Tuesday April 19, 2016

Tuesday morning was spent shopping with Michael.  Then we stopped at Himalayas for a lunch of Indian food.  Then in the afternoon we went downtown to visit the Oklahoma City Memorial.  This day was the 20^th anniversary of the bombing.  On our way home we visited one of our favorite travel destinations was Outdoor world Bass Pro Shop.  After some fun looking around at stuffed animals and grills we bought one of our favorite snacks moon pies.  That evening we had a dinner of baked chicken, potato salad, and broccoli.  We spent a lot of our time in the apartment on the balcony enjoying the weather.  That evening there was heavy rain preventing anything outside.

Indian food for lunch

What is a trip without visiting Bass Pro Shop

Ducks outside the store

Turkeys

Smokers

Grills

Shooting game

Heavy rain that night

Monday April 18, 2016

First thing in the morning Michal left for work and returned by noon for the rest of the week off.  After a lunch of grilled cheese Michael & Rachel went grocery shopping preparing to make pigs in a blanket, potato salad, and green beans for dinner.  Matt & Zeus arrived by 5 PM and puppy was very excited.  After lots of hellos we took walkies around the apartment complex.  After Amy got off work had dinner.  It was a nice evening.

Zeus enjoyed the balcony

Small dog park at the apartment complex

Flowers for Amy

Zeus snoozing with his hedgehog

Michael's apartment is the 3rd floor up and his care is on the right

Zeus saying Hi

Michael and Zeus

We brought the chairs from VA and got the cusions locally this is the result.

Arriving Oklahoma City

I arrived in Oklahoma City on Sunday April 17, 2016 and went out the wrong exit.  After directions from Michael via text I was able to meet up with him and Amy.  We had dinner at IHOP before driving back to his apartment. 

Matt arrived back to Virginia on Friday April 15, 2016.  On Saturday morning he dropped the cat, birds and fish off at Cathy & Kim’s house to watch during the trip.  Then Zeus and him hitched up the camper and started driving.  After a lot of driving Zeus & Matt arrived at Michael’s house Monday afternoon.

Immersion weekend April 2016

Rachel had previously planned to attend immersion weekend in Chicago April 15-17.  The school was well prepared and her hotel room, transportation, and food was included in the price.  Rachel landed in Chicago and was transported via stretch limo to the Q center.  This was a lot of fun driving in style.  The rest of the day was spent meeting other classmates and talking about our experiences and future plans.  Immersion weekend is used by the school to bring together the physical assessment students to practice their skills and be tested on them.  There are four assessments students can get when tested on Sunday.  1.  Headache (neuro exam also called the biggie because it has everything) 2. Cough/sinus congestion 3. Abdominal pain 4. Skin assessment.  Saturday was spent moving around to stations to practice each assessment and to feel comfortable with the skills.  My partners name was Peter who practiced the entire day.  He lived only 12 minutes away and wife was going to have their first baby in August.  In the afternoon after school was over I had some free time and walked down to the river right behind the Q center.  Chicago is central time so it is one hour behind so both mornings I was up at 4:30 AM central time.  Saturday morning I spent walking around the small pond and Sunday morning I spent studying.  Sunday morning I was called into my test room with my random partner named Laura from Minnesota.  I was tested on headache and did well passing the test.  Now I can relax.  I was transported back to the airport and flew out to Oklahoma City at 5 pm.

Riding in style

This is my little dorm room with a single bed.  The center used to be a college so all the rooms are dorms.

portabella mushroom sandwich

The Q center around 4:30 am central time thats 5:30 am at home

This is my class over 300 students

Peter my practice partner

Ready to take my exam in my new school lab coat

This is the river behind the center.  There is a walkway along it.

breakfast was make your own omelette 

Study buddies Roselyne from Alabama, Emily from Utah, & Heather from Arizona

Laura my testing partner

I passed!

April spring trip 2016

Michael had requested for Matt and I to come visit him in Oklahoma City and see his new apartment.  We coordinated to take leave that last two weeks in April to visit and then drive home.  But, everything became complicated.  Matt needed to attend a conference in Orlando, FL for work April 12-15^th.  Rachel needed to attend immersion weekend for school in Chicago April 15-17^th.  So, the plan was Matt leaves Tuesday to fly out to Orlando.  Rachel leaves Friday morning from National at 11 AM to fly to Chicago and Matt returns to National at 6 PM the same day.  Rachel completes her school activity and Sunday flies to Oklahoma City and is picked up by Michael.  Matt and Zeus leave Saturday driving with the camper to Oklahoma over three day.  That was the plan and it worked but just before Matt flew out to Orlando we had an unavoidable issue at the house.

The water line

April 9, 2016 Matt discovers by looking at the water bill that our house must have a large water leak.  That evening a plumber arrives and confirms the leak is the line from the street to the house.  The only way to fix this problem is to dig up the old pipe and install a new one.  On Monday April 11, 2016 one day before Matt leaves for Orlando the plumbers begin to fix the issue with Jim and Matt in attendance at the house.  They use a small digger and dig two holes one by the street and one in front of the house.  Then they pull the old pipe out and push the new pipe in.  These holes were deep enough for an entire man to be under the ground.  On Tuesday Matt leaves for Orlando.  Jim stays at the house while the plumbers complete and clean up.  Both days Zeus was the supervisor tied up outside watching everything.  Both Lily and Daniel came by to visit both the digger and Zeus and had a great time.  Without Jim helping this could never have been possible.

The kids are really enjoying the digger

Lily & Daniel playing with Zeus