A Hometown Friend??

My site meter friend tells me someone from Roanoke, Virginia stopped by here today. Since I have a great love for that beautiful city - I was born there (third generation Roanoker) and lived there until I was 12 at which time I was transplanted to Texas - I would LOVE to "meet" whoever stopped by and hear about how things are in the Blue Ridge mountains these days. Please leave a comment or email me. I'd love to chat!

Coveting a Laptop

While lying in bed for three days and four nights with a horrible respiratory bug, I formulated my next post in mind, thinking I'd post it tonight. I made it to work today but came home pretty wiped out. Still, I figured I could manage enough energy to, you know, SIT at the computer and type out my post. Then... Studly Man got a phone call from a long-lost-somebody-or-other that lasted for TWO HOURS. (And this was two MEN talking!) Then Studly needed to call his sweet aunt who lives in L.A. to check on her after the earthquake. (She's fine, praise the Lord... as is all of his family who just came through Hurricane Dolly.)

Of course he handled these calls from the "command center" AKA the desk in the office where the computer sits.

Studly @ Command Center = no bloggy for Jenn.

I'll be back with a real post tomorrow   whenever he buys me a laptop sometime soon. Until then, happy Wednesday ya'll.

Awarding a Blessing

My sweet friend, Kim, over at Seasons of my Heart blessed me this award.

I am truly humbled and honored. While I blog mostly as a creative outlet for myself and as a fun way to keep in touch with old friends and my family, I've been amazed at how many NEW and wonderful friends I've made through the fun that is blogging. What a blessing!

As instructed by Kim, I'm going to "go forth and share the love" and hopefully bless someone else today.

Sheryl, DidiLyn, Amy Beth, Paula and Donna (recipients of the award):

Your “official instructions” follow. Pick five blogs you consider deserving of this award, whether for creativity, design, interesting material, or contributions to the blogging community, no matter what language. Name each nominee and link to his/her blog. Show the award and include the name (and link to his/her blog) of whoever presented you with this award. Link to the Arte y Pico blog so everyone knows the origin of this award. Post these rules.



Sheryl at The Perch


DidiLyn at Meyers on the Hood


Amy Beth at Ministry So Fabulous


Paula at His Ways... are not our ways


Donna at Quiet Life

Ladies, you entertain and inspire me, make me laugh, and just plain bless my socks off. Now YOU go forth and share the love!

I Can't Come To Work Today Because I'm... Afraid

Edited to add: (not a very delicate thing, but...) This morning I went to throw a tissue in the toilet. As I approached, the lid was closed, which is a bit unusual. (The BigDog has to have SOMEWHERE to drink from ya know!) Any way, when I lifted the lid, guess what I saw? Yep, another one of "those creatures" - it's that time of year in Texas I guess - floating in the bowl. I commented to Studly that I'd seen it, and he said, "Well, I TRIED to save you from it. I guess he's a good swimmer." Yes, Studly is my hero. He did TRY...

It isn't every day I find myself scared senseless... at work. Okay, it is, but not usually for the reason I was the other day.

The work day before had been interesting. The last patient of the day, a man who is "cute in a 'bad boy' sort of way" according to my deranged boss, apparently didn't think we had anything else to do after 5:00 except, you know, hang out at the office while he chatted up his buds on the cell (in spite of the fact that there is a sign on the door asking people to PUH-LEEEZE turn their cell phones off while in the office). Um, hello? We CLOSE at 5:00, and we'd like to GO HOME! Mr. BadBoy hadn't even started his new patient paperwork when the nurse went to check on him at 5:20. (His appointment was at 4:00.) He seemed a little startled by her offer to help him and responded by saying, "Oh, do you need this room?" Um, yeah. We NEED this room to be EMPTY! Hang up that phone and get busy, buddy.

After he made his way to the front desk to check out, he took two.more.calls.on.his.cell. Oh, yes he did. It never ceases to amaze me a) how selfish and entitled people can be these days; b) how awful some people's cell phone manners are; and c) how much I want to slap some sense into people from time to time. That was a big 'ole rabbit trail, but my, I feel better!

Anywho, I arrived at the office with the memories of the previous day still fresh. I went into my office and put down my purse and cell phone, got a ginormous cup of coffee (my coworkers call my coffee cup the "foot bath" because it is so big) and sat down at my desk, ready to dive in to the day's work. I opened the center drawer and reached in to get a pen.

And then it happened.

It happened so quickly. There was no time to prepare.

As I reached into the drawer

a

LIZARD

ran

across

my

hand

and scurried toward the back of the drawer.

I slammed the drawer shut (almost catching my fingers), squealed loud enough to be heard in Tibet, and ran screaming from the building to the front office. My boss was in surgery, and the nurse had gone over to the hospital to visit a postop patient, so I was all alone.

Just me and my lizard.

So I did what any brave girl would do. I called my husband.

He laughed at me. Oh, yes. Yes, he did.

He said (in words that sounded strangely like "what-do-you-want-ME-to-do-about-it") that it probably wasn't the end of the world and that he thought I'd be okay. I made a mental note to run him over with my car not count on him to bail me out since he was, you know, 15 miles away. Realizing he was far too busy with real issues to listen to my ranting, I mercifully cut him loose and decided to call someone who could actually come to my rescue.

You see, I don't like things that creep or crawl, except perhaps tiny humans who have not yet learned to walk in the full, upright position. I don't even like to see pictures of them. My other coworker (who wasn't working that day) asked me if I was going to post some witty photo link of my pet lizard. Um, no. 'Cuz that would mean having to actually LOOK AT PICTURES OF LIZARDS, and hello? I don't do that. So use your imagination if you really need a picture. I can't tell you exactly how big he was because I was so busy running away, but suffice it to say it was about 900 feet long and 52 feet wide. You get the idea.

After speaking to Mr. NoCanHelpYou Studly Man, I got the brilliant idea to call the building maintenance guys. I told Elaine, the very sympathetic woman who answered the phone and confirmed that I am NOT a wimp, that I'd just wait for the fellas to come down. They did. An hour later.

They were dressed like this. One of them had a contraption that resembled a canister vacuum strapped to his back. And the search began.

Unfortunately, no lizard was found.

He is at large.

In my office.

Somewhere.


I can't come to work today because I'm... afraid.

What a NIGHT!

Edited to add: This blog post took me over three hours to write because I spent so much time on YouTube watching Ms. McBride sing. What.a.voice.


"So, was it hot?" you ask?

Um, yeah. It was hot.

"Did you almost faint from the heat?" you wonder.

Well, yes. Yes, we did.

"But was it fun?"

Y.E.S. Yes, it was fun.

That BFF of mine? She rocks. And so did Martina. And Jack Ingram. What a show!

Burlene (that's my BFF - I'll have to explain some day why I call her Burlene, especially since her name is really Matilda) and her daughters treated me to one heckuva fun time. We started out by puttin' on the feed bag here. I went with my old standby, a turkey melt and some sweeeeeet tea. De-licious! Thinly sliced deli turkey, some melted provolone cheese and just-made guacamole on wheat bread?? Heaven!

Sorry. Reminiscing there for a moment. Made myself hungry.

Then we motored on the down the highway to the furnace venue and parked our trusty ride. Burlene drives a gangsta car. I felt safe. No one would mess with four women in a gangsta car, especially if one of them is Annie Oakley.


After picking up our tickets at the Will Call window and securing some beverages, we found our seats... right down front. We thought they were on the second row. Turns out they were on the fourth row. Oh, darn. The fourth row was BETTER than the second row! Row two might have been a little too close, and our necks woulda been sore from tiltin' our heads back for three hours. But there we were. Front and center. Oh, yes ma'am. C.E.N.T.E.R. In a word, our seats were perfect. Hot, but perfect.

There were two warm up acts. We missed the first one. The second one, however, was great. Jack Ingram is a homegrown Texas boy. I hafta confess: I wasn't familiar with his music. I typically listen to Christian contemporary stuff and haven't always been a huge fan of country music. However, this guy and his band put on an energetic, entertaining show. Watching them sweat up there made us all feel guilty for even THINKING about how hot we were.

Now being the pragmatic girl I am, with wisdom and forethought decided to take along this little thing. Burlene made some snide comment about my "cute little fan." However, the day AFTER the concert when she had to go to an outdoor birthday party at 4:00 in the afternoon, she said she thought maybe she should borrow that nifty little fan of mine. Ha! It WAS a good idea. During Jack Ingram's set, I did at one point think I would literally melt and ooze right off the hard, blue metal chair I was sitting on and run right down onto the concrete floor only to be mixed with someone's spilt beer. But my trusty little $1.50 fan saved.my.life. Anyone who knows me also knows how much I dislike being hot. Studly Man thought I was plumb crazy to even agree to go to an outdoor concert in July in Texas. But with a fan... eh. I made it.


The panic started toward the end of Jack's set. I realized the batteries in my trusty little fan were overworked and underpaid and just might mount a protest or a labor strike or something equally as horrible. I knew what I had to do. I had to find more batteries.

At intermission, I set out on a quest for batteries and water. The water was easy to find. The batteries? Not so much. I asked 1,234 people if they knew where I might buy some batteries. Each time I was met with one of two expressions. This one or this one. Just as I was about to give up and return to my seat, I spotted a little booth where they sell those light-up-glow-in-the-dark necklaces. I walked over and said in a very weary and defeated tone, "I don't suppose you sell batteries, do you?" The very kind young woman working the booth asked what kind of batteries I needed and how many. I told her. She said, "Well, I don't SELL them, but I have some in my purse." I yelled, "SOLD!" I pulled out some cash, she pulled out some batteries, we exchanged our possessions, and all was right with the world. I wouldn't melt after all.


I got back to my fourth-row-front-and-center seat about three minutes before Martina (we're on a first name basis now) took the stage. I settled in for what turned out to be an incredible distraction from the heat! Can I just say... that girl can S.I.N.G.


She's cute as a button and tiny as a church mouse, and how that big 'ole voice comes out of her, I'll never know. That's a picture from the paper this morning, taken during the concert. What it DOESN'T show is the gorgeous pair of five-inch Christian Louboutin ankle strap shoes she o.w.n.e.d. How she walked on them is a puzzlement to me, but how she danced on them and ran all over that stage in them left my mind plumb boggled.


She did most of her hits. But in addition to those, she covered Bill Withers' "Lean On Me" (that link is actually from the performance I saw two nights ago - video isn't great, but sound is okay), Aretha Franklin's "You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman," Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'," and Pat Benatar's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot." Ya'll... she can sing.

She sang "Anyway." I've heard it a zillion times, but I'm ashamed to say I never knew it was Martina singing it. It has become a great crossover hit on the Christian stations. Awesome song!

And she sang "Concrete Angel" with the video playing behind her. I watched as people all around us wiped the tears that had silently slipped down their cheeks. At the end of the song, the jumbotron screens gave contact information for the child abuse hot line. Martina has done a lot to raise awareness of this horrendous plague that so many children face.

She's gorgeous. She can sing. She has a heart for kids. And she has a new fan.

After the concert we made our way back to the gangsta car and talked about what an amazing show we'd just witnessed. We were entertained and moved, and it was just a perfect evening.

Almost.

Once we went through the drive-thru at Taco Bell and got crunchy tacos and Strawberry Fruitista Freezes, it was a perfect evening.


Oh, yeah. And she can sing.

Tonight, Tonight

Tonight I'm going here to see her - - outside. The weather will be like this. I know two songs she sings. My BFF had good seats and invited me to go.

Am I NUTS?

Medical Information at Your Fingertips

It's "hump day," so that means it's Works-For-Me Wednesday over at Rocks In My Dryer.

Years ago, my mom called me and asked me to meet her in the emergency room where my dad was being taken. At the intake desk, many questions were asked of her about my dad's medications, allergies, surgical history, etc. She was understandably shaken by the very fact she was IN the ER with her beloved, and those details needed by the medical staff did not come easily to her memory.

After that, I decided to make a medical history form for every member of the family. I made it up in Microsoft Word so it could be easily updated as necessary. The form includes the demographic info (name, address, phone, date of birth, etc.), current insurance information, name and phone number of the individuals' various doctors, all medications AND dosages being taken, allergies (SO important for health care providers to know), surgical history and even some pertinant family history. Several copies of each person's history were printed.

Then I went to the office supply and bought red file folders and marked them "MEDICAL HISTORY" on the front. The medical histories were put inside the folders. The red folders (one per household) were placed near the telephone that is used most frequently. That way it is handy if a 9-1-1 call is necessary or to grab on the way out the door in case of emergency. (When I was seeing a doctor for the first time recently, I included one of these with my new patient paperwork. The doctor commented that he "wished all of his patients were that prepared!" He's referred to that page several times on subsequent visits.)

Now ALL of the important information is in one place, and no one has to face an emotionally charged situation while counting on his/her memory to relay potentially life-saving info to caregivers. Every time I change the batteries in the smoke detectors ("spring forward" and "fall back" daylight savings times), I also review the files for any needed updates.

Here's a sample form: