Me, Sarah McClachlan and a MRI

I especially appreciated that there tomato award after coming home from having a MRI of my shoulder and elbow Sunday morning. I didn't mind the machine at all, actually was relaxing after not much sleep (2 vicodan did nothing for the pain last night).
The first one for my shoulder was done laying on my back and was easy but the lying on my stomach with my arm stretched out over my head, with handfacing up (for the elbow), well that was a bit uncomfortable. I came out in tears, much to the surprise of the technician who said," you did so well, you should've told me I would've paused it." I told her, that's ok, I'm a big cry baby, not much pain tolerance at all. It still amazes me that I delivered a baby, tho i can distinctly remember saying over and over, "I can't do this", "I want to go home".
Now I wait til Tues. when the report goes to my new primary care doctor; but I really have to wait til next Mon. when I go to the new Orthopedic surgeon. I guess i've figured out either way I don't win. If they find something that wasn't on the xrays that they can repair - that means ....dahdahdahda... surgery. and if they don't find anything that means I need to retire( no more patients, no more tending bar at weddings, no more gardening and definitely no more cleaning) and do nothing (take up watching tv 12 hrs. a day or more likely blogging or maybe even reading if i have that much time) cause absolutely everything hurts it, even doing nothing.

Where were you?

I got this idea over at The Examining Room of Dr. Charles. It's an excellent recount of where he was on 9/11/01 and also a great poem. It got me to thinking...Where was I? I was working at the doctors office . We were in the middle of the morning round of working up patients. I heard a patient in the waiting room saying something happened in New York - at the World Trade Center; then someone said that they were watching it on a TV over in the optical shop. I made my way over there and caught a replay of the 1st plane hitting the tower. Unbelievable, this couldn't of happened. Then as more and more news came in about it, the 2nd tower, the planes were from Boston. Boston Mayor shutting down city, telling people to go home. I'm starting to get worried now, teary. My 7 yr. old son is at school - will he be okay? if (?)something more(?) happens?? What about my husband in Boston? I call, he's not leaving; the bar is full; yes isn't that always where people head.
Us techs were lingering in the hall as we do, filling out charts, chatting (usually about much more mundane things) but now somberly discussing events. The doctor that I am working with that morning notices - what? - the worried look? the tears still in my eyes? or was it fear? that sick feeling I felt for days/weeks after. He kindly looked at me and asked, no told me, " are you ok?you can go if you want to." But I stayed and worked up the patients; I don't remember a thing about that day, but the TV and the tower and the smoke.

Wait, I lied, wrote that yesterday, just came back to edit.

I remember coming home to my house , where I was about to embark on some remodel project and thinking should I bother, does it matter? I also remember having to go to the hospital for some bloodwork/ pre-op tests for my impending gall bladder surgery and wanting desperately to be giving blood, or volunteering to go to NY - to be doing something! I remember watching the wonderful concerts and calling in my contribution and feeling is this all I can do?
And the stories: My husband's sister's son worked in that building and was late for work that day - but his mother was down in Washington on a business trip with her husband and couldn't get him on the phone and couldn't get a flight out, so they rented a car and started driving back. She finally got in touch with him that night. My cousin's friend had business in the Tower that day but got there after the plane had hit and then spent the rest of the day trying to get back to NJ. I know there are countless stories like this.

"There for the grace of G-d go I".

9/11/01

They Failed Miserably

by Kevin Caruso

Though they plot evil against you
and devise wicked schemes,
they cannot succeed.
(Psalm 21:11)

And the terrorists did not succeed.

They failed miserably.

Instead of dividing America,
they unified America.

Instead of destroying our spirit,
they strengenthed our spirit.

Instead of moving us away from God,
they moved us closer to God;
and strenthened our faith.

The evil cowards who attacked us failed miserably...
in every way.

And while our 911 angels are in Heaven,
the satanic terrorists burn in hell for eternity.

They failed miserably.





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I won, I won!!!

Be still my beating heart!! OK you have to go over to The Examining Room of Dr. Charles and see the other winners of The 2006 tomato contest ,in case you think I'm delusional.

Animals

Jackson

Dakota (may he rest in peace)
Yellowfinch

Waitin on his boy to get off the bus.

Summer

Joke Friday

Subject: A Little Flab

One morning, while making breakfast, a man walked up to his wife,
pinched her on the butt and said, "If you firmed up, we could get rid of
your control top panty hose." While this was on the edge of intolerable,
she kept silent.
The next morning the man woke his wife with a pinch on each of her
breasts and said, "You know, if you firmed these up, we could get rid
of your bra." This was beyond a silent response, so she rolled over and
grabbed him by his "winkie". With a death grip in place, she said, "You
know, if you firmed this up, we could get rid of the gardener, the
postman, the pool boy, and your brother."

Full Moon

Moondance by Van Morrison. What a marvelous night for a moondance.......
The moon was incredible driving home tonite from my big indulgence- I got my hair done (that remark makes me officially old)you don't hear any young people saying that. It's something i heard my mother and her sisters say. Now they say highlighted or styled or flat-ironed. Well i'm not only sounding my age, but feeling it too. My shoulder is feeling "out", kinda like my back used to get. I've had 2 cortisone injections there and 3 in my supposed "tennis elbow", which the nurse from the surgery center where i work, told me she didn't think i had (maybe I did and it's better); but she seems to think its deferred pain from my shoulder which started bothering me May '05. The thought that it might not ever go away is too much to bear(I am the world's worst patient, i can't tolerate pain or even just not feeling normal), and I'm not ready for this yet! Since i'm not going anywhere with this post(just wanted to whine) I'm going to bed, but first i'm taking 2 Advil. Can totally relate to Dr. House last night- wish he lived next door.Now I have to wait for my other show(Gray's Anatomy); still like the reruns of the older TV shows the best tho. Didn't i say i was going to bed?

Grand Rounds

I was very excited to be included in this weeks Grandrounds over at Clinical Cases and Images. My post, "Manic Monday" , is in the letters section. Please stop over there and read some of the interesting posts.

Garden Update

First Sunday in Sept.- (Yes, I know it's Monday) - final pictures for the tomato contest over at The Examing Room of Dr. Charles. It was pouring here yesterday and the tomatoes took another beating. I like the Monet look of the first picture and the next one is my contender in the largest category( or is green an automatic disqualify?) - it's my prized Beefsteaks that I wait all Summer for - don't know if they will ever turn red before frost. I will probably try the old put them in a paper bag in a dark place trick. The next picture is one of my sensuous grapes next to an overlooked/overgrown cucumber - they didn't mind this years weather at all and they don't have to be staked!!! My basil did great as well. As for the Tomato contest-I think maybe the August pictures are my only hope.

Can

Found this amazing article & video over at a A Dad's search for truth, it's is probably the most moving i've ever seen. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryCTIigaloQ

Strongest Dad in the World"[From Sports Illustrated, By Rick Reilly]Eighty-five times he's pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars--all in the same day. This love story began in Winchester, Mass., 43 years ago, when Rick was strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs. "He'll be a vegetable the rest of his life;'' Dick says doctors told him and his wife, Judy, when Rick was nine months old. "Put him in an institution.'' But the Hoyts weren't buying it. They noticed the way Rick's eyes followed them around the room. When Rick was 11 they took him to the engineering department at Tufts University and asked if there was anything to help the boy communicate. "No way,'' Dick says he was told. "There's nothing going on in his brain.'' "Tell him a joke,'' Dick countered. They did. Rick laughed. Turns out a lot was going on in his brain. Rigged up with a computer that allowed him to control the cursor by touching a switch with the side of his head, Rick was finally able to communicate. First words? "Go Bruins!'' And after a high school classmate was paralyzed in an accident and the school organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out, "Dad, I want to do that.'' Yeah, right. How was Dick, a self-described "porker'' who never ran more than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he tried. "Then it was me who was handicapped,'' Dick says. "I was sore for two weeks.'' That day changed Rick's life. "Dad,'' he typed, "when we were running, it felt like I wasn't disabled anymore!'' And that sentence changed Dick's life. He became obsessed with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could. Now they've done 212 triathlons, including four grueling 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii. This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. "No question about it,'' Rick types. "My dad is the Father of the Century.'' Rick, who has his own apartment (he gets home care) and works in Boston, and Dick, retired from the military and living in Holland, Mass., always find ways to be together. They give speeches around the country and compete in some backbreaking race every weekend, including this Father's Day. That night, Rick will buy his dad dinner, but the thing he really wants to give him is a gift he can never buy. "The thing I'd most like,'' Rick types, "is that my dad sit in the chair and I push him once.''

Joke Friday

POWER OUTAGE DURING A MAMMOGRAMI actually kept my mammogram appointment. I was met with, "Hi! I'm Belinda!" This perky clipboard carrier smiled from ear to ear, tilted her head to one side and crooned, "All I need you to do is step into this room right hereee, strip to the waist, thennn slip on this gown. Everything clearrrr? I'm thinking, "Belinda, try decaf. This ain't rocket science." Belinda skipped away to prepare the chamber of horrors. With the right side finished, Belinda flipped me (literally) to the left and said, "Hmmmm. Can you stand on your tippy toes and lean in a tad so we can get everything?'Fine, I answered. I was freezing, bruised, and out of air, so why not use the remaining circulation in my legs nd neck and finish me off? My body was in a holding pattern that defied gravity (with my other boob wedged beween those two 4 inch pieces of square glass) when we heard, then felt a zap! Complete darkness and the power went off! "Oh, maintenance is working. Bet they hit a snag." Belinda headed for the door. "Excuse me! You're not leaving me in this vise alone are you?" I shouted. Belinda kept going and said, "Oh, you fussy puppy...the door's wide open so you'll have the emergency hall lights. I'll be rightttt backkk."Before I could shout "NOOOO!" she disappeared. And that's exactly how Bubba and Earl, maintenance men extraordinaire, found me, half-naked and part of me dangling from the Jaws of Life and the other part smashed between glass! After exchanging polite "Hi, how's it going" type greetings, Bubba (or possibly Earl) asked, to my utter disbelief, if I knew the powr was off.Trying to disguise my hysteria, I replied with as much calmness as possible "Uh, yes, yes I did thanks." "You bet, take care" Bubba replied and waved good-bye as though I'd been standing in the line at the grocery store. Two hours later, Belinda breezes in wearing a sheepish grin and making no attempt to suppress her amusement, she said, "Oh I am sooo sorry!" The power came back on and I totally forgot about you! And silly me, I went to lunch. Are we upset?" And that, Your Honor, is exactly how her head ended up between the clamps....

Google

Ok, why do we bloggers blog?
1) Because it's fun ( when it's not agonizing - what to post, is this good enough= is this just crap and i'm making a complete fool(a-s) of myself?
2) It's our creative outlet ( for those of us who don't quilt, etc).
3) It's our place to vent.
4) We don't get out enough. Maybe we should just go down to the neighborhood bar, pull up a stool and talk to the poor soul sitting next to us.
5) Site meter (how many love that feature? - like seeing where all those nice folks that stop by hail from and how many have stopped by (love to break records - even if they're just my own). And love when they've stopped by for a long time - like 15 min.or more! with multiple page views. site meter junky
6)or the #1 reason, maybe, being #1 on a google search, or even in the top 10! Just saw that I was number one today on a search and did get a charge out of it.
So do tell....

Day of no rest

Nope not crossing things off the damn list - forgot the worst one - car shopping. Help. I need advice, so feel free to jump in or leave right now as you are about to be bored to death.
Ok some history: owner of a 2001 Nissan Pathfinder - bought in 2004 with 32K, now has 73K on it. Want something smaller and better on gas. Really want a car that doesn't exist- an inexpensive, good on gas SUV.
Ok more history: prior to the Pathfinder I was a proud (wish i knew how to do those cross out things) make that poor owner of an Explorer - cross out and put gasguzzler. ok i promist I'll stop til i find out how to do that.
Anyway I drove the Explorer into the ground literally, the ground infront of the Nissan dealers, I wasn't even sure if it was going to make it there. But i had paid it off and drove it free for 3 years(expect for those never less than a thousand repair bills).
Ok so now the price of gas soars and this light on my dashboard comes on that is going to cost thousands to repair cause they're not exactly sure how many of these damn whatever they're called that i need. So i decide the smart thing to do is to buy/lease a new car. Oh yea the lease thing!!! seems like a good idea/ seems like a bad idea; i guess it's a good idea if you can't afford the higher car payment but even me, who isn't good in math, can figure out that I'll be paying thousands more(if i buy the car after the lease) or have no car to show at the end of the lease.
Ok so the green side of me wishes I could buy a Hybrid but can't afford that and anyway do they make a green SUV or is that an oxymoron.
Ok i know I shouldn't buy an SUV but here are my reasons: 1)live in New England(hypothetically get alot of snow and I have a long driveway that we rarely get plowed). 2) live near a beach that we can drive on 3) have to take my trash/recycle to the dump and 4) have a large dog that likes to come everywhere with us.
So the two small SUV's i'm trying to decide between are the Honda CRV and the Toyota Rav 4. The RAV has 4WD and the CRV has AWD (wish i've never had but i'm told is good). cept not sure bout the beach thing and isnt the 4WD option with it being in front wheel drive unless you push the button
ok is anyone still awake out there? so vote CRV or Rav. also like the toyota Matrix with great gas mileage but a hatchback. As for wagons liked the Subaru Outback.
Thanks for listening and go on and cast your vote for the CRV or the RAV or a motorcycle with 2 side cars.

Well after these last 2 posts I'd be surprised if i have any commentors left.

To do list

I thought maybe this would be a good place for that damn list, since those scraps of papers and notebooks don't seem to work and I never did figure out how to use that Palm pilot that i had to have for xmas last year.

Fold the laundry that has been on the living room couch for a week.
Do the laundry that has been on the laundry room floor for almost as long.
Sweep the floors.
Mop the floors.
Dust.
Vacuum.
Rent carpet cleaner and clean new rug (1 yr. old) in family room that looks 10 yrs. old already
Wash the damn white woodwork.
Water the plants.
Spray the weeds.
Mow the lawn.
Wash the windows.
Paint the inserts for the windows that have been sitting around for 5 yrs. since we got the "new" windows.
Put the already painted inserts in the sunroom/family room that was done last summer and i finally ordered ? 6 months ago and have been sitting in boxes since.
Hang the curtain rods and curtains in the living room. (it's be 6 yrs. in Feb.)
Attack the paper clutter
Bills, bills, bills - pay some maybe.
Phone calls.
Make Drs. appts.
Vets - ear medicine for dog.
Grocery shopping.
Balance checkbook ( Ha! - never)
Fix the gutters
Call the Fan man (need more ventilation in the attic - mold!!)
Call the Mason (chimney repair)
Buy Fireplace screen
Powerwash shingles on house
Bleaching oil - shingles on house
Get wood floors resanded
Apply granite sealer (supposed to be done yearly - it's been 2 - explains why it looks cloudy)
Finish staining fence with bleaching oil
Mulch in front of fence and house
Buy plants and plant them
Rehang the pictures in the living room (it was painted in March).
Spray attic rafters with bleach
Clean basement and work bench cause husband never will.

Are you tired yet? And that's just off the top of my head. What's on yours?
Oh yea - Take the dog for a walk. That just made it to the top of the list, cause as Scarlett would say, " I'll think about that tomorrow".

Joke Friday

Mrs. Ravioli comes to visit her son Anthony for dinner, who lives with a female roommate Maria. During the course of the meal, his mother couldn’t help but notice how pretty Anthony’s roommate was. She had long been suspicious of a relationship between the two, and this had only made her more curious.
Over the course of the evening, while watching the two interact, she started to wonder if there was more between Anthony and his roommate than met the eye. Reading his mom’s thoughts, Anthony volunteered, “I know what you must be thinking, but I assure you, Maria and I are just roommates.”
About a week later, Maria came to Anthony saying, “Ever since your mother came to dinner, I’ve been unable to find the silver sugar bowl. You don’t suppose she took it, do you?” Well, I doubt it, but I’ll email her, just to be sure.” So he sat down and wrote:
Dear Momma, I’m not saying that you ‘did’ take the sugar bowl from my house, I’m not saying that you ‘did not’ take it. But the fact remains that it has been missing ever since you were here for dinner.
Love, Anthony Several days later, Anthony received a response email from his Momma which read: Dear Son, I’m not saying that you ‘do’ sleep with Maria, and I’m not saying that you ‘do not’ sleep with her. But the fact remains that if she was sleeping in her OWN bed, she would have found the sugar bowl by now.
Love, Momma

mirror image

Or is this one better? Horizontal or vertical. Indecision, indecision.

No words

Now this is funny

You Should Be a Joke Writer

You're totally hilarious, and you can find the humor in any situation.Whether you're spouting off zingers, comebacks, or jokes about life...You usually can keep a crowd laughing, and you have plenty of material.You have the makings of a great comedian - or comedic writer.

What Type of Writer Should You Be? http://www.blogthings.com/whattypeofwritershouldyoubequiz/

Joke Friday

Subject: Walmart Greeter

An unattractive, mean spirited woman barged into Walmart with her two kids. Shoving her way past several customers waiting to get carts, she demanded of the Walmart Greeter, "Go through those carts and find me one that doesn't need oiling for once!" "Yes, Ma'am, happy to oblige," said the Greeter. He chose a cart for her. "Here you are, Ma'am. I hope this one is okay.' "If you'd move out of the way, I could find out!" snapped the woman. "Sorry, Ma'am," the Greeter said, standing aside. "You and the twins have a nice day." The woman halted. "They're not twins, you moron! They don't even look alike." The greeter agreed. "No, they don't, Ma'am. I just find it hard to believe you got laid twice."