Mystery Dinner Party

So for those of you who haven't heard of a Mystery Dinner Party, it is actually a game you buy with a murder mystery plot weaved into it. You send out invitations, assign each guest a character/suspect to play (which the guest dresses up as), and make a nice dinner (recipes included in the game) and try to figure out who the "killer" is during the evening. Each guest has a character booklet which tells them about their character, and what they can disclose to the other "suspects". It really is a lot of fun. Getting ready for it was not the smoothest experience though...

I cooked all day in preparation for the game. Cornish game hens, herb seasoned orzo, parmesan and montery jack cheese crackers, chocolate biscotti, salad and bread. We had the table set nicely, and had set the cornish game hens around when my husband started to build a fire in the fireplace. We thought it would add a nice ambiance to the evening. Well, he lit the fire, and the apartment started filling with smoke soon after. He tried to reposition the handle that opens and closes the vent to the fireplace, but nothing was working, and the smoke was getting worse. Then, the fire grew and covered the handle so we couldn't even try a different potition to open it if we wanted to. I got the fire extinguisher from under the sink, and Alan was able to extinguish about half the fire before the thing went dry. So we started filling up water bottles to extinguish the rest of the fire. The smoke was so bad by this point that it hurt to breathe inside, and we had to open the door to get any air. (which took me about 30 seconds to open, because it had just been painted, and the door was stuck closed). We finally got put the fire out, and we set up fans and opened the windows and kept the door open to vent out the smoke. By this time it was 8:00, which was the time everyone was supposed to be there. That's when we notied our entire living room was covered with a layer of soot. (including the plates and wine glasses that were already set up!).  My brother and sister-in-law were th efirst to show up, and they helped us rinse off the dishes. The smoke smell gradually diminished throughout the evening, and we still managed to enjoy the game. It was definitely a memorable experience!

Top Row: Daniel as Otto Von Schnapps, Jeremy as Papa Vito, Alan as Ralph Rottingrape

Bottom Row: Virginia as Marilyn Merlot, Sherry as  Hedy Shablee”, Krystal (me) as Tiny Bubbles

You can see the charred fireplace in the background.
Jeremy & Sherry's daughter Sophia trying out her hand at Papa Vito.

Off Orientation

So after about 4 1/2 months working in the NICU (during which I have been working under a Preceptor for guidance/asking questions/help) I am officially on my own, as of last week. I am both excited and nervous about it!! So far, the babies I have taken care of on my own have been feeder/grower babies, which are the more stable babies who have resolved most of their medical issues and are learning how to eat before they go home. I am hoping they give me some more critical babies too, to challenge me. Below is a picture that my mother in law sent me in an email. It's a good example of a more critical baby that we would take care of. It really is amazing working with these infants and their families, and I feel like I will be learning the rest of my career about the best ways to take care of them.