysitter was generous enough to take Emma Monday overnight, and she brought her back Tuesday morning. So we got completely ready even before Emma got home, and as many of you know, Emma is loud and bouncy. So our morning was much quieter than normal, but once she was home, Madison, Emma, and I left for school.

On the way to school, I practice Madison's spelling words with her, and when she finishes spelling all the words from her list, we all get to listen to music. So as we head north on a road near our house, I ask Madison for her spelling list, and she informs me that she received one from her teacher but she doesn't have it anymore. Just to give you a little background on this road we are traveling, it is straight for most of the trip with a few driveways along the way. After about a quarter mile on this road is when I asked Madison for her spelling list, when she doesn't have it, I turn to look at her and ask her why. She then yelled, "DAD!"

I turned just in time to slam on my brakes to reduce the impact my car made on the stopped car. The truck in front of the car I hit was turning left onto a seldom used gravel driveway. In fact, after years of driving this road, I have never seen a car turn into or out of this driveway. I have never, ever seen a parked car or truck in this driveway that doesn't even have a house belonging to it. No excuse but come on!

The girls cried, especially Emma. When we all calmed down, we all ended up to be fine. The girls are sore, and my neck and back are killing me and giving me a nasty headache. When I talked with my insurance company's appraiser, he said that the structural damage is bad enough that the car is a, "Total loss." He didn't even spend any time looking at the engine, but I guess there is no point at that time. The car had 170,000 miles on it and took us across the country, but I'm going to miss it. It has driven me to endless classes, but it won't drive me to pharmacy school. I have driven tens of thousands of miles to and from work but never as a pharmacist. The car treated me very well, and we will all miss it. Now that it's gone and Emma's tears have dried, she is trying to convince me to buy a yellow Bug. Now it looks like I'm outnumbered as Allison and Madison have joined Emma's side, but the biggest problem getting a Bug, I don't fit inside.
When we emptied my VW of all its contents, I ended up with this small box of stuff, and the first aide kit took up most of the space. Thank goodness nobody was really hurt from the accident, and I am especially thankful for the great police officer that wrote me a ticket for not paying attention while driving (seriously, he was great with the kids and the whole situation), the fire fighters, and the EMTs. Everybody was fabulous with the girls and really calmed everybody down.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Born Too Soon


I wrote this poem when Madison was in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) at Swedish Hospital sometime when she was about ten weeks old. For those of you that don't know, Madison was born around 27 weeks gestation at 1 lb 6 oz. Her lungs just starting to flutter and not yet able to breathe on her own, and nurses and doctors were doing everything they can to save her life just minutes after she is born. This poem is about the day Madison was born, and I followed Madison to the NICU from the delivery room after Allison had an emergency Caesarian. I hope you enjoy the poem about my first hour or so with Madison.

Born Too Soon

Little Miracle born too soon, so small on the table
Three nurses working on you
They stuff a tube down your throat
Don't worry Honey, it's to help you breathe
So fragile, I can't pick you up
To hold you or kiss you
Your skin is transparent
I can see all your insides
You're not expected to make it
No worries, I've been talking with the Man upstairs
You look up to me
Weighed down with tubes and wires
Your gaze warms me with the love you give
You're just happy to be out
Sharing a special private moment with your Daddy
Even though the hospital is bustling about
That bond we share will never be broken
Because the love we share is eternal
And because of God's mercy and your hard work
We'll share our lifetime together

Gregg