It's all good.

Friday, March 30, 2007

Farewell, beloved little green car

It's Friday, and I'm still dizzy.


This is the current state of my car. I'm currently making arrangements for it to be purchased for parts. The tires are pretty good. And there's a water bottle and shovel in the trunk. Not that you can get into the trunk, but they're there.

Let me just say again that I feel very happy to be alive right now.

Tonight I'm watching To Sir, with Love. See Sidney Poitier reform punk London teens! Marvel at the retro and catchy soundtrack!
Back to my couch.

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Thank you, ma'am, I'm as well as can be expected.

The recovery continues.

I'm still dizzy. I saw my doctor today and she put me off work for another week. Not good.

I had an interesting cab ride home from the doctor's office. The driver asked if I minded taking a quick detour on the way to my apartment. I agreed, thinking that she was probably going to pick up another fare. Instead, we ended up cruising through a parking lot, looking for a red pickup with a "For Sale" sign in the window. Apparently, her car had been rear-ended a while ago, and she needed a new vehicle. She wanted a truck so she could tow her son's go-kart to the track in Geary.

Sadly, we couldn't locate the red truck.

She also discussed how inconvenient it is not to have a vehicle for transportation. Amen, sister.

However, I'll take the minor expenses of cab and bus fares over being laid up in the hospital with serious injuries any time.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Slow and steady...

Still recovering at home from my concussion.

Today I watched Garden State, one of the many movies that Michelle insists I watch. I am inclined to agree, since I really liked it, and now am more than slightly crushing on Zach Braff, and may even be persuaded to watch Scrubs. And how adorable is Natalie Portman? How could I not have seen this movie before today?

I also finally delved into Season 1 of St. Elsewhere. It's an pre-ER 80's medical drama, and it's pretty darn good. See Howie Mandel with hair! See Howie Mandel touch people with his hands! See a young Denzel! See the teacher from Boy Meets World (Mr. Feeny?)! See patients smoking in their hospital rooms with impunity! And seriously, there's a doctor that looks like George from Grey's. Well, his hair looks like George's - before he hacked it to bits.

Off to bed now. Sleep is good.

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Happy Birthday Rosey!

Saturday, March 24, 2007

The car misadventure of Concussion Girl

Thank you everyone for all the well wishes. They are very much appreciated. I realize that I haven't had the chance to fully explain what happened to me on Thursday, so here goes...

The roads were a wee bit slippery on Thursday morning. I made my usual trip up the river in the morning, driving a little more slowly due to the conditions. I was on the highway about 10 minutes away from the hospital when I hit a patch of black ice. The back of my car swung suddenly to left. Then it swung to the right. Then the car swung around in a circle towards the ditch. Then it rolled over on itself one or two times and came to a stop at the bottom of the ditch.

After the car stopped rolling, my first thought was to get out of the car, in case it exploded. So I turned the car off. My keys were stuck in the ignition, so I left them there. I tried to open the door, but it was jammed shut. Slight panic. Then I noticed that there wasn't any glass in the passenger side window anymore, so I could get out that way. As I shifted myself into the passenger seat, I noticed my vision was blurry, because my glasses had fallen off. I patted my surroundings in search of my glasses. Found them. Then I needed to find my bag, because it had my cell phone. I looked out the window and saw that it was in the snowbank 20 feet away. Good enough. So I crawled out of the car, went over to my bag, got my phone, and called 911.

Then I called the hospital and told them I wasn't going to make it to work that day.

Lots of cars and trucks had stopped on the side of the road by this point. I sat in a man's truck while waiting for the RCMP to show up. Then I sat in the RCMP officer's car while he filed the accident report. Then he drove me to the hospital (yes, the one I was supposed to be working at that day) to get checked out. My neck was starting to hurt, I had a bump on my head, and my hand was cut.

They took me in right away at the hospital and put a neck brace on me. I saw the doctor pretty quickly. He did an exam and found that I was having some tenderness on one of my vertebra, so he ordered a CT scan of my head and neck to rule out serious injuries. While I was waiting for the scan, I felt really dizzy, so they let me lie down. And they gave me a warm blanket.

The CT scan was pretty painless, but I was worried about my dizziness, and I really wanted to talk to my mom. It's scary being in the hospital by yourself, even if it's your workplace. Thankfully, some people I know came to see me and helped my get in touch with my mom. I was pretty shaky. All anyone had to do was look at me and I would well up with tears.

The CT scan came back normal, and then one of my coworkers drove me home to Fredericton. My mom showed up at my place a few hours later, and she's been taking very good care of me.

That night, aside from the fact that every time I closed my eyes I could see myself rolling into the ditch, I started having some vertigo. So on Friday I tried to see my doctor, but she was working in the ER, so we had to go there. We waited four and a half hours to see her, which really wasn't that bad, since we had nothing to do anyway. She told me that the dizziness and memory loss and confusion that I've been having is normal when you have a concussion.

It's going to take some time to clear up, so I have to rest for a while. I'm still a little shaky, but I do feel a bit better today. It's a little stressful, because I need to go get back to work, and I need a new car. My car is pretty much a goner, and right now it's sitting in a lot somewhere near Woodstock. I can't drive until I feel better anyway.

So that's the way things have been. I'll keep you updated.

Friday, March 23, 2007

Update.

I have a concussion. It sucks.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

And I thought the tooth thing was bad...

So, I had a bit of an automobile adventure today. As in, while I was driving to Woodstock, I hit some ice and rolled my car off the road into the ditch. And don't worry, I'm fine. I went to the hospital, and I had a CT scan, and I'm fine. Just a little sore. And shaky. And my car is smushed.

But I'm okay.

Monday, March 19, 2007

Call me Snaggletooth.

Today I got a call from my dentist's office, asking me if I wanted to come for an appointment. I had originally planned to go on April 24, so I jumped at the chance to go sooner. My jaw has been bothering me lately, and I have a chip in my front tooth. Plus, due to my fear of having my wisdom teeth tampered with, I hadn't been to the dentist in *cough* five years *cough*, so I figured the sooner the better.

I knew something was up when the hygienist looked at me funny after she gave me the dental x-rays. She was sort of avoiding eye contact with me, and she kept disappearing. Finally, the dentist came in and had a look at my mouth.

Then he showed my teeth in a mirror.

"See these brown marks?" he said, pointing to the multiple speckles on my molars. "They're cavities."

"Oh?" I replied shakily.

"Yes. Watch this."

Then he proceeded to demonstrate how spongy a cavity is by stabbing his pick-like instrument into my teeth and wiggling it back and forth.

"Yeah," he said. "You have four cavities. This one (more poking) is really bad. It might need a root canal. And I'm sending you to the oral surgeon, because I think one of your wisdom teeth needs to come out."

Now, let me put this in perspective. Up until my self-imposed dentist exile, I had really good teeth. I had annual fluoride treatments at the dental clinic at Glen Stewart, I had caps put on my molars when I was 12 to prevent decay, and once I had a cracked tooth filled. No x-rays, no fillings, and certainly no root canals. And have I ever mentioned that I have recurring nightmares about my teeth falling out??

So as the hygienist proceeded to scrape five year's worth of plaque from my teeth, I began to beat myself up for not taking care of my teeth. Because really, I have no one else to blame but myself. I'm all grown up. I should know better. How could I let myself avoid the dentist for five years? Stupid Lynda.

My teeth still hurt from all the scraping and polishing and flossing today.

Imma go brush my teeth again.

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Cream of celery surprise.

Faced with an abundance of celery in my fridge, tonight I made this recipe for cream of celery soup. It sounded easy enough - throw all the ingredients into a pot and boil. Which I did. My only misstep was putting the lid on the pot. You see, the soup had milk in it, and for some reason, when you boil milk in a lidded pot, it likes to rapidly rise out of the pot and flow like a waterfall all over the burner.

Which is what happened in my case. Now I know.

That being said, the soup turned out really yummy. It was probably the combination of milk and butter that made it taste so good. Definitely a keeper.

And now, back to cleaning my stove...

Friday, March 16, 2007

Hello, goodbye

TGIF.

I am eagerly awaiting another big snow, but it hasn't happened yet. What gives?

I was supposed to go to a supplementary choir practice tonight. In fact, I made weekend plans around the fact that I had choir practice tonight. And then I forgot all about it until about 15 minutes before it happened. So I skipped it. No checkmark beside my name tonight! Hopefully I won't be kicked out.

I'm slowly assembling a vision in my mind re: my bedroom. The view is a little hazy, but it involves blue-grey walls... and a reading chair... and a dresser. This means shopping!!

I just made some hocho, and now I'm enjoying one of my favourite sounds in the world: the hollow plunk of a spoon on the bottom of a mug of hot chocolate. You have to do it right after you make it so it sounds right. So plunkety!

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Phoenix.

Tonight I witnessed the rebirth of TNB. It was opening night of The Graduate, the company's only production this season. It was a funny, edgy show, and I liked it. Even the full frontal nudity.

I went to the show with a friend from work. I even decided to dress up a little. I carefully planned my outfit in my head on the way home. I thought I would wear black, since it seems to be a sophisticated colour. I put on a black t-shirt over a white shirt, with my black "magic"pants on the bottom. I even accessorized with my red necklace. I put on make-up. On the way out the door, I slipped on my black Mary Janes. Tres snazzy.

When we got to our seats, I bent down to clean off my right shoe, because when I was heading out, I noticed that it was a little dirty. Imagine my shock and dismay when I discovered that I was actually wearing TWO DIFFERENT SHOES. And not only was I wearing two different shoes, but one was a black Mary Jane, and the other was a brown loafer. Needless to say, I kept the brown shoe tucked out of sight for the entire show, and at the end of the evening, I quickly but stealthily slunk back to my car.

So much for sophistication.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Chili con fusion

The Chili Con Carne saga continues. It's in five parts: soprano 1, soprano 2, alto, tenor, bass. When we started learning it, our director put the alto 1's (that's me and two other girls) and sop 2's on the sop 2 part (the melody!). Then two weeks ago he put all the altos on the alto part. Then he sent us an email and told us to practice it.

I did.

For hours.

Then tonight he decided the sop 2's need more voices so he moved me (just me!) back to the sop 2 part! I already know the entire alto line. It's hard! I learned it! Like he told us to! Then he changed his mind!

Gah.

Monday, March 12, 2007

12 of 12 - March 2007

Once again, welcome to 12 of 12 day!



7:45 a.m. Not only did I wake up in the dark, but it was a bad hair day. New hair products plus Lynda equals crunchy yet stringy hair.

4:31 p.m. Not to sound like a broken record, but it was really busy at work today. So busy that I stayed half an hour later than I was supposed to be there. And I didn't get any pictures during the day.

5:28 p.m. I made some Rice Krispies squares to mail to my brother. He's still recovering from his broken leg. Of course, I had to sample some squares to make sure they were good enough to send before I wrapped them all up.


5:40 p.m. Squeezed in a little practice time for choir. We're learning this (apparently) famous song called Chili Con Carne, and it's quite challenging. I can't get my ears around it at all.


7:23 p.m. Went out with Michelle for a post-supper walk. Our first stop was this historical landmark.

7:38 p.m. Don't you think this building is lovely? I would like to live there. Maybe they have better soundproofing between units than my place.

7:43 p.m. We started to hustle back to Michelle's place because it was getting dark. The sidewalks were a little iffy, and she fell on some ice right here. Ow.
7:58 p.m. Then we decided to cut through this sketchy piece of land. You can't really tell, but there's a huge mass of melted snow in the middle of a field heading towards an abandoned train station.
7:59 p.m. We had to abandon our attempt once we discovered that the snow was mushy and up to our ankles. And the water was deep.

8:02 p.m. There was no playground equipment nearby, so Michelle made me get into this shopping cart. She made me do it.

9:21 p.m. Groceries! The checkout line-up was so very long. I was afraid we would miss our tv!

10:31 p.m. Back to my place for some Jack Bauer time and some kettle corn. Mmm.
10:35 p.m. Bonus pic: This is my mostly green plant. It seems to be terribly ill, and I don't know what I did to it. All the new growth is dying. First my "lucky" bamboo dies, and now this. Any suggestions?

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Somewhere in time

Anyone else seriously messed up by the time change?

I suppose it's my own fault. When I went to bed last night, I only changed my bedroom clocks, and really, I should have changed all the timepieces in my apartment. So when I woke up this morning, I knew what time it was in the bedroom, but when I went into the living room, it was an hour earlier, so I began to doubt myself. Add that to the fact that my PVR did not make the switch, and my head started to be very confused. I kept checking the weather channel on tv (because they're always on top of things) just to be sure I knew the correct hour.

Now it's bedtime, but I'm nowheres near being tired, yet I know I should go to bed, because I have to get up at 6:00 yesterday time tomorrow. And it's gonna be dark. That's going to go over real well.

Maybe if I eat some of the Rice Krispie squares I made tonight, it'll make me tired. Marshmallows help you sleep, right?

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Well I see by the clock on the wall...

The organization frenzy continues. Today I felt like being somewhat productive as I watched the Brier semi-final, so as teams Stoughton and Howard went head to head, I decided to roll coins. As in, all the loose change I have saved since 2004. Shockingly, it turned into an all day affair, because once you start something like that, it's all or nothing. I just finished my last roll of pennies. I saved the pennies for last, because there were so many of them (forty-one rolls!). Now I figure out a way to get my hefty coin collection to the bank without throwing my back out. Perhaps a wheelbarrow? Or a granny cart?

It was kinda nice to have a low-key day today, since I spent pretty much all Friday shopping in Moncton with Michelle. I made some extremely fine purchases, including my very first ever pair of capris, and a lovely shirt dress. We spent about seven hours shopping, plus about an hour for supper at Jungle Jim's (an experience in sensory overload), plus about three hours' worth of driving. That's a pretty full day, but it was well worth it.

And many thanks to Rosey for reminding me that the clocks go ahead tonight. I'm not too keen about waking up in the dark again, but it sure will be nice to have extra light in the evening. Now that I've written about it, perhaps I will actually remember to change my clocks. Anyone know if they have Daylight Savings Time in any other continents? Emily? Is there DST in Wales?

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Hurry.

Whee!! I was actually done of work early today. So I left. And, since I was working up the river, so I got home before 4:00! That's super early! I was home in time to have a nap, and it was splendid.

I spent a good chunk of time tonight loading songs onto my Shuffle. This should provide some entertainment for the long drive to Moncton. Bring on the shopping karma!

Did you know that the Shuffles come in colours now? I'm sort of sorry I didn't wait a while to get one, because I think the green ones are pretty snazzy. And the orange ones are cool, too!

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

I said brr.

It's cold in here.

What's with the frigidness? Not that I'm complaining about wearing my puffy coat, but isn't it a bit late in the season to have windchills of -30? I think I'm losing feeling in my fingers.

The past few days at work have been a wee bit trying, for various reasons. I'm trying not to let it get to me too much, so I'm eagerly looking forward to Friday, and a possible Moncton shopping adventure.

Oh, and a word from a (sort of) grownup to my younger aquaintances: learn about RRSP's. Do it now. It's never to early to think about retirement. And stay in school forever.

Sunday, March 04, 2007

Clean sweep.

My overwhelming urge to vanquish the dust from my apartment has returned with a vengeance. Pair that with a burning desire to resume my long-abandoned apartment therapy, and you can guess how I spent my weekend.

My kitchen? Super clean. I even washed out the cupboards.

Bathroom? Sparkling. I removed a giant hairball from my shower drain, and it's amazing how much better the water drains. Imagine.

Living area? Vacuumed and dusted.

Bedroom? Somewhat decluttered and dedustified.

I'm still not sure why I can't just do nothing on the weekends. Perhaps it's because I spend weekdays working away like mad, trying to get all my stuff done. I see the day in 45 or 60 minute bits, and I'm so accustomed to adhering to my schedule that I have a hard time without one. On the weekends, instead of a list of patients to see, I make a little list of things to do, and I tick off each task as I complete it. Jeepers. Is this what I'm going to be like for the rest of my life?

I also watched four games of curling on tv. See, this is why I love March. Week-long sporting events. This week is the Brier, and TSN is showing two draws a day. Did you know that NWT/Y is currently in first place with a 3-0 record? And that PEI actually won a game? Love it.

And, it's entirely possible that my sister is coming for a visit in a few weeks! *insert happy dance with clapping and spinning*

Friday, March 02, 2007

More big snow!

Puffy coat impermeable to wind: $50.00

Green scarf: $5.00

Mittens: $4.00

Boots: $30.00

45 minute snow romp: priceless

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Big snow big snow (I hope!)

Sadly, all the TV Thursday shows I watch (ER, Ugly Betty, and Grey's) were either repeats or not on this evening. So instead of tv watching at my place, Michelle and I did dinner and a movie at her place. Once we got over the initial shock of the change in our typical routine, we had a smashing evening.

At long last, we were able to get our hands on a copy of Bon Cop, Bad Cop. Twas highly entertaining. Very cleverly scripted, hefty doses of French Canada vs. English Canada references, thinly-veiled hockey references, laugh out loud funny, yet engrossing and suspenseful. Not to mention a thoroughly entertaining coroner. Highly recommended.

Did I mention that there's supposed to be a big snow tomorrow? 20 cm!!! And (knock on wood) I'm not sick, so there is great potential for snow frolicking for Lynda! (finally!)