My Wish List

I think I did this before but don't have time to go back and check and anyway since I am a woman. I have the right to change my mind and my wish list.

My revised wish list is based on the following:
1. My MIL won't call and cancel Christmas because she is a passive aggressive and feels the need to play martyr every few hours.

2. My inlaws are put into assisted living so I don't have to worry about them. They were both outside removing the 8 inches of snow they got yesterday and slipped and neither could get each other up so a neighbor saw them and came over. Neither were hurt. But that could change today when I see them. Did MIL have the cell phone on her? Nope. It was in the house once again. Do they have to worry about snow removal? No - I hired a service to take care of it. Why were they outside doing it? They wanted their mail. I.Have.No.Words.For.Them.Anymore.Except.Please.Feel.Free.To.Shoot.Me.If.I.Ever.Become.Like.That.

3. I want a husband who sleeps and is not an insomniac. Why you ask? Well, he got up in the middle of the night which he usually does. It stopped bothering me long ago. Only this time, the TV wouldn't work. He determined it was the satellite dish outside that had too much snow on it. Did he wait until morning? Why no - why should he do that? He instead got the extension ladder out of the garage (mind you he is still on the 10 pound max lifting restriction from his surgery). He took said ladder to the dish and then got a bucket of hot boiling water from the kitchen. Took said bucket up the steps of the ladder and threw the water on the dish. Not once but three times he went up and down that ladder. Wait - it gets better. We have 22 inches of snow on the ground. A sane person would realize that ladder in snow = slippery base of support. I am surprised he made it up and down 2 times. Third try he wasn't so lucky. The ladder slipped when he was tossing the bucket of water. He fell. Now if he had landed in the snow he should have been cushioned. But no, my husband had to fall feet first and one foot and leg landed in the window well and broke it the window well. It took him 20 minutes in 10 degree weather to get out of said well. He got inside and looked at his leg and decided it was a small gash only. Now you are thinking - where I was, right? Sleeping - where all people should be at 4am. Do you think he carried his cell phone on him - nope. Parents and son = same genes - no wonder they are like that. He.Is.Getting.A.Room.Next.To.His.Parents.

So my revised list would be at least ONE STRESS FREE DAY............
pretty please?

Christmas Spirit

I don't know about all of you but I have been working my rear off getting ready for Christmas. I took off this week to get things done.

First up this morning was to take my inlaws to their doctor appointment. The roads are icy since temps here are below zero. I confirmed yesterday with said inlaws about the time. I show up at their house to pick them up. No one is home. I happen to have a key so I let myself in. Nope - no one at home. Note here I arrived at their house a full hour before said appointment which was only 15 minutes away. I had the surgeon's phone number so I called their office and they had not arrived yet. I call hubs who says he hasn't heard from them but to call his mom's cell which I already had and heard it ringing in the house. 15 minutes later I get a call from the doctor's office - they had arrived. I talked to MIL who said she forgot I was coming to take them. She figured that if they went early they could get in early and then go to a Christmas party at the senior center. So I got up at the butt crack of dawn to drive an hour away just for nothing.

Ok, I figured I had a few more gifts to pick up and now I had time so I braved a few stores. Big mistake! I remembered why I get my shopping done early and don't shop during the day when the crazies are out. I pull into this parking space but noticed when I got into said spot, the car next to me was parked crooked and I didn't want to get hit so I backed out and pulled back into the spot, thinking nothing of doing that. Well, according to this really crabby male, I committed a moral sin of the utmost because he saw me backing out and wanted to take my spot. So he was pissed I was taking the spot back. This guy ranted for a good 5 minutes. I stood there looking at him and then said, "Sir, pardon me for my ignorance. But clearly, you need this space more than I do so I am going to get back in my car so you can have said space and I will go look for another one". He uttered a few obscenities and I replied: "Thank You and may God Bless you too and you have yourself a very Merry Christmas!" I got in my car, backed out, and parked in another spot that was actually a lot closer.

I figure I found the Christmas spirit since I didn't call him for what he was and I was rewarded with a closer space.

But inlaws? No words are available yet.

Beware the nosy neighbor!

I swore I would never ever be a really nosy neighbor but today changed all that.

I was calmly sitting at my desk in between batches of cookies, making cappelletti, and making my list of stuff to do for this week, when I looked up and the house right across the street had 3 guys walking to their front door. Ok....I am thinking....owner of home (a widow) is in the ICU on a ventilator and son is in the hospital too and those 2 trucks are not any I have seen before. So I get out my binoculars (yes I have them to.... um....for football games and ummm....birdwatching - yeah birdwatching. I get in close. 3 really young guys with hoodies over their heads. They go to the door. No one answers. 3 minutes later they get the door open.

I am starting to get a wee bit nervous since there have been 3 breakins in our area in the past week and this is an empty house. Wait....one of the guys comes back to one of the trucks and gets out a dolley and heads back to the house. I get out my phone book and call the house thinking if they are the grandchildren who are never over there but are legit, then they will answer the phone, right?

They didn't. I hung up and dialed 911. Since we live in an unincorporated area, the surrounding towns responded before the county. There were 6 cars in total responding before the county showed up 30 minutes later (he was at the scene of an accident).

So, turns out it was their grandchildren coming to snowblow the driveway and check on the house since the one son will be released from the hospital tomorrow. So my worry was all in naught.

But I was a good neighbor and made a huge pot of hot chocolate and gave the officers and grandkids some cookies that had just been made to go with the hot chocolate.

My husband and son's impression of the whole thing: Nosy crazy neighbor! Ok, can I help it if I am still in my robe, my hair spiked in every direction, flour strew on my robe and over my arms, barefoot (yes even in this cold weather), and very very beet red eyes (from wearing contacts last night)? I might look a bit crazy but....it could have been a whole different scenario.

Checking My List

Yep I am an anal list person. If not for my list, I would have no clue what is done or not although my mind is constantly running through said list and adding to it. However, the past week or so, I have almost completed all my shopping. One of my employees is picking up a gift certificate for me since I avoid malls with a passion. And I have to hunt down a Hallmark Christmas ornament and pick up my husband's present. Had planned on doing and finishing today but Mother Nature had another idea. Here's what we woke up to this morning:


I picked this one off a local newspaper showing how the snow is building up:


So instead, I am staying all snuggled inside, eating homemade turkey soup and making Christmas cookies and biscotti's. Up today are Spritz cookies, decorated sugar cookies, peanut blossoms, pizzelles (anise, lemon, and chocolate), and biscotti's (anise, chocolate, and another type I have yet to determine (depends on what I have on hand).

So are you done and what do you have left to do?

Being Evil - finding fun in ordinary things

Ok, 3/4 of the shopping done. I found a fun thing today that is a flippen riot. I had to stop at Hallmark to get our yearly collectible ornaments - daughter gets the house collection, son gets the old car collection, son-in-law gets the motorcycle collection, and hubs and I pick up one that is dated.

Anyway, I saw these bags called "Peek Buster" and I just could not resist.



I got the "No Peeking" bag which has a motion-activated sound that plays this annoying alarm sound. You can hear them at Hallmark's website (www.hallmark.com).

Now my initial intentions were innocent I am telling you. I was going to use it for hubs and/or son. But my evil side came over me when I brought it home.

We have a cat that loves to climb the tree and hide on the branches. She scared one of my nephews last year when he was looking at an ornament and had a paw come out and swipe him. So I was curious what the cat would do with the bag. I decided to put some catnip in there - the lure. Yep the cat (Ms Curiousity) went over to check it out and got a wee bit too close. It went off. The cat literally hit the ceiling. Haven't actually seen said cat since. I think she is in hiding.

So then I decided to see what the granddoggies would do. I put in a slice of cheese on top of a slice of roast beef (their all time favorite treat) - I did lay them carefully on saran wrap so they wouldn't mar the bag.

Then I waited. It took about 20 minutes but soon one of the dogs went up to the bag sniffing and got close. The dog jumped back and hasn't been near the tree since.

10 minutes later the pokey dog decided to sniff out the bag and got close and bumped the bag with her nose. Oh yeah that one was priceless. The dog that will not jump on anything - jumped. She won't even come in the same room as the tree now. I probably scarred her for life.

I am evil - BUT - found a new way to keep the animals away from the tree.

Bah Humbug!

I don't know about the rest of you but I just cannot get into the holiday spirit. All I see is more crap to do in an even shorter period of time on an already overloaded schedule. Husband is running a temp again. Doctor appointment Monday. FIL still recuperating from this past Wed surgery but still under the effects of anesthesia (the elderly take longer to get it out of their systems) and is feisty and combative and a real PITA - he's usually a softie and sweetheart.

Here's my list for any of you willing to help out:
1. Finish buying gifts but really thinking on giving cash this year only.
2. Plan for making 3 full Christmas dinners - one Christmas eve for 10, one Christmas Day for 5, and other the 28th for 50.
3. Work full days Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturdays until the 28th. Full days mean 12 hours then there is dinner to be made, dishes to be done, laundry which doesn't disappear just because you are busy.
4. 3 Christmas parties to attend.
5. 1000+ cappelletti to make.
6. 14 dozen + cookies plus biscotti's to make.
7. Take care of sick husband.
8. Take care of sick FIL.
9. Compose Christmas letter and maybe I will get it mailed out before Easter next year.
10. Clean the house.
11. Did I mention the pain in my ankle is so bad that I am scheduling the cat scan and am back in my walking boot?

Bah humbug!
Helpers welcome - and at this point I will pay you to be my wife.

Musings

This is kinda how I have been feeling. Life has a way of whacking you aside the head a lot of times. So until you get a handle on everything and start coping with it all, you sit there wondering what the h happened and try to process it. Once that happens, you pick up the pieces and move on.

Yesterday my father-in-law had surgery to remove a parathyroid gland. He is 90 almost 91. He's already confused after his strokes but the anesthesia is making things worse. I am heading back to help MIL out since she isn't very healthy herself.

I brought a book to help pass the time. There were a few passages that just leaped out at me and I wanted to share them with you. The book is My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult and I rate it a 15 star - a must read book!

Here are a couple passages:

In any moment of time, one can be facing each other and be poles apart, yet we can flip like a magnet and instead of pushing each other away we suddenly seem to be on the same side. We are young and pulse-to-pulse for the first time; we are old and wondering how we walked this enormous distance in so short a period of time.

Life sometimes gets so bogged down in the details, you forget you are living it. There is always another appointment to be met, another bill to pay, another symptom presenting, another uneventful day to be notched onto the wooden wall. We have synchronized our watches, studied our calendars, existed in minutes, and completely forgotten to step back and see what we've accomplished.

Time Flies

This is how fast Chicago changes. One short month ago this was our view.


Currently there is 6 inches of snow on the ground. Our forecast for the next 10 days has only 1 day without snow predicted. Today, tonight, and tomorrow they are predicting another 3 inches. Tuesday into Wednesday this is their prediction: significant snow which means we can get anywhere from 6+ inches. Perfect weather for making snowmen and snow angels. Here's my niece enjoying the snow.


How time flies.

Bad Patients

Who are bad patients? Those of us in the medical field will point them out immediately. They are:

1. The know-it-alls who come in all diagnosed via the Internet or by some relative or neighbor who had close to the same thing.

2. Men - 'nuf said.

3. Any medical personnel - Because they think they would do a better job, as they know their symptoms better than the doctor that is treating them, and they become a sort of "back seat driver."

4. The demanding ones who want a specific appointment time and don't call until that day and then get angry that 'their time' isn't open.

5. The ones who hear only what they want to hear then complain we didn't tell them something.

6. The ones who think we overcharge and therefore are not entitled to their deductible or co-insurance even after their cheap insurance knocks off 3/4 of their bill and I have to accept that and have not gotten a dime yet off them.

7. I am sure I can come up with many many more but those were just today's.



Now who makes the worst patient? In my opinion, my husband who also happens to be a doctor. Why you ask?

Let me begin.

Wait - how much time do you have? I am hoping there isn't a word count on here. I will try to keep it brief.

1. Me: He's demanding and never lets me sit down. Just as soon as I have sat down is when he will deliberately ask me for something.

His reply: We're not used to being. We're used to doing. Our minds are not as organized as yours.

Me: His idea of placation. It didn't work but I did get what he wanted with the stipulation that if anything else was needed it would wait 30 minutes before being gotten.

2. Me: He won't follow the doctor's instructions.

His reply: I am usually the one telling others what to do therefore I already know what to do and nothing you say means diddly squat.

Me: I got to say I told you so when he has had to call the doctor not once but twice because he did something he shouldn't have.

3. Me: You need to move around.

His reply: My Inactivity forces me into the existential exercise of confronting who I really am. You don't want to do that when you're well. By the way, these are good drugs.

Me: Bullshit. Move.

4. Me: How many pain medications did you take vs how many were you supposed to take at a time?

His reply: I think I took 3-4. I dunno, I didn't read the instructions. But I feel good.

Me: I took the bottle away from him. He has to ask me for them now although I will admit he was a whole lot mellower doing it his way.

5. Me: What would you like to eat - jello or broth?

His reply: A thick juicy steak with a Manhattan on the side.

Me: Try again.

Him: Well, I farted so I can have food now.

Me: No you can't. You just get to elevate from clear liquids to full liquids or in other words you may now have cream soups and pudding. So what do you want?

Him: Potato soup - homemade.

Me: Made the potato soup for him. Took me an hour. Served it to him.

Him: I don't feel like this anymore. I want pudding.

Me: I made banana. I will get you some.

Him: I don't feel like banana. What other flavors did you get?

Me: He got the other pudding flavors all right. He got the boxes and I set the bowl and the mixer out for him and put the milk in the bowl. I said choose and make it yourself. You haven't moved in the past 2 hours anyway.

6. Me: Do you really have to get up again? You just got up an hour ago. You are not an infant. I am too old for this. I need sleep. This is night time. You know - the time we are to sleep.

Him: I am not comfortable and I am not sleepy.

Me: Well, I am. So lay the f down before I strap you down.

Him: You are crabby.

Me: I am tired. Now shut up and go back to sleep. The next nite: he got a crushed Ambien in his food. I got 4 hours of blissful uninterrupted sleep. It was heaven. There is a reason why women my age don't have children. We would kill them.

7. Him: I didn't get any rest times today at work.

Me: Well, I scheduled them. However, during your first hour break you decided to call your friends and chat. During your 2nd hour break you decided at that moment, all the calendars in the office had to changed that instant. During your 3rd hour break, you decided to check the supply list we were making and give your input, searching the books for the best prices. During your 4th and final break, you decided to spend the entire hour bitching you were exhausted to whoever would listen to you. Just to let you know though - you talked to yourself.


Take my word for it: A sick husband is to be avoided at all costs. His main objective is to have you holding his hand, awaiting his beck and call, ready to serve his every whim. DO NOT, under any circumstances, give him a bell or any similar instrument so he can summon you. He will take advantage of the situation, and you'll be sorry. If they keep complaining, ship them back to their mothers. They created them - they can take care of them.

Monday

Kinda how I feel today. I knew I would. Tis what being 'off' for almost 2 weeks does to one.

We woke up to 3 inches of snow although we were expecting 6 inches plus - the storm tracked more north of us. I will have pictures later since I had to do the snow blowing this morning. Took us an hour to go the normal 15 minute drive to the 1st office for today but that was only because there was a major power outage on all roads leading east and to get to the expressway to go south, we had to go east first. But even the side streets are clear although some are snow covered from the blowing snow.

The trees are gorgeous. It's the only good part of this being my 1st day back to work and it being a Monday that is fantastic.

Black Friday

So who else braved the crowds? My daughter and I just got back from lunch and we are headed to bed for a bit since I have a list of other stuff to do today.

If you missed the bargains, here is what I picked up this morning for under $1500.00:
3 - 31" Samsung HDTV sets
5 dress shirts with ties for hubs
8 dress shirts for son
10 BOSS dress pants for hubs
10 Express dress pants for son
1 Norelco razor
1 Cuisinart food processor (I broke mine the other day)
1 Turkey platter (broke mine last year kinda on purpose)
1 pasta attachment for the Kitchen Aid mixer (we have been doing it by hand)
2 - 8" digital photo frames
2 flash drives
2 Wii extra controllers
7 panels of sheer white drapes
12 white linen cloth napkins
12 black linen cloth napkins
1 metal cheese grater

So not too bad - the TV's were on the priority list along with the dress clothes. The other's were just bargains I found that were on my Christmas list as possible presents for others (now they are getting them).

We started at 2am. Not bad for a days work - but still have another 800 cappelletti to make, dinner rolls to make, a couple pies to make, and get the rest of the stuff ready for tomorrow along with finish cleaning the house.

Nitey nite!

Happy Thanksgiving!

May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have never a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!

Christmas Edition of getting to know you

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends. Answer the questions and try not to be a SCROOGE!!! Tis the Season to be NICE! HO HO HO

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Depends on the present I am wrapping but usually wrapping paper.

2. Real tree or Artificial? Prefer real but son is highly allergic so we got an artificial one 25 years ago. We put up 3 actually: one in the upstairs hallway, one in the living room, and the main one in the family room.

3. When do you put up the trees? Usually the weekend after Thanksgiving but since I am having Thanksgiving dinner here on Saturday, they are already up.

4. When do you take the tree down? You take the tree down on or after the 12th day of Christmas; the 6th of January, the Feast of the Epiphany.

5. Do you like eggnog? Yes if homemade and without liquor.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Brand new clothes that weren't handed down from one of my cousins or younger sisters.

7. Hardest person to buy for? Actually no one this year. I usually have a hard time figuring out something for inlaws but since I lived with them, I know quite a few things that could make their lives easier.

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Oh yeah, one for under each tree. One of my sister's made me one, my daughter got me another, and one of my sister-in-laws painted me another.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail if I get them out. I found this really cool clipart that is hilarious and represents all the holidays of the year so in case the letter doesn't reach them in time for Christmas, it's a Happy Valentine's Day letter, etc.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Any present that doesn't come with a return receipt on it so I can take it back if need be but the one that stands out in my mind is a fish casserole dish that supposedly went in the microwave and oven but I have the largest of both and it didn't fit in either of mine. I had no return receipt so I put it in a garage sale as a joke without a price. It was the first thing to go and someone gave me $50.00 for it. My luck would be that it was in reality some really expensive thing that was worth thousands. But it was the ugliest thing I had ever seen.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? A lot - and way too many to mention. We have them all on DVD and have even transferred our old VCR tapings to DVD.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? When I have time. I usually start and finish within a few days the beginning of December.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Not that I can remember.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Cappelletti

16. Lights on the tree? Yes - colored ones in the family room and upstairs; white ones in the living room. Colored ones on the bushes. White ones in the trees.

17. Favorite Christmas song? What Child is This

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Depends on the day but even if we go somewhere, it's only for the day.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Of course - who doesn't?

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas Day? Both and on my side's day.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? I love this time of year. More irritating would be people who come to our area to shop but have no clue where they are going so they stop in the middle of a 6 lane road. I tend to stay away from those places.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? The ones on the upstairs tree are kid oriented (Winnie the Pooh, Mickey Mouse, etc). The ones on the living room tree are all old and heirlooms. The ones in the family room are either family photos, ones the kids have made us, or collection ones.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? We have 3 Christmas dinners. One is cappelletti, another is turkey/stuffing/ham/sweet potatoes/broccoli-cheese-rice-casserole/mashed tators with green beans in the middle/etc, and ours is cappelletti followed by a standing rib roast.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? I already got it. Knowing my husband is not dying in a year.

For Those Who Rant About Their Doctors Visits

1. Be on time for your appointment. Don't come in 10 min late - or even later in the day 'because I knew you would still be there'. Our offices run pretty much on time. If they don't and it is our fault, your copay that day is zippo. If it is an emergency, we will tell you and you should feel lucky we are seeing emergencies should you ever need us during one.

2. When booking your appointment, make sure you tell the person making the appointment what you are coming in for. We book according to this. Don't add things. When you do, you back up the entire schedule. In our office, you will be given another appointment to discuss the other 'issues' you have. On the same token, we will only see the person assigned that appointment time. Do not bring another child or adult to just 'take a peek or discuss'. We don't do it. They need their own appointment.

3. Have respect for people standing at the desk waiting to check out. Don't barge through them and yell that you are here. I have pretty good eyes and I know all my patients. I will finish what I was doing and then acknowledge you. No cutting in line (which brings me to #4).

4. Do not arrive early for your appointment expecting to be taken early. It will not happen. This screws up a schedule more often than naught. This is especially frustrating when you arrive an hour early and the office isn't even open yet and you then complain you had to stand in the cold/rain/snow/sun/whatever. If the office does not open until 2PM and your appointment isn't until 2:30PM don't expect to come and sit in the waiting room. We are closed. Then you will also complain that you were at the doctor's office for 2 hours when in reality, you were 90 minutes early and you saw the doctor for the other 30.

5. Never ever ever tell me the doctor can see you during his lunch hour when I just told you I had no more openings for today. The doctor works on the average of 14 hour days. The half hour to hour lunch time is for him to sit, put his feet up, and eat. Not to see you. He had breakfast and won't be getting dinner for another 8-10 hours. His lunch hour is sacred and non-touchable.

6. I find it interesting that people will wait to have their car fixed, the plumber to come, the air conditioner people to get there, and take a delivery during a 4 hour span....yet complain if they have to wait 30 minutes for a doctor. Ummm...excuse me...which one of the above will allow you to wait 3-6 months for payment for that visit/repair/etc and see you for nothing that day and then have the unmitigated gall to complain about our prices? Practice patience. We earn nothing that a whole lot of other people earn per hourly basis. Remember we take calls all night long.

7. If you are bringing your gaggle of kids to the office, you will be handed a mop, broom, vacuum, etc. I do not have time to watch your children. I do not have time to clean up after them. That is your responsibility. Do not assume they will be kept quiet while eating food in the office. Food is not allowed in the office for sanity sake. If it is brought in - you clean it up. Our office is kept clean for a reason. If they can't sit still without touching anything, don't bring them.

8. Do not open every drawer in the room you are placed. Do not take items out of the drawers. We will pass those expenses on. We check the rooms after each visit. We know who did it and we will bill you.

9. Know your own insurance. I am seeing you for the first time. I don't know you nor your insurance policy. All are different. If something isn't covered don't act surprised then complain about your bill. It is your insurance not mine. It is not my responsibility to know things that are not covered. It is yours. Don't complain or ask for a co-pay or deductible waiver. This will never ever happen. I signed a contract with your insurance company already to take a reduced rate to see you. That copay and deductible and coinsurance are your portion. That is what you signed up for and you agreed on. Again, it is your insurance. Don't complain to me how they paid.

10. Do not act like a doctor when you do not know what you are talking about. Do not tell the doctor what pills you want or what you think is wrong. You are going to a professional. Be mindful of that. Ask questions. Most doctors are not afraid to answer them. If you want to dictate your care, get a degree. Otherwise leave it to a professional.


I am sure I can come up with hundreds more. But most important, even as a health care worker myself, I refuse to wait for any longer than an hour for any doctor. My time is just as valuable as yours. I have walked out and found a new doctor. They are there. I have also walked out of doctor's offices when the doctor refused to answer my questions on why a certain test was being ordered or why he wanted to do something. If they can't explain it, they are not my doctor. I have also walked out if the doctor was great but the office staff were the rudest people I had ever seen and I let the doctor know why I am not coming back - in a certified letter with restricted delivery so only he can sign for it.

Out of all the different types of doctors I have ever seen (I have been to every speciality), the worst I will say are the oncologists. I went through 3 oncologists before I found one who respected my time was not going to be spent in his office waiting on him because I had cancer and therefore no choice and it didn't matter - I was going to die anyway. (Yes it happened to me once - and I actually filed a complaint against the doctor with the hospital, state, and his association).

The Dessert Personality Test

My choices were pretty right on - quirky and nutty. I am angel food cake and carrot cake. What are you?

If all of the eight desserts listed below were sitting in front of you, which would you choose (supposedly you can only pick one but I couldn't)! This is very accurate. Pick your dessert, and then look to see what psychiatrists think about you.

REMEMBER - No Cheating. Make your choice before you check the meaning.

Here are your choices:

1. Angel Food Cake

2. Brownies

3. Lemon Meringue Pie

4. Vanilla Cake With Chocolate Icing

5. Strawberry Shortcake

6. Chocolate Cake With Chocolate Icing

7. Ice Cream

8. Carrot Cake

No, you can't change your mind once you scroll down, so think carefully about what your choice will be.


OK - Now that you've made your choice, this is what the researchers say about you... SCROLL DOWN---No Cheating




1. ANGEL FOOD CAKE -- Sweet, loving, cuddly. You love all warm and fuzzyitems. A little nutty at times. Sometimes you need an ice cream cone at the end of the day. Others perceive you as being childlike and immature at times.

2. BROWNIES -- You are adventurous, love new ideas, and are a champion of underdogs and a slayer of dragons. When tempers flare up you whip out your saber. You are always the oddball with a unique sense of humor and direction. You tend to be very loyal.

3. LEMON MERINGUE -- Smooth, sexy, & articulate with your hands, you are an excellent caregiver and a good teacher. But don't try to walk and chew gum at the same time. A bit of a diva at times, you set your own style because you do your own thing. You shine when it comes to helping others and have many friends.

4. VANILLA CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE ICING -- Fun-loving, sassy, humorous, not very grounded in life; very indecisive and lacking motivation. Everyone enjoys being around you, but you are a practical joker. Others should be cautious in making you mad. However, you are a friend for life.

5. STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE -- Romantic, warm, loving. You care about other people, can be counted on in a pinch and expect the same in return. Intuitively keen. You can be very emotional at times but a true person in every way. You like to do things for yourself and help others learn about themselves.

6. CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE ICING-- Sexy; always ready to give and receive. Very creative, adventurous, ambitious, and passionate. You can appear to have a cold exterior but are warm on the inside. Not afraid to take chances. Will not settle for anything average in life. Love to laugh.

7. ICE CREAM -- You like sports, whether it be baseball, football,basketball, or soccer. If you could, you would like to participate, but you enjoy watching sports. You don't like to give up the remote control. You tend to be self-centered and high maintenance.

8. CARROT CAKE -- You are a very fun loving person, who likes to laugh. You are fun to be with. People like to hang out with you. You are a very warm hearted person and a little quirky at times. You have many loyal friends. You were meant to lead and teach others. A wonderful role model.

Bulldogs and Possum - Oh My!

People do not believe me when I tell them about my everyday occurrences. Here's tonight's event.

I am calmly talking on the phone to a friend to remind her that I won't be home until really late tomorrow since I have a wake to attend after work when the bulldogs barked to be let out. I get up and open the door. Both bulldogs sped faster than a speeding bullet (ok faster than any bulldog I have met) to the middle of our half acre back yard and cornered something. Now in our yard the bulldogs have this tendency to find every skunk in the area and for some reason it only happens when I am watching them. Last year it was a litter of baby skunks. Who knew baby skunks have spraying power? I could market Eu de Skunk.

I screamed to the bulldogs as soon as I saw them run (yeah if you heard that noise about 9:32PM - it was me), screamed in the phone to hang on and threw it on the table, screamed to my husband and son to help and started outside. I see this animal running. I see one bulldog (who I have nicknamed Pokey although after tonight I am renaming her possessed) running (yes running) to the one side of said animal. I see the other bulldog who doesn't think she is a bulldog (she leaps and catches frisbees in mid-air, but who has an acl tendon injury and shouldn't be running) running up the other side. They corner the animal on either side and attack the animal. Personally they ran and cornered better than any Bears player I saw this past weekend.

So hubs and son go out and get the dogs back to the house where I am checking every inch of their bodies for tooth marks, blood, anything. Hubs and son come inside and say it was a possum and it isn't moving. I am thinking........yeah that. Daughter leaves said granddoggies in my care and yet again within 24 hours something happens and I am running up vet bills again.

I call the emergency vet. Hubs and son go back to the playing dead possum and with a flashlight see it is breathing but it is curled into a fetal position. They throw a ball at it. It doesn't move. They can't tell if it is breathing or not.

Vet says if there are no open cuts or scrapes on the dogs, they should be fine and they just had all their shots but don't let them back out until the possum leaves. I am thinking it will be until Friday and daughter gets back before I let the dogs back outside again. Also wondering if the possum is just playing dead or is really dead and then who do I call for possum removal? And yes, friend - I did think of you too. Did I say goodbye? If not, sorry. Kinda got distracted.

And people say my life is unbelievable! (I made hubs go out and take the pic of the possum so you really believe me).

Viral Gastroenteritis

According to the National Flu Report (yes, there really is one), Illinois is in the no activity area. Well, I think they might be wrong. **gasp** I know - a government agency might be wrong.....the horrors!

I felt fine at work on Thursday. I felt fine eating dinner, just tired. But tired by Thursday is normal for me. One of my friends swears I yawn as soon as I start talking to her but mind you most of the time we talk is in the evening after I have been up for 14+ hours.

By the time I went to bed Thursday evening around 11pm, I was wiped out and my stomach was churning. I had made Chicken Parmesan earlier for dinner and had just thought I put in a wee bit too much garlic in the garlic bread or sauce or stuffed artichoke. No biggie - my tummy does not like garlic but I still eat it anyway.

By 1am I was doubled over with rolling intestinal cramps. I was chilled yet hot so I took my temperature and it was 100 degrees. Since no one else in the house suffered the same, I knew I had viral gastroenteritis, not to be confused with 'da flu'. "Da flu' is really a systemic, febrile (causes a fever) disease that predominantly involves the respiratory tract and not the digestive tract in humans. Well, mine totally involved the intestines and no respiratory symptoms at all. So since hubs is having surgery in 10 days, I moved into the spare room.

Symptoms of viral gastroenteritis: fever, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramping, and diarrhea. Nausea, vomiting, fever, diarrhea, and cramping are usually the strongest the first 12 to 24 hours then slowly improves. It may last a day or 2 or 3.
Diarrhea may last a day or two, or in young children it may last a week or longer. Fever usually lasts a day. Yep, diagnosis confirmed.

Treatment: some swear by their remedies but I swear by the following: strong brewed tea with 1 teaspoon of sugar as often as possible. I eat nothing else until that is tolerated. I then proceed to a bland diet consisting of clear liquids, bananas, rice, and toast. What is really important is to keep replacing your fluids. Be careful taking some antidiarrheal medication as they might prolong the flu and they might not be effective in reducing the fluids you are losing with the vomiting and diarrhea. They also will not work and actually will worsen your condition if your gastroenteritis is caused by a bacteria and is not viral.

So.....after 3 days, my diet has now progressed to an omelet with toast and I have lost 5 pounds. I only hope I didn't give it to anyone else.

Wish List

Are there any others out there that just can't get into the Christmas spirit yet? I am supposed to be making a list. I can only think of a few material things I want this year besides the usual gift cards to Bed Bath and Beyond, or Barnes and Noble, or local restaurants.

I am actually working on the family Christmas present our family gives to each family on both sides. I started that project in early June after the wedding.

I have been a maniac capturing pictures like crazy and making memories to hold close. But what I really want can't be put on a list.

Congratulations Barack Obama and Joe Biden!

Life Goes On

For all of you who will not see who you voted for in this election actually get elected - life goes on. You might not like the choice but yanno what? Life goes on!

For weeks - no months, I have seen friends split apart with this election. Why? What happened to we can agree to disagree? My choices have not always gotten in. Did I lay down and die? Did I say I was going to move to another country? Nope - life went on!

Just get over it. Work with what you have. And have the common courtesy to go on with your life and not spout voting fraud, hanging chads, or any other thing. I personally don't want to hear it. And just a warning: do not persist in perpetuating any of what happened before or during the campaign. Get over it.

I am actually glad for this election. I got to see who my friends are. I got to see who uses logic to defend their choices. And I got to see evil vile lies believed by Christian people. I got to see who took those lies and investigated them and not by sites supporting the vile lies, but in cold hard factual sources.

Now grow up and act your age not your mentality. Life goes on. Let's unite this country!

Halloween Costumes

Here are the kids and dogs in their costumes:

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween. Maxine pretty well sums up my feelings lately only it's been 24/7 for me. Someone asked what I was going to dress up as today and my comment was: "Either a witchy bitch or a bitchy witch"! She asked what the difference is. I pretended there was a difference but in reality it's perfect for me - I am just in a real bitchy mood. Too many things going on in my life and no time to get it all done.

This is actually the 1st Halloween we have been home for trick-or-treaters in about 10 years. I think they have learned to skip our house. Son says fine with him - more candy left for him to eat. Little does he know but it will be taken to the offices.

One good news for the week: daughter finally got a job (huge decrease in pay) but it is a job and has lots of potential which I am sure she will excel in.

One of these days I will let you in on what is going on in my life. Then you will understand the bitchy witch part.

TiVo

I admit. I am addicted to TiVo. There are just too many TV shows and movies I want to watch. Problem is I have no time to actually really and truly watch everything.

This past summer I whittled down what was saved. It was interesting because I got to watch episode after episode of each show which means I no longer forget from week to week what happened the week before. Watching it all at once is refreshing and sure explains a lot of things I probably wondered about.

But just trying to keep up is hard. Working 12 - 14 hour days means I don't watch anything during the week. I am lucky I get the news and weather and that I usually get from online newspapers. I decided this year to limit the number of programs I TiVo.

Here's my season's pass list:
ER
Gray's Anatomy
Private Practice
Dexter
NCIS
Criminal Minds
CSI: Miami
CSI: Vegas
Desperate Housewives
The Unit
Boston Legal
Without a Trace
Cold Case
Untold Stories of the ER
Trauma: Life in the ER
Amazing Race

As you can see, quite a few. I end up deleting a lot but I just can't stop myself from programming a new show into the TiVo. Now to find the time to watch them all.

What do you TiVo?

Fall Colors in the Chicago area

I absolutely love love love fall except for my allergies which go nuts. I took way too many pictures of the fall colors from the Chicago area so I whittled them down to the ones that I loved the best. Enjoy!

No Coffee Needed

I have never tried writing a scene but something happened in our household that merits telling you about.

Setting: our house
Time of day: wee hours of the morning
Participants: read the story

It's 5:30am on a gorgeous morning - the time most people in this household are sound asleep, snuggled under the covers, dreaming of ....well we shall leave that alone.

Dr P needs to get up and get ready to go to the hospital to operate on one of his patients. Now everyone knows Dr P is not a morning person and the only thing Dr P likes getting up for in the wee hours of the morning is to go play his beloved golf. Therefore it would be a foregone conclusion that Dr P is definitely not a morning person.

The alarm goes off and is reset to snooze 3 times, leaving Dr P with no time to go downstairs to make a cup of coffee. Now Dr P usually wears contacts or glasses, but of course since he is going to take a shower, he has neither on. So Dr P strips and goes into the master bathroom shower to turn on the water. But something furry runs across the shower door. Dr P can't tell what it is. As he is squinting to figure out what he just saw, the thing sniffs Dr P and since she recognizes him, she jumps on him. A blood curdling scream is heard throughout the house. The scream scares the furry object who now latches onto Dr P with her nails.

Dr P (with the furry object holding on for dear life) looks down and sees his son's sugar glider who was supposed to be locked in a cage in son's bedroom. Meanwhile I am rudely awakened by the screams and reach for the nearest object which is laying beside the bed (the cell phone). I still quite don't know what I was going to do with it. Dr P comes into the bedroom and relays the information that the sugar glider got out of her cage and was in the shower. Now still trying to digest this information, I asked why the sugar glider was out of the cage. I got the look.

Dr P marches down the upstairs hall and goes to son's room. He has the sugar glider firmly between his hands and said sugar glider is protesting by barking at him (she doesn't like being confined). Dr P kicks on son's door until he wakes son up (son is a very sound sleeper and has heard nothing). Son opens his door and Dr P tosses the sugar glider onto son who is just wearing boxers. Now sugar glider knows not to dig her nails into son who doesn't like it, so sugar glider sees son's boxers and goes for the boxers and digs her nails in.

2 screaming males were heard that morning. I can only imagine what the neighbors thought. Suffice to say, Dr P and son and I did not need coffee to wake up that morning. And suffice to say, all doors to said cage were firmly checked and double latched.

Here is a picture of son's sugar glider:

I have no words.

There are times you get a phone call and a person tells you something and they are relaying this description to you, and your mind is forming an image (not always good). Yesterday it was mentioned that my blog had gotten maybe a wee bit depressing. Well, today's post should take care of that.

Caller: "Well, I got Elsie today."
Me: (Doing a zillion things so not all there...ok ok maybe not all there most of the time but that is beside the point). "What?"
Caller: "They put Elsie on and she is one sucking machine."
Me: "Ok, stop right here." (Paying total attention now). "What did you say?"
Caller: "My sucking machine was put on today and boy, does she suck. I named her Elsie."
Me: Hearing the strains of The Twilight Zone spinning through my head, I cautiously ask, "Ummm....milking machine? And just what part of the body is this thing attached to?"
Caller: "Well, I guess it could be attached in many different places." (Note - caller didn't say this but my mind sure went there.
Me: "Have you ever breast-fed and used a breast pump?"
Caller: "No way. What does that have to do with Elsie"
Me: "Well, caller, follow my mind."
Caller: "That's scary."

Yep, twas a full moon. Now I am not saying the picture below denotes what the caller was talking about. All I am going to say is that our phone conversation was (in my mind) kinda out there and since it was a full moon yesterday, I felt this picture was appropriate. Maybe Elsie can go and do what Fabio and Valentino couldn't. They just laid there. Elsie sucks and according to caller, she is a pretty good sucker.

Happy Full Moon Day!

Although I am dreading today since it is a full moon and I will be training today (a friend who will start working for her husband doing what I do), plus our software vendor decided to print statements for us for our patients even though they were just done 10 days ago and we are going to have zillions of calls, I wanted to wish all of you a bright and beautiful day.

Of all the days we have (yesterday and tomorrow), today is the one you are living right now. It probably will not be perfect nor everything you want it to be, but it is all yours and yours to decide how you are going to spend it.

Look around you. Here in the Chicago area, the leaves are changing. I will try and get some pics because the colors around us are amazing. As many of you know, we redid our landscaping last fall in preparation for our daughter's wedding this past spring. We are now getting to see the fall beauty of the garden and I must say, the landscaper was amazing. He picked up what I wanted perfectly.

Take this day to remind yourself how precious life is and how thankful you are for your life even though it might be on a roller coaster right now. Find things that are filled with joy and find meaning in the little things.

Spend time today focusing on your thoughts on what's right with your life right now. If you can't look at the big picture, look for smaller ones. Find things to be grateful for.

And above all, appreciate today.

It's Monday!

Nuff said............Calgon take me away!

A favorite of mine....

I use this picture as my wallpaper at times. I not only love the quote but I love mountains and snow so I tend to use this wallpaper a lot. If you are looking for inspiration, I highly recommend Ralph Marston's website and just can't say enough about it. I love reading his quotes and messages.

(***http://***greatday.com/motivate/***) - as always remove the *** until I learn how to insert a website link.

Have you ever.....

felt peace within yourself? Have you ever felt that you will be able to handle anything that is thrown at you? I have a pretty good relationship with my spiritual side. When I am troubled, that is where I go in search of my peace. I always find it although I tend to be a bit stubborn and therefore it takes time.

The past few weeks I have been dealing with a lot, mainly the thought of how I would go on if I lost my husband, my rock, my lover, my friend.


God was there when I lamented if I would ever find someone I could love and trust who loved me and trusted me as much as I did him. I was sent my husband.

God was there when I personally lost each child. In return I was sent other blessings.

God was there when I was diagnosed with cancer. In return I learned that one does not know how to live unless they know how to die.

Last night I turned it all over to Him. What will be, will be.

Defining Husbands

I am sure my definition will differ from others.

I definitely know it differs from Dr Laura's who basically states that "man is a very simple creature who only needs direct communication, respect, appreciation, food, and good loving". She claims that if a wife does the above by preparing dinner, caring for their children without complain, greets her husband with a kiss and engages in sexual intimacy, she will have a deep and satisfying marriage. Umm....are we stuck in the 50's? I suppose we are to wear dresses while we mop the floors too?

Not too long ago, Oprah had this marriage counselor M. Gary Neuman on her show. Normally I halfway listen and usually turn off Oprah but his discussions got my attention. According to Gary's research, if you want to prevent infidelity, a woman needs to #1 appreciate and admire her man; #2 have more sex with him; #3 have open conversations when he is ready; #4 allow your husband time to see his friends even if you don't get time; #5 or basically do whatever he needs to be happy. Yeah.....is he living in the 50's too? Is he related to Dr Laura?

A friend recently complained to me that her husband wouldn't go shopping with her. I asked her why she needed him to. My husband happens to love to shop. Sometimes I go with him and sometimes I don't. He can easily turn a simple shopping trip into an expedition while I tend to stick to a list and go in and get what I want and get out. He can't wait for grandkids because he loves Toys R Us (I usually plan on hitting here once a year and give him 2 hours so he can catch up on all the new things out). He loves clothes shopping with me and has really good taste although I have gotten things on my own and surprised him. He is a better grocery shopper than I am and a huge bargain hunter. No - you can't have him. He's also a pretty good cook and does all the ironing. Still can't have him although you can ask me on any given day and the answer will be different.

So when it comes to defining husbands, I think my definition is different. Our marriage is unique in that we work together too. Things in our household are divided 50/50. I work as many hours as he does so there should be no reason why household chores can't be shared too. Plus appreciation goes both ways in our house. If I don't feel I am getting the attention I want or need, I open my mouth (I don't have a problem doing this) and say so. If it doesn't get his attention, I yell louder and more often until he does. His ways of stating he needs attention though are a bit different - he finds fault in every single thing I do and when he does this, I know he needs attention which I smother him with until he leaves me alone again (j/k).

Are there times when one of us has needs over and above the other? Yep, happens in every household....as long as the other picks up the slack somewhere else.

Lately, I can tell his mind is on a zillion things because he keeps asking me what the schedule is for tomorrow. I finally wrote it out on a piece of paper and put it in his wallet. An idea a friend had for me earlier when she called is pretty tempting: take a heavy pan and zonk him over the head.

No more politics please!

Do any of you ever feel like me? I am so split and torn with our current political arena. I don't know who I am voting for and frankly I am beginning to not give a shit. I am tired of commercials bad mouthing and mud slinging each other. If any of you are perfect, please raise your hands and let me know because I sure don't know anyone.

Lately my inbox of email has filled with emails about both parties. Smear tactics I call them. I looked up each and every one on snopes and every single one has maybe 0.1 teensy ounce of truth in them but 99.9% is false and proven false many times over. So putting you all on notice, unless it is a sexy male or a joke, any political crap will be instantly deleted.

I go to the office and get slammed with it by the patients. I can't even play online anymore with friends fighting - each side swears they are right. I have stopped blog hopping because every single one is full of politics.

Has anyone noticed the economic crisis? Has anyone cared that the top execs of AIG after receiving their bailout, went to the most luxurious spa resort and spent thousands of dollars on themselves with YOUR money???? Where is everyone?

I, for one, am dedicating this last month to a no politics blog. Not one word will be mentioned. So it will be safe here to pick your nose or anything else you want to do. Just no politics. I am putting my head in the sand and not listening to anyone unless you have something to say that isn't political.

end rant/

Mondays

Meme'd by Z

Z tagged me.

Here are the rules: Grab the nearest book. Open the book to page 56. Find the fifth sentence. Post the text of the next two to five sentences in your journal/blog along with these instructions. Don't dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the closest. Tag five other people to do the same.

This is going to be funny. I had this book out when I did a workshop at Romance Divas. It's the book closest to me - actually the only book sitting on my desk. Those of you who know me probably won't be surprised.

Sexual Reflexology by Mantak Chiaare

Page 56, Next 2-5 sentences after the 5th sentence:

Have your partner lie in your lap or between your legs so that it is easy to
massage the face. No formal techniques are required, just good intention and a
soft touch. Begin exploring your partner's face with a light and gentle
touch. Massage around the eyes, across the forehead, over the cheeks, and
around the lips. Feel the unique quality of the face.

And that's all you are getting - ya just have to buy the book to see what comes next.

So I tag anyone who wants to do it.

Banned Book Week 2008

Celebrating Banned Book Week 2008!

Here is the ALA’s list of the Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books in 2000-2007.

How many have you read? I picked up Zeek's tag on this because I couldn't believe how many books I either have or have read were on the list.

How to Play:

1: Copy this list.
2: Highlight the ones you have read (or at least remember reading) in RED.
3: Tag five people to play.



Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books in 2000-2007

1 Harry Potter J.K. Rowling
2 Alice series Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
3 The Chocolate War Robert Cormier
4 Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck
5 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou
6 Scary Stories Alvin Schwartz
7 Fallen Angels Walter Dean Myers
8 It’s Perfectly Normal Robie Harris
9 And Tango Makes Three Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell
10 Captain Underpants Dav Pilkey
11 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain
12 The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison
13 Forever Judy Blume
14 The Color Purple Alice Walker
15 The Perks of Being A Wallflower Stephen Chbosky
16 Killing Mr. Griffin Lois Duncan
17 Go Ask Alice Anonymous
18 King and King Linda de Haan
19 Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger
20 Bridge to Terabithia Katherine Paterson
21 The Giver Lois Lowry
22 We All Fall Down Robert Cormier
23 To Kill A Mockingbird Harper Lee`
24 Beloved Toni Morrison
25 The Face on the Milk Carton Caroline Cooney
26 Snow Falling on Cedars David Guterson
27 My Brother Sam Is Dead James Lincoln Collier
28 In the Night Kitchen Maurice Sendak
29 His Dark Materials series Philip Pullman
30 Gossip Girl series Cecily von Ziegesar
31 What My Mother Doesn’t Know Sonya Sones
32 Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging Louise Rennison
33 It’s So Amazing Robie Harris
34 Arming America Michael Bellasiles
35 Kaffir Boy Mark Mathabane
36 Blubber Judy Blume
37 Brave New World Aldous Huxley 38 Athletic Shorts Chris Crutcher
39 Bless Me, Ultima Rudolfo Anaya
40 Life is Funny E.R. Frank
41 Daughters of Eve Lois Duncan
42 Crazy Lady Jane Leslie Conly
43 The Great Gilly Hopkins Katherine Paterson
44 You Hear Me Betsy Franco
45 Slaughterhouse Five Kurt Vonnegut
46 Whale Talk Chris Crutcher
47 The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby Dav Pilkey
48 The Facts Speak for Themselves Brock Cole
49 The Terrorist Caroline Cooney
50 Mick Harte Was Here Barbara Park
51 Summer of My German Soldier Bette Green
52 The Upstairs Room Johanna Reiss
53 When Dad Killed Mom Julius Lester
54 Blood and Chocolate Annette Curtis Klause
55 The Fighting Ground Avi
56 The Things They Carried Tim O'Brien
57 Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Mildred Taylor
58 Fat Kid Rules the World K.L. Going
59 The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things Carolyn Mackler
60 A Time To Kill John Grisham
61 Rainbow Boys Alex Sanchez
62 Olive’s Ocean Kevin Henkes
63 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Ken Kesey
64 A Day No Pigs Would Die Robert Newton Peck
65 Speak Laurie Halse Anderson
66 Always Running Luis Rodriguez
67 Black Boy Richard Wright
68 Julie of the Wolves Jean Craighead George
69 Deal With It! Esther Drill
70 Detour for Emmy Marilyn Reynolds
71 Draw Me A Star Eric Carle
72 Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury
73 Harris and Me Gary Paulsen
74 Junie B. Jones series Barbara Park (Some at least! Read them to my nieces!)
75 So Far From the Bamboo Grove Yoko Watkins
76 Song of Solomon Toni Morrison
77 Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes Chris Crutcher
78 What’s Happening to My Body Book Lynda Madaras
79 The Boy Who Lost His Face Louis Sachar
80 The Lovely Bones Alice Sebold
81 Anastasia Again! Lois Lowry
82 Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret Judy Blume
83 Bumps In the Night Harry Allard
84 Goosebumps series R.L. Stine
85 Shade’s Children Garth Nix
86 Cut Patricia McCormick
87 Grendel John Gardner
88 The House of Spirits Isabel Allende
89 I Saw Esau Iona Opte
90 Ironman Chris Crutcher
91 The Stupids series Harry Allard
92 Taming the Star Runner S.E. Hinton
93 Then Again, Maybe I Won’t Judy Blume
94 Tiger Eyes Judy Blume
95 Like Water for Chocolate Laura Esquivel
96 Nathan’s Run John Gilstrap
97 Pinkerton, Behave! Steven Kellog
98 Freaky Friday Mary Rodgers
99 Halloween ABC Eve Merriam
100 Heather Has Two Mommies Leslea Newman


Out of 3,869 challenges reported to or recorded by the Office for Intellectual Freedom, as compiled by the Office for Intellectual Freedom, American Library Association. The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom does not claim comprehensiveness in recording challenges. Research suggests that for each challenge reported there are as many as four or five which go unreported.

I tag anyone who wants to keep the ball rolling!!!

Back to work

It's funny the perceptions of others. In this case, it's the patients. We were gone a week - hubs at a surgical symposium downtown Chicago for 3 days and then he and I went to our state meeting for 4 days. I don't happen to call them off work at all. If there was a vacation second in there please try and find it for me cuz I know I missed it.

But the patient's perceptions today: How was your week off? Did you go on a cruise? Did you catch up on your sleep?

Maybe it's just us and the fact that we seldom (make that rarely) take time off. It just isn't in our nature and besides, unlike our patients, we just can't afford it. You see, for a small business owner especially a doctor to take off, you not only pay for the vacation somewhere, but you pay for others to take emergency call for you, AND you lose money by not working yet the bills don't take a vacation. Malpractice insurance doesn't take a vacation. So it has to be pretty special for us to take off - it quadruples the price of the trip.

The lecture went well. I had the entire room filled with people coming in left and right standing. They finally just opened the doors and were standing in the hallway. Everyone kept busting out laughing. Guess I entertained them. But all I did was give them a glimpse into what it means working for your spouse and a glimpse into my life. So either I was funny or I just showed how crazy I am.

Definition: taking off work/Fabio

Well, if it were you, you would be sipping exotic drinks on a beach with no cell phone and no way for work to interfere with you.

Now since it is me.....we all know that is just never going to happen.

I had 3 days off. Here's what happens when I take off:

Day 1: I get up at 6am to take hubs to train. Sunday I had gotten out a suitcase for him but told him he had to pack it. Did he do this Sunday? Nope. He runs around like a chicken with his head cut off Monday am, ironing pants and shirts for the next 2 days. Now why you ask would he do this when he only is staying overnight? Not a clue. He's a man. I never attempt to understand them. Plus - why take the time to iron them when they are going to be stuffed into a suitcase which is going to remain packed all day. Ya will just have to re-iron them. Now if a woman had packed an freshly ironed shirt, we would have stuffed paper into it and folded it neatly or just taken an overhanging bag so it wouldn't get mussed. Ok you would do that - I would stuff it in the suitcase unironed and iron it at the hotel.

So we miss the train he is to take and instead we have to go to another station for an express train. He gets out of the car, forgetting the suitcase. I get out and holler for him to come back. He yells: "For what?" And blows me a kiss (probably thinking he forgot to kiss me). So I yell back: "Umm....want your suitcase?" He runs back. Do I get a kiss then? Nope.

So it's now 6:30am and I have the whole day to do with what I want, right? WRONG! I had left a message on the office answering machine that all 3 offices were closed for the entire week and if this was an emergency to call a special number, but otherwise leave a message and the office will return it next week. How many people do you think did that? How many people do you think asked to talk to someone immediately? How many pages did I get? Yeah. Could not even go back to sleep. Are we so trained anymore by message machines that we don't even listen to them?

So hubs stays there overnight. Calls me a couple of times. I am still waiting for my time after returning 64 phone calls and handling 28 'emergencies', when my daughter and the granddoggies walk in. I balance the checkbook and do payroll then cook dinner. Go to bed early with a book I have been meaning to read.

Day 2: 3am I hear this banging, scratching, and clawing on a door. As I struggle to wake up, I realize the sound is real. So I grab the baseball bat and head to investigate this strange noise. I don't go far when I find the noise coming from the spare bedroom - the cat was locked in. Actually locked in since 6am that morning. Now why do you ask she finally decided she wanted out of said bedroom at 3am? Why to piss me off because she knew it was my day off.

So I went back to sleep for another 3 hours then get up to take daughter for her test at the hospital (oh yeah - daughter decided that since I was off work and her husband was out of town, she would have me take her to the hospital for this test and then take care of her after anesthesia. That took most of the day).

I go pick up hubs from the train to take him to a meeting we had that evening. Do I get a kiss? Nope - because while looking for the noise, I ran into the door and had a fat lip. He thought it was a cold sore so wouldn't kiss me. He should know better - I am a klutz. By the way, I also made dinner for daughter and son and took care of her all day. Came home and went to bed to try and finish my book.

Day 3: So far: got hubs up at 5am to go to the learning lab for day 3 of his surgical symposium; answered 20 phone calls; finished laundry; did a couple of reports and finalized my seminar talk; and paid some bills. Dinner is simmering in the oven.

Sum total of what I have done on my days off: Lots of work stuff done, computer for the main office fixed, laundry, finished reading Jodi Picoult's Perfect Match which I highly recommend. I still need to go to the one office and pick up the sterilized instruments in order to see a couple of patients tonight. I also got to be a part of a tantric workshop with Romance Diva's. Anything else accomplished like trying to get the TiVo shows watched? Nope. Couldn't even sleep late one day.

But I did find an appropriate picture of Fabio who I am hoping is man enough to work this time: