Skip to content

Toadfrogs & Elephants

The Burch family Photo Blog
  • Archive
  • Books
  • LittleToadfrogs
    • Alex
    • Teague
    • Kaitlyn
    • Ben

Month: October 2005

30 Oct

Equal Pay for Equal Play

Sunday morning came a little early. Wade and I thought we were rushing to meet German for lunch only to find that we had an extra hour. Thank goodness for Daylight Savings. Now that we had a little extra time, Wade wanted to head into DC to have a picture taken on the Supreme Court steps. The security guard at the bottom of the steps didn’t like the fact that Wade had a sign so he had to be “off” the steps and stand at the bottom.

Then we rushed to meet German. First we appreciated all of his new toys – a new hybrid Civic, LCD, iPod, laptop, GPS, and a Bose System. I want new toys! Then, we had lunch at Chipotle and barely made it back to my Aunt’s house in time to leave for the airport. In our rush to get to the airport, we didn’t have time to carefully pack Simon. I’ll pack it up when I go back for my class in December. Wade and I both made our flights – barely.

Steven picked me up from the airport and took me to get Madison. That was one hyper dog! She was jumping and whining. It’s nice to be missed. She rode in my lap the whole way home and is now curled up asleep at my feet chewing on her new bone from Wade’s parents.

29 Oct

The Big Halloween Bash

I give credit where credit is due and Wade deserves full points for both of our costumes this year. I did a little of the labor on mine, but that was about it. Wade came up with the ideas and the know how to make them. Wade had to do quite a bit of assembly work on his costume after we arrived in DC but it was ready to go by party time.

We got out of the car and to the front door of the house when we realized Wade’s costume had quit working. He had done so much work on it that he refused to go in with a non-working Simon. He decided to go back to my Aunt’s and I went on into the party. I saw so many people I haven’t seen in a long time! Dave was back from hiking the AT, Katie and Jim both live in DC now, Jamie was down from Massachusetts, Rob (one of the hosts) and his girl, Matt and Kourtnee were newly married, Maren was newly engaged, etc.

There were some great costumes! My favorites were Rob as a transformer (Optimus Prime), Charlie as a pile of leaves, Matt and Kourtnee as a shotgun wedding, and Bonnie and Alex as Thing 1 and Thing 2.

Wade finally arrived at 12:20 with a working Simon and was an immediate hit. Sadly, Simon quit working after about 20 minutes. We had a good night – lots of candy, music, and friends. We left the party around 3 AM – pretty late for Wade and me. I love that party!

29 Oct

The Nation’s Capitol

This weekend Wade and I boarded planes (from our respective cities) for Washington D.C. We both took off work early and got on 8 o’clock flights. Steven was even nice enough to take me to the airport and Madison to the Park ‘N Bark.

Saturday was spent on last minute costume errands and family bonding. My cousins came over for birthday dinner. Katrina turns 3 on Sunday so we had cake! Wade and I had a lot of fun playing with Tyler and Katrina. Tyler is now playing soccer (Wade’s favorite game) and scored two goals in a game later that day. The cute thing is he called Wade to tell him.

Wade and I had dinner with Jim Whitehead, Katie Whitehead, and Jamie Richey. We picked up food at P.F. Chang’s and then went to the Whitehead’s to watch the rest of the Tech vs. Clemson football game. I had fun playing with their dog, Maggie and everyone else was excited to see Tech win. Did I mention I finally found navy blue pants for my EMT uniform? Score!

27 Oct

Zzzz…

I got nine hours of sleep last night (as opposed to my normal six) and I feel like I’m on top of the world. I don’t think I realized how tired I was all of the time. I would get to work and just feel drained. Turning on my little heater was out of the question or I would start to nod off. It finally hit me last night and I crawled into bed at 11 as opposed to my normal midnight or 1 AM.

Now that I realize I need more sleep, I’m not sure what to change. I work 45 hours a week and have class till 10 o’clock a couple of times a week. I have studying, my books for fun, all my TV shows, my netflix movies, my dog to play with, keeping up with friends, and talking to Wade. Now obviously tv would be the logical thing to go, but I have to admit that I love just chilling on the couch for a little while. Hmmm – I think I’ll just create a few more hours in the day….

26 Oct

Cell Phones Go Boom?

My EMT instructor showed his ignorance today. We were discussing hazards at scenes and gas/fumes was a big issue – for good reason. Everything he said made lots of sense – until he said cell phones could cause explosions. Then he went so far as to say it happens often. Therefore, you should not go to rescue a patient near a large gas spill with fumes because you never know if your phone might inadvertently ring. It took everything I had not to laugh out loud.

Cell phones causing an explosion at gas stations is a huge urban legend that has been proven false many times – by Mythbusters (the discovery channel tv show that evaluates urban legends), by gas companies, and by snopes (a website that investigates urban myths – Wade introduced me to it). Yet people still believe it. I had a guy stop me the other day in the middle of my conversation at the gas station to warn me. I told him I was an EE and cell phones couldn’t cause explosions. He huffed off.

25 Oct

Park ‘N Bark

Going away for the weekend has gotten much more difficult since Madison joined us. All of a sudden, going away means taking Madison with us or finding a place to board her. I don’t mind boarding Madison, but it’s inconvenient and expensive. Some places put them in cages and some give them runs. Some offer “play time” with other dogs and some charge for “lap time.”

The biggest issue in deciding where to board Madison is when I am going to pick her up. Most places close at 6 pm on Sundays so I would have to get her on Monday, but if I am working that becomes hard because I don’t get off work before they close. But I finally found a solution! There is a kennel called Park ‘N Bark. They are located three minutes from the airport and they are open till 10 pm seven days a week. I’m going to try it out this weekend when we got D.C. for the costume party so we’ll see how it goes…..

23 Oct

Halloween Prep Work

Wade and I got up early and went to the 9 o’clock church service. There we learned that Buckhead Church (our new church which we really enjoy) is currently building a new building. Of course, that means they want money. Which we are all for, it’s just funny that the last church we left was fund raising for major renovations.

After church, we spent the day working on our Halloween costumes. Wade’s is high tech and going to look awesome! Can you guess what mine is? We had a gorgeous day and did all of our work outside.

22 Oct

Talk About A Sure Thing

Wade got an awesome ego boost the other day. He was talking with someone at Tech and the person mentioned two job openings – one at the wood shop and one at AWPL (Advanced Wood Products Lab). Wade has worked at both places and would be qualified for both jobs. He also knows the people in the labs and doing the hiring. The person on the phone informed him that the resume on his website was out of date and asked him to update it and send it to them – they were using that to write the job descriptions. How cool is that?

Wade is just starting his job looking process. He would love to leave Atlanta (I’m kind of indifferent on the matter), but Atlanta has quite a few things going for it. Number one being I am employed here. We’ll see where the jobs take us, but at least he knows he has an offer somewhere. (Being at Tech would give him continual access to some awesome machines – which will definitely weigh into the decision.)

20 Oct

Mmm….Chocolate

I have this great life philosophy – chocolate makes everything better. So far this is working for me. Katie Whitehead introduced me to rice krispie treats with chocolate and now they are one of my favorites. Jamie came over for dinner and we decided to make some for dessert. We ate a lot of them, but there are a few left to take with me to work tomorrow.

19 Oct

CRT Means What?

My electrical engineering background (not to mention my time as a patent examiner) came back to haunt me in class tonight. We had a pop quiz on acronyms. I had looked over the list of acronyms earlier in the day so they should have been fresh in my mind. However, as soon as I reached the letters “CRT” I had to think twice. My first instinct was Cathode Ray Tube. (I am guessing some fellow engineers and geeks will have the same reaction.)

So now I had to switch gears and go from engineering to medical. I did finally come up with the correct answer – Capillary Refill Time. Now for a little lesson: CRT is the time it takes for color to return to the nail after you press down on the nail tip and should be less than two seconds. (You can also test CRT on the palm of the hand or the bottom of the foot.) This is a generally accepted method of assessing peripheral perfusion and, indirectly, cardiac output. However, the time can be greater than two seconds for women, the elderly, and someone in a cold environment.

In other news, I made an A on my first test and a 100 on the pop quiz. Yeah! I never did that well when I was at Tech (we won’t compare Georgia Tech to a technical school right now).

18 Oct

Ribbit Ribbit

Look at the cute picture Wade found for me. I just love frogs!

17 Oct

Back To School I Go

I had class for 8 hours last Saturday, had to study all this past weekend, and then I had a test tonight. For a class taught at a technical college, there is an insane amount of work. I had to memorize all the systems of the body, ambulance control, medical and legal issues, etc. I was hoping not to have to spend the entire weekend studying, but it didn’t quite work out that way. I spent most of the weekend at the kitchen table (see the pretty tulips Wade gave me?)….

But now the test is finished and I hopefully did alright. There were 200 questions and a lot of bubbling on a scan tron. Then we had to wait around for everyone to finish the test so that we could listen to some lecture – blah!

16 Oct

S’mores

As a final study break on Sunday night (before it went far into the night) Wade and I had a bonfire! Our backyard has a fire pit that we pile sticks in (the joys of living right outside the perimeter). The pile was finally good sized and there was a fall chill in the air. We went outside with our graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows. Madison kept trying to find a few pieces we dropped.

15 Oct

Black and Orange Sprinkles

Wade and I decided to make sugar cookies again – yeah! I sent Wade on a hunt for Halloween cookie cutters (he came home with a pumpkin and a ghost) while I studied. Wade’s mom called with her recipe and I took a break to make the dough (which is super yummy too).

Here’s the recipe:
1 cup of butter creamed with 2 cups of sugar. Then add 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon of salt, 4 teaspoons of baking powder. Add 4 cups of flour, one at a time, till the dough is thoroughly mixed. Then add 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Let the dough chill in the fridge and take out a small portion at a time to make the cookies. Roll out the dough, with flour, till it is 1/4 to 1/8 inch thick and then bake the cookies at 400 degrees for 8-1o minutes.

Wade and I had fun with the cookies and ended up with a little flour fight. You can see that Madison got caught in the middle.

14 Oct

Madison Tales

I was preoccupied with studying so Wade decided to perfect Madison’s playing dead. Here she is learning to stay in the “dead” position till we tell her to get up (or rather till we give her the treat). If you look closely in the background, you’ll see Wade’s Halloween costume. It’s in the early stages, but he’s been working on both mine and his. Mine is definitely low tech and Wade’s is once again “working.” Now the trick will be getting it to D.C in working order.

12 Oct

Yakety Yak

I spent about 5-6 hours on the phone last night. I tend to be pretty bad about catching up with people using the phone. Thank goodness for email! I normally wait so long to talk to people that I feel like I should really have time when I do call – as in at least an hour. But finding an hour or more to dedicated to a phone call never seems to happen.

I hope we end up living somewhere that has call based calling rates. When I lived in DC, I could pay $10 for a home phone line that gave me unlimited incoming calls and 30 outgoing calls. In Atlanta, the minimum phone bill is around $40. Because of that, Wade and I both just use cell phones. But talking on a cell phone for hours gets uncomfortable.

As luck would have it, I got stuck in some nasty traffic yesterday. I was bored and had plenty of time, so I called everyone I knew. I called Melissa, Rob, Mindy, Matt, Kate, Wade, and Mom. Only Mom answered and she was sick in bed. Before I got home I had connected with Mindy – this was the end of a 2 month game of phone tag. We talked for a couple hours and as we were hanging up, Kate called. I then talked to Kate while she made her hour drive home from class. Then I talked to Wade – he probably got short changed. I was pretty sick of the phone by then.

Ah well, now I feel mostly caught up with my long distance friends!

11 Oct

Cute As A Button

Babies are so cute. Here is Liza Upshaw in the outfit we gave her. See the little pink bunny on her tummy? I believe she is about 4 weeks old. How sad that I probably won’t get to see her until Christmas time.

10 Oct

So Many Books

I have finally decided that I will never make it through my class if I continue reading books at the rate of a couple a week. There is a used bookstore in Paducah that I love to visit whenever I am home. I am still getting books off of trade-ins (courtesy of my mom moving and cleaning out her library). I tend to find an author I like and read everything they have in print. Most of the time this works out great.

There is always an exception, and that author is Fern Michaels. I read one of her newer books “Late Bloomer” and really enjoyed it. However, most of her older books I don’t like at all. The bad thing about me is once I start something I always try to finish it. I decided now would be a great time to finish up her Vegas trilogy. I can read while I work out or have a few spare minutes, but I definitely won’t be reading when I should be studying. It’s more of a chore to finish these.

My biggest pet peeve is her characters are inconsistent. In one book you have a couple that love each other and all is going great (yes these are romances). In the next book he is off having an affair and she has always known he wasn’t faithful. It seems to me the author should have alluded to that a little earlier instead of making me like the character and then turning him into a jerk, with no warning!

09 Oct

All About Madison

Here I go about the dog again… While I was studying all Friday night, Wade taught Madison a new trick. She will now play dead. She doesn’t have it down perfectly, but it is hilarious to watch. She sees the treat in your hand and wants it so bad that she doesn’t listen. She goes to her pillow (where she often gets a treat) or sits or lays. Eventually it sinks in that the new words mean lay on your back.

While I was in class all day Saturday, Wade met me for lunch and brought Madison. We ate outside at SA (my work), which has a nice lake and trail. There are also a bunch of Canadian Geese. It took Madison a while to notice them, but she swam out to the middle of the lake after them. We’ve never seen her voluntarily get in the water, especially past where she can stand up. Maybe she is a bird dog! She kept swimming out, then coming back to us, and then jumping back into the lake. It was hilarious. I’m sure glad she had to ride home in Wade’s car!

I used to say we had a dog that never barked or growled. She whines occasionally, but that is about it. I may have to change my statement. Lately Madison seems aware of everything and feels compelled to let us know. She woke me up three times last week growling at something outside. (Did she get off the bed to check it out? No.) Then she barked Friday to let us know the delivery man had arrived. I’m not sure if she is just more aware now or what.

08 Oct

Claymation?

Wade dragged me to the movies tonight. After class all day (8+ hours), I wasn’t up for much but Wade really wanted to get out. He wanted to see the new Wallace and Gromit movie: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. I was less than thrilled, but didn’t put up too much of a stink (Wade might argue that one). We were pushing it close (as always) and ended up at one theater a little too late. So we went on to the next one, and Brad joined us. I have to admit the movie wasn’t that bad. It was actually pretty good. Not near as good as “Best of the Best”, but few are! There was a short before the movie that I found hilarious – penguins and polar bears and Christmas time.

05 Oct

You Are What You Eat

We had an infection control specialist come speak to us in my EMT class tonight. This guy has taken some big certification test and works closely with the CDC. During his four hour talk, he had some great stories and explanations.

Why hamburger meat must be fully cooked: I always wondered why restaurants only serve hamburgers fully cooked. I know my mom and several others prefer them a little more rare. However, all restaurants will serve a steak rare. The specialist informed us that the bacteria is found in the exposed part of the meat (the outside). Even a rare steak is cooked on the outside, if not at all on the inside. The problem with hamburger meat is that it is all mixed together so it all must be thoroughly cooked.

To ruin sweat tea for all the true Southerners: The process of making sweat tea, especially when the tea is hot and sugar is added, creates an incubator for bacteria. Most people let the tea cool naturally rather than running it over ice to speed it along. The bacteria thrives in the warm environment with sugar. He also said the bad taste you get when tea has gone bad is when the bacteria has grown enough that you taste the bacteria over the tea and sugar. (This particular topic came up during a Hepatitis A discussion.)

04 Oct

Madison Is All Decked Out

My mom sent us a Halloween goody bag. There was a pumpkin hat, some decorations, and a new collar and glow-in-the-dark bone for Madison. Doesn’t she look snazzy?

03 Oct

Bubba Speaks

I was sitting in my EMT class tonight and realized that I am one of three misfits. As a simple way to break down the group: of 35 students, 32 smoke. We have a break every hour and all 32 of them go to the one designated smoking area on campus. About 30 out of the 35 have no prior college experience. I am also one of the older people in my class. The oldest is a 50 something woman and everyone else seems to be under 21.

I overheard this conversation during a break and thought it was hilarious.
Boy says, “Are you a Christian?”
Girl responds, “Yes”
Boy says, “I think God put you in this class to help me pass.”
Girl says, “I know God put me in this class to finally pass it.” (This is her third try.)
Oh geez!

02 Oct

Phipps Plaza Prank

If you remember a while ago ( a long while ago) I mentioned that Wade and I had created a tin of fun activities (AKA – Burch Continuing Education). One of the last activities chosen was to make an icon and place it in the decorative posts at the bridge next to Phipps Plaza. Wade created the icon, a painted cloud, this summer but we never ventured down to Buckhead. Tonight we planned a combined movie and cloud gluing. We missed the movie, but we succeeded in the second – kinda.

It turns out the liquid nails we used on the back of the cloud was a little old – and not very sticky. The cloud fell very shortly after the picture was taken. We retrieved the cloud, but it was too broken to fix. Maybe we’ll try again later.

02 Oct

Here we go a camping

Well we did it. This was the weekend we decided to go for a backpacking trip – a trial run for both Wade and Madison. We got up on Saturday morning, packed the backpacks, and drove to Pine Mountain, GA (near Columbus) to hike the Pine Moutain Trail. We registered with the park people and started hiking. We had a lot of fun – and saw a bunch of waterfalls. We kept Madison on the leash and she did fine – as long as she was in front. The only really funny incident was when we were playing in a stream/waterfall area. Wade had found a small deep pocket right before the waterfall. Madison was playing around and just walked right into it. Too bad the camera wasn’t on for that one!

We set up camp on the early side and built an awesome fire. We played Skip-Bo (and Wade won) and then sat and talked. Madison was asleep as soon as we stopped moving. She slept in the tent with us and woke us up around 7:30 when she suddenly went nutso. There were two Chow dogs off their leashes that had ventured near our campsite. She barked and growled long after they left – maybe she’ll be a guard dog yet.

  • Alex
  • Archive
  • Ben
  • Books
  • Kaitlyn
  • Little Toadfrogs
  • Teague