thoughts...

people that shovel snow into the perfectly clean street in an attempt to finally dig their cars out 4 days later are douches. I saw that twice today.

Speaking of twice, I also saw 2 transvestites in the hospital today. I'm convinced that kind of thing is like seeing a shooting star so I naturally took it as a sign of good luck. I knew that we had one transvestite--a guy I actually met in a lesbian bar a couple of years before I even worked at the hospital. He tries his best to pass but he's so obviously a man that its sort of sad, really. On the contrary, the "new" transvestite wasn't really trying that hard. He had long nails & a ponytail but with gender neutral clothing & minimal makeup, he wasn't passing AT ALL.

The 2010 Bonnaroo lineup was announced last night--Dave Matthews Band, Kings of Leon, Zac Brown Band, Steve Martin, Miranda Lambert, Diane Birch, Jay Z, Stevie Wonder, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, The National, Tenacious D...there is definitely some potential. The Pros: There are lots of bands that I'd love to see, Bonnaroo 2007 was an absolute blast. The cons: $500 for tix, Tennesse heat in June, steamy port-a-potties, did I mention 4 days in the Tennessee heat without a shower, bathroom, & camping?? I still wanna go though but with our vacation to Alaska & my trip to Africa for work in July, I'm not sure if we're gonna be able to swing it.

CHOP (children's hospital of philly) finally got their stuff together and released the information about the Sickle Cell Conference. We've only been asking them for info since January 2009. Seriously. They sent out the email on 2/2 with the call for abstracts due on 3/1. Seriously. Luckily we have been working on our Evidence Based Project for awhile now so we were mostly prepared. Writing our abstract tomorrow & submitting it next week. Still waiting to hear back from the travel agency about the arrangements--we have a hotel list but know nothing about flight details or the tour that they are putting together.

Buying our plane tickets this weekend for our Alaska trip. Can't wait to get back to Seattle! So looking forward to a blackberry latte from Seattle's best, Pike Place Market, the lovely folks at the Inn at the Market, and this place...

Namaste

Nah-muh-stay. So this is what we say to each other at the end of our yoga class. It basically means "I bow to you" in Sanskrit. The image shown above is actually framed & displayed in the yoga studio.

I have always been interested in yoga & have played around with it a bit through books & the Wii but have never actually taken a class. Thank goodness my hip pain finally pushed me into action. I had been having right hip pain for atleast 6 months--I specifically remember having a lot of pain & stiffness during our trip to Washington DC for the 4th of July. After much research & asking people at work, I figured out that I my problem was all in my muscles. Basically, I was so tight in my hip flexor, my hamstring had tightened up & my leg would be stiff like a wooden plank until I had "walked it out". Basically, I looked like Frankenstein. Not to mention, the many sleepless nights I had because of pain. I always felt better when I would stretch at home but it would very quickly return to the stiffness & pain.

On the first night of class, we sat on the floor in the butterfly position. I could lay my left knee on the ground but my right knee was almost pressed into my chest--I absolutely could not move my knee down to the ground. We are now in week 5 & I've gained back almost all of my flexibility. Most importantly, I am almost now pain free & I'm not walking like this anymore:


Anyway, I've really enjoyed the fact that April has been in the class with me & I'm getting to spend time with my best friend EVERY week! This is super awesome to me. I absolutely love the fact that she is so in love with our class & how passionate she has become about what we are doing. She's just having so much fun at it & she's really good--so this has really inspired me. I wasn't feeling well so I didn't go to our 3rd class. Apparently, that's the week when she converted to Hinduism & became a yogi because when I came back to the 4th class, she was crazy good. She had somehow found her core along with her balance & strength. Mine is still hiding under a rock somewhere. Last week, our 6 ft tall spaghetti limbed instructor Kristy demonstrated a position called the Crow. She said it took her 2 years to be able to get into the position & so we shouldn't feel pressured to do it. I look to my left & April is in the crow!

Try this folks--squat down with your legs apart and put your hands on the ground in front of you (sort of like a frog). Press your knees to the back of your triceps and slowly lean forward until your feet come up OFF OF THE GROUND! You will look like this:


April was one of only 2 people in the class who could do this--and she's just had a baby 3 months ago. Holy jeebus. I still contend that this position is impossible when you are built like a toy top, like I am. I've got too much junk in the truck pulling me back down to be able to get in that crazy position. I keep trying though--so if you see me with broken forearms or wrists and I've said that I've had a bad fall-you'll know the real reason why.

Last night, when I thought I was going to fall over on my face during the bending tree pose, I look over at April who is in perfect position & in deep concentration. She sees me out of the corner of her eye, doesn't lose her pose & says "hater."

and she's right. Its enough to keep a girl motivated .

a few things..

It appears that we have won the battle of the mice...When I told Dad of our triumph, he said, "just wait until the next rainy day". Hmph. Bertie & Shelby have proven themselves to be good soliders in the Scientist's army & while Lola likes to simply supervise, she provides much needed stress relief to me while I'm holed up in the bedroom waiting for the hunt to end. I'm crossing my fingers that this was just a one time event but I'm not going to hold my breath.

I might be started to get the hang of the school thing again..or atleast I feel like I'm doing a better job of managing things. I don't feel quite so out of control. I did manage to pull an 87 out of my pathophys exam last week & though I only got a 78 on my differential diagnosis exam, I feel like I only have room to improve since it was just the first test.

I painted the thrift store dresser that I bought..one more tiny coat of poly & installing the new hardware & it will be good to go. Super excited to see how it will look in the office.

We have some plans for the basement, which really excites me. We've chosen a paint color & picked some furniture out. Mom & I spent Saturday reorganizing the storage room & cleaning up the basement..it hadn't been touched basically since the day we moved in so it was getting nasty down there. Having the space cleaned up really gets the juices flowing & makes me excited to get started on the renovations. Hopefully we will get the paint on in the month of February. I love to paint!

Had a lovely brunch at the Comet on Sunday, complete with delicious bloody marys. The Scientist has a friend who is a chef & he's doing the brunch thing..hopefully they will keep this up because my dish was sooo delicious. Anytime I can hang out in the Comet is also extra good by me!

Future posts to come--yoga, Cali & family.

Is it weird that I would very much like the opportunity to sit with an ENT specialist & talk about why humans have SO many boogers?