Nick ‘n’ Heather

This weekend Nick came to town and we exchanged Valentines gifts. I like celebrating after the day because everything is half price! Yay! Nick got to town and we didn’t do much that night.

Saturday was a busy busy day. We woke up early to make it to team practice at 10. We worked out, did drills and sparred until 1. It was Nick’s first time sparring since he was a red senior and he had his way with people in the ring. Master Roy spilled his punching secrets to his competitors but he still laid em out. It was pretty entertaining to watch! I got up close with the pop kick and enjoyed hitting people in the head. After class, all bruised and tired, we met Tim, Megan, Anthony and Emily at Subway for a quick bite to eat. Black belt class started at 2 and we were all still worn out from team practice. We learned a new technique and it was pretty neat. Then Nick taught a little ground-work self-defense. Master Roy sprung him on it before we left to eat at 1 so he came up with something fast and delivered quite well. Megan and I got up close and personal mounting each other… Mounting is when you get on top of someone and try to have your way with them. We learned how to defend yourself if someone were to be on top of you, in the mount position, and trying to hurt you. Good information but luckily I’m so good I never get mounted… It was a good time and I actually learned some things. Lastly, we were given the choice of whether or not to spar with swords. Most of us opted to watch and I became the official timer. I handed the stop-watch off to Emily after I got bored, which didn’t take very long. We left the gym around 5 and returned home to take a shower and relax before hitting up Texas Roadhouse for some deliciously wonderful ribs and cinnamon bread. Yum! After we got home we were both pretty tired so we watched some TV and crashed.

Sunday we work up late and Nick got on the road early to beat some weather. Since then, I have been balancing my time between Mario and homework.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. My Dad couldn’t make our annual spring break ski trip so I made other plans. Originally, I was just going to spend the week in Golden Valley lounging around Nicks’ apartment but an idea popped into my head. I called up my Grandparents and the next day I booked a plane ticket. I am headed to warmth and sunshine for spring break! I leave Tuesday, March 4th for Phoenix and come back that Friday. Oh joyus sunshine. Relaxing by the pool with a good book will be my objective and spending some quality time with my Grandparents. When I was in high school, my brother and I went to Arizona during one Easter break. We saw the sights and went to the horse races and I had a blast. So, my Grandpa wants to take me again! Yay for trumpets!

Thats all for now…just looking forward to another weekend with Nick…

IMPORTANT UPDATE:
Heathers superb cup stacking skillz have improved! Her times as of the present hour are:

• 3-3-3: 3.69
• 3-6-3: 5.10
• Cycle: 16.51

As you already may know, the Magenic party weekend was a lot of fun, although it was quite cold around the feet with high heels. The complimentary valet was wonderful; that way, Nick didn’t have to go and get the car!

Last weekend was also good times. It was nice not to have to do anything on Saturday and Nick and I took full advantage of sleeping in. Nick also perfected this technique on Sunday when I had to get up and go :(. Trauma Tactics was put on by Merit-Care and was hosted at the Holiday Inn. The goal of Trauma Tactics is to enhance the knowledge base of care providers to achieve optimal patient care of the trauma patient. The purpose is to decrease mortality and morbidity in the trauma patient population. When you got there, you found your name tag and folder with presentation information. Inside was a raffle ticket that you dropped in the bucket for door prizes. I won at the first drawing that morning and was the proud owner of an assorted cheese and crackers basket! Breakfast was complimentary and generally good. At 8:15 the seminar kicked off and the lights went down. This was the schedule:

0730-0810 Registration/Continental Breakfast
0810-0815 Welcome/Announcements
0815-0900 Aeromedical and Critical Care Transport Teams…Supporting
“Operation Enduring Freedom”
0900-1000 Pediatrics - Abusive Head Trauma
1000-1015 Break
1015-1100 Airway Adjunct Capnography
1100-1145 “Preventing the Triad of Death”
1145-1215 What’s New in Trauma
1215-1305 Lunch
1305-1430 I-35 Bridge Collapse - Lessons Learned
1430-1445 Break
1445-1530 Landing Zone Management/Case Study
1530-1615 Bizarre Cases in Trauma
1615-1630 Question & Answer/Evaluations

In between trying hard to stay awake I noticed that we had sat under a vent. It was freezing! I was wearing a sweatshirt and proceeded to put my coat and mittens back on. I was still cold so I started to do calisthenics in hopes to warm up my body. I called Nick at the first break and told him to bring me some wool socks and a long sleeve shirt. The presentations all went relatively well. My favorites were: pediatric head trauma, the I-35 bridge collapse and Bizarre Trauma Cases. At 4:30 the seminar pulled to an end and I picked up my free sweatshirt and certificate for continuing education for my EMT.

When I got home, I worked on perfecting my cup stacking skills but was quite disappointed when the timer battery died. Later that night, I turned on the web cam to have a conversation with Nick and then showed him my skillz. He timed me through an internet stop watch and I am improving. As of yesterday afternoon, my cycle speed was 17.22. Nice! What is a cycle you ask. Well, you start with 3 stacked cups on your right and left and 6 stacked cups in the middle. Working from left to right you make a tower out of each stack. Once that is completed, you return to the left side and take all the towers down. After the last tower on the left is taken down, you move those three cups to the left and make a 6 cup tower with the left side 3 cup stack. You then make another 6 stack tower out of the middle pile. Once done, you take down first the left tower and then the right and make on stack of 12 cups. The top two cups are taken off and placed to the sides and one is turned upside down. You then make a 10 cup tower with the remaining cups. When finished, you tap the two side cups on opposite ends and take down the 10 cup tower as fast as possible. And I bet no one understands anything I just said! I will figure out how to take a video of the process and put it on here so you know what it looks like. After that, it was bed time.

Yesterday was beautiful and sunny. The temps were over 30 and I did not wear my mittens. Today, that is another story. I got to work at 6:40 and nearly blew my door off. The wind speed is out of control! The news said to bundle up because exposed skin will freeze in less than 5 minutes. Well, that is encouraging.

As far as this weekend is concerned, I will not be able to see Nick due to team practice on Saturday. It is not fair for him to have to drive three weekends in a row so we are taking it off. He will be back next weekend for a Judo/Jujutsu thingy. Not quite sure exactly what it is and I don’t want to butcher it so I will just leave it at that. The next weekend will also be a loner as I again have team practice :(.