Two steps forward, one step back...

This appears to be the theme today. And here's what I did that made me think this way since I'm sure you're clamoring to know:

1. Purchased two birthday cards, one for a birthday in about 2 weeks, another for a birthday at the end of the month. Came home and found out that birthday girl no 1's cat just died, and birthday card is very cat-centric. Oopsies. Guess I'll have to pick out a different card.

2. Took Sophie with me on multiple little errands at the U Village. We wove in and out of stores including the treacherous Fireworks (lots of break-able at nose height) and she impressed dubious store-owners frequently. I felt quite smug about having such a well-trained dog and loved being able to take her with me on a rather hot day when there's no safe possibility of staying in the car. On our walk up the hill from the condo parking spot, took her off leash and she galloped towards a little tiny girl who just toddled around the corner. Despite my call to have her come back to me. Sophie circled the little kid before turning around. She didn't knock the kid over or anything like that, but the girl looked pretty spooked and Sophie's previous stellar obedience took a little nose-dive in my (now humbled) opinion.

3. Made a quick grocery run this morning for bread and breakfast staples. Was inspired to purchase the makings of a BBQ--steak, corn, and watermelon--but realized when I came home that we were out of charcoal. And when I finally purchased the charcoal, I got the wrong kind. I didn't know there were right and wrong kinds, but there you go. That's why Andrew usually does that stuff.

Overall these are minor things but a good reminder that I'm quite far from perfect. A few years ago I probably would have thrown up my hands and been irritated at myself, but I think I've grown up a bit. Today's a beautiful day that's meant to be enjoyed--despite steps backwards or not--that is exactly what I intend to do.

Ladies of the Sky

A few years ago, I was caring for one of those truly lovely elderly ladies who had just managed to land herself in the hospital for a few days. It was on or very near to D-Day and she was part of the generation where that day was a defining moment in her life. She also (as it turned out) had been a pilot for the US Air Corps.

At first when she told me this I thought to myself....Uh oh, time to get out the haldol...but since she was sharp as a tack in every other way and passed a quick mental status check, I eventually realized that she wasn't joking!

Here's an interesting read for your Memorial Day consideration, in recognition of the little-known female WW-2 pilot.

She might sink

On a recent stereotypically overcast day, Andrew and I were with Sophie in the park. There's only one thing Sophie loves just as much as chasing a ball and that is swimming to get the ball. (Do you notice a theme here?)

Andrew was lobbing the tennis ball into Lake Washington to the delight of Sophie when a little brunette girl approached him who looked a bit serious for her age....She couldn't have been more than five years old.

She slowly looked up at him and inquired, "Hey mister, is that your dog? What's her name?"

Andrew responded "Yup, that's my dog and her name is Sophie."

She slowly twirled around to contemplate Sophie in the water, curling some strands of hair around her finger. Sophie was steadfast in her enthusiasm to get to the ball before the black retriever that seemed to be racing her and still had about 15 feet to swim before reaching the ball. The little miss took this all in while slowly turning back to us and said, "You know, that's kind of far for a dog to swim."

With just a hint of a smile, Andrew reassured her, "Oh, she's a strong dog and this is what she likes to do. She's gone for much further and longer than this before."

The little girl put on hand on her hip, scrunched up her nose and little bit and sputtered, "Well, well...you shouldn't make the dog go that far...she might get tired and sink!"

Andrew's eyes twinkled as he responded, "It's ok, she likes this. You don't need to worry."

All that got him was a "Hmmmmf" and an abrupt turn on her plastic green boots. She returned to the felled tree on which she'd previously been playing.

You just never know when you might get unsolicited advice from a curious little kid.

While you were away

Don't you ever wonder what happens when you leave your pets at home? For a while after we got Sophie, I noticed every now and then a single sock would appear in some corner of the apartment--but I also could never catch her in the act. I finally caught the kitty toting a sock in her mouth (!) I suppose Sophie's ball carrying antics made quite the impression on Layla.

On our recent trip to Toronto to visit Andrew's parents, we left the princess kitty in the care of a generous neighbor and Sophie went off to "Camp Alice"with our wonderful dog-sitter Lydia.

Now we finally have some evidence of Sophie's activities in our absence. Apparently she has been consorting with "Flat Stanley" as you can see in the following pieces of evidence:




Chilling in the cedar branches is a necessary leisure-time activity in the life on Sophie (on the left) and Dave (on the right). Notice the frisbee is generously being shared with Flat Stanely, it's original colour was yellow but now it's going for the 3-day-old banana look.I'm certain Sophie and Dave were rewarded with dog cookies after the picture, but you have to wonder...what the heck is in it for Stanley?



Someone should have let poor Flat Stanley know that a tie is not quite suitable canine-friendly attire! I hope Flat Stanley enjoyed dirty tennis balls every bit as much as Sophie. The children who wrote back in response to Lydia's letter detailing the adventures of Sophie and Dave were primarily immigrant kids from Mexico--their most frequent question had to do with commenting on the enormous size of these dogs and wasn't Flat Stanley scared?

I'm not sure how Lydia answered that one, but we can all rest assured that Flat Stanley returned home intact but likely in need of a hot bath. :)

Eventually

The days are getting longer and warmer so my evenings have been full of activities other than blogging....today the weather was tantalizingly beautiful and unfortunately the commute home was nothing short of nightmarish. I was officially out of work at 4:50 and officially home at 6:47pm. Something is very, very wrong with that!

So here I am trying to come up with some sort of birthday plans for my soon-to-be-3o year old sweetie, who doesn't really much celebrate birthdays but I can't let this one slip by... Why are men so difficult to shop for? I'm thinking of a simple gathering of friends at a local restaurant and then closer to his real birthday, a little surprise....but exactly what, I have not the slightest (I have all sorts of incredibly expensive ideas, but sadly our little budget can't accommodate any of the more lavish options at the moment.)

Unwittingly reduced to potty humor

At the end of the work day yesterday, I had to track down some lab work a patient of ours was supposed to have dropped off at an external lab facility. So I dialed 'em up and got placed on hold for about 5 minutes. I had even pressed the 'for doctor's only' line!

While waiting I daydreamed about the great food we'd had for lunch earlier that day. Since it was the fellow's birthday about a week ago we all snuck across the street to ILOVE SUSHI for a quick celebration. I wound up forsaking my usual nigiri-sushi order for a dragon roll which sounded (and was) fantastic with salty mackerel, creamy avocado, and a tempura-shrimp center.

So there I was on hold thinking yummy sushi-type thoughts. Finally someone answered and I blurted out: "Hi, this is Rae Niculescu RN from the Cancer Center...I am checking on Mrs. Appleby's labs, did she drop off a stool sampler today?"--at this point, I sputtered...."wait, I mean...stool sample?" It was too late, the damage had already been done.

My coworker sitting at the desk next to me started guffawing...I cracked up while also apologizing and reading off Mrs Appleby (not her real name) birthdate. Pretty soon everyone in the office was literally clutching their sides and rolling around in their office chairs. Is there an acronym for that one? (not exactly ROTFLMAO-funny but pretty darn close)

And there I was, still on the phone, struggling to control my simultaneous embarassment and laughter as this poor lady searches through her info despite the uproar in the background. She eventually confirmed that Mrs Appleby had not delivered the expected item.

::Sigh::

That was my unintentional prank call of the day. Clearly food and work (at least my line of work) are an unsavory combination.

a welcome reprieve

The sunshine is greeting me this morning and it is the most beautiful thing I've seen in days!

Ideas for blog posts have been circulating about in my head, but the evenings have been either too busy or unfortunately gobbled up by the overtime at work monster to result in much blogging success this week.

This place will become more interesting again and quite soon! I promise.

But for now, enjoying the sunshine and a nice cuppa earl grey tea with lavendar is on the agenda. Hope your weekend is off to a lovely start!

Snapshot

QUESTIONS:
1. What is your first name?
Rae

2. What is your favorite food?
So hard to chose because there's so many! Lately I have been craving noodles.

3. What is your hometown?
Seattle, WA

4. What is your favorite color?
Red

5. What is your favorite movie?
Spirited Away

6. What is your favorite drink?
A double-tall latte with creamy foam.

7. What is your dream vacation?
Perpetual and possibly never-ending: one that goes on for as along as I want and not according to how many vacation days I am 'allotted' by the biig boss.

8. What is your favorite dessert?
Fran's triple chocolate cake. Flourless and just divine--sadly they stopped making these about 4 years ago...even though I believe the recipe has now been published I haven't yet attempted it.

9. What is one word to describe yourself?
Thoughtful

10. How are you feeling right now?
Head-achy, I probably shouldn't even be blogging!

11. What do you love most in the world?
The opportunity to be alive and make the most of each day...

12. What do you want to be when you grow up?
Continually inspired.

I'm not going to tag anyone, but if you are interested here's the scoop:

Want to do this, too? Go to Google image search.
- Type in your answer to each question.
- Choose a picture from the first 3 images.
- Use this website (http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php) to make your collage.
- Save the image for use in this note.
- Post and tag all your friends.

it's official, not much has changed

There's a certain anniversary looming this summer...and I can't ignore it any longer cause I just received word that little Stanwood High School class of 1999 is holding reunion festivities this year. You can head on over to here and get the full scoop.

As you can clearly see I was a big nerd then and have continued to be so now....although I no longer wear tie-dyed shirts, thankfully. This is yours truly and Miss Niki (who is now expecting her first little one) at the National Science Olympiad in Chicago, Illinois. All the junk is basically our prized booty from the national 'swap' meet--me with my South Dakota sunflower bobblers and Niki with the ever-coveted cow. Unfortunately for us Washington state was pretty lame for donating trading gear, apple-shaped keychains and samples of Mt St Helen's ash can only go so far.

famous last words

Over the past few years I've had multiple friends, co-workers etc. tell me how great various on-line social networks are...and I casually waved them away saying, "Oh yeah...I have a blog and the last thing I need to do is waste more time on the internet."

After catching up with my college girlfriend Jen on the phone last week (who is in MAUI right now, lucky girl) I could resist no longer. I had to see what all the fuss was about. I had no idea how easily I would become sucked into the vortex...

Oh look, it's like twitter but fully matured! And oh, look...see all these people I haven't spoken to since high school--and would you have imagined that this girl would marry that guy even though they never dated in high school...aww how sweet....Holy cow, this formerly player-girlfriend-of-the-hour boy settled down and has an adorable family! What's that, Miss L who was one of the top nursing students is now a musician living in Los Angeles? Sweet.

Hmm....something's popped up here...a quiz invitation? And you think you're smarter than me? Methinks not!

And on, and on, and on it goes. ::sigh:: I've had to dose myself like a junkie on a limited budget but sadly my little bloggity blog here has suffered. I'll have to invent an exit strategy...and soon!