Ramblings

My shift ends at 7 AM. Which means that I will have been awake for 24 hours in another hour and a half. Which also means that I'm at that point in the day when everything is fascinating to me. And I think deep thoughts.

- If you were a chocolate bunny, would you eat yourself? My answer would be yes. A coworker brought everyone a chocolate bunny for Easter. I ate mine straight out of the office mailbox. At 8 AM. Then I ate my office-mate's bunny because he didn't want it. 5 minutes later. If I were made of chocolate, I'm pretty sure I'd eat myself. Couldn't help it.
- I could probably wallpaper my living room with Hershey's kisses wrappers. Every Valentine's Day my father buys me a "tin" of assorted Hershey's chocolates. And by "tin", I mean "drum." And by "drum" I mean, "suitable for reuse as a missile silo." It's literally at least 10 pounds of assorted candy. By 2 weeks in, it's a tin of Hershey's kisses. Because the Krackles, Mr. Goodbars, Reese's Cups, and Dark Chocolate Minis don't make it very long. Search and destroy babay. So I've taken it upon myself to eat all the chocolate before I move. Because everyone's gotta have goals. So, I have a drum of chocolate by the couch and a jar of peanut butter on the coffee table. Because Hershey's kisses are only acceptable when smothered in peanut butter.
- The "Great American Country" channel is somehow watchable at 5:30 AM. Maybe that's because I can't really hear anymore. It's more of a buzzing noise.
- Have you ever bought moisturizing bodywash that is *too* moisturizing? I bought some weird bodywash with bodycreme ribbons or something. Sure, my skin is soft and moisturized. But water also beads and deflects off me now. I feel like I've showered with Rain-X.
- Ooh. My car broke. The service engine light came on. My friend told me to get the code read at an express oil place and if it was just a sensor or something, he'd fix it for me. Took it in. "Uh..ma'am? That's not a good code." "Uh huh. What is the code?" "Transmission Component Slipping." "Would that explain the giant clunk emanating from my hood on the way to work this morning? And the kickback everytime I accelerate?" "Um...probably." "So can you fix it?" "You need your transmission rebuilt." "Greeeat." I was contemplating just junking my truck because holy crap it is a piece. But then I realized that my truck is paid for. And even a 2 grand investment all at once is better than starting a car payment. And paying higher insurance rates because my car would actually be worth stealing. So repair it is! Woo! Also, I blame all my auto woes on starting a savings account. I've never had problems I couldn't afford to fix. Which amounted to having no problems cause I couldn't afford to fix them anyway. I guess they were right. Mo' money, mo' problems.
- C got burgled. Again. I don't want to say much because I don't want to jinx myself. But she gets burgled more than anyone I know. I think it stems from owning things worth burgling. My robbers would be greeted by a $25 DVD player and a really heavy non-plasma television. Here's the other thing. C has a rottweiler. A ROTTWEILER. And she has been robbed twice in the past year. Robbers have walked into her house. And the dog didn't eat them. Ridiculous. Of course, the robbers this time were a little smarter. They brought barbeque and fed it to the dog. I think C should start pricking her finger to train the dog to develop a taste for blood. Of course, I guess that's step one in dying alone and being eaten by Alsatians. But whatever. If I'm losing my tv, you're losing a limb.

Okay, back to working. And country music television. Laters! :)

Hello God, It's Me, Samantha

Sorry I've been MIA all month. Work has been C-R-A-Z-Y.

• Today we tied our all-time record for number of donors ever in a month. Which is awesome. And terrible. Awesome because we've pretty much wiped out our lists...if you were on our transplant list and you were really sick, you got taken care of this month. We even transplanted a patient that no one thought would ever get transplanted because she was so highly sensitized. Turns out she just needed the perfect donor. The numbers this month have been awe-inspiring. Of course, so has the workload. We are actually short a coordinator since we recently lost someone. Soo, we're short-staffed and having a record month. Which means that there isn't a single well-rested employee at my organization. There's been some kind of three-week cold/plague that's ravaged the staff (me included), my boss had a life-altering death in the family, someone else was diagnosed with cancer, and someone else was bitten by some kind of evil spider that caused her tissue to necrose and landed her in the hospital. Needless to say, I am exhausted. And so is absolutely everyone else I work with.

That being said, there are a few things that are getting me through the day:

• Today I had to go to a hospital with a paid-parking deck. There are about 3 hospitals in town with these decks, and they usually will let me out for free when I tell them who I'm with. So, I go to check on my patient until first call can relieve me. I'm there long enough for the deck parking to cost $4. I have no cash, and I have no ATM card cause I lost my checkcard on New Year's Eve. Or at least that's when it was last seen. Anyway, so, this hospital validates the parking for clergy and lets them park for free. So, when I leave, I stop by the information desk. "Hey, can you validate my parking?" Show my badge, tell them who I work for, blah blah blah. "No, only for clergy." "Right, but every hospital lets us park for free because we're emergency workers." "Right. But you're not clergy." We talked for about 5 minutes. The gist of the conversation was that hell no I was not getting free parking. Soo angry. While I was standing there trying to talk some sense into this woman, some clergy guy came in, signed the clipboard, and got a free pass. So, I finally gave up, and started walking toward the ATM thinking maybe it would take a credit card? The clergy guy saw me. "Ma'am? Take my pass." "Oh, no. That's fine, I'll just go to the ATM." "No, really. I'll only be here a few minutes and I have change. Please take it." "Wow, okay. Thanks so much." That's right. He gave me his free parking pass. God bless you, man of God.
• I still haven't heard from schools, but I'm excited regardless. Either way I'm getting out of Alabama. Finally. Today my boss called me into his office. "Are you sure you're leaving in June?" "Yes." "What do I have to do to get you to stay?" "There's really nothing. I like working here, the money's fine, I just hate Alabama." "I'll make it worth your while." "You can't offer me anything to make me stay." "We'll see." So I have no idea what he's planning...it might be interesting.
• I have over a week off of work in February. I am absolutely living for vacation at this point. Come ooon second week of February.

I hope to resume blogging at regular intervals, but I also hope to resume sleeping more than 3 nights a week. Gotta have priorities people. Laters :)

I Can't Fight This Feeling Anymore

Wow. I am pathetic, but I can't hold my head up any longer. I am so incredibly tired, and since my sentences are no longer making much sense, the utility of my consciousness is greatly diminished. So, goodnight! I'll have to wake up at the crack of dawn and get some stuff done. Probably talk to you then- you know how much I love to complain first thing in the morning. ;)

Could it be a new record?

It is 9:26 and I am climbing into bed. I'm sorry I haven't been more creative in my posting as of late. I have been, and continue to be, oh so tired. G'night.

It's 2:52 AM I must be thirsty

This is the second time I've awakened tonight. Maybe it's due to the fact that I was in bed asleep at 10:15 PM. I was so tired! But then, I woke up at 12:45 AM, starving and ever so thirsty although I'd eaten supper at 8:30. So, I polished off a calzone I had left over from Petrucelli's, drank a lot of water, and went back to bed. 2 hours later, I wake up again, parched. I was so very hot and thirsty. So I just turned off the heat and drank an entire bottle of water. I'm guessing my next move will be to wake up in another 2 hours because I will have wet the bed with how much water I've had. Only way to find out is to head back to bed. Sayonara!

Work Me Like Not.

I have to go to work. Right now. And I'm asleep. Uuugghhh. That's okay though because Samantha needs to pay rent. I'm sure I'll be able to be at my other job at 8 AM all kinds of bright-eyed and bushy tailed- especially since I'm going out on this case at 12:15 AM. Woohoo! Coffee in the morning...I can see it now. Well, better go change into some scrubs. Seacrest out!

Please Note:

If you're going to send me an email telling me about how my grant project will never be completed on time and that I now have to give a presentation on my oh-so-flawed study to a group of over 100 students, please wait until the evening. Waking up to this news makes me want to crawl back into my bed and die. Just keep that in mind. Thanks.

And it was good

On the 6th day, God made the optical mouse with scroll-wheel. I have so missed you, little wheel of convenience. And the fact that you don't need your own little pad makes me love you even more. The fact that the highlight of my day was plugging in a new mouse means that I am a complete dork. And the fact that I am about to hit the sheets like a ton of bricks means that I am an old lady. So. Old. G'night young'ns.

Annnnnnnnnnndddddd......yup, it's gone.

I woke up this morning feeling incredibly productive. Today was going to be the day that I finally cleaned up my incredibly messy apartment, got some stuff ready for Meatless Monday tomorrow, went to church, all kinds of stuff. Yeah....I had that feeling....and then it was gone. I got up and went to church, and then I decided to see if Carolyn wanted to have lunch. I went out with a big group from school last night, and felt like rehashing a few things. So, we went to Jason's deli and had a fabulous meal....I think I had a 1/2 tuna salad sandwich, a cup of soup, some potato salad, and a side of tranquilizers. I was so stuffed, I had to waddle through the Fresh Market when we got done. Then I came home to get down to business and instead passed out on my couch for 3 hours. Apparently my sleep cycle is a bit shorter than everyone else's because I always wake up in 3 hours, not the traditional 4.

Either way, now I'm incredibly lethargic and I certainly don't feel like cleaning this apartment, going grocery shopping, or stuffing little treatbags for Meatless Monday. Damn you naptime!! You're stealing my life away. Honestly, naps are how my apartment got this way in the first place. Everytime I plan on cleaning, I end up napping. It's just so nice with my fleecy blanket and my nice long couch. All at once it's the best and worst part of living alone. Well, I'm going to try to do some stuff, if only so that I can quit stubbing my toes and being frightened by the population of spiders that seem to have taken up residence in the various warm, dark spots I've provided them. Laters!

I Don't Think I'm Dead

Sometimes it's hard to tell, but fear not gentle readers, I'm still here. This has been the most exhausting week in quite awhile. I've been coming home and climbing into bed at night. Tonight would be no exception, but I hate to leave people thinking I may be a pile of jello somewhere. I think another reason I haven't written is that I have no idea where to start. The week was bound to be crappy since this is the first week back to classes. Just getting back into the swing of things is always a bit tough. Planning a conference, running your own grant project, and being the leader of your school's student organization tend to compound the problem.

So, the big horrible news for the week involved my conference. (By the way, go and register to attend the conference!! Especially if you're from Alabama. It's going to be great!! $10 registration before February 1st includes the conference, breakfast, lunch, and a year-long membership to Physicians for Human Rights!) The keynote speaker for the conference, Dr. Paul Farmer, backed out. 2 months before the conference and our rock star speaker is gone. I had a major meltdown. Luckily my friend Carolyn called for some commiseration. She picked me up from my apartment and took me out for some "Cheesecake Factory." There's nothing like calories to drown your sorrows....except maybe alcohol, but I have too much to do to start a drinking habit. Plus I'm already running on a limited supply of brain cells- better not push my luck. We have a replacement speaker who will be great, possibly even more fabulous. The only difference is that she's not as famous so our recruitment is going to be more challenging. Really the reason behind my breakdown was my fear of telling the planning committee about our loss. They were really stoked about Paul. But, they ended up taking it much better than I thought they would, which was awesome. They're a really great group. Really if you care about global AIDS, the speaker won't matter. Especially when you consider the credentials of the replacement.

This week really hasn't been that horrible, I've just been running myself ragged trying to get stuff done. I had a PHSA meeting right before the PHR meeting, and I had people missing both meetings. So not only did I have to lead both meetings, I then had to go home and email people with a recap of everything that happened. That wouldn't be such a big deal if Yahoo! mail wasn't such a bitch. I swear, it deleted the world's longest email that I'd taken about 30 minutes to compose. I almost threw my monitor out the window. I eventually got it sent though.

Now, I have to head to bed because I have to be at the HUC to go to a Habitat for Humanity workday at 7:30 AM. Woohoo! Oh, also, now you guys see why I don't write when I get stressed out. There was nothing remotely funny in this whole post. I don't want to bring you guys down with me!!! I'll make it up to you soon though :)

I feel weird.

Either I caused nerve damage with my incredibly hot bath, or the "Aveeno Relaxing Bath" is made of a fine powder of muscle relaxers. I feel weak- like I've been doing pushups and running laps while wearing a hula skirt made of bricks. I can't wait to fall asleep. The irreplicable bliss of unconciousness....enfold me. G'night all.

19 More Weeks

It will be okay...I only have to keep doing this internship for 19 more weeks. God I hate this job. I am so friggin' sleepy, and I have to go sit in my cubicle for 4 hours and put up with crap. Ugh. Damn you internship advisor. Daaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmmmmmnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn Yooooooooooooooouuuuuuuu!!!!!!!!

Cheers & Jeers

Cheers........
to taking a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. I just woke up and I feel great...and this is the 3rd day I've done this!

Jeers ..........
to the fact that I have nothing better to do during my (oh so fleeting, needing to carpe the diem) free afternoons than sleep like a 90-year old woman.

Holy Frikkin' Crap

You know you have a serious problem when you desperately need coffee and you can't remember how to make it. It's 19 degrees outside- I hope I can remember how to get dressed. Better get crackin' on it.

Driving Sideways

That's what I'm going to be doing in about 45 minutes because I'm so tired I can't see straight, but I have to be at work in an hour. I've had about 4.5 hours of sleep which is about .5 hours too many to be functioning normally. I am SOOO bloody bleeding tired. And the stupid heat is not helping at all..it is knocking me out. I'm going to make some coffee. At least I get off at noon- at which point I will be returning here and knocking the heck out. Laters!

My fuel light is on

Oh my God I am so sleepy. I'm running on about 2 hours of sleep (if that) and the bags under my eyes look like packed to head to Tahiti for a year. Lucky Samantha gets to head over to the FluVaccine clinic until 5 pm. Woohoo! Then I'll hit 6 PM mass tonight (someone remind me because I'll forget otherwise) and then go to bed early. EARLY early. Alrighty...I'm going to try to eat some lunch before I head out and try not to climb into my bed, as that will be the kiss of death. Tomorrow morning, CDC fieldtrip! Woohoo! Laters

Lying Awake

It is 3 AM and I am still awake. Damn you Toblerone!