Papa

I love that my son loves his Dad.  Especially when Dad comes home and RJ wants nothing to do with me for a while...I think the feeling is mutual some days.

RJ's face showing I ruined the party.

Rhett's current rotation (Pediatrics) schedules the overnight call for 30-hour call.  So he goes to work at 7am and gets done at 1 pm--the next day.  The week is split between 3 interns, so you usually only have 2 a week.  The other days are normal clinic days (7am to 7pm).  I imagine they must have a good reason, but working 30 hours straight, as a doctor, taking care of little kids, seems stupid to me.  Maybe because I couldn't function and might kill someone if I was in charge...but whatever.  I could barely work 12 hour night shifts, so I am a sleep deprivation wimp.

But Rhett hasn't killed anyone yet, so I guess working 30 hours straight is manageable for some people.

The longest I've ever gone without sleep was when I was 16, and stayed up all night watching movies at the drive in, then went on a Pioneer Trek with church the next morning.  I didn't realize you go right into hauling handcarts  full of heavy dutch ovens up cattle trails in Wyoming the first day.  I don't know if I got what the leaders wanted us kids to get out of the whole experience, but there were moments I wanted to die, so at least that part gave me a taste of what it was like for the real pioneers.  Oh and I took shoes that were too small and bruised all my toe nails the first day, so walked the rest in socks, so that too seemed hard core pioneer to me...especially a few days later when most of my toe nails fell off.

I probably ended up being awake 35 hours straight that experience, and by the end of the second day I was totally exhausted, bawling, and delusional.  Unfortunately a few of my friends probably still remember my condition that night as the "mob" came and drove us out to take down our tents and relocate in the dark, I had just fallen asleep in the weeds sitting indian style.  I bawled the whole dark walk to the next weed patch.

Once we were there to stay, I was lame and didn't help my group set up our tent, I just put my sleeping bag in the weeds and went to sleep.  Needless to say I wasn't a favorite in my assigned "family" group and the rest of the trek was much better for me once I slept.

Although it got better in some ways, in others it became more stressful--a kid named Sean Moon had a temporary crush throughout the trek.  If you know Officer Moon, you'll know that makes for some interesting stories and awkwardness.  Like the time he punched my friend Spencer in the top of his head because Officer Moon thought Spencer had pushed me.  Or the catcalls at my butt as I'm bending over pushing the hand-cart up a steep hill, and Sean is riding in his hand-cart right behind ours, yelling my name, telling me what a great job I'm doing, and whistling at me, as I'm sweating like a pig, tripping over the pioneer dress they made us wear, so mad I could and did spit, and grunting with effort.   I do have to hand it to  Spencer Heaton, the huge, strong kid that pulled Sean up that entire mountain that was really nice of Spencer,  but I kind of wish he hadn't so Sean wouldn't have been so well rested to yell the whole way. 

I have a photo of Officer Moon and I on the trek.  Maybe I'll dig them up, and if anyone knows where Sean is and how he's doing, I'd like an update.  He's the only boy in my high school years that I was ever aware had a crush on me, even though it was only the 3 days of the trek, so I hope he's well.  He actually kept calling my little sister Lynette for a long time, and she was only 13 or something.  I guess I looked a lot better unbathed, stinky, sweaty, and filthy and once we got home he lost interest. 

Anyway, I don't know why it seems so crazy to me to schedule people to work 30 hours straight--like prisoner of war Vietnam torture tactics or something.