Ice, Ice Baby.

When you are born and raised in a land dubbed "the frozen tundra" daily errands are rarely hindered by a little or even a lot of snow. You learn to drive through drifts that tower over your tires and how to appropriately encourage those in front of you that are paralyzed by fear as they slowly navigate the snowflake mine field. On the other hand, even the most daring Cheeseheads fear ice. If you don't respect it, it will learn your ass right quick. To illustrate this fact, let me tell you a little story...

It was one of those nights you prepare your gear as best as you can for the storm front that is currently tearing through your zip code, and every surrounding zip code for at least 40 miles. I have always lived by the code of being prepared with gear set out and wool socks on in bed which generally means a full night of blissful, uninterrupted sleep. This fateful night, I crawled into bed after double checking my gear and setting it as close to the radiator as possible... just in case. Much to my dismay the shrill beeping of my pager ripped me from my dreams of tropical beaches where the only thing frozen is the drink in my hand. Slowly, I dug my old, but faithful two wheel drive Chevy from the blanket of heavy snow and started my way towards the call. My time out should have been about 5 minutes in good weather, but tonight I spent a good ten minutes crawling to the scene.

As I approached, I saw a car delicately wrapped around a telephone pole. Eager to do what I did best, I opened my truck door and stepped onto the road. Little did I know, this east-west road flanked by barren farm fields was a perfect venue for Disney on Ice. One foot out and that same foot flying away from me at a speed that would make the Blue Angels green with envy. But wait! Where is my other foot? Now let me just say, back in my gymnast days, I was a rubberband-like force to be reckoned with. I didn't go by the nickname Gumby for no good reason, but this was not high school and I was no longer the nimble 17 year old. With one boot still stuck in the cab and the other doing a triple loop, I found myself toppling over face first into the glistening pavement while fearing the worst for the crotch of my turnout pants.

Of course, falling is pretty common for my graceful self in good weather and in bad. Regardless, a pair of concerned EMTs (who of course were not needed to tend to the patient) and a firefighter or two took notice of my plight and attempted to shuffle slowly towards me. They didn't need to use much effort to shuffle as the wind forced them forward against their will. They were making great progress until one went down, grabbing the coat of the next and before they knew it, they were a pile of helpless helpers. While the uninjured patient was carefully removed from the crumpled mess of a vehicle, the rescuer's rescuers removed themselves from the ground. Now I know laughing on a scene is quite unacceptable in most cases, but at this point, there was nothing left to do. The patient was okay and so were we, except a little ding to a couple of now sore egos. Of course we still needed to report back to command so I came up with a genius solution. I decided that my jump kit would make a perfect chauffeur across the road. That's right, I sat on top of that jump kit and scootered myself across the ice. I must say, it worked like a charm. The rest of the call went by fall free and thankfully everyone returned home without injury, minus some bruises to various limbs and hind quarters.

So what did we learn from Bernice's little run in with gravity? That's right class. Scene safety. We look up, we look around, but never forget to look down.

Happy Birthday, Grandma.

In honor of her birthday, a re-post.

I miss you every day.

Heeeere's Frankie!

Or Francine if she is naughty.


This is her shelter picture. LOVE that one blue eye.

She is our latest addition to the family and my Merry Christmas present. We weren't expecting to bring her home last night but I did so well on the phone interview that her rescue-momma decided we would be great for her. When we pulled in the driveway she was doing the puppy dance across the yard. The sigh I heard from JB told me she was mine for the taking. I figured we would have to do the home visit, the vet checks... nope. It was fill this out, sign here and thank you for the check and off we were to PetSmart for new toys, a crate and a snappy new collar (that she hates). Of course this meant I had to grovel to my dad and ask real nice like to see if we could bring the puppy with us because Hotel MomandDad isn't terribly fond of doggies and it was a stretch bringing Henri. My dad being the awesome man he is relented on the condition and little surprises are cleaned thoroughly and promptly.

So far Henri is tolerating her quite well and only got a little gruff at her this morning. Really, I can't blame her. I wasn't too terribly fond of her at 4am either. Okay, that's a lie. I was still smitten with her cute little puppy face but I sure was cold and tired standing outside waiting for her to pee. Really though, she has been great and just gets up and walks away when Frankie thinks Henri's tail is a chew toy.

I'm starting to wonder what we got ourselves into but right now she is fast asleep in her crate making little puppy noises in her sleep and it's making the 3 hours of sleep totally worth it. Well not totally, but I don't mind so much right now.

Thanks to modern technology, my sister and her kids got to meet her last night via FaceTime, courtesy of my brand spanking new iPhone 4G. Now that I think about it, that was supposed to be my Christmas present. Me thinks JB isn't the only spoiled person in this house.



Here she is fast asleep on my leg after a hard night of exploring her new house.

The Night Before Christmas - EMS Version

A re-post from Christmas last year. Enjoy.

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the town;
They were out partying, chugging them down;
The drinks were all poured and shared with a smile,
One more wont matter I only live but a mile;
The presents were wrapped all shiny and bright,
While they soon all headed back out into the night;
The engine turned slowly protesting the cold,
While they were ignoring what they had been told,
When out of my pager there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to tend to the matter.
Away to the scene we flew like a flash,
Threw open the doors and eyed up the crash.
The moon lighting a scene of hurt and of sorrow
Gave sight to tears and pain for the ‘morrow,
She didn’t have a chance you could tell from afar,
But we worked and pryed to free him from the car,
Pulled from the mess, so swiftly and quick,
Excuses were coming, the road is so slick!
Rapid as eagles the assessments were made,
While talking and working we all silently prayed;
Now, pressures! Now, fluids! Now, IVs and blood sugar!
On quickly! On swiftly! A helicopter to conjure!
To the top of the roof! To the end of the hall!
Now fly away! Fly away! Fly away all!
For him there’s no presents from under the tree,
That can replace smiles, hugs and cheers full of glee,
Just pain and regret of the choices he made,
For their night of celebration with her life she paid.
No time for us here to dwell on the thought,
For our warm beds and a clean engine is sought.
Out we all headed into the cold night
Knowing that man would never be right.
To stay sober and drive it isn’t such a task
And I really don’t think it is too much to ask.
So this year please just do what is right.
Don’t drink and drive, and have a safe night.

Something different... a recipe.

Lately, I have been addicted to spinach. It's good for you and pretty tasty. I also bought some mushrooms on a whim, thinking maybe I could start sneaking them into some food. This morning I woke up after dreaming about work (yuck) and stuffed mushrooms. The only stuffed mushrooms I have ever enjoyed were served to me in Houlihans in Lake Geneva, WI. I tried making them myself once and they were a tasteless disaster. I never tried again, until today.

I'm not a food blogger nor do I think I am any sort of amazing cook but I did just come up with my own little recipe for stuffed mushrooms. So if you are down with the fungus among us, take a look and try it out for yourself. (I can't vouch for it just yet because they are still hanging out in the oven.) Consider this a nod to my own confidence. I present to you: Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms


Yes these are the mushrooms I just made and yes, I am eating them all myself.

For this project you will need:

10 medium sized mushrooms, washed, stems removed
1/2 cup spinach (I used the frozen kind, just make sure all the water is drained out)
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
1/2 brick cream cheese
bread crumbs
salt
pepper
olive oil

Start by sauteing the minced garlic in olive oil. Add the spinach and salt/pepper to taste. Once spinach is wilted/heated through, mix with the mozz cheese and cream cheese. After taking the spinach/garlic mix out of the frying pan, toss the mushrooms in and let them heat for a bit and get some flavor on them (add more olive oil if they don't slide around well). After about 5 minutes, stuff the spinach/cheese mixture into the mushrooms. Dip the mushrooms cheese mix side down into breadcrumbs and coat well. Place into small baking dish/pan.

Place in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes. Broil the last 4 minutes or so to make the tops nice and crispy.


Edit: After trying one I claim this experiment a great success. I think the only thing that could make them any better was some little pieces of bacon in there. After all, bacon does make everything better.