My dad

My mom got a call Thursday morning about an hour after dad got to the office that he was having chest pains....and was driving himself to the hospital. Being the hard head he is, he refused to call 911 or an EMT.

Upon arriving at the ER, they ask about his pain level. On a scale of 1-10 (10 being an elephant sitting on your chest) he indicated a level 8. At about noon he had an angiogram where they basically took an insider's tour of his heart to see the blood flow and narrow down the problem area. He had 4 clots are severe and require rather immediate attention before he suffers a major heart attack.

Dad had quadruple bypass surgery last Thursday night. The surgery took several hours but was successful. His heart should actually be working much better so he can be active and have a higher energy level.

He was in extreme pain following the surgery. Partly due to the breast plate, the incision, and also he has several tubes that are inside his chest to help with drainage so he didn't develop pneumonia. As of today, 3 of the tubes have been removed. However, the most painful tubes remain as they are the most effective. Doctors think those can be removed tomorrow.

They finally found a pain reliever that actually helped so he got his first bit of rest today. (As much as you can actually sleep in the ICU.)

Interesting part of this recovery process - though it's scary and he was still connected to tubes, wires, and monitors, he was sitting up about 9 hours eating eggs and toast after his visit to the OR. He was sitting in a chair using the pedals of a cycle to get blood circulating about 11 hours after surgery. He walked up and down the hallway today. Can you believe it? He was in extreme pain for the majority of these exercises, but the nurses are pushing him so he doesn't let fluid settle in his lungs.

Dad should be in a regular room by Monday and will likely be there for a full week for observation. My mom and I will have our hands full when he leaves the hospital and it's just the two of us instead of a team of nurses and doctors.

We are truly thankful that he is going to make a full recovery. The doctors and nurses have been amazing.

Thank you for all your continued thoughts and prayers. I know my dad appreciates them as much as I do.

My First Novel

Last night I had to present 3 book ideas to the class. They loved one, and liked the other 2. The one they loved was also the one I really wanted to use.

It was an interesting exercise really. With 6 very different students, and 6 very different literary tastes, our book ideas were so diverse. Murder mysteries, sci-fi adventures, supernatural phenomenon, and then my chicklet/social commentary ideas.

Now I have an idea for a book to get started. But I tend to get hung up on character names. I have a name for the male love interest - made the class swoon just at his name. Ha!

But I don't love the names I have for the two female characters. So I've been going through my contact lists, combining names of friends, looking up names online, and probably spending more time on the name than I need. There's just so much in a name, I want them to be perfect. I'm up for suggestions!

Female #1: Vicious, backstabbing, career focused.
Female #2: Naive, seeking revenge, struggling to find her identity.

This week's assignment is to write a journal entry as the main character. It's supposed to be a pre-novel entry and not something we put in the book. Just something to get us thinking and writing like our character using their grammar, tone, vocabulary, etc.

Should be another interesting exercise to present to the class!

Single handedly keeping the US postal service in business

Besides my latest obsessions with country music and jalapeno cheetos (don’t ask) I need to confess I have an obsession with stationary and note cards.

Now that I’m try to make friendships more personal by sending an occasional note here and there to say "Hi!" or "Thank you!" I’m on a never ending search for the perfect stationary to put to pen. I had a pretty healthy inventory already, but it’s quickly growing out of control. Not to mention I like to create my own cards when I can.

Good grief.

So if you haven’t sent me your address already and you’d like a note from me on fabulous stationary or a perfect little note card...send it my way.

I’ve given in to Facebook

As a recruiter, it seems like I’m a part of numerous professional networking sites and like to tell myself that myspace is just another "networking" tool. I’ve been avoiding Facebook so I didn’t have yet another site to keep up with.

But since I’m trying to get back in touch with lost friends and classmates, I gave in last night and joined. Mostly for getting back in touch, also to network.

Like an idiot I stayed up until midnight searching for people. But I’m not sure if my contact lists imported correctly, and I think I’ve tried to add people a few times. So if you get a dozen or so add requests from me, just remember I’m a natural blond. Add me and move on.

If I haven’t found you on Facebook yet, please find me and add me. If there’s anyone you know from AHS, please tell them to add me too. I’m trying to find everyone from ’98 and friends from other grades.

Also, I’m on Linkedin.com so you can add me there if you’d like to be my networking buddy. http://www.linkedin.com/in/mbknight

Question for you:
I lost track of a friend that went to a different high school and University than me. The e-mail address I have is old, and I can’t find him on myspace, facebook (the main reason I joined), or linkedin. Does anyone know of another way to track down old friends...without being super creepy/stalkerish?