Weekend Recap

Friday night I spilled bright red cherry water ice on my in-laws white carpet. It was by far my worst moment as a daughter in law.

Saturday was work, hurricane prep, and lots of laundry because having only one pair of clean underwear with the threat of days or weeks with no electricity is just something no girl wants to deal.

Saturday night was rain, CNN coverage of Hurricane Irene causing us to worry endlessly about a tree crushing our house, scurrying around for buckets to catch all the water pouring out of our leaky roof, and some good old fashion ass whoopin' at Yahtzee. Seriously, Jim never beats me. Two weeks ago I rolled double 6's on my final roll of the game to get Yahtzee, beating him by less than 10 points. Poor Jim.

Sunday was waffles, your typical home improvement hi's & lo's, and lots of pick up sticks and yard clean up all accompanied by a very strange version of our dog who insisted on being literally at our heels every single moment. I nicknamed her Shadow for the day.

Next weekend we're Ohio bound, so at least there will be interaction with other people which is bound to be a little more exciting.

Today

I hate driving in the rain.

I hate driving in the rain in the dark even more.

But driving in the rain, in the dark, in traffic & construction for 2 hours and 18 minutes never traveling over 40 mph even though my entire commute is on highway roads, needing to pee about half way through, and totally starving is the worstest!!!

(yes. I am aware that worstest isn't actually a word)

That is why I'm finishing my second glass of wine...and will probably have a third. Who am I kidding? I'm definitely going to have a third.

No need to judge me friends. Jim is drinking too, so that means I'm not an alcoholic. That's a rule, right?

Plus, every good commuter knows that drinking is the 2nd best way of coping. The first being cigarettes. The obvious, ultimate, supremo choice because you can consume while driving. A direct and immediate reward. Some days I would die for a smoke. Ahh...a deep inhale, an instant tobacco buzz, calmness coursing through your body, the traffic surrounding you just melts away. Somedays I want to yell out my window to the guy smoking in a car next to me. But I know that one will lead to a pack, leading to another pack, and the next thing you know am a smelly, hacking, raspy smoker. No thanks. I'll drink.

On a brighter note, I had an excellent hair day today thanks to a much needed new haircut. I am extremely apprehensive about changing stylist. Curly hair is apparently difficult for a lot of stylist, resulting in many bad haircut and some serious traumatic events, (like the time a girl dry cut my hair!? What the heck was she thinking?!) so I usually avoid it as long as possibly. Liz was my second shot at someone in the this area and she's definitely a keeper.

It's the best haircut I've had in a really long time.
I got a lot of compliments too, which is always nice.
And I really like the jacket/blazer I was wearing today.

In the end the extra good cancelled out the extra bad, leaving me with just another day.

Thursday's thoughts

I really need to change the songs on my iPod.

I have nothing planned for dinner.
I wonder what it's like to have a personal chef?

I think I am incapable of making a decision on new countertops for kitchen.

My hair is super duper frizzy today.
and I don't even care.
I wish I had been around for afros.

I want to go back to Vermont.
In the Fall
and go apple picking.

I just got a little surge of excitement just thinking about Fall
and candy corn.

Now I can't concentrate.

What was I thinking about?

Is it really only 2:30?

Dunkin Donuts ice coffee is the best.

Help Wanted

I try really hard to be a good doctor. Although, I suppose good is a relative term. I try to be systemic and thorough, as well as assume that the patient knows nothing when I'm explaining procedures or recommendations.

After a brief introduction, I start off a first visit explaining how things are going to proceed..."I'm going to ask you a lot of questions about your pain and symptoms, how you were injured, and review your medical history. We'll move onto an exam to help me determine exactly what's going on. Following the exam I'll explain my findings and my recommendations for care, then answers any questions you might have." The better the patient stays on track with me, the easier it is to get through the torture of the first visit.

On occasion there is a patient who just doesn't want to follow allow. Let's call her Mary. Before I could even get a proper introduction out of my mouth I knew she was going to annoy me. Mary was the type that already knew what was wrong with her. She had arthritis. And wanted an MRI. She interrupted me a million times. She was side track on EVERY questions, providing me with lots of information a didn't need a very little of what I wanted to know. Mary was seriously testing my patience. Not to mention it was the end of my day, so my patience is already pretty thin.

But, I wanted to help her.

She was too young to have the pain she was relaying to me. Pain that was intefering with her young life and her young daughter. Too young to be pumping herself full of Vicodin, steriods, anti-inflammatories, and hoping for injections. Arthritis wasn't her problem. She didn't need an MRI. She needed conservative treatment. She needed to change her lifestyle.

I wanted to help change her life.
This is why I love being a doctor.
I wanted to help her.

I was at the office 40 minutes after closing trying to get through to Mary. I used all my best examples, anagolgies, testimonies, and even gave a stab at a little guilt. She interrupted and made excuses, in the hopes of widdling me down. As if I was withholding my secret magic band-aid cure. Ultimately, I think Mary is in denial. I don't think she'll be complient. She's probably calling another doctor's office today.

In the end I drove homein the rain, frustrated and mentally exhausted. I committed my best skills and it still wasn't enough. I stopped at Whole Foods and treated myself to fig bars from the bulk food section. I get them every time I go. I eat one (maybe two!) on the drive home and hide the rest in my car for the next day's commute. I never tell Jim. Hopefully he got bored halfway through this post and still doesn't know about my secret litttle treat.

Nor'easter

We have a really GREAT recycling program in our township through RecycleBank. They provide you will a huge bar-coded bin. They except cardboard, newspaper, junk mail, plus your typical glass, cans, and plastics with no sorting required. The bin is weighed each week and coverted to a point system. You redeem the points under your online account for coupons, movie passes, and lots of great discounts. It's a dream come true for a tree-hugging, recycling fanatic like myselft. That is until a spring nor'easter blows the entire weeks worth of recycling all over your yard.

This is how we started our Saturday morning.