Kids do say the darndest things:

The Americans say:  "This is our country, okay!"
"Stand back, you fools." and
"Don't cross the line."
The Outsiders say: "Darn."
"No fair.", and "Meanies."

We receive boxes of cards from kids back in the US, classes full of little patriots who want to encourage us in our work.  This is a prime example of the joy we receive.  I thank God every day for the encouragement he gives, whether it be through my husbands many love letters and surprises, my sisters' weekly or monthly letters and cookies, my amazing care group and friends at church, through the news of so many babies being brought into this world, or through the incredible cards these sweet children write.

Thank you again, all of you, for your support, love, care, and humor.  God bless you in this time.

Exercise! Exercise!

Exercise, exercise: Mass Casualty.  I say again - exercise, exercise: Mass Casualty.

 

Dr. Menzies directing in the ER

"Mass Casualty:  Any large number of casualties produced in a relatively short period of time, usually as the result of a single incident such as a military aircraft accident, hurricane, flood, earthquake, or armed attack that exceeds local logistical support capabilities."

At our hospital, we consider this to be 5 patients at once with severe or traumatic injuries.  Since all of the nurses tend to eat dinner together (5-7 total), we like to come back from the chow hall into Casualty Receiving (ER), lay on the ER gurneys, and yell out "Mass Casualty" because there are so many of us!  Of course, its for our own amusement and that of the nurse, corpsman, and doctor working in the CasRec that night.

But we do have "real" mass casualty exercises, base-wide, in the case that all heck breaks loose and we're triaging at the door, a scene similar to the lipstick-marking of LT Evelyn Johnson (ie. Kate Beckinsdale) in Pearl Harbor.  Red = immediate (OR or ER care), yellow = delayed (inpatient), green = walking wounded (clinic patients), and black.  You can guess black; chaplains and mental health oversee the "black" category.

Included are a few pictures from my perspective as a nurse in the Casualty Receiving area.  We have a great team here, a huge range of skills and wonderful (truly) personalities. 

 

HM1 Mowry (radiology tech) with LTJG Rogers



Dr. Menzies teaching in the Trauma Bay

The girls!  (LT Maura Adams, LTJG Rachel White, me, and LTJG Sarah Rogers)





Deployment

Deploy (as per dictionary.com): 1. Military . to spread out (troops) so as to form an extended front or line. 2. to arrange in a position of readiness, or to move strategically or appropriately: to deploy a battery of new missiles.

I realize this many times each week while I work here that I have it pretty good, all things considered.  When I say "all things considered," this is what I have in mind, what I am thankful for considering those I take care of and work with:

- This is my first deployment, and probably my only deployment while on active duty in the United States Navy.  There are Army folks here who have been deployed 3-4 times...and they've only been in the Army for 4-6 years and are sometimes less than 25 years old.
- I am deployed to Kuwait, appropriately called "Camp Cupcake" in comparison to the hospitals and destinations closer to the front lines.  I am safe and the threats here are almost all "potential" and not actual, ear-deafening, duck-and-cover threats.
- While leaving a husband and puppy behind (of which I am always sad about), I am not leaving children behind and, as yet, have an extremely intact family back home which I don't have to worry about...except for those carrying pregnancies and giving birth while I'm out here!
- While cafeteria food isn't for the gourmet chef's palate, it beats MRE's by far.

What I am trying to say, essentially, is that I am thankful and in awe.  While it is always difficult to be away from my husband, away from home, and somewhat alone here in the dessert, I am surrounded by folks who have much more strife, many more worries, and much less time back home.  Please pray for our soldiers, sailors, and marines as they deploy around the world.  Pray for their well-being, for their health, for their wives, husbands, and children (and parents too, of course).  They sacrifice all of that, whether with courage and patriotism or not, for the defense of our country and the Constitution.  And sometimes they grow weary of it, just like everyone else experiences "burnout" in their regular jobs.  Pray for strength for them (and us) to carry out their missions well, and to look to the Lord for perseverance.

No opposable thumbs, but she can skype.

Do you see the laptop at her paws?

For those of you who didn't know, Jon and I have a dog.  She's a Blenheim-colored Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, now about a year old, whose name is Reagan Liberty Reimer.  I apologize for not yet introducing her, partly because she isn't with us on most of our adventures; those bed and breakfasts aren't always pet-friendly, and neither are hours of driving for a road trip.

The idea of having a dog started off about last March, and part of the concept behind it was to have a companion at home for me on my days off and for Jonathan, if and when I got deployed.  And here we are (the when, not the if)...and Reagan is Jon's miniature furry follower for all things at home.  We are so thankful for her, and thankful for all of our family and friends who help us take care of her (when Jon needs a break or has to travel) and invite Jonathan and Reagan over for company. 

Dogs aren't necessarily man's best friend...that's the role I play.  However, she's a blessing to us, and we are so very thankful for God's creation of furry little creatures without opposable thumbs.

Baby of the Family

Shelley is the baby of her family (the youngest of her siblings) and therefore pictures of her exist. Unlike me who suffered through a childhood fraught with photographic neglect. Yes, it is a fact that there are more pictures of my sisters then there are of me.

Now of course the Mitchells have posted more pictures of Adeline then have ever been taken of me in my whole life.

Anyway, my point is there are some wonderful moments with Shelley and our niece:

One of the most important moments...

Other than being with my husband for the first time in 5 months, the second thing I had been looking forward to the most was meeting my baby niece, Adeline, who was born on the exact day that I landed "boots on ground" in Kuwait (February 22nd). 

Charles and Charissa were kind enough to bring her down to our place before we even left for the beach.  They walked in the door, said hello, and handed her off to me for the long-awaited and hugely important moment of meeting my niece.  It was wonderful, and I look forward to her wonderfulness for the next many many years.  All the pictures are with everybody else holding her because, strangely enough, you can't hold a baby and take a picture at the same time (or you shouldn't try too hard). 

My personal favorite

Butterflies

Butterflies are one of the smallest yet most beautiful things in creation.  Jonathan took me to the butterfly garden within Brookgreen Gardens in South Carolina, and we also saw lots of them in the gardens of Hillwood.

If you've never heard of Hillwood Estate, Museum, and Gardens, it's the last home/mansion of Marjorie Merriweather Post (Marjorie Merriweather Post Close Hutton Davies May), the heiress of the Post cereal fortune.  She was a funny lady, very popular, living and partying among the Vanderbilts and other wealthy families of the day.  She also married...4 times, the last when she was 71, and she managed to divorce him before she died.  And her daughters, all three, were married at least 3 times each.  Just an interesting bunch of facts. 

Despite the dismal family tree, the estate is beautiful and peaceful, and situated in north east DC, somewhere behind all of the ambassadors' houses.  We didn't know such a treasure existed so close!