My Possessions Are Causing Me Suspicion But There's No Proof

I've had several objects in my life "go south"lately.

First, it was my laptop's video card, necessitating purchase of a brand-new laptop that will hopefully be able to access my work's intranet when my co-worker checks it out on Tuesday.

Then my beloved Danskos, my most favorite work clogs ever, finally gave up the ghost after 8 years of loyal service. The sole was coming off the right shoe, the left was losing parts, and they were generally beaten up. After years of having blood, contrast, urine, bile and pus dripped on them, I wouldn't even wear them home. My cost/use ratio on those babies was $0.0052/wear, so it was definitely time for them to be retired.

My cellphone was next. I'm not really a person who is all into the latest electronics, but I decided to go ahead and get an iPhone. There is so much I need to learn about that thing to really make it more than just a phone that sits in my purse, ignored 90% of the time.

And then the blowdryer I bought just four months ago caught on fire yesterday morning. It wasn't spewing flames like a blowtorch or anything, it just had a little sparks/flame action inside it.

Rowdy reminded me that our camera was smashed up on his recent mtb ride. That's a little different than something just falling apart.

I think the washer is planning on being next....

Quick Dinner Idea

I was running off to dance classes and R and K were going to jiujitsu, so I only had a few minutes to prepare a healthy meal for us. Here's what I did:

Poached salmon--15 minutes
Couscous--10 minutes
Green salad--2 minutes

Meal amazingness in 15 minutes!

What's On the Menu?

Finally, I have time to make a good, well-thought-out dinner for my family. We have having:

Brined pork chops, breaded in Panko and baked
Baked yams
Brussels sprouts in sage and brown butter

(I didn't plan for all of those things to start with B.)

Today I Am

...enjoying freshly-colored hair
...eating delicious homemade soup from the Wildes
...anxiously awaiting news of the birth of Mimi and Herb's little boy
...thinking of Beverly as she goes the other direction
...looking forward to tonight's book club meeting
...appreciating my husband's well-timed words of encouragement

Valentine's Weekend Chez Nous

Friday night:

K at a party at his Seminary teacher's house; R and I on a movie date to The Wolfman (mini movie review: rent the original with Lon Chaney Jr.)

Saturday:

The three of us drive up to Anza for a Super D mtb race. R took second, despite having ridden only once in six weeks, plus bedrest for the last week, plus having to ride the Pink Bicycle of Death and having PBOD throw him down hard not once but twice.

Off to Phillipe's in LA, the birthplace of the French Dip sandwich. We shared beef, pork and turkey French Dips, and I had some delicious pickled beets. Yummy!

We had been looking forward to seeing the movie, A Town Called Panic, for some time. Unfortunately, it was only showing in San Diego for a couple of days, during R's hospitalization. The nearest theater showing it was an hour away, in Laguna Niguel. Fortunately, that was on our way home from Phillipe's. (mini movie review: So cute! Get the DVD when it comes out.)

Sunday:

The Valentine's Bird visited R and his siblings when they were kids. Fortunately, he found us today. Lots of candy, good presents.

Wonderful talks and lessons at church today. Very uplifiting.

Our first Russian lesson! The five of us are going with Stephanie on her yearly visit to the Internat in Kaliningrad this July. R, K and I will be taking Russian until then.

The Good and the Not-So-Good

I started to write a detailed post about last week, but there's just too much to talk about. There have definitely been far-worse weeks in my life, but this one was not fun.

R had a major Crohn's flare and ended up in the hospital for six days. I juggled that, being on call with cases to do and having both K and the visiting-for-the-weekend Max to entertain.

There were many blessings that made things come together and turn some pretty bad situations into positives. The boys were wonderful--getting along with each other, being very sweet and easygoing with me, and enjoying Supercross even though it was raining cats and dogs. Procedures went smoothly and were well-timed in ways that could only have happened with help from above. Friends were willing and able to help out, especially with visiting Rowdy and helpiing him deal with the boredom of having to wait things out until the inflammation subsided enough to relieve his bowel obstruction. Rowdy and I were able to confront some issues that needed to be dealt with.

The final discharge instruction from the hospitalist taking care of Rowdy was, "Don't do any karate for a few weeks". R and I both said, "Oh, don't worry. No karate." So of course, Rowdy went to jiujitsu that evening with his hospital wristband on and rolled for two hours.

Let's All Welcome the New Blog on the Roll

Trend Vectors

Written by R's internet motorcycling buddy, Scott. He's a pilot for a major international airline, and he blogs about his work and travels.

It Doesn't Help That I've Only Had 2 Hours of Sleep

I am so annoyed. I just bought a new laptop to replace my six-year-old computer with a dead video card (third time around, $400/repair). Now I find that I cannot access my work intranet from home anymore because it will not work with Windows 8. They don't have any way to work around it because, as the Physicians' Help Desk person told me, "They're working on a new system that will be out in a few months. In the meantime, you'll just have to find an older computer to log into, or just wait until you get to work." Uh, didn't I just tell you lady that my OLD computer was broken?

So much for "Keep(ing) Calm and Carry(ing) On".

Sometimes That's All You Can Do

Happy Birthday, Mama!

My mom is 70 years old today. She doesn't look it. She doesn't act like it. She says that she doesn't feel like it.

Here are just some of the things that my mom has taught me:

1) Reading is fun and a good way to learn about the world
2) Education is important
3) In an employment situation, you should always do your best and work hard
4) Dancing keeps you young
5) Being a supportive, loving wife is worth it (if you have a good man)
6) Sometimes you have to hold your mouth just right when cooking to have the dish turn out the way you want it
7) A warm, handmade sweater is like a hug when you're far away from each other
8) Follow your motherly intuition
9) Buck up
10) Primary songs make the best lullabies

If You Haven't Already Seen This Site, You Need to Go There Right Away

http://selleckwaterfallsandwich.tumblr.com/

Things I Love

There are some things that reminds me of happy days in my childhood. They make me so happy I cry. I love that feeling of rediscovering something joyful from the past.

One is The Happiest Millionaire, a live action Disney film from 1967 starring Fred McMurray. Dayna and I had one of the book/record versions of it.

Another is the Beatles movie, Help!. Thank goodness for Netflix! It's playing on my HD tv right now. It just delights me to tears.

Definitely Describes Diane

Spending all night in the same little office and not having any patients scheduled until 9 am results in me bothering my staff like this.