Posted by natalienoa.
Results > Posts Filed Under > Family
Aug
30
Posted by natalienoa.
This whole experience of moving has come with a seemingly endless well of firsts. And I’m talking in just the last three hours there has been a growing list. Like right now, it’s almost 1AM and I’m just now using the office in our “new” house specifically for writing. It’s intended purpose from the start. Feels pretty good. It might feel better if the sudden kick into the blogosphere wasn’t the result of “To Catch a Predator”-induced insomnia. Seriously, why …
Jun
4
Posted by natalienoa.
Me and My Mouse-Killing Hero on Memorial Day
I'm learning we'll do scary things if there's a trusted pair of arms waiting for us in the water.
May
21
Posted by natalienoa.
In honor of Mothers Day and a general feeling of guilt for my entire teenage years, here are some things that I heard my mom say at some point but didn’t actually absorb until much later. Because at the time, I was too busy rolling my eyes into the back of my head and being so cool I could barely handle it. As it turns out, mama knows best, and she’s given me countless words of wisdom over the past twenty-five years.
1. …
May
10
Posted by natalienoa.
I know, I know. For a “writer,” I’m doing a pretty lousy job keeping up with this site. But you know how determined I am? I’m writing right now, right in the middle of my beloved Intervention, even though it’s clear that Richard the crack addict needs my full attention and support.
It’s been a busy few weeks. Clayton’s on-call schedule has felt a bit like being hazed for a fraternity. Except that instead of graduating to kegs and blondes, Clayton’s …
Apr
11
Posted by natalienoa.
It’s been an adventurous weekend. There have been two never-tried-before experiences, and it’s only Sunday morning.
Yesterday marked the first day of the rest of Bryson’s life. It was our first dog training class, and I think there is a glimmer of hope that we won’t have to scrounge up the receipt from over a year ago and plop him on the counter at the Humane Society and ask for our money back. This particular trainer was recommended by several different people, …
Apr
5
Posted by natalienoa.
I’m wondering when it will get easier. When will hearing my grandmother’s voice on the phone be comforting and not condemning? When will saying goodbye to my parents at the airport be met with appreciation for the visit and not guilt and hollowness for the impending months of separation? I am so grateful for the life that we are carving out in this new city, and I really am a sucker for adventure. But my home, ever since I understood …
Mar
27
Posted by natalienoa.
Yesterday I had the distinct privilege of attending a HIPPA conference that outlined the changes to HIPPA guidelines that occurred after the stimulus package. It’s funny that you could maybe mistake that for “stimulating.” Not so much. Unless you consider a seven-hour lecture by a self-promoting, government hating, former army colonel stimulating. Personally, I’d rather walk the Virginia Beach Boardwalk in the honeymoon-only, of-the-string variety Victoria’s Secret black bikini collecting dust mites at the bottom of my underwear drawer. What pushed …
Feb
25
Posted by natalienoa.
Man. I am so exhausted from working 27 whole hours in one week. This employment thing, I’m not so sure I’m diggin’ it. Oh wait – maybe I’m exhausted from the stomach virus I caught while working 27 hours last week. Yeah, that makes more sense, I suppose. Luckily, it squeaked in (ok, it so didn’t “squeak,” but squeak sounds much more feminine and tolerable than what was actually happening to my body) just after my brother left from a weekend stay in the very …
Jan
31
Posted by natalienoa.
It’s cold here. In lots of ways.
And in other ways, it already feels completely normal.
My parents, my dog, my husband, and I arrived in Newport News, Virginia Friday, January 22, at around 2:00pm. The total travel time from Florida landed at about 20 hours, thanks to the 15-foot U-Haul that was towing Clayton’s SUV and the incessant rain along the east coast. I am not the world’s most easygoing passenger in general; add to that thunderstorms and a yacht on …
Jan
18
Posted by natalienoa.
My husband is breathing again. I’m pretty sure it had decreased significantly over the past month, and then for two days last week, stopped entirely.
Last Wednesday Clayton took the Physician Assistant Certification Exam, codename: PANCE. I have so many “party in Clayton’s PANCE” jokes handy, but I’ll spare you those. For now. So, last Tuesday was full of chest pains and heart palpitations and sweaty palms for both of us. Here is what Clayton’s schedule has looked like since we …