STD's and a Refrigerator

For the last two days I have been at a local STD inservice. The instructor was Dr. John Toney from Tampa. I had the pleasure of being one of his students at what's called STD 5-Day Intensive in 1989. He is such an excellent teacher, and has a wealth of knowledge in his brain. He punctuates his talks with humor and has excellent powerpoints, and the whole thing ended with a pretty realistic take-off on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" with STD questions and answers. None of used "call a friend," but I would have called him! He is incredibly intelligent.

Our refrigerator arrived yesterday and Hubby and I installed it together tonight. I transferred the food from the old to the new and walked the old one to the door. Hubby had to trim a few inches from the upper cabinets above the fridge as the new one is taller (standard size is so much bigger than 26 years ago!!!!!), and he'll finish up tomorrow. Then he and I walked the old fridge out the door, and it rolled quite easily down the carport and driveway to the yard's edge, where the city will take it away later this week. I must confess to wanting to refer to it as "she." I am not given to anthropomorphizing, but this refrigerator was a gift from Hubby's parents in October 1978. "She" ran relentlessly since then, never had a hiccup or need for repair, keeping my family's food cold for these years. Although she hadn't broken down, Hubby and I thought it would be best to take advantage of the tax-free week in October and order a replacement, as she had started to make strange noises and drip a bit. It seemed strange to dump this faithful appliance like so much dirt. I hope she gets recycled into something useful.

Tomorrow, I think Searcher and I are going out to Sanibel to shop a little bit. It will be cool and crisp, a great day for it. You can find some unique items out there.

Later!!

Yes, I WOULD Like Cheese with My Whine

So the last time I got a haircut, I found the most excellent beautician ever. She cut it just like I asked, chatted enough to be nice but wasn't nosy, and taught me how to style it myself!!! Found out she was just subbing at the First Choice I attended near my home and she worked at another one 11 miles away. I told her she was worth driving 11 miles for excellent technique and service. Yesterday, I called to check her hours. She said Mon and Wed 12-8 pm, blah blah. I blocked the rest out since they were working hours and told her I'd see her tomorrow night.

Tonight, I drove over the river, (sorry, no woods) and paid the toll ($1). I find her store, but she's not there. Yes, I'm told, she usually works Wed. 12-8. But not tonight. Whine!!! I went ahead and let someone else cut it since it was quite shaggy. Came out ok. I'll know better in the am after I wash and dry it.

Tomorrow and Friday I will be attending an STD conference. We're the kind of nurses who can talk about such things all morning, see the gross slides, and then go eat - no problem. Sometimes we even joke about needing to culture what drips out of our Wendy burger. Clinic humor.

Yesterday I took care of a pt. who was formerly employed in the worlds' oldest profession. She is always outrageous and funny. She handed me her cellphone complete with pics of her current partner naked in the bed. Alrighty then! Just when you think you've seen it all..... and I do.

Later!

Merry Christmas!

Hubby's 50th!!!

First, I was able to work in clinic all day today!!!! Yay to patient care, paperwork be damned! Speaking of which, I bought Hubby a card that says, "You know what they say about people who turn 50, don't you?" (open the card) DAMN!! (end of card) My warped brain found that amusing.
Hubby's Dad took us to the Outback tonight. I was so good. I had salmon, and didn't eat it all. Accompanied by steamed broccoli and salad. Then I blew it all on apple cobbler. *sigh* Weight loss/mainentance sucks. I need to lose 20 pounds, and doubt that will happen by Christmas.

Ripped called us on the way home from the restaurant. He locked himself out of his car at our church youth center and was breaking out in major hives, a condition he has had periodically since early childhood. It happens less frequently the older he gets. Hubby thought this was a set-up for some kind of surprise party, which he would despise, so he almost refused to go (I needed to get off my sore foot after all day clinic). Just then Searcher came home and went for her bro. I reassured Hubby that this was no joke. Poor Ripped. He hasn't had hives this badly in years. 50 of benadryl and off to bed. But first, he and sis sat at the couch trading cell phone songs. It's rare to see them sit and get along like this anymore. Everyone's off in different directions. I took a pic.

Also a pic from dinner. I'm pooped. Let's sleep!

The Decoratin's All Done

Came home from church, cooked dinner, cleaned up and finished decorating, mostly. That's all day. Since I was born, my Mom has bought me a "special" ornament every year. When I got married, I had a good supply of whimsical ornaments to start my tree with. I've done the same for my kids. This year, an adorable ornament/bell frog found at the local Cracker Barrel.

Here's the tree, with a pic of the animated angel tree-top and the nativity. Usually, it's under the tree, but with new pups and a cat since last Christmas, I decided to place it on a lighted shelf of our entertainment unit.

~~me

Back from Orlando

I was able to get Thursday off, and I went to Orlando with Hubby, who had to attend a conference. In spite of poor maps and instructions given, we were finally able to find the hotel, located inside Orlando airport, and figure out where to park. We arrived pretty much in time for lunch, and the conference started at 1. We ate pricey lunch food at McCoy's inside the hotel. At least it was tasty. Pulled pork sandwiches with sweet potato chips and cole slaw and a pickle. Gotta have the pickle, and I requested sliced onion on the sandwich as well. We were also served two lousy onion rings. Yuck. I took one bite and left the rest.

After Hubby went to the conference, I scouted the airport. They have a small food court, a Chili's and a Macaroni Grill. Also some shops. Universal Studios, Seaworld, Disney, etc. plus various independent stores. A hairbrush store. Sells nothing but hairbrushes. Bet that won't last long!

I bought a paperback and went back to the room. Enjoyed a nice, long bubble bath and was able to add more hot water without having to worry about saving some for anyone else. Luxury. Took a nice nap. Hubby got out of the meeting at 5 and I took him to Universal Studios Citywalk, expressly to eat at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. If you ever get a chance to go, they have the most awesome nachos you could ever put in your mouth. I couldn't wait to take Hubby. Unfortunately, he got a little nauseous at the table and couldn't eat much. Bummer. I had such a daydream in my mind of us wolfing these things together, and he agreeing how great they were. As it turned out, we were grateful to have a plastic bag to take back in the car with us. Fortunately, he never actually got sick, and felt better a bit later. That was Thursday.

Friday, he got out of the conf. at 3:30. I was napping again, having gotten sleepy after reading for so long. We were going to go out of the airport to the Disney park and eat there; you can park and eat at the various hotels without paying for a ticket. Since it was such a hassle getting in and out of the airport, with construction to boot, we decided to "stay in" and eat at Chili's. I wanted to try a drink called "Sex on the Beach," which I asked for. They didn't have the peach schnapps, a key ingredient. Oh, well. I decided on a hamburger and a Sam Adams. I wanted a good ol' hamburger, nothing fancy. They have one called the "Old Timer." In retrospect, I should have just asked for sex on the beach with an old timer. Hubby turns 50 on Monday! Heheheh. I amuse myself sometimes.

Hubby got back to the room and was plum exhausted. After the adventures in plumbing, and three 12 hour days this week, he was dead tired. He went to sleep shortly after 6:30 and slept around the clock. I awoke shortly before 7 (this morning) and got too awake to go back to sleep. I had thought of lying around and enjoying the room, breakfast, etc, then maybe going to the Disney park on the way home for lunch. Hubby just wanted to get home. He is such a home-body! Loves to be home. Good for me!!!!

We were home by noon, and began to decorate for Christmas, a week late. Usually done the day after Thanksgiving, but I still had the pin in my toe. Got 'er done quickly. I bought another artificial tree this year. We'd had real ones for some years, but I'm tired of the expense and needles. Hubby put this together (actually, just insert the three pieces). He though it looked terrible. Searcher and I got busy separating the branches and tips, and now it looks great. It's huge!!!! 7 ft and spreads across half of our walkable living room floor. I was able to get most of the lights on before exhaustion set in and decided to do the rest tomorrow. Will also try to work on the now 3rd annual Christmas newsletter tomorrow. Oh, such great hopes!

Will go to bed now. Busy day tomorrow!!

~~me