Please Vote

I am now using my blog to ask for votes for Medical City Dallas. Colgate is partnering with the Starlight Foundation to donate a 2nd Starlight Fun Center to the 3 hospitals with the most votes. All of the hospitals are going to get one Fun Center, but the 3 receiving the most votes will get TWO Fun Centers! These are entertainment centers that hold a LCD TV, a DVD player, and a Wii for the children who are hospitalized to play with. As all of you know, being in the hospital is no fun, and being a child in the hospital is even worse, so having an extra Fun Center would really help the children at Medical City Dallas Children's Hospital pass the time and calm some nerves. So, please vote!

How to vote:

Go to www.colgate.com/showthelove
Click on the blue words under "Vote Now"
Go down to Dallas, TX for Medical City Dallas Children's Hospital and click on the bubble
Finally, scroll to the bottom of the page and type in the letters/numbers in the gray box to the white box and click submit.

You can vote every day, so please vote and help the children at the hospital I'm now working at to get an extra Fun Center!

Pretty Building

Here is a building in Dallas that I think it really pretty, I had a great view of it yesterday when I was at the Aquarium. I'm not sure what the building is, I just like the lines and reflectiveness of it.

Dallas World Aquarium

I went to the Dallas World Aquarium today, it was fun. The place is not in a huge building, but the trail snakes around and has lots of interesting things. They had a neat rainforest type design with several things around. The downstairs portion held some of the aquariums, and there was a shark tank too. They allowed you to feed the Tucans blueberries, which was a funny sensaion, the beaks feel funny as they try to get the berry. It was a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon!

Weather

I just thought I would share that the temperature here went up to 75 degrees today! It is also supposed to be in the 70s again tomorrow, yes! I am liking this warmer weather.

Medical City Dallas

As I was sitting at a red light, I decided to snap this picture of the hospital. While it does not show the entire hospital, it does show a large portion of it. Today, I got to learn how to work with LVAD machines. This is a Left Ventricular Assist Device, which basically acts to help pump the heart to pump the blood through the body. These devices are used in cases of heart failure where a person may need a heart transplant. In some cases, they are used until a heart becomes available and in others, they are used because the person is not a candidate for a heart transplant. LVADs can also be used after some surgeries when the heart is weak (like open heart surgery) where the heart needs a chance to rest and recover. I learned how change the device from the electrical/plugged-in main unit to the portable battery powered unit. I also learned how to test the unit and how to check the battery charge. It is a strange thing knowing that if you literally have someone's life in your hands when you are changing the wires over; remembering to only change one at a time, not both wires at the same time, etc. Such a great experience though!

New Book

A friend included this book in a "Welcome to Texas" basket, and the book is hilarious. It includes all of the information that you need to know about living in Texas. The book is called "Fixin' to be Texan" by Helen Bryant who is a columnist for the Dallas Morning News. One of the things that I found funny was talking about inclement weather, because it was so true! The day that the rain began, several schools canceled in anticipation of the freezing rain that was not to occur until that night. Then, the next morning, when there was ice on the road, instead of putting salt on the road to melt the ice, they put sand. Also, it speaks of how to get big hair in Texas, what kind of dogs are accepted, and all other things to "poke gentle fun at the Texas mystique." Very funny book, and I highly recommend it to anyone prior to moving to Texas, and quickly learn the phrase "I wasn't born in Texas, but I got here as quick as I could."

Downtown Dallas

Here is a picture of part of the Downtown Dallas as seen from the road. Definitely a different skyline than Chicago, that's for sure, but still pretty. Today, it's Super Bowl Sunday, so I'll be watching the game/commercials. While I like Kurt Warner, I'm pulling for the Steelers tonight.