Last Saturday we headed to Potlatch for a club wrestling tournament. This was a new experience for us. St. Maries is part of the North Idaho wrestling league. Our scheduled tournament for that weekend was in Sandpoint. As it turns out this year we have several tournaments quite a ways away (Bonners Ferry, Sandpoint, Priest River). Our head coach thought it might be fun to try a Central Idaho league tournament. We have a pretty small team this year, with quite a few young wrestlers. He thought it would be easier on the parents to have a shorter drive & good for the kids to have different kids to wrestle. After getting permission from leagues to switch for this weekend the decision was made to go to Potlatch.
The Central league does things a little differently. They wrestle round robin, which means that every wrestler gets to wrestle every kid in their bracket. This is good because it means more wrestling, more opportunity. There were only 4 kids in Ike's bracket so he got to wrestle 3 times. He was the lightest wrestler in the bracket weighing in at 98.4 pounds...he wrestled in the 113.2 pound bracket (they name the bracket after the heaviest wrestler in the bracket). He had three good matches & a very good day...he pinned all three of his opponents & secured a first place medal.
On Monday I had big plans of cooking a turkey for dinner & then having turkey leftovers all week. I put my turkey in the electric turkey roaster before I went to work, turned it onto 275 degrees & off I went. At about 3:00 that afternoon Kaittlin called me after arriving home from school to a house FULL OF SMOKE. Evidently the thermostat went out on the turkey roaster & instead of cooking at 275 degrees all day it cooked at 2000 degrees all day. The turkey & the roaster were crispy critters & the entire house was full of smoke. Thank God nothing caught on fire! However my house still smells sooooo bad....kind of smells like we burned the turkey with the feathers on!!! :( I have left the doors & windows open, run fans, sprayed Febreeze, burned candles....I think it's a little better, but, eeewwww.....it STINKS!!!!
Ike had his first home middle school wrestling dual last night. They dualed Canfield Middle School (Coeur d'Alene) and Kellogg. Canfield has a HUGE team...I heard they have about 75 wrestlers, although they only brought about 50. This gave our wrestlers a lot of matches. Ike had 3 matches. He won all three, two by pins & one by points in the very last seconds of the match...almost gave me a heart attack!!!
We head to Lakeland this Saturday for a club tournament and have another middle school dual at home next week.
Working on getting pictures off my camera for a "picture post" within in the week...stay tuned! :)
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
The Golden Pin
A couple years ago Mike & I heard about a little incentive that one of the wrestling clubs did for fun. Every time one of the wrestlers won a match by a pin they would go to the lady who started this (one of the moms) and she would give them a "golden pin". It was a gold safety pin. The kids loved it & I thought it was just the best idea.
I have kept this idea in the back of my head for a couple years & this year I decided that I would give it a try. I found gold safety pins online for way less money than I expected. I ordered 3 inch ones for the wrestlers' first pin & 1 1/16" ones for each subsequent pin that they can hang off the big pin. My thinking was that each year I will start off with a big pin for their first pin of the season & small pins for the other pins...they can wear them on their sweatshirts or caps & it would be a fun way for them to advertise their success on the mat.
I asked Mike to contact the woman whose idea I was stealing & ask permission before I did it. He saw her at a meeting about a month ago & she told him to absolutely steal her idea, however, she offered him a warning...this will take on a life of it's own. She said that she started out her incentive in club wrestling, but it quickly spread to middle school wrestling, & now she has high school wrestlers who come & find her after securing a pin because they want their golden pin for their Letterman's jacket.
We found out last night how true her words were. Last Saturday we had our first club wrestling tournament & told the boys about the golden pins. As I expected they were very excited & I was able to give out quite a few of the big pins & two of the little ones. One of the moms even said that the boys were so excited to get their safety pins that they were by-passing their parents' congratulations after leaving the mat to come find me to get their pin! :)
Last night we traveled to Kellogg to watch Ike in his first middle school match. We wrestled against Kellogg & Wallace & our team did very well. Only three of the middle school wrestlers also wrestle for the club team, but when I walked in they were quick to find me & verify that pins at these matches would count for "gold pins". When I told them they would & yes, I had brought them, the word spread & soon the whole team knew that if they won by a pin they too could have a pin on their sweatshirt. So, needless to say, several more pins were handed out.
It was fun to watch...even the boys who didn't get pins were so excited for the ones who did...they made sure they hurried over to the bleachers & got their prize. I think this will be a really fun thing to do.
Ike wrestled well again. He won his first match 6-2 and his second match by a pin (yes, this was his first pin of the year & he got his golden pin).
I have kept this idea in the back of my head for a couple years & this year I decided that I would give it a try. I found gold safety pins online for way less money than I expected. I ordered 3 inch ones for the wrestlers' first pin & 1 1/16" ones for each subsequent pin that they can hang off the big pin. My thinking was that each year I will start off with a big pin for their first pin of the season & small pins for the other pins...they can wear them on their sweatshirts or caps & it would be a fun way for them to advertise their success on the mat.
I asked Mike to contact the woman whose idea I was stealing & ask permission before I did it. He saw her at a meeting about a month ago & she told him to absolutely steal her idea, however, she offered him a warning...this will take on a life of it's own. She said that she started out her incentive in club wrestling, but it quickly spread to middle school wrestling, & now she has high school wrestlers who come & find her after securing a pin because they want their golden pin for their Letterman's jacket.
We found out last night how true her words were. Last Saturday we had our first club wrestling tournament & told the boys about the golden pins. As I expected they were very excited & I was able to give out quite a few of the big pins & two of the little ones. One of the moms even said that the boys were so excited to get their safety pins that they were by-passing their parents' congratulations after leaving the mat to come find me to get their pin! :)
Last night we traveled to Kellogg to watch Ike in his first middle school match. We wrestled against Kellogg & Wallace & our team did very well. Only three of the middle school wrestlers also wrestle for the club team, but when I walked in they were quick to find me & verify that pins at these matches would count for "gold pins". When I told them they would & yes, I had brought them, the word spread & soon the whole team knew that if they won by a pin they too could have a pin on their sweatshirt. So, needless to say, several more pins were handed out.
It was fun to watch...even the boys who didn't get pins were so excited for the ones who did...they made sure they hurried over to the bleachers & got their prize. I think this will be a really fun thing to do.
Ike wrestled well again. He won his first match 6-2 and his second match by a pin (yes, this was his first pin of the year & he got his golden pin).
Monday, November 3, 2008
Silver Medal
Well, wrestling season has officially began!
I took the day off work on Friday (mostly because I just was not up to figuring out a Halloween costume to wear to work...I know, Iknow...). I spent the day cleaning house, cooking, & baking so that we would have food to pack & take with us to the Bonners Ferry wrestling tournament. This is the first club wrestling tournament of the year.
After the kids got home from school & Ike got done with middle school wrestling practice we packed up & headed out. Cassidy stayed behind, spending the night with a friend & joining us in Bonners Ferry on Saturday. We stopped in Plummer & picked up Al & off we went. When we drove through Worley we noticed that the town was completely dark, kind of weird for Halloween night. Evidently, the power was out all over the area (including St. Maries) for about an hour & a half that evening. We stopped in Coeur d'Alene & got a bite to eat then made our way north to Bonners Ferry.
We arrived at our motel at about 9:00 pm. Kaittlin's friend Alicia came & picked her up to spend the night at her house. Mike & I, Ike & Al got settled in for the night. We stayed at the Log Cabin Inn, which is just north of Bonners Ferry & is just the nicest motel, very clean & hospitable. We stay there every year that we go up for wrestling & highly recommend it to anyone staying in the area.
Mike & Ike were up early to go to the school for weigh ins. Ike was happy with his weight of just over 98 pounds, which put him in the 100 pound weight class. They came back to the motel for sausage/egg/cheese biscuits, juice, pumpkin muffins that I had made the night before. Then we packed up & headed to the school for the long day of wrestling.
The tournament actually went quite smoothly. Kaittlin worked all day at the table. Each club is required to provide table help. Kaittlin generously volunteers to do much of that each year for us. She enjoys helping, gets community service hours towards high school credit for it, & gets to free up the parents from having to spend as much time doing it. She recruited Alicia to help her this year.
Ike had a first round bye so had to wait quite a while to wrestle. All of the boys in his bracket were new to us. Ike did not gain any weight this year compared to last, so the kids he has wrestled in the past were heavier. His first match he wrestled VERY well & won 9-2. He was very excited with his win. There were only 6 kids in his bracket & because he drew a bye his first round & won his second round that put him in the medal round. The second match (for 1st/2nd) was a exciting match. Again, he wrestled SO good...it was anyone's match...a couple times he almost had his opponent pinned, but he wiggled out of it...a couple time HE almost GOT pinned but managed to get out of it. He ended up losing the match 6-9. He was disappointed because he felt like he had made some mistakes that cost him the match & he was really hoping for that gold medal, but silver is good & he wrestled well.
This was Al's first time watching Ike wrestle folkstyle & I think he had a good time. He is likely heading to Arizona this week.
Our whole team did really well...most of our boys medaled. All in all it was a very good day & we were done in record time...out of the gym before 3pm!!! We had dinner at Alicia's parent's house before heading back to St. Maries.
It was a long, tiring, but good weekend...nice to have that extra hour of sleep on Saturday night!!! :)
Booster club meeting this week, drama practice, Ike's first middle school wrestling match in Kellogg, cheerleading practice, club & school wrestling practice, & teacher conferences at the end of the week.
I took the day off work on Friday (mostly because I just was not up to figuring out a Halloween costume to wear to work...I know, Iknow...). I spent the day cleaning house, cooking, & baking so that we would have food to pack & take with us to the Bonners Ferry wrestling tournament. This is the first club wrestling tournament of the year.
After the kids got home from school & Ike got done with middle school wrestling practice we packed up & headed out. Cassidy stayed behind, spending the night with a friend & joining us in Bonners Ferry on Saturday. We stopped in Plummer & picked up Al & off we went. When we drove through Worley we noticed that the town was completely dark, kind of weird for Halloween night. Evidently, the power was out all over the area (including St. Maries) for about an hour & a half that evening. We stopped in Coeur d'Alene & got a bite to eat then made our way north to Bonners Ferry.
We arrived at our motel at about 9:00 pm. Kaittlin's friend Alicia came & picked her up to spend the night at her house. Mike & I, Ike & Al got settled in for the night. We stayed at the Log Cabin Inn, which is just north of Bonners Ferry & is just the nicest motel, very clean & hospitable. We stay there every year that we go up for wrestling & highly recommend it to anyone staying in the area.
Mike & Ike were up early to go to the school for weigh ins. Ike was happy with his weight of just over 98 pounds, which put him in the 100 pound weight class. They came back to the motel for sausage/egg/cheese biscuits, juice, pumpkin muffins that I had made the night before. Then we packed up & headed to the school for the long day of wrestling.
The tournament actually went quite smoothly. Kaittlin worked all day at the table. Each club is required to provide table help. Kaittlin generously volunteers to do much of that each year for us. She enjoys helping, gets community service hours towards high school credit for it, & gets to free up the parents from having to spend as much time doing it. She recruited Alicia to help her this year.
Ike had a first round bye so had to wait quite a while to wrestle. All of the boys in his bracket were new to us. Ike did not gain any weight this year compared to last, so the kids he has wrestled in the past were heavier. His first match he wrestled VERY well & won 9-2. He was very excited with his win. There were only 6 kids in his bracket & because he drew a bye his first round & won his second round that put him in the medal round. The second match (for 1st/2nd) was a exciting match. Again, he wrestled SO good...it was anyone's match...a couple times he almost had his opponent pinned, but he wiggled out of it...a couple time HE almost GOT pinned but managed to get out of it. He ended up losing the match 6-9. He was disappointed because he felt like he had made some mistakes that cost him the match & he was really hoping for that gold medal, but silver is good & he wrestled well.
This was Al's first time watching Ike wrestle folkstyle & I think he had a good time. He is likely heading to Arizona this week.
Our whole team did really well...most of our boys medaled. All in all it was a very good day & we were done in record time...out of the gym before 3pm!!! We had dinner at Alicia's parent's house before heading back to St. Maries.
It was a long, tiring, but good weekend...nice to have that extra hour of sleep on Saturday night!!! :)
Booster club meeting this week, drama practice, Ike's first middle school wrestling match in Kellogg, cheerleading practice, club & school wrestling practice, & teacher conferences at the end of the week.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Football is OVER!!!!!!!
Whoo hoo!! Football is over! Although it is not my favorite sport (sorry Dole Clan), the problem has not been so much the sport itself, it was just time.
Ike's team advanced to the Division 2 (that's the 4th & 5th grade age division) All American Bowl (that would be the game for 3rd/4th place in the league). Last week was a crazy week at our house. Middle school wrestling started on Tuesday. In St. Maries only 7th & 8th grade students are allowed to play middle school sports. However, several years ago our middle school wrestling coach petitioned the school board to allow 6th graders to wrestle on the middle school team on the grounds that he had a small team & most of the schools we wrestle against include all three grades on their rosters. His request was granted with the stipulation that if his team ever got so large that they needed to pay another coach to help out, 6th graders would be out. That has not happened so Ike has been eagerly awaiting his first school sport.
The week went something like this:
Monday Ike had football practice, Cassidy had to cheer at a middle school football game (since it was the last game of the season the 8th grade players & cheerleaders were recognized so we had to attend in the freezing cold as well), and Kaittlin had drama practice.
Tuesday Ike had his very first middle school wrestling practice right after school, Cassidy had cheerleading practice, & Kaittlin had drama practice.
Wednesday Ike had wrestling practice. I picked him up at 4:30 & he changed his clothes in the car on the 6 block drive to football practice which had started 15 minutes before. He had football practice until 6:00 pm. At 5:30 Mike & I had to be at the middle school gym for club wrestling sign ups until 6:30. At 6:00 Kaittlin drove throughout the town & gathered all of her siblings & took them to the church for youth group...thank God for the 99 cent dinner at church on Wednesday!
On Thursday Ike had wrestling practice right after school & Cassidy had cheerleading practice. The athletic director from the high school called me at noon in a panic because the person who was supposed to take tickets at the JV football game had cancelled at the last minute & he wanted to know if I could fill in. When I pulled out my calendar to check to make sure I could I realized that Mike was planning on coaching at the first club wrestling practice that night & had likely forgotten that he had agreed to fill in at a state mandatory coaches meeting for the high school coach in Cd'A (the high school wrestling coach was coaching the JV football team). Ike also had club wrestling practice that night & Kaittlin had drama practice. We barely had enough cars & drivers to make that night work, but we got it done!
On Friday night Ike had wrestling practice right after school & Cassidy had to decorate for the middle school dance that the cheerleaders were sponsoring. Isaac had to go directly from school wrestling to football practice. Then everyone home to shower & get ready for the dance.
Ike's team advanced to the Division 2 (that's the 4th & 5th grade age division) All American Bowl (that would be the game for 3rd/4th place in the league). Last week was a crazy week at our house. Middle school wrestling started on Tuesday. In St. Maries only 7th & 8th grade students are allowed to play middle school sports. However, several years ago our middle school wrestling coach petitioned the school board to allow 6th graders to wrestle on the middle school team on the grounds that he had a small team & most of the schools we wrestle against include all three grades on their rosters. His request was granted with the stipulation that if his team ever got so large that they needed to pay another coach to help out, 6th graders would be out. That has not happened so Ike has been eagerly awaiting his first school sport.
The week went something like this:
Monday Ike had football practice, Cassidy had to cheer at a middle school football game (since it was the last game of the season the 8th grade players & cheerleaders were recognized so we had to attend in the freezing cold as well), and Kaittlin had drama practice.
Tuesday Ike had his very first middle school wrestling practice right after school, Cassidy had cheerleading practice, & Kaittlin had drama practice.
Wednesday Ike had wrestling practice. I picked him up at 4:30 & he changed his clothes in the car on the 6 block drive to football practice which had started 15 minutes before. He had football practice until 6:00 pm. At 5:30 Mike & I had to be at the middle school gym for club wrestling sign ups until 6:30. At 6:00 Kaittlin drove throughout the town & gathered all of her siblings & took them to the church for youth group...thank God for the 99 cent dinner at church on Wednesday!
On Thursday Ike had wrestling practice right after school & Cassidy had cheerleading practice. The athletic director from the high school called me at noon in a panic because the person who was supposed to take tickets at the JV football game had cancelled at the last minute & he wanted to know if I could fill in. When I pulled out my calendar to check to make sure I could I realized that Mike was planning on coaching at the first club wrestling practice that night & had likely forgotten that he had agreed to fill in at a state mandatory coaches meeting for the high school coach in Cd'A (the high school wrestling coach was coaching the JV football team). Ike also had club wrestling practice that night & Kaittlin had drama practice. We barely had enough cars & drivers to make that night work, but we got it done!
On Friday night Ike had wrestling practice right after school & Cassidy had to decorate for the middle school dance that the cheerleaders were sponsoring. Isaac had to go directly from school wrestling to football practice. Then everyone home to shower & get ready for the dance.
Saturday morning the middle school held a fundraiser for the wrestling program. It was a biscuit & gravy breakfast followed by a wrestling exhibition. We went to the breakfast at 7:00 am and Ike was able to participate in the exhibition for about 20 minutes before we had to leave for Plummer for his football game.
His football game went well. I thought they played pretty good. They won the game 38-20 claiming 3rd place in the league in the age division. Everyone on the team got really nice hoodie sweatshirts. We had to stay for the championship game so we could attend the awards ceremony. It was cold & VERY windy. My face still feels like it is sunburned!
It was an extremely busy week & I am happy we are down to only one sport! Middle school wrestling practices every night after school. It works out really well for me. He gets done about 4:30 each afternoon. I get off work at 4:00pm. So I usually just work an extra 10 or 15 minutes then drive straight to the school & pick him up. Their first match will be next Tuesday, November 4th in Kellogg. I think he is really excited to wrestle his first "school" match.
They also have club practice most nights this week getting ready for their first tournament on Saturday. He goes if he wants to go. I am actually there right now. I came tonight with Mike & Ike because I had to help sign up the coaches on line to get their background checks done, so this was a good time to blog. We will go to Bonners Ferry on Friday night. Mike's dad is still in Idaho which is later than any other year ever...usually he is WAY gone to Arizona by now. He will go to Bonners with us & watch Ike wrestle folk style for the first time ever.
The girls are doing well also. Cassidy stayed home from school today with a severly sore throat but seemed better tonight. I think a days worth of sleep did her a world of good. She is having a good time cheerleading & is looking forward to indoor sports cheering.
Kaittlin is doing well in school. Her hardest class at this point is Chemistry. She got a 90% on a test in that class last week, that thrilled her. She is taking the college CNA course. In conjunction with that class she was able to take a field trip last Friday to Lewis Clark State College's Health Professional's Day. She was able to choose her own 3 breakout sessions to attend on campus. She picked Sports Medicine, Nursing, & Physical Therapy. She really enjoyed the one on Sports Medicine & had a great time.
This post seems really long, but it has been a while since I posted. I have pictures to share (Kaittlin's letterman's jacket, Ike football, Cassidy cheerleading, etc), but no camera with me today....maybe in the near future.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Homecoming
Wow! What a week it has been!
I missed the last half of the week. On Thursday afternoon I left for Coeur d'Alene to attend the Idaho's Junior Miss program. As one of the co-chairmen of the St. Maries program I was there to represent our board & committee, along with several other members, & to support our contestant there. She did a fantastic job! I had a fun time, but was really tired when I got home late Saturday night.
Last week it was homecoming week at St. Maries High School, along with several other high schools in the region. On top of that it was also Idaho State Junior Miss.
Homecoming festivities included a myriad of home games....girls & boys soccer, volleyball, & football. As the coordinator of the Lumberjack Booster Club BBQ Crew this kept Mike very busy with cooking at all of the games...I don't think we were home for dinner a SINGLE NIGHT! The high school had class competitions all week. They decorated halls & had contests during lunch. On Wednesday night there was Jock Strap Volleyball, Powderpuff Football, & Deal or No Deal. There was a pep rally one day & the parade was on Friday. All of these activities were one big class competition (I don't even know which class ended up winning). One of the big competitions was the dress up days. Here are photos of Kaittlin from the dress up days (most were taken with her phone & emailed so I apologize now for the quality):
Monday was Hobo Day. This may have been her best effort of the week.
Tuesday was Cross Dress Day where the boys were to dress like girls & the girls were to dress like boys. She wore her dad's biking leathers & received several comments on her remarkable likeness to him:
Wednesday was Wacky Wednesday. Evidently that was an "anything goes" day:
Thursday was Generations day. The freshmen were to dress like infants, the sophomores as toddlers, the juniors as adults, & the seniors as senior citizens. Kaittlin did not get a picture this day, but as a junior wore a suit.
Friday was class color day. Her class color is orange:
Our homecoming football game was on Friday night againt Kellogg. We lost 0-27. Our school holds their bonfire after the football game. I think this is really weird, as the school where I went treated the bonfire as a pep rally the night before the game. There were several away games on Saturday, then the homecoming dance on Saturday night.
Kaittlin did not attend the dance in St. Maries. Her boyfriend goes to school at East Valley High School in Spokane Valley. It was also his Homecoming week. He invited her to go to his dance on Saturday. So Mike drove her to Spokane on Saturday afternoon. She & Joe went to dinner with Joe's stepmom (it was her birthday) & his grandma, then went to the dance. Here are pictures from before the dance:
It was a very long, fun-filled week & I am very glad homecoming comes only once a year!!! It has been rainy & cold all this week with frost, wind, & power outages. I have been listening to talk of the upcoming wrestling season & Ike keeps showing me catalogs with wrestling shoes in them. I think winter is HERE!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Happy Birthday Kaittlin!
Yes, it's true, Kaittlin is 17 years old! How the time flys! And with me being so young....:):)hahaha!
Kaittlin turned 17 years old on Saturday. That day Ike had a football game in Plummer in the afternoon so we went to it. They played Potlatch & won their game. Ike didn't play a lot, but seems to be getting it a little more & a little more. Afterwards we headed to Coeur d'Alene & had dinner had Kaittlin's favorite resteraunt, Panda Express then went to see a movie. It was a fun day.
It is a typical busy week in our household. On Monday Kaittlin went to a football game in Spokane, the guy she has been dating was playing at home game at his school (she rode with his sister, who lives in St. Maries). Cassidy has 3 different games to cheer at this week plus has to take photos at an away football game because she is in the publications class. Ike had to give a speech at school yesterday because he was running for class office. In the middle school, in each grade, you choose to run for four "class representative" seats. You make speeches & your class votes. The person with the most votes is the class president & the other 3 are the representatives. Ike is now the class president. Progress reports came out this week. Except for one C- they were all VERY good.
Mike had a booster club planning meeting for homecoming next week & I had a party for our Junior Miss. She leaves on Saturday for Coeur d'Alene where she will spend one week preparing for & competing in the statewide program. I will be going to the program starting next Thursday. I am really excited for her to experience the state program...she is going to do great.
So, same thing different day. Hope all my readers are well!
Kaittlin turned 17 years old on Saturday. That day Ike had a football game in Plummer in the afternoon so we went to it. They played Potlatch & won their game. Ike didn't play a lot, but seems to be getting it a little more & a little more. Afterwards we headed to Coeur d'Alene & had dinner had Kaittlin's favorite resteraunt, Panda Express then went to see a movie. It was a fun day.
It is a typical busy week in our household. On Monday Kaittlin went to a football game in Spokane, the guy she has been dating was playing at home game at his school (she rode with his sister, who lives in St. Maries). Cassidy has 3 different games to cheer at this week plus has to take photos at an away football game because she is in the publications class. Ike had to give a speech at school yesterday because he was running for class office. In the middle school, in each grade, you choose to run for four "class representative" seats. You make speeches & your class votes. The person with the most votes is the class president & the other 3 are the representatives. Ike is now the class president. Progress reports came out this week. Except for one C- they were all VERY good.
Mike had a booster club planning meeting for homecoming next week & I had a party for our Junior Miss. She leaves on Saturday for Coeur d'Alene where she will spend one week preparing for & competing in the statewide program. I will be going to the program starting next Thursday. I am really excited for her to experience the state program...she is going to do great.
So, same thing different day. Hope all my readers are well!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Doctor Blessing
I just wanted to post here & say what a blessing it is to have a GREAT doctor.
As a child, our family doctor was always in Spokane...there was no clinic or doctors in Plummer (although I think we went to Fairfield for a while when I was very small). When he stopped practicing family medicine & went strictly immediate/emergency care he recommended us to another general practitioner in his building. We interviewed her & loved her. Although she is a general practitioner/family doctor her passion is preventing & treating diabetes, heart disease, stroke...all those diseases that we become more susceptible to as we get older. Because of this many of her patients are middle-aged or older. When our children were very young we would get the royal treatment when we came to her office because the staff did not see that many younger patients & we were an anomaly.
After moving to St. Maries it became harder & harder to get to Spokane & we began to use the doctors/clinic here for minor issues...stitches, sore throats, allergies, etc. I think we have some really good doctors here & I particularly like a couple of our physician assistants, but like any small town there are issues...it is hard to get an appointment with who you want to see, you get to hear about every miss/mistake made because everyone knows everyone, they have a hard time retaining doctors who want to stay here therefore the turnover is high. So, even though we do frequent the clinic here our family doctor is still our family doctor.
Last fall, right about the time I needed to go in for my annual physical I received a letter from our insurance company saying that we could no longer see Dr. Harrison in Spokane unless we wanted to pay the entire bill ourselves. It took MONTHS of back & forth calling, explaining, etc to finally, this spring, be told that we could see her, but our co-pay would be $40 instead of $20...twice as expensive, but way better than changing doctors.
The summer was crazy, so I finally got an appointment to see her for my annual physical (one year late!) yesterday. I also took along Cassidy, who received a diagnosis last spring of asthma, but had not been seen since by Dr. Harrison and Ike, who has been struggling with frequent, painful, huge, ugly, nasty cold sores.
My appointment was at 2pm & the kids' were at 3pm...we did not leave the office until 5pm...no, she is not inefficient, she spent ALL of that time with us! She gave me my physical & got my prescriptions re-done for the sleep disorder I have (and have really been struggling with since I have been out of medication)...she also ordered some lab work & routine tests. She hooked Cassidy up to a computer & measured her breathing. She was able to confirm the asthma diagnosis, identify some of her triggers (cold weather, exercise, & interestingly enough, acid reflux!) & get her some prescriptions ordered. She also said that Cassidy has a sinus infection which is likely why she has felt terrible for the past 10 days or so...antibiotics on board today! She spent a long time looking up & researching possibilities to treat Ike's cold sores, we finally came up with a solution to try for a while to see if it works.
Dr. Harrison is also very good about making sure you don't pay more than you should for your prescriptions. She always has a wealth of samples, coupons, etc on hand & has no problem telling you to go to the over-the-counter section at Costco for some of your needs. She loaded us up with samples so that most of our prescriptions could be filled a few at a time so it wouldn't be one big expense. I was kind of afraid we would be pulled over on the way home & accused of robbing a pharmacy! :)
I'm really looking forward to getting my sleep back on track, getting a handle on Cassidy's asthma, & (hopefully) Ike not having to suffer through any more cold sores.
So, for that, I am thankful for our family doctor!
As a child, our family doctor was always in Spokane...there was no clinic or doctors in Plummer (although I think we went to Fairfield for a while when I was very small). When he stopped practicing family medicine & went strictly immediate/emergency care he recommended us to another general practitioner in his building. We interviewed her & loved her. Although she is a general practitioner/family doctor her passion is preventing & treating diabetes, heart disease, stroke...all those diseases that we become more susceptible to as we get older. Because of this many of her patients are middle-aged or older. When our children were very young we would get the royal treatment when we came to her office because the staff did not see that many younger patients & we were an anomaly.
After moving to St. Maries it became harder & harder to get to Spokane & we began to use the doctors/clinic here for minor issues...stitches, sore throats, allergies, etc. I think we have some really good doctors here & I particularly like a couple of our physician assistants, but like any small town there are issues...it is hard to get an appointment with who you want to see, you get to hear about every miss/mistake made because everyone knows everyone, they have a hard time retaining doctors who want to stay here therefore the turnover is high. So, even though we do frequent the clinic here our family doctor is still our family doctor.
Last fall, right about the time I needed to go in for my annual physical I received a letter from our insurance company saying that we could no longer see Dr. Harrison in Spokane unless we wanted to pay the entire bill ourselves. It took MONTHS of back & forth calling, explaining, etc to finally, this spring, be told that we could see her, but our co-pay would be $40 instead of $20...twice as expensive, but way better than changing doctors.
The summer was crazy, so I finally got an appointment to see her for my annual physical (one year late!) yesterday. I also took along Cassidy, who received a diagnosis last spring of asthma, but had not been seen since by Dr. Harrison and Ike, who has been struggling with frequent, painful, huge, ugly, nasty cold sores.
My appointment was at 2pm & the kids' were at 3pm...we did not leave the office until 5pm...no, she is not inefficient, she spent ALL of that time with us! She gave me my physical & got my prescriptions re-done for the sleep disorder I have (and have really been struggling with since I have been out of medication)...she also ordered some lab work & routine tests. She hooked Cassidy up to a computer & measured her breathing. She was able to confirm the asthma diagnosis, identify some of her triggers (cold weather, exercise, & interestingly enough, acid reflux!) & get her some prescriptions ordered. She also said that Cassidy has a sinus infection which is likely why she has felt terrible for the past 10 days or so...antibiotics on board today! She spent a long time looking up & researching possibilities to treat Ike's cold sores, we finally came up with a solution to try for a while to see if it works.
Dr. Harrison is also very good about making sure you don't pay more than you should for your prescriptions. She always has a wealth of samples, coupons, etc on hand & has no problem telling you to go to the over-the-counter section at Costco for some of your needs. She loaded us up with samples so that most of our prescriptions could be filled a few at a time so it wouldn't be one big expense. I was kind of afraid we would be pulled over on the way home & accused of robbing a pharmacy! :)
I'm really looking forward to getting my sleep back on track, getting a handle on Cassidy's asthma, & (hopefully) Ike not having to suffer through any more cold sores.
So, for that, I am thankful for our family doctor!
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