Sophie loves music, so of course, Mita and Papi gave her a piano/xylophone for chrismtas. Clearly it is only a matter of time before she accompanies Brayden on his drum set :)
Friday, December 30, 2011
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Monday, December 26, 2011
Christmas Time!!
Santa is a great guy, really. He out did himself again!! Here are some pics of christmas eve and day at our house!
Meeting an old friend
It's a small world after all and sometimes we don't realize how small, small can be. Chris was able this past week to meet my best friend from elementary school whom I haven't seen in....well, lets just say since 7th grade! We were best friends when I lived in Tunisia for three years and were pretty much inseparable! We moved on after 7th grade and she, being Tunisian, stayed. She now lives in the same country where Chris is and we organized a meeting during one of Chris' USO excursions:)
Friday, December 23, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Brayden's "dance" recital
Brayden takes dance classes in preschool and twice a year we have the opportunity to watch the show. He is, of course, shy when all the parents are watching (as are most of the other kids age 2-5) and so there is actually very little dancing involved and it was a little more like herding cats with half the kids doing nothing and half of them running around...actually quite entertaining! A few excerpts:
Monday, December 19, 2011
Deployment bears arrive
Chris sent these great teddy bears for each of the kids. When you press their hand, you can hear a message that Chris recorded for each of them. Of course I cried...and not just because I wanted one too! I often hear Brayden playing his bear before nap and bedtime and it does break my heart how much he misses his daddy!
Friday, December 16, 2011
First Update from the desert, December 2011
Hello friends and family:
Well, I am back in the Middle East again. I can't talk about exactly
where I am due to sensitive information. I have been gone for just
over 10 days, although it feels much longer to me. Wanted to drop you
a line and give you an update on stuff on this side of the world.
The trip over was long. Went from Omaha to Chicago to Norfolk (15hr
layover) to Leipzig (Germany) to the Middle East. Still dealing with the
time change as we speak. We are 9 hours ahead of the east coast.
I am the only family med doc and I am responsible for the entire clinic
operation side of things (Chief of the Medical Staff and Medical
Director). We work out of a doublestack trailer (hard to explain).
Imagine seeing one of those large mobile homes on the back of a
flat-bed truck on the highway and picture two of them stacked on top
of each other.
Large (12-14 feet tall) cement barricades surround the entire facility. We
have 1 PA (Physician's assistant), 4 flight docs (most just out of
internship), 2 IDMTs (enlisted medics with additional training) to cover the
medical side of the house. our commander is a nurse, should be changing
over in 2wks or so. Lots of opportunities to succeed with her, if you know
what I am saying.
Clinic hours are 0630-2000 Mon-Sat. on sundays we are open 0800-1200. The
current schedule calls for 2-3 people out of the above mix to be on for
half day shifts (either 0630-1300 or 1300-2000). Due to my job, I am
here in the office about 12-14hrs out of every day. Every once in a
while you
get some serious stuff, but it is mostly just the same stuff we see back
home minus the senior and pediatric population.
We have call 2-3 nights per week. You have to go in to see everything
that shows up (they do not have any kind of telephone triage set up
yet). Could be a heart attack or it could be a cold, who knows?
Part of my job as Chief of the medical staff is also interacting with the
local medical community in the capital of the country where I am. I
have gone downtown for about 7 hours on 1 day, meeting with medical
directors and CEOs of
various hospitals and clinics. Very interesting. The city is sprawling,
with amazing architecture everywhere. The people were extremely nice and
very interested in helping us. I have business cards that have english on
one side and arabic on the other to help facilitate the relationship.
Other issues I am getting the responsibility for: fixing any issues from
the last rotation group, planning out a floor plan as we transition to
another clinic building in the near future, dealing with stopped up
drains in the clinic, scheduling all of the providers, setting up our
Mass Casualty response exercise. More to come, I'm sure.
I have my own room on base, which is very nice. I do not even have to share
a bathroom. I feel very fortunate. Way bigger than the triple I shared
with 2 other guys my freshman year at UM!
The base has some pretty decent activities. The pool is nice, and very cold
(outdoors). I went for a swim this morning, and was the only crazy
person there,
of course:) All the other buildings are either trailers like our clinic or
these things called "sprung structures." Basically hard-walled large
tent-like structures. We have a movie theater, basketball court, large
stage and open pavilion area. Dining facility, barber shop, beauty salon,
tailor, post office. We also have a Subway and Pizza Hut and Green Beans
coffee company. Everything (food) looks the same, until you try it,
and then it is
just a bit off. The gym facilities are nice. We have treadmills,
ellipticals, two kinds of stair climbers, free weights and universal
weights. I can borrow mountain bikes to go riding on the roads, and there
are running "tracks" around the facility. They actually have some races
coming up, but I am not going to be able to do them with my stress
fracture. It is killing me, believe me.
I have been getting some workouts in, however. They run P90X,
Crossfit, Insanity
classes and have spin, abs classes, etc. There is a library that has books,
DVDs, games, etc. There is also an indoor recreation area where they hold
Poker, Bingo, PS2 competitions and you can watch sports on big HD screens.
Essentially, whenever you aren't working, you have plenty of stuff to do.
I have ok Wifi in my room, and have been able to talk with Steph at
least twice daily.
We had an exercise recently, and have one each month. Basically a
chance to prepare for a problem of many different types. Missile attacks,
plane crash, mass casualties, etc. You never know when an unfriendly
country just to our North across the water might decide to do something
uncouth.
I would love to hear from you if you get the chance. Anything you want to
tell me about, I would love to hear. Nothing is too small. It helps to pass
the time.
Please drop Steph a line at stephkwhite@yahoo.com if you get the chance, I
know she would love to hear from you too.
My address here:
Christopher Bunt
380 EMDG
APO, AE 09853
If you have any recent magazines you have finished, that is always
appreciated, as I put them in our clinic waiting room. Otherwise, any types
of candy, gum or snacks are great, as I can share them with my clinic
folks. it takes anywhere from 7-20 days for things to get here:)
Talk to you soon. Happy holidays!
I will return to the States in early to mid May 2012 if all goes
according to plan.
chris
Well, I am back in the Middle East again. I can't talk about exactly
where I am due to sensitive information. I have been gone for just
over 10 days, although it feels much longer to me. Wanted to drop you
a line and give you an update on stuff on this side of the world.
The trip over was long. Went from Omaha to Chicago to Norfolk (15hr
layover) to Leipzig (Germany) to the Middle East. Still dealing with the
time change as we speak. We are 9 hours ahead of the east coast.
I am the only family med doc and I am responsible for the entire clinic
operation side of things (Chief of the Medical Staff and Medical
Director). We work out of a doublestack trailer (hard to explain).
Imagine seeing one of those large mobile homes on the back of a
flat-bed truck on the highway and picture two of them stacked on top
of each other.
Large (12-14 feet tall) cement barricades surround the entire facility. We
have 1 PA (Physician's assistant), 4 flight docs (most just out of
internship), 2 IDMTs (enlisted medics with additional training) to cover the
medical side of the house. our commander is a nurse, should be changing
over in 2wks or so. Lots of opportunities to succeed with her, if you know
what I am saying.
Clinic hours are 0630-2000 Mon-Sat. on sundays we are open 0800-1200. The
current schedule calls for 2-3 people out of the above mix to be on for
half day shifts (either 0630-1300 or 1300-2000). Due to my job, I am
here in the office about 12-14hrs out of every day. Every once in a
while you
get some serious stuff, but it is mostly just the same stuff we see back
home minus the senior and pediatric population.
We have call 2-3 nights per week. You have to go in to see everything
that shows up (they do not have any kind of telephone triage set up
yet). Could be a heart attack or it could be a cold, who knows?
Part of my job as Chief of the medical staff is also interacting with the
local medical community in the capital of the country where I am. I
have gone downtown for about 7 hours on 1 day, meeting with medical
directors and CEOs of
various hospitals and clinics. Very interesting. The city is sprawling,
with amazing architecture everywhere. The people were extremely nice and
very interested in helping us. I have business cards that have english on
one side and arabic on the other to help facilitate the relationship.
Other issues I am getting the responsibility for: fixing any issues from
the last rotation group, planning out a floor plan as we transition to
another clinic building in the near future, dealing with stopped up
drains in the clinic, scheduling all of the providers, setting up our
Mass Casualty response exercise. More to come, I'm sure.
I have my own room on base, which is very nice. I do not even have to share
a bathroom. I feel very fortunate. Way bigger than the triple I shared
with 2 other guys my freshman year at UM!
The base has some pretty decent activities. The pool is nice, and very cold
(outdoors). I went for a swim this morning, and was the only crazy
person there,
of course:) All the other buildings are either trailers like our clinic or
these things called "sprung structures." Basically hard-walled large
tent-like structures. We have a movie theater, basketball court, large
stage and open pavilion area. Dining facility, barber shop, beauty salon,
tailor, post office. We also have a Subway and Pizza Hut and Green Beans
coffee company. Everything (food) looks the same, until you try it,
and then it is
just a bit off. The gym facilities are nice. We have treadmills,
ellipticals, two kinds of stair climbers, free weights and universal
weights. I can borrow mountain bikes to go riding on the roads, and there
are running "tracks" around the facility. They actually have some races
coming up, but I am not going to be able to do them with my stress
fracture. It is killing me, believe me.
I have been getting some workouts in, however. They run P90X,
Crossfit, Insanity
classes and have spin, abs classes, etc. There is a library that has books,
DVDs, games, etc. There is also an indoor recreation area where they hold
Poker, Bingo, PS2 competitions and you can watch sports on big HD screens.
Essentially, whenever you aren't working, you have plenty of stuff to do.
I have ok Wifi in my room, and have been able to talk with Steph at
least twice daily.
We had an exercise recently, and have one each month. Basically a
chance to prepare for a problem of many different types. Missile attacks,
plane crash, mass casualties, etc. You never know when an unfriendly
country just to our North across the water might decide to do something
uncouth.
I would love to hear from you if you get the chance. Anything you want to
tell me about, I would love to hear. Nothing is too small. It helps to pass
the time.
Please drop Steph a line at stephkwhite@yahoo.com if you get the chance, I
know she would love to hear from you too.
My address here:
Christopher Bunt
380 EMDG
APO, AE 09853
If you have any recent magazines you have finished, that is always
appreciated, as I put them in our clinic waiting room. Otherwise, any types
of candy, gum or snacks are great, as I can share them with my clinic
folks. it takes anywhere from 7-20 days for things to get here:)
Talk to you soon. Happy holidays!
I will return to the States in early to mid May 2012 if all goes
according to plan.
chris
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Monday, December 12, 2011
Seeing Santa
It's that time of the year and Sophie's first encounter with the big man. As always she was happy and smiley, and it seemed as though she gave Brayden some courage to stand next to Santa too!
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