Look at all the pretty houses!

Tuesday night we decided to check out one of the ERs in town. This is something that we try to do when we move--especially when we get bored. And seeing how we had nothing else to do on Tuesday night, we decided that would be the night. Okay, actually, Joe had been sick since Monday morning and was in really, really severe pain by Tuesday evening and so we made the trip. (I wish it was because we were bored.) Anytime you have to go to the ER there are interesting things that happen. Tuesday night did not leave me disappointed. It happened around suppertime (doesn't it always!). And so I put the half cooked hamburger in the refrigerator, gave very brief instructions to our wonderful friend who was going to watch the kids and jumped in the truck to take Joe to the nearby town where the ERs are located. You would think I would have been a little more prepared since he had been sick since Monday, but, honestly, I hadn't really noticed how sick he really was. I won't go into details, but let's just say Tuesday was a crazy day even without our trip to the ER. So, we are in the truck headed to the ER when I realize I don't even really know where I am going. (We are new to town, remember?!). I ask Joe which hospital he wants to go to. (Fortunately he had already had to make a couple of hospital visitations so he was a little familiar with them.) He tells me. And then I mutter somewhat under my breath that I don't know if I can find it and I wonder if Joe can tell me how to get there. At this point Joe says "Stop worrying about little things and just get me to the hospital!" Obviously he either didn't here me or he had completely lost perspective on what the big things and little things are! So I make my way blindly there and start cracking jokes (I had early been informed that I needed to "be strong" and "not cry" so the only other option was making jokes). His pain seemed to come and go quite a bit so I thought we should start timing them. We knew how to do that since we have four children. He didn't think it was as funny as I did, but I found out later that the pain actually is very similar to childbirth. Anyway, we got to the ER and you can always find funny things at the ER. Here are just a few things I came across:

• The nearby cafeteria (I hadn't eaten supper, remember) was called the Skinny Cow. Now why would you name a restaurant the Skinny Cow? Have you seen a skinny cow? Do you really think you want to eat a skinny cow? Are they trying to give you subliminal messages and make you think you will look like a skinny cow if you eat there? And even then, again I ask, have you ever seen a skinny cow--I don't think I would like to look like one either!
• What are the odds of the med student, the doctor and the patient all having the name Joe? (Okay, technically the doctor's first name was Joseph, but you know no one actually calls him that.) This prompted all kinds of things to go through my mind, like "how many Joe's does it take to find the patient's gall bladder with a bedside ultrasound?"
• They gave Joe morphine--need I say more? Okay, even though I don't need to, I will. We were driving to the pharmacy after they dismissed us and Joe kept saying (keep in mind it was dark!) "Look at all the pretty houses." When I mentioned that it was dark to him and I couldn't really see the houses, his response was "But aren't the lights just beautiful." And, no, the people did not have Christmas lights out yet, they were just the regular city lights.

Joe is doing a little better as far as the pain is concerned. It was determined that it is a gall bladder and we see a surgeon today. Pray for us!