Gail's Ireland pictures and Christmas eve 2008

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EMTing It Up

I finally started working as an EMT and I think I am done with my training. We had a long week and a half of orientation where we mostly sat in a classroom and learned about the company and other stuff. Then we each had to do at least 40 hours of training on the road. So, over the past week I worked 5 shifts as a third rider in an ambulance. They were all on paramedic ambulances so we responded almost exclusively to 911 calls, but none were too serious. I didn't get to see any cool things done, but it was good experience because I won't be on paramedic trucks when I'm working on my own so I will be mostly responding to minor calls anyway. We responded to a couple of car crashes where people didn't get hurt badly, some chest pain calls, a couple diabetic crises, some psych calls, and other random stuff. I was incredibly nervous at first and didn't really talk to the patients and messed up getting vital signs and pretty much looked like I needed a lot more training. Then, it started to click and I got more comfortable, stopped messing up, and now I think I'm ready to be on my own. I even got to drive fast with the lights and sirens to a couple of calls, that's pretty fun except that people don't move out of the way for ambulances and even cut us off sometimes. So, now that I am officially working on ambulances, watch out if you have an emergency in Springfield! Maybe you'd get lucky and David and I would both respond, haha.

I also started my internship at Tapestry Health, but I just started this week so I am still not sure exactly what I'll be doing. I know I'll be working with their case manager who helps HIV positive people in Springfield find primary care physicians, money for their meds, food pantries, and other things they might need. I'll probably help him with some administrative stuff and hopefully end up helping with his clients a bit. I'll also be helping out with outreach events when I can. Everyone I've met there so far is really nice and its pretty laid back. I think I'll like working there.

So that's the update on my life. I can't wait to see everyone for Christmas!

Not a Scrooge

So, last year I was told if I didn't embrace Christmas this year, I wasn't going to be allowed to come home and spread bad Christmas joy to the baby (ahem, Peggy). So this year, I've been TRYING to do just that, in Claire's honor. That means I decided to get a grown up Christmas tree! A bunch of my girlfriends from MA came down last weekend and we went and picked and decorated a tree on Saturday. It was fun and I must say it does smell delicious! This weekend I was a good little bargain shopper and got 95% of my shopping done and wrapped and everything is happily under the tree. Check out my festive apartment below:

Here is my tree and all of Claire's presents...maybe next year I'll work on getting better ornaments...

Here is my festive bookcase...can't you feel the Christmas spirit RADIATING from the picture?


And last but not least, a close up of my festive table which 3 people should be happy about. Sister P - Look at my festive nativity scene! Pegatures - the candle stand you got us look very nice. And last but not least - Kristin - your most favorite picture EVER! proudly displayed in my new festive frame...
I have a few other random decorations around but I won't bore you with all the details. I hope everyone had a good weekend and can't wait to see everyone next week!

Santas got a big belly...

....and she loooooooooves to rub it! This is her newest bathtime trick.

Getting Down!!

Gail, thanks for reminding us all of this wonderful site. Check out Elf Yourself for some holiday entertainment. I would love to see some of you dancing around the screen! In the meantime, here are some of our favorites showing us their moves.

Don't forget to share your creations with all of us!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Thanks Claire!!!!

So, just curious if anyone else is sick this week. I'm not sure if it really was miss Claire that decided to share her cold with everyone but it sure feels like it!

I was out of work for a day and a half and still don't feel good. I went to the urgent care place near me and got some drugs and am now trying to get rid of my cold and sinus infection before my 6 friends come for the weekend tomorrow!

Mere and Dan aren't feeling well, Kristin is just starting to recover sick, Peggy is starting to come down with someone and Peter is also starting to get sick. I would steer clear of 60 Wishing Well for a few days!!!

How is everyone else this week?

Thanksgiving recap

Well, I guess I should post some of the photos I took over the past weekend while we were visiting Western Mass for Thanksgiving. Andrea, Meredith, Claire and I drove up from Hoboken Tuesday evening to avoid the massive travel day that is the day before Thanksgiving and we made it with little to no traffic, but the only thing that went wrong was the Claire had a pretty major breakdown in the car. After stopping and changing her, we were good to go.

Wednesday was pretty quiet for us. I slept in (surprise, surprise) while Kristin went to visit a customer and Meredith and Claire tagged along to hit up the outlets to return some stuff Meredith bought the previous week. The best part of the day (for me at least) was going to the best place in West Springfield.....Town and Country! We actually had a mission this time - to buy enough beer and wine for the Christening party. I spent the most I even had there and the place was PACKED! People were definitely not cutting back for Thanksgiving this year.

Wednesday night Meredith, Kristin and I met up with all the other cousins (minus Dave and Andrea) over at Erin's new place and then we went out to Carrigan's to celebrate Liz's 21st birthday. We all know she had a good time and get nice and "happy". And here's to next year.

Then the big day.....Turkey Day. As is the normal Thanksgiving morning in Wishing Well Way, we made our way down to the annual Rousseau Thanksgiving Breakfast Feast. This year, Rose was feeling under the weather, so Skip had all the cooking duties to himself, and he did great. The mimosas (right Andrea?), wine, OJ, and vodka was flowing and fun was had by all. Then after getting back to Casa Robillard, we quickly got our way out the house and over to Jean's for the big Feast. I ventured out side to check on the dogs - Molly and Tucker were just chilling out there.




Jean was hard at work in the kitchen with help from all.



And here is the star of the show!!



As always - all the food was amazing and everyone was stuffed when the forks stopped moving and people pushed away from the table. This being Claire's first Thanksgiving, we decided it would be a good idea to introduce her to green beans on this festive day. To say the least, she was not a fan.







Big Grandpa Calnen was in his glory as usual when Claire came for a visit. He's going not going to know what to do during Christmas when he has two great-grandchildren looking for his attention!








In our on going Thanksgiving travels - we were on our way over to Mary Ellen and Mike's place for dessert (like we needed any more.) Paul was happy that everyone was together.

This is the part of the story when the camera made its way to Meredith and I'll just post the pictures. Claire was passed around and Meredith got some pretty good pictures with everyone.












Well, that's it for now - we'll post the pics of the Christening once we get them from Marianne. We had a great time with everyone on Thanksgiving and the cousin's night out on Wednesday. And here's to the delicious lunch we had with Nicole, Petra, Andrea, Amy, Kristin, and Meredith at Opa! Opa! Maybe we'll hit up a different place next year.

Yet Another Birthday!

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday dear Mandy,
Happy Birthday to you!

We hope you are having a wonderful day...

Happy Birthdays

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday dear Elizabeth and Joey!
Happy Birthday to you!!



We love you both and hope you both have fantastic days!

Friday funnies......

Jimmy Kimmel visits a local barber shop to consult on Obama jokes.

Save those Box Tops!!

How many of you see these Box Tops for Education and wonder what the heck to do with them? Well, Paige is collecting them for her school and she needs our help. Not only does the school get money, but she will also get entered into a drawing. Let's all do our part to help her out. You know there are boxes at your house with these Box Tops so start collecting them for Paige!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAULA!!!!

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you dearest Sister Paula Robillard
Happy Birthday to you!!!!

We hope you have a great day and know we all love you very much!

Surprise Reunion!

This weekend was a great weekend! I have a really good group of girlfriends from Freshman year that I keep in touch with from Clemson (I know, you're shocked...). There are 9 of us and we haven't managed to get everyone together since we graduated in 2005 - always 8, never 9. So this weekend, I decided to surprise them by showing up at Homecoming because I knew everyone else would be there.

I flew in on Thursday night. Of course I always have terrible luck flying and ended up being delayed and delayed. After we finally got on the plane, the pilot came on and announced we were currently 41st in line for take off!!!! 41st!!! So I landed around 1:30 Friday morning, worked a half day from SC, met up with one of our friends Brooke and her daughter Jordan for lunch, and then went to visit my friends classroom.

That night we had dinner with all the girls. I was so excited to surprise them but I felt a little bad for everyone else in the restaurant when I walked in because everyone started screaming. It was really funny! We had a great time and called it an early night to get up for the football game in the morning!
We left around 7:45 to head to Clemson. I learned quickly that riding in the back of a small car after taking allergy medicine on an empty stomach is not so good for you. I decided when I saw a sign that said 'Clemson - 20 Miles' that I wasn't going to make it so after a quick pit stop to get something to eat we made it to Clemson by around 8:30. We were pleasantly surprised to find out it wasn't raining because it was forcasted to POUR until at least 12:00. We tailgated for a few hours and then headed to the game.

I sat with my old roommate and her family during the game and while we went to visit some friends we stopped to get a picture with the Rock that the team rubs before they run down the Hill.




After the game I hopped around to a few tailgates to visit some people and finally made my way to back to my friends. It was VERY WINDY! so we decided to head to the bars instead of staying outside to tailgate. I was shocked to see how different downtown is. Everytime we go back, there are new apartment complexes and shops...it was very strange. We hung out in Clemson until around 8PM and then decided to call it a night. This is the ONLY picture I got of all 9 of us from the whole weekend...



As we were walking back, my friend realized that she had flung her hand and her class ring fell off on the side of the street. 16 people crawling around on the sidewalk, sifting through leafs, in the dark, on the side of a very busy road, trying to find a little gold ring. I decided this was more of a photo op before I actually helped look for it. Unfortunately we didn't find it but I have a feeling Santa will be bringing her a new one.



Yesterday I had brunch with some girls from our sorority and then headed over to Don and Peggy's to hang out for a bit. Which always turns in to more than a bit because I ALWAYS get delayed! They were nice enough to let me hang around for my 2 hours and 15 minutes delay and it is always good to catch up! My friend picked me up around 9:30 which isn't too bad but I was still exhausted this morning - but the trip was definitely worth it!!!

Little William Patrick

So my baby is no longer a baby - in comparison! Although I will say that Williams hands are just as big as Claires. Here are a few pictures - Congrats again to the new family, Aunt Kate, and Grandma Jean!

Happy Birthday Erin!

Not that I think she will see this, BUT...

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday dear Erin!
Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Friday!

Finally, it's Friday! Was this week exceptionally painful for anyone else? It was pretty miserable for me! Anyways, I thought I would steal some pictures from Mere and show them since she hasn't yet and I think they are cute and funny....


This one goes in my all time favorite list! She is just too cute. I always force the guy I work with to look at pictures (I think he secretly likes it) and he is convinced Claire is going to be a model. I feel as if Daddy wouldn't be a big fan of that idea.


Speaking of Daddy...I think this picture is wicked funny!


And last but not least, Halloween weekend we went to Boston for the Clemson/BC game. For the first time in 4 years, we were actually happy with the outcome. We hadn't beat BC since 1958 until this year! Here are some pictures we took to entertain ourselves during the game!

Although Peggy doesn't look thrilled to be at the game...she really is. Especially since she got to sit next to Andy during the game. Who is Andy you ask? He would be the random Clemson student who happened to park next to Mere, Kris, Dan, Kate and Andrea who proceeded to have lunch with us, go to the bar with us, and sit with us at the game - right between Mom and Mere. It was pretty funny. You may want to let Adam know he may have some competition! ;-)

Welcome William Patrick Cassidy!

So we had some exciting news today on the Calnen side of the family that I thought people may be interested in.

Sara and Patrick had the baby today! William Patrick Cassidy was born at 3:08 and was 8lb. From what we've heard, everyone is doing great! And Auntie Jean (Grandma now I guess :)) and Kate made it down with plenty of time to spare. He looks absolutely adorable in the picture that Auntie Kate sent out but I can't figure out how to get that to my computer...I'll work on that. Otherwise Mere may go visit tomorrow and I'm sure she'll share her pictures.

Welcome William Patrick!

Claires Baptism

Please join us on November 29th at Noon for Claires Baptism. It will take place at St. Thomas, followed by lunch at my parents. We hope to see you there!

TECWAE

Three Ladies in a Sauna THREE WOMEN, TWO YOUNGER, AND ONE SENIOR CITIZEN, WERE SITTING NAKED IN A SAUNA. SUDDENLY THERE WAS A BEEPING SOUND. THE YOUNG WOMAN P RESSED HER FOREARM AND THE BEEP STOPPED. THE OTHERS LOOKED AT HER QUESTIONINGLY. 'THAT WAS MY PAGER,' SHE SAID. I HAVE A MICROCHIP UNDER THE SKIN OF MY ARM. A FEW MINUTES LATER, A PHONE RANG. THE SECOND YOUNG WOMAN LIFTED HER PALM TO HER EAR. WHEN SHE FINISHED, SHE EXPLAINED, 'THAT WAS MY MOBILE PHONE. I HAVE A MICROCHIP IN MY HAND.' THE OLDER WOMAN FELT VERY LOW -TECH. NOT TO BE OUT DONE, SHE DECIDED SHE HAD TO DO SOMETHING JUST AS IMPRESSIVE. SHE STEPPED OUT OF THE SAUNA AND WENT TO THE BATHROOM. SHE RETURNED WITH A PIECE OF TOILET PAPER HANGING FROM HER REAR END. THE OTHERS RAISED THEIR EYEBROWS AND STARED AT HER. THE OLDER WOMAN FINALLY SAID.........WELL, WILL YOU LOOK AT THAT....I'M GETTING A FAX!!

Best Week Ever!

I've had a few great things happen this week, and I'll start with the least exciting and move to the most exciting:

1. I was offered an HIV/AIDS internship with Tapestry Health. I will be working at the Bay St. location in Springfield. I am honestly not sure what this entails yet, but it will look good on a resume no matter what and will help me learn more about HIV/AIDS, which will be very useful in the Peace Corps.

2. Barack Obama was elected, but you already know this, just had to add it because it is so exciting!

3. I was offered a job with AMR, a national ambulance company, as an EMT. I had very short notice that I was going to have an interview that included a practical and written exam and luckily I passed both! Now I just have to pass the physical agility test and drug test and I am all set to start working. Wish me luck on lifting 150 lbs!

4. The most exciting news: I finally got my official Peace Corps Assignment and I am leaving June 2, 2009 to go to Ghana and be a health/water and sanitation educator. I am going to work towards the eradication of Guinea Worm, HIV/AIDS prevention, Malaria prevention, and water and sanitation improvement. Ghana sounds like a really awesome country. It is on the coast of West Africa and is supposed to be one of the most friendly countries in Africa. English is the official language, but is not widely spoken, so I'll have to learn the most common language called Twi and another native language depending what region I am assigned to. Twi seems very difficult so far because it is a tonal language and it has more letters than the English alphabet, but I'm sure I'll be able to manage. I'm so excited and have been reading a lot of stuff about the Peace Corps in Ghana and it just sounds amazing. I can't wait!
If you ever get bored and want to know what peace corps volunteers do in Ghana, look at some blogs at http://www.peacecorpsjournals.com/gh.html.

So that's my exciting week! I hope you all had a good week as well.

TECWAE

One sunny  day in     ***2009***    an old man  approached the White House from across Pennsylvania Avenue , where he'd been  sitting on a park bench. He spoke to the U.S.  Marine standing guard and said: 'I would like to go in and meet with President  Bush.' The Marine looked at the  man and said: 'Sir, Mr. Bush is no longer president and no longer resides  here.' The old man said: 'Okay'  and walked away. The following day, the  same man approached the White House and said to the  same Marine: 'I  would like to go in and meet with President  Bush.' The Marine again told  the man: 'Sir, as I said yesterday, Mr. Bush is no longer president and  no longer resides here.' The man thanked him and,  again, just walked away. The third day, the same  man approached the White House and spoke to the very same  U.  S. Marine, saying: I would like to go in and  meet with President  Bush.' The Marine,  understandably agitated at this point, looked at the man and  said: 'Sir,  this is the third day in a row you have been here asking to speak to Mr.  Bush.  I've told you already that Mr. Bush is no  longer the president and no longer resides here.  Don't you  understand?' The old man looked at  the Marine and said: 'Oh, I understand.  I just love hearing  it.' The Marine snapped to  attention, saluted, and said: 'See you  tomorrow!"

Electoral Map

When I came to post this I saw Mel's post and that is very sad! So to ATTEMPT to lighten things up, I wanted to share this because I thought it was pretty funny...





In addition, I don't think Florida should be able to vote. Did anyone see the coverage last night about the problems they were having with their ballots this time? Apparently, the ballot had an arrow and a rectangle. To vote for your candidate, you had to draw a rectangle and color it in between the existing rectangle and arrow. I think it was NBC that interviewed a bunch of pollers coming out and said that they had been very confused by this. Some circled their choices, some made check marks, etc. but the only way it counted was if you completely filled in the space between the rectangle (VP) and arrow (Pres.) Really? Does it have to be that complicated? I feel like if ANY state needed to have the most straight forward, easy to complete ballot out of ANY state, it would have been Florida after the mess last time!

Suspicious Fire in Springfield

The Caron family and Gail were awoken at about three thirty this morning to quite a commotion. The new church that was about 90% complete, was burned to the ground. Police are saying that it is very suspicious and possibly a hate crime, considering it is a predominantly black church and the timing of Obama's victory. We watched the fire for awhile last night and it was pretty intense. This morning the street was full of fire trucks and police and is now full of dogs, police, FBI, helicopters and Michael is being interviewed as we speak.

It was very upsetting to go to bed so enlightened and to wake up to such a tragedy.

Check it out...

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/11/suspicious_blaze_destroys_tink.html?category=Springfield

Emma voted Tuesday with Auntie Paula.  She was very excited to show her support for Obama, and I guess it payed off!

Election is finally over!

So who stayed up for the speech? I am going to imagine that even with the time change, PC and Pegatures did not stay awake for it, Mere had no prayer, Kristin REALLY tried, but didn't make it - and that leaves Dan and I, who I am assuming made it through. I thought it was great...and was very exciting to hear that Sasha and Malia are getting a puppy for the White House!

What did everyone else think?

Obama did it11

YEA BABY !!!!!!!!!!!

Happy election day!

Click here to see where to eat free today!!!

Enjoy!!!!

Halloween

So, we got up to Massachusetts on Halloween day after I worked from home and went into Manhattan to get Meredith at work. Nice drive in the early afternoon means we fly up 95 and over 91 in just over 2 hours. So we get to West Springfield around 4:00, get Claire in her costume and commence taking her around to visit the neighbors. This is before Claire, Peggy and Meredith take her out.







After they got back to the house, Kristin, Andrea (Kristin's old roommate), Meredith, and I took Claire out to visit the whole fam-damily. First stop was to stop over to see Big Grandpa, Susan, and Megan.




We had to make the visit short, since there were many more people to see. Next on the list was Ray and Cindy, which had one of the best Halloween motifs I've seen in a long time. Nice works guys.




While we were visiting, all their grandkids made their triumphant return from a night's trick-or-treating. No picture of the bounty, but they did a good job. The below picture is of Paige, Claire and I - and yes, that is me wearing Paige's costume. She was a very cute little gypsy and I just took whatever she left on the table and put it on.



This is where the photos end, but after Cindy and Ray's, we went over to visit with Maryellen, Mimere, Paula, and the rest of that crew; Jean and Molly; David and Donna; and Gail and Julie; Thanks to everyone for the fun night and all the delicious candy.