Last week was busy due to a) I was on call, b) TBRN was on vacation, and c) holiday weekend. *le sigh*

tiggertailz was feeling lonely so we invited her over for the weekend. When I did that I knew the weekend schedule stood at 2-3 patients per day. Boy, did that change. In addition to more patients being added, two of those patients were at opposite ends of BFE; I think I traveled over 100 miles on Saturday! And then to make things really interesting, my car started making the wheelbearing death rattle again. So all day Thursday I drove to patients (only two thank goodness) worried that one of my front wheels would fall off before I could get it to Saturn. Then all day Friday, I drove to patients (three that time) in Ary's car, praying that I wouldn't have to make a hillstart with someone behind me. But I survived, obviously, and now I have two brand new front wheel bearings, one of which was still under warranty so I didn't have to pay for that one. This had better be the last thing for a while.

Anyway, Saturday I started early and made pretty good time, even though I had to go from Ashland City to Lebanon at one point. Actually got home before Ary and Tigger, who had gone to see the Star Trek movie and then picked up groceries. So I had time to change out of my patriotic scrubs (if I'm gonna work on July 4th I might as well wear them) and into my party clothes and even go to Mass before we went to mellymell's for a Smial get together. Food and company was great, and so was the beer. Unfortunately I went a little overboard there, and tried all four of their homebrewed beers in quick succession, with the result that by the time dinner was served, I was quite a bit past tipsy. Happily for me and everyone else, I am not an obnoxious drunk, though I can get extra loud and bubbly, and I do lose my sense of balance right away. So I filled my plate and staggered to the table, then proceeded to stuff myself in the hopes the food would counteract the alcohol. I also drank plenty of water, but evidently not enough, and of course getting lunch at Sonic for four days probably didn't help my weight for the week either. Anyway, my head was more or less clear by the time Mel's husband started shooting off fireworks in the backyard, though the rain eventually drove us inside. There was more chatting, and then we decided to shoot off fireworks anyway, the onlookers sheltered in the open garage with the operators shooting them off in the middle of their cul-de-sac. Was pretty cool, esp as there were a couple of competitors nearby.

Around eleven I insisted that we had to leave, cos I had to see patients again bright and early in the morning. Again, got through them all pretty quickly, and got home in time to have dinner and then see Tigger off back home. All in all a pretty fun weekend, despite the setback of being on call.

Knitting update: am getting close to finishing the second slipper and have started on the second of my blue and orange socks. Mom has sent me measurements for Mimi's feet, so soon I will cast on for her socks as well. *sigh* So much knitting, so little time.

It's been a while, so I may not remember anything, but I'm gonna finish this if it kills me!

( Read more... ) Now as promised, here is a link to all of our Ren faire pix as well as a few "other" pix taken recently. Here also is a link to pix from the ConCarolina-Va trip. They are all, alas, in a somewhat random order, so if something confuses you, let me know and I will try to explain it.

In other news I was fiddling around with my LJ and have changed the layout, as well swapping out three of my icons, including my default. Hope you like.

Last Friday Ary and I went down to Atlanta to spend the weekend with the lovely oropher_777. Originally we had chosen this weekend because there was a fencing tournament that Ary wanted to participate in, but that got canceled. We decided to come anyway, since we were rather hurting for Oropher's company, and she may have been hurting for ours.

Due to my weird schedule of late, I got home from work an hour before Ary and was able to get stuff ready so we were pretty much able to jump in the car and go as soon as he got home. That combined with no real traffic issues along the way meant we got there about 10:30 Eastern time, which has to be some kind of a record. We stayed up for a little while chatting and drinking beer (Oropher and me anyway), then off to bed.

Next morning had a leisurely breakfast, showered, and went out to do a little shopping for the big Father's Day dinner. Also went to Hobby Lobby cos Oropher wanted some beading stuff and I ended up getting a bunch of things myself (no surprise) including a couple skeins of red self striping wool for a pair of socks I plan to make for Mimi (since she expressed an interest). Actually, the colour I picked I had already gotten to make a pair for myself, and I probably didn't really need to get more, but I am helpless in the presence of pretty wool it seems.

Had lunch at the storied Taco Mac, where I was relatively good: I had a veggie wrap...but I also had fries, and a beer, and I got water but barely sipped at it. Then after that we went to the Cold Stone Creamery...that might explain why I didn't lose this week. Came home and hung about for a while, then went out again to see the new Star Trek movie. ( cut for spoilers )

After the movie we came home and after consulting with the Munchkin put in an order for takeout from Mellow Mushroom. Had pizza and beer for dinner, no doubt another reason why I didn't lose. Had hoped to maybe play games with Oropher and the Munchkin, but Oropher was too tired, so the adults went to bed.

Next morning breakfast, shower, and then to church. Then back to the house to prepare for the whole gang coming for dinner. Ary cooked steak strips out on the grill, and this was supplemented with green beans, squash, and french fries. I managed to discipline myself a little and drank mostly water, which is likely why I didn't gain. Hung around socializing for a while, then finally had to hit the road. We had a lovely time, and look forward to having Oropher (and whoever she cares to bring) join us to go to the Kentucky faire next month. I'm afraid I still don't know which weekend, Oropher, as FM is still trying to get her schedule finalized. If you need to know now, though, I can arbitrarily pick a weekend. Just let me know.

This weekend I should be free to post at length about the faire experience; I am not on call, I have nowhere to go, and Ary is going to be helping his uncle out with stuff around the garden. Wow, actual free time, can you believe it?!

*snicker*

http://blip.tv/file/2261825/

Hey, oropher_777, I didn't gain! Nor did I lose, but we'll take our victories where we can get them.

Hope this week will be a little less busy and I can finish my updates. Had thought I might do one earlier today but found the book club book to be very engrossing. Wow, it's actually *good* this month.

This is why I have a hard time taking PETA seriously:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31422688/ns/us_news-weird_news/?GT1=43001

I promise I will finish the Ren faire report if people will stop being sick at work so I could actually have a little free time again. (What part of "part time" do they not understand?) In the meantime, here's what else has been going on:

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Okay, now you're all caught up. Going to descend upon oropher_777 this weekend, and I hear she wants Ary to man the grill for Sunday dinner. This could be dangerous...

Interesting that even though I am losing time at work I still seem to be too busy to write decent posts. Today I took Ary to get his wisdom teeth pulled. Once I got him home with some food and motrin I took off to work out with the FM, after we took a quick turn around the Whole Foods. Got home in time for dinner, which Ary and I ate in front of the TV. In the meantime I got a call from Admin who has not one, not two, but *three* admissions that somehow the FTs are too busy to do. Happily I only have to do two tomorrow, and one on Friday, but that means a ton of paperwork. It also means someone other than the case manager does the admission, and I am beginning to think that is the root cause of some of our deficiencies. I'll do it this week, but it had better not be a trend.

Maybe I can post something this weekend. *sigh*

Corporate is really on my black list now. I have been cut back to ONE DAY per week. How they think I'm going to get anything done in one day is something I am still trying to work out. Actually, it was going to be no days; they wanted to eliminate my position completely. However, Admin begged and pleaded for me to have at least the one day. I'd be grateful, except I suspect it was not so much due to regard for me as it was he doesn't want to have to do my work. (He practically said so)

So. I shall be doing the best with the one day I have, and hopefully picking up some visits here and there, which will probably be easy to do now that ACRN is going on maternity leave. And I will also be checking out other prospects, though as I want to stay in home health and would like to avoid certain agencies that I suspect are a little crooked, that may limit me. In the meantime, we exceeded our Medicare goal last month, and seem to be climbing again, so maybe when the jerkwad veep stops seeing dollar signs slipping away they may let me come back to a more reasonable schedule. Say a prayer for us please, or send good vibes; we all need them!

May has been a particularly busy month, what with the Ren faire and all. I had assumed that I would have more time for journaling with my hours cut back, but it turns out there are other things that need doing that still keep me away from LJ. I apologize in advance to my flist; I'm doing my best to keep up!

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And there I must end it for now. Ary and I are going first to Charlotte, NC tomorrow for ConCarolina, and from there we will go to VA to visit the family. Don't know when I'll get a chance to post again.

I am not clever enough to make this thing show the pic so you will have to click here to find my personality test results. They should surprise no one. Also, of the many choices I had for compatible mate, Ary's result was in there (nice to know), however, he is unwilling to share his results, so I'll let you guess. ;~) I suspect it had to do with his boyscout tendencies.

BTW, I lost all that I gained last week, sorry I forgot to post about it. No weigh in on Monday.

Had to tweak my answers; at first I was the expendable red shirt! 0_0


Your results:
You are Beverly Crusher

Beverly Crusher 70% Uhura 65% Deanna Troi 65% An Expendable Character (Redshirt) 65% Leonard McCoy (Bones) 50% Jean-Luc Picard 45% Geordi LaForge 45% Spock 42% James T. Kirk (Captain) 40% Chekov 40% Will Riker 40% Data 30% Mr. Scott 25% Worf 25% Mr. Sulu 10%

A good physician and a caring parent. You are devoted to your children and to your occupation.

Click here to take the "Which Star Trek character am I?" quiz...


Not overly fond of the character, but it does fit.

A quote from Tchaikovsky, whose birthday is today: "I sit down to work each morning at 9 a.m., and the muse has learnt to be on time."

How very considerate of her. Wish mine could learn to come when called.

Have so far been spending my days off very productively. (Wonder how long that'll last) Yesterday met the FM after lunch and we went shopping at Whole Foods and Body. (A little pricey, perhaps, but boy it tastes good!) We dropped the stuff off at her place, then went to the Y for a workout, then back to her place and I headed home, stopping first at Joann's to get some more beading cord. Then I think I vedged out till Ary called to say he was coming home and I got supper started.

Today I cleaned the upstairs bathroom and washed dishes for starters, then on a whim I decided to make some healthy muffins. Picked out our three next meals from my weight watchers recipes and made up a shopping list. After lunch went and did the shopping, back home, put groceries away, and then broke out one of my two new Leslie Sansone workout videos. This one focused on hips and thighs and came with an ankle band for use during the second part of the DVD which was mostly floor exercises. The two mile walk beforehand wore me down, and then the floor exercises totally kicked my butt. If it can kick it down to an appropriate size I would appreciate it. Anyway, after that I beaded my first wristlet and attached it to one of my wooden fans (teakwood I think). Looks very spiffy! I then attempted to do the same for a second fan...and discovered that the pearlesque beads I had gotten have skinnier holes than the heart shaped beads I had already used. I don't think they have a skinnier beading cord, and anyway, I think it would be prone to breakage. So I'm thinking I may have to get beading wire instead. Not sure what other accessories I may need to make that work for what I have in mind. Anyone here have any input?

Anyways, tomorrow it's back to work (and find out what drama has transpired, more on that when I know more myself), then Saturday *and* Sunday we will go to the faire (to make up for last weekend). So we will be going to 8:30 Mass, and since I don't fancy going to church in my newly altered black on gold gown (Thank you, Ary! *smooch*), I suspect we will take our garb with us and change at the FM's apartment. Here's hoping the faire grounds have dried out by Saturday!

You may be amused by the latest Onion News Network clip:

http://www.theonion.com/content/video/trekkies_bash_new_star_trek_film

And I maintained this week at weigh in. Not terribly surprising, and at least I didn't gain.

Ary and I were planning to go to the Ren faire today, but apparently all the rain we have been having lately (why did it have to be all weekend, for heaven's sake, we didn't need that much rain all at once!) has flooded out the site and it is canceled today. I really hope nothing was badly damaged, and also hope this is not a trend. Darnit, I need my Ren Faire time! Been waiting for it all year.

*sigh* ( Read more... )

Check out this link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/requiemart/sets/72157617306097511/

Look carefully at all the photos, they are not all sugary sweet ponies. I think they rock!

Book club went well last night. I knitted some on my slipper, in between looking up things in my Annotated Oz. It was kinda funny being the person in the know about the book and the background materials when I wasn't the one who had picked it. I did not know about the Dark Side of the Moon soundtrack, though. May have to check that out sometime.

So with our next book we go from Utopian Oz to the prison camp at Auschwitz. Greeeaat. Will definitely need some happy reading to break that one up.

Umm, this is weird, my new computer speakers appear to be picking up 1430 AM, the local NPR station that is actually in the little town I live in. Is this a good thing, a bad thing, or a who cares thing?

Friday was not a good day at work. Because we have not been doing so hot with our numbers the higher ups decided it was time to be proactive, rather than waiting till the end of the year when we definitely won't make budget if some changes aren't made. So to start off with, they laid off *both* of our clerical girls. (Everyone, please says prayers/send good vibes for them, cos they are both low-income, going to school, and one is a single Mom.) So here's me thinking, gee, I guess we all will have to help with the data entry, I guess I can enter all the discharges after I review them. And then the next bombshell drops: my hours are being cut back to 24/week. Now I grant you, my position is supposed to be part time anyway, and I have for a long time missed my day off per week. But since we don't have a DOPS, I have picked up some of those responsibilities, therefore I was working forty hours a week. The irony is we had just gotten a memo that said any employees who worked consistently 32 hours per week could get benefits (including PTO), and now they cut me back to 24/week. (Wankers!)

The other fun thing that happened Friday: Well, our numbers have been down, so somebody has to take the blame, and so the AE who has been with us not quite six months was fired. I have mixed feelings about that. Firstly, they didn't even give her six months to prove herself, but she was only two weeks shy, so there was not much she could have really done. Secondly, she had really been working hard, but there was the little problem of how she presented herself: loud, pushy, flamboyant, and she dresses like a hooker. The latter may sometimes work in marketing, but not for her it didn't. We know that she turned a lot of our referral sources off, so I can't say I'm too sad to see her go. But it did make things a little extra tense on Friday. The good news is the AE we have left is the first one we've had in over a year who knows what he's doing, and more importantly, knows how to present himself. And he's good looking; hate to say it, but that usually helps.

One other good thing happened on Friday. We got a new speech therapist; he'll be starting on Friday. We've been without one since about October, and while it's something we don't always have a need for, it really hurts to have to turn down a medicare referral because they want speech, and we don't have it. He has a full time job with Vanderbilt outpatient, so he at least has something else to keep him eating while he waits for patients from us.

At least the weekend was fun. Saturday we went to Cookeville and arymetore gave a fencing demo for a boyscout Camporee. He was very well prepared with a little history and tech talk, and the scouts were very engaged and interested. Played games and had dinner with his brother, went to church (not in that order), and then over to his Aunt Willie's where we spent the night.

Next morning we got ready to go to a small Renaissance festival at a park near Cookeville. Hidden Hollow was a little recreational place that Ary used to go to, but which had become very run down over the years as the owner got older and sicker, and eventually passed away. Now it has new owners, and they have done a lot to refurbish it, though there is still a lot more to do. But it made a very nice venue for the Dragon Festival. Admittedly, it was not at all as big as other faires we have been too. There were about a dozen vendors, and not all of them Renaissance themed. Ary and I were fairly restrained, but he did get a cheap frog for his rapier (since he had forgotten his) and a gold and black sock dagger with a green stone set in the hilt. Very pretty. I managed to score a green suede belt pouch with a black leather flap and button with a green and purple thistle on it. I had just gotten a belt and pouch on sale from Museum replicas, but the pouch was pretty small, so this larger one was exactly what I needed.

Not a whole lot in the way of entertainment either, but they did have Johnny Phoenix, yay! Since he will not be at Tenn Ren this year, we were very glad to see him here. There was no particular schedule, so he just did his show whenever he felt like it, and in between he walked around and talked with people. I doubt that he could have recognized us from Tenn Ren, but he was immediately very friendly when we came up to say hi. Chatted with him for a bit, and discussed the one night only show he is planning to do in Franklin the second weekend in June. I will be on call that night, but the show is at eight, so anyone who calls after then is going to get told to go to the ER if it can't wait till morning. Johnny did three shows with all his usual silliness, except the finale of walking across burning sand in a steel bar. (The stage was not really good for that trick) Many jokes were made about the stage being between the snack bar and the bunny cage. (Not surprisingly the bunnies all went into hiding when the whip cracked the first time)

One other act that was there was a generally Celtic duo called Menagerie, which was a husband and wife group, Jon and Lisa Butts. She played hammered dulcimer and various flute-type instruments and sang while he played the guitar. They were very nice to listen to, and I got a couple of their CDs, including their naughty songs CD called Slainte. It's only about halfway good, though, cos how many songs can you really listen to about young wives philandering with a tradesman because their husbands aren't *ahem* up to it. It does get old after a while. But there are some cute songs on there, and I'm calling that one the ten dollar CD ($15 apiece or two for $25), so it's okay.

The other form of entertainment was the White County Middle School Renaissance club, supplemented by some adults and also the local SCA, doing a few dances (the last one where they shanghaied many of the audience, including us) and then a chess match with a Robin Hood theme. It was, we thought, more clever, and better put together than the ones at Tenn Ren, so maybe they should take notice. After the chess match we caught Johnny's last show and then headed back to Aunt Willie's.

Changed out of our sticky costumes, said goodbye to Aunt Willie, and headed over to the parents'. BIL1 was there, but no one else, and he was busy with a project for school, so we headed over to the farm, where the parents were hard at work. Said goodbye to them, after Ary helped them with a few things. Got some dinner at IHOP, sharing a plate of butterscotch pancakes for dessert. (Mmmmmm nummy!) Then finally hit the road and headed home to our kitties.

So today I'm off, and I did get a lot done that I've been meaning to do but haven't had the time or the gumption for. I'm not exactly sorry to get my free time back, I'm just worried bout how I'm going to get stuff done at work with limited hours. *sigh*

Knitting update: Finally finished the ribbing on the second wristwarmer and am proceeding in stockinette. That yard is so fiddly that doing ribbing can be a bit of a pain. As for the slipper I had to rip back the entire instep because of a mistake from not reading the directions and following them carefully. However it's big yarn on big needles, so it should knit back up pretty quickly.

Kitty update: Lillie is actually getting a little bolder and coming downstairs at least to the dining room on her own. We have been keeping the door closed to our bedroom when we're not in there due to her sometimes marking on the bed, but this weekend we are prepared to leave the door open after we have gone over the mattress with a black light and neutralized any urine spots. Then we'll plug in the feliway pheremone diffuser next to the bed and hope for the best. I also got some bitter lime to put on the wires of the new computer speakers that Ary got me for Lunaversary (he's so sweet!), which hopefully will keep certain kitties from nibbling on them.

I think that's it for now. Ten Ren starts this weekend, and we've got a season pass, whoo hoo!

Firstly, happy birthday to my brother, sittingduck1313!

Secondly, happy Earth Day to my flist.

And thirdly, a rather nifty poem, courtesy of the Writer's Almanac:


Paper, Scissors, Stone


An executive's salary for working with paper
beats the wage in a metal shop operating shears
which beats what a gardener earns arranging stone.

But the pay for a surgeon's use of scissors
is larger than that of a heavy equipment driver removing stone
which in turn beats a secretary's cheque for handling paper.

And, a geologist's hours with stone
nets more than a teacher's with paper
and definitely beats someone's time in a garment factory with scissors.

In addition: to manufacture paper
you need stone to extract metal to fabricate scissors
to cut the product to size.
To make scissors you must have paper to write out the specs
and a whetstone to sharpen the new edges.
Creating gravel, you require the scissor-blades of the crusher
and lots of order forms and invoices at the office.

Thus I believe there is a connection
between things
and not at all like the hierarchy of winners
of a child's game.
When a man starts insisting
he should be paid more than me
because he's more important to the task at hand,
I keep seeing how the whole process collapses
if almost any one of us is missing.
When a woman claims she deserves more money
because she went to school longer,
I remember the taxes I paid to support her education.
Should she benefit twice?
Then there's the guy who demands extra
because he has so much seniority
and understands his work so well
he has ceased to care, does as little as possible,
or refuses to master the latest techniques
the new-hires are required to know.
Even if he's helpful and somehow still curious
after his many years—

Without a machine to precisely measure
how much sweat we each provide
or a contraption hooked up to electrodes in the brain
to record the amount we think,
my getting less than him
and more than her
makes no sense to me.
Surely whatever we do at the job
for our eight hours—as long as it contributes—
has to be worth the same.

And if anyone mentions
this is a nice idea but isn't possible,
consider what we have now:
everybody dissatisfied, continually grumbling and disputing.
No, I'm afraid it's the wage system that doesn't function
except it goes on
and will
until we set to work to stop it

with paper, with scissors, and with stone.





"Paper, Scissors, Stone" by Tom Wayman from The Face of Jack Munro. (c) Harbour, 1986.

Because I was doing the Murfreesboro office a favour by seeing a patient of theirs this afternoon who was staying with his brother in our territory while he's getting chemo at Vanderbilt, and then it turned out the visit was a lot more complicated than they indicated. *grrrrr* Oh well, I probably wouldn't have liked what the scale said anyway. Next week will be better, cos I have two gym dates this week with the FM.

Hope everyone had a nice Easter weekend (whether you celebrate it or not). I managed to get to both the holy day masses as well as the Easter vigil, which is always my favourite, even if it is a bit long. Some of my flisters may recall that last year the unveiling of the cross at the Good Friday Mass went slightly awry when the red veils got caught halfway on the 20+ foot crucifix behind the altar. Happily that did not happen this year, and all the veils fell off neatly, just as they were supposed to. And of course, the best part about Easter is I get to eat chocolate and drink coffee again! Next year I will have to re-think my usual Lenten abstinence, though. Cos I am planning to wean my self down to decaff coffee by that time (a compromise for my Urologist, who would probably rather I gave it up altogether). And this year I ate a lot of things that weren't chocolate and were even worse for me...like donuts. Yeah, need to re-think the whole thing.

Also on Easter weekend, Ary and I went to see the Cirque du Soleil Saltimbanco tour. Totally, totally awesome! Saltimbanco is one of the shows I have on video, and I have watched it many times, so technically, I had already seen a lot of what was going to happen. But it is soooooo much more exciting seeing it live! Esp things like the trapeze, and the Russian swing. Then of course, there's all the stuff in between the acts that you don't get to see on the video. The antics of the clowns made me glad that we had seats up in the stands rather than down on the floor. But it was all good fun, and no one got really badly humiliated; the guy whose shirt they ripped off had a very nice body. ;~)

Another thing you don't get in the video is the occasional mistake. Twice during the Russian swing act they did a stunt where they launch a person from the swing to the top of a two or three person tower. Each time they needed a second try to get it. And during the bungee routine one of the girls got really spooked when she kept missing the trapeze bar, and dropped out before the end of the act, which was kinda sad since it was the finale, but if it wasn't working for her, she made the right decision.

Sunday afternoon we met the two Mistresses at Warner Park and went for a nice brisk Easter walk. After that SM had to run off to join her family for dinner, but FM came back to our house to have dinner with us. While Ary prepared the organic roast chicken, mashed taters, and veggie stir fry, FM and I kept out of the way by watching the BBC Pride and Prejudice, which was a bit more sedate (and true to the book) than the Colin Firth version.

All in all it was a lovely weekend. Now this week I am on call, but hopefully that won't be too much of a problem. Tuesday and Thursday I meet FM at the gym, and Saturday, with any luck, I'll meet the Mistresses at Centennial park, where Ary will be helping out with the Earth Day festivities.