Abbreviations

I was chatting with one of the nurses the other day and we got to talking about medical abbreviations. Medical terminology is crazy enough, but then we have to throw in things like: BOM, BRBPR, SOB, PFO, COPD, NAD, VSS, N/V/D, QD, QOD, QHS, QAC, BID, QID, PO, NPO, OU, D/C, Rx, Sx, Dx, C/O, CC, R/O, CXR, PA, CAD, PVD, PUD, PID, BM, LGSIL, PE, PCOS, HTN, DM, PERRLA, MI, CVA, TIA, SVT, AFIB, DVT, Hx, PROM, DCIS, AVM, B/L, BS, DNR, LVH, MS, MVP, UTI and VUR. Those are just a few, and of course some of them have multiple meanings.

My favorite ones are the ones with a line over the top. I still use a, p, d, s, and c with a line over them (ā).

My New Garden

Let me just say: Hooray! My super stressful project/event is over! Whew!

I'm trying to be productive and use the time that I was previously spending doing that, on things other than television. Just about the same time I finished knitting the dish rag today, Ross decided he wanted to go to the hardware store to get something for his project. I decided to tag along and buy some plants for this year's garden. I bought two jalepeno plants, a cayenne pepper plant, and a serrano pepper plant. As far as herbs go I bought Thai basil, Greek oregano, mint, and rosemary. The rosemary is nice and large. It came with its own pot, but I might buy one to match the other herb pot. They also had some smaller matching pots. Maybe I'll buy some sweet basil and try growing that (again.)

Maybe in the morning I'll make some rosemary bread. Mmmmm.

Scrap Dish Rag

Ross and I were talking about how he doesn't like to use sponges when washing the dishes. He commented that he actually likes the idea of dish rags. I told him I could knit one up for him. Using the scraps from his hat and a pair of socks I made I made a rectangular shaped dish rag (in less than 24 hours!) It is a pretty nice dish rag--both scraps are cashmerino.

Yesterday I also got back to work on the pair of shorts that I started knitting more than 2 years ago. The pattern is really lame and for the right side of the shorts instructs: "Work as for left side, reversing all shaping." Gee thanks! I wrote up the pattern for the left side and I'm hoping to get some work done on those shorts really soon. I know they probably won't fit when I'm done, but oh well. I'll just wear them around the house.

Soap Udder

I work in the basement. It isn't fancy. The nearest bathroom doesn't have a regular soap dispenser. It has soap, but you have to squeeze the little soap udder to get the soap out. It makes me laugh.

Tee-hee.

Well, Someone is Super Excited About Produce!

Today Ross picked up our first share of fruits and veggies from Brad's Produce Farm. Bailey sniffed the bag, rubbed on it, licked it, and even ate out of it. I think she is more excited abut the produce than we are!





I pulled out a smashed strawberry and she ate everything but the hull.

Stress?

I've been known to deny that I'm stressed, but I'm willing to admit to it today. I'm working on a very stressful project. Not work related. I spend almost all of my free time on it. I'm getting burned out. I'm desperately trying not to freak out.

One thing that I've realized is that I waste a lot of time in front of the TV/laying on the couch. I even waste a bunch of time surfing the web. In the last couple of weeks I've barely been on ebay! Lately I watch my soap opera with Ross after work and then maybe something before bed. I don't really miss the TV or the laptop.

This got me to thinking...When I'm done with this project in a week or so, what am I going to do with all my free time? Well, I'm going to have to spend some of it cleaning. This place is trashed. Now I really see how much time I have, and I really should be spending some of that time exercising. I've been spending 20-30 hours a week on this (outside of work.) There is no excuse for me not exercising 6 hours a week! I'm hoping that I'll be productive with my new-found free time and won't go back to my old habits. There are plenty of projects that I could be working on. Things that aren't stressful. Things that would be good for me. I just need to get through the next week.

Taking a Break

The Peabody Institute and the Johns Hopkins Medical School have a partnership concert series. Today I took a break and went to the free noontime concert. I haven't been able to go before. It was great. I got to relax, listen to nice music, and let my brain be stimulated on a different level. Today was the last concert of the (school) year, so I won't be able to do that again for a while, but I'm definitely looking forward to it.

Iron Man 2

We just saw Iron Man 2. We enjoyed it. Definitely better than Clash of the Titans. It was about what I expected. There was one thing I didn't like; It had kissing. I don't like kissing in action films.

Oh, I have to say I'm so glad it was a loud movie. I was coughing for about 30 minutes, but I think most of it was covered by explosions and the like. Well, I went to the doctor and got meself some of the really good stuff. Time to knock myself out.

Miserable

That's a pretty gross photo. Anyway, I've been coughing like crazy. My throat is so raw and sensitive that the slightest thing tickles it and I start coughing. Today I could taste everyone's perfume, aftershave, everything, ugh. It was nasty, and it made me cough. I'm going to the Dr. tomorrow to see if he can give me something to stop the coughing. The last three nights have been terrible. I have trouble falling asleep and then an hour or two later I suddenly wake up with a coughing fit. I was so tired when I got home today that I passed out. I hope to have as much luck falling asleep tonight.

I'm Sick

Ross just came home with a bag of daytime and nighttime cough syrup, and a triple pack of tissues. We are both sick. This isn't the normal cold type thing that I get with the tickle in my nose, sneezing, and nose running. No, this started with my left nose (yes Ross, nostril) getting stuffy, progressed to a sore throat, and now I have a cough. A nasty, painful cough. I can feel the dang infection in my right lung. My right ribs feel like they are on fire. In the mornings I actually cough up grey-green phlegm, but the rest of the time I just hack and hack. It hurts. Can you tell that I've hit the whiny stage of my illness?

I'm a pretty highly functioning sick person. I'm managing to do the things I really need to do. I'm not stressed out (yet) about the major stressor in my life right now (which I don't really want to talk or think about). I'm just happy my brain hasn't turned to jelly and my I haven't actually coughed up a lung.

I'm glaring at Ross because he didn't get his prescription for the good stuff filled yet. Waaaaah.