The month of September "lost"....

I realize I have not made a post since after Mason was just born. That means I did not make a single post in the month of September, WOW! I have been busy with taking care of Mason, Christie, and of course Abigael. I finally decided to try to put some words down and try to get back in the swing of blogging.

Life has been chaotic around our household. Christie's folks were in town staying with us for two weeks after Mason was born. It was a lovely visit and I look forward to Pat and Myrtle coming out at the end of October to visit and see the new young'n. We finally emptied our house and had a few weeks to ourselves as a family. Currently my mom is in town fawning over her new grandson for a week. It has been really fun having Christie home on maternity leave. We have been able to goto the park, go to Dr.s appt., and just hang out around the house. Mason is adjusting to his new environment and so is the rest of the family to him. Abigael has completely embraced her brother! She just loves and adores him. She likes to pick him up and carry him around, under the watchful eyes of the parental units, of course. Christie has completely switched off her work brain and is loving it!! I hope she will be able to turn it back on when she needs to... I was offered a position working for REI in their Sumner warehouse as a bicycle assembler on swing shift from 2:30 till 11pm. Unfortunately due to my EMT class obligation on Tuesday nights from 7-10pm (until Nov. 20th) they could not work around my schedule and I did not get the job, OH WELL next time.

Speaking of EMT class I am almost half way through with our mid-term practical finals this weekend. I will be a patient for the morning student and I will test in the afternoon. I am also waiting to hear back from Seattle Fire Dept. I had an awesome interview on September 7th and passed my CPAT with flying colors 8 mins 12 secs no faults!! I should know if I move on in the hiring process by October 15th.

I have been getting my ASS handed to me in all of the cyclocross races I have raced in last month. I raced in the Labor Day race, Copper Cross (where I lost my clothes before crossing the finish line, opps!), and the Steilacoom GP. I have been racing in the singlespeed class with a bunch of ringers. But mostly it is due to me being completely out of shape! I vow to lose the added pounds and get back into fighting shape again. I have put on almost 10 or 15 pounds since the beginning of summer, OUCH!! I have also made the decision to go back to my old cycling team AVA/Counterbalance. I have "kissed" and made up with the few people I had issues with and I look forward to having good friends to ride and race with this coming year. I will continue to race cyclocross season with Viking Sport and Erik totally understands my reasoning for wanting to go back to AVA/CBB. I have also stated that when I come back to the AVA/CBB team it will only be as a racer as I want nothing to do with team politics or leadership. I will help out when needed but I have my hands full with family and now live 35 minutes away from most of the team.

I have been trying to get out and ride my mountain bike as much as possible lately.
I recently picked up, by selling some of my parts and a bike, a new full suspension mountain bike frame. I realized after the Cascade CreamPuff 100 that I needed some squish in the rear as I get older and more brittle. The frame I got for a steal off of eBay is a Lenz Sport Leviathan 3.0 29er!! I used all of the "geared" part from my Black Sheep to build it up. It weighs in right around 27 pounds ready to rip! It has 3 inches of rear wheel travel and due to the Fox RP3 ProPedal shock it doesn't bob a bit when pedaling uphill or out of the saddle! I had the travel in my RS Reba fork changed from 80mm to 100mm so I now have 4 inches in the front and 3 in the rear. I really enjoy riding it unfortunately we have now entered the crazy rainy season here in the great Pacific Northwest so I try to get out when and where I can... I am going to try to find a local group of mnt bikers to start riding with down here in the "south end" on a regular basis, so far my two options are both on Thursdays at either Lake Swayer (Sawyer Gut Buster ride) or Banner Forest (B.F. night ride). I made my Black Sheep into a fully rigid singlespeed mtb and it weighs in right around 19 or 20 pounds!!

Going back to Emergency Medical Technician - Basic school

I just got a phone call from Seattle Fire Department inviting me to the Emergency Medical Technician - Basic, or EMT-B, course they we be hosting this fall!!!

I have a pretty extensive background in emergency medicine. I first received my EMT-B certification in North Carolina back in 1998. I then became a volunteer with the Watauga County Rescue Squad (WCRS) based in Boone, NC. While I was volunteering with the WCRS I went through the NC EMT - Intermediate course and became a certified EMT-I which allowed me to start IV's and administer some medicines. EMT-I can be a bit more agressive with their field interventions under the direct supervision of the area Medical Director. I worked part and full-time for the county EMS service, Watauga Medics, Inc. During this time starting in 2000 I started the NC EMT-Paramedic course of study. The Paramedic course was a year and a half long and pretty intense. I also complete a wilderness medicine course through SOLO Wilderness Medicine and ASU Outdoor Programs. I continued to volunteer with WCRS conducting search and rescues and EMS service through out the county. I also did my college internship as an Outdoor Trip Leader requiring Wilderness First-Aid training.

In the spring of 2001 I applied to the US Forest Service to become a wildland firefighter, or a Hotshot. I was hired on to the Baker River Hotshot crew based out of Concrete, WA in May 2001 for the 2001 fire season. I was one of the few crew medics and I used my medical knowledge at least a half a dozen times to help save peoples lives. I completed my Paramedic course final exam, sent through the mail, during the first few training weeks with Baker River in May 2001. I never did receive my EMT-Paramedic certification due in part to King counties rules of who can be certified as a Paramedic, only firefighters. Thus started my quest to become a paid firefighter in Washington state. I reciprocated my NC EMT-I to a WA EMT-B and started working for Tri-Med Ambulance but after working primary 911 ALS response working secondary BLS transport just did not cut it.

My WA EMT-B certification expired in December 2004 and I have been waiting ever since for a chance to renew!!! Here is my chance and I WILL make the most of it! I also plan to go back to KCFD #20 and I will be able to keep my EMT certification updated through them until I either get hired as a firefighter or complete nursing school and get my RN license.