Fall

It's definitely fall in North Carolina.

Which means it's chilly. Although yesterday when I went to work it was 82. It's now 50. And still humid. Which, the sudden temperature changes and the cold dampness make it feel all that much chillier. And I, like a moron, am stubbornly refusing to turn on the heat. Because it's not THAT cold yet. And it's bound to get all hot again. So last night I slept under two thick, heavy comforters. I actually enjoyed that a lot, being all warm and snuggly, the tip of my nose all cold.

I think I'd like camping if it wasn't so much for the outside part.

And I think I'm going to suck it up and turn the heat on before I go to bed, because weather.com says it's going to get down into the low 40s tonight. And the 30s later this week.

Crap. I need to figure out where the plants are going to live inside the house...I'm not even sure where Maggie and I have space to live in the house yet....unpacking is still slow going.

Today was productive, although not in the way I'd planned. I started reading for my analysis courses, but of course I did so all bundled in bed, and oh, wow, wasn't my pillow just so comfortable...if I put my head down for just a minute, surely, that won't be a problem...fortunately, Ruthie called before I actually did fall asleep.

So you'll remember how the pink chair in our office broke and swallowed me up like a venus flytrap a couple of weeks ago. We started looking online once we got me up off the floor and found a new one at Ikea that is not only, well, pink, and a chair, it's also a fold-out twin bed with a memory foam mattress (you know how I like to sleep in our office). Ruthie bought it, and is graciously letting the rest of us in the office use it. It finally arrived this week, and, like all Ikea furniture, is some assembly required. So she called me this afternoon and was like, wanna come put it together?

Of course I did.

We got there, and amusingly, Fang and Mike were in their office down the hall assembling a desk (not pink). Apparently today was an industrious day of DIY projects for the second year psychiatry residents....

Anyway, it was a pretty easy assembly. I meant to take pictures as we put it together, but, well, I was too busy putting it together.

Here's the old pink chair (may it rest in peace)...

And the new one. Here it is, all folded out as a bed...um...in the hallway...

And once it was all put together and slipcovered, in its new home. Step into our office...

It eats the office a little, but, on the whole I think it's a really good (and functional) addition. We have a great office. It's small for three people, but it's cozy. The mood lighting helps. Because of all the pink, it's got many nicknames (The Brothel, The Dorm Room, The Pink Light District), but we just like to call it home. Or at least, home base.

Here's my desk...

The computer is currently on a file box thing that used to live under the phone. The little three-headed lamp on my desk is the smaller version of the five-headed one that's over by the door. We all hate fluorescents, so, Ruthie brought a lamp in. It was pink. And then it spawned I found the desk version on clearance at Target.com. The ridiculous amount of binders is my clinic organization system. And the poster was painted by one of my patients.

Here's where Peng and Ruthie live...

Peng, on the left, you can tell has taken the much more Spartan approach to clinic organization. Ruthie's responsible for the coffee pot and grinder, her own non-hospital-issue desk, the microwave that sits on top of the fridge Peng found on Craigslist for $20 (those are behind the door, next to my desk), and a few other touches. Not to mention the original pink lamp, and the old pink venus flytrap chair.

It's nice, right? We like it. Having two stellar cellmates helps a lot, too.

We then went off to Staples and then Office Max to look for a laptop stand and some file-y dealies for my desk. I've been using my old laptop at work (because otherwise we only have one computer per office. That's ridiculous) and the power cord won't stay plugged in. The IT guys looked at it this week and tried to re-solder the plug-in piece and concluded that the only way to fix it was to replace the motherboard. On a four year old laptop. Um, perhaps not. So for the moment, we're doing the peripheral attachments thing - the laptop up on a stand, with an umbilicated mouse and keyboard that the boys are generously letting me borrow until I decide if I want to eventually replace the computer or try to beg for one of the department desktops. I found a stand (we'll see how it works), as well as the dealies. And I also bought a mousepad (I'd previously been using a notebook) - it was cheap, but it's the kind you can put your own picture in. Here's the one I picked:

So funny, my dog. I printed out a few others just in case I want to change it up a little.

We then stopped by the TJ Maxx so Ruthie could buy sheets (pink polka dot, of course) and a pillow for the new pink chair, and then we stopped at the Chili's and had dinner. All in all, a very enjoyable day, although did not accomplish the things I needed to get done. I think I'm going to try to get a relatively early start tomorrow, run a bunch of errands, go back to the office to get some stuff squared away there, and then hole myself up and read for the rest of the day. We'll see how it goes...

I love a weekend off....