Snowpeople in white trash costumes

Imagine my surprise when I came home to this scene after a primary meeting. The house being a mess was not too big a surprise, it was my children dressed in all sorts of junk and calling themselves snowpeople that really got me. Don't overlook the girl's camp apron that Caleb is using to cover his front half and the ratty old undershirt he has tucked into the back of his pants to create the white bum effect. Maryn's costume is pretty self-explanatory except for the black tights on her head, perhaps that's supposed to be a silk top hat?

Thanksgiving=On call

Just in case anyone was wondering if I was still around anymore, I am. I even regularly look at the Blog to see what everyone is up to. You may ask why I haven't posted any thing. The answer is simple: while Chad has the energy to actually do fun things, and Rob goes home and still is awake remodeling, I on the other hand come home and go into a catatonic state where I can only eat/sleep/watch TV/ and stare at a computer screen. So in light of that, to keep you all up dated on my life, here is a picture of me "doing my thing". The nice thing is, that now that I am a zombie I don't have any emotions and I am not even frustrated with my life anymore. I hope every one is well and brainstorming our q3year vaction coming up in 2 1/2 years. (I'm thinking Miami). I hope life continues to go well for everyone, and if I ever actually do something worth noting, I'll try and make a record of it.

Thanksgiving = remodeling

Once again, a post to make you all glad you don't live in a fixer upper. It sounds like you all had fun over the weekend! We had our own kind of fun, well, at least I thought so. Rob might say it was more like a weekend at Gitmo. We should have a whole new kitchen in 2 or 3 weeks, ha ha. Because I have been mudding joints into the wee hours (drywall joints... not the other kind), I'll keep this brief.
The most exciting part of the weekend had to be at 12:30 a.m. the day after thanksgiving, when I had gone out to the garage to cut a board, while Rob re-routed one last wire. Suddenly, the lights went out, and I had visions of Rob lying dead on the kitchen floor, but I couldn't find the doorknob to get in and find out. Anyway, he wasn't, thank goodness, but he had cut into a live wire. So, at 2:00 in the morning we're still sitting there with flashlights (having no power in the house at all) fixing this stupid wire and reminding ourselves that someday we will look back on this and laugh. It was downhill from there Saturday, but we survived the weekend and hopefully now we are to the easier part.

Drowning our Sorrows

We are certainly looking forward to a Med School Buddies reunion over Thanksgiving holiday next year, but we sure did our best to have a good time in '06. We flew to Las Vegas last Sunday and met up with lots of family there. On Monday we drove to Anaheim, CA - it was 90 degrees! I had packed mostly long sleeved shirts so we actually had to buy t-shirts to keep from roasting! Awesome. The next two days we spent at California Adventure and Disneyland with my parents, my brother and sister, and my nephew. It was so fun!
We drove back to Vegas on Wednesday night so that we could attend my family's annual Thanksgiving reunion. There were about 120 of my closest relatives in attendance. My family is so diverse, it is actually funny to see so many different kinds of people in one room, but that's why I love it so much. Everyone is welcome. What? You're a drug addict, come on in! Lesbians? Sure, table #12. Illegitimate children? The more the merrier.
This is something that embarrassed me at one point. Now I am so proud to be part of a family where everyone feels accepted. Of course I wish more of my relatives had testimonies of the gospel and weren't making bad choices, but I was almost moved to tears while looking around at people from all walks of life hugging and having a great time. Too bad I was so busy talking that I didn't take any pictures. All of the attached pics are from Disneyland.
Hope you all had a great holiday. I'd better hear from you soon :)

Thanksgiving anyone?

So what did everyone do for Thanksgiving? Brandon was on call today/tonight so we went and had Thanksgiving Lunch with him at the hospital with another family - the Med Center puts on a free Thanksgiving dinner for anyone who walks in the door, so we took advantage of the oppurtunity of free food and actually, it wasn't as bad as we were expecting and that says a lot coming from the Food Divas. The highlights were when I managed to spill not one, but TWO glasses of apple cider (two separate times) in the buffet line. The cafeteria lady asked if I needed a sippy cup, which Ruby found hilarious.

Tomorrow: (Friday after Thanksgiving) I was given a free 20+ pound turkey from the grocery store (No, it's not EBT, guys. Gone are those days. Weep, weep, sob, sob) so I figured I'd go ahead and throw a party so it would actually get eaten. What started off as getting a few families from the ward together at our house has turned into a full blown ordeal with over 15 families coming over tomorrow. I'm making the turkey, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, 2 pies and drinks and everyone else is bringing a bunch of stuff. It should be a good old crazy time. Brandon is post call that day, so around 5:00 p.m., he'll stumble down the stairs (hopefully remember to put something on besides a G-Ranger-top and scrub bottoms) and literally introdouce himself. I've noticed that people from the ward have started doing air quotes when speaking of him. He's the Hershey Ward's best kept secret. Anyway, snaps for me for attempting to be social. I'd rather be eating and gabbing with all you guys, of course. Oh well. I'll just have to wait approximately 365 days. Boooo.

Marketing Genius

One of my hobbies is to always be on the lookout for the PERFECT commercial. I am happy to report that thanks to an Australian advertising agency, my search is over.

Can this be seen at your homes too?

A man in green being attacked by small children?

In Rob's case, the scrub bottoms would of course be shorter and tapered.

Now Alisa's the one in luck!

How 'bout a turkey? They sell them on Ebay...FAN-tastic!

Rob, you're in luck

Tapered jeans are back, my friends. Back with a vengeance.

Tapered Scrubs, The Lost Lost Writer and Other thoughts

I think I"m going to hold the line among the male blog contingent and refrain from delving into the depths of my dorkiness, mostly because there's just so much, I wouldn't know where to start--the time I was slow dancing with a girl in high school and somehow managed to get my gum stuck in her hair (really no way to get out of that smoothly, though I still think it was her fault), the time in elementary school swimming lessons when they threw us in the water with pants and shirts on over our swim suits and we were supposed to take them off and then swim to the side and my suit came off with my pants and the rest of the class was full of girls , and--oh did I mention I used to use a blow dryer and hair spray to do my hair--anyway, I should just stop, now. Pictures aren't even necessary........

Speaking of dorkiness--the scrubs here are tapered, not just slightly taped but like 80's peg- your-jeans tapered. They are also really short for their respective sizes. This is especially a problem if you are wearing Dansko clogs which have really thick soles........the only way for me to avoid spending somewhere upwards of 80 hours a week looking like I'm wearing man capris is to wear XL or XXL scrubs, which means I'm constantly one added belt accessory away from my pants falling off, if I ever have to carry two pagers, I'm going to need a set of suspenders.

In respose to Chad's post.

1) All I've heard from Sam's town is the While You Were Young. Which is great tune. Although I do have to say that for some reason it sounds A LOT like Springsteen's Born to Run. My first thought when I heard it, actually my second after, "cool the new Killers' track" was that it sounds like someone put the Cure and Springsteen in a blender and hit frappe. I don't hear the comparison to U2 (and I listen to a lot of U2), but then I haven't heard the other tracks on the album yet. My only other qualm is that on some level even thought they aren't using it in a take-the-Lord's-name-in-vain kind of context, any time I hear the Savior's name in a pop song that many times, it starts to feel a bit uncomfortable. Anyway, I'm exited to hear the rest of the album.

2) Lost: I have developed my own Lost theory based on the first episode of this season. There were some odd parllels to the first episode of last season. You end the previous season with something really suspenseful, like "what's down the hatch," or "where are the Others taking them," and then you start the next season with something totally unrelated and weirdly domestic like a guy making smoothies and working out on an excercise bike or a woman making muffins and having a book club, and you have to have a 70s singer-songer writer soundtrack to the scene. The soundtrack is important enough you have to acutally show the person putting the music on to emphasize the fact that it's part of the scene. From there you just go in some totally mind blowing new direction, and the rest of the season is set up. Anyway, here's my theory. These first episodes are so weird, so out there, so totally not what you expect that I think they have a special writer just for these episodes. He's probably so busy dropping acid or eating shrooms the rest of the year that he's too busy to contribute much, but they sober him up, and bring him in for the first 10 minutes of the first episode of the year. The more I think about this writer, the more his necessary charteristics become clear. He's got to be really really weird, he's got to have a time for decaying 70's and 80's decor, he's got to have a knowledge of island life and some experience with the cognitive disconnect of running around shirtless in the jungle with a big beard and then being thrown back into real life where people do things like cook and have book clubs. He's also got to be a very creative writer. I put all this together and come to one conclusion............ Frank, our Frank, is writing for JJ. Not much, just the first episode of the year when they can sober him up, chase the cats out of the house and make him focus. Maybe he met JJ when JJ went to Hawaii on a trip, maybe JJ stayed at the Na Pulani' O'hana. I don't know. But I really think that Frank, beard, plumber crack and all, is the man who put Desmond on that excerise bike and decided that the Others are members of the book of the month club............

I married up

Sorry, no "dorky" post, just a dorky post

I have a few random thoughts that for some odd reason, I feel like sharing.

1. Lost: The first episode of Season 3 was everything I was hoping for. Loved it. This is the best show to ever be on television. To those getting frustrated with "waaaaah, they never give us enough answers," um, yes they do. We learned more about the Others from this one episode than we did the previous last 2 seasons combined. We finally got closure about Jack's past with his ex, Sarah. We learned where the polar bears and sharks on the island came from. I could go on. Anyway, yes - there are dozens of new questions raised, but that's what's so great about the Lost mystery.

2. The Killers: I will always feel a connection to this band, not only because they are good, but thanks to my Reynolds connection. Hearing their demos, seeing them with 30 other people (including Dave's parents) at Gabe's. I mean, "oh my gosh, I totally met and talked with Brandon Flowers, he was SOOO hot. I almost DIED! And so sweeeeeeeet." Yes, I'm a little uncomfortable with how popular they have become with the teenie boppers, but what do you do? Anyway, what do you guys think of Sam's Town? It has received a lot of "strong" opinions, which was inevitable with a second release from a band that blew up with their first. And Brandon F. didn't help things with all the talk about it being on the best releases of the past 20 years. Here's a nickel's worth of free advice to musicians. Don't ever say that kind of crap. Stick with "it's the best we have ever done," but don't go beyond that to compare it with other artists or past history. It just puts a huge target on you and people want to see you fail.
Anway, about Sam's Town. So definitely a bigger sound. But not really buying the whole, "they are completely ripping off Springsteen and U2." A couple of cringe worthy lyrics here and there. But overall I really like it. I would say it's Hot Fuss 2. Not that they haven't evolved their sound, but just in the fact that it's an album, like Hot Fuss, that has 4-5 great songs, with the rest ranging from OK to good, but, impressively, none that are bad. In the "great" catagory, I would put the title track, While You Were Young, Read My Mind, Bones, and Why do I Keep Counting? The rest are pretty good. The coolest thing of all: Tim Burton is doing the video for the next single, Bones!

3. For me to post a "Dorky" post, I would have to undergo hypnosis regression therapy to bring those memories back, as they have been buried quite deeply now for some time.

I was dorkier

The year is 1991. Annie Garlock attempts to play soccer. She is awful.

You have to be wearing something very special to be able to pull off a successful dramatic reading of a Linda Ronstadt song.

Good old Linda

Somewhere out there beneath the pale TV light
Someone's watching the LOST premiere and loving it tonight

Somewhere out there someone's saying a prayer
That the VCR worked and post-call he can watch without a care

And even though we know how very far apart we are
It helps to think we might be watching that same TV star

And when the show is over and it's time to go to bed
It helps to think we're mulling the same show 'round in our head

Somewhere out there if LOST can see us through
Then we'll be together sometime next year
During Thanksgiving, it's true

yummy yummy

Newbies and Nudity

My awful mistake hit me as I pulled into the turn lane for the hospital. I had made an appointment to have a mole removed at the University hospital. HELLO!!! I am guaranteed to have a freshly-minted doctor! Ironically, Rob had said to me when I made the appointment "I could do that for you." And of course I would NEVER let him do that because he is basically still a medical student! (No offense Rob, or any other 1st year residents...) So, fast forward to me sitting in a little sterile room wearing a "gown" (a lovely pink chiffon ball gown with a rhinestone tiara and white satin gloves... ) and NOTHING else because the nurse said the doctor would want to do a check for other moles. In walks this Greek god with long dark hair, etc. etc. (almost as good looking as Rob) trailed by his medical student, and I am immediately aware of how totally naked I am. (Grace started screaming bloody murder and would NOT be consoled, but that's not really part of this story.) So he looks at the offending mole, says he thinks it's fine, yadda yadda. So anyway, he's kind of hemming and hawing around and I have to pretty much ask him to check for other moles (I did get pretty burned in Hawaii, and am like practically an albino.) So he starts kind of peeking around, pulling the gown up just a little and glancing under it from arm's length away. Basically he looked at my arms and my shoulders, and about an inch above my knee. OK, awkward. Maybe I was just transmitting nervous don't-look-at-me vibes into the room. Maybe he went to medical school in Iran and has never seen anything but a woman's eyes. Maybe I should have let Rob do it...
Anyway, I hope the title of my post doesn't get our blog banned!
Things are going well, other than that weird encounter. And the fact that I am subbing as the Primary music person for the next 2 weeks (sweet revenge to YOU, Alisa... how is that going, anyway?) Grace is into pulling everything out of drawers and off of tables and counters, so our house looks like a perpetual hurricane. And I am going to start watching a 10-mo. old a couple of days a week, so it will be kind of like hanging out with May-May! I can't believe she is talking! And by the way, Annie, what is this I hear about you showing art in a local gallery? Do tell all, and put up some pictures! You ROCK!
I miss you guys! All I can say is, thank goodness for a new season of the Office and Dancing with the Stars.

Grocery Grammar

I found myself in quite a pickle while grocery shopping at Fred Meyer last night. This was only my second time shopping at this store, so I am still trying to learn the lay of the land. I'd done all of my shopping, but I still had a couple of stray items on my list that I hadn't been able to locate - cottage cheese and frozen dinner rolls. I headed over to the dairy section to have a second look, but was stopped dead in my tracks. Straight ahead, due north, was a rather large woman stocking the yogurt. She was bent way over, exposing me to a plethora of butt dimples visible through her tight black polyester uniform pants. I was aghast. How could I possibly ask this woman to point me to the cottage cheese?? Uh, excuse me ma'am, where do you keep the cottage cheese? (Obvious retort: on my thighs you skinny skank!) Please note that I refer to myself as "skinny" in only the most relative of terms. Okay, I decide, I CANNOT ask this woman about cottage cheese. The only other item left on my list? Rolls.... I was completely on my own.

wah.

Does anyone else want to cry? Anyone?

Dr. Jack Shephard

This is just a little shout out to my "lost" friends. Hence the title of the post, which, by the way, I insist on people calling me at work. I also tell everyone what to do and pretend like I keep seeing the ghost of my father in the hospital. (Yes, I'm excited about season 3. And yes, they got hugely snubbed by the Emmy people).

Well, I guess you guys aren't lost, just really friggin' far away. I really hope the boys are adjusting to things in your programs and that overall things are getting better. Brandon, we need an update about what happened when the Residency Review committee came to your program and what they found out about work hours, etc. And I of course hope the girls are having fun getting to know your now homes better.

I'm on surgery right now, which is sweet. The guy I'm working with is totally nice. And he's older, so he has slowed down and doesn't even work Fridays. We took a nice trip out to Glacier National Park last weekend. But, all good things must end, and OB is next, so don't get too jealous. But overall, it doesn't feel so crazy to call myself "doctor" anymore, so I guess that's good.

So how long until next Thanksgiving? Hopefully we can all still make that work. And Rob, are you going to have the chance to go to any football games this year?