Foraging for sugar..

Halloween....again. We just did this it seems like. I love this holiday, except it always seems so freaking cold!!! Yesterday it was 60 degrees, today was NOWHERE near it! That and it seems like such a mad rush of events between now and Christmas and time just flies by.

This year I had a Night Mistress (still unsure of this one), a she-devil and a ninja. I just tried to keep warm. The ghost pin on my hat was about all the festive I could muster.

Michaela did an excellent job on her pumpkin :) The others are quickly decomposing on the porch ...

Like last year, we trekked around Michaela's friend's (Chan) neighborhood. It's close to our place and is a nice friendly street. One house even puts their portable fire pit out for people to warm up by!!

Any Indication

If this is any indication of how my day is gonna go; then I'm going back to bed!!!! No worries...no human injuries. Just a lot of inconvenience. Shit happens, and hey, it's just cars. Plastic is 100% replaceable :) On a slightly happier note, I don't have a "mommy mobile" for the next week. I have a Nissan Maxima for just $6.50/day! If nothing else, State Farm has fantastic rental car coverage :)

Yup, he's got 20 of 'em

Wow...whatta week in clinic! Awesome day on Monday with my capstone patient (neighbor, friend, counselor, drinking buddy), Jeremy. He'd never had nitrous and quite likes it! Which is good, cuz he'll be getting more of it!

The rest of the week has been frustrating cuz a lot of my patients are having to reschedule their appointments due to illness. Now, I understand this, and we have some nasty crud running about the Twin Cities at the moment. But my instructors won't care at the end of the semester about that if my patient requirements haven't been met! My 'well' patients couldn't make it in today either, so I ended up bringing Alex in for a clean. Which is fine...he was overdue.. only he won't exactly count toward my patient count this semester cuz we don't have any pediatric requirements. Which stinks, cuz man have we had a lot of kids in the clinic. But I figured it was better to bring him in than to have no patient, and my score on his cleaning will still boost my overall clinic grade. He was good, for a 4 year old, in that situation (clinic time is 2 hrs @ school). He had a blast running the air and water hoses for me :) And my classmates and instructors are ga-ga over him!!! So not only does he have 20 teeth, but 20 'girlfriends' too!!

Quirky, but sweet

"Ice Heart 2"

photo courtesy of Jeremy Shawley

Check him out at shawleyphoto.com

When you're quiet, but your eyes

Are saying all I need to know

I want to burrow like a sparrow

Dodging alley cats and whiskers

Why do we talk in whispers?

Is it painful hearing voices ring

So early in the morning?

I've been waiting for the day

When I can throw away these numbers

That line my dresser drawers and cupboards

Start me over

Life seems so much slower

With your toothbrush by the mirror

Can I make it any clearer?

And I just might say it tonight

I just might say it tonight

I just might tell you tonight

That I love you

And you should stay all my life

They'll tell you that you'll maybe make it

If your just cut your clothes and change your hair

But I won't fuss and moan

About what you wear

I feel so much better

When I read your dirty letters

Just wear your sweaters in the winter

'Cause I wouldn't want you to get cold

I hope that we're together when we're old

I would have sold all my possessions

Never took piano lessons

But baby you're a grand

And I will learn to play the good notes

And tune you up the best I can

And I just might say it tonight

I just might say it tonight

I just might tell you tonight

That I love you

And you should stay all my life

"Might Tell You Tonight" by The Scissor Sisters, Album: Ta-Dah

This song's lyrics are a bit quirky, but the message is sweet and the tune has a lovely ramble to it. It reminds me that love is just that..quirky, sweet and not always sensible, but has a good feeling to it.

Squash mutilation...

Ah yes, that annual funness known as pumpkin carving. I will admit that I, myself, have never really been into this activity. Not even as a kid. Luckily, Doug was here this weekend to visit the smalls, and he was able to do it! (Thanks, Doug!) Of course, the most amazing part of the whole thing was that Alex carved his own pumpkin! He chose a spider pattern, and while Doug did carve the body, Alex spent the next SIX hours cutting out the spider's legs BY HIMSELF! Ya know, for a 4-year-old, I was pretty impressed! Mostly that it kept him occupied for THAT long :) So they turned out pretty awesome!

Michaela will get hers carved sometime this week, I am sure. She is returning tonight from her father's. She's now a well-seasoned solo airport navigator and a texting extraordinaire :) Thankfully, I have a monster texting plan!!

Growing pains

Yes, I'm suffering from growing pains today. The ones you get as a parent when you realize your babies will not be your babies much longer!

I just put Michaela on her first unsupervised flight. She's all on her own. She is flying to North Carolina for the weekend to see her father. And she has a 2 hour lay over in Chicago (big airport!). I know she'll be fine. She's been flying as a UM since she was 5. She was completely confident running through the security check point. I know we've done it countless times. And if she needs help, I know she'll get it. She's a smart, together kid. Guess I'm just doing what most moms do best...worry! Thankfully we bumped into her Aunt Teri at the airport and she ran her through the employee check point at the airport. It was MUCH shorter than the regular. And I know she made sure she got to the correct gate. Whew!

Got her a cell phone yesterday too. GULP! We'll see how long that lasts.. LOL teenager + cell = possible disaster!!! We went through the 'cell rules' and hopefully she'll remember them! I will be in class when she reaches Chicago, but I told her text me when she got to her next gate :) As sad as it sounds, I am not sure how the previous parenting generation got anything done without cell phones.

Monday Morning According to Alex

Well.. this is EXACTLY how I felt about it being Monday!!

Alex walked out of his room this morning and went directly to the chair and did a face plant!!! Actions do indeed speak louder than words. Even in the life of a 4 year old! Not to mention it was too funny!

Today was a pretty good day. Most of you won't understand this, but I found a capstone patient today. It's a MAJOR requirement for graduation and I was running VERY low on time in finding one. The even better news is that it's my friend, Jeremy :) Thanks again, Jer, for agreeing to this undertaking. I appreciate it more than I could possibly express! (Please save me some of that Black and Tan ice cream!!! Sorry I didn't make it tonight!) And the reason I missed out on that was due to a pharmacology test I forgot I had to study for :( Yuck...Hate that class!

Imagine the possibilities

I have a very strong conviction in the fact that one should never live their life in fear. One should not make decisions based on fear. Fear, has its arenas, as in something that is to keep you alive, but not keep you from living.

Sometimes we get comfortable within our lives; so much so, that days, weeks and months pass by, often without thought or variance. And while there is nothing wrong with that idea, I guess, I believe it keeps you from changing, growing and reaching new heights. I once heard the quote "If the shoe fits, there is no room for growth."

I lived much of my early life doing what I thought would gain others' approval. Making sure everyone around me was happy. Some of that was fear based - I feared disappointing others. But, in truth, unless I am happy, I cannot do right by others. One's own happiness is necessary...often above that of others. But to discover that you have disappointed yourself is by far the worst. Change and opportunites are meant to challenge and produce self-growth, not discourage or prevent one from reaching new potentials. Changes (or even mistakes!) are not always easy, are sometimes daunting, but always educational. Life is a never-ending learning process. One that is to be embraced.

Sometimes, such opportunities aren't to be. But never pass by the opportunity to contemplate the possibilities. Don't look back on your life 20 or so years from now and think "what if?"


"The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one."
-Soren Kierkegaard

"Fear is the little darkroom where negatives are developed."
-Michael Pritchard

"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing."
-George Bernard Shaw

"Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy."
-Norman Vincent Peale

Are ya @$#&%* kidding me??

I'm catching flack for the time lapse between posts, so I thought I'd better get my arse in gear..

Yeah, ok...it's barely the second week of October and it's SNOWING. For the second day in a row! Not heavily. And as most of you know; I HATE SNOW! Actually, might not be too bad except that it's 26 degrees, which also isn't SO bad, only it's windy as hell out there. All in all...not a happy camper. It's just too early for this. I know it'll pass and we'll have some more warmer days ahead, this is just not a real mood booster for me. If I never saw another snowflake again in my whole life, I'd be fine with that! Yeah, yeah, I know.. I moved to the wrong state for that dream to come true!

Last week wasn't the best week either. Had a rough go with the instructor assigned to my quad in clinic. We swear she's bipolar - the unmedicated sort. And she made the week pure hell. The week had its high points - like a patient and his wife bringing me and my friend little gifts of thanks, and a lively and sweet little boy who was just a joy to work on. It's those little things, those gestures and experiences, that show you that someone appreciates you and thinks you're doing an awesome job! And I guess, in the end, it's my patients' thoughts and feelings that should matter most to me; not those of my unsupportive, and dysfunctionally psycho instructors.

The week ended with a visit from Todd. A very welcome end to the week! Also spent some time with Becca's Girl Scout troop @ their encampment (a cross between entrapment and camping!!). Man those 8 year olds can wear ya out fast! I don't think I was totally recovered until Tuesday! Awaiting pics from another mom on that one and hope to get some photos posted.

As those of you who are quite familiar with me know, when things go really whacky, I often go for a help in the change of attitude department with a new do. So my hair goddess, Melissa, and I had some fun yesterday. Took a few inches off, went darker with some bright red mixed in. It's fun! And in a couple months it'll be on to something new!

Waiting

SW Minnesota sunset



there's a pain that sleeps inside
it sleeps with just one eye
and awakens the moment that you leave
though i try to look away
the pain it still remains
only leaving when you're next to me

do you know that every time you're near everybody else seems far away?
so can you come and make them disappear?
make them disappear and we can stay...

so i stand and look around
distracted by the sounds
of everyone and everything i see
and i search through every face
without a single trace
of the person, the person that i need...

can you make them disappear? make them disappear...

"Disappear" by Hoobastank

Another chance with Prince Charming??

Well, well, frog fans...lookie who's back!! This weekend marked my yearly admittance that summer is over.. I cleaned the garage, packed up the deck and prepared for cooler weather. Upon removing a large clock/thermometer thing from the wall of the deck, I found our early summer visitor harboring there. Not quite as bright green as before..not sure if he was trapped back there or what. But I did have a good chuckle upon finding him. Knowing that Dad and Matt would be thrilled!! (They were quite taken with the little guy the first go around.) Saw him out on the deck again this morning, but he's since moved as it is getting warmer out there. Of course, having packed up the deck has brought on warmer weather...suppose to be 90 today!!! Gotta laugh.. I know it's just a last ditch teaser though.

Still no need to be kissing the little guy... things are going well here. Maybe my "man-picker" is on the mend. Time will tell, I guess. Life is good, I'm pretty happy and there is no rush to things.