YAY

Yay Blogpatrol is back. I hadn't realized how much I used it until it was down for a week. When it's down I can't find out which hysterical search terms are leading people to my blog!

Throttling

Netflix is throttling me. They won't admit it, but they are.

For those of you who don't have Netflix or Blockbuster mailed to your home let me explain. I'm on a plan where I get three DVDs at a time. I watch them, mail them back, and they're supposed to have one day turn around. (since the distribution center is three miles from my house!)

Apparently, Netflix thinks I get too many movies. I usually watch one on my own while G is out of town, and then G and I watch two over the weekend. So, we usually average 3 a week. Netflix starts to lose money if we get over 12 movies a month. So, they start to say that they haven't received movies I've sent back.

For example: I sent back the movie Flightplan with Jody Foster on Tuesday. (meh movie, but entertaining if you don't expect too much) Netflix is saying they still haven't received it. BS. I sent back a different movie on Saturday, they got it Monday, and I had a new movie in my hand Tuesday. what made movie number TWO so different? Netflix isn't happy when I send back three movies in three days.

I can't complain too much, it's not the end of the world and I'm still saving tons of money over what all this would be costing me if I went to Blockbuster and rented all the movies I watch per month. It would cost me over 40 dollar a month at blockbuster for the number of movies I get per month. BUT.. you shouldn't advertise unlimited movies per month and then throttle people. Now I'm not going to have something to watch this weekend because my net movie won't get here in time. Grrr !!

Happy I'm busy!

My office is finally BUSY !!! Yay !!!!! I'm getting referrals from patients who sent friends. That's the best feeling EVER!

I didn't turn my computer on until lunch today. I've been steadily busy and it's great. I got to refer one patient to a retinal specialist which made my day more exciting. (for me, not so good for the patient unfortunately) But, the patient was very greatful I explained everything and got a referral for the very next day. You get in faster when the Doctor calls for some reason. Heh.

I'm so happy things are falling in place. Only twenty more minutes at work!

Moving Day

My parents closed on our Houston house today. It's gone. They're officially homeless until next Tuesday when they close on the Gainesville house. Jackson is going crazy with all the boxes. Poor dog has never know any house but this one. (unlike our previous dog, Solo, who moved with us three times)

This past week actually hasn't been that eventful. I've been trying to keep up with the running, spin class, and work outs. I've got only a week and a half until friends from optometry school see me in a bikini. eek!

G and I went to see V for Vendetta on Sunday. G really liked it. I enjoyed it, but not as much as G did. It was a little dark. I guess I was in the mood for a more fluffy movie. Natalie Portman was phenominal in this movie though. Crazy good.

Since yesterday was my day off I mainly relaxed. Tiger and I took a jaunt to the dog park to play Chuck-It. He LOVES Chuck-It. And, I love wearing out the dog. I got some pool time, even though it was almost too cold for it. Of course today, while I'm at work, it's GORGEOUS outside. I also got to clean the house and read a book. It was so nice to not have anything looming over me.

Yesterday I also got my very first wedding present. YAY! My friends liz and mark got us something off of our honeymoon registry. whoo hoo!!

The biggest news was also from yesterday. Dr M gave her month notice. she is officially moving to Las Vegas. I've known for awhile now, but she finally gave notice at work that she's leaving. I'm happy for her, but I'm kinda sad. she's become my best Tampa friend... and now that we're getting to know each other really well.. she's leaving. *sigh* Not that I want her to stay for me, but still.. it sucks.

back to the patients... !

Elusive sleep

I can't sleep.... and I love sleep. Sleep is good. For some reason I can't seem to shut my mind off tonight. odd.

Happy news!

I got the best phone call today ! My brother called before lunch time to tell me he and his wife were coming to the wedding !! yay !! Originally, he said they couldn't go because they already had a trip planned in July for their five year anniversary. (and they couldn't afford two trips) I'm so very excited their coming. I'm also excited that I'll get to see my nephew for the first time! Aww.

Mondays are my days to get all of my errands done. I ran to Target to get all of household things I needed. Ooo fun! I also stocked up on cards since everyone I know has birthdays in late March and mid-April.

My plaque came in the mail today as well. It's my Florida Optometric Association plaque that I'll have to hang in the office tomorrow. Not that anyone cares, but it makes me look involved. (which I hope to be soon!)

I also got a massage. There's this massage place near my house that I've been meaning to try out. Since my calves were sore from the race and my neck and shoulders were so stiff I was getting headaches I broke down to spend the money. I was happy with my therapist until he got my legs. I was very uncomfortable with how he was attempting (or rather not attempting) to keep my backside covered. he also commented on my birthmark. then, he started trying to tell me things my birthmark looked like (like cloud animals or some shit). way to make me waaaay uncomfortable dude. I really like the spa, but I'm going to ask for a different MT next time. He didn't impress me. I should come out relaxed and they should make me feel comfortable. he didn't.

I braved spin class today. I did take it mildly easy on the tension since my legs were still sore from this weekend. It wasn't my normal spin instructor and I didn't really like the replacement. She didn't give us the proper warm up and didn't tell us what she was going to do in advance. Laura always tells us what's coming up and counts down to the next step. I like that so I'm not always half a beat behind the instructor.

The rest of this evening is relaxing, playing with the mutt and paying bills. Whoo !

I'm still so excited D is coming to the wedding!!

Got a condo made o' stone-a ! King Tut!

The King Tut exhibit has been at the museum of art in Ft Lauderdale since November and I've been dying to go. G knew I was a buff for all things Egyptian, so he got us tickets for the exhibit! yay !

We got up early Sunday morning for the nearly 4 hour dive to Ft Lauderdale. It was actually fun, I hadn't been out of Tampa in a long time. I forget how pretty Florida is until I drive around it and see the water, sailboats, beautiful homes, etc. It was also amazing to to drive through the Punta Gorda/Port Charlotte area which was hit HARD by Hurricane Charlie in the fall of 2004. I drove through the area two months after the hurricane and was amazed at the devestation: twisted light poles on the freeway, billboards shattered, giant trees snapped in half like match sticks, MILES of FEMA trailers, etc. I was telling G about it on the way there, we get to the area, all the damage that remains are the snapped trees. The trailers are gone (mostly), the billboards and signs are repaired and the entire area is EXPLODING with growth. It was impressive.

G and I took about two hours to get through the King Tut exhibit. The artifacts were incredible! The level of detail and crafsmanship is amazing. Tons of gold, wood work, jewels and precious stones. Absolutely gorgeous and mesmerizing when you think it was all done more than 3000 years ago! I would love some day to go to Egypt and tour the Valley of Kings, Thebes, Cairo, the Nile. I was so jealous when they went there during the Amazing Race. so jealous. It's a dream trip for me. The only disappointing part is that the gilded sarcophacus was no present. Apparently, the Egyptian cousel woudln't let it out of the country. It's the highlight of the museum in Cairo. The only time it's been to the US was the last Tut tour 20 years ago.

I wish I could have taken pictures of some of the more impressive artifacts. They wouldn't let me bring in a camera. I was just happy I got to see this exhibit. It's only hitting four cities in the US before it leaves.

5K

I got up early this morning with G to run in a 5K we signed up for early in the month. G blasted on ahead of me, but after mile 2 I saw him up ahead.. so I was gaining on him! Something must be wrong, I never catch up to G at these things!

I ended up running the same pace as the girl who started behind us at the start line. So, we introduced ourselves and decided to push each other to finish the race under 30 minutes. (usually my 5K goal is to come in under 30)

At mile 1.2 I saw the lead runner coming back the other direction. He was hauling balls! He was a good 30 seconds ahead of the guy in second place. They were followed by the Jesuit High School cross country team. (those guys were running pretty good too for high school kids!)

I taught my new friend how to thank the cops at the cross streets. No one here does that !! Training in Texas EVERYONE says thank you to the cops who are blocking traffic for you. It's just what we do. So, I got her doing it, too! She thought it was a great idea.. and since the cops weren't used to it they thought we were the nicest girls ever. (They cheered extra loud for us on the loop back when we passed them the second time).

After mile 3 she tried to stop, not realizing we still had another 1/10 mile to the actual finish line. But, we cross at 29:28. (just one minute short of my fastest time ever of 28:27 at Race for the Cure in 1998) I'm not fast, but I get there :)

Now I'm at work and actually pretty busy. This is the first time I've sat down all morning. Back to work though! I just heard my door close

The only squirrels Tiger doesn't want to chase!

Catching Up

I finally got hold of one of my friends yesterday. We'd be playing phone tag for two or three weeks now. She's doing a masters in hospital administration here at TGH so she works weird hours. We finally talked and decided to take the doggies for a long walk together yesterday after work. (our doggies LOVE each other!) After our nice long walk we headed over to this Greek place she knew about, which ironically happens to be in the same shopping center as Let's Eat. I'd always been meaning to go try it out! SO GOOD. It's not quite Niko Niko, but it's as close as I've found.

And, my best friend needs a hug. I LOVE YOU, SUZ !! Wish I had the time off to come down there for a visit. I MISS YOU!! (and you'll find a way through this)

Today was my second laser appointment for the hair removal. My technician decided to turn "the energy up" on the laser this time. I wasn't quite sure what that meant other than OH MY GOD it hurt so much more than last time. I think she does that by moving the guide on the laser so that the laser is firing closer to your skin. OW !! I really didn't remember it snapping quite so hard last time. And then there's the smell. Yeah, it smells like when you burn your hair with the curling iron. Kinda nasty, but once it's done it's SO much better than shaving! I love being able to head to the pool without having to jump in the shower first to shave! So great! Thanks for convincing me to go, Suz.

On the way home tonight I have to stop at packet pick-up for a 5K G and I are running tomorrow morning. Hopefully I can get up for an 8am start time.

G's home with an electrician right now. G tried to "fix" an outlet of ours that was sparking behind the face plate. Well, needless to say now our outlet doesn't work at ALL and I've had to use a flashlight to find my clothes in our master bedroom closet. It's like camping! Since the electrician is at the house anyway, G's going to have him finally install the ceiling fan we've had in the master bedroom in a box for five months now.

Okay back to work....

Let's Eat!

Last night was my cooking night at Let's Eat. I know I blogged about it somewhat last month, but I don't remember how much detail I gave.

G and I found this place where you go and prep enough food for a month in one night and then take it home and put it in the freezer. They have GREAT menus and if you split all the food into smaller portions it works out to less than 6 dollars per meal.

I met up with Dr M and a friend of her's from high school in Ohio (he just moved here to do a residency in Anesthesiology). We scarfed down food in about ten minutes at Quiznos since none of us had eaten.. and it was next door to Let's Eat.

The nicest part of Let's Eat.. I get to cook and make a mess and SOMEONE ELSE has to clean it up. yep, that's what I'm paying them for. Clean up my mess! It's fantastic. They already have everything chopped and preped. Basically you add marinades and measure spices into ziploc baggies or prep large things like chicken wrapped with ham, cheese, and tomatos in large oven ready pans. So easy! Then take home and put in the freezer to thaw out when you're ready to eat.

LOVE.IT!

We've been going every month now. Hopefully Dr M will stay around long enough to keep going with me. They changed their schedule this month where G can't go with me anymore and that makes me sad. Boo to that!

My home menu this month: (mmmm!)

Italian Sausage Pasta
Grilled Sesame Flank Steak
Creamy Southwestern Chicken Enchiladas
Asparagus and Sausage Strata
Chicken Parmesan
Feta and Rosemary Stuffed Pork Chops
Crab Bisque
Italian Meatballs in marinara
Chicken Saltimbocca (the chicken stuffed with ham, cheese, and tomato i referred to)
Chicken in Raspberry Chipotle Sauce
and Cheese Tortellini


Can't wait to eat !!

GORGEOUS weekend

This past weekend for me was absolutely GORGEOUS! It's that perfect time of year here in Florida. Nice, sunny, cool at night, not too humid, and not too hot.

Sunday G and I went to play tennis at the local tennis complex (8 courts newly resufaced, very nice!). I'm finally getting my forehand down and the last ten minutes of so of my lesson with G he introduced me to the backhand. I was IMMEDIATELY better with my backhand that my forehand. For some reason it feels more natural to me. G got to try out his new racket I got him for Valentine's Day. he can already tell a difference in his serve.. and well, I just like to watch him serve. ;)

After spending too much time in the sun we cooled off by looking at new shutters for the house at Lowes and Home Depot. We're trying to decide between blinds and plantation shutters. I like the shutters, G likes the blinds. The blinds would be nice if we could get natural looking wood, but condo bylaws say we have to to get white blinds. The white blinds look crappy and look much better in the shutters. So we'll have to get an estimate on how much they're going to be. Home Depot wants 25 dollars per square foot... which puts the FOUR windows of our house (only 4) at almost 2000 dollars. OUCH! That does include measurements, installation, etc.

My alone day off on Monday was spent with the doggie. Morning time at the beach doggie park. Tiger needed a bath, so I let him get all stinky, sandy and disgusting at the beach before I hosed him down. Dogs love sandy and disgusting! Fortunately the doggie park has doggie showers, so he got a nice bath and is soft and fluffy now. It also freed up my afternoon to lay by the pool since the dog was so tired from the park he was napping. (ahhh doggie nap time is good!) I met two new girls down by the pool. they were here visiting a friend on Spring Break. I remember Spring Break. But, alas, now I'm in the real world. Although, I'll take real world over school any day!

Today Dr M and I are going back to Let's Eat. That's the place I mentioned earlier last month where you go prep food for the month and freeze it at home. We're doing that again and this months menu looks even better than last month. I was getting kind of tired of last month's mahi mahi. (it was good, I just wasn't too fond of the seasoning) Hopefully i can get out of work on time to eat something before I go.

And tonight TAR is on !!!

Sorry

I know I haven't been blogging much lately, and I apologize. There really hasn't been that much to discuss. I think of little things during the day, and then when I sit down to write I never remember them. I need to start making notes!

I spent almost all day Sunday with G getting our wedding invites done. The printing process took WAY longer than I thought it would. Turns out formatting custom cards to your printer and getting them to print out correctly on my POS printer...NOT fun or easy. I took an average of eight tries on EACH card to get them done. Thank god for scrap paper! But, they're done.. and we got them in the mail Tuesday. I spent part of Monday morning searching the post offices for the 0.63 cent "wedding" stamp. They came out march 1st and G showed them to me in one of his magazines. So, that's what's on our invites. It comes in packs with one wedding envelope stamp (for the invite) and a first class stamp for the RSVP card. Kind of a neat idea since wedding invites are ALWAYS over the standard mail rate.

Tuesday at work we were actually BUSY! I made a bonus on a TUESDAY! That doesn't happen. I usually only make bonus on Saturdays. I'll take it !!

Wednesday I discovered a store in the mall that has cute tops for like 12 bucks. Found some cute shorts for Mexico/Hawaii/summmers in FL. I finally found shorts with LONGER than a 1" inseam and no gaudy "old lady" elastic waistband! Thank you J.Crew! :)

One of my patients today is one of the most prominant socialites in Tampa. She was a VERY sweet lady. (and bringing her children in next week) yay for good connections!

G is on his way home... !! I love Thursdays.

My time is worth something!

I had a patient come in that I just have to blog about.

He/she had a party to go to that afternoon in his/her honor. S/he had self-medicated with over the counter stye medication a few days prior and had an allergic reaction to it. After visiting a dermatologist, they were given a topical steroid cream to help calm the inflammation and redness.

The patient came in to see me to see if there was anything to help it go faster than the cream the MD gave him/her. I spend 20+ minutes explaining to the patient the root of the problem. The washes they could to to prevent it from recurring, the continued use of the cream the MD gave the patient, and the hot/cold compresses the patient could do to relief the swelling and open the glands. TWENTY minutes of my time.

The patient then goes to the front desk for the front to collect payment for my consultation.

Patient's friend walks over. "what did the doctor say".

Patient turns to friend. "nothing".

WHAT?! i just spent twenty minutes with you !! I said LOTS of things. I'm sorry there's no magic pill to make you look better before your party. But, I DID tell you lots of things you could do to help resolve your problem AND prevent it from coming back. You said yourself the MD didn't even SEE you and called something in over the phone. But, since the MD gave you DRUGS he did "something".

*sigh* I was ready to blugeon the patient. My front desk tech didn't see what the big deal was. People really don't get that my time has value unless I give them a prescription for something (be it glasses, contacts, or drugs). heaven forbid I give them useful suggestions that dont' COST ANYTHING!

Sloooooooow

This has been the slowest week at work ! I've been so bored. I was so excited that we started getting busier last week. And then, this week happened. *sigh* I've seen TWO patients today. The only nice part about today is that Dr B came in to write paychecks and I got to hang out with her. We're on our way down to Teavana right now to get tea.

The Bausch&Lomb rep came in today to tell me all about the new Purevision Multi-Focal that's launching this week or next week. Free lunch is always good too! :) I love reps.. they bring food. Take their shpeal at face value and then do what you want.

G comes home tonight so Thursdays are always my favorite day!

Unique-o is not a Spanish word

Thank the gods, the REAL Amazing Race is back! I know, two blog posts in a row about TAR, but y'all don't understand how much I love this show. The real show, the show where you have to search for things yourself, figure out how to get through cultural and language barriers, work together, see news things, travel, experience stuff you never would have in your whole life before the Race. LOVE.IT.

Last season TAR did the family edition show. It blew. They watered everything down to defer to the children and it just flat our ruined the show. They never went out of the country, lived in trailers, DROVE everywhere, there was no exotic adventure and split-second decisions that make the show so great. The beauty of the show is watching people become those "ugly americans" you love to hate, seeing who can switch from French,to Spanish, to Farsi, to Japanese. They had NONE of that last season!

My beloved TAR is back as it should be.

My comments on this season's racers: (if you don't care don't read farther)

Lake & Michelle: First off, Lake is a total type-A tool. He bosses his wife around, refers to Ray and Yoland as "the blacks", and is basically an asshat. He's like a lesser-Jonathan and a worse Will. We'll see how that relationship pans out. His wife is not a "typical southern belle", she's meek and puts up with his berating demeanor.

Danielle & Dani: Where do I start? The "double D's" are the antithesis of everything I hold dear. They dress skimpy, giggle, and expect the men to help them through the race. Hello dead weight. They serve no other purpose on the race other than eye candy. (and they seem fine with that)

BJ & Tyler:The self-proclaimed "hippies". They don't bug me. I did like the "Is this the most James Bond thing you've ever done, or what?" comment.


Ray & Yolanda: This couple has class. I really like them. Yolanda did better than I would have with twenty Sao Paulo men drooling on here while shes trying to put together a motorcycle.

John & Scott:Aka The Ambiguously Gay Duo. I wasn't huge on these two. They didn't converse much, bickered when they did, and I just fundamentally didn't get their relationship. Were they friends were they more than friends. Probably none of my business... just wasn't into them. not super sad they're gone.


David & Lori The self-proclaimed "Nerds". I still haven't seen exactly what makes them nerdy other than they wear glasses. But still, they're a breath of fresh air and obviously in love.


David & Jeremy: Have no life skills and are happy and content to be beach bums their entire lives. Just the kind of guys you want to take home to mom, eh? TWOP keeps referring to them as "frat guys" but, they don't even have frat guys ambition. They dropped out of school and are content to live with just enough to pay the rent every month. Grow up, guys! They also bugged me with the "what did we win, Phil? " line. Coming in first does not guarantee you anything.


Fran & Barry I could like these two. They didn't impress me this week, however, walking past the clue box four times. (on camera no less) Fran is way too whiny and the constant mentioning of they being eliminated started to get on my nerves.

Lisa & Joni Need.to.stop.screetching!! Dear God it was dreadful! I also dont' need to know about their bladder issues! And in the opening credits they were Bedazzling! Who does that? I also couldn't believe that two HOUSTONIANS were complaining about traffic !! One of them lives in Katy for god sakes has she never looked out her window at I10 ?

Joseph & Monica They gave themselves their own "moJO" nickname. I'm still meh on them at this time. They needed more air time for me to formulate anything

Wanda & Desiree Hands down my favorite team. Get along great, fun to watch, polite, well-spoken. Desiree is gorgeous and has a great relationship with her mom. Their too cute and I'd love to see them win.



Notes on the race

It's Sao Paulo NOT San Paulo !!

Unique-o is not a Spanish word... to all racers past and present: Putting an "O" on the end does not make it Spanish.

They speak PORTUGESE in Brazil, not Spanish. Granted, they're very similar, but very different languages.

Yelling to someone not to let the "black girl" pass you... has zero class and makes you look like an asshat.

Phil looks magically delicious this season and I was happy to see the return of "the amazing eyebrow".

And thank GOD for the lack of "bunching" this season. Let them get spread out.. it's a RACE !