Inauguration by day, Monuments by night!!

greetings from da haba' !

Sorry for the delay in posting, but my social calendar has really been interfering with the day to day operations of my life... i know, i know; it sounds pretty rough....rigght??

I had the privilege to be in Washington, DC Sunday, Monday and Tuesday of this week!  I was able to meet some amazing new people and reconnect with many others.  My sister Suzy and her husband Gardy and their four chillin's were able to come hang out for a few days with me - which was totally awesome! We were able to connect with Warren and Bonnie Zahner Saturday afternoon, spending a night on the town - trekking along the boardwalk and harbor.

I had the unique opportunity to attend the 2013 Inauguration on Monday 1/21.  A friend from CT was able to secure two tickets to the Inauguration and Ball!  We spent the majority of Sunday night walking around viewing some of the monuments by night (AMAZING...!) pics are below!  Monday we took the red line in to the city, hopped off at Judiciary Square and proceeded to spend the next 3 hours, waiting with the other 999,999 people to get through security and get to our reserved spot!  I am 99% sure the inauguration security detail is the reason our country is experiencing an economic crisis...holy fbi/nsa/tsa/cia/mpd; i've never seen so many guys with large caliber weapons...several people tried to jump the fence and were swiftly and sternly reminded that they were citizens, not protesters...it can be described as "mass, organized chaos"! I tried to catch Barak's attention a few times during his speech, but he seemed to ignore me...! pffft; people these days....anywho, what an experience...to say the least! 

CONCLUSION: I hope to enjoy many more future presidential inaugurations from the comfort of my couch via cnn.com!

STILL WAITING TO PASS THROUGH SECURITY..
nice view of Capitol Hill though!

" THE GOLDEN INVITATION "

" THE TICKET "

PEOPLE, PEOPLE AND MORE PEOPLE....EVERYWHERE
literally, no room anywhere!
like a slow game of human bumper cars

LINCOLN MEMORIAL

WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL

LINCOLN MEMORIAL - VERY SURREAL EXPERIENCE

WW II MEMORIAL

WASHINGTON MONUMENT

EVAC BANQUET 2013 - NICOLE !!!

EVAC BANQUET 2013 - KAITLYN!!! :)

EVAC BANQUET 2013 - ALEXIS !!! 

PANORMAIC VIEW OF THE CITY - FROM da' PAD !!

Say hallo to ma' little fren'

hey all!! a quick update from the inna' haba'..

Tis' the season for the freakin' flu; and just for purposes of clarity...i, uhhh, hate the flu; it stinks and in my humble opinion, it can take hike... a long hike to anywhere I am not; good grief.  I feel fine one minute and the next minute I am hacking, coughing, sneezing, wheezing, burning (103 F), churning, gagging, puking and guking (puking and gagging at the same time), etc...what a horrible experience! but after calling out of work (i would love to hear that phone recording...lol), ingesting about 7 grams of Tylenol, I passed my time between being in kneeled reverence to the porcelain gods (a.k.a. toilet) and a fetal, rocking position in bed with intermittent reverse peristalasizing my entire GI tract..x 10 hours! Upon awakening from this real-time nightmare, I feebly walked from my bedroom to the living room and was greeted by the sunset shown below!!  It was the best medicine of all time...providing almost immediate relief and giving me the jump-start I so desperately needed.

Today, I am back in full swing; literally...being tossed to and fro' and whirled about the streets and airways of the greater mid-atlantic territory; and in order to complicate and exacerbate my existing post-flu nausea, I have the true pleasure of enjoying the fruits of my labor - transport nursing...meaning, I am in full motion (and for those of you who still haven't caught on yet)...being in motion makes MOTION SICKNESS even worseeeeee....wahhhhh!!  In order to ease my suffering, I have enlisted the friendship  (ma' new little fren') of MOTIONEEZE...now on SALE at your local WALMART...MOTIONEEZE is an all-natural, glorious combination of herbs and spices (specifically frankincense and myrrh - uhhh. where are the wisemen - (im assuming riding camels brought about similar symptoms ??!) in clear, non-viscous form which, when applied to the bilateral, posterior ear, yields immediately relief of almost anything...including the induction of extreme drowsiness!! oh boy... thank goodness we carry excess amounts of epinephrine, for a little "pick me up" when the "sleepy" becomes overwhelming !! just kidding..ish - :)

until the very next time... stay safe and well !! :)

#harborviewcommunity #sunsetlove"It's not what you take when you leave this world behind you. It's what you leave behind you when you go." - RANDY TRAVIS

MOST AMAZING STUFF ON THE PLANET, MIRACLE DRUG... !!

Someone sent this to me and I found it very interesting..and accurate

This is for you MOM; LOVE YOU!!!
These items have LUELLA written all over themmmmm.... lol :)

TRUE STORY !!!

Three months in... and counting!

Yo wad' up...clearly my downtown lingo is becoming more fluent by the minute; and speaking of minutes / time...i have successfully made it through the first quarter!; and speaking of first quarters...it seriously sometimes feels like I'm on the front lines, getting pummeled, of this ever growing football game/field...and speaking of football...good grief, I have never faced such passionate sports fans; I have quickly, and rather harshly, learned that having no opinion at all is viewed as the social equal to supporting the opposing team!!  Apparently, learning the "ins and outs" of football has been added to my orientation checklist, including the requirement to pick and root for a specific team (specifically the RAVENS)...and speaking of RAVENS, I can't decide if I really like them or not...and them, this time, refers to the literal bird - they kind of make me gag...they are a large, disgusting sect of flying vertebrates that, despite their awful face, are known to be pretty intelligent...so mixed emotions; but whatever... the argument really doesn't matter, it's pretty much for the birds...oh, and speaking of mixed emotions.... I was able to spend the last two weekends in CT (didn't really want to leave), which was totally awesome.  I am and will be forever grateful for family and friends!!  Both Christmas day and New Years day, I was able to enjoy splitting my time between 7 or 8 different household visits, enabling me to relish in the blessing of great company and good foooooood!!  To complete my HAPPY NEW YEAR festivities, I arrived back in Maryland, the evening of Tuesday December 1, 2013, only to be greeted by a four lane highway halted to a dead stop...10 miles in one hour !!; several new year's resolutions (be more kind, gentle, speak evil of no one, think pleasant happy thoughts, etc) were TOSSED RIGHT OUT THE WINDOW...literally; beep, honk, swerve...it was probably as bad, or worse, than you are currently imagining... :) but despite this / these setback/s I arrived safely to the Inner Harbor in one piece, and dent free!!

Since getting back to work, I have been stationed at the Lifeline Pier 7 base, home to the ground trucks and helicopter.  The weather has been sunny, cool and crisp, making early morning vehicle checks seem like a bit  of past war time torture ..argggghhh, it was so cold in the patient compartment one morning, it was snowing....inside...bring out the portable heater puuuuhhhleeezzzz....duhhh :)  Nonetheless (I really just wanted to type that word...lol), the days have been beautiful and love where I both work and live.

Several weeks ago, my brother, his wife and their six little chillin's made the ground trek to HarborView!!! It was phenomenal...the kids were great and had a blast... We made good use of time by swimming, visiting the National Aquarium  watching a dolphin show, pigging out at the Cheesecake Factory and seeing a stunning light show at the nearby PowerPlant !!  Church was Philadelphia on Sunday, it was nice to connect and reconnect with some good friends...

As another years closes and another opens, I am ever reminded of and continue to become increasingly thankful for the gracious goodness, mercy and love of GOD, FAMILY AND FRIENDS !!

Until the next time...

thought this was good!!
PRETTY MUCH SUMS IT UP...

"THE BIRD"
N522ME STATMEDEVAC 10, EC 145 on the pier !!

"THE BIRD" 
N522ME STATMEDEVAC 10, EC 145 on the pier !!

I don't think I have ever worn a bow - tie before Monday night...
first time for everything...lol; pretty schnazzzyyy!!!?

first ever (#imsure) glidescope intubation on a (simulated) difficult airway..
oh yeah.whose ure dadddy now - but seriously - pretty much a big deal !!

INNER HARBOR FROM THE NATIONAL AQUARIUM !!!

the FAM'...love you guys :)
sir, are those ALL seriously your kids....??!!!
no dude, we kidnapped a few on the way in....seriously #sillyquestion

WE WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER...

THE SOULS OF SANDY HOOK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, NEWTOWN, CT

12 / 14 / 2012

MAY THEY NEVER BE FORGOTTEN: 

      Allison Wyatt - 7/3/06                       Ana Marquez Greene - 4/4/06
      Anne Marie Murphy - 7/25/60              Avielle Richman - 10/17/06
      Benjamin Wheeler - 9/12/06               Caroline Previdi - 9/7/06
      Charlotte Bacon - 2/22/06                  Catherine Hubbard - 6/8/06
      Chase Kowalski - 10/31/05                 Daniel Barden - 9/25/05
      Dawn Hochsprung - 6/28/65                Dylan Hockley - 3/8/06
      Emilie Parker - 5/12/06                      Jack Pinto - 5/6/06
      Grace McDonnell - 5/6/06                   James Mattioli - 3/22/06
      Jessie Lewis - 6/30/06                       Jessica Rekos - 5/10/06
      Josephine Gay - 12/11/05                   Lauren Rousseau - 6/8/82
      Grace McDonnell - 2/11/56                  Madeleine Hsu - 7/10/06
      Noah Pozner - 11/20/06                      Olivia Engel - 7/18/06
      Rachel Davino - 7/17/83                     Victoria Soto - 11/04/85

GOD BE WITH YOU TIL' WE MEET AGAIN !

FAMILY TIME and more...!!!

Howdy! I just got back after a 5 day vacay in CT; spent lots of time visiting family and friends and had a wonderful time.  This past Saturday was the 2012 Mark Hoffman Immediate family Christmas and, as expected, was a little bit o' fun, little bit o' crazy and definitely a time to be remembered by all !!!  As I have mentioned in previous posts, family is something that I have come to largely appreciate and Saturday did nothing to disprove or disappoint that!! :)

Tuesday night, after a short 45 min flight, I arrived back to my "other" home on the Inner Harbor and found things exactly the way I left them....with the exception of warmer weather and lots of christmas cards and pictures - keep em' coming... !!!.  I was never sooo happy to be returning to a place where I could call 50 degrees warm, but I'll def take it...I think I'm cut out to be lifelong south of the MASON DIXON snow bird :)

AGAIN...THANK YOU TO ALL THOSE WHO HAVE REMEMBERED ME WITH CARDS, LETTERS AND PICTURES!!!

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday is back to the grinding grindstone; much of this week will be spent in an advanced airway management class, where we will learn to secure a patient's airway....the highlighted moment of the introductory class was "you guys...air goes in the lungs, not in the stomach" !! After spending over 10 years in nursing school and professional practice, sometimes, the most basic is the most relevant.

I think the picture (from work) below accurately represents three essential dynamics of a good time: education, teamwork and happiness!!! :)

I am looking forward to John and Erin + 6 to come visit this weekend!!!! Harborview Community better break out the umbrellas cause' there's a storm coming... LOL :) !!!! can't hardly wait to see all of u!!

Until the next time...

advanced airway management simulation...LARYNGOSCOPY GALORE !!!
" GET THAT MANDIBLE UNDER CONTROL "

family christmas....good time had by all !!! :)

Brother - Sister portraits... :)
at least my eyes are open, but where's the smile... dude??

funny faces... two of my favorite nephewssssss

stick dat' tongue out.... three more wicked cool kats !!!

Dear CT, I miss u...

Hey!!

One more day of work until I can jet back to my hometown for a few days...I'll be in CT for an extended weekend, celebrating the Mark Hoffman family Christmas; a time of fun, food, family, rest and relaxation PLUS a side of pure chaos!!  Certainly something to be looked forward to each and every year... it always makes me think about the many people that do not have the privilege of close family - i have come to know it is one of the truest joys in life!

I have also come to appreciate the awesome apprehension of finding letters in my mailbox; especially this time of year.... I have received sooo many cards, letters and pictures of people from all over...THANK YOU TO EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU!!! When I lived back in CT, I would let my mail pile up for weeks (unless I knew I was getting money or a check...lol) to the point where the mail lady once asked the front office to do a welfare check on me...!!! I am please to say this has not been the case in Baltimore!

As much as I love living on the Inner Harbor and all of the newness, exploration and discovery that comes with it, I definitely miss my CT peeps and am so glad that I can trek back every now and then!!

John and Erin, my brother and his wife, recently went to HOT TABLE PANINI and sent me a picture of their lunch, prior to its immediate consumption!!!  I was salivating all the way down here in BALTIMORE; I asked them to bring me one...they said they'll see what they could dooooo...mmmmmhhhmmm - They need to build one of those down here !!! I would be a regular...ahhhh; i can hear my stomach calling for a panini....but I just ate...ugghh!

Til' the next time...

CHRISTMAS CARDS / LETTERS AND PICTURES....LOVE IT !!!

HOT TABLE PANINI..!! :)

One month down...

Hey all; one month down and still lovin it!!! life has been composed of...well; learning...a lot of learning (which is totally fine with me).  The academic semester is swiftly coming to a close and and is chewing up my free time with final exams, research papers, etc; one thing is for sure...there is very little time to get into any trouble...

Work is great! spent several hours in the simulation lab doing advanced clinical skills and loved it!  The simulation center is huge and one of the best centers I have ever been in.  Assessments, advanced hemodynamics, multi-system trauma care, airway management, ventilator management, etc....so much fun!

This past Friday night, Lifeline Transport celebrated 20 years of being in service.  They had a nice dinner and presentation at Tabrizzi's, which is about 100 feet from where I live...so for once in my Baltimore history, I could describe my commute as "simple and hassle free"; key phrase being "FOR ONCE"!  Below is a picture of the CAKE they had made and decorated at a local bake shop here in downtown B-more; it was true testament to someone's cooking talent!  I really wanted to eat the helicopter...but they said NO...wwwwahhhhhh!

Until the next time...

"THE CAKE"

VENT practice...arrrggggg - - - -
I can do this, I can do this, I can do this...

#whyamIstillastudent