A few weeks ago Missy suggested we have an 'Ask Doctor Casper' segment where you can ask those questions you've always wanted to ask your doctor but were too embarrassed or hurried or distracted trying to keep two kids from dismantling the examination room while you get your blood pressure taken.

So consider this your own personal Dr. Oz  Casper open forum where you can ask away with no embarrassment or hurry.  No limit on questions, no time constraints if you think of more.  I'll take questions in the comments on this post for the rest of this week and then Travis will post answers next week.  Some suggestions to get you started:

• Why do doctors always.....?
• What does it mean when they say....?
• Is it really necessary for them to....?
• I'm confused by.......Can you explain it to me?
• I have a family history of......Should I be tested?
• My doctor says I have to have.......done.  What does it involve?
• Do I really need to go to the doctor for....?
• How do doctors really feel about....?
• This is what's happening.  Should I be concerned?
• What do doctors think when....?
• I read about......on the internet.  Is it true?

Silly, serious, sensitive, even ones about Travis himself....ask 'em all if you want.  Should you have a question that's more personal and you'd rather not post it in the comments for all to see, message or e-mail it to me.  I can have Travis answer it privately, or with your permission, post it anonymously with the answer. 

A couple of caveats: Travis will not recommend a specific medication (other than OTC stuff) or diagnose a condition over the Internet.  Medications and diagnosis depend heavily on your medical history, social situation, emotional status, and even economic state, all of which are more appropriately discussed with your family physician.  As he told the woman who called the emergency help line at 3 a.m., demanding that he diagnose the skin rash on her arm and call in a precription, "Ma'am, I can't diagnose a rash over the phone. Pause. Because I can't see it.  Pause. No, I won't call in a medication without knowing what it is. You can go to the Emergency Room if you need to be seen tonight. Pause. No, an itchy skin rash is not generally considered an emergency. And just for future reference, this line is intended for medical emergencies. Pause. Ok, if you insist, hold your arm up to the end of your receiver and I'll tell you what your rash tells me. And then you can come see me in the office tomorow."

So, what do you want to know?

This is Travis' Last First Day of school, so to speak.  He's had a first day of kindergarten, grades 1-12, four years in college, four years in medical school, and three years in residency.  Today is the first day of his last year of residency, and his next first day will be as a fully-licensed, independently practicing family doctor.  Whew.  It's been a long road.

And it couldn't come at a better time.  Travis spent the majority of the last four days at the hospital caring for one of his clinic patients who is very sick, has coded several times, and is now on life support as a result of a lifetime of poor health choices.  Unfortunately this type of situation is a by-product of the patient population which Travis serves; a community of people who largely abuse drugs and alcohol, can't afford to seek preventative health care, and are non-compliant with their medications.  This patient is someone he sees in clinic, meaning his hospitalization is outside of Travis' regular rotation call and duties.  This means when Travis' call day is over he's not done, he just switches gears.  This last 24 hours he's spent helping the family decide if and when to turn off life support, consulting the legal department regarding disputes on the matter, and preparing them for the after.  It's a hard job, managing the end-of-life care of his patients, and one he hates.  His shift ended three hours ago and the fact that he's not home yet doesn't bode well for the day.

All that to say, I'm glad it's his last first day.  The reminder that this lifestyle is only temporary, that in one year's time we'll get to begin a life where the days are much more likely to go as expected, is welcome.

On that note, James should nap and I should shower.  I can't make his days or nights any shorter, but at least I can ensure that when he finally arrives home it's not to a grumpy baby and an unwashed wife with sticky-up hair and rumpled pajamas.  And if I'm quick about it I might have time to fix his favorite post-crappy-call-day snack. Lucky for me I didn't marry a complicated man, as I never was any good at anything that involves the words bisque, roux, or chutney.  But I can handle a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, cut in half, with a glass of milk.

Free paint!  Glidden is offering a free quart of paint in your choice of color!  Go here and sign up:

https://www.glidden.com/promotions/free-paint-giveaway.do

Choose carefully, you only get one per household.  I debated a long time between Caribbean Sea, Sunbaked Orange, or New Grass Green.  I went with the green, seeing it as a bright accent color in a basement or toy room. 

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In other news, the box in my fridge did not contain lady bugs.  Strike two.  It contained bug-killing plant granules which Travis had ALSO ordered off of the Internet.  Perfectly chilled, of course.  It seems I'm going to have to stage an Internet shopping intervention.

Now go get your free paint!  Then come back and tell me what color you ordered and where you want to use it.

I'm not normally one for posting weekend recaps, mostly because I don't think you guys normally care what I did while you were off having your own weekend fun.  That, and because most of our weekends of late have consisted of "Travis worked and James and I stayed home."  BUT.  This weekend Travis did NOT work and we did NOT stay home!

Ok, we stayed home some of the time.  But look! I have pictures to accompany my weekend recap!
So let's break some new ground here.

On Friday night we were supposed to meet with our small group from church.  However Travis arrived home a little before 2:00 p.m.after having been at work and not sleeping for 32 hours.  So instead he took a 4 hour nap and then got up to spend some time with James, who he had not seen since Wednesday.  We decided to rent a movie and use a gift card to Subway for dinner and then spent 20 minutes trying to decide if Travis we wanted to drive ALL the way (about 2 miles) to Wal-Mart to get a Red Box movie for $1, versus going two blocks away to Blockbuster which would cost $4 for the same movie.  Decisions, decisions.  Ultimately Travis we decided it was just too exhaustingly far to go all the way to WM to save $3 and we would just suck up the extra cost. 
We live large, I tell you.

We were just about to check out with our movie (Seven Pounds, for those who were wondering.  And yes, we liked it even though it was really sad.  And yes, we I cried at the end.) when James, who was running around like a hooligan with me hot on his heels, found a rack of novelty candy with buttons that made the packaging light up and the helicopter blades spin.  And before I knew it Daddy Pushover was saying, "Do you want to take that home, James?  Daddy will get it for you."  That, my friends, is called Been On Call Guilt.

So our $1 Red Box movie turned into a $4 Blockbuster movie and a $4 toy.  All because of this face:

Saturday was gorgeous (and HOT!) and we took James to the zoo for the first time. 

{Aside: before we went to the zoo Travis and I cut James' hair.  He ran the clippers and I did the trimming and it was an all-morning affair and I'm not sure we'll do it again.  But the result was pretty cute, if I do say so. End Aside.}

The Potawatomi Zoo is no Busch Gardens, there is a  higher percentage of animals you'd find on a farm than animals you'd find in the jungle, but when you're 1 it's all fascinating.  And there were a few cool things like alligators and lions and two bison named Boris and Natasha. 

For some reason we didn't think to position our wiggly toddler as close as possible to those kind of people-eaters (well, I suppose he might have been ok next to the bison) so I don't have pictures of them together.  Instead we have pictures of James poking a goat:

And looking at camels.

And meeting the most ferocious of beasts, the turtle.

And apparently the Lock Ness Monster.

And yes, I was there too.  See?  Proof.  Please ignore my new bangs.  They were all sweaty and frazzled and would like to make a better first impression at a later time.  When air conditioning has been involved.

Saturday evening it cooled off a bit so we played outside.  Which is just my un-interesting way of including these photos because I think they're cute.

Father's Day was (you guessed it) HOT!  After church and naps we got out James' baby pool and let him splash around.

It seems pool water tastes delicious.

Mom, stop taking my picture.  Seriously.

There!  Now you've been reading for about as long as it took us to do all that stuff.  Bye!

I am exceedingly excited because in the past two days my child has eaten a half a dozen ritz crackers, three tortilla chips, and a 1/4 piece of peanut butter toast, all without throwing up.  In fact, he wanted these things rather than me trying to cajole him into it once again.  Yes, I realize that most eight month olds can consume a cracker.  But for Gaggy McGagerson this is a huge deal.

It's raining again.  After the newscasters swore up and down last night that we were getting sunshine today.  I don't get how someone with a college degree in meteorology could get this kind of thing wrong in such a short timespan.

After last weekend's fun and frolic I washed four sets of sheets in one day.  My laundry line looked so idyllic with all those sheets hung out to dry in the sunshine.

Travis is on call today.  Again.  I swear it will never end.

The ladybugs still haven't arrived.  Travis thinks he may have made a small math miscalcuation and might have ordered not 300, but 3000.  Somewhere there is a box of 3000 bugs, making its way directly for my house.  God has to be cracking up over this one.

There was absolutely nothing on TV last night (Not even So You Think You Can Dance - yes, I'll admit I watch it) because our local Fox station was out, so I tried to watch a concert performance of the musical Chess  on PBS.  I needed background noise to keep the other half of my brain busy while I worked.  Despite my high hopes because it was starring Josh Groban, Idina Menzel and Adam Pascal, three of my favorite vocalists, I turned it off half way through the first act.  So boring.  Even Josh couldn't save it.

We have new neighbors down the street.  The house catty-corner (kitty-corner?  katty-corner?) from us has been completely renovated over the past six months and just this week its new residents, the members of a mental disability group home, moved in.  I've loved hearing their morning exercise routine drift through my windows, the wild cheering and clapping as each person in the circle takes his or her turn at the activity of the day.  The sound of the group singing the alphabet together, but not always at the same time, makes me smile.