Ugh. Got talking to an old college buddy at a party last night, and stayed hours later than I planned. Which meant I got to bed hours later than I should have. Good thing I can sleep in tomorrow.

You guys were up late! Good luck with today...

I sort of slept in, but woke up a couple of times. I should know to set an alarm whenever I can sleep in -- if I don't, I subliminally worry about oversleeping. Which, today, would have had to have been really severe to be a problem! Ah well.

Late night guests, both of the party and old friend variety, are such good things. As ever, I'm up. Actually I'm up even a little later than usual.

Being a regular care giver to a medically fragile/complicated critter, staying in a hospital is weird. There are all of the things for her care which are medical that I do at home (i.e., suctioning and feeding and the giving of meds and diapering) that are weird in a hospital because I'm not sure WHO is supposed to do it.

In a PICU or in a subacute facility, someone else would do all of these things and I'd just watch. But if I wait for someone else to do them here on a regular pediatrics floor (and Grace has NEVER been admitted to a pediatrics floor bed, always a PICU bed), they won't get done because a typical kid? Well, you just feed them or diaper them and that's what mom does.

I don't give meds, though I think someone didn't give her the singulair last night and it certainly won't be the first time it has happened, even at home. But suctioning is a gray area. We aren't in a 1:1 or even 1:3 situation and no RT is really available forever, so it's just easier for me to suction. But then do I have to tell them for charting?

And this is what I thought about all night and morning.

I can't wait to go home. Why is my crack of dawn earlier than the surgeons (okay, fine it's not even dawn, so my crack is even earlier, but I also blame solstice because in another season dawn would already have cracked)? Where are they to discharge us? I can't even order food yet because dietary is closed. Whose dawn is this again?

I order the food

Interesting dynamic on the news this morning. There's a horrid situation going on with a three-alarm fire where a brick wall collapsed and trapped four firemen. They got two of them out pretty quickly, then later a third, and it's unknown what's going on with the fourth.

But about ten minutes ago an ambulance left the scene and the two morning anchors have been speculating like mad that this means it's all okay. Finally, the traffic reporter broke in and is completely schooling them on all the reasons why you can't assume anything of the sort. Like, hard core. Now they're all "of course, you don't want to speculate yadda yadda". But seriously, they had the whole thing wrapped up and solved until she stepped in.

Fingers crossed that they do get him located and out. But it's been very interesting listening to someone actually speak knowledgably about what goes on at a fire scene while her colleagues just natter on about nothing.

Ugh. They've got the fourth guy out. But so far there's only word on the condition of one of them, and that is "grave". And all over a fucking abandoned dry cleaners.

(Also, today is the 100th anniversary of the Chicago Stockyard Fire, which was the biggest loss of life among firefighters ever until 9-11.)

Eek, brenda. That's awful.

In minor bad news, I can't believe tomorrow is a full work day at my job! They always close early before holidays! Possibly they don't realize that Christmas Eve is my big day, not Christmas, and I could really use the time.

Of course, I could be cleaning or wrapping now instead of just sitting here, but whatever....

Now that's just crazy talk.

This is what I'm saying.

My company crowds all our holidays in around Xmas/New Years. I have tomorrow, Friday, Monday, the following Friday and Monday off. But, both this year and last, I really should be working instead of holidaying! Last year I deferred one of the holidays and may do again. They are instituting a couple of floating holidays in the new year. Which is good because we have NO days off btwn new year's and Memorial Day!