So Close...

I was almost a blogger. I started with enthusiasm on March 1 and managed to post twice a day for quite some time.
Then I continued a few times a week.
Then a few times a month.
Then I went on vacation.
Then I had to recover from an intense bout of post-vacation depression and get back in the swing of things at work.
Then I went home for an amazing R&R weekend in Massachusetts with my family.
Then my wisdom teeth came out.

Now I am sitting on the couch waiting until I can take my final dose of vicodin for the day and go to bed and I find myself thinking about how I was almost a blogger. I was almost one of those people who consistently signs in on a regular basis and updates the world with eloquent stories and vivid pictures. Someone who easily finds interesting topics and insightful comments to share with the world. Oh well. Life got in the way. Although, if life were slightly more thrilling I may be more inclined to rush home and write about it. No scratch that. Let's go with the theory that my life is just so exciting I can't possibly sit down to blog and stick with that until I am back here blogging regularly...

Packing Up

It may be 2:00 am here, but it is a light, bright 7:00 am on Friday morning in Dublin! I am still up packing for my ten-day trip. Okay, so I am blogging instead of packing. But I had to stop to document my vacation from its very earliest stages. I find that the adventure usually starts in the hours, days or weeks preceding any trip. I've been planning for weeks, packing for days and running around like crazy for several hours.

Today was not a good day for customer service. AT&T stressed me out over the course of half an hour, but I did leave with a paper saying that for $30.99 plus $0.99/minute for voice I can use my iPhone for calls and internet in Ireland.  Then it was on to Best Buy, which never fails to be staffed with the most frustrating people. How many times can you say no to the extended warranty and geek service protection plan?

Must be at work in 8 hours.
Leave for the airport in 11.
Arrive in Dublin in about 27 hours!

Oh, yeah! I bought a new toy to take with me! Here's to a seven hour flight to read the manual!

The Time of Your Life

I went to the National Mall today. Bright and early this morning, actually. I saw Michelle Obama give the commencement speech at the George Washington University graduation ceremony. When I graduated, our pompous, retiring university president declared himself to be the commencement speaker. Pissing off an entire class of alums was a brilliant last act. Our consolation prize was that Wolf Blitzer received an honorary degree and also made a speech. I guess that is all $200,000 gets you these days.

Doctor Obama (she received a Doctorate of Public Service) gave an expectantly eloquent and entertaining speech this morning. At least 80% of my reason for standing to applaud was in gratitude for her presence. The other 20% may have been to do with the heat and my desire to catch a cool breeze.

My friend who graduated today began her time at GW three years after I started. I think I had a lot to do with her choosing the school, yet we each had wildly different experiences. I hated my college experience. I hated the type of students (and families) my school attracted. I hated that I felt like a customer of a business rather than a student at an institution of higher education. I spent as much time off campus as possible and after some unsuccessful early efforts, I got involved as little as possible. In contrast, my friend loved her time at this school. She got involved, stayed on campus a year longer than I did, joined a sorority, made lots of friends, studied abroad.

I felt a little sad today.

I didn't go to prom in high school. At the time I was pretty okay with it. Most of the time I am still pretty okay with it. I hate being told that I missed out. That it was some major life event that I failed to experience. It creates a tug on my heart and my memories that I don't naturally have. This is how I felt today. I hate being told that college is supposed to be the best four years of your life. Why does it have to be? That almost seems counter-intuitive that so many seemingly happy people look at their life and consider the peaks to be back at senior prom and the four years they spent in college. I like living my life looking forward. I had a wonderful childhood, and I do have many good memories from my college years, but I still hope that my best years are ahead of me. Otherwise, what is the point?

Details

So much planning. So little time.

I am so excited for summer adventures, but already feeling brain-dead from all the planning. Things were supposed to kick off last weekend with a trip down south for the Kentucky Derby. Attending the annual event was placed on my bucket list quite awhile ago but despite soliciting promises from friends well in advance, 2010 was not my year. I comforted myself with a second trip to the Virginia Gold Cup.

Yes, there were horses.

This past weekend I had a friend crashing with me on her journey from Boca Raton, FL to Massachusetts. While practicing my good hostess skills (the reason for this is coming), I also managed to book the final details of my trip to Ireland: the rental car! Besides the round-trip flight, which was the first thing booked, the rental car was the second most important detail--yet I left it until last! So overwhelmed by details was I, that I forgot an evening trip to Europe means landing a day later and I booked the car starting on May 21 instead of the 22.  A five-minute international phone call this morning fixed my error and saved us 30 Euros, but left me feeling very frustrated with myself as I take immense pride in my attention to detail. (Maybe pride is my problem and not sugar-fueled, late-night, online rental car bookings?!)

Before I get to experience Ireland, I need to survive five days as the perfect hostess. My mom is coming to town! Her last (and only) trip to visit me was shortly after I moved in to my first apartment in early 2008. Prior to her visit I was really excited to show off my new found grown-up skills and life. After her visit I realized that my sparsely furnished apartment and relatively empty cabinets and refrigerator were not exactly welcoming. Giving up my bed and taking the couch for a long weekend wasn't enough to earn a return visit. I was matter-of-factly told that I go back home to Massachusetts frequently enough and that she would just see me there. Hmph! Well she has been forced to return to attend a family friend's graduation from GW and I am determined to run the best little bed-and-breakfast that ever existed! Deep cleaning is already in progress, grocery lists are being drawn up and outings and adventures are being coordinated!

Then...
I am off to Ireland for ten days!
Back to DC for 3 weeks...
Up to MA for the siblings' birthday!
One weekend ruined by the removal of my wisdom teeth :(
Fourth of July Southern Road Trip (if my friends come through)!
Austin, TX for Aquapalooza?
Disney World?
Charleston, SC?
Maine for My 25th Birthday!


At some point I will probably run out of money, but at least the Bahamas Cruise in October with some girls from high school has already been paid for and booked! And at 25 years old my "sign up for real life" plan goes into effect. My life will be much less fun after that. But that is another post.

Off to the Races!

Where are the horses?

United We Stand

I am not in a union. Nor am I in a career field that would ever need to unionize. I have seriously considered becoming a teacher at some point in my life, but until then I stand on the outside. My parents come from opposite perspectives. As a nurse in a large city hospital, my mother has been a union member for over 30 years. My father spent much of his life in management for the MBTA, regularly frustrated by the perceived cushy jobs and protections of his unionized employees.

In my life (which is really still in the upswing, so I can't claim to have it all figured out) my opinion has swayed both ways. I have been frustrated by teacher unions preventing needed changes to this country's educational system and I have been frustrated by management cabals that focus entirely on their profit margins instead of the employees that keep them in business.

There was recently an article in the New York Times that talked about the union policy of laying off the most recently hired teachers first. Due to financial mismanagement, up to 8,500 teachers will soon be laid off in New York City Schools. The idea of 8,500 of the freshest minds with the longest teaching careers ahead of them losing jobs, while so many average teachers are protected, upsets me. I think I have said it before, but I am entirely unimpressed with the education I received from K-12 in public schools, as well as, the four years  I spent at a very expensive private college. I was rarely inspired. I had far more average to awful teachers than excellent ones. So it seems quite unfair that seniority would be the sole determination of whether a teacher gets laid off and even worse that it is used to prevent  the replacement of truly ineffective teachers. I think job performance should matter. A lot.

With all that said, I believe that seniority is something earned and something that should be rewarded. The people most likely to disagree with that statement, of course, are employers. I think there are several industries in which seniority is a particularly important career benefit.  I mean this specifically for occupations that don't have a set career ladder to climb (assistant -> junior associate -> senior partner -> CEO). In jobs like that, your salary increases with your rank. In other fields, such as teaching or nursing, you are not receiving regular promotions, only raises.

Of all those who go into the field of education as a teacher, 90% will retire as a teacher. Of all those who are hired as young nurses, 90% will retire as nurses. Relatively few people start in these positions with the intention of moving  into educational or healthcare administration and this is a good thing. We need more teachers and nurses than we need principals and nurse managers. What this kind of career creates is a group of people who are all doing essentially the same job but are receiving vastly different salaries based on their years of service.  (Yes, many people get the requisite raise without doing the work to earn it, but that is a different problem and a different post.)

My problem with a system that does not allow for seniority benefits for those whom have dedicated their lives to a job is that when management needs to make staff cuts, it's most effective to cut those making the most money. Fire one senior teacher and you save the same amount of money as firing two junior teachers. Financially it makes sense, but basic social justice says people shouldn't have to worry about losing their jobs for making money that they have fairly earned.

Although my expectations are low, I hope that the teacher's union in NYC can negotiate to remove the "rubber rooms" and ridiculous policies that create these situations and find a way to combine seniority benefits with performance benefits so that students and upstanding employees will be served first.

Cherry Blossom Festival 2010

I had feared I would miss it this year, but I still have a little tourist left in me! On Thursday, April 1 (the first of the two peak bloom days!) I went down to the tidal basin to take some pictures and revel in the fact that I am not allergic to spring in DC!

Until next year!

Back Home

I went home to Massachusetts for Easter. It was a difficult weekend. Several phone calls to the police, a sleepless night, much worry and unease--it was hard to be home, but even harder to leave. I have spent several days deciding not only what I will share on my blog, but also how much I will share with my friends. I think in most situations, I typically choose to keep things to myself when there is doubt. I have never regretted keeping personal stories personal, but I have definitely experienced times where I have shared and then had a verbal hangover after realizing the amount of information I put out there. I always try to ask myself two questions: Do I want sympathy? Do I want advice? While sympathy is always nice to receive, I just never feel right about seeking it or about people who actively seek it from others. In this case, I really don't need advice. My weekend and missed day of work can only be summed up by letting people know I am contemplative and grateful for my family.  I returned to DC on Monday night and things seem back to normal both here and at home. Easter Sunday, itself, turned out to be quite nice--warm weather, good food, amazing family.

This boy makes me smile.

  

       My Youngest Cousin

I also went to see my nieces' skating show on Saturday after being awake for the better part of 30 straight hours (the things I do for these girls!)  I taught them to ice skate when they were 3 and 6 and my sister signed them up for group lessons about two years later. Unfortunately, I have been living in DC since then and have not been able to oversee their skating career quite as closely as I would like ;)  This Shrek-themed performance was the first real show that I have been able to attend in the past four years! 

My Nieces                              

You Can Do It

I tried to go shopping today, but I was sent out to get "Twilight things." It was painful. I bought nothing. Claire's didn't have anything left in stock, but directed me across the mall to FYE. They had a small section of Twilight-themed accessories, including $14.99 lip gloss. For this price, I could purchase two very small unmarked tubes of  lip gloss in a cardboard package with the Twilight logo on it. Once the package is opened and tossed it becomes regular old ordinary lip gloss. It frustrates me that parents and tweens with allowances are wasting money on this stuff. I know that I was equally as enticed by worthless crap when I was younger but besides American Girl accessories, I don't remember being obsessed with a particular brand or theme of junk.  I would normally never consider buying movie-themed paraphernalia, but I need to shop for my soon-to-be 12 year old niece and feel as though I should make at least a half-hearted attempt to comply with the instructions that were emailed to me:


Dear Ali,

For my b day what r u getting me? If u dont know then u should get me twilight things for an idea.

From,

Rebecca


Doesn't this child realize, after almost 12 years of experience with me for an aunt, that if she asked me to spend $132 on a pair of J Girl by J Brand skinny jeans that Crewcuts just started carrying, I would! Clothes, shoes, accesories--these I can't resist! Especially for children! But no, she wants "Twilight things" for her birthday.

It is fortunate that I find children so entertaining. They provide me with endless joy and amusement, so I will provide them with "Twilight things" when requested.

Today at the ice rink I got called "Teacher Ali" and "Mrs. Ali" and "Um, what's your name again, again?" I'd buy these children overpriced themed gifts too if they asked. Luckily, they just want to know the names of the beanie babies they get to throw across the ice.

My favorite conversation of the weekend:


Katherine: I can't march.


Me: Yes, you can. I know you can because you did it last week. Just lift your feet and take little steps over to me.


Katherine: No, I can't do it.


Me: Yes, you can. Hey Ava, do you think Katherine can march?


Ava (marching by): Yes!


Me: Eric, do you think Katherine can march?


Eric (laying on the ice): Yup, I think she can.


Me: See Katherine, we all think you can do it! 


Ava: So, why won't she march?


Matthew (shouting from across the ice): She just doesn't believe in herself! We believe in you, Katherine!


Little voices: We believe in you! You can do it, Katherine!



A motivational seminar conducted by 4-year-olds in ice skates.

First Day of Spring!

After spending four hours in a cold, fluorescent-lit ice rink, followed by a Metro journey that was uncomfortably hot and unnecessarily long, I finally got to enjoy the first day of spring! It feels like it has been a long time coming after this winter. I spent the afternoon with some friends at Great Falls in Maryland. We went to hike the Billy Goat Trail, but it was closed due to flooding. While I would like to go back and try to hike it another time, I can't say I am sorry that my afternoon required slightly less exertion than originally planned. Great Falls is an area between Maryland and Virginia where the Potomac River drops about 60 feet in a series of waterfalls because of the ice age and the flowing water and maybe some silt and possibly plate shifting. Okay, I didn't really read any of the signs, but I took pictures!

Blue Skies

Rocks to Climb

Trees Turning Green

Raging River

Crazy Rapids

 Closed Trails

Cold Water

Lightroom

I downloaded a 30-day free trial in January. I miss it! Now I am thinking of getting the free trial of Photoshop, but I am afraid that it will make me want to shell out the big bucks for both! Not good! I have so many other things to save for but how can I spend money on exciting trips and fun parties and fancy clothes if I can't take pictures and edit them effectively? That is what I thought!

Winter

Spring

Summer

Fall

Time for Spring Cleaning!

So last night I hosted my first swap party! Not knowing what to expect, I limited the invitations to my close friends and provided lots of food and drink to temper any potential chaos or confusion. Usually I don't send out invitations and just spread the word by text or email, but this theme required some more details. I sent out the invite below as my best attempt at a succinct explanation of what I had in mind for the evening:


When: Saturday, March 13 @ 7:00pm (ish)
Where: My Apt
What: Swap Party!
Why: Oh, Please!

Okay, let me tell you why...If you are anything like me, you have drawers and shelves and closets filled with clothes and accessories. Some are your favorites, some are for work, some are for special occasions, some are "fat-day" items and some really just sit there taking up space. You give things to Goodwill after you have gotten use out of them (or the minute they come out of the box from your Nana?!), but still you have things that get neglected day after day.

I definitely have this problem! Honestly, I think I have items that still have tags and as perverse as it sounds I feel bad giving perfectly good things to Goodwill. I keep telling myself I just might wear it one day or I should hold on to it longer because it was a gift. But, alas, no more! Think of this like adoption day at the pound, except I am giving away purebreds! I want my stuff to have good homes and I want my friends to partake in the giving and the sharing!

What to Bring: You can bring 20 items or 2. Bring whatever you decide is taking up space and deserves to be adopted by someone who will love it more than you. It doesn't have to be brand new or never worn, but you want people to take it home, not pick it up with two fingers and move it to the side. Think: Jackets, Jeans, Sweaters, Shirts, Skirts, Hats, Belts, Shoes, Bags, Jewelry... Bonus points for creative sharing! Whatever people don't take you can bring back home or leave with me and I will do a Goodwill run.

What you Get: New stuff for free! (You might be heading home with a fabulous "new" clutch or the perfect shirt for Date Night.) Also, the joy of seeing your stuff make another girl happy!  And just as important: wine, snacks, good conversation and the chance to mock the amount of argyle I own!


So I provided the wine and brownie bites, bruschetta, popcorn and candy. Then I laid out a nice selection of neglected clothes from my wardrobe. Most of the things I put out found themselves a new home, which is what I needed since I have reached my limit on closet space! Okay, I also snagged a few cute items for myself from other people's closets, but not nearly as much as I gave away. The one thing I didn't predict was the vast amount of clothes and accessories that would be left over after the party. I thought it would be more of an even trade, but everyone seemed to go home happy with things they will love and wear! I guess I will be heading over to Goodwill this week!

Choices and Beliefs

I was raised Catholic in a way that is perhaps unique only to Catholics, meaning that it was more of an identity than a belief. I almost never went to church as a child. I only dressed up and made an appearance for First Communions and Christenings and occasionally on Easter. I was, however, forced to go to CCD for ten years. I was sent to learn about my religion and to receive the sacraments--Reconciliation, First Communion, and Confirmation. In my ninth year of CCD I announced that I was done and had no desire to finish and be confirmed. I did not want to be Catholic. My mom laughed and told me I was crazy and couldn't choose not to be Catholic. "You are Catholic", she said, "saying you don't want to be Catholic is like saying you don't want to be Irish. You can't change it. You were born that way." And so I was confirmed.

I took the name Elizabeth in honor of my new patron saint--who must have been very important and done some very important things--and promised to live my life as a good Catholic.

Although my dad's family has always been religious, he was not. He agreed to be married in the Catholic Church and to have us raised as Catholics and even went as far as attending our rites. His own beliefs were never shared, however, and I am not sure if that was because he didn't give it much thought or he knowingly kept them to himself to prevent conflict. As a result, my mother was the biggest religious influence in my childhood. My mom always shared her belief in God and the importance of prayer, but never pushed attending church as a means of getting closer to God. She doesn't question his existence and has no doubts that one day we will all be together in Heaven. She taught me that the bible probably isn't entirely true, but that it was divinely inspired. She compared biblical stories to fables, in that they were both written to teach us a lesson about how people should behave and treat one another. To this day, both types of stories provide me with more confusion than guidance. Don't trust talking serpents? Leave something better than trails of breadcrumbs when walking through the forest with your brother Hansel?

As an adult, can I simply choose?
Last fall I attended a Catholic wedding, and for the first time ever I made the choice not to get up and receive communion. I may be stuck being Catholic, but I will no longer act on it.

I believe in God. Not because I want to, but because I do. It just feels right. I don't necessarily believe that humans were made in his image, but maybe. I don't believe the bible has anything to do with anything. I don't know if I believe in Heaven, but I once did and I desperately wish I could just choose to believe again because I find solace in the idea. I don't believe in prayer. I believe that God, in whatever form he takes, truly does know all and that there is no need for me to get down on my knees and beg for the health or life of a loved one. He knows what I want. He can see it in my soul, but he will let life take its course whether I like it or not, whether I ask for it or not.

I do, however, stop to tell him I am sorry. To make it clear when I have done something wrong and learned my lesson. I fear punishment if I willingly do wrong, but I have no expectation of reward if I pray. Is that illogical? This all happens in my head. I don't go to church or talk about it with others. Sometimes I think maybe these discussions really are just between me and my moral compass and that there is no God. I think I would be okay with that too. It's personal and it should be.

IRELAND!

I have finally booked my much anticipated trip to Ireland! I have been dreaming of going for years and actively trying to plan this trip for over a year. Now I will be spending ten days in the country where my great-grandparents emigrated from a century ago! Traveling with a good friend from college, we plan to spend a few days in Dublin and then rent a car and drive through as much of the southern part of the country as possible. Flights were booked today! Now comes the fun part of making a list of sites and cities and castles and B&Bs to visit. Slainte!

Ireland
May 21-31, 2010

(Borrowed picture--hopefully I will have some great ones to post upon return!!)

Choosing a Doctor

Lately I have been thinking about my expectations: for other people, myself, situations, life. I have been known to have strong opinions and a tendency to pass judgment, but I would like to think that I keep an open-mind and put my best judgment to use in critical situations. One group of people that I consistently hold to a high standard are doctors. I expect them to ask good questions. I expect them to answer mine clearly and honestly. I expect them to do a basic, yet complete medical exam when I take the time to make an appointment and shell out a co-payment. I don't have to like them on a personal level. They don't have to remember any personal details about me, if they are capable of reading it off my chart.

It's Personal....
Going to a doctor means talking about your personal history, your health, your pain, your eating, exercising, and sexual habits. It is like writing a blog, only instead of sharing selective details with virtual friends you have to share all your details face-to-face with a virtual stranger. Going to a doctor also means being touched, prodded and poked. And if these things happen while blogging you are probably doing something wrong :)

Lightheartedness aside, I find it incredibly nerve-wracking to choose a new doctor. I moved to DC a little over two years ago and received new insurance through my job. It took me more than 8 months of researching and calling hospitals and clinics to settle on a primary doctor. I wanted a female practicing general internal medicine, but between my HMO's restrictions and not having a car, I could only find a male located at a small medical practice at the far end of a bus line. I went to him for a baseline appointment that lasted barely 15 minutes. He asked very few questions about my personal history, did no physical exam (other than listening to my heart) and generally did not seem to understand why I would come to see him if I wasn't sick. Frankly, it was a bizarre experience.

Shortly after that appointment I found a gynecologist, whom I love, through a referral from a friend. I decided I didn't really need to love my primary because I just wouldn't go back unless I felt sick. Fast forward a year and I got a concussion as motivation to go back to that doctor. But I didn't go. I self-medicated and waited it out rather than go back to see him. I just disliked my experience so much that I had no desire to go through a 30-minute bus ride to see a doctor I didn't trust. Once my head healed I realized that it was time to find a new primary.

The second search for a doctor took just as much patience and just as many calls, but I finally found a female doctor at a local hospital who was accepting new patients with my insurance. I waited two months for an appointment only to have it canceled by Snowmageddon (see my prior post) and then had to wait another month to get rescheduled. I finally met her today. I love my new doctor!

I had to wait twenty minutes in the exam room before meeting her (experience has told me this is pretty standard), but once she arrived she spent over 40 minutes with me. A complete medical history was taken and my concerns over the cost of prescriptions were resolved by her writing several scripts for me to hand over at CVS and ask them to give me the cheapest option. I was given a referral to a dermatologist and a positive recommendation for a specific doctor. I was then given a complete physical exam, a tetanus booster and sent to the outpatient lab to have some baseline blood work done. Over two hours after I arrived, I left with a sore arm but a good feeling about the quality of medical care I had received.

It makes me wonder: which experience was more unique? The doctor that barely fulfilled the basic medical requirements of an office visit or the one that spent the better part of an hour giving me the kind of attention and medical care I could only hope for from a primary?

Waiting for Spring!

It felt like spring was finally on its way to DC over the weekend! I couldn't believe that today was even nicer! I forgot how hard it is to sit in the office all day when the sun is shining outside. Good thing I took an hour+ outdoor lunch today ;)

Can't wait for this year's Cherry Blossoms!
Peak bloom is April 3-8!

White House Easter Egg Roll

Today I had hoped to get good news about visiting the White House when it won't look all cold and snowy like it did the last time I took a stroll in that direction. In February, I applied for tickets to the White House Easter Egg Roll that takes place annually on the South Lawn. I had dreams of my nieces coming down from Massachusetts and spending the day rolling eggs in front of the White House while Barack and Michelle and Cabinet secretaries and the Easter Bunny looked on from the balcony. Alas, it is not to be! I received an email this evening saying that my lottery application was unsuccessful. Oh, well...with the winter we have been having it will probably still look like this in April!

I am an Adult, Sort of....

Some days I just beam with pride at my ability to live on my own as an independent, successful adult. I pay my bills, change my light bulbs, and keep the place extremely tidy! I can cook, bake, tastefully decorate and do laundry too!

Other days I cringe at my mistakes, wonder how I made it through adolescence without learning a tad more basic knowledge and generally hope that one day I will stop making careless choices in an effort to “save time.”  Haste makes waste (or broken glass!), right?

Some recent examples:
•    I am an experienced, educated adult…except when the pilot light on my gas stove goes out and I have no earthly clue how to fix it. What do I know? I grew up with an electric stove! So I googled it and asked anyone who I deemed knowledgeable, but not overly judgmental. Several people told me to light it with a match and I begged each of them to come over and do it for me. You know—just in case flames burst from the stove. After no one jumped on this offer and several days of cooking with only two burners, I got out a match, held my breath and re-lit the pilot light. Turns out— it’s not so hard!

•     I am an immaculately clean adult…except when my toilet overflows due to months of regularly flushing paper towels. Who knew you couldn’t flush paper towels down the toilet? I mean, I knew you couldn’t put a whole lot of anything into the bowl and expect it to flush in one fell swoop, but I always thought that if you made it past the flushing stage without any problems you were home free. So after scrubbing my sink, shower and toilet with paper towels, I would flush them one or two at a time. My bathroom trashcan is too small for such a purpose and I feel averse to carrying dirty, chemical-covered wads into the kitchen. Needless to say, after having my landlord and a plumber work quite hard to unclog my very clogged pipes, I have learned to dispose of my cleaning towels elsewhere!

•    I am an adult with fairly decent cooking skills….except when I spill near-boiling vegetable oil on my carpet after trying to carry it across the room. I grew up watching my dad make my favorite meal of homemade chicken nuggets. The first time I tried to do this myself I neglected to monitor the temperature of the oil and ended up overheating it. Oddly, I decided the best and quickest way to decrease the temperature (besides the obvious solution of turning off the heat and allowing it to cool) would be to pick up the heavy pan, carry it to my open back door and allow the cold winter air to blow over the pan.  Unsurprisingly, the oil sloshed over the edge and made a bunch of little black burns in my carpet. Thank goodness for doormats!

•    I am a very efficient, cautious adult with good luck…except when karma comes after me and I miraculously avoid cracking a window and shattering a wine bottle, only to break a wine glass. One evening I decided that I couldn’t possibly take two trips out back to the garbage and recycling bins and had to carry everything in one trip. (Unfortunately, this is the decision I come to almost every time I have to empty the rubbish.) I put some cardboard boxes under my arm, grabbed two bags of trash in my left hand and tried to juggle an overflowing brown bag of recycling in the other arm. A wine bottle went rolling right out of the recycling bag and smashed into the glass door. Neither broke! I patted myself on the back for having good fortune and lugged everything out…still in one trip. When I came back in to do the dishes, I promptly dropped a Lenox wine glass on the counter and spent the next 20 minutes scooping up shards of glass. C'est la Vie!

Peppy!

Is it sad that while living 500 miles from "home," what I miss the most is my dog? I justify this by the fact that he is the only one I can't talk to on the phone! (Despite the best efforts of certain family members to put him on the phone.) While Peppy is a very, very good pet, he will probably be my last dog for a long time. (Even the best pets are a lot of work!)

My sweet 13-year-old Husky/Lab/German Shepherd Mutt!

Healthcare: An American Cry for Help

Rarely do I watch TV news anymore or the popular cable pundits. With all the bias and the BS filling up the airwaves, I just prefer to get my information elsewhere. I will frequently find a video clip amusing, but I am generally only moved by the written word. So I was genuinely surprised when this fourteen minute clip from the Countdown with Keith Olbermann--on a subject that I have already thought about and suppressed rage over its distortion--managed to move me to tears.

I look forward to the healthcare bill passing--whether it takes a gimmick like reconciliation to do it or not. I feel confident that the final legislation will include many poorly thought-out provisions, which cost too much money, and don't help people enough. I also feel confident that a perfect solution to our nation's woes will never be worked out in Congress and will require the enactment of a "best effort". And I feel utterly certain that when problems do arise, our lawmakers will respond to voter's cries and make any changes necessary.  It is the only path to a real solution.

At this point, my first hope is that we have learned from last fall's "death panel" debacle and the appropriate decision on this issue will be made before passing this legislation. I would further lay out my argument on this subject, but Keith Olbermann does more than a sufficient job of it for me:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

They keep hyping snow! Whatever we get will be better than Snowmageddon!

Everything I Learned in High School Could be Learned in Three Years

After reading this article in The New York Times, and pondering my own high school experience, I am convinced that one of the best  and quickest ways to reform this country's educational system would be to reevaluate "high school" as we know it.  While I would never advocate putting children in "career tracks" or in any way limiting their preparation for all future opportunities, I believe that providing a choice beyond "personal finance or computer programming" can benefit all students. Whether students have the intellect, tenacity and financial support to leave high school a year early, or choose to complete all four years for academic or social reasons, everyone can benefit from a change to the system that allows this choice. This panel of experts came up with a much more comprehensive list of the pros and cons for this change than I will, but I am going to list my reasons anyway:

1. Everything I learned in high school could be learned in three years.
2. If I had left after three years, every senior year class would have been less crowded by one student--giving those who stayed more attention.
3. Young adults who are ready for responsibility could take advantage of the opportunity, and those who need more time learning or maturing would have less crowded classrooms to achieve that growth.
4. I could have traveled, joined AmeriCorps, held an internship or begun college early.
5. I could have held a full-time job that year and paid for much of my college education myself. No loans.
6. Because of NCLB, students are already being tested in 10th grade. No additional testing would need to be developed or implemented. 
7. Instead of spending money trying to keep kids in school for all four years, funding could be provided for vocational and career training programs to be taken during that "4th year" of school.

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