I saved 3 lives today, what did you do?

I traded my blood for oil today. The owner of several Midas of Richmond shops has blood drives every two months. When you give blood you get a free oil change. What could be better than saving 3 lives AND getting a FREE oil change? Not much folks! Especially with how much I have been driving my car recently. Just in time for an oil change. The bad news is the lady didn't get my vein at first. She had to root around in my arm a few times before she got it. I got a little queasy at that point. No fun. Also, the guy who took my history was the most ridiculous flirt ever. He didn't say anything too crazy or racy, but there was moderate flirting being sent my way the whole time. It was to the point where I couldn't look at him and was fidgeting. This was in a blood mobile, so we were in close quarters! He had several tattoos- only one worth mentioning...It looked a little something like this:


"Just keep swimming"

Location: Left triceps

Man, that's hot!

Also of note: my iron was 14.0! That's major for me! I've been turned down a couple of times due to low iron.

Mr. Flirt with Dori Tattoo: What did you eat today? Rusty nails? Your iron is 14.0. That's high for a petite girl. Normally petite girls like you have sucky iron.

Man, was he eloquent!

Gymtastic!

I've officially worked out the past four days in a row (if you count teaching aqua aerobics from the deck- hey, I was sore the next day, it counts!). This is not normally something to write about, but as I have only worked out a handful of times this month I'm pretty pleased with myself.

After the "hole in the face" aka having my tooth pulled I was pretty afraid to go to the gym. Then it took me a while to realize I would not bleed out of this small hole in my face even if I went running. I should note it has bleed a few times when I've been too vigorous with brushing my remaining 35 teeth.

K: Will you still like me even though I only have 35 teeth?
The Best Man: I thought you only had 20 something teeth??

Turns out, my one tooth will not be missed after all. Except by me of course. Two weeks later, I'm finally getting to the point where I forget about it when I'm eating. This of course causes anxiety once I realize I've got crumbs of something shoved up in there.

I thought I was writing about working out? Oh yeah. So, the whole working out thing has been great for several reasons: 1) I've already lost weight- I'm not sure how, but I won't argue with the number on the scale (this could also be due to not snacking during the day secondary to anxiety regarding the aforementioned hole in my face), 2) I feel better about myself, and 3) I'm no longer Emo Krissy! I think #3 is the best side effect! Yaay for endorphins!

"I wanna talk about me"

I'm done taking care of other people.*

It's time for me to take care of me.

Why is this so hard for my family to understand?

*My new job is of course excluded from this statement- as that's the whole reason I went to school- to take care of other people.

Note: If you thought this post sounds emo raise your hand. Hey, I can't help it, I went to VCU for 7 years! It has rubbed off a little.

Seriously?! I want my Grey's!

Of course KO and St. Mars find a great band that plays weekly at Cafe Diem a few weeks before I leave. These guys play a little of everything- jazz, rap, r&b, rock, you name it. Because I went with a couple I was the odd girl out. I didn't mind though because I was having a great time jammin' to the music.

I had a great time up until some guy made me dance with him. Seriously, no disrespect, I was 90% certain that he was MR. I thought this because of how he spoke, danced and looked. I don't mean how he was dressed, although I was not a fan of being able to see his arm pit hair. His eyes looked vacant, yet giddy to me. That kind of giddiness I see in children with autism when they swim at the Y. Those kids are so at home in the water. It's pretty amazing to see, but that's another story. So I danced with this guy until he tried to take a sip out of MY drink. Then I made KO save me. Did I mention she had been egging this kid on the whole time? So, KO and St. Mars saved me from this kid, or tried to at least. He could tell I was hiding and came looking for me. To make a long story a lil shorter- he pushed KO out of the way. St. Mars was not too happy about this. A few minutes later when the kid went out the door to make a phone call, St. Mars spoke with the bouncer and got the kid kicked out.

Now I was left alone to enjoy the music, no longer having to flail my limbs in weird directions with some young kid. Oh, he wasn't MR by the way. Just ridiculously drunk. Am I naive or just stupid???

Next, KO found some guy she knew. She was freaking out and hugging him when St. Mars came back from the bar. I waited for the guy to get decked until St. Mars smiled and hugged the guy as well. KO finally turned to me and said "He used to live above us!"

Some quick background information: KO & Masters Laur lived in a fan apartment together last year. I was the unofficial third roommate. I studied with them, ran with them, and stayed over most weekends. I was there a lot. I left my Grey's Anatomy Season 1 DVD at their place for a while. We would watch an episode as a study break every now and then. When I looked for it one time KO told me the upstairs neighbors (two boys) had borrowed it. Then the guys moved out. . . AND TOOK MY GREY'S! I have yet to replace this coveted first season even though it is only $20. I keep hoping I'll track them down or someone will realize they should buy it for me.

Needless to say, I bugged the guy for the rest of the night for my Grey's! Unfortunately, he thought I was being cute and wanted to dance and compliment me (by the way, what guy compliments a girls finger nails?). Seriously? Just give me MY DVDs back! He even said he'd give it back if I went on a date with him. He wasn't too impressed when I told him I already had a boyfriend and I just wanted MY DVD's back. When did it become okay to steal other peoples belongings and bargain about giving them back??

Seriously?!

Short Cut!

Due to crazy family drama that resulted in my being in the ER with my mom Sunday night until 4 AM, I broke down and went to sushi last night anyway. Boy, was it good. Before that the only human interactions I had were with the lady in financial aid (who was not happy about me asking if I could call to confirm that she actually sent my transcript) and various cranky and/or unmotivated people at the Y. A little wasabi, plus some eel and a few laughs with a red head can really cheer one up.

After 5 hours of studying slash chatting it up with KO today, I went for a run.

Its amazing how finding an evasive short cut while running can cheer me up after a few miserable days! Nothing is more exciting about avoiding busy streets that lack sidewalks than getting to run by a horse instead! Seriously cool. Thanks, Masters Laura!

Moving Update

I was called this week and told that "MY apartment" would not be available because the current tenant is unsure if and when s/he is moving out. The nerve! So instead of my secluded, back-in-the-woods spot, I'll be directly across from the clubhouse. This of course has its pluses- I will now be in close proximity to the club house, pool, fitness center, laundry, and a picnic area. The only plus about the other location was that it had a wooded view. Now, my rent is 10 bucks cheaper a month because it overlooks the parking lot. That's a savings of $120/year, people! Do you know how many shoes/books/clothes from Target I can buy with that?! (I'm debating if getting my first big girl job means I should shop at more than just Target and Old Navy? Oh, and there will be the addition of Pottery Barn...where I plan on buying a ridiculous amount of furniture! Hey, I can't eat, sleep, drink, play, lounge, etc. solely on my futon for years people! But, I digress...) Seriously!

Officially one more weekend left to spend in Richmond. This coming weekend. Martha will be in town for a bridal shower and bachelorette, so I'll get to see her. I'm also planning on trying to con people to go out (Sine's anyone?) this weekend to celebrate/say farewell.

A rendezvous with The Best Man is planned for the weekend of the 4th. We're going to his old roommate's parents for a big cookout/firework shooting off/beer drinking shin dig! Should be good times. Then heading up to MD to see The Newly Weds in their trendy row house for the first time! They live 3 blocks for all the hip bars. Expect great things to happen! Plus, it's Brett's birthday weekend! Then it's back down to VA to spend time with The Best Man's family.

I move the 11th, but won't officially relocate until a week or so later. Kinda depends on when/if SC ever gets my transcripts and let's me take the test! If The Best Man's move goes well, then he may be able to help me move down to SC. That means, no renting a moving van (The Best Man drives a mini van in case you missed that some where along the way), sleeping on my futon instead of the floor all weekend, help with boxes, and someone to lounge by the pool and drink wine with.

In other news, I'm trying to save money for the big move. No sushi or Mexican this week in order to be able to go out one last time this weekend....I'm going to miss "Sushi Heaven"!! Le sigh!

VCU and/or US Postal System strike again

So. They don't have my transcript. School claims to have sent it. . . Now all this has to wait until MONDAY at 8 AM! Grrr...

Problem Solving 101

Every story has two sides, right? Well, here's mine:

So, my boss and I both get to the Y at the same time. 3 o'clock. I note two guards in the lap pool which normally has one and immediately know something is up.

There are six to eight employees (both lifeguards and swim instructors, not to mention another one of my bosses) standing around literally staring at an empty puke filled pool. I throw my stuff down in the first dry spot I see and abrasively say "Move aside people; move aside!"

If they can't get the job done I will. Period.

I'm literally trying to push people out of the way so I can see why they have the vacuum in the pool, but not running.

It's all about problem solving, people. The hose is old. It doesn't quiet fit or stay where you want it to. But, we have two hoses. The kids state the other (functioning) hose doesn't fit in the wall. So, I put my hand down in the water to further assess the situation.

"The vacuum isn't on. Once you turn it on the suction will hold the hose in the wall."

I do concede that one of the lifeguards makes a minor adjustment to this hose and then I get started and set things up lickety split. (and okay, so without this minor adjustment I may or may not have gotten the hose working so quickly...but, I digress...)

So, the other side of the story you ask? From what I deduced: They could have dealt with the situation in a timely manner had the hose not malfunctioned. But, they did not problem solve quickly enough. It took them THIRTY minutes to get tape and a screw driver to gerry rig the hose. AND there was no one adding chlorine to the pool or skimming out the puke which ended up in various corners of the pool because they took so long to get moving. In their defense, they knew what to do. They just did not have the problem solving skills to quickly find a plan B. Also, no multi tasking was being done. Thirdly, they didn't move out of my way quickly enough. So what would have normally took an hour to clean up...took TWO.

Oh, wait. That still wasn't the other, unbiased side of the story??? Ooops?!

Paaaanic!

Starting to really panic about taking boards- especially because my study habits have been less than stellar.

I plan to change my study habits and actually start learning material.

Tomorrow. (I have work today, cut me some slack!)

If you don't hear from me in a while I have either 1) actually started studying in earnest and/or 2) had self-induced panic attacks resulting in bodily or at least mental harm to myself.

Allergic to Running???

Due to a newly acquired hole in my face (a whole other ghetto fab story in and of itself) I haven't worked out in a week. I haven't run in longer do to a multitude of reasons which boil down to not making the time. After posting about the potential halves, I realized I better get back into it! So, I hit the pavement this evening!

I got hives. From what exactly, I'm not sure: running or friction or the heat. I've gotten hives in the cold before (did you know doctors can actually diagnose you with being "allergic to cold"?? I don't have this diagnosis, but my friend's sister does. It must be true.). I've gotten hives a few times running as well, but this has normally been in the cold, so I assumed that was the culprit. I've noticed these rashes on the treadmill where it's obviously not cold. This leads me to believe that maybe I'm getting this reaction due to friction? I get these reactions in places where my shorts or shirt rub on me as I move. No, it's not chaffing.

Any ideas?

So, I didn't break any records today. I was actually very, VERY slow. But, I should note that afterwards, I visited Laur & The Boys, and ended up walking with Laur & Mojo (the same exact route of my run). Hopefully, if I'm not too sore tomorrow, I'll be able to find another spot with which I can slowly get acquainted.

To Run or Not to Run...That is the Question

At this point, I'm fairly certain of the two halves (can I add them to make a whole?) I want to do at the end of this year.

First, I'm interested in running the Baltimore 1/2 in October. This would be a great race for many reasons: 1) Good excuse to visit the Newly Weds, Martha & Brett, 2) Cool to do a race in another state!, 3) BIG challenge to do a race that is anything but flat!



Second, The Richmond 1/2 in November. It was a toss up between this race and the OBX race which is the Sunday before. Since I'm not Super Woman, I will not be running two races in a week.

Surprisingly, I have not done this home town race before. This is actually the first year they have brought the 1/2 back. It has just been the whole marathon for the past several years. This is a good excuse to come home and run through my home town that I'm sure to be missing at this point of the year. I'm going to have to make my family sign something saying that since I choose this race over the more scenic OBX race they will not only watch me, but CHEER me on! Also, I'm hoping I can con The Best Man into doing this race with me...or at the very least traveling into town to cheer me on!



If I do indeed find the money, time, energy, time off, running partners, and cheerleaders required to do these two races in such a short time span, I'll have completed THREE halves this year- bringing my total up to FOUR halves.

Wish me luck and happy running!

Update: Thought I should check out the races in and around the Greenville area. I stumbled upon this:


Yep, that's a half IN GREENVILLE. And it's just a couple of weeks after the Baltimore race. AND The Best Man will be visiting at the end of his road trip. What to do...what to do...?

Let me put a bug in your ear...

Starting Friday on our trip down to Greenville, something strange happened to my right ear. It feels as if my ear is filled with water, but it isn't. I've had buzzing that comes and goes- mostly comes. Also, I've had muted or dulled hearing and the frequencies I do hear have changed.

You know when you were a kid and you figured out you sounded like Darth Vadar if you spoke into a fan? That's what things sound like if you talk in my right ear.

So, The Best Man, diagnosed me. "A spider probably crawled in your ear, layed eggs, and now the babies are eating your brain."

Probable? No. Possible? Yes.

Read a couple of these stories and accounts if you don't believe me: 9 year old with not one, but TWO spiders found in his ear or several short stories of spider and other bug trauma.

If those stories aren't close enough to home for you, I'll tell you about my sister. Sadly, I only have this account from my mom and my sister and did not witness it first hand. If you know My Sassy, then you can picture this happening.

As My Sassy came home one night she was accosted by bugs that had been swarming the porch light as she walked in the door. One of these bugs lodged itself in her ear. My mom heard screaming/squealing/shrieking. My mom ran to find my sister swatting at her ear. Her arms were flailing and she continued to squeal.

The more the bug squirmed and wiggled the more My Sassy did the same. Sassy, however, was also screeching! "Get it out of my ear!!!" After a few minutes it was obvious that neither my mom or my sister could get the bug out of Sassy's ear. It was decided to head to the local "Doc in a Box."

The car ride was filled with Turrets like moments where my sister would squeal and flail her arms. (if only you could hear my mom tell this story!)

After being admitted (no, not into the psychiatric ward), the "Doc in the box" had to extract the bug, still squirming, out of Sassy's ear with long tweezers. Sassy finally stopped waving her arms and wailing like a banshee.

If you mention this to her today, her whole body will visibly shiver.

So, you see, I have a close encounter via my "Irish twin."

THEN. Tonight. As I was getting ready for bed I spotted a dime sized spider crawling on the wall by my bed. I quietly (this is very impressive if you know me and spiders) grabbed a tissue and tried to squash it. This spider hopped! And it continued to hop 4 or 5 times until I was able to squish it with a sneak attack!

I'm so totally convinced that there is at least one if not more spiders living in my ear. If my memory starts going or I start acting funny, you'll know that I wasn't making this up.

Dear M1s Studying in Barnes and Noble,

Please, if you are going to socialize (while pretending to study) relocate to a venue where people are not actually studying.

Better yet, why don't you go to class? I know you guys have class from 8-12 just about every day, so why are you in B&N chatting it up instead of attending class?

Sincerely,
Kristen-I'm-a-doctor-before-you-and-am-actually-trying-to-study

Note: M1 = first year medical student. I'm not sure if this is just used at VCU or other institutions as well. The number behind the "M" denotes the year, so a fourth and final year med student would be an M4. P3= Pharmacy 3rd year and "D" denotes a dental student. Students of these schools usually tried to insisit we go by PT1-3, but that never caught on. Instead, we simply say "I'm a (insert year) physical therapy student...or student physical therapist as TK would say :)

Another Note: The VCU Medical Campus has not been MCV for years. VCU is what is on my dipolma (both of them actually). Maybe I will rant more on this at a later date if you are lucky.

"Hey, Kristen, that kid puked over there...you wanna clean it up?"

I don't think I could EVER get paid enough to feel good about cleaning up some one else's kids' puke.

Especially when the kid is not even violently sick.

Note to parents: if your kid throws up because she swallowed too much pool water PUT HER IN SWIM LESSONS so she doesn't drown or puke on my watch!

Thank you,

Kristen-I-think-I-have-puke-under-my-toe-nails!?

HOME :)

I officially have an apartment!

I found a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom about 15 minutes from work. The second bedroom is going to end up as an office/guest room. It has two doors that swing open and can kinda extend the living room space, which is nice. The kitchen is small and open, so you can see into the living room while you're cooking. It also has a "breakfast bar" which I love! I can't wait to go shopping and find some cool bar stools to put there. The bathroom just has a the tub and toilet in it, with two sinks in the hall outside-nice if I actually have friends come visit. I also have a little deck off the living room and dinning room. Oh, and I can't forget to mention a real, working, wood burning fireplace! There are tons of windows, filling the apartment with natural light and offering wooded views. I'm SO excited about getting to play around with decorating/furnishing it! :) Pictures to come once I can distract them from The Best Man's camera!

The YMCA = red neck country club

Don't be offended if you are a fellow Y patron, if you sing the YMCA louder than any of your friends, if you've worked there or lived there or been a member there for longer than you can remember.

Do not take offense.

I've worked at My Y for almost 8 years now (7 years and 11 months and 1 day to be exact, but hey, who's counting?). I can honestly say, come summer the Y turns into a red neck country club.

What I mean is we get a LOT of new members for the summer. The old members vanish to the outdoor pools and clubs or come at less conspicuous times of day. They spend the summer sipping lemonade and lounging by an outdoor pool in order to get some rays. In their place are new members with bleached blond hair from the box (it's actually kinda orange and stringy versus being done at a salon). Not only do these new patrons have bad hair, but they have at least 4 kids all under the age of 6. These kids are thrown in life jackets while they run across MY pool deck so that their mom's can hang out in the sauna in their yellow string bikinis.

Tattoos. Now. There are tasteful and even meaningful tattoos. Red neck tattoos take the cake. Now, perhaps they are meaningful to someone, but they are by no means tasteful. The tattoo I saw today on one of our new members backs was a teddy bear (that didn't look too cuddly, actually) holding 4 balloons. Each balloon had initials in it. I can only imagine that they stood for each of her four children.

Speaking of tattoos, working at pool I've seen some nasty, wrinkled, saggy, and washed out tattoos. I've included a picture of a ridiculously tacky tattoo on a pregnant woman. Unfortunately, I have not seen the likes of this in person. One can only hope.

Wedding Weekend

Ooooh, so you wanna hear about the wedding do ya?

Friday consisted of a girls day in which we got our nails done, lounged around watching bad home makeover shows, did our make-up and ate (Rehersal dinner had fab food!).

Saturday: The big day. Got our hair did early in the morning. I was surprised at not how big my hair was, because let's face it, I always have big hair, but how "long" my hair looked all wound up on top of my head! The bride was beautiful, radiant. The church was gorgeous. The ceremony was really nice. The reception had great music, food and company. Need I say more?

Sunday: Brunch with the bride's parents and their families.

All in all I primped a lot, mingled a lot, and ate a whole lot! What could be more fun?

The Best Man (not of this wedding) and I looking all duded up:



The wedding party jumping, duh, I'm the one with the coolest jump:

Andy, Brett's Best Man, and I being introduced:

Today's bumper sticker. . .

"GOD WANTS TO SEE SPIRITUAL FRUITS
NOT RELIGIOUS NUTS"

Bold. Witty. Profound.