Summer is almost gone

I can't believe that the summer months are almost gone and that the kids are going back to school. The only good news about this time of year is that Football season is just beginning and boy am I excited about that, go UTES. It continues to be a fast paced race in good old happy valley USA with all of the babies being born in Provo Utah. My NICU is still over max capacity with an average census of about 52 patients. Even though the unit was built for 39 we have not seen that few patients for almost 2 years. It is a good thing that we are in the process of expanding our unit to 60 patients but I just afraid that if we built it they will come.
I learned a very important lesson last night with regards to me being a bee keeper and that is "DO NOT CHECK ON YOUR BEES AT NIGHT OR AFTER DARK" Bees have a natural instinct to protect their hive at night due to all of the predators that attack the hives at night like raccoons, skunks, bears, unsuspecting bee keepers. I lifted off the top of the hive to see how they were doing and they immediately attacked me and swarmed me. After I escaped and ran away into my garage where about 10 to 20 of them follow me in and continued to attack me. After being stung about 9 times and my dog getting stung once we were able to get away and let them calm down. I grabbed my smoker and was able to put the hive back together and left them alone for another day. My hives are getting pretty full of wonderful honey that is going to taste pretty good after being stung. Next time I will make sure that I wear a little more protection and keep them calm during the harvesting process.
Take a look at my little grandson who is also a UTES fan, I a trying to bring in up the right way.

SUMMER IS FINALLY HERE

Well I think that summer has arrived to Utah with the temperature going from the 60's to the 80's overnight. It is a time to get the BBQ cleaned and ready for our new patio so that we can enjoy the evenings after work outside. We bought two big tables and umbrellas along with 16 chairs so all of our friends can have a place to sit. Now I am not saying that I only have 16 friends but at least 16 of them can come over at the same time. This week is a very busy one for me due to all of the training will be coming to a head in 36 hours with the race RAGNAR or Wasatch back relay race. Our team "McDreamy and the preemie's" (I'm McDreamy) because I am the only guy on the team. The team is coming over to dinner before our race tomorrow for some pasta and then we head up to Logan because our start time is 5:00AM. Hope my legs don't fall off from this old body of mine. My bees are doing great and flying around the yard pollinating the neighbors flowers and gardens. They are really fun to watch as they go in and out of the hive with their tiny bodies covered with pollen. Let's just hope that they make me tons of honey to share with anyone who loves fresh honey.
Work is STILL busy, and I can't believe it. Where are these babies coming from down in Utah County? I am in the process of hiring 14 to 17 nurses just to keep up with the demand and to prevent my staff from burning out from being over worked. You would think that their is something in the water in Provo that makes Utah County the birthing capitol of the world. Let's just hope that after I get them hired our census doesn't drop.
The grandson (Mason)is doing great and is growing up very fast. Having cared for babies my entire life at the hospital I never usually get to see them grow up after they leave so this is a great experience to watch him grow up.

Life is just way to busy sometimes

Well I can't believe that it has been over a year since I last wrote on this blog thing so I thought that I would give it a go. Life in our household has been kind of crazy with work, family, yard work and life in general. Over the past 22 months my NICU has had some really severe growing pains and I do not see it changing anytime soon. The unit has built to hold a 39 bed capacity and our average these past months has been 55. Double bunking the twins and triplets has helped reduce space as well as putting babies between bed spaces. We are getting a pediatric surgeon this fall and that will increase our admissions a bit more. I am told that we are growing into the largest NICU's for the corporation with the amount of babies we are having. It has been quite the challenge to staff the unit and manage that many women. Trust me when I say that it is not an easy task to do.
I am hoping that summer will finally show up so I can work in my yard and garden and enjoy the warmer weather. I just became a beekeeper this spring and they are tired of hanging out in their hive and want to fly the neighborhood and make me some honey. I have two hives with about 15,000 bees per hive and they are as gentle as can be. I also became a grandpa this past Winter and that is the best feeling to see the rewards of your children. His name is Mason and he is the son of my daughter Sarah along with her husband Kerry Croff, the proud parents. He smile a lot and spits up a lot but I love holding him and making him smile.