Monday Mayhem

Today was the first day the world around me had to go back to work and routine after a weekend of storms leaving behind ice and feet of snow.

Today was the first day this week at work my team was on call.

Today was mayhem. Today was a "good" day at work.

In trauma surgery a "good" day is a busy day. Those of us who work in trauma don't like idle times. We get a little antsy. Today, we had no time to be antsy or bored

Unfortunately, a busy day for us usually means inconvenience, pain, and confusion for others. This is a typical "winter" flow of patients for us...snow mobile accidents, ice related falls, car accidents. We saw it all today. This is what we have been waiting for all winter. Hopefully all will go well the rest of this week.

Maybe today is the start of my funk going away.

saturday night funk

Thunder snow? Hail in February? 6 inches of now before the rain? February??? They said it was coming. I was annoyed by it all. To hell with canceling events before the storm even gets here. Make plans, if you have to change them change them. It's February in Minnesota, what do you expect. Get over it, we were spoiled with 40-50 degree temps in December and January.

Well, it came. "They" were right. Last night driving to the bar at 10:30 in blinding snow and watching thunder and lightening in the sky was just too strange. There was July-like thunder clouds with severe lightening and it was snowing. This morning at 5 am I was awakened to ice pelting against the window two feet from my head. It wasn't ice falling, but it turned to ice as soon as it hit the window. Don't know which kept me awake more...the rain pounding or my supposed yelling in my sleep (boyfriend says I was yelling in my sleep...considering what I do remember of my dreams, the few I did have, I believe him). It was a long night.

I chopped through the 1/2 to 1 inch thick layer of ice on top of the 6 inches of snow to shovel the sidewalk this morning. That was weird. The roads were surprisingly driveable. Slushy but reasonably okay. Wish the rest of the day had been reasonably okay. I would have taken reasonably okay.

Instead, this is how I'm spending my Saturday night in an attempt to cope...

I have snowflake covered flannel pajama pants on with socks, I just inhaled a bag of microwave popcorn and I'm on my third or fourth glass of Merlot. We started installing the new dishwasher this afternoon and it's not done and I have shed a gazillion tears. What is my "Problem"?

All I wanted at Menard's was a 90 degree elbow with a 3/8th inch threaded end. Well, the idiot plumbing counter salesperson was clueless. Not only clueless, he didn't listen to what I needed. I left with three separate pieces of copper coupling to "make-do" with becaues he didn't have what I needed and implied no such thing existed. This took an absorbant amount of time. I eventually made it out with these three pieces, a piece of connecting hose, plumber's tape, and salt for my water softner. I got in line at Culver's to get our lunch. Did I mention this was taking a crazy amount of time? If not, it was to the point of the boy calling me to make sure everything was okay. By the way, I thought that was cute considering the shitty weather and all.

Well, I pounded my way into the house (a layer of ice made it impossible to ring the doorbell and my hands were too full to open the knob). The first words out of the boy's mouth as I was trying to explain were "these aren't going to work". It sent me into tears. Tears! Flaming, burning tears. He got mad, put his coat on and started to leave. Like that helped the tears! I just wanted to frickin' finish the dishwasher installation, I was pissed as hell at the salesperson for not knowing his shit, and now I was trying to explain myself to my boyfriend for bringing home the parts I brought home. What I really wanted to do...curl up in the fetal position with my cats and cry like there was no tomorrow.

Why the hell do I feel like that?

We managed to eat lunch. He picked up the "right" piece that "doesn't exist" at Home Depot and we will finish the installation tomorrow. I got a nap and had jacked up dark dreams. I have completed several cards and one photo book cover. I have my flannel sheets in the dryer. I have devoured my bag of popcorn, I'm still working on the bottle of wine, and I'm watching The Devil Wears Prada alone on a Saturday night thanks to the damn storm that made it not the wisest decision to go out for pizza and a movie with a group of friends, even though I really wanted to and now instead we all played it safe and stayed home, the boyfriend is at home slaving over work on the weekend because he has presentations and deadlines all before Wednesday and all I want to do is cry myself to sleep on his shoulder for no identifiable reason and instead am downing a nice bottle of Merlot in Eddie Bauer flannel with the Devil Wears Prada and Orville Redenbacher all alone on a Saturday night.

What the heck is my funk about?



Maybe the brunch with a friend and her daughter tomorrow morning will help all this. Maybe a long night's sleep in freshly cleaned flannel sheets with a good book will make me feel better. But I want to know where the hell is it coming from?

Stolen Meme

The rules are simple. Answer each question in three words. No more, no less.

1. Where is your cell phone? Next to me
2. Boyfriend/girlfriend?a handsome boyfriend
3. Hair? curly red mess
4. Your mother? strong-willed woman
5. Your father? school bus driver
6. Your favorite item(s)? flannel sheets, PJ's
7. Your dream last night? frustrating, screaming, awake
8. Your favorite drink? room temp water
9. Your dream guy/girl? have no clue
10. The room you are in? warm, bright, safe
11. Your fear? Being old alone
12. What do you want to be in 10 years? Satified, comfortable, safe
13. Who did you hang out with last night? pals from work
14. What are you not? A great singer
15. Are you in love? Very much so
16. One of your wish list items? Montana mountain home
17. What time is it? serious nap time
18. The last thing you did? fetched my mail
19. What are you wearing? jeans and turtleneck
20. Your favorite book? Alienist by Carr
21. The last thing you ate? Culver's Bacon Burger
22. Your life? seize the day
23. Your mood? pretty darn grumpy
24. Your friends? eccletic, fun, true
25. What are you thinking about right now? Bad day, anyone?
26. Your car? Coated in ice
27. What are you doing at this moment? thinking of napping
28. Your summer? Should be busy
29. Your relationship status? He's at home
30. What is on your TV screen? Law & Order
31. When is the last time you laughed? one hour ago
32. Last time you cried? 90 minutes ago
33. School? too much time

It's all relative...

Isn't it funny how our life sitatuion, physical location, mind set can make what seems to be very different things similar. Or cause you to react the same to different stimuli?

Last week I was hanging out in San Diego and the highs got up to the low 80's. I was singing the praises of the sun and fresh air and was excited about not having to wear a coat. Last night after volleyball I was in shorts and my Columbia winter coat amazed at how warm 34 degrees felt! Some of the warmth from Southern Cali must have come home with me. We had one day of 40 plus degree temps this week. The snow is melting and it's a slushy mess but it feels wonderful out. I briefly opened the windows in southern Minnesota in February because it was 36 degrees out and it felt so good to get a breeze through the house. Guess it's all relative to what you expect!

it arrived...

it made it today, everything was in one piece, now i have to unpack

Bag anyone?

I made it home from beautiful San Diego about 40 minutes late and then the only checked bag which arrived was my bag full of dirty laundry. All the essentials are stuck in Chicago. How do I know they are in Chicago? The guy from London, the guy from Miami and myself all flew through Chicago. Also...as we waited 20 minutes in the plane at the jet way in Chicago the pilot let us know we were waiting for bags to be loaded because of short ground staff. This was the first flying trip in which I have had to rebook a flight because of completing canceled flights and go to a different airline AND then they also lose my luggage. They say it will be delivered in the morning. Wish me luck...

Sunny San Diego

I'm hanging out in sunny San Diego through Sunday for the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons annual meeting. What a perfect location considering it's still freezing in Minnesota. This is a great city! And I have seafood to eat every single day...so I'm off to begin my day!

Senseless

I've been super busy this weekend but something is weighing on my chest and I need to get it off before I go to bed and start the new week. On top of getting a new dishwasher, demo'ing at a very successful Stampin' Up at-home workshop, covering the hockey game, dinner with the boy, a migraine, church and open volleyball, I got news of a very bad accident in my hometown on Friday night/Saturday morning.

When I say I grew up in a small town, I mean really small. The population when I graduated high school was around 300. I graduated with 11 people. The class behind me had 18 or so. My sister's class four years later had 8. You get the picture.

Friday night two classmates from the class behind me were killed in a car accident. A third member of that class is in critical condition. One of those killed married a classmate of mine right out of high school so they have been married for 9 years and have three kids under the age of 5. The other one killed is married to a gal from the class behind their's and they have two kids under the age of 5.

I cried on Saturday morning when my sister called me. Two hours later I was angry and I'm still angry. The cause of the accident was a group of adults acting like teenagers. Even my widowed classmate has said that already in her grief. They were racing another group of friends in another car and had been drinking. One of the vehicles lost control coming into town around the big curve right next to the now widowed classmate's mom and dad's house. Could it all get any worse.

Isabel is a dying town to start with. Since I graduated in 1996 the population has continued to drop and is now around 250. These young people chose to stay in Isabel. They are part of the community. Now the community is getting ready to bury two of it's own. I cried tonight at Mass for my classmate. I was always jealous of her marrying her high school sweetheart and having three beautiful kids. Now I can't imagine the grief and sadness.

Please pray for my hometown, they could use it right now.

Pearl Ex HNT

Dad's birthday was Monday and I spent three days trying to call him before I was finally able to reach him today and sing a very bad rendition of Happy Birthday to him. Thankfully, I'm more crafty than I am vocally capable :) I made a lot of cards today and tried my hand at a technique I haven't used. Pearl Ex is a heat free embossing powder from Stampin' Up that gave the candles on my Dad's birthday cake a little glimmer. I took a few shots of all the cards I made and now I'm off to bed. Happy HNT!

Feeling homey...

The last week I have felt homey; almost nesting like. I know for sure I'm not pregnant so no cause and effect there. I think it's the cold weather. Fall and winter are my favorite time of the year and we have had a very delayed winter this season. In December we had 50 and 60 degree days. We have now had a snowfall which hasn't melted and has actually acccumulated along with subzero temperatures for the last 10 days.

In the last 10 days I have felt very comfortable in my home. I have owned my house for just over a year but it really feels like mine now. A stranger could walk through the house now and learn many things about me. It's a "home" instead of a "house". I have had the desire to spend hours in my softest flannel pajamas, thick warm socks, and my hair in a pony tail curled up in between my flannel sheets with my heating pad and a good book. The other night I even took a cup of hot chocolate to bed with me. When not curled up reading, I have been on the couch working on the computer or watching TV with a warm blanket and a hot cup of tea.

I have also made a point to pick up after myself a bit more. The coffee table is free of the last week's worth of mail, last night I cleared the top of my desk, and each day after stamping in my personally painted and decorated craft room, I have picked my things up so when I have returned the next time the area was clean and ready to begin the next project.

I have wanted to wear my form fitting flowing dress pants with my sharp pair of boots and thick, soft, warm sweaters. I have foregone make-up more than a few days in the last few weeks. I'm enjoying using the various rooms in my house. I have felt very safe in my home.

I'm not sure where the feeling is coming from but a homey, comfy feeling has led to more productivity as well. I've read four books this year already. Finished several magazines which are a few months old. I have also gotten many stampin' projects done and two workshops under my belt in the last week. I'm hoping this feeling sticks around. I like this feeling. It makes me feel calm. Homey. Safe. Comfortable. I like comfortable.

Winter has sprung

Didn't think it would take until February to finally say that! But we are experiencing the coldest, snowiest weather we have had all winter. The highs this weekened have hovered any where from 5 to 15 degrees BELOW zero. The sun is shining making sunglasses a necessity with everything still covered in white from the first persistant snow fall of the year too. We had lots of wet heavy one or two days of snow earlier but it never stuck around long. The ground has now been white for a good two weeks. I like it.

Of course, I pick the coldest weekend of the year to have a full slate of activities. My car made a serious protest yesterday morning to get to my 9:30 meeting. Even the hot chocolate at the hockey game couldn't keep me warm as I covered the last regular season game for the team I was assigned through Sports Med. I didn't take all my layers off rom that until 9 pm last night. I just couldn't get warm. So I kept the layers on and moved up to my third floor where it's the warmest to finish up all the preparation for this afternoon's children's Valentine's Day Stampin' Up workshop.

The floors are swept, the dining room full of Stampin' supplies, snacks laid out, a candle lit and food bought for our Super Bowl party, which I have to get to as soon as I'm done here at home. Since my Broncos were out of it all, I forgot Super Bowl Sunday when I planned my workshop. oh well...the boy has the handle on touching up his house and everyone is to bring their own snacks and we will order pizza. I should just have to show up.

Good thing the boss is going to be gone this week, I should have some time to relax and play catch up on everything else. Like finding the top of my desk and finishing a book or two :)

Have a great week!

Moose behind

This particular moose is behind this week. I'm paying the price for a three day relaxing weekend and it is now just seems like a memory. Oh well! It's Friday tomorrow and I have a weekend of meetings, hockey games, errands, workshops, and parties to participate in. The high for Saturday's temp is to be around 3 below air temp with wind chills much lower than that. Going to be fun picking up my new dishwasher and bringing it home.

These are the only two pictures we took this weekend. The last morning of our escape involved a trip to the outlet shopping center near our resort. As we were getting ready to make the drive home we spotted an odd vehicle in the parking lot. Of course we had to check it out...and this is what we found. The Moosejaw Pizza and Brewing Companies delivery truck.

Isn't he adorable?