Done and done

The semester is over and I don't think there is anything that could make me happier. Only one more semester to go. Good grief.

Oh and our awesome friends Jacob and Ashley made my Christmas dreams come true with this sweet Christmas tree. I can't get it to load right now...but its about 2 feet tall and AMAZING.

Now I'll just go finish off this lovely day with a short "princess shift" (4 hrs) and hopefully interact with some gems in the ER.

Final tomorrow.

Its probably because we're in the matrix...

So here's the thing...homeless people. They're everywhere. On every corner, every gas station, everywhere. I like to have a granola bar in the car or a bottle of water so that I can have something to give them other than money. Most of the time I am so frustrated with the signs they're holding, I can't bring myself to give them anything (ex. "Why lie I need a beer?" "Will work for pot," etc.)

But today, I was driving home and at the stop light there was a man standing at the crosswalk, waiting for the light to turn red so he could make his laps up and down the median. I've gotten used to not even glancing over but this time I did. I caught a glimpse of the sign he was holding and it said, "Life is about change." I thought, yeah, thats actually true. I got his attention and gave him one dollars worth of quarters, he responded with a "God bless" and I went on my way. It surprised me that I was so willing to give him anything, even if it only was one dollar. But then I thought, regardless of whether or not he actually needed that money, I think that message is an excellent insight, one that I am apparently willing to pay for.

Not to promote pan-handling, but maybe homeless people have been getting it all wrong. Instead of holding up self-serving signs, if they held up a sign that made someone feel better about themselves, they'd be more willing to help out. Weird thought.

Anyway, on a lighter note, right before this all happened I was pulling up to a stop sign a few streets earlier and I saw a homeless man crawl out of a wall. Not like out of a door, but just out of a hole where the bricks had been removed. I was quite pleased with the illusion that a man was walking through solid matter.

I've just discovered something that I think will change my life forever.

I can fit into a size 5 girl's shoe.

That means, half price on tennis shoes, boots, flats, and all sorts of shoes that are exact replicas of adult shoes.

So, so, so awesome.

I'll be squealing for the next bit...

My Rob has officially passed the Bar. You can stop holding your breath now.

I only ate like 5 pieces of Halloween candy this year. Sad.

Weird/Borderline creepy video....

But this song makes me want to close my eyes and jam

I love how he waits til the very end to say love. Goosebumps.

I'm just sick of your fundus, okay!

Today I was crazy. If Rob were around he'd snicker and say, "oh just today, huh?" or some derivative thereof. Whatever, Rob.

It was my last day of OB. FAREWELL babies and all you crazy pregnant/barely-not-pregnant freaks! The only thing that got me through the day was knowing that by this time next week I'll be back with all the regular sick old people that I know and love. I'd take bed sores over your stupid hemorrhoids any. day. of. the. week. No more uterus-lochia-fundus-breastfeeding-poop-diaper-medicate-me-I-just-labored-for-ten-hours talk! Done, done with you all! Good luck to you and your screaming babies with their aging diseases and old man faces. And no, just because It has a pink line on Its socks I cannot clearly distinguish It from a boy. Don't be ridiculous.

When the cat's away...

So Rob is in DC for the week, leaving me here to my own devices. I've been engaging in activities such as: eating an entire pan of brownies (check), washing laundry but then just dumping it on the ground and leaving it to be hung up later (check), watching past episodes of Private Practice (check), online shopping (check), turning Pandora up as loud as I can and tearing it up in the living room (check). The funny thing though, is that its not like I can't do those things when Rob is here but I think its subconsciously the closest I can get to throwing a party when the parents (or husband, whatever) are away.

And today's only day one, imagine what crazy shenanigans I'll be getting into by Saturday! I might even leave the cap off the toothpaste!

Thanks, kind citizen

Today someone left a note on my car telling me that my tire was low and to BE CAREFUL! Can't be sad about a stranger helping you out.

Weird. I thought the "E" in ER stood for EMERGENCY

Today I worked triage in the ER (checking people in)

These are my top 5 Chief Complaints (which they fill out on a form and give back to me which makes it was more awesome because to write these words on a page just resonates crazy more than hearing them spoken):

5. To explain (apparently there were not enough lines on the paper to describe this man's many issues)
4. My daughter has a rock in her ear and she won't tell me who did it (If I'm 5 years old, there's no way I'm not selling out the friend who dared me to put a rock in my ear, but then again, loyalty has to count for something right?)
3. I can't breath (related to: yelling about not helping her or taking her seriously, oh and the pot soaked in formaldehyde she smoked earlier)
2. I'm having a nervous breakdown (copy that)
1. I caught my feet on fire (....)



OH. And my most recent theory that the ER contains some sort of magnetic pull for crazies was confirmed today when a patient from the 5th floor wandered into our waiting room and told us she was lost and didn't know how she got there. Coincidence? Hardly.

Day one

First day of work I:

Did my first EKG
Transferred a lady to a body bag
Removed a bunch of stitches from someone's neck
Picked rocks out of severe road rash
Gave an enema

Things are looking up (minus the enema part...I could do without that).

Man Down!

OH the shame of nursing students passing out. I remember on the unit I used to work at we would giggle when nursing students couldn't hack it and would have to go lay down after seeing some itty bitty ulcer. "I think I need some water" they'd say with their head in their hands. "What a little GIRL!" I'd say in my head, and then later in the break room. How EMBARRASSING. Man...

In other news, I passed out today at clinical. HA. I was hanging out in the wound clinic checking out some burns having a great time when something inside me started to whisper "This isn't natural...in fact, this is totally gross. I recognize your mentally okay with this but just as a heads up the legs that you rely on to stay standing are going down, and they're going down fast." I tried so hard to convince my body I wasn't grossed out but all I had time to do was head out the door to the Dr's report room and make it into a Dr's reach where he lowered me into unconsciousness. I think I was only down for a few seconds and woke up laughing saing, "oh man, seriously, I'm fine, I love wounds, I'm okay!" They made me lay there for a few more minutes with all the kids walking by the room with their mocking glances. I had to remind myself they were only kids and it would be inappropriate to yell some adult comment like "Shut up stupid! What are you looking at?!"

I got sent home from clincial and when I got home read an email informing me that my TB (tuberculosis) test from my new employer was borderline and I had to come in for a chest x-ray. Awesome. So I left to do that and chit-chatted with the guy doing the xray until I realized he didn't even know how to read the film, he could simply point out my heart so I stopped freaking out about the crappy information he was giving me. I also told them about my "incident" today so they did some orthostatic blood pressure checks (where they take BP laying, sitting, and standing) and as it turns out I have pretty severe orthostatic hypotension (really low BP when you stand and get dizzy and sometimes fall). I had always suspected this but after my embarrassing and swift descent to the ground today I was happy to have something to blame it on.

Oh and then they decided while I was there to hit me up with my new flu shot that leaves a large majority of its recipients with flu-like symptoms. I'm not sure if I can blame the shot on the delirium I'm feeling but I like things to be neat and organized (did you know?)so I'll put those together so no symptoms are left out without a diagnosis. After all, that'd be like having a bunch of index cards with no designated index card filing box and that is WACK.

Its okay kids, the library is a safe place!

Our location of residency is sketchy at best...and every time I see stuff like this I just add it to my list of reasons to get the freak out of here.



Rob adds it to his list of reasons to stay.

Pedi Nursing In A Nutshell

They're small.
They cry.
They hate me.
They know that "we're having a tea party and I'm going to drink the medicine too, cheers!" is the stupidest thing they've ever heard in the 24 months they've been living.
They know that "poke you with a straw" means "stab you with this freakin' ginormous needle/weapon/torture device."
They cry.
They boss me around.
They wear very small socks.
Their wrist-bands are in size 6 impossible-to-read-font and are even less legible when they swat at me/attempt to strangle me with my stethoscope.
Seeing my face is equally as traumatic as having a shot.
When I try to comfort them, they hate me more.
When they see me, they cry.
When they hear me, they cry.
I'm their worst nightmare, but what they don't know, is that the feeling is mutual.

RIP Melty Armadillo

It seems as though the Wicked Witch/Armadillo of the West melted on our porch this past week.

So sweet

Merry Land?

So I got a phone call from a lady doing a background check on me for my new job. She was trying to confirm what high school I went to.

Lady: So you went to Century High School?
Me: Yes
Lady: And that was the name of the high school?
Me: ...yes
Lady: And that was in Maryland?
Me: Yes
Lady: And that's Maryland, Texas?
Me: ...Nope, that's Maryland, the state, Maryland.
Lady: Ohh. And how do you spell that?

Awesome

Study, study little buddy

Turns out, I'm an over-studier. Rob has been trying to tell me this for a while now but it just always seemed so blasphemous. I decided to experiment with my first exam of the semester and study for just a few hours over the course of two weeks and then about 5 hours the day before. I'd say I studied about 15 hours max. Normally I study closer to 40 hours in 2 weeks, maybe a little more. Anyway, of course I did better and even though I'm glad I've seemed to find something that works better than investing a crap load of time into apparent worthless studying...the idea that I'm not benefiting from all my diligent time has left me a little shaken. What else have I been wrong about?! Are the shades of Pemberley to be thus polluted!

There's no place like home

Currently there is a tornado warning in our area, the National Weather Service has this advice to offer:
IF YOU ARE IN A MOBILE HOME OR VEHICLE... GET OUT AND GO TO A STURDY SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE... LIE FLAT IN THE NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.
Yikes.

AshHarr

My very stoic friend who's zipper broke on her dress the day before her wedding. As the sister of the groom noted, "Good thing good friends come in your exact same size, and with a wedding dress waiting to boot."

Bahahaha!

Good news!

I passed my check off. Barely. She even said, "I'm barely passing you." It's already been 3 1/2 hours since I took the test but I still keep thinking she's going to change her mind and call to say, "On second thought, that was so bad, I don't even know what you were thinking or what I was thinking for that matter. Fail."

I found sun-dried tomatoes in dry packing for $2 and turns out its super easy to rehydrate them.

That's pretty much all the good news I need to make it through the week.

Shoo, fly

As much as I love Texas, I could do without the teradactyl sized-mosquitos/dragonflies that swarm the skies.

Ka-blooie, if you will

For school we are required to go through a "check-off" (kind of like scholastic hazing) at the beginning of the semester. This includes performing several nursing skills in front of an instructor (who is predisposed to not like you) and not failing because not only will they make you feel totally incompetent (because you injected a needle at 40 degrees rather than the accepted 45), you'll literally fail the semester on the second day of school.

The skills are made up of anywhere between 15-25 steps each. There are 20 skills that you could possibly be asked to perform. So thats like an average of 400 steps to remember.

I feel like my brain is a water balloon only meant to hold 240cc (which equals 240 ml which equals 240 drams which equals 3600 gtt which equals 8 oz which equals blah blah blah...did I mention we have a whole separate test based on memorizing conversions?) and I'm at the point where it starts to get dangerously shiny and transparent the more water I pour into it and any second its going to burst open and become a big, wet mess (or in this case, my brains=everywhere).

So that's pretty much that.

Sometimes people ask me if I miss being single. But then I talk to friends who refer to the girls they meet as "randoms" and I think, you know, maybe being married is not so bad.

New school year = New Five Star planner

This year I went with pink, much like all the other years. The novelty of all those fresh pages and empty check-boxes never, ever gets old.

Pique this

So recently I've been teaching hip-hop at a studio here in Austin. The girls are all trained in classical ballet and I'm SO impressed at how well diciplined they are and how quickly they pick up choreography. So naturally I start getting intimidated. What? I know, they're only 12-14 years old but they're also only like 12-14 lbs each and they whip those skinny legs into extensions like nobody's business. (**As a side note I ran into my old ballet instructor back home in MD and she said to me, "I thought that was Kasey Wheeler, but you had hips!" All the sudden I was 12 again and she was telling me that fries won't make my jetes* any higher or my pirouettes any sharper. When she wants to get into your head there's nothing you can do but submit and pray that she didn't see you sneak that Moosetracks milkshake).

Anyway, moving away from insecurities that still haunt, these girls are good, but they're still bean-pole ballerinas. As part of my class I decided the best way to lighten everyone up and merge back into my comfort zone, would be the blast the song Shake It and have a 3 minute dance party. Unconventional? Yes? Did it make me feel better about myself? Def. Did it help the girls? I think so, but you know, if your instructor's self esteem isn't intact you've really got nothing now do you?

On a serious note, they did awesome after our "exercise" and I have decided mini dance parties are officially an effective technique.




*See photo

This song melts my heart

One year married. Woo! Love that Rob.

This makes me happy

Just something my mom randomly decided to share today

"If I ever start square dancing at 70, please commit me. It will mean that I have lost my soul."

Crabcakes are delicious

I've been desperately trying to upload pictures and videos while I am here in Maryland (while Rob studies back home) but my internet connect is just not up for it.

In other news my sister found out she is having a girl which only confirmed my brother-in-law, Mike's theory that girls are taking over and the ratio of girl:boy is out of control (in our family at least).

And some words of wisdom from Kendra (I don't know her last name, but the ex-girlfriend of Hugh Heffner...gross) "Everything in my life led me to where I am today."

And there you have it.

Ode to Harry E. Butts

Yes, that is totally what H.E.B. stands for, Harry E. Butts.

Anyway, its hard for me to describe how much Rob and I love HEB, so let me give you some of the reasons why and maybe you can understand.

*Rob's #1 reason: it beats Wal-Mart

*Every now and then they will put up a piece of poster board that says "FREE (blank)" (maybe its Oreos or something) and then underneath there will be a big table of Oreos. Why are these free? Who knows. Why does the poster board look like it was written by a child? Probably was. Does management know this is going on? Its unclear there is any management.

*Or they have these deals where you can buy a certain product and then get a completely unrelated product for free. When we go I usually lose Rob minutes after entering the store because he is searching for deals down every aisle. His favorite example, "Buy creamy creations ice cream, get 20 AAA Batteries free." What? Who cares, that's awesome. Do we even use AAA batteries? No, but it just doesn't matter. Maybe I'll run out and buy something that calls for AAA just because its so awesome.

*Giant tubs of assorted colored T-shirts for $.50. $.50 teal v-neck T, yes please.

*But today, well today I found the gem of all gems while shopping at HEB:
Buy 9 lbs seasoned pork for $10 get...Guacamole, sour cream, tortillas, 2 L soda, shredded cheese and tortilla chips for FREE. Whaaaat.

Just another reason Texas has won over our hearts.

Yeah, this makes sense to me

Good Things to Come

Good Things to Come

There we have it

Initial flow estimates had the leak at 25,000 barrels a day, revised estimates now say its twice as much. This is what it looks like:

Yes I'm still here

We really have been busy the last three weeks, thats not just an excuse for not blogging.

-Rob's parent's came out for graduation and oh yeah, he graduated! Now he spends his time studying like 8 hours a day for the Bar. Awesome.

-We flew to Denver to have Rob's uncle the orthodontist make us some sweet, horribly painful retainers we get to wear all day

-We flew to Durango and drove to Monticello where we hung out with the family. We played games, saw Shrek 4 (and yeah, it was pretty crappy but they kept it short which helped its cause), went to a canyon where Rob convinced me (well really bribed) me to go rappelling. I managed not to throw up the entire way down, which was a struggle in and of itself. By the way, the gnat bites I got that day were so swollen a week later I couldn't put any pressure on them without agonizing pain...is that normal?

-Rob and I took the train into Provo (which I actually really enjoyed...my favorite line of the conductor's narration, "You know, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid just were not as bad as people think!") to meet up with Pete who was lucky enough to take us to the airport the next morning at 4am in a thunder storm.

-The next day my mom had arrived in town and we spent the day watching movies we've seen a hundred times, which always seems to be a favorite amongst us.

-I took my parent's to hike the greenbelt and although we told my mom it would only be about 4 miles I think we ended up hiking more like 7. My dad ran off and I thought I would sprint to catch up with him but it turns out I went the wrong way after him and just ended up sprinting for my life for about a mile and a half, panting up this hill saying, "Have you....seen....an older man....running.....in khakis?" So that was fun.

-We went to a friend's semi-pro soccer game where the coach got kicked out and Rob was almost hustled by a potentially unblind-blind man.

-We rented a boat and headed out to Lake Travis for tubing and wakeboarding. It was a perfect day.

-We took my dad and sis paddle surfing out of Lake Austin and luckily the winds were blowing so hard that my small little sister had to paddle with all her might to get to the other end of the lake

-We went to the Blue bell factory which was obviously delicious, because its Blue Bell. Rob got a scoop of the ice cream that is apparently a fan favorite amongst the kiddos since its yellow with neon colored chunks of stuff

-And finally, we ate some delicious crepes made by our favorite chef.

Now its back to Rob studying, reading books, hanging out by the pool, and eating all the food left over by my parents. So life is good.

Activities that scare me but must be done

1. Going through the sock drawer, matching everything you can, and getting rid of the rest. Where do all those socks go?

2. Reorganizing a closet. Throwing away/donating clothes, and whatever else is just taking up space (this does not include things like my index card filing drawer which is incredibly useful).

3. Scrubbing the bathroom floor, this also includes the shower (and all of my shampoo bottles, yes sometimes soap needs cleaning too).

4. Choosing which washer to use (in the community laundry room) depending on how many bugs have crawled down there with no sign of leaving. (I've started using a scale like, those little green leafy looking bugs are more likely to share the washing machine with my clothes as opposed to anything with eight legs...or beetles).

5. Cleaning out the vacuum. Some how it all goes in looking different and then while inside the filter transforms to a gray-linty-sticky-dusty concoction that has to be carefully contained while dumping out as to not asphyxiate whomever takes on this task.

I guess thats it. Windexing, Lysoling, 409ing and organizing everything (including thumb tacks) all give me great pleasure.

Needless to say I am at peace because my apartment is perfect and I now I can lean around the corner every now and then and just bask in the cleanliness.

Call me crazy, it wouldn't be the first time.

I like my house

I'd probably be happier if I felt like this.

blahh

Rob and I both take our last final tomorrow. It couldn't come any sooner.

Did anyone know Rob makes delicious crapes? Like, really good.

Last night a friend called me with an extra ticket to Carrie Underwood that she couldn't sell so she just gave it to me. Awesome? Yes.

I've been getting pretty good at eying recipes and not really having to rely on measurements, but I can never get the peanut butter to jelly ratio right. What's with that?

Cake Wrecks

So funny.

The Ghost Nibbler

Last night Rob and I had some friends over for dinner and pie. I made a pretty huge casserole and the topic of leftovers came up. Rob had mentioned that since there were 8 kids in his family, you ate as fast as you possibly could with the hopes that you might get seconds. I think its safe to say that old habits die hard. Since Rob and I have been married he has made it a habit of sneaking around at 2 and 3 in the morning to eat the leftovers from that night. Needless to say I typically make dinner for just the two of us but that doesn't seem to change his worries of, "what if its not there when I wake up?"

Well, as I mentioned we also had pie. Today when I came home for lunch I pulled out the pie and found this.

Hysterical. Then, to top it off I went to cut a slice with my crappy knives and the blade broke off in the pie.

It was just one of those moments where everything is SO funny, but then you look around and nobody is there to laugh with you, so then you laugh harder because if anyone walked in you'd look like an idiot. Like this one time I flipped over in a round wicker chair and was left lying flat on my stomach with a giant wicker turtle shell, half laughing, half crying. How is it that no one could be there for that?!

I hope the picture does it justice.

Sigh

Always loved this song. Love the Killer's cover.

And a crappy hair-cut to boot!

Sadly, my hair-dresser for the past five years left with no warning and no forwarding contact information. I don't know how she could abandon me like that, but she did. I have been forced to go on a hair-cut strike for the past 9 months and obviously it had to come to an end. But I didn't know where to turn...what is a girl to do?! Anyway, I saw this deal for a mani, wax and haircut all for $40. So that's really cheap, and although left me a bit skeptical, its not like I have any money anyway, so I took a deep breath and snagged the offer.

After driving around for an additional 20 minutes trying to find the salon I was greeted with a, "Sorry you got lost! We forget to tell our new clients the directions on google are wrong." Nice.

The lady who was going to give me my hair-cut walked over and herded me to my chair, informing me that "at this salon we have a time limit of 30 minutes per haircut." Seriously? It takes 30 minutes to blow-dry my hair. I start to sweat and panic a little, all the while cursing my previous hair-dresser's name (we'll call her Jessica...because that was her name) in my head.

Everything is going well and we start the usual, "getting to know you" shpeal that often occurs at salons (you know: how long have you worked here? do you like it? are you from around here? blah blah blah). I notice a picture on her counter of a little girl which I was sure generated lots of welcome conversation, since she did frame it and put it there. So I ask, "is that your daughter?"

Here we go. The remainder of the conversation goes a little something like this (you can find my thoughts in the parenthesis):

"Yes, oh my gosh isn't she cute. She just turned two blah blah (its unbelievable how much i don't care) pictures with bluebonnets blah blah. You know its hard being my age (31...32?)I mean I'm 28 (whoops) and trying to find friends with kids. I went to this mommy-and-me class but everyone there was like HYPER-religious (uh-oh). I mean these people go to church for like THREE hours on Sunday (I think I know where she might be going with this). I mean, my husband works, its not like we can go to church on Sundays (obvs). And these WOMEN (can't believe those women)! Some of them have TWO and THREE children (stop it, this is blowing my mind). And I'm like what is that?! (good parenting?). Yeah, they don't even have jobs (blasphemy!), they just stay home all day. And I love my child but um, I NEED to work. I'm sorry (apology not accepted) but I DO NOT have time to go to Bible study, are you kidding me?! (no)"

You might be waiting for me to go on about how I gave her a little piece of my hyper-religious-mind, but I just sat quietly smiling, mostly feeling bad that her social-skills were so underdeveloped with the accompanying thoughts that it is too bad she is going to raise children/child thinking like that. I wished I had a pass-along card, you know, just to make things weird.

Finally done. It'll do.

Goodbye, school.

I know I'm really lucky to be in school and all...but I think I'm done with this semester. With three tests left to go that feeling may be a little premature, but I can't help it. I'm just ready for it to be ovvvvver.

Gross warning

I watched open heart surgery today. And by watched, I mean I could have reached out and grabbed the man's beating heart after his sternum was sawed open and bone and blood went everywhere.

The end.

p.s. it was awesome

Ouch.

I've gotten 4 paper cuts. Today.

Sweet kitchen

Um so I went to look for some garlic today, and found this. Time to toss it ya think?

Then in my hast of cleaning and organizing I got this horrible wave of burnt plastic in my nose. After searching around, the fumes finally lead me to the culprit. What the heck dish-washer?! It was eating my poor stirring spoon alive! I was forced to abandon my home for fear of asphyxiation. Why couldn't it have been the short-handled spoon!

Oh and tonight's menu reluctantly includes pasta with tofu (ask Rob), which is why I am posting this now, so that when dinner does go terribly awry I have already blogged about my crappy kitchen karma.

Cheers!

I'll paint it all!

Okay, so by project I guess I was feeling more like, "remodel." So that's exactly what I did. Here is the end product of my new cute little kitchen. (Once again, I always forget to take the "before" picture but I promise it is much better)


And because I'm so excited I have more pictures of everything you already can see in the first picture :)

Oh and that little plant you see, his name is Trent. When I bring my sister along to things, she names plants.



Oh and as for this guy, you can't tell but he sits over the couch and he's huge. I love him. (It's a him)


So...I have already painted my bedroom and I am working on what I'm going to do on the walls. Hopefully pictures will come soon.

I feel a project coming on but I'm not sure what it is. Any ideas?

Recap

Spring break: so much fun. It looked a little like this:

Maryland, rainy, babies in raincoats, babies with pigtails, snuggies, aquarium, mom arguing with Mike about the superiority of MD, strawberry cake, caramel cookies, waffles, more waffles, movies, crab cakes, fish market, museum of natural history (with two front row parking spots), medical museum (complete with all sorts of fun plasticized anatomical parts), "Just Dance" on the Wii with Dru (yeah, he shimmies), homemade chinese food, near asphyxiation from the delicious homemade chinese food (that toasting peanuts business is lethal), family, Emma (the new BBC version...so good), Gingerale, Direct TV (AKA those awesome medical shows about 100 lb tumor removal), shopping (duh), babies playing in creeks (dangerous), getting bumped on my flight home and getting $350 and a night at the Music Hotel in Nashville, meeting a Legal nurse (or for Rob, a "legal nerd") and ultimately having her offer to pay for my very expensive burger at the hotel restaurant (and by offer, I mean, she just did it), getting bumped again on the next flight home to make for a total of $700 in Southwest credit. Quite excellent.

Hello Boxspring

Now that I have you, I'll never let you go.

Aaaachoo

Sick...again. Big surprise. Maybe it is time for me to let go of the whole, "I can't drink out of your straw," or "of course I rip off the first several squares of toilet paper in a public bathroom and throw it away." Maybe I need way more exposure to build up this sad, weak, pathetic immune system I have.

But then again, that'd be gross. I think I might prefer my chronic colds to having someone drink out of my milk glass {bleh}.

I have a feeling this book will be on my children's bookshelf.

That's all, thanks

After receiving 6 notices on our door THIS month about rent, renewing, blah blah blah I decided to be proactive about the matter.

Charity

Today our lesson was on Charity, but I decided towards the end of class to give this particular lesson some alternative titles:

Chapter 30: Charity

or

How To Avoid Your Everyday Homeless Encounters

or

That One Homeless Guy: Genuine or Boozer?

I just really like this

(its not actually the video, just the song)

While the cats away the mouse will....

1. Go to bed at 8:30pm.

2. Go solo-sampling at Central market (Chocolate-fest for V-day, delicious).

3. Purchase a huge hunk of Cinnamon Cranberry Goat cheese, sourdough bread, and make gourmet grilled-cheese sandwiches.

4. Mosey on down to the temple (maybe get lost on the way, but its okay because the mouse's schedule is pretty flexible).

5. Go shopping (mostly complain that everything is so expensive) and eat sushi (and passion fruit creme brulee) with girlfriends.

6. Watch a few BBC films that may have otherwise been interrupted by a, "Seriously, this is unbearable" (to which I say, "on the contrary, not only is it bearable, its the best. Ever.")

7. Make it to the gym 3 out of 3 days, spend a little extra time on cardio to compensate for the goat cheese.

8. Sleep completely diagonal, because I can.

9. And on the last day, anxiously await the return of the cat*




*Haha, get it, mom, the "cat." Haha.

Would you like some crazy with that?

Single ladies and gentlejerks, the days of crappy door prizes, raffles, and kazoos are OVER. There is a Valentine's mix and mingle hosted by a local radio station in Austin this Saturday. Not only can you get wasted, meet up with randoms, and eat some strawberries...you could win a FREE divorce (for those of you pretending to be single but "still haven't quite gotten through with the big D"). I'm. Not. Even. Kidding! This party is raffling off a free divorce from one of the local law firms in Austin. Hahahaha. I can't even stand it.

On a different (but not necessarily lighter) note, my peers and I got to take a tour of the children's wing of the psychiatric hospital. This was our greeting:

Small boy: (walks up to my friend Shannon) HEY guys! Guess what?
Shannon: What?! (enthusiastically with a smile)
Small boy: I worship the DEVIL!
Shannon: ....uh oh

For Jay

In lieu of not knowing how to begin this post, I think I'll just launch in.

Yesterday was Jay Reed's birthday. Jay was my brother's best friend growing up, and subsequently a part of my family. He passed away two years ago.

As we grow up there are people who just seem to always be around, before we understand where they fit into the equation and into our lives. When I was little, I think I actually figured Jay was some part of our extended family, and it stayed that way even as I grew older. I was surprised to find that knowing that he wasn't actually blood-related didn't change anything. Jay suffered from some physical hardships, but you'd never know just by talking to him. His outlook on life was, to say the least, incredible.

When Jay passed away I had a really awesome experience and I thought I'd just share in memory of him. One night I was sitting at home and I was all by myself. I got this impression that maybe I should go somewhere. Before thinking twice, I headed over to my best friend, Ferry's apartment. We were sitting on her floor and she was working on some stuff for church. At the time she was the ward chorister and asked what song we should sing to close our meeting. Immediately I said, Nearer Thy God To Thee. I have always enjoyed that hymn but felt really strongly about it. A few minutes later my mom called, and told me the news. I fell to the ground and cried to my friend. I knew that God was looking out for me, and made sure I was in good hands during a time like that.

That Sunday in church as we wrapped up our meeting we sang, Nearer My God To Thee. Then we got to the verse, "There let thy way appear, steps unto heaven; all thou sendest me, in mercy given; Angels to beckon me Nearer my God, to thee, Nearer my God, to thee, Nearer to thee." I knew that Jay was beckoned by angels, and I knew that he was standing tall and proud in Heaven, and so, so happy. Its hard to lose someone before you're ready, but he was ready and I know that one day he'll be waiting for his family and his friends on the other side. I love you, Jay.

Seriously, Texas?

How come my whole family is enjoying long, lazy, snowed-in days and all we get in Texas is crappy hail...HAIL!?

What about sun? What about the palm trees?!

Food for thought

Rob and I went to see The Screwtape Letters at the Paramount this past weekend. Man! It was so awesome. If you have never read the book (by C.S. Lewis) or if its been awhile, I would recommend it. Very funny, and very thought-provoking.

Did you know he dedicated the book to J.R.R. Tolkien? C.S. Lewis is so awesome.

Not bad

Today a patient told me I looked like a Barbie. I've been called worse.

**Not the same patient that accused me of having "false eyelashes."

Also, my Jack Bauer patient told me, "he knew wisdom between the lines" and that he could "teach me a thing or two." He then proceeded to cut an apple in half, squeeze it as hard as he could and then yell, "APPLE JUICE, APPLE JUICE!"

House On Haunted Hill?

I'm not going to lie, rolling up to this place at 6am in the morning when its still dark outside...not my favorite. I mean really? When they were building it did they think, "Let's try to make this as stereotypical as possible. We'll delve into the deepest fears of what everyone expects an asylum to look like, and we'll recreate it! Oh and we'll also build a tunnel that goes around the whole campus that has no exit to the outside, oh and while we're at it, lets line the tunnel with solitary confinement dorms with tiny little circular windows to peer through while the patients bat around on their mattress. Yes, lets do. Voila!"

Its not even safe for bananas around here

My latest project

So I've had this really ugly gold dresser forever. Super ugly. Unfortunately I forgot the first cardinal rule of refurbishing...before and after pictures. You'll just have to take my word for it that it was super ugly...for reals. Anyway I'm very proud. I sanded, painted and adorned. Hardware and dresser napkin (which was actually a dish towel) courtesy of Anthropologie.