To bed with me...

I was sort of half joking last night with my last statement in my entry about not sleeping.

Guess, my body didn't take the joke. I had one of my worst night's sleep in a long time. With the news of my sister's foot, my mom's asshole insurance company and my grandma being down in the dumps about her hospital situation I had a lot running through my head when I nestled in at 11:30 pm with the alarm set for my usual 5:45 am.

The first dream consisted of me getting a phone call that my grandma had died. I woke up completely confuzzed, unable to determine if I was dreaming or if I had really hung up the phone. Once I had rationalized my way through that and convinced myself it was a dream, I covered my head back up and attempted to get back to sleep. The second dream consisted of me giving my grandmother's eulogy. Sounds like I gave a good speech, but I again awoke very confused and disorienated, also in a cold sweat this time.

Tossed and turned after that one for quite a while. Finally wandered to the bathroom at 3 and the last time I remember looking at the clock was around 3:30 am. Alarm went off at 5:45 and I hit snooze way more than my usual 2-3 times. I didn't get up to the shower until almost 6:30 and today was a clinic patient day so that means full suit, fix my hair, make-up. So instead of arriving at the hospital at 6:50-7:00 ish like I usually do I said screw x-ray review and go their at 7:20 instead.

I hadn't been at work for 10 minutes when one of my secretary's asked "did you sleep okay last night?" (They are all quite aware of my worsening insomnia issues) Guess the make-up didn't hide the dark circles under my eyes. BUT...my hair looked frickin' awesome today! I got compliments from staff and patients. bonus.

After blowing off 55 minutes of steam at the gym between a bike and an elliptical I have talked to mom (she has a lawyer working on the issue...company says she doesn't "work enough" to qualify for the coverage they have been paying for for 27 years....show me a city suit behind a desk who can get chemo, drive 260 miles round trip and get in the tractor the next day to stack bales! Not working my ass!) Grandma is settled in her new rehab facility and they are giving her "orange colored something in a shot glass for her pain" (????Not sure WHAT that might be???).

My legs are jello, my ass is starting to tighten up from muscle fatigue, the back is creaking and my eyes are drooping...I'm going to curl into bed with my new used copy of my next Kathy Reichs book and call it a night!

Ugh

i just read rachel's blog, she had a shitty day too. I wasn't until I got home about an hour ago. I spent an hour at the gym with my trainer trying to convince myself that I CAN find the time to get back to the gym. I was feeling rather introspective so I was going to come home, write down my committments to the gym in my planner, eat something and head to bed.

Well....

1...phone call from Aunt to tell me my grandma got transferred from a regular hospital floor to a swing bed type floor and grandma's grumpy (swing bed = Nursing home in her mind)

2...my sister stepped on a toothpick and broke it off in her foot. her retelling of it made my carpet knife incident all too vivid again

3...my mom's insurance company dropped her! Dropped her!! WTF???!?? She is a 61 year old woman with ovarian cancer and they drop her! That't can't be legal

4...got an intraoffice email "reminding" us office gals to be "quiet" when each other is working

5...didn't get supper, it's 10:30, might as well just go to bed

6...didn't get laundry switched, planner done, or anything really!

7...fuck it, I'm going to go to bed and think about how I can't sleep

20 years ago...

20 years ago I was 8 years old...so that puts me in 2nd grade ish, right? I don't specifically remember watching the launch and subsequent explosion of the Challenger but I do remember the Punky Brewster special they did to help kids my age understand what had happened. I remember that pretty clearly. Throughout my life I have had this weird emotional connection to the Challenger diaster. I don't know why. I have just always "felt" for it.

In high school, we were required to write a research paper for graduation. I chose to focus on NASA's errors in relationship to the two Apollo accidents (1 and 13) and Challenger. What I learned, angered me. Did you know that the night prior to the scheduled launch, individuals of the mechanic and engineering crew warned administration that it was too cold to safely launch the shuttle, that at air temperatures that low the rubber O-rings on the shuttle could not be guaranteed? Did you know, that administration (including some Presidential level officials) decided to launch anyway, greatly swayed by the press coverage of the launch due to the long anticipated "first teacher in space"? I have seen several specials on various anniversaries of the launch that interviewed officials that tried to stop the launch, I have read all the Senate investigation reports that are public record.

My freshman year of college, I used the topic of the diasaster as my first speech in Communications 101...I opened with the names of the crew and nearly choked up. I also got the chance to visit the memorial to the crew in Washington DC. Cried there too. Never have understood why it bothered me so much. I guess for those of us my age, the Challenger was sort of our "JFK" moment. Ask any of us in our late 20's/early 30's we can tell you wehre we were or what we were doing when the Challenger exploded in the sky.

Since then there have been a few other "moments". The OJ car chase and verdict come to mind, Oklahoma City, the start of the Gulf War, 9-11. What one's do you remember?

Families of Challenger crew observe 20th anniversary of disaster
By The Associated Press - 01/29/06
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The widow of Challenger’s commander laid a wreath of roses and carnations at a memorial honoring fallen astronauts Saturday, the 20th anniversary of the day the space shuttle lifted off from a launch pad a few miles away and blew apart 73 seconds later.

June Scobee Rodgers, whose husband Dick Scobee was the shuttle’s commander, recalled waiting for the launch that chilly morning with other family members of the crew, including 12 children.Seven astronauts died in the explosion, and the images of the shuttle bursting apart were replayed over and over to a shocked nation.

On Saturday, 250 people joined a ceremony at Kennedy Space Center to honor Scobee, pilot Mike Smith, astronauts Ellison Onizuka, Judy Resnik, Ron McNair and Greg Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe, who was supposed to be the first teacher in space.Rodgers, along with NASA associate administrator Bill Gerstenmaier, laid the wreath at the base of the Space Mirror Memorial, a tall granite-finished wall engraved with the names of the Challenger astronauts, the seven astronauts killed when space shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas in 2003 and the three Apollo 1 astronauts killed in a fire during a 1967 launch pad test.

Sort of awake

It's almost 1 pm on sunday and i'm not quite awake yet so I'm stealing Os's tag for the day. Yesterday took a lot of energy out of me for some reason so the boy and I decided to play it low key. He called Buffalo Wild Wings, I picked it up and brought it over, and we played games at home. I'm proud to say I won my first ever XBox Madden Football game! Fair and square, I beat him! Happy dance in the living room...beat him! We played the Superbowl preview game; I played as the Seahawks, he as the Steelers. I was down by 8 at one point and came back to win 42-32. I was so happy.

Then we decided to play something "intellectual". Pulled out the 90's version of Trivial Pursuit. I'm full of knowledge about stupid trivia. I won that too! Yippee! It took us till 1 n the morning and I was starting to fall asleep between rolling and answering questions but it was fun. Slept like a rock last night, supposedly snoring the entire night :)

So now, for meaningless information about me...

FOUR JOBS YOU'VE HAD IN YOUR LIFE:
Physician Assistant
Barista
Physical Therapy Tech
Optician

MOVIES YOU WOULD WATCH OVER AND OVER:
Pretty Woman
Lady and The Tramp
Shawshank Redemption
Beaches

FOUR PLACES YOU HAVE LIVED:
Rochester, MN
Helena, MT
Mesa, AZ
Vermillion, SD

FOUR TV SHOWS YOU LOVE TO WATCH:
Law and Order SVU
CSI: Las Vegas
Trading Spaces
NCIS

FOUR PLACES YOU HAVE BEEN ON VACATION:
San Diego, CA
Glacier National Park
Las Vegas, NV
Medora, ND

FOUR OF YOUR FAVORITE FOODS:
Mac & Cheese with hot dogs in it
My chili
Mom's molasses cookies
Grandma's beef and barley soup

FOUR PLACES YOU WOULD RATHER BE RIGHT NOW:
New Zealand back country
Glacier National Park (or pretty much anywhere in western MT)
Italy
A black sand beach somewhere

See...random, but maybe interesting. It gave my coffee time to cool off :)

A Beading Party

The second party of the week is over, it's cold and rainy and I'm darn near ready to take a bit of a snooze, but I wanted to post a few pictures first. I had three people that ended up not being able to make it but we still have a good time. I am "advertising" for the gal that does these parties since I have her business card in a pic but she does such a great job and is so much fun I felt the need to include it.

This pictures below aren't all the jewelry I made but she has the two necklaces with her to finish at her house with leather strands.

I used a white shell charm about 2 inches in diameter to use as the center for a necklace that matches these earrings. The pink is australian opals and the rest is random stuff that I don't know about. The green background doesn't do it justice but the back of my laptop screen is where I could get it to focus the best. I can't wait to get the necklace back.

These are to go with a wooden and turquoise necklace I made to go with all the new turquoise sweaters I accumulated over the holidays. Everyone thought they turned out very "Coldwater Creek-ish".

T

This is Marci's card with a few of my other pieces. I made the sandal earrings last summer but broke one, so she fixed it today for me. The long narrow charm is one she made and had for sale. It was only $8!!! I have a floating silver chain that I want to wear it on.

This is the group that I entertained. All of these young ladies work with me in one way or another at the Clinic and the little lady came along with her mom. The group made a watch, several necklaces, a set of wine glass charms, bracelets, and some earrings. One other gal was there but had left to pick up her kids before we took our picture. Some of us made pieces to keep ourselves, others made some as gifts.

The menu this morning included a fruit pizza, sliced fruit with strawberry cream cheese dip, a meat, cheese and cracker tray, Panera bagels, coffee, tea, juice, and mimosas. I had all the lights on and every candle in the house lit to let people wander around the house. Reggie mingled with everyone and let the youngest pet him. Romeo vanished at the first "ding" of the doorbell and hid the entire time. They are both curled up on the back of the couch with me right now and after a bagel I need a nap!

Happy HNT

Since Os used his new gift as the topic of his HNT this week I thougth I would use another picture from the night of that concert. I took this while we were waiting for the Mission Mountain Wood Band to start playing. One cannot complain when stretched out on a blanket, in the middle of a rodeo arena, with great friends, waiting for a kickass concert to start. As soon as the first cords of "take a whiff" started playing, we were standing and dancing the rest of the night.

Random thoughts

Today is a Wednesday. It's midweek. I'm home. Not a work. It is WONDERFUL. Since we are slow this week I opted to take a day off to work at home. I have watched The Today Show in my jammies. I went to Home Depot and picked up a 6' long folding table for my craft room. I got gas. I went to the party store to get supplies for this weekend's party. I have done all of this in tennis shoes, sweat pants and a tank top. I have moved my desk, hung my diplomas, and been busy in general. It's great.

Last night since I knew I didn't have to go to work today, I suggested a late movie. The boy and I went to seee Chronicles of Narnia. I attempted to read the book when I was a kid but frankly, it scared me so I quit. The movie was great. The little girl who played Lucy looked very much like a friend of mine from college. Thought that was cute. We laughed, I cried, in general it was a nice feel good movie. Came home at 12:30 and slept like rock.

Prior to the movie last night I covered the local high school hockey game again. This time I was seated in front of the opposing team's parents. THAT was an experience. No wonder the kids started with illegal hits and just dirty play about half way through the second period. There were 40 year old "grown men" calling teenage boys "pussy" and "wimp". My God! It's a HIGH SCHOOL sporting event. I'm a die hard sports fan, I have been known to yell "kill 'em" at pro level football games. But to call a 16 year old KID a pussy? Seriously people, grow up. By the third period play was ugly. Nasty hits, hooking, slashing, you name it. What does that mean for me? I got to do a full neurological exam on a kid that got his head slammed into the boards. That was fun. Made sure to tell his parents to take him to the ER if he started puking, sluring his speech, etc. Great fun!

Os got a present yesterday. Just.A.Girl and I treated him to a bit of a music collection. I'm sure you will hear more about it from him.

Weather is weird as shit here. yesterday it was 7 degrees with 40+ mph winds. Today, it's 30 degrees, sun is shining and very little wind. Tomorrow is suppose to be over 40. Just nuts.

Back to work, v-ball tonight and a hair cut before that. I'm getting all sorts of things done today. I need to do this playing hookey thing more often.

First dinner party

If you have read my blog for a while you know I like to have dinner parties at my house. Spaghetti feeds to prep for big volleyball games, lasagna dinners for going-away parties, and tonight, in my new house, a taco potluck for a couple belated January birthdays. I spent all afternoon scrubbing floors, hanging pics in the guest bedroom and bathroom, moving empty boxes to the basement, and unpacked boxes to the office.

Tonight 6 of us dined on tacos, beer (Big Sky Brewery's Powder Hound Ale from back in Montana...yumm), and cake. I did the meat, beans, onions, and olives and assigned everyone else something to bring except the birthday boys. I picked up a cake on my way home along with Blue Bunny Premium Vanilla ice cream (THE best vanilla ever) and we dined. We laughed so hard we nearly blew beer out our nose, had tears rolling down our face and throbbing forehead veins.

The gang is gone, the dishwasher is washing and the table is pushed back to the wall. The house has a new feel though. It's got a life now. It's amazing what people gathering can do for one's psyche. There's a "vibe" here now.

This Saturday I'm hosting a jewelry making party too. Breakfast foods, mimosas, women making jewelry and touring my house. Feels pretty cool!

Choked, gave up, bought it!!

Whatever you call it, my Broncos went tits up today. The only quarter they did anything in I was at Walmart waiting for my car battery to be tested. Gosh darn it, Denver is THE hardest team in the NFL to beat at home due to crowd noise, altitude ect and they completely sucked it up today! Between that and all my car troubles today I'm severely grumpy!

March of the Penguins

Last night I was home alone since boyfriend doesn't fly in for about another hour this morning. Instead of making plans with anyone I stayed home alone. I got home from work around 5:30, made myself supper, watched a couple of my TV shows from the week and relaxed a bit. Then I moved everything in the guest bedroom to the center of the room and put a second coat of my warm caramel color on the walls. That took me about an hour and a half.

At 9:30 I sat down and rented an On Demand movie and painted my toe nails :) I rented March of the Penguins. We had gotten to talking about it at work last week and a couple of my docs said it was worth the $3.99 to rent on my digital cable. So I curled up with a blanket, painted my toe nails and watched the Penguins March.

My friend Dan is trekking across the world and most recently was in the southernmost tip of Argentina hanging out with the penguins. He told a great story about his day with them and shared a bunch of pictures with us. Since he is off on an 8 day back country trip right now, I'm stealing his photos.

It's been a year?

Just hung up with Osbasso and he asked me if I knew what tomorrow was. In my infinite wisdom, I think i may have answered "thursday". Aren't i intelligent? he said no. Kept probbing.

Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of my very first blog entry. I started this after another friend that use to live in Montana started her's to keep in touch with our group with a simple common site. I was quite adamant in the beginning that I wasn't going to make my site public, I only gave the address to friends and family of which I wanted to stay in touch with. Then Osbasso jumped on board and look where that has gotten us.

Most of the reason that I finally made my blog "public" was because I was sick and tired of Os talking about everybody eles's blog. Seriously. "oh, this person said this today" or "oh, wow, a comment" or blah blah blah. So I said screw it and made my site public.

I also had sort of vowed at the beginning not get caught up in reading all these blogs of strangers. Juliepatchouli and Lizabeth were the first two blogs that I picked up on. Followed by Domestic Psychology and Dooce. If you check out my blogroll, it is still pretty small. I just don't have time to read a lot of people's great thoughts. I have a few other's marked in favorites that I go to every once in a while but not all that often. Sometimes I'll read one of my regular's blogs and then link somewhere from there. But in general, I read a very small group of other blogs.

So, what has the year of blogging done for me. initially I blogged a lot about work. now, i ramble about frustrations at work in general but not in the specifics like I use to. Safety and job security reasons there. I have exposed a good deal of skin on the web much to my families dismay but none of it has been inappropriate, it has all been mostly tasteful. I have made friends...I met and continue to communicate with someone that went to carroll college at the same time I did and I never knew her. Some friends have disappeared...Jason, where are you? My best friend has developed a true obsession because of me and even ventured on ridiculously long solo road trips because of a blog he started due to my starting one. That obsession has proved frustrating at times but hey, he came to visit me because of it!

i'll continue rambling. I don't have a crazy sense of humor like a lot of you, i don't bare as much flesh as a lot of you, i'm not articulate as many of you but I'll ramble. there are a few that actually read it so I'll keep plugging away. Happy Anniversary to me!

Five weird habits....thanks, Os

Os tagged me...the dork, like I have time to do these weird lists. But here you go...

The first player of this game starts with the topic five weird habits of yourself, and people who get tagged need to write an entry about their five weird habits as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose the next five people to be tagged and link to their web journals. DonÂ’t forget to leave a comment in their blog or journal that says You are tagged (assuming they take comments) and tell them to read yours.

1. i say the word "fer" when attempting to say "for". i didn't know I did it, my boyfriend pointed it out. I still don't believe I say it but he points it out several times a week just to annoy me.

2. I read the last pages of a magazine first. I have gotten Glamour and Oprah for ages. I read the Glamour Do's and Don't list and the Glamour List first in every issue. I read Oprah's "I know this much is true" at the end of every magazine first. I read the last sentence of a book first too. I have done this forever. Don't know why. I just do it that way. I also get very annoyed if someone reads my magazines before I do.

3. I peel my toe nails instead of trim them. Again, don't know when I started doing this (probably in college when I didn't have or couldnt' find a toe nail clipper). When my toe nails get long I simply peel themoff usingg my fingernails to tear at them. They never get too short that way, no corners or edges to worry about cutting unevenly. They just tear across at the base of the "white" part and then grown evenly and in the same shape the next time.

4. From the months of about late September to early March I have a hot cup of something every night. Hot tea, cocoa, decaf coffee, hot cider. That habit started for sure in college for sure. Small dorm room, really didn't want to walk all the way to the campus center for something so we would warm up a hotpot of water and make a warm drink and then go to bed. Rarely if ever do I have more than one cup. And no, I don't get up in the middle of the night to pee.

5. I crack my ankles and toes every morning before I get out of bed. I do a big ole kitty like stretch and point my feet so my ankles pop, curl up my toes tight so they pop. Then i roll my ankles in little circles and then I get up. Before I walk away from the bed I then rock up on my toes to get any last crack out of them. Feels amazing!

now I'm suppose to tag five people...i can't get five comments on a post so how am I suppose to tag five reader's? If you feel like sharing your weird habits with me...do so!

Recipe Share

I'm attempting to be ambitious today after sleeping most of yesterday. that means tackling the kitchen. I just finished baking a pan of Texas Brownies as well as cleaning out the refrigerator. I have put away the last batch of new year's eve chili. My family has never really had much to do with New Year's Eve so my ex and I did our own thing. I would make a batch of crock-pot chili and cornbread muffins and we would watch movies. When I first came to MN two years ago I didn't know anyone and had no plans for New Year's Eve so I brought my chili into work. Since then it has become a hit and I bring it in once every three months at the end of quarter as a way to say thanks to each quarter's residents. This quarter I brought it in twice in one week; once for the residents, and again for a party for my nurses and desk staff. I thought since I'm so tired now after baking I would sit and type out the recipe to share.

The chili has evolved to say the least. I started with my Mom's basic recipe but took out the green peppers. I combined that recipe with one from a restaurant in Helena that makes THE best spicy chili ever. However, when taking chili in to a large group you can't guarantee that everyone will like it spicy. So I tinkered and here is what i have come up with. This amt of ingredients makes a large stockpot full that feeds group of 12-15...think Super Bowl Party crowd.

5-7 lbs of ground hamburger/elk/venison/turkey (whatever ground best you like)
3-4 tbls of garlic chopped
1 medium to large onion diced

Brown the above in large skillet.

3 cans dark kidney beans (drain)
3 cans light kidney beans (drain)
3-4 cans black beans (drain)
4 cans whole kernal sweet corn (drain)
2-3 large cans of diced tomatos (either plain or pick your favorite flavor, I like the basil garlic ones) (Don't drain)
One carton fresh mushrooms
One large can tomato sauce
3 cans chopped green chiles (don't drain)
1/2 bottle of chili powder (to taste)
4 packages of chili seasoning (McCormick, Hyvee brand, whatever)
2 tbls Italian seasoning
2-3 bay leaves
3 cans of Diet Coke with Lime
1/2 to 3/4 bag of dark brown sugar
1 tbls dry mustard

Throw all of the above into the biggest pot you have and heat. The brown sugar and Coke are sort of the "key" ingredients. The black beans and chilies give it spice but it is balanced by the sweetness of the sugar and Coke.

Of coures, you can do the math and make this recipe smaller. I just have never made it for a small group so that is why I have it in such large quantities. Enjoy!

Blah...

Good news first, the stuffy head, sore throat, runny eyes, cough, and headache are gone!

Bad news...I have the energy and strength of a jello-jiggler. I'm attempting to work on laundry and each trip up and down a flight of stairs requires me to sit down and rest a bit.

I went to bed at 11 last night and slept till 11 this morning. Woke up with clear breathing and no headache. Got home around 1 this afternoon and slept for a couple more hours. I'm turning the corner on this cold but man, it sure sucks a lot of your energy out of you.

Plans...

I should know this by now....when one works in a hospital, particularly in a surgical speciality, don't make plans for anything, ever. Only had a few clinic patients to see, no surgical cases scheduled, great, I'll be home by noon, crawl into bed, nurse my cold with a four to five hour nap and have a lovely evening with my boyfriend. Well, i spent my afternoon in the OR with 2 added cases, then in the clinic with an added total primary joint work-up and then had to write up a few admission notes on the new patients. Got home at 5, no nap, did shower and now I'm headed to dinner. oh well!

medicine update

Found out why one can easily purchase nyquil but must go through an interrogation for dayquil. The sleeper agent in nyquil is benydryl. Supposedly if you cook sudafed with benydryl it screws up your meth concoction! See, learn something new everyday.

For those wondering how the Sudacare Shower Soothers work...GREAT! Smells good, opens airways, all good!

How do I feel?...I just sat at a high school hockey game for three hours. I'm stuffy and feel like shit!

seriously people

I am going to rant for a bit...

I'm a physician assistant. I have a DEA license. The federal government has granted me omnipotent prescribing authority. I can personally prescribe a patient for 100 Oxycontin (the radio talk show host drug of choice) without even blinking an eye. I prescribe Oxycontin, Oxycodone, Percocet, Vicoden, Tylenol with Codeine, Ultram on a daily basis in large amounts since my patients aren't sick, they are broken and in pain. yes, i can figure out which one's have "problems" with it. yes, I have been fooled by one's that "didn't" have a problem with it. But these narcotic medications with very addictive properties are the drugs of my trade.

Tonight, I'm miserable. I have a headache, my nose is dripping, my throat is on fire and this afternoon I coughed so hard I puked. Officially "sick". at 8:45 pm when I finally finished meetings for the day I went to Target to get cold medicine. I could buy Nyquil easy enough but not Dayquil. For that I had to take a plastic card and go the pharmacist. other than a component to make one drowsy, those two medications both contain ingredients that can make meth. Why can you pick one off the shelf and the other you must sign your first born away for?

I settled on Halls Sugar Free Black Cherry cough drops, Sudacare shower discs (looks like urinal cakes that effervescence in the shower to decongest you), Nyquil, and then had to take my Tylenol Severe Cold plastic card to the pharmacist with 5 minutes to spare before closing. it was a pharmacy tech, not a real pharmacist. She asked me for my ID. Then got me my meds. Then printed my receipt as well as a second receipt that she asked me to sign without telling me what it was. That's a HUGE pet peeve of mine, if you are asking someone to sign something you should explain to them what it is. So I ask and she just casually says, oh just something to say you got the drug. I signed it, put it in my purse and then went and paid for my Nyquil at the regular counter.

Now I'm going to suck on a Halls, down two Nyquil with lemon tea and honey and call it a night! By the way...thanks again Os for sharing the bug.

Os made me sick

1283 miles between us and he makes me sick! How does that happen! yesterday I was achy all over and thought it was because of my gym workout. This morning, massive headache which i thought was because of the huge nap I took yesterday when i could barely keep my eyes open. Tonight, my throat is getting all raw and scratchy! WTF! i have been eating three to four Clementines a day for the last week...I should have enough Vitamin C in my system to fight off the plague! Time for honey, tea, and lots of sleep. Good night!

End of the holiday season

I hate taking down Christmas decorations. This weekend is Epiphany so it is officially the end of the Christian Christmas season. Time to take down the tree and all the associated decorations. Just like the awe that comes across a room when the lights of the tree are first lit there is a sadness that comes with the emptiness of the room once the tree and it's decorations are all boxed up. Even the cats are wondering around wandering what is happening. The tree is down, the lights all boxed up, the ornaments in their boxes. Now just a mess to sweep up and boxes to haul to the basement. Then back to a "normal" routine, right?

So to distract myself from the emptiness of my living room, I stole this from Osbasso
1. What did you do in 2005 that you’d never done before? Started my blog, started putting on lower extremity casts, celebrated New Year out and about
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Yes, I vowed to keep my paper calendar up-to-date and organized. I bought myself a nice leather planner and filled it with a daily calendar. In October I had to purchase the 2006 fillers to keep it going. Still got it and still am keeping it going. I also vowed to work on decreasing my debt...I eliminated no less than 4 credit cards completely and am close to having another one gone. This year we want to try not to eat out as much and cook instead. Of course, I'll keep pecking away on the debt too.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Where do I start, all kinds of people had babies this year...I would start naming the babies but I would be afraid I would forget one somewhere
4. Did anyone close to you die? A few people I knew, but no one close to me.
5. What countries did you visit? Didn't leave the States this year
6. What would you like to have in 2006 that you lacked in 2005? More time with the boy, a better handle on my debt, a polished office in my new house
7. What dates from 2005 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? My trip to San Diego with the boy in March, September 1st when my new doctor arrived at the clinic
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Buying a house
9. What was your biggest failure? Losing patience at work with interim boss, not being able to cope
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Let's see...crashed my bicycle over the 4th, broke my foot over Labor day, had whooping cough last winter
11. What was the best thing you bought? My house!
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Surviving at work without a complete mental breakdown before the arrival of my new doc.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? My lack of control at work the first 9 months of the year
14. Where did most of your money go? Toward a debt consolidation loan that subsequently allowed me to be sound enough to buy my first ever house
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? My New Year's Eve plans, new responsibilites at work, my house, my trip to Montana
16. What song will always remind you of 2005?"This Old House"
17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder?Happier b) thinner or fatter? Weight is the same but I've slimmed in inches c) richer or poorer? richer
18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Traveled, slept
19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Worrying
20. How will you be spending New Year’s Eve? it's over but I had a wonderiful get-away weekend with the boy in The cities and got all dressed up and had a blast
21. Did you fall in love in 2005? Yes
22. How many one-night stands? Nada
23. What was your favorite TV program? SVU, CSI, ER, According to Jim
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Not really
25. What was the best book you read? I read so many...just one? Probably the first two in the books by Kathy Reichs...Deja Dead and Death Dejour
26. What was your greatest musical discovery? Little Big Town
27. What did you want and get? A safe and trusting relationship, a new boss
28. What did you want and not get? A little more cash left at the end of each month
29. What was your favorite film of this year? Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? 28, I was in Norfolk, VA at a conference. I pigged out on crab cakes and a triple scoop brownie sundae before flying home to MN that night.
31.What one thing made your year measurably more satisfying? Decreasing my debt and buying my house
32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2005? If I wasn't in scrubs I was in workout clothes, this summer I was in the gym or playing sports 5 nights a week
33. What kept you sane? Heather, Osbasso, the boy, my secretaries
34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Not really sure
35. What political issue stirred you the most? Iraq
36. Who did you miss? Heather, still can't get use to not having her within walking distance anymore
37. Who was the best new person you met? Does my new boss count?
38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2005. If you set your heart and mind to something, even if it is difficult, the satisfaction you get in the achievement is worth the hardwork and sometimes the tears it took to get there.
39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. I feel no shame, I'm proud of where I came from

Holiday HNT

It's been a while so I figured I would come back with a bang. While Os was visiting I had him snap a few photos of the outfit I planned to wear for New Year's Eve. What I actually ended up wearing was slight different (ivory pants instead of the black in the picture, and I wore my hair down instead of up), you get the idea. We thought posing with my Christmas Moose was only appropriate. We shot a lot of different shots with the christmas tree as a background, different moose positions, etc, but this one was our favorite. So, after a few months of HNT absence, here I am ....

Wedding Plans

okay...you can all stop jumping up and down and getting all excited! It is NOT me! I'm not in any hurry for that...

But, my best friend from high school called tonight. Now, you have to understand our relationship. We met at summer camp, usually saw each other once or twice a year other than the 2 weeks we spent together every summer when we were in junior high and high school. We lived 5 hours away from each other. Then she went to college one place and I went the other place and we were 20 hours apart. Then jobs moved us even farther apart. Then she moved back home and I moved to MN and we were only 4 hours away from each other but still saw each other once or twice every one to two years. Now we are back to being 20 plus hours apart. But we have remained good friends, when things have gotten really really bad for either one, we have been there. When things have been really really good for either one, we have been there!

Well...SHE'S GETTING MARRIED! CONGRATULATIONS SWEETIE!

First post

Happy New Year! It's 2006. How did that happen? The year has been more good than bad so I can't complain. Last night the boyfriend and I rang in the New Year in Minneapolis with a corner suite, champagne and great atmosphere. Over the last week I have been working on my Kodak Gallery calendar and in the process have been reminded of all the good things that I have done this year. So for my first post of 2006, here's a photo review of things I have done this past year that I'm happy to remember.

I don't have many pictures from the beginning of the year. The start of 2005 was rocky to say the least. The doctor that hired me left the Clinic and started a practice in Arizona, leaving me with a doc in charge of the orthopedic trauma service that wasn't the most PA friendly. Going to work was a bit on the dreadful side. On the homefront, neither my mom nor my grandma were doing the best in the health category. So in late February when the boyfriend invited me to join him in San Diego for a week I jumped at the chance. So my first pictures to remember 2005 start in March, in San Diego, California.

MARCH: San Diego, CA

That's me on the deck of the USS Midway standing next to a F-14 Tomcat. My dream is to fly one of these some day.

We took a nice ride through the shoreline park after dinner my first full day in San Diego. Unfortunately, about that same time I got a phone call that my Mom was now in the hospital as well, along with Grandma who wasn't doing so well. Hard to be in such a beautiful place and not have any control over the happenings around you.

I spent the days touring the shoreline of San Diego during the day while the boyfriend was in meetings all day. There are a lot of naval memorials and since Grandpa was on the USS Yorktown I've always been a bit of a Navy freak. I also took a ocean whale watching tour.. That is the skyline as you pull out of the bay.

Had to eat at Moose McGillacuddy's!

JUNE: June marked a wedding as well as family time. For the second year in a row I worked Grandma's Marathon in Duluth. This year, my aunt and sister joined me. I'm a PA, my aunt is an ER nurse, and my sister is an Athletic Trainer. We did some sightseeing over the weekend as well.

No smart comments froms friends and family about the sign I'm standing by. The Loose Moose is an art gallery down the street from my aunt's house. The lighthouse is Split Rock Lighthouse on the North Shore of Lake Superior. Great hiking...if you don't mind the stairs!

My sister and I in our Medical Team T-shirts along the Canal underneath the suspension bridge in Duluth.
The three "Kahl" girls after a long day of caring for the runners. We chowed down at Grandma's Bar and Grill...general headquarters for the marathon.

Our friends Ben and Megan tied the know in a beautiful Friday night ceremony. A friend snapped this nice picture of the boyfriend and I at dinner. If you ever get to Minneapolis, head to Cafe Lurcat for their signature hamburgers!

Keep reading into the next post for the rest of 2005 in review! Blogger stopped letting me add pictures after the bike injury shots so I had to do two separate posts.

I wish you and yours all the best in the New Year! I look forward to a trip to Chicago in March and Atlanta in September for sure. I'll add some fun in their sometimes I'm sure. Happy New Year!

The past year

JULY: July started off with a bang...or should I say a bump...or a crash! Whatever, I was finally working on a regular basis and over the Fourth the boyfriend and I decided to go for a nice long bike ride. With 6 miles to go, I crashed hardcore but gosh darn it, I finished the ride, blood and all.













Volleyball also was in full swing. The bare HNT toes picture is the only one I have hanging around from summer ball but team picture is the championship team we assembled for the fall.

MONTANA: After the bike crash I needed some R&R, I headed to Montana. How can you not relax when it is this beautiful?

Missouri River Shoreline

Half Nekkid in Montana
I couldn't pass up taking a picture of a bear with a moose on his ass!

Or the picture of a bear full of bones :)

And of course I got to hang out with Os! And yes, we drank a lot of beer. Several times! We also rocked out at the Mission Mountain Wood Band concert too. That's where I got half nekkid!

My best friend and I pigged out on York burgers while I was home too. Always good!!

AUGUST: August included weekends with Rochester friends.

Dancing at HayDaze with the boyfriend.

Hanging out on the Mississippi River with the gang!

OCTOBER: In October I went to Norfolk, Virginia for the annual PAs in Orthopedic Surgery meeting. That was a great time. I visited the battleship the USS Wisconsin, wandered around Portsmith and historic Norfolk in my free time.

USS Wisconsin: A reserve battleship that is currently docked in Norfolk, Virginia.

My supervisor and I geeked it out at the science museum NAUTICUS. I got to pet the sharks and posed as a mermaid.

NOVEMBER: I bit the bullet in November and purchased my very first home. It still isn't completely put together but it definitely is starting to look like mine.

The living room served as my central operation center for the first month as I attempted to get the rest of the place together.

I got the main floor bathroom themed out in Moose. Couldn't leave the entire place without some sign of my nickname :)

There was at least one room in the house that I didn't have to do anything with. The dining room just needs pictures hung up and the table centered. Easy enough!

DECEMBER: I traveled to South Dakota to spend Christmas with my family.

This is my sister and I, not sure she is really taller than I am but she had some serious heels on.


This is my whole family and also my favorite picture of my mom. She never smiles for the camera when she knows its coming. I got this shot and think it is absolutely perfect.