I'm a slacker of a blogger. I know that. However, I do feel entitled to get riled up on behalf of my fellow bloggers when old people start questioning blogs. Actually, according to my co-workers I feel entiled to get fiesty over anything. I like to call it caring about my patients. But, I digress.

Okay, so I do realize "old people" is a generalization that may not be appropriate. Plenty of people prior to the MTV generation are now blogging. Heck, I'm sure they blog more frequently, eloquently and about more important things than I do (but, hey, who doesn't). What I'm trying to say is, I'm not calling you old.

I joined the local YMCA a few months ago and immediately noticed signs announcing the start of a book club. The first pick, Julie and Julia by Julie Powell, I had just started and was only a couple chapters deep. This was a sign. Kismet if you will.

Now, I've never participated in a book club, but I do love to keep my nose in a book or two or five. Growing up I didn't speak unless spoken to, and generally thought of the characters in my books as dear friends. Unfortunately, I don't find much time for reading these days. A book club was the perfect opportunity to make time.

If you're not familiar with this book here's the quick and dirty run down. An almost 30 year old secretary decides to cook all 500+ recipes in a Julia Child cookbook in 365 days. One year. The book follows her trials and tribulations as she cooks her way through the cookbook, blogging all the way. Her blog was so widely read, she went from blogger to writer due to the popularity of it.

Here's where my angst comes in to play.

I don't like talking in front of people. Not one bit. And I've never participated in book club prior to this. So, of course, you know the first question comes at me- what was your favourite part about the book?

Okay, so now this book, it was about an unfufilled woman cooking, blogging, cussing and drinking. Nothing really stuck out as a favourite part. So I state I liked the parts where the actual blog excerpt was in the book and what the readers (of her blog) had to say. Everyone looks at me like I'm nuts.

Later on during the discussion everyone rants about blogs and how they don't get it. Why are all these people who don't even know her reading this thing for a year?

I tried to explain the culture related to blogging and the internet in general, however every time I opened my shy little mouth someone else would talk over me. It was quiet unnerving for my first book club meeting. Especially, when I don't like talking.

The book for next month, The Best Christmas Pagent Ever, will hopefully bring less banter and more discussion.

"It's my birthday!!!"

As I stood, chilled, in the parking lot, waiting for a friend to finish a phone call before we entered a fantastic Indian restaurant, the following scene unfolded before me:

A happy couple exits a bar. Dangerously close to one another (I couldn't help steal and change those lines as they were perhaps written for a situation similar to this). They stumble to their car, then abruptly change their course. Run to "Lucy's Love Shop."

The girl yanks on the door to find it locked. The girl tugs on the handle again before her partner's hip juts out to gently shove her out of the way. He gives the door a try.

"Nooo!" they scream in unison as the shop keeper glares as she turns out the lights and points to the closed sign.

"Come on! We'll be quick! We know what we want!"

"It's my biiiirthdaaaay! Coooome ooon!"

After what had to be several minutes of the two of them literally jumping up and down and shaking their fists and yelling, the shop keeper flips on the lights and lets the pair in.

At this point I couldn't help but hear that horrible "birthday sex" song in my head. 'Nuf said!

Welcome to Ghetto-fab G-vegas, baby!

Hot diggity!

This summer I made the switch from beef hotdogs to turkey dogs. The Best Man's favourite beef hotdog brand is Nathan's. All beef dogs, especially the "jumbo" variety can run close to 200 calories. The turkey dogs I've grown to eat over the past few months are closer to 45 calories per dog. I figured if I could make the switch from beef to turkey- how hard could it be to switch to veggie?

Very hard indeed. Calories aside (80 per dog, almost twice my turkey dogs), these dogs are a no go. Besides looking strange (more orange than the pink of a beef dog and the white of a turkey dog), these veggie dogs did not taste...well, like meat. I tried them with melted cheddar and american on top, before dipping them in a swirl of ketchup and dijon mustard. Then, I tried eating them with a mouthful of beans. These were not just any beans. The only beans I buy are Bush's. You know, the kind with the maple syrup and bacon? Oh yeah, nothing but The Best. Taking a bite of these babies along with a bit of the veggie dog seemed to help. I can only guess this had something to do with the taste of bacon. Needless to say, once I've eaten the rest of the package, I'll be going back to my trusty turkey dogs.

For those of you whom can't forgo your beef in order to partake of the wonders of turkey, you are certainly missing out. Ground turkey makes a great subtitute for beef in tacos and burgers. Turkey bacon is much less greasy and fatty than the real bacon. I really enjoy this when I'm craving bacon and actually like it much more (so does my stomach and arteries!). Veggie bacon can also work in a pinch, but is not as good as turkey bacon, however much better than a turkey dog. Give it a try!

The Best Man and I are heading to Nashville, TN tomorrow after work. We will be spending a long weekend exploring "Music City." This is the first time we have gone somewhere that The Best Man has NOT been and I HAVE! I went there for a conference last year and got to do all the "country" touristy stuff. So we will be bypassing that this time and seeing more of the city! We bought "attraction pass" which will get us into 4 attractions. So far, we have decided on doing one of the amphibious "duck tours" which will be on both land and water and a river cruise. The weather may not be on our side, so I'm not sure what else we will see with the pass.

We will also be going to The Bluebird Cafe. This is a listening room where songwriters perform in a quiet setting. At the end of the show a "surprise guest" will appear. This is usually an artist (not a writer). For me, this will be the highlight of the tour!

I'll be posting pictures sometime next week!

Hello, World! I'm an artist!

Please keep in mind, this is a work in progress.

I've recently become a member of www.etsy.com and will be making jewelry to sell on my site there. Please check out www.krissymiss.com for more information. Expect to see new additions over the next few weeks and months!

Shop-a-holic and Coca-Cola Icee

As if I didn't have enough trouble staying clear of Target (where I can easily blow $75 each time I go...even if it's on two consecutive days)- I've now discovered Target has a Coca-Cola Icee.

This lovely state of South Carolina does not have 711's. This means no Slurpee's. Thus, this Coke Icee is the next best thing.

I did discover a little known shop-a-holic saving secret. If you have as much trouble sticking to your shopping list as I do, try this little trick: Buy your favourite iced drink at your first stop and leave it in the car. This will ensure that you only have time to pop in and out of the shops and stick to your shopping list- otherwise, your drink melts in the car!

Now, I have another dilemma. I've recently cut out drinking sodas. Why do I think it's okay to drink a Coke Icee? Is that not a frozen soda?

Ps. We are going to Nashville, TN this weekend! Wahoo!

Run!

Today I was able to run a whole two miles without foot pain. This may not seem like much, however, I am very pleased!

MapMyRun.com | View 2 Mile Loop From The Y in Greenville, South Carolina

Posted using ShareThis

PG 13 Blog Post Here: The Stories My Patients Tell Me

"I was a stripper!"
"No really, what did you do?"
"Really. I was a stripper."
"Come on, be serious."
"In Baltimore, Maryland. Do you want to hear what my name was? Berry Vanilla. That's why my husband brought me the vanilla plant today. As a joke. He knows all about it, you see. My specialty was lactating. I would spray the men. I figured if they were dumb enough to pay, I may as well do it."

This was in the middle of the hallway in front of a patients open door whom was visiting with family. Needless to say, when I walked by 10 minutes later the door was closed.

Welcome to acute care, ladies and gentlemen!

I almost volunteered The Best Man to fight a drunk high schooler...opps!

The Best Man and I had a picnic dinner at the park. We were laying on the river bank after eating with the river at our feet and the parking garage several yards behind us. Suddenly, something wet landed between us.

A half full Budweizer beer can.

The Best Man inspected and noted several beer cans by the parking garage. I packed up our stuff, put in the car and stormed up the incline of the deck looking for the kids who threw the can at me.

What was I thinking?

"How dare they?" That's what I was thinking.

What was The Best Man thinking? "I hope we don't get killed."

We have since spoken and he has been instructed to ground me and calm me down the next time.

I ended up confronting the 4 or 5 high schoolers. One of them was upset because I called him an idiot because he had fallen (or been pushed as he claimed) off the parking deck through a tree and onto the ground an hour earlier. This kid hand long scraggly blonde surfer boy hair and was 1/2 my size. He looked at The Best Man behind me and said "Is that your boy? He's going to have to fight me."

Then he began to take off his shirt.

Why is it that people who are trash talking always take off their shirts to fight? I mean, what's that going to do?

Needless to say, The Best Man has a lot cooler head on his shoulders than I do and simply stated we were not going to fight anyone and were just looking for whom ever threw a beer can at us.

Although there was an empty can at their feet, the same variety of what I was now wearing, they claimed some other kids did it.

And with that we stormed up the flight of stairs to the top level...where I cooled off and made The Best Man call the non emergency police number.

I hope those kids at the very least got busted for loitering and smoking and drinking under age. Take that little twerps!

Ps. Next time, The Best Man, will forcefully restrain me if need be and then we will stay put and call the non emergency police number.

7/11

Today, 7/11, is free Slurpee day at 7-eleven. Last year on this date I drove down here, stopping to get a slurpee before I left, with a car load of clothes and PT books. Unfortunately, this state does not do convenience stores justice. At least this part of the state doesn't. No 7-eleven's around here. All the convenience stores are the small, shady ones connected with cheap gas stations. You know, the kind where you would never ever dare to use the restroom even if you had the runs because you know you'll easily get a communicable disease just from touching the door knob? So, that means no free Slurpee's for me today. Everyone down here just tells me to get an Icee. Seriously? There is no comparison to a Slurpee. So, someone out there, please have a cold one on me. A Slurpee that is. Cola or Mt dew are the best.

More dental work.

Began work on the much needed crown numero dos today! They drilled and drilled while I slobbered and gagged. Then they did impressions and slapped a temporary crown on. In 2-3 weeks I will get a call when the crown has been made, then I get to go back and have them cement that puppy on! All I have left (to my knowledge anyway) is an implant to fill the gapping hole in my mouth! Then, the next plan is to see if I can con someone into whitening my teeth at a decent price! Wish me luck!

I ran two miles at PT yesterday. This is kinda a big deal because that's half of what I was up to before I wrecked my foot with too much running. Also, I'm not hurting like I was after the first time I increased my mileage up to a whooping 1.5 miles. I had a doctor's appointment on Tuesday. The ortho doc pretty much discharged me- I can go back on an as needed basis. I'm going to try running outside this weekend, which will be the first time off of the treadmill. I'm stoked that I can finally run outside again...after almost 1/2 a year! Wish me luck!

Busy.

In the past month and a half:
- The Best Man moved down to SC.
-An OT Student...excuse me, Student OT moved in with me for the summer.
-Two couples got married: one in Greenville, SC and one in NoVA.
-I got "put in time out" at work as I like to call it and am now on the cancer floor instead of the Ortho floor.
-I went to the beach for a long weekend over Memorial Day and got a bad sun burn. Believe it or not, I've just started peeling in the past week or two.
-I've been going to PT and recently started running on the treadmill with increased mentation to do so.
-Currently in VA for my Granny's 88th birthday! Go, Granny! :D
-I've started making earrings and have become quite good at it.
-Sam and I have learned to make sushi. Everyone is mad impressed. You should be too.
-I've gotten hooked on the Twilight series.

Next up:
-Learning to swing dance.
-Learning to shag.
-Astronomy lessons.
-Learning to live in the same town as the Best Man and find time to update my blog. . .
-Beach trip for a week in Obx at the end of the month.
-Summer trips:

• hiking
• Charleston/Savannah
• "staycation" in Greenville doing nothing at all.
  

-4 more weddings to attend this year, in 3 states:

• Boone, NC
• NoVa x2
  
• San Antonio, TX
  

You know you need to update your blog when...

Your boyfriend takes you off is 'blog roll' because you don't post enough. . .

Lame.

Walk this waaaay

Last March, my nephews Michael and Matthew were born 3 months early. Their weight totaled just over 3 pounds. They fought for their lives for weeks in the NICU before little Michael passed away on April 1st. Now, over a year later, little Matty is crawling and starting to pull up on furniture. He is just now in the past couple of months able to go out in crowds due to his weakened immune system. With every encouraging word from his doctors and therapists we have hope that he will keep catching up with his peers.

My sister-in-law is very involved with The March of Dimes. She is raising money to walk this year. I am unable to go home for the walk in May, but would like to do my part here in Greenville.

Please donate and help prevent prematurity. Every dollar helps!



PS: Debate of the week: walk 6 miles in my cast or just show up and give them my donations....? Hmmm?

The Big Purple Monster

The Big Purple Monster (named by The Best Man) is to immobilize my foot for the next 3 weeks. . .

Here are just a couple of things that are difficult for me to do without movement of my foot (specifically, I'm missing dorsiflexion the most):
1. walking
2. stair climbing
3. showering
4. squatting, bending down or doing anything near or on the floor
5. speaking of 4...getting off the floor
6. hoovering over a public toilet

Wish me luck...I'm already going insane and it's only been 2 days!

Mega Update

Birthdays:
I went home this past weekend for my kid brothers birthday. Ok, so he's not a kid and I can't call him "my little brother" either. He's over 6 feet tall and he just turned 20. We went to Fridays for lunch on Saturday, then had a surprise party on Sunday afternoon. The highlight of my weekend was getting to see 1 of my 2 nephews. He will be 3 next week. 2009 is the year of the "why?"s. I can't tell you how many times he would follow up the answer to a question with another "why?" I do love his blue, blue eyes. Next Monday is my mom's 50th... then the following weekend is my sisters 25th. Only milestone birthdays this year, please. More to come on the birthdays over the next two weeks. . . Speaking of...mine is in just over a month! Holla back!

Teeth:
My real crown has been made and is hanging out at the dentist's office until Wednesday when I got to get it glued on. Most likely they will have to drill off the fake temp after having to use super-de-duper glue after it fell off initially. Not looking forward to that...but at least I can eat on that side of my mouth again. Next up, crown number two.

Foot:
I've been taking anti-inflammatories and not running since the last week of January. No relief. Yeah, sure it's better with walking at work. However, I remain unable to do a real weight bearing workout. Summer is coming up people, this is a big deal! I went back to the doc. Talk of instability. Really? Did I mention I had a 3rd degree sprain in high school? Oh wait, I put that on my intake form. MRI is scheduled for tomorrow. Current discussion of a walking cast x 1 month and/or surgery to rough up the joint space. The idea of this is to cause scar tissue to form and hold that joint tighter. Doesn't sound very thrilling or even promising to me. What do you think, TK? Personally, I'm down for a manipulation, taping, exercises, an orthotic, anything but surgery.

Boy:
The Best Man moves down here 1 month from today!!! All smiles here! (well, except that I'll have to give back some of his furniture!) :D

Books:
The current stack of books I'm trying to make my way through includes but is not limited to the following:

1. An Imperfect God: George Washington, his slaves, and the creation of America- Henry Weincek. 1/5 of the way through this book.
   
2. Last Chance Saloon- Marian Keyes. Have previous read Watermelon which was fantastic...you know, I love chic lit.
   
3. The Secret Code of Success- Noah St. John. I some how ended up with this book after purchasing several others. Have yet to crack it.
   
4. The Secret Foundation of America- Nicholas Hagger. I have a secret crush on the founding fathers of America.
   
5. Killer Cocktail- Sheryl J. Anderson. Apparently this is a sequel. Must make time to get my hands on the first book. Another chic lit novel.
   
6. Beyond Codependency- Melody Beattie- Self-helpish book. Apparently this author knows her stuff.
   
7. Twilight- Stephenie Meyer. KO made me watch the movie this weekend. Despite missing the first half because the two boys present were teasing us, I loved it. Don't you dare judge me. You people have worse obsessions than this.

Weddings:
So far, and we're barely into spring here, people, I have 5 weddings potentially to attend this year.
2 in VA
1 in NC
1 in SC
1 in TX
I hope to hear of a few engagements this year to spice of the wedding scene for next year. Any takers? Hmm?

That's a wrap people. Hope you enjoyed it!

The things they say

As I'm standing up with a patient the first time, her gown flaps in the breeze showing her backside while I'm trying to tie it shut.

"I'm shining you. You can look or not look, its your choice."

I pick not.

Emergent Care Needed

Please read prior post and the comment before reading further. . .







My temp crown fell out this afternoon.


In public.


While eating a piece of cheese.

NOT impressed!

Toothless grin

Today, I continued the beautification of my mouth.

After getting several cavaties filled over the past few months, I've moved on to crowns.

Yes, that's plural.

I started numero uno today.

The first step of this process is drilling in my mouth while I'm not completely numb, hacking away at my rotten tooth and cementing plastic on top for the next few weeks while someone gets paid way too little to carve a new tooth for me.

I know they don't get paid a lot because a friend of mine back home does it. It sounds like a spectacular amount of money per tooth until you break down the amount of hours it takes to cast molds and carve out a single, little tooth.

Now, let's just hope this lil piece of plastic stays on until the real deal is made.

Oh, and p.s...did I mention a certain Best Man may be moving down here in the next few months? Might have slipped my mind. . .

:D

Apartment Pictures

I know, I know. I've been a slacker. I've been busy. Really, I have. The good thing is that I've been socializing more with people than with the computer. That's a good excuse for not writing, isn't it? I've had a 3rd year PT student staying with me for the past several weeks. We get along really well and I've enjoyed my first roommate ever. She's also good at decorating and has been helping me out. . . Plus, I finally got motivated to buy some furniture. So, without further ado here is the updated apartment:








We went live with the new computer documentation system this week. . . It has been crazy. Needless to say I've been much less productive. We document by exception. Which means if nothing is wrong then you don't write anything. Let's say you have full strength and intact sensation in all extremities. Nothing is documented as its within normal limits. At the end of the day I look at what I wrote and feel like it doesn't represent anything I did with the patient. All in all, it will work out well in the end, its just a matter of getting used to the system...and other disciplines actually documenting when and where they should so I can do MY job correctly.

Well, that's all of an update I can handle for now. I hope you enjoyed the pics, TK! :)

I think patients say more interesing things than kids. . .

Patient: "The last time I was in the hospital I was so sick they almost signed me up for hostages."

Stress

I think I have a stress fracture of the base of my 5th metatarsal.

See the last blog for background on my idiocy.

My Stride

I am in the process of finding my stride, or my running mojo if you will. I've started taking my running clothes to work with me every day so I have no excuse not to run as soon as I get off work. This has worked 9 out of 10 times.

I am obsessed with a park that is half way between work and home. I have no excuse to keep driving when I have my running shoes on and the pavement is calling my name. There are numerous trails to keep me from getting bored. I can run by a jet (I'll let The Best Man tell you what kind it is, I'm not sure), waterfalls, and horses depending on which turn I take. Best of all, I feel safe. I'm not running on the road or in an unsafe area. I've been working out 6 days a week all month and running 4 or 5 of those days. I'm trying to get in a base of 12-15 miles a week before I start training for the next race (TBD?).

Not only has the frequency of my running and my mileage increased, but so has my stride. I was running anywhere between 10 to 11 minute/miles (closer to 9 on the treadmill because it forces me to go faster). 3 out of my last four runs have been JUST under 9 minute/mile. I'm hoping I can keep this up as the weather begins to warm up.

PS. Happy Birthday, Queen TK, the coolest, wino, crazy cat lady, CI ever! :)

PPS. I'm jealous of everyone who got snow! HUMPH!

Alarming

Have you ever been woken up by the sound of car alarm and just rolled over?

That's what I did this morning. Not 10 minutes later I heard a pounding on my door. I looked out the peep hole and saw a man with glasses. Tentatively I opened the door and kept the chain on...like that would help me some how.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry to wake you, but I'm afraid your car has been broken into."

"SERIOUSLY?"

"Do you have a maroon mazda."

"N0. I have a Nissan. Gold."

We then preceded to argue about whether or not this was my car.

Finally, I pointed out that the previous tennants never changed their address as I still get their mail. They live on the first floor of my building now. The officer went to wake up that couple.

I went to check my car as the officer had stated several cars had been broken into. It's fine. I will be cleaning it out this afternoon and parking under a light from now on.

Oh, and I'll be wearing cuter pajamas that match.

I hope everyone else had a better way to wake up this morning. Happy Monday!

"You were around before cell phones"

Ouch.

Rain, rain go away

I got in a fight with my umbrella today.






It won.