Final Father-Daughter Day?

Obviously Ruth and I will have other opportunities to hang out, but I think life changes after today. Amy is no longer on the work schedule after today. She may take a few of my extra shifts in April and she may do the same after the twins are born, but she will most likely be part time. Therefore, I no longer have these 9 days a month where Ruth and I have 10 or more hours together. I am a little sentimental about it. Looking back, there were some tough times early on when she didn't like to take a bottle, but I felt so pressured to make sure she took all 4oz because I had this fear she would be a failure to thrive overnight and Amy would make me work all 18 shifts because of my iniquity. There would be those times we went to visit Amy in the middle of a shift and then Ruth was inconsolable because she saw her mommy and wanted to be with her. The good times however outnumber the bad. We had wonderful days and nights together including going to a Rangers baseball game, hanging out with Will and Nick, and walks around West Village. I'm going to miss it.

So my shift ended with two critical patients and an unfortunate incident with a consultant. I drove from the ED directly to Ben's to take him to Love Field for his flight. I came home and slept while Ruth and Amy went to make up the missed oral glucose tolerance test. Ruth did not go to swim lessons due to a fever. I did some laundry after Amy went to work. Once Ruth was up from her nap, we went to Target to get an iron, ironing board, Motrin, step stool, and a kitchen trash can. Amy had given her some Motrin before naps so I went ahead and gave some Tylenol for fever prophylaxis. We stopped across the street at Home Depot for another outdoor lightswitch timer. Then we drove through the barrio towards Northpark Mall. It was a good reminder of life to drive through different neighborhoods. Ruth loves the mall. She recognized the benches and escalators and ran ahead without me. At the food court, I asked her if she wanted eggs. She said, "No." I asked if she wanted chicken. She replied the same. I asked if she wanted fries. She then had a huge smile and said, "Yea!" Why not? It was our last official Daddy-Ruthie day. We got some chicken strips, fries, and Sprite at Chick-Fil-A and she handed them the credit card as usual. She began with fries but when I asked her to eat some chicken, she did so and ate a good amount so I was proud of her. I let her have plenty of Sprite because I wanted her to stay hydrated and happy. We walked around the kid clothing and toy stores. She was social to everyone and ran all over the mall. At Build-A-Bear, she found a stroller with a bear and drove it around. After awhile, I told her it was time to go. She was recalcitrant and began to scream in defiance. I gave her a warning in a stern voice, and she complied. I was proud of her for giving up the stroller which she loves to play with, and we moved on. I wanted to find her some business dress for TCEP but apparently there are not a lot of 2 year old female CEOs out there so I didn't find close that matched that description. She ran around the big mall intersection up the ramp and down the stairs over and over. This worked well for my plan to get her worn out by bedtime. When we drove away from the mall, Amy called and said she was headed for the snack machine for donuts. Since she is carrying two of my babies currently, I figured I should get her something healthier. We got some chicken strips from Sonic and drove up to the ED. We had a tech come get the food since I have learned from past experience that Ruthie can be upset for the remainder of the day after she Amy and remembers that she misses her. Another tech came out and wanted to clarify that he wasn't being sarcastic earlier this morning at work when he told me I was a calming presence when the patient went apneic. I didn't think I did much, but I appreciated the compliment. I will remember that.

I drove to Tom Browning's house to chat a little bit since his daughters were in bed and his wife was on call. Ruth played with the toys in the house while we talked about various topics from health care to church small group. I love his honesty and commitment to the Lord. He mentioned a few things that opened my eyes and made me a little embarrassed of things that I need to improve on. We will definitely have to get together more often. At home, I ironed clothes for me and Amy so that we could look somewhat professional at TCEP. Ruth fell asleep watching me iron clothes. I called Matt Patlovany to chat with him while ironing. He told me how his ED experiences were like in San Antonio. We are looking forward to seeing them in a few days. I decided to move Ruth to the middle of the bed so that she wouldn't fall off and noticed she was burning up. She had a temp so I gave her some Motrin. She hasn't been coughing or having a runny nose so I'm not sure what her source is. I watched her sleep peacefully and thanked God for her. It has been a wonderful day.

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1 Corinthians 11:18-19 "In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God's approval."
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This touches on some of the disagreements Tom and I may have. I will pray hard to see what Jesus wants so that I can desire the same thing. This is going to be difficult.