I've got my work cut out for me...

My excitement about moving to Austin is quickly being threatened with stress over all there is to do before we leave...and even after we get there. Application fees for our new apartment, canceling our current electricity account, finding boxes to pack, friends/family wanting to spend time with us before we hit the road, renting a UHaul...the list unfortunately goes on and on. There are just so many to-do's to check off the list as we face our last two and a half weeks as Okies. But the fun doesn't stop there! Starting new renters insurance, getting new Texas drivers licenses, setting up Grant's much-needed cable (complete with no less than 60 HD channels of course), etc. The work-load definitely looms over me. But then I'm reminded of one of my favorite pals who is in the process of doing the same thing...from SOUTH ASIA and I'm reminded that I'd better appreciate my tiny six-hour move. I'll be crossing the Red River while she's crossing AN OCEAN. (It's sad that I have to write "an ocean" because I'm not entirely sure which one she'll be crossing. I've failed my 8th grade Geography teacher.) So I suppose anytime I begin to feel the flutterings of moving panic, I'd better be thankful that a passport isn't required in my move. An easy way for God to say, "Ash...chill".

South-bound 35

Well, it's official! The Qualleys are packing up and heading south. Time for a new adventure in a place called Austin, Texas.

Grant got a really amazing opportunity to work for a wind energy company in downtown Austin. It was not exactly something he was looking FOR. Actually-it seemed to find HIM. And can you really turn down something like that? Grant's been here in Norman since he started his freshman year at OU. Eight years! I've been here since I graduated college in 2004. We figured it might be time to load it up and ship off to a new chapter of our life. We've always said we figured we'd eventually be back in Texas near family and old friends. And getting to live in a place like Austin is just icing on the cake!

Right now the plan is for Friday, May 9th to be our last days at work. Then we'll load up the U-Haul and pull out of Norman on either May 13th or 14th. And the new adventure will begin! More details to come as we begin packing up and saying our goodbye's here. (Not something either of us is looking forward to. Our Norman pals have definitely become our family.)

So here it is! The Qualleys are coming back to the Lonestar State! Yehaw!

Grant's day off

Grant had a random day off from work today. Who knew it'd end up so messy...

For seven years, Grant has had a cyst on his shoulder. He's had it looked at on more than one occasion and his doctor assured him that it was harmless. However, a few days ago Grant bumped his shoulder against a door-frame and his cyst became very swollen and painful. It was finally time to get rid of his old familiar friend.

Since Grant has today off, he thought it would be the perfect time to stop by the doctor and have the cyst taken off. The doctor told Grant that he could definitely take it off or that Grant could leave it alone and that the swelling would go down in a few weeks. My brave Grant opted for the former and spent forty minutes on a table while the doctor dug deep and removed the cyst. Grant received two internal stitches and five outer stitches.

After his outpatient procedure, Grant (being the great husband he is) picked up lunch for both of us so that we could eat in my office. While trying to get through my chicken, Grant went into great detail about the procedure and how the cyst had popped and he could feel fluid...ok I'll spare you. When he was sure he'd completely grossed me out, he went back to our apartment to take it easy.

Not even ten minutes had gone by before Grant called me. "I think I'm bleeding through my bandage". Lovely. I was up and running. I got upstairs and could see that the bandage was indeed filling with blood. I thought it would be best to remove the bandage and put some fresh ones on. Grant, instead, had me line four band aids over the original. As I laid the final band aid down, blood began pouring down his back from underneath the band aids. The flood gates had opened. As I stammered and wondered what I should grab to wipe at the continuing flow, Grant calmly walked to the kitchen and leaned over the sink so as to not get blood on the carpet. (A man after my own heart.) I grabbed toilet paper from the bathroom to wipe up the streams of blood running down his back. He instructed me to put pressure on the incision and wait for the bleeding to stop. While I was doing my job and staring wide-eyed at the many bloodied wads of toilet paper around us, Grant calmly called his doctor. The bleeding patient was put on hold for no less than four minutes and then told that all doctors were out of the office for the day and that he should go to Urgent Care if the bleeding continued. Again-lovely.

After a few minutes, we both decided that the bleeding had finally stopped. I remarked to Grant that I didn't generally do well in emergencies, to which he replied, "Oh REALLY?". Well, at least one of us was calm and collected...even if it happened to be the one in distress! We put new dressing on the incision and after a few minutes, I decided it was safe to go back to the office. WRONG WRONG WRONG. Fifteen minutes later, Grant called to tell me he was bleeding again. I was again up and running. I came upstairs to find the white t-shirt he'd put on totally soaked in blood around the shoulder area. This was becoming a problem. We pulled off the blood-soaked dressing and applied pressure again. This time we decided not to chance it. We hit the road, destination-Urgent Care.

You'd think the girls at the front desk of Urgent Care would've found Grant's situation a little more...urgent. They stared blankly at him, asked why he was bleeding, and looked around at each other, waiting for someone to take charge. They finally said that we'd have to go to the ER, since the bleeding was a result of a medical procedure and that that in itself was a liability. Fine. Except that streams of blood were still running down Grant's back. "Can I at least get a bandage?", I all but screamed at the girls. At that moment, a nurse appeared in the lobby and whisked Grant away. She and a doctor dressed Grant's wound and bandaged it as tightly as possible so that we could make the trip to the ER.

Back in the car, I called a friend to let him know the situation. As I talked, I could see Grant was not feeling all that great and was sweating a little bit. I remarked to him that I was surprised this was our first medical emergency in all the years we'd been together. And anyone who knows us would've probably bet money that it'd be ME who'd need medical attention. Grant agreed.

We arrived at the ER and Grant was taken back to be treated more quickly than I had ever known any ER to operate. (High five to Norman Regional.) I waited in the lobby and must have looked more than a little stressed because one of the triage nurses offered to take me back to Grant. (All the talk of organ donors and living wills at sign-in had me more than a little on edge.) I found Grant in Room 11, sipping water and happily chatting with a doctor who was giving him three additional stitches. Once the room cleared and Grant was instructed to wait for discharge orders, I took that opportunity to do the obvious-CRY.

So that was Grant's day off...and my day full on as the wife. There are two pictures below of the t-shirt he soaked through and some of the toilet paper we used to mop off the blood. (This was at the patient's request. For some reason, seeing all the blood he'd lost thrilled him. Sick-o.)

CAUTION: Don't look at the pictures below if the sight of blood makes you woozy!!!!

Ye Olde Medevial Fair!

So this weekend, as is the April tradition here in Sooner Land, we went to the Medevial Fair. There is NOTHING that compares to the Norman, Oklahoma Medevial Fair. If you are a people-watcher, this is the place to go. Characters come out of the wood-work. Every April, I become like a child on Christmas. A child who rushes downstairs to find grown men dressed as knights and women wearing tails under the Christmas tree.

Take for instance, the fairest maiden in the land. Her loveliest of gowns, accompanied by her coolest pair of tennis shoes.

For some reason, I have a feeling that these men live in their mother's basement and come up only for breaks during World of Warcraft and mom's grilled cheese sandwich.

An interesting trend that I noticed at the fair was the addition of tails. Yes, like furry animal tails. Somehow this represents the Medevial period. Somehow. Just take a tail and stick it to your butt! You're ready for the fair!


One of my favorite fashion trends at the fair was not exactly Medevial, but it took me back to a simpler time. A time when a group called New Kids on the Block ruled the world.