Prep

So tomorrow is surgery. My mom is a trooper. She's like, okay, bring it on.

We had a nice day today, the four of us. I took Maggie over this morning and she hung out with my mom while my dad and I went to coffee for Father's Day. We had a nice time at coffee. It was the usual Sunday morning crew and they did not disappoint. Plus there was a cheese danish and a tasty cup of coffee in it for him, not to mention a good time playing Matchbox cars with the owners' two year old son. I took him back home (with an oatmeal raisin cookie the size of a hubcap for my mother) and then hit the gym. My trainer and I had a good workout, which included a lot of time throwing things at him. I picked up lunch for my folks and myself, and we hung out a while. My mom and I cleaned out my car and made a trip to their garage.

I came back home and decided I would finally try and jump start the bike. Which...didn't go so well. At first I couldn't get the seat off (the battery's underneath the seat). So I called Jen, who was awesome and came over to help. While she was on her way I remembered the owner's manual sitting on my dresser, and discovered that getting the seat off a Harley is surprisingly uncomplicated. But it was good that Jen came anyway, because then I couldn't figure out how to get to the battery. The owner's manual was COMPLETELY USELESS for this. We futzed. We poked. I swore a lot. We couldn't make the picture match the scenario in front of us. At which point we invoked my Harley Roadside Assistance, which, it turns out, only tows the bike, no matter what's wrong with it. So we called the Harley dealership in Raleigh and the guy tried to talk us through taking the battery out. We tried and poked and shoved and prodded and I swore some more, but we couldn't get the damn thing out. Which is frustrating, because how am I supposed to get the thing out to charge it in the winter?! We finally gave up. I will probably throw in the towel and tow the bike to the dealership...next weekend. And while I'm there, I'll make them teach me how to take out the damn battery.

I went and got my nails done after Jen left and the guy commented on the grease under my nails. I just smiled and shrugged. I picked a nice shade of breast-cancer-awareness pink and pretty soon the grease was gone. I picked up dinner on the way back to my folks' and we had the best pizza for dinner that Durham has to offer (my folks finally got the sausage pizza they've been unable to find at the grocery store, and I got my very favorite: Chicago-style deep dish - it's not stuffed, but it's a reasonable approximation of Chicago pan pizza - with broccoli, green peppers, and feta cheese. Seriously, it's the best thing ever). My mom and dad added some Texas Toast they had in the freezer and we had a nice little meal. We watched some SVU and played with Maggie. We planned for the morning and Mags and I came on home.

It was a good Sunday.

Will keep y'all posted tomorrow.

More weekend, please.

It's been a nice weekend.

Had a good ride yesterday. Went down to the motorcycle shop nearby looking for a cargo net (they were sold out) and took the looooong way back. I did much better on this ride. I'm definitely doing better than I was, say, 200 miles ago when I bought the bike. And it was really nice. There were a lot of other bikers out on the road, too, which was cool. I need to keep riding. One of my biker friends just sent me a link to a map of a ride they take often, which I need to try out one of these days.

Had a nice visit with Olga last night, too. She's recovering nicely from her pneumonia and her bedsore is healing. It's such a long road for her  - it's been 10 weeks since the fire, and although she has a long way to go, she's come so far. She's so awesome and amazing. I'm glad we're friends.

Went for sushi last night with some coffee friends and friends of theirs. Met some fun new people. Hung out with some fun folks I already knew. Ate some really good vegetarian sushi (I love me some good vegetarian sushi). Had a really good time.

Today was a little more laid back. Coffee with the Village, lunch with the girls. Worked out with my trainer. Tried to take a nap (didn't work). Dishes, laundry, blah, blah, blah. Can't complain about today except that it's followed by a Monday.

I start consults tomorrow. I'm definitely looking forward to the lower intensity. It'll be nice to have a little change of pace....

Sunday fun-day

It was a really nice Sunday.

I slept in this morning - not entirely on purpose, mostly the effect of that whole Daylight Savings Time thing. Went to coffee, and had a really nice visit with the group, as well as the first iced coffee of the season. The owner's oldest child (I think she's 4) came and sat with us. She's completely adorable and this funny little chatterbox. We were playing tic-tac-toe (she learned this game this morning) and she looks up at me and says, "Do you have a wife?"

Wow, I thought. Good for her parents!

"Nope." I told her. "I don't have a husband either."

"Well, why not?"

You don't know the half of it, kid. I said, "Well, I haven't met the right husband yet."

"Which husband are you going to marry?" She asked.

"I don't know. But if you meet him, let me know, okay?"

She gives me the perfect four year old hands-on-hips, you're-a-silly-goose head tilt. "Well, that's silly. How would I know who YOUR husband is if you don't?" All I could do was laugh. The girl has a point.

So I let her win at tic-tac-toe again...

Went to the gym after coffee. Had a good workout. Chatted for a few minutes with my anxious trainer. You know, he just wanted to make sure I wasn't too sore after yesterday's session. Were my knees okay? What did the armband say about our workout? Did I have any thoughts about nutrition? And of course, I wasn't, they were fine, it said we burned a reasonable amount of calories, and nope. Such a nice change from my workouts with Gomer when I couldn't move for several days afterward.

(Did I mention I'm wearing this little armband now that tracks all the calories I burn? It's one of the coolest gadgets ever. It's part of the Jenny Craig Metabolic Max thing. It counts calories burned, steps, amount and quality of activity, even how much sleep I get. So much techno-geeky awesomeness.)

(Did I mention I was back on Jenny Craig? Yeah, that's a whole other blog entry.)

So I came home and showered, and then I met Sparrow for lunch, which was really nice. We met at this local Greek family place that's just sooo good. Had a nice conversation, did some catching up. I took the bike to and from lunch, which was also great. What a beautiful day for a ride. It was almost 80 here today, and sunny, blue skies, just gorgeous North Carolina spring weather.

The rest of the day was the usual...laundry, dishes, groceries. Prepped for the week. Watched the Cubs win in preseason. "Rescued" the cat from her hiding spot in the basement (twice). Made dinner. Just a nice, comfortable day. Doesn't get much better than that...

Well, except when that happens on a Saturday or a three day weekend...

Weekend deficiency

It's been a nice weekend.

I got a lot done this weekend. Had a good time at coffee yesterday and today. Had a nice baby shower for one of  my coworkers yesterday - it was a surprise. And it really was a surprise - she thought she was coming over to our friend's to pick up a crib and some other baby stuff. So she wasn't especially punctual. In fact, she was two hours late. But we amused ourselves greatly during the waiting. Managed to work out both days this weekend. Ran some errands, did some laundry.

So, really, nothing very out of the ordinary. Which is part of what made the weekend so nice.

I could totally use a couple more days of this.

The dog ate my post.

No she didn't. But Blogger did. I have no idea what happened to the - short and relatively uninteresting - post that I wrote yesterday. But, like I said - short and uninteresting, so, not really a big loss.

It's been a nice weekend. Lots of time with friends and with my parents. Maggie finally got a bath yesterday. We went to a new groomer - a friend of Garth's - who was fantastic, and who rides a motorcycle. She was great, and Miss Mags is all fluffy and good-smelling and soft again. It's lovely.

Bill had a gallery showing yesterday, which was a lot of fun. He's been taking a photography class, and one of his submissions won in the class competition in the Abstract category. It's a beautiful macro shot of bubbles in amber glass. So they had a little reception and showing for all the winners in the college library. A bunch of us went to support him (except for the two of us who were at two separate funerals. Which I fine eerie). It was neat, and some of the photos were really fabulous. (I'll be honest. A few left me thinking, "I've got much better shots than that...")

I did get out on the bike for a minute yesterday. Something still doesn't feel right. I don't think it's just anxiety. Garth and Bill have both offered to ride it for me and check it out, and I'll probably take them both up on it. We'll see, I guess. Alls I know is that two miles I rode yesterday was hell for uncomfortable.

Today was mostly errands. Coffee, then laundry, groceries, etc. More time with friends and family.

All in all, a good weekend. I could still use a little more, but then, when is that not true....?

I love a weekend.

This morning, I was a little miserable. Didn't have much to say at coffee because there wasn't anything positive rattling around in my brain and I refuse to be that girl who's perpetually negative. But I got some work done. Jen and Bill and Garth and I got lunch at this new burger place in town which used to only be a food truck but then decided to add a brick-and-mortar store. It was a darn good burger, and the company was excellent. I came home, I putzed around, I tried to take a nap. And then I went to my friends' house for dinner. They asked me to come shoot their Christmas pictures this year. I was really honored. And some of the pics turned out really well (some of them were underexposed and blurry, but that's the beauty of digital cameras). My friend made lasagna, and we had a lovely dinner, and then watched the end of the Baby Blue basketball game. I left when it was bath time for the little one, stopped at the grocery to get dog food (I ran out yesterday. Earlier today I felt bad that we had no kibble so I gave the dog a bagel) and came home and watched the beginning of Titanic (I only like that movie until the iceberg hits). All in all, today was better. And hopefully tomorrow will be as well.

And then do you know what happens?

I have four days of work. And then TEN days of staycation. I'm so looking forward to that I can't even tell you.

Day "off"

So, I took today off so I could get some things done that I can't do on the weekends. I got about half of it accomplished.

Did go to the DMV, took the written motorcycle test, gave them my little card and $18.75, and in 5-7 days will have a reissued driver's license with a big "M" on it, which says I'm allowed to ride a motorcycle on public streets.

God help us all.

Nah, it's fine. It did take me longer than anticipated, though, partly because I went to the one in the county where I used to live. The lines were usually shorter, and beyond that, I got a call while I was at coffee this morning that one of my patients was out of his prescription of one of those things you can't call in or prescribe electronically. So the trip worked double duty, because I went out to the clinic at State Hospital and wrote him this month's scripts. But it also meant I had to move Maggie's vet appointment. I ran some other errands while I was out there, and made it back with just enough time to check my email before I took Maggie to her rescheduled appointment. Which, we went to a new vet today for the first time. Which turned out to be crazy expensive, even with the "senior dog" discount.

You heard me. Senior dog discount. Maggie's in the AARC (you know. The American Association of Retired Canines). No wonder she gets on so well at Shady Pines.

But the vet was WONDERFUL. And she said my dog is awesome. And she reassured me that the bump on my puppy's head is just a bump, not head cancer. And Maggie is no longer out of heartworm pills and has a nice, shiny new 3-year rabies shot. And the vet has weekend hours for established patients, which we now are. Win. Oh, and they took what appears to be a mug shot for her file:

Where are the numbers, though?

Of course, though, it took longer than I'd hoped, which meant I was late to therapy. Which always ends on time, of course, and I made it in on schedule to my next appointment, which was...interesting.

And then I had chocolate for dinner.

I'm so glad I'm going back to work tomorrow.

BEEP! BEEP!! BEEEEEEP!

It's the most irritating part of my job.

That noise my pager makes. During hours I'm not supposed to be working.

I'm wishing right now that I'd gone into one of those specialties that boasts a "pager-free lifestyle" (although I don't think any of them ever really do, especially not as a resident).

That's alls I'm going to say about it. Except this: I REALLY AM NOT INCOMPETENT! And this is not an emergency!! And I really don't want to talk to Patient Relations at 8:30pm.

I should really start leaving the damn thing in my car. Except I'm too hypervigilant about my patients...

At least I have Maxine to keep things in perspective....

Not enough weekend

It's been busy. It's been fine. It's been full of good friends.

Met my new trainer this morning. Kit. Yep, Kit and Kate. She's perky.

Dug through the storage unit for an hour in 80 degree weather later.

I need more weekend.

But I have a 7am patient, so I reeeeeeeeeeeeally need to get to bed! More tomorrow. I'm working on a substantive post in my head.

Saturday ahoy

Yeah, I don't know what that title means.

It's been an interesting couple of days. My mom developed a giant, rapidly spreading abscess in her lip, and so we spent last night in the ER, where ENT drained it and they admitted her for IV antibiotics. I spent a lot of today driving back and forth from the hospital to where we live. I went to the hospital to get my blood drawn (time for a thyroid test), then went home and got my dad, dropped him off to keep my mom company, went to coffee, went and got shoes and picked up lunch, went back to my house to eat, went back to pick up my dad, went back to the hospital to hang out with my mom....well, you get the picture.

I walked into the New Balance store and said, "I have the worst plantar faciitis in the history of feet. Help. Please." I left with new tennis shoes and a pair of those tone-your-butt flip-flops. Not because I think they'll actually tone my butt (flip-flops vs. my fat ass? Please.), but because the guy suggested them and they were SO comfortable. And marginally cute. But SO comfortable....

My mom and I had a nice visit, though. We got an off unit pass and took a walk to the Starbucks in the hospital. We people-watched. We ate cookies. I worked on knitting a baby sock.

When I left the hospital I caught up with a bunch of my coworkers at a local watering hole to celebrate May's upcoming wedding. We had a lovely time. We ate and talked and laughed a whole lot. It was an intimate little group of us by design, and it was so great to chat and catch up and tell stories. And May and Doug are adorable together. It was exactly what I needed after a really long day...

Last of the good Mondays

So I think I mentioned JD and I have been doing this Monday/Friday coverage swap on the consult service, and I haven't had to go in on Mondays. I overslept this morning, went to the gym, ran some errands, took my mom to the oncologist (so far, so good), had dinner with my folks.

It's been a nice way of doing things, but today was my last Monday at home. Which is actually okay - I have one more week on Consults, but next week we're swapping because a week from Friday I'm going to the BEACH. I so, totally, completely, cannot wait.

And then I come back, and start on the Child inpatient unit, and then it's back to long days and a real workweek again...le sigh....

Weekend

I totally passed out when I got home last night. So why was I up at 5:45 this morning? (I'm going to try not to repeat that tonight...)

Yesterday was long. I spent the day wearing too many hats. My hats, Cleo's hat, it was just a lot. But the day ended well - I managed to get out for dinner last night with Chandra and her boyfriend, Sonia, and Scott (who, incidentally, is now completely hooked on the afore-mentioned fiction author. I might love that just a little bit). We went to this South American place in North Durham. The food was great, the company better. It was a nice ending to a crazy week. Seriously. How does a short work week feel so damn long?

Today was also excellent. Coffee until NOON (awesome). Played the Wii for a while. Unpacked a bit of my kitchen (I have dishes again. Although, still no silverware). And then I picked up my folks and we met my aunt, uncle, cousin, and future cousin-in-law for dinner at this Greek restaurant nearby. It was delightful. My cousin's fiancee is hilarious. He's a good addition to the family.

They're getting married in India at the end of the year. I'm trying to figure out a way to get there for the festivities, but they might be cost prohibitive. We'll see what creative accounting I can come up with...

I love weekends.

Better

Today was a better day. I still need a little more weekend, but I got some things done that were needed. Had a good go at coffee this morning, saw my shrink, cleaned up the kitchen a little, went to the office for a bit, flopped in the overstuffed chair in the living room for a little while and watched a bit of NCIS. I wish I had gotten a little more unpacking done, but, well, whatever.

I wish I had something big and meaningful to say today. I'm still just so drained, it's all I can do to keep moving forward...