Hi Ho, Off to work I go

Aunt Pauline will be the babysitter when I go back to work. I missed working so much, I couldn't wait to go back. The hospital was building an addition to the old building and our department was to move to the new part very soon. That was good news, a new state of the art facility. No more running up and down the elevator delivering food to the cafeteria which was upstairs or down to the basement store room. We would be located together in our own place. What a relief!

Switching over the water lines was a problem. Something happened and hot water and steam sprayed out of all of our faucets and pipes. There was quite a commotion, but no one got hurt. I remember hating that old kitchen. When I was pregnant there was another incident with me other than the bucket falling on my head. Millie was cleaning the oven across the room, and a fan or the air conditioning vent picked up the spray and got me in the eyes. They shipped me out to the emergency room that time. But the doctor said that my eyes were fine, I said would this affect the baby, he said no, the baby's eyes were closed. Funny, but not very comforting.

Maintenance assured us that this new kitchen was state of the art. We wouldn't need any maintenance for at least five years. We moved in and that's when the fun started! We had days with no power. We had a fire behind the walls somewhere on one of the new units above us and had to be evacuated. I've never seen so many firemen in one place. We were advised that we could return to our work stations after a short time, even though they didn't actually have the fire out. That was pretty scary.

The power thing was a problem. We had to order tons of disposable stuff because there was not power to the dishwashers, the auxiliary power gave us a little light, but that was about it. We got very creative and I remember one time we ordered McDonald's for the patient's that were on regular diets. We kind of all made it an adventure, but it was really hard work.

Anthony is such a good baby. Aunt Pauline and her kids love him and he is well taken care of. He had a blanky that he loved and it went with him where ever he went. I wish I had a nickel for every time I had to find the blanky so he could go to sleep. The good news with that was it was either at Millie's or Aunt Pauline's. I still have a scrap of that blanky and so does Millie. It wore out and frayed and we both just kept a piece of it. I could never find a replacement, and thankfully Anthony outgrew it.

Finally, Sue is getting released from prison. I switched days off with someone and went to pick her up. Me, Anthony, and Greg drove to Marysville early in the morning. I remember that it took about 3 hours to get there, she was being released at 8 am. We sat out in that parking lot for about 15 minutes and finally out she came. I let Greg have her first and then took my turn. I introduced her to Anthony and we piled back into the car and headed home. We all had lots to talk about and talked the whole way home, the ride back home didn't seem to take that long. I was just glad to have her home!

Shortly after that we started planning Anthony's first birthday party. This was bound to be a huge event so I started deciding what I wanted to do about two months before it was going to be. We decided that it would be at our house, in the back yard. Everyone was invited.

I got a phone call at work from Aunt Pauline, Anthony had burned his hands on her over. I could hear him crying over the phone. I told her I'd meet them at the hospital. I told the supervisors that I had to leave, they said ok and out the door I went. It was about then that I realized Leap had the car because his was broke down. I walked back into the office and burst into tears and said I don't have my car, can someone take me to the emergency room? We still beat them there. Pacing back and forth waiting for them to arrive.


I don't know who was more distressed, me, Pauline, or Anthony. Aunt Pauline was crying harder than Anthony. I was just scared. The doctors check him out, put medicine on the burn on his palm and fingers and wrapped his hand up. They gave me a prescription and told me to change the bandage every two days. The medicine has a pain killer in it, he won't need anything for pain. I asked about medication for anxiety for the grown-ups and they just laughed. Laughed? I was dead serious. This is our first crisis, I think I might have a stroke.

I wasn't a nervous mother, I was just a rookie. I didn't know how to change his bandage when it came time to do it. After a little thought, I called Millie and she said bring the stuff over. So my son and I went over to "Grandma Millie's," she sat him on the kitchen table, put a cookie in his good hand and proceeded to change the bandage. I was in awe! Hell, why didn't I know to do this?

So the day before Anthony's first birthday is his party. It's a Sunday, and there was a ton of people there, everyone except Leap's family. They were at the Italian Festival because Leap's half-sister was in the parade. Another reason that I will never forgive them. He got no card or present from them. There were plenty of Hatfield's there, and it was noted that Leap's family, the McCoy side wasn't there. Anthony had a ball, he was very popular, with his little bandage on his hand. Jeremy had road rash on his face and arms because he had crashed on his bicycle the day before. So, it was kind of a party of the wounded.

The next day, Monday; while noone was there but me and Anthony, he took his first steps. I couldn't believe it. I wished that he had done it in front of everyone the day before! But I was thrilled that I got to see it! He walked all over the house; he was pretty excited about it too. We waited for daddy to get home so he could show off.