Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my Dad's birthday. This picture was taken almost 5 years ago. I guess its time to get an updated picture of me and Dad. If any of you know my dad, saying that he is a quiet man is incorrect. He may be "soft spoken" and a "man of few words" but his actions always speak a thousand words.

I always enjoyed watching my dad watch M*A*S*H* reruns. He would sit in his chair and I wouldn't even know he was laughing until I looked over and saw him smiling while his whole upper body would bounce. He was always independent as I was growing up going about his day doing his thing. He worked at home a majority of the time, so he would get up early and do some work, eat some oatmeal, have some tea and get on with his day. He was usually the one driving us all over to sports practice, play practice or piano lessons. Just to come home, make dinner and stay up late at night working depending on what he needed to finish. He rarely asked us to help him. It was probably easier to just do it himself than to fight and argue trying to get us to do anything.

As I've grown up and started having adult responsibilities, I often regret not paying more attention to the things Dad did. He always had a pretty large garden and I never once helped him plant, weed or maintain the garden. I remember him canning, freezing and pickeling vegetables at the end of the summer. Can I tell you how he did it? Nope. I just remember husking the corn and cutting the corn off the cob. Somehow it involved a pressure cooker to can. He wouldn't have needed to say anything, if I had just watched him more clostly, I would know how to do it to this day.

Dad always has a creative way to get a point across. We kids were always leaving things on the floor. One time I remember Dad asking who picked up a quarter that had been on the floor. I don't remember who 'fessed up. But he asked why they didn't pick up the empty pop can that was next to the quarter. My dad had purposely placed the quarter there trying to prove the point that if someone was going to bother bending over to pick up a quarter, it shouldn't be any more difficult to pick up the pop can as well. I still think about that today as I'm tidying up.

The road we grew up on had horrible pavement with pot holes for a good mile. You couldn't drive on the road without hitting a million potholes. After a mile the pavement turned into gravel. There was a road sign at the end that warned drivers "Pavement Ends." My dad painted a sign and hung it below the sign that said "Thank God" Eventually they fixed the road.

Then recently, Sears did something to really disappoint Dad. He's been a faithful customer for years and when this issue happened, Sears wouldn't do anything to "make it right" or apologize. So he not only cut up his Sears credit card, he mailed it to them.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Tagged

Being tagged is sort of a love/hate relationship. I love that Meigan thought of me, yet I am not excited to come up with 8 facts/habits about myself.

1) Post the rules of the game.
2) Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3) People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things.
4) At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5) Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged, and to read your blog.

1. My comfort food is grilled cheese sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, or cheese and crackers are you seeing the theme?

2. I remember when I learned huge life lessons. The first being, when I was about 5 or 6 years old. I wanted to wear earrings but my parents wouldn't let me get my ears pierced until I was 8 years old. So, at the store I saw some huge, gold, clip-on earrings and put them in my coat pocket. I walked around the store feeling terribly guilty knowing it was wrong to steal, so I finally put the earrings back. The second lesson learned is that smoking is bad for you. I was on a walk around 8 years old. I came across a used cigarette on the road. No joke, this is kind of embarassing. I picked it up and pretended I was holding it being all cool. The thing is, I didn't feel cool at all, in fact I felt really dirty. Hense...smoking is bad.

3. I have hairy toes and therefore...I shave them.

4. When eating chocolate (especially dark chocolate) I MUST have a glass of cold milk already poured before I put the chocolate in my mouth. Then I chew a little while savoring the chocolate. After that, I drink the milk until there is not a trace of chocolate left in my mouth. Yum!

5. I'm kind of a speed demon on the freeway. The way home from work is the worst. I'm in such a hurry to get home. I accelerate down the entrance ramp and quickly cross the 3 lanes of traffic positioning myself in the left hand lane. Which leads me to #6...

6. A couple weeks ago (again on my way home) I was turning right at a traffic light. As I approached the light I started to make a right on red. I thought I had stopped completely, but I don't know. It was dark and the cruel, hidious, obnoxious red light camera flashed. Blinding me, really. Did I get a ticket? I don't know. It's been over 2 weeks and I haven't received anything in the mail. They say if you don't hear within 2 weeks, you probably didn't get a ticket. But ever since, it's not much fun to get the mail dreading what might be in the mailbox.

7. I have a terrible habit of leaving lights on.

8. I am on a personal mission to change people's minds about peas. None of our close friends like peas. When I found that out, I asked if they've ever had peas fresh out of the garden. They said no. Right there a mission was born. So, I have a pea plant out in the garden and I have already had a few people try them and they admit that they are good. This isn't the time of year to plant them in California, so I hope to plant a few more in the fall and continue with my mission.

There. I did it. Now this wouldn't be a tag if I didn't tag someone so, KARLENE Tag, you're it!

If Elevators could speak

We started watching Grey's Anatomy this season after catching up on the previous seasons on DVD. The elevator on Grey's Anatomy is almost another character. Alot of things take place in the elevator, conversations, exchanges of looks, surgery (it is an unrealistic drama) and even silence. The elevators in my hospital tell a different story.

One of our main Staff elevators has been down for at least a month, if not more. (due to it being old and parts being difficult to come by) This makes the elevator right next to it slow being that everyone wants to get on this elevator. I choose to frequent the elevators around the corner. They go up faster and have less traffic on them. Today however, I may have been converted (ie forced) to taking the stairs for the rest of my nursing career.

I got in the elevator with a fellow co-worker and 4 other people. I pushed the #4 button. Up we went. Have I mentioned this elevator is super duper fast? It must be so fast that I think it got confused this morning. It shot up, then dropped what seemed to be a few feet, then went up a little bit more. We found ourselves up on the 5th floor (one floor higher than it was supposed to go) and I noticed the #4 light had turned off by this point. I looked at my co-worker and said "I think I can handle one flight of stairs down" So, we got out of the elevator, turned the corner and went down the stairs. For the first time I can remember in a long time, the elevator made me tachycardic, not the stairs.

So, now I'm wondering. Tomorrow morning, what do I do? Give the elevator another shot praying it was a freak thing and is fixed or do I just give in, do my body some good and take the stairs? Here's the problem. I am a creature of habit. I may intend to take the stairs tomorrow, but habit will most likely take over. I will park in my same spot in the parking structure, I will use the same outside door I always use. I will walk down the same hallway past the research labs, past the A level CT, past ER and onto the elevator I am so accostomed to taking in the morning without even thinking. Taking the stairs may not even occur to me until the elevator door opens and I get that Dejavu feeling.