Friday Feature -- This Will Never Get Old

Can I profess my undying love to Pandora?

#1.  Who isn't in love with the opportunity to handcraft his/her own personal radio stations?  Mine are obviously filled to the BRIM with Katy Perry and every wailing pop hit produced in the 1980s.

#2.  Pandora will clue you in on jams you would have otherwise missed.  Like, I had no idea that my own heart was beating to the power ballads of the sister-duo Heart (uh, All I Want to Do is Make Love to You?  Epic.)

#3.  You can play it ANYWHERE.  Home, work, on your phone....  Score!  I mean, the opportunity to display my adoration of both Rhianna and Journey in the doctors' workroom and then in the OR minutes later with just the click of a button is a modern miracle.  (As a sidenote, I have no pride.)

Pandora -- that will never get old!

The Rapture

Everyone make it through the Rapture last Saturday intact?

***warning:  things are about to get really sappy.  stop reading now if you are weak of stomach***

Matt and I were discussing the upcoming end of days on Friday night (one day prior to the impending event) and he said the following, which immediately catapulted onto the list of 'top 10' most loving things said in our relationship:

"I don't really care if anything does happen, because I'm pretty sure that where ever I end up, you'll be there with me."

Then--ever the romantic--I said, "Yeah, but are you going to do the laundry?"  (**just kidding...sort of)

If this is an emergency...

This month, I've been working at a smaller, community hospital affiliated with the large academic center where I mainly spend my time as a Urology resident.

It's really different here -- everyone knows everyone, the ancillary staff takes a ton of initiative to solve problems before running them up the chain, there is less paperwork, the nurses take verbal orders, the patients are less sick...it's a pretty sweet deal all around.

I discovered one of my favorite aspects of this smaller hospital late one night when I was on call.  I had a medication question and I asked the switchboard to connect me with the pharmacy.

The phone greeting went like this:  "You have reached the overnight Pharmacy line.  Please listen to the following list of telephone options; however, if this is an emergency or you are a physician, please dial 1 now to speak with a pharmacist immediately."

I have never felt more important in my life.

Check it out!

Remember a couple of months ago, when I mentioned coveting this sofa to replace our old, black dinosaur couch?

Old couch -- Not Dreamy

Well, when Macy's offered a big markdown on the price recently, it was too good to resist.

Matt can't resist

She looks pretty good in the living room, doesn't she?

Seriously, what have we been doing...?

So, what have we been doing, really, during these long two weeks of non-posting?

Short answer:  Nothing exciting

Long answer:  Lots of stuff. 

1.  Cutting down a cedar tree in our front yard.

We are TERRIBLE at documenting 'before' pictures

 

Amputated Stump

2.  Taking out two big, dead branches from another front yard tree.  (this actually brought the neighbors out onto their front stoops...which is good, because we needed someone around to call 911 if things didn't go according to plan)

Carnage

3.  Clearing some brush and vines from the back driveway and pruning our front yard shrubs.

Note that these plants now look vaguely bush-shaped.  They didn't before...

4.  Nursing terrible cases of poison ivy (we had to take prescription medicines to keep from scratching ourselves into oblivion).

Ouch.  Also, Yuck.

 5.  Putting up a pull-up bar in the basement.
6.  Washing Mitchell with his new, fancy kelp and tea tree oil shampoo.

7.  Taking the last step of the US Medical Licensing Exam.
8.  Watching Thor at the movie theatre.
9.  Painting three frames for the office.

10.  Hanging various diplomas and school accolades in the office.

11.  Potting geraniums for the front stoop.

These looked better before they were battered by a tornado-esque storm last night

12.  Going to a Kentucky Derby viewing party.
13.  Repainting a plant stand for the living room.
14.  Trying a last-ditch relocation effort to revive the dying plant that lives on the plant stand.

This guy still looks awful.  Black thumb strikes again.

15.  Scheduling dentist and optometrist appointments. 
16.  Buying a weedeater, lawnmower, and wheelbarrow.
17.  Buying new shoes for summer.

Look at this STAT

Have you noticed that there haven't been many posts on this blog lately?

Well, it's probably because I've been watching this video again and again and again.

Check it out immediately (or sooner).

PS.  If you have a sensitive stomach, maybe don't watch it while you are eating...