Noodles Are Yummy

This One's A Dud

2011-01-23T09:31:00.001-05:00

Not *reaaaalllyyy* a big deal, but definitely annoying and somewhat untimely-- my dad needed my car (which was really his car) for a long road-trip to pick up my grandma from Maryland, so he swapped his for mine (which used to be my grammy's). Less than 90 minutes after I had his, the tire blew. I waited until the morning to do anything about it since it was after 9pm and freezing cold, and AAA came within an hour and a half or so of my calling for assistance. The guy who helped me got the spare tire out of the trunk (it's a '99 Cavalier and the spare is just as old, so I was pleased to see that there was more than a pile of dust and rusty rims in there as I was expecting a geriatric family of moths to fly out when he opened the hatch under the trunk!), put it onto the car and inflated it a bit. I was good to go!

Phew-- no sweat off my back.

Then I drove my grammy-mobile to the tire shop and (also amazing) they were able to patch the tire! As soon as it was all done I drove to my parents' house and traded cars again as by that time my dad was back from his trip.

Easy come, easy go-- and thanks, dad, for swapping cars with me in the first place!

A Good Roommate Is Hard To Find

2011-01-14T06:37:00.019-05:00

I know that time seems to pass by so quickly when you're in the midst of a busy life, but it really is uncanny how fast a year can go without your ever realizing it. Such is the case with my first year in my (now not so) new apartment. I'd written about it in my last blog post (not the recovered tree one from 2007, mind you) and was extremely excited at the prospect of moving out of my parents' house again after having lived there since finally finishing with my undergraduate work at university in 2005.

Well, a year and some months later and that roommate, the girl I'd previously described as "a friend from work" that I was excited to be moving into an apartment with, turned out to be a dud. Actually, worse than a dud. The year itself was OK-- I mean, work was hard and with its own issues, and a lot of family stuff was going on, but my new living situation somewhat took up a lot of the free space in my brain. And I think it was a general toss up between what a relief it was to again be in an apartment on my own versus how crazy and ridiculous and borderline scary my roommate was.

Let me start from the beginning-- this girl, let's just call her Maria for lack of a better name, didn't initially want to live with a roommate. She was 30 or so at the time and her lease was going to expire at the end of June, so she needed a place to live. But she'd been living by herself for a few years and wasn't so keen on living with someone who wasn't a boyfriend, who she didn't have at the time. Knowing this, I groomed her into believing that splitting the apartment with me would be the best idea (so really the disaster of a year with her was all my fault!). After some coaxing and some budget proposing, she agreed. The entire place was $1600/month in rent and it was big. Not new or glamorous or particularly sturdy, but big. So for $800/month plus cable and utilities we each got two bedrooms and a shared living room, kitchen, bathroom and deck with street parking. Not too bad. Her two rooms were adjoining, and mine had a view of the Hudson river and the Tappan Zee bridge. Two nice touches that helped to seal the deal, I think.

Maria moved in at the end of June and I moved in at the beginning of July, and at first things seemed to go pretty well. I should have guessed, however, that something was "off" the first week we lived together when her sister called the cops and filed a missing persons report on her because Maria hadn't called to check in with her in a couple of days. So for three days the police came to my apartment, at all hours, to look for her. When I finally got in touch with her and told her to go to the police station to let them know she was OK, she refused, stating she didn't feel like it... what a naive idiot I was to think that'd be the extent of her craziness! But then I started to notice a few more little things the continued to bother me... like she never cleaned up after herself except for washing her own dishes. So our kitchen and bathroom got kind of dirty. And she never washed her dog or vacuumed the rugs, so there was black pet hair everywhere, and on the rare occasion that she'd attempt to clip her dog's toenails, she'd leave the little black bits of nail on the rug as well. Dirtiness wasn't her only flaw, either. She seemed a bit inhumane to her pet, we'll call her Jasmine for lack of a better name, who she kept locked up in one of her adjoining bedrooms for the most part, even in the summer despite not having air conditioners in her windows. She took her to pee in the mornings before work, often came home on her lunch hour to walk Jasmine, but then would come home and forget to walk her again at night, which would result in a puddle of urine or a pile of poo either on the kitchen floor or on the back porch.

And how can I forget the time she stopped wanting to take turns taking out the trash? It had been 95* outside for over a week and I had been out of town. When I returned, I spent some time cleaning up the disgusting kitchen just so I would feel safe preparing foods there again... and out of the corner of my eye I noticed movement from the window in the kitchen on the back deck. I saw that it was birds-- very sweet finches and doves and other small birds. How sweet! But then I remembered that we really didn't get birds on our back deck and wondered why we had them all of a sudden... and then I saw why. Maria had left a bag of trash out back for who knows how long, and an extended family of maggots had grown inside the bag, attracting all of the birds, which had pulled holes in the garbage bag to get at the maggots-- which were squirming all over the deck under the bag. Ugh.

Maria also had sticky fingers and a very creative imagination with how she seemed to procure items that didn't belong to her. For example, I had bought a ton of chocolates and candies in bright colors and filled up several clear glass vases that I have on display on the bookshelves in the living room-- it was so pretty that way, and passing through one could have a sweet treat. But within a week $25 worth of candy and chocolate was gone-- demolished by Maria. And then there was the episode with the hand soap in the bathroom. I had filled it for an entire year with soap refills and two months before she left I got sick of it, so I let it run out and waited for her to finally purchase a refill. Four days later soap appeared in the pump, but I recognized the smell and noticed the absence of a bottle of body wash that I had been keeping in the linen closet. When I questioned her about it she lied and said she filled it with "just some soap that I had lying around," which I clarified with her was *my* soap that *I* had lying around and why didn't she just go out and buy some instead of telling a lie about it and taking my stuff. She called me a petty bitch and asked if I was going to penny pinch for the rest of the time she was going to be living with me.

I wondered if I was still being a petty bitch when I felt anger and disgust after discovering that she'd been logging onto my computer to print out school materials for herself and had exhausted my printer ink completely, leaving me unable to print out a boarding pass the morning of a flight. And when I'd discovered naked pictures of her that she'd downloaded to my computer's hard drive, evidently to email to a boyfriend, of whom I also found naked pictures. I guess she thought she had gotten rid of them, but the recycle bin on the computer doesn't empty itself! So I got to see her boyfriend's erect penis, Maria's spread-eagle vagina (the X features in red were added by me to keep this blog from being too XXX rated!), and a bunch of other nauseating displays all over my 19" flat screen monitor. Blech.

And then the month before she moved out, she cancelled the electricity account. Sigh. I didn't feel like living in the dark or in the 100* weather we were experiencing this past summer, so I opened up another account, but she refused to pay her part.

When she finally moved out, I made plans not to be around as things between us had become somewhat strained. So Susan and I went to Virginia for the weekend... but not before I put locks on both of my doors. I didn't know what she was planning, but I didn't want her touching any of my stuff on her way out.

On returning home, I discovered that Maria had shorted out the power by leaving the microwave running without any food in it... as I noted by seeing the dial time down from 25 minutes on high when I flipped the switch on the fuse box. In shorting out the apartment's electricity, the fridge had shut off, ruining hundreds of dollars worth of my food. I figured it was her parting gift and was just glad for a fresh start and to be rid of her.

But I was mistaken! One more grand interaction which culminated in a visit from the police-- complete with her screaming and banging with all her might on the front and back doors to the building, honking wildly on the car horn, getting a neighbor to let her into the building by scamming them about what she was doing at the apartment, and then climbing out the window on the landing outside of my front door, climbing onto the roof of the front porch and banging on my bedroom windows, apparently trying to push her way into my room via dislodging the air conditioner perched in one of the windows. All because she'd left her computer router and a bag of dog food in the apartment and she wanted them back. At 11 o'clock at night. With no advance notice.

So yeah-- that basically sums up my year with Maria. I'm glad it's over... but it sure does make for some good campfire stories.

Goodbye Big Tree

2011-01-13T05:17:00.000-05:00

[NOTE: I just found this post and realized I'd written it in July of 2007 without ever publishing it. So for posterity, here it is.]

I moved to the house I currently live in sometime around the 9th year of my life. Before that I'd lived in a condominium a quarter mile away and before that, a roach-motel of an apartment in Mount Vernon, NY until I was about one year old. The house itself was built during the early 1950s and the trees that are/were on the property have been there since the inception of the neighborhood.

Sadly, about 8 years ago the big Maple tree in our back yard got sick. Despite nitrogen injections and heroic efforts made by my mother and the people at the tree-rescue company, the tree died and had to be cut down so it wouldn't fall onto the house during a heavy storm. That was a sad day as not only was the tree beautiful, but it's leaves provided tons of shade for the back yard, it's roots a grave site for many of my childhood pets, and a lovely branch from which my tire swing had hung.

Then, in the last few years we started to notice that the Japanese Maple growing in the front yard wasn't as robust as it had been in the past. Fewer and fewer leaves were coming back spring after spring until finally, this spring, nothing grew back-- this tree had died, too.

Sigh. It was really unexpected, as you can imagine, when the town arborist made a visit to our front lawn to inspect our "sick" tree. No, not the dead Japanese Maple. The arborist told us that our beloved gigantic Ash had to come down-- the only remaining of the great living trees in the yard. My whole family was shocked-- this was a gorgeous, healthy looking, leaf-laden tree which appeared to be thriving where it was next to our driveway. For days my mom argued with the town about the fate of our tree, but in the end, they told her that it was afflicted by some kind of blight and that it was a public hazard.

So, on July 8th, the men from the town came and cut it down. The three of us went into the yard and tried to stop them, but the guy basically told us that if we resisted their work, he'd just call the cops. So we stepped aside and let them do their dirty work of ridding our front yard of shade and beauty. Ugh.

Since then the yard has been noticeably sunnier (and uglier). I've been looking in planters' catalogs and wildlife books trying to pick out the types of trees we should plant in the next year or so. Maples are always a good choice for this area since they're hardy and beautiful and provide a good amount of shade... but we're also considering some more ornamental types of trees. Who knows what we'll decide, but when we do, I'll post pictures of that.

UPDATE from 2011: My parents and I never did replant in the front yard, and it remains uneven and extremely sunny (uncomfortably so in the summer). I tried adding a few small flowering shrubs in the planting beds we have in the front and back yards, and it does look a little better with the delicate hot pink flowers in the spring and summer, but they don't provide any shade and nothing compares to the majestic beauty of an old growth tree. Hopefully at some point in the future the front yard will again be the home for some beautiful shade trees. Perhaps when I move back in... I guess only time will tell.

Not Buying A Home

2009-05-20T23:01:00.007-04:00

Ok, so if buying a home doesn't quite work out, and you've got to get out of your parents' house come Hell or high water, there's always renting, right?

Well that's what I did. After looking at a bunch of places all over the county, and after having made two unsuccessful offers (not on the unit mentioned in the previous post, but on a completely different condominium that was being sold privately) on a place and being disappointed and then finding the condo of my dreams right where I wanted it to be, I thought I'd be all set. But, some things just don't work out the way one might expect, right? Part of life being interesting, I guess.

But, as luck would have it, an old friend from my childhood with whom I'd recently reconnected through an online social forum mentioned to me that she and her roommates would be moving out of her apartment but that she would be moving to the basement studio, and that her 3 bedroom unit would be available. I jumped! My prospective roommate, (I'll use an alias here for privacy of my roommate) "Maria", and I went to visit the place one night after work and as soon as I saw that it had potential, and knowing that the rent was affordable, I made the confirmation call to the landlord that I wanted it.

It worked out great-- today "Maria" and I and my friend Susan went to the place to see it one more time, work out details of a renter's agreement, and to pay the deposit.

So it's final! And as much as I REALLY wanted to be a homeowner, I know that that'll come in time. But what's more important is that now I'll be living away from home, with a friend from work, and that I can once again be a free lady. Phew! I can't wait!!

Now, I also can't wait to be a homeowner, but I guess all the good stuff in life takes time...

Buying A Home

2009-02-28T23:23:00.000-05:00

I've been entertaining the idea for quite some time, especially since living with my parents isn't all that cool anymore! So lately I've been going to open houses and scheduling showings in my area and the more I see other places, the more I realize how much I like this one particular condominium that I saw. It's in the same complex that I'd lived in as a child, which is maybe why I like it so much, but it has a pool and meeting room at the clubhouse, great parking, no pet restrictions, low taxes and maintenance fees, and is in a fantastic school district with great district amenities (gigantic pool and tennis courts at the school).

The unit itself is in a bit of a state of disrepair as it seems it has mostly not been updated since the complex was built except for newish flooring and paint and a new sink in the bathroom and appliances in the kitchen. It does need all new windows and new sliding glass doors out to the terrace, a new terrace railing as the one that's there is really wobbly and rusted out, a new kitchen counter/cabinet as the existing one isn't connected to the wall very well (I leaned on it to sign the sign-in sheet and the entire counter moved up and down), and new carpeting as there was a big iron burn in the master bedroom and my mother said she could smell dog urine in the rugs, plus the bathtub has three big circular rust stains in it, so that'll need to be changed, too. Aside from the wobbly counter in the kitchen, there will need to be updated in the cosmetic department since the counter tops and cabinets and hardware are all original, and it looks like the insides of the MANY closets have never been cleaned or painted, ever.

I really do like it though, so I hope I can put an offer on it that the seller will like. There's already an offer in place, but no contracts have been signed and the seller is still entertaining other offers in the meantime. Hopefully the realtor and I will be able to take another look at the place... I'd really like to be a homeowner!

I'm so excited... we'll see what happens and I'll be sure to keep you all updated!

Wow-- It's REALLY Been A Long Time

2009-02-19T22:16:00.020-05:00

Okay, so it's been almost a whole year since my last post. I bet all of you loyal readers are jealous because my life is so exciting that I don't even have time to post a few entries here and there. But have no fear, I'm here to throw you a bone and give you some updates on the craziness that's happened in my life in the last 11 or so months (or what I can remember of it!).

Over the summer I participated in the 2008 Boston 3-Day and faced the biggest challenge of my life-- successfully! Walking those 60 miles were fantastic... so much so, that I even signed up for this year's walk. So... if you're interested in donating, please visit http://www.the3day.org/goto/emilyharper2009 for this year's fundraising site and give all that you can. The funds that you give help with breast cancer research, treatment and education and the whole thing is tax deductible. If you can't donate online, there's a link on that page to print out the paper donation form to mail in. Please help!

Hmmm... what else has happened lately. Well, in August, my mom had a spine surgery that was unsuccessful, and now she's in even more back pain than she was before. I stayed with her the entire time she was an inpatient, which I think was three days. She had the surgery at NY Presbyterian, Weil-Cornell campus, and I think the very best part of the whole event was the room she got after leaving PACU. She had a private corner room on the 14th floor (I think) overlooking the East River and the 59th Street Bridge, and from one of the many floor-to-ceiling windows, I think I remember seeing the Empire State Building. It was like living in an airy $8000/month studio apartment in a luxury building with room service, except my roommate was constantly screaming in pain and needed to be helped frequently to the bathroom to pee.

Then in September I went to the Dominican Republic with one of my friends and stayed with her and her family in a tiny three bedroom house in a *very* small village outside of Azua about an hour or so away from Santo Domingo. It was a great trip but ended with an unintentional weight loss of about 15 pounds, which normally wouldn't be such a bad thing. But when you consider traveling internationally with nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, and your period as a bonus, it doesn't sound so hot. But other than that, the trip was great. Also in September was Kate's bridal shower weekend which included two (not one!) bridal showers in Rochester and Auburn and a visit I did up to Buffalo to see Melissa. It was such a nice visit, so nice to see everyone!

In October my dad was diagnosed with cancer, so that month was filled with attempting to figure out the big "what's next?" as far as his plan of care. He started an aggressive plan of chemotherapy and radiation, had a feeding tube surgically placed in the operating room, and began his healing process which is still going on as he's still unable to swallow (thank God for the feeding tube!). Though his recovery seems slow, I know he's doing a lot better, and we're all pretty much just passing time until his follow up diagnostic scans, which I hope will take place early in April.

Also in October was Kate and Ryan's wedding. Yay! I was the Maid of Honor (yes, I know this is the third wedding I've been in...), Matt was one of the Groomsmen, and the coolest parts of the whole day were sharing in the ceremony that Kate's dad performed at the Downtown Rochester Public Library (gorgeous!), and having me and Matt as the witnesses to sign the marriage license. Aw! The reception was a blast and the whole weekend was a big success and a lot of fun... except for the speeding ticket that I got on the way up to Rochester (which, I have to say, was completely devastating and undeserved-- I was attempting to avoid hitting another state trooper whose ass was hanging out into the highway as well as trying not to get rear-ended/rear-end the people in front of me-- but alas, I pleaded not guilty, was charged with a lesser offense, and mailed my $285.00 in like a good citizen afraid of losing my license!). Wow... that was a big digression. :)

November held another vacation-- this time my very first cruise, as well as my very first vacation with someone other than Susan. Her friend, Mike, attended with us and made the whole thing an interesting experience with an odd number of people. The trip was great though-- the boat was beautiful, seeing the Florida Keys, Cozumel, Mexico and Belize City, Belize was great... as were all of the excursions we took in each port of call. In Key West we took a historic train ride around the island, which was fantastic, then spent the rest of the early afternoon walking around and shopping in souvenier places. In Cozumel the three of us took a catamaran ride to a place where we got off and went snorkelling in the open water, then back on the boat to a private island/beach where we got stung by tiny jellyfish while playing in the warm clear water! In Belize, Mike and Susan and I split up and I went on a trip zip-lining through the tropical rain forest and then tubing through a crazy system of caves. They were all such fantastic extra little trips! On the boat I did everything from resting poolside in comfy chairs to rockwall climbing, to going to the gym (ok, only once, but I went!), to doing karoke TWICE! It was such a fabulous time-- I'd definitely do it again!

I don't remember what happened in December, but January was ok. I stayed home for New Year's and went up to Boston for the six days afterwards, which had been the longest trip I'd taken to Massachusetts since the Boston 3-Day last August. Also during the December/January period was a brief visit with Laura who had come home from Alaska for a Christmas visit. Her dad had driven down from the Albany area to pick her up from La Guardia Airport, spent the day with her and another friend in NYC, and then stopped by me where the three of us had a snack and a warm mug of apple cider at a coffee shop in Pleasantville and caught up for awhile before heading back up to north of Albany. Aw, how much I miss her!

Now it's February, and I just came back from a visit to see Matt for Valentine's Day. This was most likely one of the last regular trips I'll be taking to Boston, except for the odd visit to see friends here and there, and it makes me really sad. Matt lost his job, so he's moving back home to the Finger Lakes region of NY State. Sigh. I like it up there, and I enjoy spending time with his family, but I thought that having to drive 3+ hours to see one another was bad. Now it's going to be about a 5 hour drive. I wonder when we'll ever live in the same city and cut it out with this long-distance crap. It's so frustrating!

Anyway, that's pretty much it. Surprisingly I condensed most of my life and I think I got pretty much all of the exciting stuff in. If I think of more, I'll do updates/edits. I also REALLY hope to continue writing here more regularly, so keep checking back... because noodles really *are* yummy. Enjoy, everyone!

It's Been Awhile

2008-04-12T20:58:00.009-04:00

Holy crap, it surely has been awhile. As in months and months... I don't know if I've ever been this bad before, but man oh man!

Anyway, as always I have eight gazillion things going on all at once. Right now the biggest one is fundraising for the Breast Cancer 3-Day that I'll be doing in Boston this August. It's a 60 mile walk (yes, that's 60 miles!!) over the course of three days that benefits Susan G. Komen and the National Philanthropic Trust, which both help fund breast cancer research and treatment in a major way.

Please, if you haven't done so yet, visit my personal fundraising page and make a donation. I've got to raise at least $2,200.00 by July and I've actually set a personal goal of $3,000.00. So I need your help!! Cut and paste this website address or click on the link to assist me in reaching my huge-ass goal! http://www.the3day.org/goto/emilyharper2009 (note 2/19/09: this has been edited to include the link for my 2009 fundraising site)

Thanks, everybody. Your support really means a lot to me.

PS- If you're interested in walking with me and joining my team, let me know! I'd be happy to tell you more about it!

Happy 2008

2008-01-02T22:58:00.000-05:00

So our upstate plans didn't fall through after all.

Matt and I left for Albany about 4:30pm on the 31st and (despite a long stop at Stewart's-- my favorite upstate store after Wegman's-- for eggnog and soda, and besides the fact that Laura gave us bum directions and had us driving all over downtown Albany-- three exits too early on the Thruway) we got to the Robertson house about 7:30pm.

Movies and board games, giant puzzles and a toast at midnight all led to a fabulous laid-back new year's celebration with my girl and my guy (and my girl's mom and grandma, too!).

I ended up falling asleep in the middle of Lord of the Rings, so we closed the evening about 2am, and the three of us slept in Laura's room. When we woke up in the morning it was already snowing, so I tried to hurry myself and Matt into leaving pretty quickly but the snow had already started to accumulate. Driving around in the Albany/Schenectady area was the worst-- the roads were terrible with snow and slush and the car we were using slid around a bit despite my slow driving. But when we hit 87 it wasn't as bad and we could pick up our speed a bit more safely.

Until the traffic hit that is. What should have been a two to three hour drive home ended up taking over six hours. I think there must have been a bunch of accidents (that we saw no evidence of) because there were just so many cars on the road all driving really slowly through some parts and then getting up to a good clip at other parts along the way and then slowing down to painful speeds all over again. And the road conditions were fine at that point, so I'm not sure what was going on. What I do know is that we spent so much time sitting around in the car driving 4 miles per hour that every time we hit a rest stop I had to pull off to pee. I hadn't even drank that much juice with breakfast, but we were spending so many hours pretty much idling along that my glomerular filtration caught up with our miles traveled per hour and led to stopping at every single rest stop along the highway from Laura's house all the way home. It was pretty impressive, actually.

Anyhow, we're all home now, but Matt has to go back to his parents' house tomorrow, and then I have to go back to work on Friday. Boo. This was a nice bunch of days off though, and I'm glad I had the chance to rest and visit with Matt and a whole other bunch of friends (Melissa and Brian along with Tara Osterhoudt last week, Laura and Elena this week) while celebrating the holidays and the new year.

Happy 2008 everyone!

No Business Like Snow Business

2007-12-31T11:49:00.000-05:00

I think my new year's plans have been cancelled by default-- Matt and I were planning to visit with Laura who's back in Clifton Park from Alaska for a little while... but the news just said that Albany got a foot of snow yesterday and is expecting another 9 inches tomorrow.

Sigh.

If anyone has an alternate plan, tell me quickly!

Congratulations Are In Order

2007-12-30T23:02:00.000-05:00

Hooray for Kate and Ryan! They're engaged...

and it's all because of me!! (Just kidding!)

(Sort of. Heh.)

I'm so excited for both of you! Yay!!

Happy Holidays

2007-12-24T20:39:00.000-05:00

Time really does fly... even when you're not having fun. So the year is almost over, and as such, I've been doing a lot of reflecting back on all the stuff that happened and didn't happen. If anyone's interested, here's a brief list:

-spending time upstate with Matt, his family and friends in January, the highlight of which was a weekend at Ryan's apartment (the part where I introduced Ryan to Kate, not the part where I cried for a couple of hours because I was drunk and stupid)

-throwing a 56th birthday party for my mom and all of her friends at her favorite Chinese restaurant

-cutting a vacation with Susan short and rushing back to NY from Florida for my mom's kidney transplant

-freaking out again as my mom's health deteriorated to the point of loss of consciousness... from a urinary tract infection, and then feeling the amazing relief that came with her recovery

-helping to celebrate Mel and Brian's wedding as one of the bridesmaids

-summer vacation in the mountains with Matt, Ryan and Kate... ah, sweet relief

-passing the intermediate care class at work and enabling myself to care for patients who require cardiac monitoring

-going to Laura's sister's wedding in Albany as Laura's date and getting to stay in the honeymoon suite the night before (heh heh heh)

-going to Spain with Susan... awesome, as expected

-taking my very first romantic hot and sweaty 9-hour bus adventure with Matt from Syracuse to Boston (blech)

-learning about Kate and Ryan's engagement (that I set them up for!!)

-planning with my parents for my dad's cardiac catheterization and open heart surgery which'll be happening just after the new year

-working A LOT

And while the list of things I've done and accomplished isn't too long, there really were only a few things I didn't manage to get done:

-buy a property and move out/live by myself
-go on a road trip with any of my friends
-go on an international vacation with Matt
-visit Laura in Alaska
-start working on a Masters degree

All in all then, I guess it was a pretty successful year. I probably wouldn't trade too much of it... things flowed naturally and honestly helped to shape me a big into the person I am today (doesn't that sound like a high school graduation speech?). Life is pretty good, and I'm glad I'm a part of it. Though I do think that it might be a bit better if it were a bit more boring. But who's counting? :)

Fui En Espana

2007-11-06T13:53:00.000-05:00

I came back on the 4th of November from my annual vacation with Susan-- and this year we went to Spain. It was another tour led by a fabulous tour director, and it started on October 26th, so it was a bit longer than last year's trip to Ireland. I'd like to post some photos but I can't do it just yet-- our old computer apparently exploded while I was gone, so we've got a new one, and between having to set up a lot of settings and save stuff back onto it from recovered discs, memory cards and emails, I'm not quite ready yet. Plus I don't have Susan's photos yet (we always share both of our cameras on our vacations).

So when things are a little bit more organized, I will begin to impress you with the beautiful sights I got to see while traveling around Spain. Be sure to check back soon!!

Does Anyone Even Still Read This?

2007-10-14T11:08:00.000-04:00

Oh man, it's been a long couple of months. Not all bad stuff, though. After my mom was released from the hospital she sort of got better. Though three months and many different types of oral antibiotics and her urinary tract infection still hasn't cleared... I'm beginning to wonder if it ever will. But she's feeling OK for the most part so I'm not overwhelmingly concerned.

Life otherwise has been busy but fine. I'm in Boston right now, watching Matt sleep, and wondering when I should try to start driving home. Seems like I haven't been home much at all lately, which is honestly kind of the way I like it. August was busy because I was taking a class at work, so I was preoccupied with studying and homework, and then I had my orientation on different units in the hospital... and then September seemed to fly by. Now I'm back on my own unit, but I've been traveling a lot (to Albany at the end of September for Laura's sister's wedding, to Florida with Susan at the beginning of October, now to visit Matt, and in two weeks I'll be leaving again to go to Spain with Susan).

On other news I almost had a crisis and moved out of my parents' house. Not that moving out would have been a crisis (more like an "it's about time I stopped mooching" event). I don't know what exactly prompted it but it was probably something like I'd been arguing more and more with my mother and I just couldn't take it anymore. She and I have such a close relationship, but when I finished college and moved back in a couple years ago, our closeness compounded and the fact that we're both strong-willed and outspoken kind of took over the household and strained our relationship. I end up crying a lot more than I'd like to admit, and I know I make my mother cry also a lot more than I'd like to admit. So those two facts are a prime indication to me that it's time for me to leave. But I don't want to just leave... though I almost moved in with Adam, which would have been a blast. I really would like to buy a place though, and right now I can't afford it, so if I moved out and stopped being able to save money, I *really* wouldn't be able to afford to purchase something. Plus, there are other reasons I wasn't quite ready to leave at that moment... so it didn't happen.

Anyway, so that's pretty much it. Matt's awake and we're probably going to play a little catch or something before I get going. Hopefully it won't be another three months before I post my next blog entry. I wouldn't want to keep all you Noodle fans waiting.

It's A Nike Life

2007-07-28T11:59:00.001-04:00

Mom is sick and in the hospital again. I was planning on posting about all kinds of things that have been happening in my life in the last few months-- going to Julie's baby shower, having five days with Matt and meeting all kinds of friends randomly in NYC, taking the intermediate care nursing class so that I can read strips and take patients on cardiac monitors, Melissa's upcoming wedding and my upcoming summer vacation, and lots of other stuff. But all of that seems stupid when family things come up. Like my mother, who had to go to the emergency department again yesterday morning.

My dad called up to me at 5:45am yesterday-- "Em? Are you awake yet? I'm taking mommy to the emergency room. She's been vomiting all night and she has a fever." I got ready for work and then stopped by the ED before reporting to my unit. Mom looked OK, just exhausted and dehydrated. She was getting some IV fluids and her temp hadn't gone above 100.8, but that was with Tylenol. I hung out for ten minutes and then left to get to the last of my ICRN classes.

At 12:30pm when the class was over, I went back to my unit to find that my mother had been admitted and was in a bed on the floor. Again, she seemed OK albeit a bit tired. So I left her and went to help the other nurses on the floor hang blood products, give meds, ambulate the patients, etc. My mother went downstairs for some diagnostic tests. Then all of a sudden the ultrasound department called and requested a nurse to come down-- mom wasn't feeling well, and she was shaking with fever and chills. They wanted to know if someone could come down with some Tylenol. I went downstairs armed with a thermometer to check her temp and some Tylenol in case the fever'd gone up totally unprepared for what I was about to see. When I got into the u/s room, there was my mom lieing on a stretcher shaking so badly she couldn't get any words out and screaming in pain from back spasms. I took her temperature-- 103.0 (!!), quickly gave her the pills, and assisted the u/s tech in bringing her back up to my unit. When we got her back to her room and back in bed I was beside myself-- she was delirious with fever, speaking nonsensically. I checked her temp again-- 104.4! Afraid she'd start having febrile seizures, I ran with another nurse to the pantry, prepared a shitload of ice packs as fast as we could, and packed them all over my mom. I started her back up on IV fluids and checked her temperature every ten minutes, ordering a cooling blanket to come up from the basement between tasks. Slowly, between the Tylenol, the ice packs and the cooling blanket, the fever began to come down-- 104.0, 103.9, 103.4, 102.7, 102.3 until she began sweating profusely and her temp was back in the 99's.

Holy shit-- I was so scared I'd been shaking. Fevers that high are horrible. I know babies get high temperatures like that and it's just awful, but I'd never known of an adult who wasn't intubated and on a ventilator in the ICU to have a temp above 104.

When she was a bit more stable, Elisha, my friend and the nurse assigned to my mother, administered some IV steroids and then some pretty hefty IV antibiotics. Apparently what had started out as a urinary tract infection had progressed to a much more complicated infection with systemic involvement. Phew. Nothing in my family is ever simple.

I'm a little bit calmer now knowing that the fever isn't critical, but she did spike again during the night into the 102's. She's also had some more diagnostic tests done-- renal scans, chest X-rays, blood and urine cultures, CT scans, arterial blood gases and has continued to get more IV antibiotics. And, just a little while ago, complaining of right-sided chest pains, they moved my mom to a cardiac monitored bed for observation.

Today is a day off for me. After the stress of yesterday afternoon (not just with my mother-- there was a narcotics discrepancy when I counted the narc box at the end of the shift and a livid health care proxy screaming at all the staff for allowing her completely with-it father to sign out of the hospital against medical advisement after he'd pulled out all of his tubes and refused any further treatments) and then sticking around to be with my mom until 9:30 at night I came home with a whopping headache. Actually, it was a migraine-- I'd taken meds for it while still in the hospital (which I NEVER do) so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. So after sleeping in a bit, I went downstairs, prepared food and packed a picnic for two for my dad to bring to my mom: whole wheat bread, oat bran and flax seed pitas, fresh egg salad, some leftover cold steak, lettuce, sliced tomatoes, grilled asparagus, and a blueberry and walnut muffin I'd baked a few days ago for dessert. The food, a couple bottles of water, some paper plates and napkins and real silverware all went into a big basket lined and covered with cloth towels and stuffed with ice packs. I've already made some stuff for dinner and plan on packing a similar basket this evening so that the three of us can have a picnic later on, too.

Hopefully the infection will begin to subside with all of the antibiotics she's getting, and hopefully she'll be able to come home again soon. Things like this seem to come up a lot in our family making me quite glad to be living very near a good hospital with a fantastic team of physicians on the transplant service. And we haven't said it in awhile (not since things with the boys were a bit more hectic), but this episode just goes to prove to me that it really is a Nike life for us.

Sick

2007-07-04T21:13:00.000-04:00

I've always considered myself a pretty healthy person, but in the last couple of years I've been getting more and more colds. So it wasn't much of a surprise to me two weeks ago when my throat started hurting and I began to cough up horrible chunks of blech.

I could have called out sick from work a couple of times, but when it was really bad I just wore a mask. I feel like if I can wake up and function during the day, there's no point in sitting around drinking broth and feeling sorry for myself. Besides, I could do that on my days off.

So that's what I've been doing these last 15 days or so. Except for last Saturday, when I went to a baby shower thrown for my friend Julie from Bing. She's due in a month or so and I'm pretty excited for the second person in my social circle to be having a child. Just makes me think about where I am in life and in my relationship with Matt... but that's all I've got to say about that!

Anyhow, I've just been off for two days and now I'm back to the grind in the morning. Work's been good lately though-- I have a summer nursing intern, a student from a local nursing college. He's two years older than me, and like me, has gone into nursing after having already earned a prior Bachelor's degree. He's very bright and he's fun to work with all day, so it makes the days go quickly and reinforces for me just how much I'd like to start teaching. I did my fingerprints and am now cleared to teach in NY state, so now I just have to schedule with BOCES. Sigh. Someday.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, concludes this post. I'm in the middle of making creme brule for my parents-- I bought my dad a cool set with a little propane torch for father's day and am trying it out for the first time for him. The little ramekins are cooling in the fridge and I'm about to put the torched-sugar top on them. I can't wait!

Birthday Wishes To Susan

2007-06-28T11:07:00.000-04:00

Last week it was Susan's 24th birthday and to celebrate, I went down to Long Island for three days to do all sorts of things with her. Thursday morning she and I met up and ran errands until having to meet her father and her grandparents who'd come in from Florida. We all had lunch together and then Susan and I headed back to her apartment for a quick clean-up (I scrubbed the stove and counter tops!) before going out again with the above mentioned bunch for a birthday dinner at a Mexican restaurant. After being serenaded by a bunch of waiters wielding flan and a sombrero adorned with helium-filled balloons, Susan and I ducked out to meet friends at Dave and Buster's (a bar-arcade place with games and drinks and food) for a night of innocent fun.

On Friday we drove pretty close to Queens to meet up with Ellen, another friend of Susan's from Bing, had lunch, picked up some shoes for Susan to wear to Ellen's wedding this August, and then left that area shopping and running more errands all the way back to her place. We didn't actually get in until close to 9pm, but when we did we cooked up an awesome stir-fry and enjoyed dinner together in her living room before ending our busy day.

Then on Saturday we picked up her grandparents and the four of us drove to Forest Hills, Queens, where we parked and took the subway into Manhattan. First thing we did there was go to the Museum of Modern Art (which I don't think I'd ever been to) on 53rd Street between 5th and 6th Avenues. It was a lot of fun and after a couple of hours we left for Canal Street in Chinatown to meet up with Susan's cousin and his girlfriend for dinner. After that we all took a stroll through Little Italy to do some more (surprise surprise) shopping. Pretty soon it was time for me to go, so we said goodbye to Susan's cousin and Susan and her grandparents and I made our way to Grand Central Terminal where we parted so that I could catch a train back to Westchester and everyone else could catch a subway back to Queens.

Phew! It was a really fun but REALLY busy couple of days. Happy birthday, Susan-- I hope you had a blast!!

Sensational Urination

2007-06-04T00:04:00.000-04:00

The following is an excerpt from an email I sent to a friend. It's completely true and just interesting enough that I thought to include it on my blog so all you Noodle fans could read it, too. Welcome to my life... and enjoy!

"I laughed out loud the other day at work because I was bursting from having drank a liter or so of seltzer and holding it all in for awhile because I was busy with patients... so when I finally made it to the bathroom all I could do was turn around so my ass was facing the toilet, pull down my pants, squat over the edge and let go. It wasn't until a minute later when I'd emptied like 18 gallons from my bladder that I realized I'd sort of missed and had peed onto the little area of the toilet (I think most public bathrooms have this) where there's a break in the seat, so all of my urine had gone down the front of the bowl and had puddled at my feet on the floor. Heh. I'm a real winner."

No Melissa Is A Good Melissa

2007-05-30T12:53:00.000-04:00

I'm in Boston again... I just can't seem to stay away from here. Though I wish Matt and I lived in the same city, I'm not about to go on a job hunt to start all over again... unless he was sure he'd be here for some time. At this point though not only is he unsure of when he'll graduate, but he's also unsure of his post-graduation plans. So, being that I'm settled in my job and have a great rent-free residence, I'm not jumping to upset all of that. Still, we've been together I think almost 30 months, and have only lived in the same city for about 5 months of our relationship. And the longest visit we've ever had was this past January when I was able to get off from work and be with him for 10 days.

Pretty pathetic, if you ask me. We need some more "us" time.

So, here I am again. The good thing about this visit though is that his roommate Melissa's not here. You all read the post about how she behaved last time (and that was just one example of our interactions with her-- it's like that ALL THE TIME), so I was praying and praying that she'd be away. And voila-- she's gone! She told Matt she'd be visiting her parents in Connecticut for Memorial Day weekend, but being that she lost her job some months back, I guess there's nothing really for her to hurry home about. Yay!

Consequently we've been able to spend time together uninterrupted and it's been great. Actually, I'm only here for another day, so I'm going to get going. Matt's snoring loudly but it's after noon, so probably it's the perfect time to jump on him and get this day started. The last time I was up for a visit we walked all over the city and played catch with a tennis ball in the public gardens. I think we might go back to the Boston Commons for some more catch today as the weather's glorious...

Ciao!

BBQ

2007-05-22T20:41:00.000-04:00

I'm having a Pot-Luck BBQ for my coworkers!

I've been debating on and off whether or not to have one over the last couple of months... and now I've decided. It's on!

I told my parents and got yelled at, but I think that's just because they're crabby. Man, I have to move out.

So I've been getting stuff ready, cleaning, shopping and calling around for table and chair rentals as we don't have enough of our own in the back yard. I'm psyched!

The other day my coworker Michelle asked me if Mr. Emily was coming. Honestly, I hadn't even thought to tell him. I'm such a good girlfriend. So that night I invited him. I mean, besides the company it'd be great to have someone cook all the meat for me! Blech.

I can't wait for this thing!

Splash!

2007-05-17T22:11:00.000-04:00

I got peed on at work today!! While attempting to assist my patient with a sterile urine culture, a very forceful stream of urine shot at the wall and bounced back all over my arms!

He was very embarrassed and shouted "Oh! I'm so sorry!!" but really it was all my fault and I made sure he knew that. When I'd gotten enough urine for the specimen, I left him in the bathroom to finish up, sealed the container, and scrubbed myself in the sink for a good bunch of minutes.

In retrospect it was quite comical but at the time all I could think of was that someone'd taken a leak on me. Thank God urine is sterile!!

A Waste Of Skin

2007-05-08T16:24:00.000-04:00

No, this post is not about circumcision-- don't you get all uppity for nothing. It's actually about one of Matt's roommates who I swear is an alien. Either that, or she's on drugs ALL THE TIME.

This conversation took place last Friday night while I was attempting to fix a romantic and relaxing dinner for Matt and me... and I promise, it's almost exactly word-for-word. I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.

Melissa walks into the apartment after having met a friend out for drinks. Speech slurred. Whoosh of booze breezes by every time she passes in the hallway.

Melissa: Hey guys-- whatcha doing? Plopping herself down on chair in dining room.
Matt: Oh, we're just about to have dinner.
Emily: Um... did you eat? Do you want to join us?
Melissa: Oh, no thanks... you guys are so cute. Look-- you set the table. I know, I'm not going to interrupt you or anything. You're so cute. Ems, you're so cute. By all means, how about just sharing a glass of wine, ok? You guys are so cute. I won't interrupt.
Matt: Oh, ok. You sure?
Melissa: No sir! You're so cute. No, where's the wine? Let's all just have some wine. Melissa sits down at the table opposite Matt and drinks a glass of wine. Where's the wine?
Matt: Uh... you already drank it. You want another glass?
Melissa: By all means! Can you get it for me? Where is it? Will you pour it? Where's the wine? Let's have a glass together. Matt pours another glass. Ems, what are you doing?
Emily: I'm cooking dinner. So that Matt and I can eat together. He's studying for a final so I'm just kind of leaving him alone... you know... so he can get his work done. Because he has a final tomorrow.
Melissa: Ok, I won't bother him. Matt. Where's the wine? Oh, is this mine? How come you're not drinking. You can't imagine what happened to me today blah blah blah blah (obviously paraphrased). Matt-- are you cooking?
Matt: No, I'm doing a project and studying.
Melissa: Ems, you're so cute. What are you making?
Emily: Pasta with broccoli rabbe and garlic, sauteed chickpeas and a big salad.
Melissa: Oh! You're so cute! Digging her dirty hands into the salad bowl on the table and eating every single one of the cucumbers and tomatoes, spilling many of the beautiful red and green pepper rings to the ground. But what are you cooking?
Emily: Macaroni.
Melissa: What are you doing?
Emily: Cooking pasta.
Melissa: What are you cooking?
Emily: Noodles.
Melissa: What are you doing?
Emily: Mixing.
Melissa: Why?
Emily: Because I'm mixing. And cooking.
Melissa: You're too cute. Matt-- you better lick her butt for doing all this for you. No wait... you better not... but you better say thank you. Did you say thank you, mister? You'd better say thank you. Say it! Ems, you're so cute. What are you doing?
Emily: Mixing.

Ten painful minutes later dinner is done and out on the table. Melissa is still there, digging her dirty hands into the bowl of salad despite my efforts at placing a dish and some serving pieces in front of her and asking her to use them. When the pot of pasta is in front of her, I spoon Melissa a bunch into her dish in an attempt at preventing her from digging her hands into that, too. Unfortunately I forgot about the chickpeas.

Melissa: Chewing, not saying anything for at least ten minutes. You guys are so cute.
Emily: Ignoring Melissa. Mmm, this is good. Did you finish your project?
Matt: Also ignoring Melissa. Yeah, this is good. No-- I got a little bit done but I still need to work on it more.

This went on for a little while longer until Melissa grabs the bowl of chickpeas from across the table, holds it all up to her face and takes a huge spoonful like it was a gigantic bowl of cereal.

Emily: Melissa! No!! Please don't do that-- just put some into your dish. Do you want me to help you with that?
Melissa: Clearly offended by my chastizing her and giving me tons of dirty looks. No sir. I'm good. By all means. No sir. By all means. No sir.
Emily: Spooning more pasta into her dish. Well please stop eating with the serving utensils. It's gross.

Melissa continues to give me dirty looks, finishes up most of what's in her dish, then grabs some of Matt's off of his plate, eats some of the noodles she's dropped on the table, then burps.

Melissa: Oooh, sorry. Sorry. Sorry, I burped. Sorry. Oops, I burped. Sorry. Sorry, I burped. Sorry. Sorry.

Melissa then puts down her dish, hand to mouth, and before getting up to lock herself in the bathroom with the sink running:

Melissa: No, uh uh. Nope. Not for me. I don't like this. Nope, not my thing. Gross. I don't like this stuff.

It was a nightmare, I can assure you. I was getting more and more angry with each passing second. Melissa managed to be offensive on so many counts that all I wanted to do was kill her. But instead, as soon as she got up from the table to puke, Matt and I threw all the pots into the sink, threw the leftovers into the fridge, quickly got changed and left the apartment for hours and hours so that she could sober up in peace.

The whole rest of my visit here, aside from spending time with my man, going to the gym, cooking and sleeping, has been spent avoiding Melissa. Sheesh. She's a piece of work.

Settling

2007-05-07T13:29:00.000-04:00

Ok, so it's almost a month since my last post and things seem to be settling down a bit more. Well, either that, or I'm just leaving home more and more so I don't see what isn't settled. And you know the old adage-- out of sight, out of mind.

In any case, things with mom are doing better. She's doing almost all of her care for herself-- I just help out with her dressings from time to time and by filling up the bigger syringes. But she gives herself all of her injections, checks herself for her newly acquired diabetes very well and manages that appropriately, doses out and takes her medications diligently five to six times every day and now has started driving herself to her post-op checkups once or twice weekly. All in all, things are improving.

Socially things are ok, too. I'm currently in Boston. I tried to avoid my birthday by spending the majority of the day last week sleeping and doing laundry, and then spending the evening driving to Massachusetts. I had a week off from work and decided that it was time for a big visit to Matt. The last time I'd been able to spend more than two days with him was mid-January, so it was time. On Friday Matt and I drove down to New Haven to spend the afternoon and evening with Laura-- we walked to the park, played catch, ate fresh fruits, went out to dinner, and I got a fabulous back massage. Then about two weeks ago I got to spend a little less than three days with Susan on Long Island. We didn't get to take the nature hike I was looking forward to exposing her to, but we did get to meet up with my friends Tara and BJ for dinner, get a manicure-pedicure for the very first time together, hang out with her little brother Matthew who's about to graduate from High School, and of course we got to shop (the highlight of which was the purchase of a suck-it-all-in garment to be worn under the thin material that's going to make up my bridesmaid dress for Melissa's wedding in August).

There are still a bunch of friends I need to see... and a couple I'm just now getting re-in touch with by phone again. All you people I still need to communicate and visit with-- you know who you are!!

So I guess that's it. Things aren't bad. Another year has come and gone, my family is doing all right, and I think my psyche will make it. Can't wait to see what the next couple of months bring and what summer will have to offer.

Fast Times At Lifeisnuts High

2007-04-15T22:52:00.000-04:00

On March 1st around 1 o'clock in the afternoon I boarded an airplane and flew to Tampa to meet Susan for a week-long vacation. Everything started off great-- she picked me up at the airport, we went to the grocery store, then back to her grandparents' house for dinner, to an ice cream place for dessert, then back home to sleep. The next morning we rented a really nice car with tons of extras from a free upgrade and headed off to a flea market for an adventure in shopping. When we finished shopping (only finishing because the place closed!) we headed to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida for an evening of entertainment and gambling. Oh, it was so much fun! All we did was play slots and walk around, but it was such a nice change of pace from being in NY and working and being stressed out.

Then at quarter to 11pm, everything changed.

My dad called my cell phone. "Where are you, Em?" he wanted to know. I told him I was at a casino and asked if everything was ok. He said that the unthinkable might possibly happen-- a transplant coordinator had called to say that a kidney transplant might occur the next day and he wanted to know how likely that was. I told him that they wouldn't have called if there wasn't a very good chance. We got off the phone with the agreement that they'd call me, even in the middle of the night, with the first bit of news.

Shaking, I got off the phone and told Susan what I'd just learned. When I felt fully confident that I wasn't going to relieve myself in my pants, we got up from the bench I'd planted my ass onto and walked around a bit more before heading back to her grandparents' home. When we got there we told her grandmother and grandfather that it was possible we'd be leaving early in the morning and not to be concerned, looked at airline tickets just to see availability, and then tried to calm down and relax, realizing what might come up in just a few short hours.

Well, a few short hours came... and then left me booking two flights home at 5am on March 3rd. When the plane landed in NY my mother was just going under the knife. I think the first incision was made around 12:30pm or 1pm or so and after dropping our stuff off at my house, Susan and I got to the hospital about 2pm, bringing along lunch for my dad and ourselves and some reading materials to help me get my mind off what was going on in the hospital a few meters from where I was waiting.

Six hours or so after it started the surgery was over with only the minor complication of a little cardiovascular shutdown-- they'd given my mother an IV antibiotic that she didn't know she was allergic to and had to use the paddles to shock her heart back into a recognizable rhythm. Sigh. Never dull with my family.

We visited her in the recovery room after they'd finished sewing her up and discovered that she'd have to remain intubated and on a ventilator for a couple of days in the ICU, which was hard to think about.

The next couple of days just kind of mixed together as my mom was still partially sedated and not breathing for herself... by the fourth day though she was off the ventilator and out of the ICU, up to the nursing unit where I work and under the care of my very own coworkers. Susan left for home at that point as she'd been with me for days and had no more clean clothes and nothing to wear in the winter weather (imagine that-- she'd only packed for Florida weather!), and the rest of the week just kind of melded into a blur of days with my mother gaining more strength while the healing process got underway.

Well, that all was over a month ago. She stayed in the hospital just under two weeks after the transplant, and has had to be rehospitalized twice since then-- once for a bloody nose that required a bunch of cauterizations and a transfusion of two units of red blood cells, and a second time a week later for a little bit of rejection which she got through by having several rounds of really strong anti-rejection medications along with plasma exchanges (literally giving her new blood plasma and draining her of the old plasma) to rid her body of any antibodies she'd developed that were causing the rejection.

And then aside from all the extra hospitalizations, my mom's had a million and one outpatient followup appointments for lab work and ultrasounds and nuclear scans and wound checkups... it's nuts how much time is required to get everything just so after a transplant.

Sigh.

So I'm exhausted (not to mention how my parents must feel). And I'm at my wits end-- I've used up all my patience for my mother so now anything she says ticks me off. Which is bad since we live together so we inevitable have to communicate... so I just try to leave the county a lot. I visit Matt as often as possible, and on my days off when I can't leave I've been trying to get to the gym a bit more and just spend time out of the house.

Hopefully things will settle down soon... I can't keep leaving and I don't want to go crazy for much longer. I'll be sure to keep all you Noodle fans posted though regardless.

Since February 16th

2007-04-02T18:52:00.000-04:00

I just happened to look at down at my blog and noticed that I haven't posted anything since February 16th... and I honestly think that's atrocious. How many days is that? That's like... 45 days. Shit.

I love this blog. Writing stuff here is like therapy for me, and I know it keeps all of you stalkers in on the details of my comings and goings... so I feel pretty crappy that I've been completely absent for the last month and a half and only doing a half-assed job for the six months or so leading up to that.

I know, I know, I always use the excuse that I have a lot going on. But you know what I really think it comes down to (no-- not that I don't care, because I do dammit!!)? I think it ends up being that lots of crap happens and I deal pretty well with it... like, I'll get all my stuff done (except laundry because that can always wait), but sometimes sleep and diet and definitely exercise suffer... whatever, but it's that "always putting yourself last" thing that I fall into a lot.

So, here's my idea-- I'm going to try really hard to blog more often. It feels good inside my head, and I know you all flock to the internet daily just to see if I've added more details of my life for you to peruse. If I'm able to stick with it, everyone will win!

Won't that be great?

When Life Was Simple

2007-04-02T18:14:00.000-04:00

When Life Was Simple: A Poem To Lament Today And Hope For Tomorrow

Back in the day
life used to be great--
I'd work and I'd play,
not a thing did I hate.

But now nothing's simple,
life even seems quite sour...
everything that happens is like a new pimple
popping up hour after hour.

Doctors and hospitals seem to abound
as daily complications continue to arise
and we discover the problems that seem to compound
which are so frequent they no longer surprise.

I'm going to stay hopeful though that soon things'll slow down
because as new crises occur I honestly don't think I can keep leaving town.

(PS- I know this is ghetto, but if you let the words wash over you it's possible you'll catch a glimpse of the hell my life has been these last couple of months)

In The Line Of Duty

2007-02-16T23:13:00.000-05:00

Oh man. The past couple of days at work have been intense. Between the weather and people calling in sick, being short-staffed and having a heavy patient load, work has been quite hectic. Not to mention the other day I had a patient who was nuts. Literally.

I felt bad. He had a history of psychiatric disorders, had been off his meds for weeks and refused to take them while in the hospital, and he was so hot and cold it was unbelievable. One moment he'd be calm, having a normal interaction with the staff members, and the next he'd be flipping out, throwing furniture at people. And to top it all off, he wasn't able to speak because he'd been trached recently, so when he was screaming and flailing his arms, no sounds would come out. Can you imagine that? On the border of sanity anyway and with no way to verbally express himself-- it must have been so frustrating.

But that still doesn't excuse the fact that he hit me. I don't really know how it happened-- he was in the hallway, going nuts. I tried to talk to him and calm him down, but clearly that didn't work since before I knew it, he'd smacked me ninja-style on the arm. Ouch! It ended up being such a hard slap that he left his hand print on my wrist for 20 minutes. Within fifteen minutes of his freakout I called for a behavioral emergency and waited for all the big guys from psych to show up. When they got there they restrained him, tied him down, and I gave him some injections of some very strong sedatives. Thankfully it worked-- within an hour he was fast asleep.

I didn't end up taking the patient again, and his health was improving so much that he was soon going to be able to be discharged to a psychiatric facility that could handle him better. He'd been having tons of tantrums and had to be restrained a bunch of times, sedated even more times, and for some reason, continuously accused me of lying to him about his status as a patient and the location of this clothing even though I wasn't even his nurse anymore. I was so glad to see him leave our unit-- he'd been so disruptive to our giving more attention to some of the sicker patients. Not to mention the fact that I was pleased about not being called a cocksucker anymore (no joke!).

Hopefully this guy will get some help in his new facility-- he sure needs it.

Clod

2007-01-28T19:43:00.000-05:00

Just to reconfirm that although I never get to use the computer anymore I'm still the same amazing chick, I should point out two clumsy yet comical events that took place today. You know, just in case anyone was wondering.

1. In a dressing room while trying on a pair of pants this afternoon I accidentally stuck both legs into one leg-hole and all but fell to the floor. Mind you this was in one of those giant group dressing rooms where there aren't any private stalls... so not only were there no walls for me to lean against on which to stabilize myself, but all the rest of the women in the room also got to witness my grandeur. Picture it: chubby girl with winter jacket zipped and pants halfway up flaps arms wildly while laughing loudly and grasping at all available vertical surfaces, narrowly escaping contact with floor. Amazing.

2. Coming home from my errands this evening I stepped out of the car only to trip on the driveway and roll my ankle. And I know this one's not particularly humorous by itself, but the fact is, I've lived in this house for the last 15 years and the driveway's pretty uneven and cracked, but it's also been like that for as long as I can remember. Case in point, it's not my first time walking on this crappy driveway, so why did I twist my ankle? Because I'm fabulous, that's why.

So let this be a lesson to all my Noodle fans-- I may be absentee, but I'm still freaking awesome.

Lame

2007-01-07T00:06:00.000-05:00

Ok, this is also an old post (duh) that I just finished up. It happened sometime during the end of October or the beginning of November. But lucky you, you get to read it now!

My cell phone died. It's been dieing (is that a real word?) for a couple of months now and I've been putting off getting a new one because, well, because I procrastinate like it's my job. But when I finally was unable to talk on it without leaving the thing in the charger because the battery would die in under three minutes of use and then I blew out the home charger (see the first of the Ireland posts here) and could only talk on the phone while leaving it plugged into the car charger I knew it was time. So I went to the Verizon store.

Four times.

It was during my third unsuccessful visit with the sales associates that I got really upset though. Like, upset and frustrated to the point of crying. I don't know why... I mean, I was getting my period and was feeling weepy anyway, but I 'd also been having a really hard time getting through to those people all those times and the different models of phones I was interested in were never in stock and nobody seemed to want to let me upgrade despite it being over two years since I'd last renewed a contract and I just kept going from store to store without getting anywhere and the only place I could use the phone was in my car, while it was running.... So on my way out of the third store, almost before I even got to the parking lot I finally broke down and cried. Not just little tears of frustration, either-- big body wracking sobs. So what did I do next? I called Matt. He seemed concerned that I was crying until I told him why, and then both of us couldn't help laughing, but I still couldn't stop crying. So without getting a new phone, I left the lot and drove to the grocery store hoping to cheer myself up with the purchase of some avocado sushi. Mmmm. After I picked up the sushi I also grabbed a giant sugar cookie with a big yellow smiley face painted on it to mail to Matt as a thank you for having made me laugh at myself and at the situation. Then, much calmer and a bit more clear-headed, I headed to my car to drive home... but that's when it happened-- I had a run-in with a crazy man.

I don't know what his problem was, but I was still sniffley and red and puffy from the phone incident, so maybe he thought I'd be a good victim. When I got back to my car, I got in, sat down and started up the engine. I was about to drive away when I noticed this guy standing in front of my car, writing down my license plate number. Confused, I got out and asked if the guy needed any help with anything. He just said no and that the police would be handling everything. I had no idea what he was talking about so I turned off the engine and got out, asking him what he meant. He started shouting at me about ignoring him and not respecting his property and doing anything I wanted, and finally in all of his ranting I understood that he was accusing me of having slammed my driver-side door into his passenger-side door, which was ridiculous. I told him I thought he was mistaken and he said "what, you mean you didn't notice that my entire car shook when you slammed your door into mine?"

By that point my confusion had turned to anger and I had started to shake a bit. I told him he was definitely mistaken and to please stop screaming because I hadn't hit his car. He just kept shouting that the police would be here soon enough and I could go if I wanted to, and that I'd be hearing from his insurance company about the damages via the mail. I asked him if he'd called the police and he confirmed, but I had no idea if he was telling the truth and I didn't want to get into any trouble, so I sat back down in my car and called them too. I explained the situation and asked if they were sending someone and if I should wait around for an officer, and if I would have any legal repercussions if I left the parking lot with this lunatic still screaming about damages I'd made to his car. They said they weren't dispatching any officers and that since it took place in a parking lot, it wasn't anything the police were going to deal with. I was satisfied with that answer, so I decided that I was going to drive away from this guy. But before I was going to leave, I thought quickly and decided to take some photos of the guy's car, just in case. So I whipped out my digital camera and shot pictures of his car door, which didn't have a single mark on it from my car. He saw the flash, realized what I was doing, and came over to me, angrier than ever. "What in the hell are you doing?" he screamed at me, tossing in a bunch of curse words. I told him he'd better quit using that kind of language with me and explained that I was just taking notes in case the insurance company did contact me to show them that his claim was fraudulent. He then pulled out a flashlight to show me in the dusk a big scratch in his paint that was there towards the front of his door, but thinking quickly again, I opened my car door as far as it would go. "You and I both know, sir, that there's no way my car could have made that mark," I stated calmly before going back to taking photos of his license plate and the make/model insignias on the back of his car. Ha! Who's the smarty now! I was so proud of myself for thinking of the camera!

I guess the guy realized that I was more than just an easy target, so still screaming out his window, he sped off. As soon as he was out of the picture, I got back into my car and burst into tears again, called Matt to share the misery of my day with him, and drove home....

Now, nothing ever came of that crazy parking lot guy, Matt eventually got his smile-face cookie in the mail, and three days later I made my fourth trip to Verizon and finally got a great phone... so everything worked out pretty well in the end. But that wasn't going to stop me from posting about it online here, and though I usually try not to put too much identifying information up on the internet, there was definitely nothing that was going to stop me from putting the photos of this guy's car up here on my website. So come one, come all and take a long look at his license plate. If he ever tries to con you, don't give in! And if anyone reading this turns out to be a hacker or stalker or something, feel free to go after this guy. You've got my blessings-- he's a douchebag.

Go crazy, yo!!

I Love Ireland

2006-12-30T18:08:00.000-05:00

It came up so quickly-- I guess because so much has been going on in my life and work has been crazy busy, but the 21st of October arrived before I knew it. I worked on the 20th for a coworker who'd booked tickets to Florida, and I was supposed to have gone to Boston for one last visit to see Matt before I left the country, but that didn't happen because my mom needed so much help getting around. And I hate to say it, but I was terribly pleased that before I knew it it was time for my vacation.

Susan arrived at my house about 6pm on Saturday the 21st, we ate a quick dinner with my parents, then headed out for JFK about 7pm. When we got there and checked in, everything went smoothly. The security check went without a hitch (except for the part where they singled out my backpack for inspection and when I forgot to take off my belt so the metal detector kept alarming, but other than that everything was cool), and pretty soon we were on our way, waiting at the gate, eagerly anticipating our second annual girls' only vacation (last year was San Diego... who knows what next year will bring!). Yay! The 10pm flight to Dublin was seven hours, I think, and the seats were kind of cramped... and combine that with both of us being terribly excited and you had two girls who only slept a few minutes (I got about a half hour and Susan got about an hour and a half). Then at 10:45am Dublin time we landed, got our luggage and met up with the Brendan Tours representative who drove us to the Jury's Inn Custom House Hotel which I must say was magnificent. I mean, the room was ok, but the building itself was great and the location was amazing-- right in the center of the city and overlooking the River Liffey.

When we checked in at the hotel and put our stuff away, Susan decided we should test her new electricity adapters so I plugged in my cell phone charger and blew out the electricity in the room while blowing the crap out of the charger. Oh well! Before we knew it though it was 2 o'clock in the afternoon and we were due to meet the tour guide and the rest of the people in our group for a coach trip around Dublin. That was coolÂwe saw St. PatrickÂs Church (which was *not* Catholic), Trinity College and the amazing Book of Kells, and learned a bunch of history about Ireland while driving through the older and newer streets of downtown Dublin. Then at about four oÂclock or so, they dropped us off for the evening in front of our hotel. Susan and I went back to the room to find that the power had been magically fixed. I promised her that I wouldnÂt break it again, we freshened up, and then went out onto the streets of Dublin in search of food and drink and a nice quiet evening together.

After walking for what seemed like hours (donÂt forget neither of us had slept yet really from the day before) we finally found a little cafÃ© that sold food I could eat, went in, and had a much needed sit-down and meal. Then we went next door and had our very first pints of Guinness. Actually, they were half-pints, which are like the wussy version of being manly with such a dark beer, but it was a good introduction to what would become my favorite drink of the trip.

Before we knew it, it was time for bed. Ten oÂclock at night approached and weÂd been up for somewhere just over 36 hours, so we headed back to the hotel and slept. Then, first thing after an early breakfast in the hotel, we all piled back into the coach and drove two and a half hours to the town of BlarneyÂcomplete with the castle, the infamous stone, and the wonderful woolen mills where much shopping took place. After having scouted the grounds of Blarney Castle and climbing up hundreds of stairs to reach and kiss the Blarney Stone at the top, Susan and I descended back on the town and skipped lunch, choosing instead to buy sweaters and t-shirts and osouvenirsouveniers for ourselves and our friends and family. When we were just about done (which was about 15 minutes after the driver had told us we needed to leave), we got harassed by the guide for being too pokey, got dirty looks from all of the other tour members while doing the tardy-walk-of-shame back onto the coach, and then set out for the town of Killarney.

When we got there, we went directly to the hotel where we dropped off our stuff in the room, peed and met downstairs for dinner together as a tour group in the large dining room, followed by a night of bar-hopping with the young people from the group. We started by kind of walking around aimlessly through the tiny town and then for some reason, a little pub with a big sign that said ÂBeer GardenÂ on it caught my eye and I suggested we go in. We walked in to find the place empty. As in completely empty. Like, so empty that if we were in the old west, a tumbleweed would have rolled across the barroom floor. But we decided to sit down and have a pint anyway, and it proved to be a good idea because before long an older guy appeared from some back room and invited us all upstairs to hang out with a bunch of guys who were having a little jam session on the porch. So the five of us trekked upstairs and found where the music was coming from and were overjoyed to have come upon such a discovery. Turns out there were a couple of old guys, a couple of young guys, a couple of hot guys and a couple of expatriotsÂ and it was an absolute blast. I ended up leaving the security of the bench where the rest of the girls were and sidling up next to one of the ex-pats to sing along with a guitarist, somebody on harmonica, and another guy on a melodica. What a fun time!

Before long though the night had gone on and it was time to go. As we headed back to the hotel we stopped at another pub for a drink or two and met some local guys who were going out to a night club. Susan and I and another girl headed to the club with the one guy and dropped off the other two girls we were with at the hotel for the evening. The rest of the night went quickly and soon it was time to go back to sleep. When we got back I was inebriated and ended up making an $80.00 phone call to Matt from the hotel room for like eleven minutes. Heh.

The next morning after breakfast the tour bus set out on one of the most scenic trips I think I've ever taken-- we drove around the Ring of Kerry, which was by itself magnificent, but we also stopped at the Rock of Kashel, several different lakes overlooked by huge rocky bluffs, crazy narrow winding roads, loads of peat bogs, a really interesting mountainside, and parts of Dingle Bay (complete with a complete-arc rainbow) that were breathtaking to the point where only seeing it in person would give it justice.

Also on our drive around the coastline that day was a trip to Waterville, a small fishing village known for its seafood and for being the historical landmark that Charlie Chaplin loved to visit (they even had a bronze life-sized statue of him inside of a gazebo in the center of town!). We stopped there for lunch and a brief walk around before hopping back onto the coach for the remainder of the tour of all of the gorgeous scenery. Before long, we were back at the Killarney Towers hotel. Susan and I had decided to stay back from an additional extra planned evening with the rest of the tour, so we walked around the town (it was so small, by that point I kind of knew it like the back of my hand!) looking around and window shopping and finding someplace to eat, then heading back to the hotel room for a quiet evening together. While Susan was in the shower before we went to bed, I went down the street to an internet cafe to reflect back on the photographs I'd had burned to a CD to make room on my camera's memory stick, then I called Matt from a weird international payphone (not for $80.00 this time though!), and went back to the room. When I got there, I found Susan sleeping, splayed out across her bed, suitcase open and empty of it's contents (they were all around and under her), lights on and tv blaring. Heh. My coming in woke her up, and I put down my stuff and told her that I was going to be going out one more time since I'd forgotten to take a photograph from across town I'd really wanted to capture. Like a good friend Susan wouldn't let me go alone, and I couldn't be swayed to forget about the snapshot, so once she woke up a little bit, the two of us set out into the night, passing by the Beer Garden that I'd loved so much the night before, and headed to the Oifigan Phoist, where I'd fallen in love with the sign and knew I had to have a picture of it. When we were done there (a few extra pictures and a couple of cat-calls from some young drunk Irish guys cruising around town in a beat-up old sedan later), we headed back to the hotel to get some sleep for the next day.

In the morning after breakfast we again headed out on the road, but this time our main stop was to the Cliffs of Moher. It was freezing cold and drizzling that day, really the only day we had any questionable weather, so I made sure to pack my gloves and hat, and I wore long underwear tops and bottoms, my thick woolen socks, a sweater, a long-sleeve t-shirt, a heavy pair of jeans, and the old coat I'd brought-- my slicker. Unfortunately, when we actually got to the visitor's center and started walking up the big hill, I realized I'd left my hat on the bus. No worries though-- I was wearing a hooded sweatshirt under my hooded slicker! So much for that idea though. The rain came down sideways and while it wasn't particularly heavy, it was sharp and going right for my eardrums. Ouch! But the weather aside, the Cliffs were great. I don't know what I was expecting, but nothing on this large of a scale. Susan and I walked up as far as we could along the path, and when we got to the top, I asked a couple of Germans to take our pictures (which I will not post because they look terrible!). Then, when we'd had our fill of the overlook and the rain and the wind, we headed back down for the warmth of the guests' building. Before we got back on the bus, I stopped to pee and ended up finding a really neat sign posted outside the bathroom door, and I thought it was sweet, so I took a picture. What a weirdo :).

A few minutes later when everyone was again aboard the coach, we were off towards Rathbaun Farm, a private family business set up at a centuries-old farmhouse where we'd have a bite to eat and learn a bit about being an Irish farmer. That place was neat-- I enjoyed the thatched roof and whitewashed farmhouse's architecture, plus the smell of burning peat was interesting, and we had a little demonstration on livestock and sheep shearing, and I got to bottle-feed a little lamb. Ha!

After that we were back on the bus and on our way towards Limerick for our final night of the tour program. When we got settled into our room, Susan and I headed out to the city's center with Bhaervi (a girl we befriended on the tour) via a cab we split with a couple of Brits to the Copper Kettle, a pan Asian cuisine place. After dinner we walked around the city for awhile trying to find a cool pub or some music or something else fun to do. Instead of settling on one place though we ended up just perusing the city, window shopping and taking it all in. What a good time! Then when it started getting late, we caught a cab back to the hotel and made plans to meet in the bar for a few drinks before bed. When we got there and sat down, lo and behold, there were those same two Brits we'd split the cab with before! I invited them to join us and for the next couple of hours we had a lot of fun over a lot of laughs and a belly full of drinks. Just about midnight or so though it was time to go since we had an early departure the next morning for the airport. The rest of the group we'd been traveling with the last handful of days was all flying home to their various cities and states, but Susan and I still had a few more days left so we were flying back to Dublin from the Shannon airport. Yay!

In the morning when we were all packed and ready, the two of us went to the dining room for a brief breakfast and don't you know who we met there? Those same two British guys from the night before. Heh. A few slices of toast and some juice and coffee later and we were on our way to the airport and completely ready to begin the next chapter of our Ireland vacation!

Pants On Fire

2006-11-16T22:54:00.000-05:00

Ok, I REALLY promise this time. Lots has been going on and blah blah blah.

But this afternoon I just printed out all of my Ireland photos and I'm in the process of deciding which ones are worthy (and non-incriminating) enough to post here. And I've started writing all about my trip to Ireland so you'll get some text with those photos, but I'm nowhere near done with that. It's going to be in a three-post series, and I promise you'll love it!

Well... maybe I shouldn't promise that, but it will be thorough and entertaining.

So... it's Thursday night, and I'm working tomorrow... and then I'm going to try to RUSH home, shower and drive up to Laura's for an impromptu (is it still impromptu if you know the day before?) and brief trip with her to Boston. I'll be dead meat by the time I get to New Haven from having worked all day, but she said she'd drive the rest of the trip. We'll get to Matt's apartment in the middle of the night, crash, and then the three of us will enjoy the Harvard-Yale football game Saturday afternoon. Then Laura and I will drive home and I'll drop her off back at her apartment in New Haven before continuing on my way to my house so I can work Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

My parents aren't happy that I'm running off like that, and they think it's nuts to be doing it in one day, but I'm young, and these opportunities don't always come up, and it's a lot of fun, so why not, right? Plus I'm cleaning out all my crap from the kitchen and entryway of the house to appease them a bit so our place won't look like a shithole when our family and friends come Thursday for Thanksgiving (so far the count is up to 15 guests, I think!). Matt said that if they really put their feet down and forbid me to go, that I can blackmail them by threatening to put all of my crap back down on the stairs and in the kitchen just before all of our guests come... but I wouldn't do that. Would I?

But I'm also off Wednesday right before the holiday craziness, so I promised them that whatever else needs to get done will not be a problem. I'll vacuum the rug and make the couches in the living room look nice, scrub down all of the tables and counters and the stovetop till they're gleaming, put the leaf in the dining room table and dress it with a cloth and centerpiece of some kind (probably involving the pumpkin that's sitting out on our front steps. Heh.)

Ok, so it's almost 11pm and I'd better get back to cleaning. Just a bit more until I'm done for the night and then I have to hurry up and get to sleep so I can hurry up and get to work so I can hurry up and get to Laura's, then to Matt's, then to sleep again so I'll be fresh for Ivy League football! I cannot wait!!

I Swear

2006-11-06T23:29:00.000-05:00

I really will post again soon... just so much has been going on and I'm so crazy and blech.

So don't despair too much, Noodle fans, I'll be back before you know it!

Frozen Food Is Dangerous

2006-10-18T20:53:00.000-04:00

I don't know what it is about my family, but whatever crises and mishaps could possibly ever occur always end up happening to us.

Three weeks ago my mom had to be hospitalized for some weird allergic reaction. Nobody could really figure it out, so they ended up discharging her the next night with instructions to go for allergy testing as an outpatient, but the whole episode was kind of crazy. I'm not really sure what happened, but over the course of two and a half days, her right eye started to swell up quite a bit and her right cervical lymph node (the glands in your neck that swell when you get a cold or something) went nuts. When the eye got so bad that it was almost closed shut, she went to the hospital. She ended up being admitted to my floor which was kind of good. I mean, it was weird since I had her roommate as a patient, but I know that she got the fast track and a little bit of extra attention since many of the physicians knew she was my mom. Little by little the right eye's swelling came down, but then the left eye started up. It was so strange, but there was really nothing much to do with it since the CT scans came up negative for anything adventitious with her brain or glands. So she was discharged and since then life has almost been normal... except for the gallstones they found on her CT scan and the thyroid mass that she has to get a biopsy of at the beginning of November....

Sigh. There's been so much going on that I thought nothing else new was going to come up until this thyroid and gallbladder thing got cleared up. I mean, how much shit can go wrong all at once? But then last week my mom was up late and started poking around in the kitchen. She decided to open the freezer for a late-night snack and one of my pre-packed lunches for work came flying out on some kind of suicide mission and attacked her right shin and ankle. I never realized how dangerous frozen potatoes and broccoli could be until recently, but they gave her one hell of a bruise. Actually, it looks more like half of a baseball under the skin, painted a lovely array of purples, reds and blues. And it's painful-- oh so painful. She's having trouble walking and is almost on the verge of tears at all times. And we were all so concerned that we had her go for x-rays and an ultrasound with doppler to check if there was a clot.

Well, the report from the doppler study came back that things on that end were fine, and I'd gotten to see her films from the x-ray, and all of the bones of her shin and feet were perfect so I'm almost 100% there's no fracture... but she's finding it really hard to believe that it's just a bad bruise.

I had plans to go to Boston Tuesday through Thursday of this week before I work Friday and leave the country on Saturday, but I had to call my trip to visit Matt off to take care of mom and drive her to her appointments and stuff. I mean, I'm always here for her, but I'm really quite cranky because of it. And I'm having a really hard time not eating everything in the house. So today when I was done picking her up from her appointments, I drove myself to the store for some retail therapy, which helped a little. Then I went to the video store to rent some movies for tonight and tomorrow night. Then I came home and checked my savings account balance, and seeing all the interest I earn monthly makes me smile every time, so I guess I'm cheering up a little.

Sigh. Tomorrow she has an angioplasty scheduled for her hemodialysis graft so I've got big plans to take care of her after that, and I volunteered to teach her class on Saturday morning so she won't be docked another day's pay since she's called out sick for the last two weeks between being hospitalized and then this newest injury... and then I'm leaving the country for a week in three days and I'm so nervous to leave since all of this crap is going on. Double sigh.

I really hope life settles down soon.

Almost International

2006-10-17T12:47:00.000-04:00

I can't believe my trip to Ireland with Susan is coming up so soon! We've been waiting patiently for months and months, and on Saturday night this vacation is coming to fruition!! I've got my passport, I'm in the process of packing my bags, travel insurance and tickets are set... this is so exciting!

I'll be back on the 28th (I think), so pretty soon after that I hope to post all kinds of photographs and stories about the amazing things I saw and did with my buddy! We're going on a tour for the first couple of days and then before we fly home we've got two days to ourselves in Dublin, so I'm kind of excited about shopping, going to the Guinness Brewery and the Jameson Distillery and all sorts of other things. I can't wait to tell all you Noodlers about it!

Doody Duty

2006-10-15T21:42:00.000-04:00

I knew it would happen sooner or later, but I don't think I was prepared for it to happen while I was wearing a new set of scrubs with crisp white pants and a brand new pair of shoes that I'd never put on before.... But alas, it did happen. I got shat on. Big time.

It was a patient who was up for a liver transplant and he was quite sick. When people's livers fail, one of the myriad problems that comes up is that their ammonia levels build up to dangerous levels in the blood. When that happens, mental status changes and someone can go from being clear as day to being extremely confused and combative to even slipping into a coma. I think the normal levels should be somewhere between 10-35 and but one guy's ammonia was up to 168. When that happens, the only way to fix it is with laxatives. Lots and lots of laxatives. Something about the ammonia binding to these laxatives in the gut and being transported out of the body via poop. I don't know what it is, but I've seen it time and time again-- people go from being nuts to almost normal with a good couple of episodes of explosive diarrhea.

So that's what the case was with this guy-- he needed to shit, bad. So, I pumped him full of lactulose, sodium benzoate and goLytely (all terrible products that would make *anybody* shit their pants). And lo and behold, before too long, there was a rumblin' in his tumblin' and he had to go. But he'd been confused, so I'd slapped a diaper on the guy previously, just to be sure. But taking off your underwear and sitting down on the toilet is kind of like a reflex when you've been doing it for 60 years or so, so when this guy had to go, he wouldn't just go in the diaper, he kept screaming about needing to sit on the toilet-- but that ended up taking too much time and while he was trying to tear off the diaper, a tsunami of feces came with it, fell to the floor with a mighty splash, and bounced right off the floor and onto my pants and shoes. Mmmmm. It was actually quite impressive... and if any villages of small insects or rodents had existed on the ground near where we were, I'm convinced we would have heard a loud chorus of high-pitched screams of terror.

Well, whatever. We got the guy cleaned up, and I got a new pair of scrubs to change into from the housekeeping department, I cleaned off my shoes as best I could, and I continued on with the day. The guy ended up getting a little better-- he still needs a liver transplant, but now his mental status is greatly improved, which is good. I hope he gets one soon... he had two near-transplants where the donor was opened up each time but both livers were rejected by the surgical team as not good enough to transplant.

So, that's that. I hope it doesn't happen again anytime soon, but if it does, I'll deal with it like I did this time. Just one thing I'm grateful (greatful maybe? I never can get that one right) about though-- normally I wear those foam clogs with all the ventilation holes in them. And granted I wear them with socks, but they still leave my feet open to spills, which until that point had not yet occurred. But Noodle fans, don't get too upset-- that day was the first day that I'd decided to wear my nice new pair of sturdy *closed* top shoes. See? There is a God!

Bean Town Rocks

2006-10-12T12:41:00.000-04:00

Oh my God-- this visit was so much fun. I never realized it before but hanging out with a bunch of dorky guys is a blast!

I ended up leaving home a little late last Thursday (surprise surprise-- I'm so pokey) and hitting a ton of construction and traffic along the way, so I didn't get to Boston until after 5:30pm which was over two hours later than I was supposed to get there. Matt was pissed off and ended up meeting me on the main road leading up to his new apartment so that he could just jump into the car and I wouldn't get lost trying to find his neighborhood and residential street. When I spotted him and pulled over, he threw his books and guitar into my back seat, stuffed himself into the front seat and started directing me towards the hotel where we were meeting Ryan, Jon, Christian and Hiro. We got there just about six o'clock and it was fine-- we met the guys, went to the hotel rooms to pee, then headed out for the first concert. But it actually turned out that we had almost a half hour to spare, so we stopped into a pub for a drink beforehand, then headed over to the concert hall. The music was like nothing I'd ever heard, and after the opening band was over (that's who the guys had bought the tickets to see) we left, skipping the main concert and headed to a giant bar/lounge/pool place for the rest of the night.

At some point around three we all headed back to the hotel (only after stopping at another bar for a while) and parted so that me and Jon and Christian went via taxi and Matt, Ryan and Hiro walked. My trio got back 40 or so minutes earlier than the others and they couldn't have come in any sooner-- Jon wouldn't shut up and Christian kept farting. When they got in, Matt and I went to our own room and left the guys to their gas and chattiness and didn't hear from them again until Hiro let himself into our room to wake us the next day.

When everyone was up and ready on Friday, the six of us headed out to the Boston Aquarium which was awesome. We saw an IMAX about sharks, heard a lecture about feeding a giant 650 pound turtle to keep it from ramming into divers while they fed the sharks in the huge 24 foot deep tank, played with star fish and sea urchins in a touch-tank, and learned a TON about jellyfish. It was so neat! After that we appropriately went next door for a nice fish dinner at Legal Seafood (ha!). Christian and I were the only ones who wouldn't eat the fish, but it ended up being ok. When we were done, we headed back to the hotel for a little bit, had a brief soak in the hot tub and pool, changed and headed out for Friday night's concert which was also great. Afterwards we ended up going to the same giant bar/lounge place as the night before, except this night ended a bit earlier so we could get a more prompt start on Saturday.

Hiro woke me and Matt up again on Saturday morning, and when we were all set, the lot of us went to the Boston Science Museum for an afternoon of exploration and learning. I've always liked that kind of thing, and Matt had surprised me with a date there once before. It was kind of endearing to watch the guys' faces when they were playing with lasers, mirrors and robots, watching the creation of lightning, and a program on sensory perception tricks. They looked just like little boys discovering science for the first time. It was great!

Later that afternoon, the four guys headed back home to upstate New York and Matt and I headed home to his new apartment. I'd never seen it before since the last two visits we'd had took place at my house and at his parents' house upstate, so I was really happy to see how clean and bright the new place was! I met two of his three roommates (Claudia and Jerry) and really like them a lot. We ate a little bit and hung out a little bit and then headed for the movies where he took me to see Little Miss Sunshine. The movie theater had a little arcade in the lobby so for the first time in what seemed like forever, I got to play DDR! None of my friends ever let me play when we go to a mall or something, so I'd never played the arcade version, and since I'm a fatass the whole house shakes when I try to play it at home, so I haven't been able to do it really since college. And, being that it's my favorite game in the world (except Guess Who with Lee on Jewish holidays) and the sole reason for my having purchased a Play Station 2, I was overjoyed! I mean, I know I looked like an idiot, and I ended up being really rusty and terrible at it, but it was so much fun.

Sunday was my last day in Boston before I had to head back for work on Monday, and I tried to stretch it out. Matt and I ran errands and relaxed a bit. And I tried really hard not to expel my entire large and small intestinal system from out of my rectum. I don't know why I did it, but from Saturday evening until Sunday late morning I ate almost a half pound of roasted garlic cloves. I ate them plain, with olives, with hummus and baba ganouj and guacamole and with pita and they were delicious. But they definitely did a number on my digestive tract-- between the non stop gas and the terrible diarrhea, I was a mess. Matt thought it was funny, but I couldn't believe what was happening-- I couldn't stop! Seriously, I must have passed gas every five minutes for hours and hours on end... and not just little ones either, big, huge, loud roasted garlic scented ones. Ugh!

Matt probably couldn't wait to get rid of his incredibly stinky girlfriend and I had to head back so I wouldn't be completely exhausted for work the next day, so about seven o'clock I headed home. It was such a good weekend I wished it wouldn't end... but I also knew that in just about two weeks I'll be leaving for my vacation with Susan to Ireland. So many good things going on, I can't wait!

Sooner Than Planned

2006-10-09T23:01:00.000-04:00

I ended up leaving my necklaces at Laura's apartment on my last visit and I was going crazy without them. So, since visiting Laura is always such a treat and because I didn't want her to stick my jewelry in the mail, I planned a trip up to see her for when Susan came to visit. And Susan and Laura get along well too, so that was even a bonus.

Susan ended up coming a few Wednesday nights ago after I was done with work. When I got home from the hospital and out of the shower, we sat around and chatted until I was about to fall asleep, at which point we relocated to my room for the evening. In the morning we ran errands, went out for a late lunch, then drove to New Haven in the early evening to meet up with Laura and her roommates Leila and Abby for dinner. Leila already had plans, but Abby was free, so when we were all hungry, we trooped a couple of blocks away to a Vietnamese restaurant for a lot of delicious vegan food accompanied by sweet bubble tea.

When we were done eating the restaurant owner kindly asked us to leave. Heh. It was only just after 9pmish, but they are a family establishment and close fairly early at night. So we paid up and walked back to the apartment with full bellies and light hearts. Susan and I stayed another hour or so and then headed home.

The next morning we tried to stop by the travel agent's office since our trip to Ireland is coming up in less than a month and we still don't have our tickets and crap from her... but the office was closed. So instead, we went to the diner for breakfast and some last chats and hugs before Susan had to head home to make an evening flight to Florida.

It was such a nice visit with everyone, and I got my necklaces back so I feel infinitely better. Yay! And while I don't have any firm plans for when I'll see Laura next, my next visit to Susan will (hopefully) be for Yom Kippur dinner with her kid brother this coming Monday night.

Monday cannot come soon enough, if you ask me.

(Ps- This all took place on September 21st, which was the same day as my momentous hair cut, but since the photos I'd put into this post showed me with short hair, I couldn't post it until after my latest trip to Boston at the beginning of October since the short hair was going to be a surprise for Matt. And I also couldn't post it out of sequence from my "Doing The Deed" post because that would be silly. Hence all the late posts. Sorry folks, but that's life. Get over it.)

Doing The Deed

2006-10-04T21:26:00.000-04:00

No, it's not what you think. It's actually that finally after years and years I grew the balls to cut off my hair on September 21st and donate it all to Locks Of Love. Phew!

And for all of you Noodle fans who are curious about how it happened, here's a blow-by-blow:

When I went to synagogue for Rosh Hashanah services, my rabbi (who'd been tipped off by my mother about what I'd done) asked if it had been a religious experience to help someone with their self esteem the way I had with my donation. I held my stomach in mock indigestion and told him that it had not, in fact, been a religious experience-- and to be quite honest, I told him that it had been a nauseating experience... but one that I'm very proud of nonetheless.

So it's done. My hair is 12 inches shorter than it has been in over 12 years (not since that terrible chin-length fiasco my mother suggested when I was 13 and which started my boycott on regular haircuts that I've stuck with ever since), but I really like it a lot. Now, I can't wait to grow it long and do it all over again, and I'm almost positive that Susan will have to accompany me for moral support the next time as well!

Sick As A Dog

2006-09-29T20:16:00.000-04:00

Well, not quite. But I am sick with some kind of cold. I think it's the first time in about a year. I remember having the same kind of thing last year when it was cold out and purchasing some elderberry syrup and zinc lozengers, but I'm not sure when that was. Whatever though. What I have is due to my coworkers. Alice had been sick for over a week and had even used some of her sick time she felt so terrible. Then Elisha, the girl I'm orienting to the unit, started saying her throat was bothering her. Nirmala and Paula complained of feeling tired and worn down... and the next thing I knew, I had the sniffles and a raw throat, and now I can't breathe too well and I keep sneezing and my nose is full of terrible mucus that I continue to inadvertently hurl all over the front of my shirt time and time again.

But it's really not too bad. Especially considering the fact that my mom had to be hospitalized last week. I don't really know what happened, but over the course of a day and a half her right eyelid started to swell until that eye was almost swollen shut. And she'd been complaining about skin and ear pain and swollen glands for a couple of days. Her forehead was red and swollen and her chin was beginning to turn red as well. I told her to go to the emergency room and she ended up getting admitted to my floor Tuesday afternoon. Then all the swelling on the right started to go down a bit, but it all began on the left. Sigh. A couple of CT scans, some hemodialysis, one more day and a lot of consultations later and she was discharged to home, but really nobody had any answers except that it was probably some kind of allergic reaction and that she should go for allergy testing as soon as possible.

Sigh again. The swelling is coming down slowly, but we can't figure out what she'd eaten or been exposed to that could have caused a reaction like that. So today she called for an appointment with an allergist for a follow up but they were booked for a month so I guess we'll all have to wait to see what's going on with her. In the meantime I'm crossing my fingers that she won't have to make another trip to the emergency room anytime soon.

Out Of Africa...Or Indonesia

2006-09-26T22:51:00.000-04:00

After three long months, Laura Robertson has emerged from the jungle and has returned safely to Yale! Sorry farmers, jungle dwellers, researchers and primates, but this girl is mine and I'm really glad to have her back!!

A few Monday afternoons ago I went to her apartment (which I must say is absolutely GORGEOUS!) to hang out and we ended up going out to dinner and for bubble tea, but the tea house was closed. So we walked back and forth from her apartment to the store about a thousand times until I figured out that we'd gotten all the ingredients for me to bake a chocolate cake, but by the time we were done doing that it was after 10pm and I didn't feel like baking anymore, so we hung out while I made peanut butter almost-buttercream frosting for the next day, chatted and caught up, and then went to sleep.

Then in the morning I started work in the kitchen. I absolutely love to cook and bake, and I love doing it even more when it's for Laura. I don't know... something about her being pretty much a vegetarian and loving everything I prepare for her, and I'm so mommyesque anyhow-- makes it all feel so good. Anyhow, so I prepared a huge stock pot of hearty chunky vegetable noodle soup with lots of ingredients from my garden that cooked all day long so that by evening time it was completely infused with rich flavor. Mmmmmm. Then, in the afternoon while she was at class, I baked that double layer chocolate cake, layered it with frosting in the middle, covered the entire outside with the peanutty-creamy yum I'd made the night before and stenciled on a really pretty heart pattern with cinnamon. It came out great and when me and Laura, and her roommates Abby and Leila sat down to eat everything, discovered that it all tasted great, too. I'm such a homemaker!

After dinner had been cleaned up and I collected my things I had to go home since I was working the next morning and had a 70 mile drive ahead of me, but the feelings of having just had a really great visit lasted a long time. It was so good to see my friend... I can't wait to see her again.

RA Reunion

2006-09-21T15:11:00.000-04:00

On Friday, August 11th (I know-- this post is so late!) a bunch of us RAs from back in the day at Bing met down at South Street Seaport in New York. The guest list included John Bonnes (the organizer), Jen Kwok, Laryssa Rupert, Jeff Glosick, Geovanny Suarez and his girlfriend Shaddya (though I'm not quite sure how to spell it), and of course yours truly.

We ended up just standing around for awhile and catching up-- everyone's doing great in school and in work, and it was so much fun hearing about all of the goings-on in people's lives. Of course we were sad that the rest of the crew couldn't make it, but I'm sure there'll be another reunion soon and hopefully more people will be able to come to that.

After awhile, we all walked around the seaport visiting and trying to figure out where to have dinner. Laryssa saw someone she knew from physical therapy school and I saw someone I knew from sleepaway summer camp in 1994, which was weird. When we finally found a restaurant and were seated, we toasted to lasting friendships and how well everyone was doing with pina coladas, daiquiris and pints of beer (mmm). Before I knew it though, I had to get going since I was working the weekend. We all parted with hugs and exchanges of well-wishes, and I was off as Jen walked me to the subway stop.

I'm so glad we were able to get together-- it was so much fun and just so wonderful to be hanging out with the old crowd one more time. I can't wait to do it again!

New Format

2006-09-15T14:14:00.000-04:00

For now I've added an official title bar to the production of my posts I guess just for ease of archiving. So perhaps now instead of the title plus the first couple of words for each post being located on the right-hand "previous posts" sidebar of this blog, only the title will show up.

Shrug.

I'll give it a whirl and see how I like it. Feel free to make comments, Noodle fans.

Happy Belated Birthday Rob!

2006-09-15T10:26:00.000-04:00

Rob! You're 23*!! I know this is late, but you probably don't read this blog anyway so who cares. Laura Bonilla, if you also even read this blog, here's a recent photo of your beloved. Happy birthday, brother!

*when you're younger brother is older than your significant other it reaches that kind of disgusting zone, but I'm just going to ignore that for now by rationalizing that Rob is really only my *step* brother.

**also be aware that my youngest step brother, Scott, has not been arrested lately (despite having made the news over and over again in the past few months), so I'm not going to jinx anything by talking much about him. But I love you too, Scott!

Four Weeks Is Too Many Weeks

2006-09-11T11:08:00.000-04:00

I just got back from a six day trip upstate and it was splendid! It all started with a drive to Bing on Thursday the 31st. When I got up there it was already pretty late... like 10pm or something. But Robin wanted to hang out, and Brian wanted to get together too, so the two of us met him at the Sports Bar and watched while he played beer pong, which was boring as hell. I felt like the oldest woman alive since the three of us, aside from the bartenders, were at least a thousand years older than everyone else there and everyone around us was binge drinking their butts off. Sigh. So after Robin and I got bored and when Brian decided to stay on for another round, the two of us left for the diner where we caught up over coffee, which was really nice. We got back to her place, which turned out to be a converted funeral home (scary) and went to bed around 2:30am. Then in the morning Robin and I met up with Brian once more for a late breakfast before I left town and headed up to Auburn.

Auburn was a lot of fun-- Matt and I hung out with his friends a lot and even ended up driving down to Rochester one night with Hiro Naro and his girlfriend Jen to go out with Ryan Quinn. Matt stopped drinking early so he could drive, and Jen didn't drink at all, but I tried to keep up with the other guys which ended up proving to be detrimental to Ryan's bathroom. But Matt was a sweetie and held my hair back and everything-- he's so good to me! I couldn't believe I'd gotten that trashed though... it'd been a long time since I'd drank like that, and as everyone knows, I'm really quite a lightweight with alcohol. So I guess I had too much. And I was kind of embarrassed and I ended up being weird and trying to convince Ryan not to have any naked girls at Matt's bachelor party (who even said we were getting engaged?)... but who cares. It was fun!

Anyway, I didn't really drink the rest of the trip up there, but I did have a blast spending time with Christian Thygusen and RJ, Hiro, Jen and Ryan, and even spending some time with Matt's parents and aunt and uncle. Oh, and I hung out with Matt a little bit, too. We unfortunately did not get to see Jon Arliss or Bob Rutan and I still have not met Tim Seneca, but I'm sure I will at some point.

I was having such a good time up there, but since I had to work on Wednesday, Tuesday was a bummer. Matt and I stayed in bed all day, which was lovely, and then left at the very last minute to say goodbye to his family before I had to head back downstate. While I was still inside his house with his mom, Matt told me he'd be in his dad's garden picking some corn and garlic and stuff for me to bring home, and when I got outside and went to get into the car I saw he had picked a very happy and huge sunflower for me and had propped it in my passenger seat so I could drive home next to something bright. He's so cute!

When I finally left, I stopped off again back in Bing for dinner with Robin, Brian, Annifer and Robin's roommate Matt. The food was good, the company was great, but the time finally came for me to shove off. Susan kept me company for hours and hours on the phone during the drive home, which was good since I didn't arrive at my neighborhood until almost midnight Tuesday night and by then I was exhausted and was dreading the day at work coming up in seven hours.

So that was it. The trip was great, but it had been a month since I last got to see my manfriend and it'll most likely be another month before I can see him again. The next trip will be to Boston and this time we'll be joined by his guyfriends since there'll be a concert involved with that trip. And a hotel. Yay! It's going to be fun and I can't wait!!

*PS- I was trashed at that time that these photos were taken, which is why they are all crooked and blurry... heh.

Back To Working It

2006-09-07T23:14:00.000-04:00

Finally, after two months of workout celibacy, I broke my dry spell and made it back to the gym. It was very brave of me, I think. I'm fatter than I was two months ago after the terrible toilet incident that injured my back. And though I'm still not completely healed (my back still hurts quite a bit at times and I've got a renewed pain down my right leg that had been absent for quite awhile), I was really happy to be there. My first return workout was a simple one consisting only of 45 minutes on the elliptical machine followed by some stretches followed by 20 minutes on the stair machine followed by some more stretching. And then I went home and negated everything I'd just done by eating a giant bowl of edamame. But that's besides the point. The real victory was that I went. And I'm preparing to go back again tomorrow night after work since I won't be able to go until Monday at the earliest due to the gym's hours and my having to work the weekend.

But whatever. I'm just really glad I'm getting back into it. What a relief!

I Suck

2006-08-28T23:02:00.000-04:00

Remember how just a week ago or something I was telling you all how bad of a spaz I am? Yeah, well, it happened again. Only this time in the form of some sorbet and a freezer.

As in I opened Susan's freezer to get some delicious soy ice cream bars to eat and a container of raspberry sorbet fell out and tried to attack my bare feet. And when I bent down to pick it up the heavens and the stars aligned just so in a way that made it perfect for me to crack my head on the freezer door that had partially shut while I was attempting to straighten up.

Sigh. I'm such a loser.

I Love Visiting Susan

2006-08-25T22:03:00.000-04:00

It had been a month of so (which is actually pretty good for us) since that last time we'd visited, and amazingly we both had off this past weekend. So on Saturday afternoon I drove out to Long Island to hang out. When I got there, I dropped off my stuff in her apartment, had a pee, and we immediately headed out towards Queens for drinks with Karen.

On the way down we stopped for dinner at a really great family-owned Italian restaurant where we fervently discussed The Barefoot Contessa and her ridiculous butter usage habits and some other stuff we hadn't talked about in awhile.

When we were done with dinner, we headed down to Queens and to Karen's apartment. She was tired when we arrived and didn't feel like taking the subway all the way to Manhattan, so we just walked a couple of blocks away and went to two local bars for a drink. Around 2am we headed back, grabbed our stuff from the apartment, and Susan and I started off back to Long Island.

We hadn't driven too far out of Queens when Susan somehow took the wrong highway home and ended up driving us on every single major roadway throughout Nassau and Suffolk counties, even if just for a few exits, because I... um... need a tour.

Around 3 or 3:30am we arrived back at her place, and I don't really remember much else except being on the phone with Matt until after 4:30am and then waking up to meet Aine for brunch (which ended up being a fabulous reunion!).

When the three of us were done eating and Aine had to get going, we parted ways and Susan and I went shopping (surprise surprise) and this is what I bought: a brown corduroy shoulder bag, a hairbrush, some gel shoe inserts for when I wear high heels (which is how often?), a diet Sunkist orange soda (yum), two sexy tank tops (one halter and one sort of strapless), a really ugly pair of winter boots (Susan threatened that she wouldn't be my friend anymore if I bought them, but I was desperate and my feet are so cold in the winter all the time and they always end up getting wet and I have to walk soooooo far from my parking lot to my hospital and clearly having warm and dry feet is much more important than being friends with Susan. Just kidding!), and two really fun pairs of scrubs.

God, I love shopping.

But then early Monday morning it was over because I had to drop Susan off at her friend's house so they could go visit Sea World and her grandparents and some other place in Florida for a week. But we'll see each other soon again, I hope.

I can't wait!

At A Loss

2006-08-23T23:02:00.000-04:00

Because I don't feel like telling anyone about my summer vacation. It's a secret...

Just kidding. My loss is really because I'm back at work and my vacation is over. But alas, all good things must come to an end.

I started off the two weeks I spent away from work by driving to Boston that first Wednesday to play with Matt. And on Friday after his classes were over, the two of us drove upstate to my new summer house where we spent the weekend hanging out on my friends' boat and relaxing lakeside. On Sunday I took him to the bus stop to head back to Boston and from that point pretty much hung out by myself for almost a whole week. It was kind of scary (but only because it was dark and there were country noises I'm not used to hearing and I'm already a dope and afraid of everything), but really relaxing. I got a sun burn that blistered (gross), read a lot, went to the grocery store almost every day, slept in, sat around, and rode my bicycle around a little bit. The last weekend I was there my parents came up to keep me company, and several hours after they left, Rayme came up for awhile. We had a couple of adventures including those where we tried to find Fort Ticonderoga and made sure to secure her some long-awaited chicken McNuggets with honey, swimming in the lake, and cooking an amazing dinner together, and then on Tuesday morning she left, followed by yours truly a bunch of hours later.

It was really great and I was definitely sad to have to get back to work. Especially since I knew that my unit was going to be ridiculously busy. But oh well. The summer's almost over and reality had to hit sooner or later.

My next fun plans are coming up in a week-- I'm going upstate for six days or something to visit with Matt, his family and his buddies and I absolutely can't wait. Yay!

Foiled Again

2006-08-21T19:43:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I write posts in advance... I mean, I know it's kind of cheating and more than a little lame. But I'm a busy woman and I know how much all you Noodle fans love reading updates to this blog and when there isn't one for quite a while, I get tons* of fan mail demanding updated posts. But alas, at times it's just not possible since, as mentioned earlier, I'm busy. Plus sometimes I just don't feel like it.

Today was one of those times. Not the busy part so much, but the part about not feeling quite like updating but knowing I should since I haven't posted in over a week. And I didn't have a pre-written post. Gah!

So here you go, Noodle fans-- a post. A newly created post (albeit a piece of shit post) but a post nonetheless. Enjoy!

*and by tons, I mean none.

Bing... Bing... Bing... Plunk.

2006-08-14T22:26:00.000-04:00

Up until this point I've miraculously avoided it, but this past Saturday night it finally happened. After just over 16 months of flawlessly using the medication, I dropped a birth control pill down the bathroom sink... never to be recovered. It was the very last of the active pills before the placebo ones, too.

Now, to someone normal, this may not seem like that big of a deal. But to me-- someone obsessed with bodily functions and the fluctuations of my hormonal and menstrual cycles, this was a huge problem. So when the shock of it finally wore off and I stopped trying to unscrew the impossibly tight drain trap from underneath the sink with only my bare hands, I burst into tears.

I'd just been thinking about my late grandmother and had been having a little bit of a cry when I decided it was time for my medications and to go to sleep, and then the little pill fiasco played out, so crying at that point wasn't really a lame thing to do, I don't think. My emotions were already on high from like blah blah blah thirty minutes prior.

I immediately called Matt, and he laughed at me and told me not to worry. But secretly I was petrified that I'd thrown off my delicate balance of artificial and natural hormones and would somehow convince my body that the next time I got some would be the perfect time to start a family, which although I talk about it all the time isn't exactly what I want right this minute... So I didn't really calm down until I went to the pharmacy today to refill a prescription and spoke with the pharmacist who put me at ease and said most likely the biggest change I'll see will be that I'll get my period a day earlier than normal. Phew.

Anyway, so the crisis is over and just to reconfirm to myself and everyone else-- I'm still a spaz.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

2006-08-08T18:53:00.000-04:00

Sorry, everyone-- I know it's been about three years since I've updated here, but I was out of town on vacation. And I forgot to post that I was checking out for a bit right before I left... and though I swear I tried to post a blog entry from the town library upstate, I unfortunately was unable due to a combination of "we're having a lot of brown outs so they made us turn the computers off" and painfully slow internet connections that wouldn't load anything. No joke-- I really had to come back day after day to check if the computers were back on, and when they were and I was finally able to sit down to my allotted 30 minutes of internet time, I was only able to load eight (read: 8!) separate web pages. Sadly, Noodles Are Yummy was not one of them. Between having to shut down Internet Explorer and refresh and reload the different websites a thousand times, I hardly had a chance to do anything before the little old lady with the clipboard came by to tell me that my time was up and people were waiting for my seat. "Good luck," I muttered to a woman waiting for a turn on the computer, utterly frustrated, as I walked away.

But anyway, rest assured that I'm back in town for awhile, and in the next day or two I'll be posting photographs and highlights from the last two weeks of my life. Phew. That was some huge sigh of relief there!

Addicted

2006-07-24T23:14:00.000-04:00

Apparently, to shopping. And apparently, it doesn't have to be just shopping for myself. In the last few weeks I've bought my dad a ton of clothing and some new stuff for Matt. What can I say? I really like buying people presents. So while I was at it, I got Susan some birthday gifts, a few things for my mom, a fridge for our new summer house, and a shitload of crap for myself which included a bunch of dresses (since when do I ever wear dresses?), some skirts (or skirts?), a couple of tops, two bathing suits, some shorts, and some other stuff that I'm sure I don't remember right now.

Plus, I just booked that trip to Ireland... which honest to God was the largest purchase I ever made except for buying my last car.

Oh man-- what ever happened to saving up so I can move out of my parents' house? I did manage to schedule *one* overtime shift onto my next work schedule... so even though I don't want to think about working any extra days over those I'm required to schedule, I feel better knowing that in a couple of weeks, I'll be making up for the damage I've been doing lately to my bank account. And if this one overtime shift goes well, maybe I'll figure out that it's not such a big deal to schedule *two* overtime shifts in the schedule after that.

Sheesh. Growing up and facing maturity sucks. But having to live with your parents forever because you have no control over your spending sucks even more.

Muffin Top

2006-07-20T23:28:00.000-04:00

I know you know what is. And we all know that it's horrible. Thankfully I will spare you from a photograph of *my* muffin top, but I thought it educational and amusing to share with all my fans that size M scrubs are a bit of a stretch for me to fit into. This was discovered recently when I bent over at work a couple of times and each time my jelly belly caused my pants to comepletely roll down to neatly rest below the gutline. Attractive indeed.

It would appear that a few more pairs of size L scrubs are in need.

Just Call Me Granny

2006-07-14T23:27:00.000-04:00

Because I threw my back out. And it wasn't doing anything heroic like saving a patient... or even from anything industrious like cleaning my house. It actually happened while I was sitting on the toilet this morning.

I really do amaze myself sometimes. I think I'm the only 25 year old whose back gives out while taking a dump. God, I'm pathetic. Next thing I know, I'll break a limb while watching television or something. Man... if that's going to be what I have to look forward to, imagine the damage possible from something the least bit more active, like cooking... or sex. Hell, I don't even want to think about it.

So, while popping ibuprofen and leaning against a heating pad have given me a little bit of relief, I am still having difficulty getting up from a sitting or laying position, and walking isn't completely comfortable. I'm supposed to work tomorrow, too, which I know will only make matters worse. So for the first time since last January, I'm calling in sick... I don't want to add insult to injury while trying to lift people and clean up poopy diapers and reach for stuff and whatever else at the hospital.

Man oh man am I a piece of work. I guess I really am high maintenance. Sigh.

Twister

2006-07-13T22:41:00.000-04:00

It's a bird! It's a plane! No... it's a State Trooper!

Stay calm Noodle Fans, I was not injured in yesterday's ridiculous tornado that blew through Westchester. It's true I was just a hop, skip and jump away from where it touched down (so close that one of the nurses in the ER told me she saw the funnel), but me, my entire family and all of my friends and coworkers were fortunately unscathed. As were most people in Westchester County at the time, thank God. The hospital did try to prepare for the worst though, so the ER kind of went through "emergency mode" emptying out all the beds to make room for anyone possibly injured from the building that collapsed nearby. And actually, they really did go crazy-- when they sent up a patient, all I knew about her was her name and that she was on oxygen therapy... and that she had to stay on the stretcher in the hall since there wasn't a bed available just yet on my unit. Sheesh!

Funny thing, though. Even though nobody was hurt, I didn't realize it was such a bad storm until after my shift ended. I was battling myself about whether or not I should go to the gym and at the last minute decided that even though I didn't want to, I should go. But as I left the hospital campus and drove off, I discovered that the road leading to near my gym was blocked off by a police barricade. I was secretly thrilled. Until I learned that it was blocked because a store down the road had been literally blown to bits by the tornado, and that across the street from the gym a truck had been slammed into a bunch of gas pumps and they were disabling the pumps to avoid an explosion.

Man, that was enough excitement for me. I guess I'm just really glad I don't live in the Midwest.

Caught

2006-07-05T22:57:00.000-04:00

Word to the wise-- besides the age-old advice to avoid the clap, Noodle fans should also be warned that taking a nap in the buff next to a window with partially drawn shades when workmen are all over the place painting and making repairs is a bad idea. Unless you want to wake up to some old wrinkly dude standing on the back porch and staring at your tits while you're snoozing. Shudder.

Also, when fumbling around on the floor beside a bed mid-coitus, it's pretty important not to stand up and spend too much time staring out an open window and directly into the eyes of an entire crowd hanging out and having a beer who are quite obviously staring right back at you.

Sigh. Boston has totally seen me naked.

Congratulations Are In Order

2006-07-03T22:22:00.000-04:00

For a bunch of my friends, life is about to get a TON more exciting!

That's right-- Denise is pregnant and will be having a baby in December, Tim is engaged and will be getting married a year from this August, and Melissa and Brian just got engaged (finally), too!

Hoorah to all of you! What wonderful news!!

Crank Pot

2006-07-02T21:44:00.000-04:00

I don't know if it's the heat, the fact that work is stressful and some of the people I work with are amazingly dumb, or that I'd rather be anywhere but home with my parents when my friends are all a giant drive away (ie: an hour or more for most, which by my standards is too far), but I'm cranky.

Actually... I'm always cranky lately. Poo.

Not that I'm trying to be. I'm really honestly trying to be normal even, but for some reason, I just can't shake it. Oh well. Maybe something exciting needs to happen in my life. Good exciting though-- not any of that "oh crap!" exciting business. That I can do without.

Anyhow, hopefully I'll shake it soon. For my sake and for yours!

2006-07-01T20:18:00.000-04:00

Mmmmmm

Just thought I'd share with all you Noodle fans this amazing view of congealed-cheddar-cheese-on-fries that I had to look at this past Monday night at the diner when I was there with my friends. And don't forget those fingers you see are not falsely hovering above the mess-- Lynn was still eating it. Ew. Heh.

2006-06-30T22:36:00.000-04:00

Noodles Are Busy

So here's a quick update on why I've been so busy these last couple of weeks:

When I got back from Buffalo, I worked like a madwoman for a couple of days... then I was off. The first chance I got, I went to Boston to see the boy, but I came home just in time to celebrate father's day with my parents and one of my brothers in NYC. First a tour of the Office of Foreign Affairs where Robby works, then a nice family dinner. Then we went home, I worked like a madwoman again for (as you've most likely read) six out of seven days. And on the final day, Susan and Lynn came for a late-night birthday celebration. The next morning (so this would be Tuesday morning) the three of us went out for brunch, then Susan and I said goodbye to Lynn and headed for the travel agent where we worked hard and ultimately booked a trip to Ireland for this coming October (yay!). Then on Wednesday I headed back up to Boston to see the boy again... possibly for the last time until the end of July, but I hope not.

And now it's Friday night. I'm home, falling apart, and desperately trying to get excited about working the next two days. I'm off again Monday through Wednesday though, and I've got big plans to go to the gym and maybe the pool for some laps if the weather's nice, and to throw away all the crap in my room, donate all the old clothes, and clean up as much as possible up there. It's honestly a real shit heap and I'm finally ready to change it.

Ok, so I gotta run down to the laundry room. All my scrubs are clean but none have been dried and they're all a pile of wrinkles, so I have to get a couple pairs of those ready for tomorrow and Sunday. Sigh. I wish I were still in Boston.

2006-06-23T18:41:00.000-04:00

Preparing For Exhaustion

I don't know who made my schedule, but it really sucks. Ok... that's a lie. I do know who made my schedule-- me. But my boss changed it around. And I never requested to change it back until it was too late. So now I'm stuck working three days in a row followed by one day off followed by another three days in a row.

Phew! 80 hours in six out of seven days is a lot!!

Today I was off, and I realize it's the first time I've blogged in a thousand years. Or, like, over a week, so I thought I'd let all of my fans know why. Maybe when I'm done with this stint on Monday night I'll have more to say about what's been going on in my life.

Until then, enjoy!

2006-06-13T18:14:00.000-04:00

Back For More

I worked yesterday and had a student nurse intern with me, but that didn't make it any easier to come back after having had over ten days off from being in the Hospital. The day wasn't bad, but it was difficult, and certainly nothing like being off and hanging out with my friends in Buffalo.

So The last three days of my trip were fun but uneventful. Friday after arriving back in Buffalo, Kate went to work and I hung out with Brian at his place for awhile. Then Saturday while Kate was at work, I went with Randy, Blair and her boyfriend Tom to an arts festival in downtown Buffalo where the city had cordoned off a huge portion in the heart of the city and set up for blocks and blocks and blocks of vendors, concessions and performers. It was really cool! It was also Tom's birthday, so when we got back from the festival, we all ate dinner and then the cake I made for him, complete with singing and lighted candles. It was really cute and really nice, and Tom appreciated it and told me so a bunch of times. Awwww.

After that, I went off with Melissa and her boyfriend, Brian, and hung out with them for a couple of hours at a coffee shop. We had a blast, and when everyone got tired, they dropped me back off at Kate's apartment where I fell asleep waiting up for her. We had plans to go out that night, but by the time she got home from the veterinary clinic, I was exhausted and wasn't up to it. She decided she'd try to go out, but ended up coming back a half hour later because she couldn't find her friends and it was going to be too much of a hassle. So we stayed up together chatting until 4:30am, which was really nice.

When we woke up the next afternoon, we went together for lunch, spent my last couple of hours upstate reminiscing about the past week and made plans for our next visit with each other. Then, she drove me to the airport and I was on my way home on a 5pm flight.

Sigh. I miss my friend... I think I've kind of decided that I really love it upstate. Between visiting Matt's hometown near Skaneateles, being in Rochester and spending time with friends in Buffalo, I have almost fallen in love. I absolutely adore that it's still New York, but I like the feeling in those places that are just a bit distanced from New York City. I sense a whole different vibe, and while it's nothing like being near the metro area, it's just as awesome, but in a different way. Who knows... maybe one day I'll end up living somewhere up there. But for now, I'm still in Westchester and still living with my folks (vomit), commuting to visit my friends and for any kind of social stimulation. But hey, it's not so bad!

2006-06-09T15:12:00.000-04:00

I Niagara Falls Buffalo

Wednesday was definitely better than Tuesday! Me, Kate and Taylor decided we'd head to the falls since I'd never seen them before or been across the border. When we got sort of close, we parked the car near an aerospace museum and casino (not the same structure) and walked over the Rainbow Bridge into Canada (even though the sign said not to. Heh.).

When we got to the customs booth where the Canadian officers worked, and it was my turn, the guy called me up and asked me for my identification. I handed over my drivers license and he scrutinized it for what seemed like a million years. Then he asked where I was born, was I bringing anything into the country for anyone else, how long I was staying and where I was going. All of the questions were a snap for me to answer except for the where was I going one... for some reason, I couldn't remember. I was like, "ummm... I don't know." Then I looked over at Kate and Taylor and shrugged. I started to panic... and it was like I could hear the clock ticking and the fan blowing and nothing else with the amount of tension there seemed to be in the office. The officer sat up straight in his chair, gave me a really dirty look, and I was finally able to muster up an "I guess just around the falls" which apparently satisfied him because with another frown and nasty glance, he instructed me to move along. Phew!

So we all continued on our way, marveling at the falls while walking around. We then ambled on towards the Maid of the Mist boat tour place, purchased tickets and went down to the dock. The next half hour was amazing! The boat took us around the river right at the base of both the American and the Canadian falls, gave us some history, and got us really wet from all of the spray. We saw a bunch of full rainbows and some really beautiful nature stuff. It was great!

When the tour was over, we walked around a little bit more, but feeling exhausted, decided to not explore any more of Canada, headed back towards the Rainbow Bridge and went back to Kate's apartment.

It was a great afternoon!

After a small rest, Kate and I went to a coffee shop to meet up with Brian and some of his friends for a little while. Kate had to leave about nine o'clock to go to work, but I stuck around and when we were all ready for bed, Brian and I said goodbye and headed back to his apartment to go to sleep.

The next day (Thursday), Brian left early to study for the bar exam at the law library, and I watched about thirteen thousand DVD's, started cooking for the big dinner I was making everyone later on, and napped a little. When he got back at 5pm, we headed over to Kate's where I finished cooking and where me, Kate, Taylor, Brian, Blair, Tom, Randy, Melissa, Melissa's Brian, and Aaron sat down to eat. I made lots of steamed broccoli, two loaves of garlic bread, three pounds of pasta, chunky vegetable redsauce, sauteed chickpeas and fried polenta. Mmmmm.

When we were all finished and the dishes were washed, Kate, Taylor and I headed down to Rochester to stay at Taylor and Blair's parents' house. Kate had an early morning appointment with the insurance adjustor down there, so we decided to drive down the night before to make things easy. I called Matt's friend Ryan on the way down to see if he was interested in going out for a drink, but the jerk bailed on me at the last minute because he had to work early the next day. The nerve! I had gotten so excited about hanging out with Matt's buddies without him again that hearing from Ryan was, like, the topper to my evening. But it didn't work out... so I'll just have to wait for my next trip upstate to go for a drink with him. Oh well.

So now I'm back in Buffalo... going for the mini-roadtrip was fun, and going to the insurance adjustor went smoothly, and Kate and I sang Rattlin' Bog at the top of our lungs while fording the rapidly flooding streets of downtown Rochester during a wild lightning storm. And lemme tell you, it was great! Can't wait to see what else my trip to Buffalo has in store for me for the next couple of days.

2006-06-07T09:27:00.000-04:00

Buffalo Is Dangerous

Oh man, this place is so much fun... if you consider driving around getting lost and being in car accidents fun. What a blast!

I got here Tuesday night and Brian picked me up from the airport. We went back to his place and hung out for a little while, then to Wegs (thank God) to get me some sustenance. At 9:02pm Kate called me from work saying she was going out on her lunch break and that she couldn't wait to see me later that night... but right in the middle of the conversation, she screamed out "Oh shit!" or something, and I immediately heard the screech of brakes and a crash. Kate's always calling me while driving and she doesn't have a headset for her cell phone, and she always hangs up on me when something is happening like if a cop is passing by or if there's a ton of traffic or she's near an accident... so when she hung up on me then, I didn't think anything of it. It was about thirty minutes later by the time she called me back, but this time she was crying. It hadn't been somebody else-- she'd been rear ended "by a big honking white pickup who just slammed right into the back of the car." She was crying, and Brian and I were very concerned, and I offered to come pick her up and she could drive with Brian and I'd drive her car home. She accepted the offer and the two of us were on our way. When we got there, I was surprised that the car didn't look terrible... I think it was just the shock of what had happened that had shaken Kate up so much. So, she collected her stuff from the veterinary clinic, we collected her, and in caravan the three of us went back to Brian's house to settle down.

I then proceeded to eat an entire pint of soy ice cream along with a ton of pita bread and hummus and some giant organic carrots. Mmmm. We looked at funny videos online, Kate showed me a funny email she'd gotten, and we all just kind of hung out until Kate was calmer and feeling a little better. We went to Denny's and flirted with the gay waiter and after a little while, Brian and the two of us parted, she and I went to her apartment, talked for a little while, and went to bed. I slept fine but she told me that every time she closed her eyes, visions of being rear-ended filled her mind. Sigh. That's hard.

Hopefully the rest of this week will be a little better for everyone.

2006-06-02T11:51:00.000-04:00

Diets Suck

Oh man, I'm starving. I've been doing mostly well, I think. And while I'm not completely following the rules of my new Weight Watchers plan, I'm doing better with it than I thought I would. I mean, don't get me wrong-- I have an open can of chocolate fudge ready-made frosting with a big spoon in it sitting right in front of me right now. But I also have been much more mindful of what I'm eating, and I've been trying hard to drink more water and eat more produce instead of as many carbohydrates.

I'm ready not to be as fat anymore, and I'd really like not to become a diabetic with high blood pressure and cholesterol taking handfulls of pills every day. I already take a bunch of vitamins and supplements, I'd prefer not to be supporting Pfizer and Merck as well.

So that's it basically. I'm leaving later today to go up to the Adirondacks with my parents to do a little work on the house. I think painting both bathrooms and redoing the floor in the larger bathroom are on the agenda along with moving in some furniture and other little getting-the-place-ready-for-inhabitants stuff. I'm happy to have a chance to go swimming in the lake, too. I haven't been in it in almost a year, and probably won't have another chance to swim in it until my next week off when I'll be up there with Brian and Kate (and whoever else can get some time off) in August.

Until next week, Noodle fans. Cheerio!

2006-06-01T11:12:00.000-04:00

Vacation Mentality

Yesterday was my last day of work for awhile... actually, for the next 11 days to be exact. I am SO excited. I said goodbye to a couple of my coworkers and they told me not to forget to come back to work eventually. Heh.

And though I'm not doing anything huge, I am really excited not to have to wake up at 5am for the next week and a half. What do I have planned exactly, you are wondering? A lot of nothing, I hope. I'm going to do a little gardening, a little cleaning, finally finish painting my bathroom, doing some work at the summer home, taking a trip up to Buffalo to hang out with some friends, and sleeping a lot. I can't wait!

Today I have to go to the DMV (for the third time) to try to work out some stuff with my car, pick up some medications from the pharmacy, and I think I'll go to the gym for a really long workout.

I know it doesn't sound like much, but don't let that fool you, Noodle fans-- I am so excited!

2006-05-29T22:53:00.000-04:00

I'm Such A Fatass

It's true. Completely ridiculous. I'm so fat. Tomorrow I'm going to the gym with my friend from work and then we're going to go to a Weight Watchers meeting. Or the other way around. But either way, both of those activities are going to occur.

You know what I think is funny though? I think I have like the opposite of the body image issues that someone with anorexia struggles with. I mean, I look into a mirror and I'm like "wow-- not bad," when in reality I think my physique compares to that of a large sea mammal. Sigh. I'm big, and I need to self motivate in order to change from a manatee into a... um... miniature manatee? But change will happen, I'm sure.

I really need it, too. I haven't been going to the gym and all I'm doing lately is getting fatter and fatter with more and more health problems being served to me on a plate by my doctors. High blood pressure, high cholesterol... being too close to becoming a diabetic for my own comfort, and taking all kinds of medications that a 25 year old should not have to take. I'm sick of it and I'm ready for change. So it starts now!

I can't wait to see the results.

2006-05-22T21:38:00.000-04:00

Carbo-Loading

Because I'm about to run a marathon? No. Because I'm trying to bulk up for a heavyweight championship? Almost. Because I'm PMSing and don't feel like using any other outlet? Bingo!

Today was my first day off after a hellish schedule of one day on, one day off (when I went back to New Haven just four days after my last visit), three days on, one day off... now I'm trying to gear up for another two days on before my next day off.

I had to wake up early again today though because I had to do a repeat renal ultrasound at 7am, this time with doppler of my renal veins and arteries. When I got home at 8:15am, I ate breakfast, then went to sleep at 9am and didn't wake up until 2pm when I had to pee. At that point I was like, "geez-- if I don't wake up now, I'll never get to bed tonight." So I forced my eyes open and went downstairs just so I could roam the house, raid the fridge and make one last trip outside to go to the store for the sole purpose of purchasing tater tots. Yikes.

So much for going to the gym and watching what I'm eating.

Right now I'm drinking a ton of water though, kind of in the hopes that I can flush all the crap I've just eaten out of my body. Wish me luck.

2006-05-18T22:27:00.000-04:00

Oddly Satisfying

Don't you have those things that just make you happy for no real explainable reason? You know, they're kind of weird and a little socially unacceptable... but they just please you so much? You know the ones-- those oddly satisfying little idiosyncrasies that other people just don't get.

Anyway, without giving away too much about myself (because I haven't done that already??), one of those oddly satisfying moments for me is any moment that involves the output of gaseous materials from my many bodily orifices.

I think that's why I'm so pleased that I turned up as hit #2 for some poor soul's search for "farting at the gym."

Score!

2006-05-14T21:44:00.000-04:00

I Heart New Haven

And Yale. And clearly hanging out with Laura. And going to get Bubble Tea doesn't hurt either. And it's fun to see Mr. Klang and Sharon, too!! It was a short visit, but a good one, and here are the photos to prove it. Notice Laura's concentration face in the one where the three of them are working on a crossword puzzle. We're such old farts.

I'm actually planning to go back to Yale on Thursday after my *second* renal ultrasound at 7 that morning. This time Andrew will probably be there, and I estimate that we're going to have a blast hanging out. I can't wait!

2006-05-10T22:07:00.000-04:00

Such A Crybaby

And it wasn't just because I'm a weenie-- it was because another one of my patients died. Sigh. I think that brings the grand total to like five or something in 9 months. It wasn't because I liked the patient, either. Actually, I considered him to be particularly irritating and I ended up giving him a lot of nursing care leading up to the incident, but I really didn't want to be in the room. He was so annoying! So why did I cry? Well, I think it had to do with the fact that at the end of it when everyone realized that our efforts weren't going anywhere and the physicians called his time of death, I looked over at one of my coworkers who I'd previously had a tiny spat with (who had worked her butt off with me in that room during the whole of it) and noticed that her cheeks were wet. That was really it... but oh well.

One of the nursing administrators present gave me a squeeze, asked if I was ok, and wanted to know if that had been my first patient who'd gotten sick like that and died. I choked out a "no!" which led to a kind of knowing laugh from her and then a hug from my previously pissed-at-me coworker.

This certainly wasn't my first patient death... but I hope it's my last.

2006-05-09T23:34:00.000-04:00

Back Home For Now

So I'm home, and this past weekend was a huge success. So much fun! Here's a rundown of what I did for the last couple of days:

Friday day-- shuffle around the house realizing I'd rather be playing poker than staying home alone on a Friday night
Friday afternoon-- get into my car and drive
Friday night-- poker night with Robin, Matt (the roommate), Miguel, Jennifer Annifer, Craig+Susan, and me. Brian was there for a few minutes, but basically stayed just long enough so that he could say hi and bye to me.
Saturday day-- wine tour at Seneca Lake with friends... what a blast!
Saturday night-- chill out with Susan time
Sunday day-- oversleep and miss church, make it to Telefund luncheon
Sunday afternoon-- drive all over Bing trying to find someplace to eat that's actually open on Sundays
Sunday night-- drive upstate to hang out with Matt's friends (sans Matt)
Monday day-- errands, bubble tea, hang out with old teachers
Monday afternoon-- speak at nursing school class
Monday night-- hang out with a ton of friends spread out between a cafe, a bar (complete with shuffleboard!) and my and Susan's hotel room
Tuesday day-- errands, say hi to more people I used to do nursing stuff with, visit old coworkers/preceptors at STD clinic @ Bing Health Department
Tuesday afternoon-- drive home

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

I have to work tomorrow and Thursday and then magically I'm off again for another five days with big plans to drive right back upstate for a visit with Matt in his native neighborhood rather than in Boston. I don't know how it happened, but it's amazing. And thinking about it, I don't really care that when I finish my second long stretch off I'll have a really shitty schedule for two and a half weeks because at the end of that, I've got 11+ days off for the first of my annual vacation weeks... so it's all good! Fixing up the upstate home and a long-overdue trip to Buffalo are on the schedule for that part of June, and then I have no idea what's coming up next. Hopefully it'll be just as good as these last couple of weeks though.

2006-05-08T01:06:00.000-04:00

What A Dork

Susan says: "I wonder why I just checked your blog for an update on this weekend when I'm fully aware that you are both sitting right here next to me and that you haven't done anything but hang out with me these last couple of days. I'm such a dork."

Indeed.

2006-05-05T15:24:00.000-04:00

Old As Noodles

That's right-- I am officially a quarter-century old.

I know, I know, things could be worse... But I'm still not excited about getting older. I think maybe the only two things that are positive about my birthday are that #1, I'm not dead, and #2, I can now rent cars without a hassle or huge extra expense. Other than that, I got nothing.

Anyway, I just worked three days and now I'm off for five (which is amazing!) and tonight I'm going upstate to Bing to see some friends and speak at a class on Monday evening. Good stuff.

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

2006-04-30T23:12:00.000-04:00

Someone Hugged Us

Oh God-- it was terrible.

Last Wednesday I met Matt on Boylston Street after I was done with the gym and he was done with classes. It was so cute-- if that romantic music that plays when people in movies meet up atop some rolling hill sprinkled abundantly with wildflowers could have burst out of the bar we were next to, it probably would have. We met with this wonderful "I'm so glad to see you and I couldn't wait another moment even though it was only two and a half hours" embrace that seemed to last forever.

Well, forever until some strange man embraced us, too.

Seriously-- this guy just came up to us, wrapped his arms around us, and held on. At first I thought it was some friend of Matt's from class... then I realized that he's not friends like that with anybody from school, so I prayed that it was one of his buddies from home who just happened to run into us on the streets of Boston... but alas, it was neither of these two more acceptable run-ins. It was, in fact, some weird guy in a denim coat without any front teeth.

When I realized what exactly was going on, all of the flower-coated-hills-and-romantic-movie-music stopped abruptly. There was a strange man hugging us. I pushed him off and, stunned speechless, gave him a dirty look. Matt just stood there, shocked. The guy's face clouded and he frowned, then said rather ashamedly "I'm sorry... I just... couldn't help myself." I think I made some kind of disgusted guttural grunt, and a second later, the guy was walking away, lost in the crowd. A few minutes later, Matt and I recovered and walked away towards the T for home, wondering aloud about what'd just occurred.

Sigh. People are so weird.

2006-04-25T22:08:00.000-04:00

Like Joan Baez, But Different

How many phone calls does it take to remember your friend's birthday?

I must have called Kate five times today, in addition to sending her a card and a present a couple of days ago that she talked about a couple of times today, and not once during any of the first four telephone conversations did I remember what today was. But then on the fifth I remembered. I'm such a good friend.

Ok, that's it for now. I'm in Boston and had to pull myself away from this four-days-long lovefest to update, and I'm about to get some, and clearly that's more important than any of you Noodle fans. No offense or anything, but who cares if you're offended anyway by that last statement-- not me!!

Have a good week, everyone!

2006-04-20T20:44:00.000-04:00

Someone Stole My Soup

Ok, I'm sure nobody stole it... but somebody definitely threw it away. It was matzo ball soup, homemade by yours truly, and there were three matzo balls and about a cup of my very own vegetable broth, frozen, sitting out next to my lunch box (see here for what I bring my lunch into work in) in a large Chinese food soup container on the table in the nurse's lounge at work. And I really wanted that soup... because I was having a really shitty day. The shittiest day at work I've had in months, actually. My patients were very sick, I hadn't had a chance to do ANY of my paperwork all day long... it was the first chance I had to eat anything or even have a drink of water (I hadn't even had a chance to take a pee break) since 6am and it was 3:15pm... and it was what I was looking forward to eating all morning long.

But when I finally had a chance to take my very first break of the day and I went into the lounge to retrieve my long-awaited lunch, it was gone.

I hate everyone.

Thankfully I'd also brought a bag of grapes, some noodles and a bag of microwave popcorn... but I wanted that soup! And it's not like I could go down to the cafeteria and buy something else to eat-- I stopped bringing money to work a couple weeks ago because when I did, all I bought were french fries and all I've been doing lately is getting fatter.

Sigh.

Anyway, today is a new day. I'm not at work, so it's a better day by default. I pumped up the tires on my bicycle and took a little ride around the neighborhood. And of course, I had some matzo ball soup. Yum.

2006-04-18T14:13:00.000-04:00

I Miss My Bing Friends

I don't know if I've become a recluse, have settled into my work-gym-home-Boston routine too much, or what, but I've been terrible at keeping in touch with most of my Bing friends... especially those from The First Four Years.

Things have been changing little by little though, and even if I've been really bad at seeing people, I've been trying to catch up with them via email or the phone a bit more. That being said, Natty Jayne told me she had an interview in my neighborhood scheduled for today, and seeing as how I was off from work, I jumped on the opportunity to see my friend. Here are the results:

We met at a local diner and for 45 minutes had the best visit we've had in several years (albeit the only visit we've had in several years). She told me her upcoming schedule and I can't wait to make plans to go out to visit her soon! Hopefully I'll be able to see the rest of my friends who live out on Long Island, too. I miss you guys!

2006-04-10T21:59:00.000-04:00

No Such Thing As Too Excited

[I wrote this a million years ago and now I'm not quite sure why I never posted it... but I know that you were really begging for it, you were just too embarrased to let me know. So here it is-- another late-ass post!!]

Really, I can't explain it. Now that I'm on a gym kick, all I can think about is the next time I can get there for a really good workout. It's like I'm some kind of addict seeking out my next fix. Unless I've been off from going to the gym for a couple of days because I'd just worked the weekend and it closes too early for me to get there after I leave the hospital and instead of working out, all I do is go home to sit around and eat and eat and eat... not like that ever happens though. Whatever. Shut up.

Anyway, right now I'm looking forward to time passing a little bit. I don't really enjoy wishing away time... and God and everyone else knows I could wait a couple of days before wanting to go back to work. I just can't wait for the next time I get to work out!

I have finally discovered the thigh machines. I asked one of the trainers for help in locating them the other day, and the girl pointed me to the appropriate location and showed me how to use them. You know the ones I'm talking about, right? They're the ones where you have to squeeze your thighs together or push them as far apart as they'll go. Yeah, that's right. They're the sex machines. Appropriately nicknamed because that's all it looks like you're practicing for when you're using them. Open your legs wide... now squeeze them shut... open wide, squeeze shut... open wide.... Well, you get the picture.

So, I was talking about my excitement with Craig. In our conversation, you can tell just how much he enjoys my enthusiasm for exercise:

Me: Want to know something scary?
Craig: Clearly.
Me: I'm looking forward to tomorrow...not because I want to go to work, but because I can't wait to get back to the gym!
Craig: Ew, fuck you! You disgust me!
Me: I know! Today I asked "Didi" what machines would help me work out my inner thighs, and the exercises felt painfully great, so I can't wait to go do them again. I know you're supposed to wait a day in between, so tomorrow I'm going to do arms which I skipped today. And then watch out on Wednesday because it's going to be all about the thighs!
Craig: I just threw up a little bit in my mouth.
Me: Ew. You're way grosser than I am. Wait... was that in reaction to what I just said?
Craig: Yes!
Me: Oh.

Heh. Whatever. He's just jealous.

2006-04-07T18:57:00.000-04:00

My Dentist Is So Dumb

It's true-- I used to go to this really cute little dental office in Hawthorne. Working there was a husband and wife team of dentists, their mother(in-law) as a receptionist, and a really great team of hygeinists. I used to go to the husband, who is gentle and kind, and who specializes in pediatric dentistry. What could be better?

But now, since I have different dental insurance (read: any dental insurance as opposed to none), I have to go to this other dental office in White Plains... and let me tell you, it's nuts there. I had an appointment for an exam a week and a half ago to take X-rays and basically for the dentist to figure out where I am as far as cavities and tooth decay. When I got there, I waited for a long time, then finally they called me into the office. A technician took about a thousand X-rays of my mouth, then told me to go back to the waiting room, and I dutifully returned. Then five minutes later, they called me back in, stuck me in another room and let me sit there waiting for the dentist to come in. Ten minutes later he waltzed into the little exam room, mask over his face, asked how I was without looking at me or listening to my response, and launched into a description of the dental work I would need to have taken care of for my cavities in the upcoming weeks. Then he said goodbye and told me I could leave. When I went to the desk to make appointments, I said to the clerk, "By the way-- who was that? He didn't even introduce himself." She shrugged her shoulders and told me who he was, made my appointments for me, and sent me on my way.

So anyway, then I went back there on Thursday for a cleaning and an apparent placement of a cap on one of my teeth. They took me right away for the cleaning, but the entire time it was going on, the hygeinist kept talking about how it was so much harder to be a dental against than a nurse, and how the education was so much more arduous, and how that even someone who has gone through dental school has to take all new classes if they want to be a hygeinist because it's so prestigious and blah blah blah. I wanted to punch the guy in the face, it was so annoying. But then again, he was the guy chipping away at my mouth with that terrible giant fish hook thing... so I thought better of that.

Whatever though. When I was done getting the cleaning, I went into another exam room to see the dentist. This time it was a different dentist, though this one didn't introduce himself to me either. He told me he was going to put a cap on my tooth and asked me to point to where I was having tooth pain. When I asked if I'd still be able to wear my retainer and about the exact location of the cavity, he told me that no, I would not be able to wear the retainer since that was the tooth that was going to get the cap... but that I didn't have to worry since I didn't have any cavities. I was so confused. I asked him why I needed my teeth drilled and filed down if I didn't have any decay and he was like... um...

Ugh. So I refused the cap, stating that I didn't want to have anything drastic done with my teeth until I actually had a problem, and that if there was no decay, I didn't want any drilling. So he got pissed off that I took up his time for nothing and told me I could go.

I hate this. I don't believe that I don't have any cavities, but I don't know what to do about it. One dentist says I do, another says I don't. These guys don't have any idea what they're doing. I want to go back to my old dentist and get good care again. Grrr.

2006-04-03T15:06:00.000-04:00

I'm Too Young For This

Last December I went to the gynecologist for an annual checkup. She informed me that I had high blood pressure, which I'd secretly been ignoring but had kind of known about for the past year. So she started me on a diuretic (which I thought I was too young for but decided to take anyway since I'm not in the mood to have chronic hypertension and all of the health issues that can arise secondary to it) and told me to see my primary care physician soon. Then my lab results came back and it was discovered that I have ridiculously high cholesterol... So I really needed to see my PCP sooner than later. I called her office a month ago, made an appointment for today, and have just now returned home.

I also went to the dentist today for the first time in two years (I know, I'm awful at keeping up with my oral hygiene) and found out some other stuff that I'd been fearing lately-- that I have a ton of cavities, need a cap or a crown or something for one of my teeth, and need to have one of my wisdom teeth taken out by an oral surgeon. Ugh.

But anyway, back to the doctor. So she took my blood pressure and it was in fact high despite the diuretic I've been taking (though I didn't take it this morning for whatever reason). Then she did an EKG which came out slightly abnormal (I always knew I wasn't really normal) and decided I needed an echocardiogram with doppler to see, just to be sure, if something wasn't the matter with my heart. "And given your family history," she said, "why don't we throw in a renal ultrasound and have you see a nephrologist in, say, a month. And see me again in two weeks to see how a different diuretic handles your blood pressure."

So I have an appointment with the dental hygienist and the dentist for a cleaning and some work on Thursday, then over the next two weeks I have appointments for my cardiovascular and renal diagnostic tests, and I made an appointment with my PCP for a month from now since it was too hard for me to schedule it for two weeks from now. And when I go to work tomorrow I will pick up my prescription for the different diuretic as well as ask one of the nephrologists who works on my floor if she'll take me on as a new patient.

Sheesh. I really am a high maintenance type of girl.

2006-03-28T19:24:00.000-05:00

Fatty Fatty Fat Fat Fatty

I just came back from Boston... I've been there for four days. For the two days prior to my visit, I skipped the gym for convenience reasons. So really it's been almost a whole week since I've gone and I am just looking down at my middle section right now and seeing how much of a terrible fatty I am. And no matter what anyone says, no amount of wild sweaty lovin' is equal to the caloric expenditure of an hour on the eliptical followed by mat exercises and weight training.

With that said, I'm off.

2006-03-19T22:26:00.000-05:00

Sweet Lord

This is what Craig emailed me in honor of my 2000th hit. I don't think any more of an explanation is necessary. Thanks Craig, I love you, too!

2006-03-16T11:43:00.000-05:00

Caution-- Keep Back 50 Feet

Is it just me, or does running make other people gassy, too? I don't know if it has something to do with my highly fermentable diet, the fact that I guzzle my fluids and swallow my food without chewing it that well, or what, but every time I do cardio on the elliptical machines (which makes up the vast majority of my workouts thus far) I seem to be inundated with excess gas.

And it's not always the slightly more socially acceptable upper-GI eructations that I grace my fellow-gym-goers with (though I do surprise myself with how often I burp while running). Unfortunately I often grace the exercising arena with terrible, stinky, sweaty-butt, loud as anything farts.

Jeez I'm classy.

You know what else? I always try to be sneaky about it. Like, when I'm burping, I just kind of keep my mouth closed and excuse myself. But when I'm farting, I don't want anyone else to know it was me, so there's clearly no admission of guilt or excuse for the little slip. That would be terrible. No-- instead, after the blessed event, I look around first to see if everyone has their headphones placed firmly in ears and plugged into iPods and TV monitors to at least lessen the chance that anyone heard. Then I check again to make sure nobody was walking behind me at the very moment I let one rip... either that, or was unfortunate enough to walk through my apparent death-cloud status post dispersion of stank air. Yeah, really sneaky....

So far I've only stunk out a couple of people... I could tell because pretty soon after the third or fourth, um, eruption, they got off of the elliptical machines next to me and went elsewhere to work out.

Sigh. I'm so weird.

2006-03-13T21:37:00.000-05:00

Hot 2000!

Sniff sniff sniff...

You love me... you really love me!

Thanks, Noodle fans. Hitting two thousand feels great! Keep coming back (or else).

2006-03-13T13:29:00.000-05:00

Buff As Can Be

I think it's been about a month now that I've belonged to the gym. When the guy questioned me on my first visit about why I wanted to join and how often I thought I'd be going, I answered that I'm a fatty, my cholesterol is through the roof and I have high blood pressure (which are all atrocious for a 24 year old vegan), and that I'd be really happy with myself if I got to the gym twice a week. And though I'd love to get to the gym more often, I was pretty realistic when I said that two times weekly would probably be what I'd aim for. Not terrible for a beginner, I thought.

In the last couple of weeks though I've surprised myself. Not only have I been going upwards of four or five times a week (including after work, even when I have to go back to the hospital the next day), but I've also noticed my eating habits have changed a little bit, too. I feel better about myself and can see a noticeable difference in my flubbery body. My legs don't jiggle when I walk (well, except for my inner thighs that is) and my belly, though still made of jelly and not jam (it still shakes!), is a touch smaller. And when I squint my eyes and look sideways, I sometimes can see a shadow of what might soon become cut lines where my obliques are hiding under all the padding.

This summer I have plans to hike a portion of the Appalachian Trail with some friends and I really want to be fit enough to be able to do it with minimal complaining. I mean, come on, carrying my life (weighing in at approximately 50lbs) on my back is going to be tough, especially paired with uneven terrain and I don't know how many miles of hiking every day. It's going to be hard. But if I keep up with what I'm doing, I think I'll be just fine.

Anyway, so that's it. I've been off this weekend through Monday and instead of running around to visit friends, I've just taken it easy and gotten some errands and home crap done. And, of course, I've gone to the gym. I'm so proud of myself!

2006-03-12T20:58:00.000-05:00

Multiplex Cinema Alone?

Is it really a turdy thing to go see a movie by yourself? I'm not sure... I see other people at the movies by themselves all the time and never think a thing about it. And Kate told me she goes by herself a lot, and that it's the best thing ever. But am I secure with myself enough to go and do that? Maybe on a week night I might consider it, but alone on a Saturday night at the Cineplex? I'm just not sure.

I mean, I'm secure enough to go to a restaurant or cafeteria by myself to eat a meal... even without that "security book" or "security newspaper" to give me the appearance of being busy and having a purpose. I love eating by myself-- gives me another opportunity to slow things down and people watch, one of my favorite down-time activities. But the movies? Oooooh-- that's a tough one.

So that's where I was last night. Jason came down for a visit and we had dinner out, and I wanted to go to a movie, but I wasn't sure if he'd be up to it since he had an hour long drive home and it would have maybe been too late... so I contemplated going by myself. And the verdict?? I didn't have to. Jason was (thank the lord) up for it.

But I'm still wondering... would I have gone? Who knows. Perhaps it'll come up again soon and I'll be able to tell at that point whether or not I've got any balls. Until then though, I guess we'll never know!

2006-03-11T14:01:00.000-05:00

Home (Away From) Sweet Home

I was off from work Monday through Wednesday so I decided to go up to Bing to visit some of my old haunts on Tuesday. When I arrived in town, my first stop was to see Andrew, Matt's old roommate and one of my remaining non-RA friends up there. We hung out for a little bit but I was so exhausted from having driven a whole three hours that I stretched out on his bed and took a nap, instructing him to wake me at 5pm-- I was going to attend a class led by my favorite teacher from last year. 5 o'clock came faster than I'd have cared for and I put on my sneakers and was off driving down to campus. When I walked into the classroom in the Decker building, Maureen did a double take and screamed out "My Emily!" with arms open, clearly ignoring and abandoning the student she'd just been meeting with. I got a giant hug and some quick instructions to wash fruit that she'd bought for the class that night.

When I was back from the kitchen, arms laden with apples, oranges, grapes and cheese, she had me come up to the front of the class and tell all of the nursing students where I was working and a little bit about the transition from Decker to Real Life. I was honest and I swear I could see fear in the eyes of some of the students... but I wasn't going to hide the fact that it had been really hard for me. Whatever though, Maureen was just happy I was up for a visit.

Three hours later, I went back up to the apartments to hang out with Andre and some of the other RAs during duty and a Hillside Council meeting. After that, I followed Tim back to the apartment for a little chat, but returned to the Hillside Commons for some more quality time with Dre and surprisingly I got wrangled into attending a self-defense class led by a university police lieutenant. When duty was over, Dre picked up my bags and escorted me back to Tim and Andrew's apartment where I was planning to take over the couch for my nighttime accommodations... but when we got there, there were about a thousand rowdy Turkish kids with statistics textbooks in the living room screaming about equations and word problems. We took one look around and promptly left for Dre's place. He was leaving that night to drive down home, so he gave me his keys and I promised to leave them in his mailbox so he could let himself back in when he returned to school. A big hug later he was on his way down state and I was back at Tim and Andrew's apartment hanging out with Andrew until 2:30am or something.

When Andrew got tired, I went back to Dre's place and hung out with his roommate Rich, watching television programs about racing cars and southern cooking until after 3 in the morning. Sheesh. When I woke up the next day (well, really the same day, but you know) and walked out of Dre's room, his other roommate Jamar did a double take and was like "You're not Dre..." which was highly observant since I'm clearly a chunky white chick and Andre is a tall, skinny, black man. Heh.

Before I went home Wednesday afternoon I hung out with Pat the secretary at the Commons office for a few minutes, and I spent almost two hours chatting with my Telefund boss, Kim, and friend Emily. And of course I stopped at the craft store and Weg's. It wouldn't be a trip to Bing without going to the awesome craft stores and to my most favorite grocery store in the world.

So, it was a good trip. I had a blast and really can't wait to go up again. Hopefully next time I'll have the foresight to tell my girlfriends that I'm coming up... it wasn't so much spur of the moment as I wasn't sure who would be around to hang out, so it ended up being mostly a guy's weekend (plus me, clearly not a guy). Oh well, there really is always next time. Anyway, I'm off this weekend but I don't think I'm going to go anywhere... it'll be the first weekend I'm off in ages where I don't travel to see a friend. Perhaps I'll finally be able to get some cleaning done! We'll just have to see....

2006-03-06T11:54:00.000-05:00

Growing Pains

I don't know-- this growing up into an adult thing used to be so difficult for me. I mean, when I left Bing for the last time and had to move out of my apartment after having lived there for six years, I was stunned into oblivion. That is, I was so distraught over all of the changes going on (graduating from my undergraduate studies for the final time, leaving my apartment, leaving my boyfriend, leaving my friends, moving back home, starting a full-time job, etc.), that I could barely function. At the end, Susan had to do the majority of my packing because all I could do was stand back and cry while watching her put my stuff into boxes and into my car.

But I'm past that now. I've been working, and although I miss my friends a lot, I've also tried to work hard to see them every so often. I realize that I don't miss Binghamton as much as I missed the people there, and I really missed living with my girlfriends, but other than that, it's ok that I left.

My parents though-- man, my parents are having a really hard time now that I'm living with them. Don't get me wrong-- they love the company I'm sure (complete with full array of body-function noises), but they're having a really hard time letting go. I think it was easier for them when I didn't live at home because there was less of a grip on me... so when I wanted to go places and do things, I just did them. Now, I have to ask permission like I'm 12 again, and I get a lot of flack for wanting to go on trips to visit my friends. And the more I tell them that I'm growing up and need more adult freedom, it seems the more they want to pull in the reins.

Sigh. Parents are so weird.

2006-03-05T21:51:00.000-05:00

Puntabulously Distraught

So Craig and I had a fight the other day... boo. Ok, well, it wasn't really a fight. But I was being really bossy and nursey and lecturey and inadvertently I hurt his feelings and pissed him off... so it's still boo.

But today I sent him a boo-hooey text message of apology, and then he told me to check my email, and sitting there waiting for me was a just-as-sobby email apology from him! We're like twins with this not wanting to screw up the friendship over some dumb stupid crap thing.

Oh Craig, I'm so glad we're not fighting anymore!

2006-03-03T23:16:00.000-05:00

Healed

Quite obviously by the grace of God. And by drinking elderberry syrup with echinacea extract and taking zinc lozenges. And from all the sweet, sweet lovin' I've been receiving while in Boston. But whatever it was from, I'm not sick anymore... wahoo!

So, I just got back... went there for a brief visit, got surprised by a spur-of-the-moment trip up by Matt's buddy R.J. (R-jot-Day-jot?) from home... got trashed and had a blast, then cried because my hormones are out of whack (I swear, I'm a happy drunk-- not a crying drunk!), realized with glee that I'm on the rag (really with glee... as in hands-in-the-air-cheering-out-loud glee), took a couple of wrong turns because I wasn't paying attention, drove home in eight thousand hours of traffic, and am now doing the wash so I have some uniforms to wear to work this weekend.

Phew. I love these fast updates. Maybe soon I'll be able to post a funny blog entry soon... if I ever get funny again.

Ok. Peace out.

2006-02-26T18:32:00.000-05:00

I'm Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiicccccckkkkkkkkkk

Ugh. I'm such a poop when I'm sick. And I'm not even that bad off... a touch of a sore throat, some nasal congestion, a little sneeze here and there. Mix it all up and you've got an Emily with a really bad attitude.

I guess it was bound to happen-- my parents have been sick with bronchitis for the past three weeks, and I'm in really close quarters with them. Sigh.

So yesterday and today, all I did was lay around the house, eat, and take long naps. I've also been taking elderberry juice with echinacea and throat lozenges with blueberry, elderberry and zinc. Hopefully those things will shorten the duration of my cold and I'll be well enough to make a trip to Boston on Wednesday, that is if the weather's not terrible.

I hope I feel ok tomorrow too because I have to go back to work for two days. Mostly I just feel sorry for myself... I always do when I get sick (which isn't more than once or twice a year, if that, for the most part). So that's it, I guess. I just have to snap out of it.

Snap.

(That was me snapping out of it in case you were wondering.)

2006-02-20T10:17:00.000-05:00

Back To Basics

Thank God... my life has finally started to settle down a bit. Work is work, enough said. On my off days though I've been seeing some of my girlfriends a bit more, which is nice since I haven't seen a bunch of them since before Christmas. I've been using my late grandmother's Cavalier and I think I might have made the decision that I'm fine with the granny-car and I don't want to buy another.

Oh! I also joined a gym the other day, and I'm sure that pretty soon I'll be giving you reports of which body parts have become rock hard. Ahem. But seriously, I really like working out and I miss it, kind of. I belonged to a gym in Bing and loved going there to work out alongside all the juiced-up meatheads... this gym doesn't have as many meatheads, but it does have a ton of facilities and a fantastic locker-room which I take advantage of all the time by walking around in it naked. Heh.

Anyway, here are some photos of my recent visit to Long Island when I went for a playdate with Susan and Lynn. It'd been a long time since the three of us had had a chance to hang out, and we had a blast. Wednesday night we ate and then met up with Jeremy who all three of us ended up knowing from Bing, but who we all really didn't know too well that the others knew him. It was weird. So the four of us went to a bar/arcade place and had a really nice time catching up. Then Thursday Susan and Lynn and I went to eat again, and Lynn left for home. I was able to stay longer and had some really nice Susan-time. It was such a nice visit!

Then yesterday I drove up to New Haven to visit Laura. The two of us picked up Franzi from the library and went out to eat, then we found a new place to get bubble tea, stalked their friend Lila and all hung out for a little while telling stories until it was time to go back home. Here you can see Laura with head in hands because her homework is hard and laborious... and you can see that Franzi isn't doing her homework because she's focusing too much on looking good to take a photograph for her United Nations ID card. Heh.

Ok, so I just got home from Yale, and now I'm gonna head to the gym, I think. Again... think rock-hard Emily... it's true-- it's in the works!

2006-02-12T12:26:00.000-05:00

T.G.I.S.

It's a snow day today... so far, two feet and still falling. And as much as I love when it's a warm and sunny day, it makes me nervous not to have snow and cold in the winter in New York, you know? We've had a really mild winter so far this year with only an inch here and there of snow, so I knew it was coming sooner or later... and honestly, I'm glad. Because when it feels like Florida up here from October through February, I get a little anxious-- like I've driven one too many miles in a non-fuel-efficient car and the ozone layer just couldn't handle it and now all because of me there will never be a cold winter in the nothern hemisphere ever again...

Ok, so maybe not *that* anxious, but I still am kind of glad it finally snowed. So I've just been going out a little at a time trying to shovel out the cars and the driveway so I can go to work tomorrow. I'm actually surprised I wasn't called in to do overtime since I'm almost positive that nurses who live an hour away must have called in to say they couldn't come in. But they didn't call me for overtime, so I'm happily shoveling out the place and making some potato-barley-lentil-vegetable soup. Mmmm.

Anyhow, for all of you Noodle fans sitting inside with a mug of hot cocoa watching someone else shovel, enjoy the day!

2006-02-11T19:28:00.000-05:00

Looks Just Terrible

I don't know what it is about me, but whenever I cook, everything comes out the same-- brown slop. It's just terrible... my meals are pretty delicious, but honestly, they all look so unappealing... like shit in a pot kind of. Diarrhea actually.

So here's a picture of the something I made this afternoon. It's a something because I'm not sure what else to call it. Inside are garlic and onions, eggplant, green pepper, green squash, corn, broccoli, tomatoes from my garden and seasonings from my cabinet. So, the end product: tastes great, looks like crap.

Sigh. I love cooking... just wish the final product looked more attractive.

2006-02-07T21:49:00.000-05:00

The Newest Captain Morgan

I'm sorry, I really have no idea-- not a single clue what he was doing, but I still felt the need to share this moment with you:

Needless to say, I'm hooked.

What a hunk... but not just any hunk-- he's my hunk! XO, baby-- I miss you!

2006-02-02T15:48:00.000-05:00

Welcome To Barf City

Population: 1.

Something I value about being in pretty good health is that I don't vomit too frequently. Unfortunately, last night was one of the few times in the last year that I ended up ralphing my guts out. It was because of a migraine headache, and I was unfortunately already crapping sickly away on the toilet, so it's a good thing that all of my major bathroom appliances are *really* close to one another or else I would have been having an amazing throw-up extravaganza.

Too much information? Too bad.

Want to know something else gross about last night? No? Too bad again. That vomit that I was just talking about-- you remember it? Well, I had just eaten my dinner (breakfast and/or lunch? It was the first thing I'd eaten all day and I ate it at 4:30pm at the tail end of my lunch break) shortly before all of this vomiting transpired, so none of it was digested... so I'm still on the john, feeling miserable, and watching all of the contents of my stomach empty into the sink, wholly intact. That's right-- brown rice, zucchini, carrots, string beans and slices of portobello mushrooms. Mmmmm.

And what's best about all of that is that my sink wouldn't empty-- the chunks were too big. And I didn't want to get a clog... So wouldn't you know it-- when I was finally able to get off the can, I had to scoop up my vomit and dump it into the toilet so that I wouldn't end up having a plumbing issue to worry about as well as a being sick issue.

Sigh. I'm such a mess.

Anyway, I showered after all of that and went right to sleep, and when I woke up this morning, amazingly I felt better. Tomorrow I have to go back to work and I'm crossing my fingers that the day won't be as bad as it was yesterday (aka: I hope I don't get another migraine headache tomorrow from all the stress). But if it happens to be just as terrible of a day, fear not because I'm sure I'll wow all you Noodle fans again with more tales and details of the contents of my stomach!

2006-01-31T12:09:00.000-05:00

Back In The USA

Ok, so the highlights of my trip included seeing Big Ben a couple of times and the outside of the Parliament building (we couldn't go inside since Parliament wasn't in session... but not to worry, one of the bobbies standing guard outside said "oh, never mind-- you didn't miss much anyhow..." Heh, no political opinions there!); visiting the giant lions at Trafalgar Square; exploring Westminster Abbey and reading the inscriptions on all of the freestanding tombs and the crypts on the floor as I walked over them; getting winked at by one of the Queen's guardsman on horseback; taking the tube *everywhere*; going to see Fame and The Lion King in the theater district at Covent Garden; watching Arsenal play Wigan at Highbury and realizing that I'm more of a soccer hooligan than I'd previously thought; seeing the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace; shopping at the Portabello Road open market; etc.

It was a good trip, and I honestly would really like to get back there sooner than later... though hopefully the next time I'm back in London, I'll be with friends. There were a lot of other places I wanted to explore and things I wanted to see and do that my parents weren't interested in doing/were too tired to do. But last night I already started planning a potential trip to Spain with Susan, and I mentioned wanting to go back to London to Matt, so perhaps international travel might be happening for me again sooner than later. Now all those two have to do is get passports!!

Ok, I guess that's it for now. I got a lot of errands done yesterday and today is my last day off before getting back to the grind, and I want to make it a good one. So far today all I've done is eat. Everything (surprise surprise). And now all I want to do is sleep... but there are some other things I know I should be doing instead. Perhaps a shower will inspire me to start the day. Heh.

2006-01-30T19:17:00.000-05:00

Four Things

Just a couple of things I could use right now, in case anyone was wondering (or offering):

1. A haircut. I haven't had one in a few years and I've finally lost my chickenshit fright of cutting it off and giving it away. Go figure.

2. A personal massage therapist. Visiting Laura in New Haven is great, but come on, she's got a life, too. I need to figure out how to get a person of my own to follow me around massaging my back at all times, and when I'm sitting, to switch to my feet.

3. Nooky. Lots of it.

4. A winning lotto ticket-- I don't want to go back to work on Wednesday!

What do you need?

Homeward Bound

2006-01-28T12:56:00.000-05:00

My trip to Englad is sadly coming to a close... I really liked it here and wish I'd had more time to explore. But I kind of feel OK about leaving since things were somewhat limited by having my parents as my travel companions. We got to see a lot of the touristy things one commonly sees while in London, but there were a bunch of other things I'd wanted to do while here that I fear will just have to wait until my next visit {hopefully with friends/lover(s)}.

Anyway, I'm currently at an internet cafe and it's my very first time. How exciting! This will clearly be my last posted entry in this time zone as I'm leaving in the morning for America, but I think I have a day or two off from work as soon as I get home, so I'm planning on updating this here blog with photographs and a much more in-depth account of the last couple of days of my trip.

So for now, Noodle fans, I bid you all adieu.

PS- No spell check here, so pardon my errors for now!

Greetings From Across The Pond

2006-01-25T06:07:00.000-05:00

Hullo from jolly old England, Noodle Fans!

Britain is fun but I've only been here a short while, so I don't have too much to report just yet. So far it seems like all I've been doing is trying to catch up on sleep and trying to find places to eat... except for last night's killer football (otherwise known as "soccer" for all you Americans out there) match where Arsenal played Wigan at Highbury and Wigan ended up winning in extra time... boo! Then all I did was stand up and scream at the top of my lungs. Geez... I never imagined I'd be such a loud sporting events spectator. But it was so much fun!

Anyway, that's it for now. I'm in the hotel's business centre and internet is expensive here... even though we're expensing it to Bob's company, but still. My mom is at dialysis right now and later when Bob goes for business meetings the two of us will go to the London Museum of Natural History. The three of us went there for a short while yesterday and saw their dinosaur exhibit, which brought me right back to childhood and to walking around the Museum of Natural History in NYC... and to being scared shitless that the dinosaurs were going to come alive and eat me. Heh. Tonight the plan is to go to see a musical with my mom, and then I'm not sure what's on the agenda for tomorrow.

I guess that's it for now. Knowing that I have internet available here, I'll probably update at least once more before I return to America. So for now, cheers!