Moments Worth Mentioning

What do you get when you add 20ish girls, some Truth or Dare and lots of junk food?

One heck of a slumber party.

Lets me honest. Answering the phone and making appointments isn’t all that exciting. My day consists of interacting with little old ladies and hard-of-hearing old men. I have to scream to tell them when their next appointment is and explain their insurance benefits about 24 times before they understand that their Medicare will only cover 80% of their bill. Let the good times roll.

Yesterday, on the other hand, got a little bit exciting. It was just me, one other physical therapist and, oh yeah, a little old lady. Within a matter of minutes the lady went from doing her exercises to being helped over to a table. She was having trouble breathing, had a heart rate that barely hit 40 beats per minute and a blood pressure that was way to low to register.

What amazes me is the Athletic Trainer that comes screaming out when something like that happens. I quickly threw off the secretary hat and jumped right in. Yes, it was most defiantly a bad day for the little lady, but this little lady was having alot of fun! I (very calmly I might add) called 911. The paramedics arrived and all was well. From what I hear, the lady was admitted into the hospital but seems to be doing just fine. Patrick (the physical therapist) can now officially say he sent a lady to the hospital… I can officially say that I miss the athletic training adrenalin rush.

Excuse me while I get back to my scheduling.

Fourteen hours aboard a luxury yacht with 5 friends, experiencing a day in the life as a blind person, seeing dead people, dinner in downtown, finding the red door, attending an amazing church surrounded by 3,000, and an evening of mingling with singles…. Yes, all in one weekend.

The “Girls Night In” was fantastic. My dad was gracious enough to lend us his boat for an evening so the girls and I could pretend for a moment that we were cool enough to own such a marvelous luxury. We stayed tied up in the marina and partied the night away. So, so, so much fun. I love those girls!!! We did officially leave the dock when dear ol’ dad returned Saturday morning to take us out for a little cruise.

After wrapping things up on the boat I went home did a quick shower and turned around to head down to Atlanta. We started in Atlantic Station where a large group of girls braved the Dialog in the Dark exhibit. We were all given walking sticks, a (real life) blind tour guide and thrown into a world of COMPLETE darkness. We walked through a park, went to a grocery store, took a boat ride, crossed a city street and purchased a drink at a deli…. all while completely BLIND! I was never so happy to see daylight once we were done.

If that wasn’t enough excitement we walked next door to see the Bodies exhibit. I am here to tell you that if you ever have the opportunity to see it… go. You WILL NOT be disappointed. Being in the medical field, I found the bodies fascinating. All very real, all not behind glass, all very educational. Well worth my $35.

Next on the agenda was dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Buckhead. And since the Red Door Tavern was across the street… we just had to go. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this establishment actually had a red door. I was on a couch (which coincidentally was also red) at a friends apartment around 3am.

After hitting a pizza spot for lunch, I was heading back north. Back home to shower, change and hit the road again. This time to a singles group. Met some fun people, chatted, had some munchies, held my eyes open with toothpicks and made a graceful exit around 9pm.

Today I am surviving thanks to a Mountain Dew Buzz. I have every intention to be in bed tonight by 6pm…. But then again, the Bachelor comes on tonight. I mean, who needs sleep?

Michigan was cold and sometimes miserable, but it was all mine. I didn’t have to share it, and that was surprisingly wonderful.

On the contrary, Georgia I have to share. Not at all wanting to sound petty or “not over it”, I just wanted to make the statement that it was pretty great not to ever have the opportunity to see him. Whats the saying? Out of sight, out of mind.

Being back in Small Town, USA has allowed me to see him basically everyday during our commutes to work. We seem to pass each other on the same stretch of road every afternoon going in opposite directions. Its actually a little bit ironic that I have the ability to spot his truck (which was such a hot topic for us) from a mile away. I try to occupy myself with my IPod or a phone call. No luck. I see him. I get a pit in my stomach. I feel the blood rush to my face. Mostly, I get mad at myself for having a reaction in the first place. In all honesty, what I would love is to be able to pick up the phone and laugh with him about how uncomfortable the whole thing is. Our history is so far removed from our present that it seems OK to me to be polite friends. But, he has made it perfectly, immaturely, clear that acknowledging each other is unacceptable. So I am respecting that, and trying to find a new way to go home.

On a lighter note, the Small Town, USA also has its fair share of perks! Thanks to my new social director (Kristin) I have plans for every night this weekend. Tonight a handful of girl friends are camping out in style on my dad’s boat. The strawberry margaritas are in the freezer as we speak, and the pizza is being delivered at 7:30. We are all so excited we can’t stand it! Tomorrow I am off to downtown Atlanta to see Dialog in the Dark and also the Bodies exhibit with another set of girl friends. We have plans to grab dinner and dance the night away afterwards. Sunday evening I have the first of several meetings with a church based singles group that I have recently joined.

Speaking of friends, plans are in the works for a trip down to Louisiana next month for Mardi Gras and the flight is officially booked for San Antonio, Texas for a long weekend in June. Man, do I L-O-V-E to travel!!!

In all honesty, shame on me for even mentioning the lemons in my life! Because right now I’m thoroughly enjoying the abundance of Lemonade!

I am officially hooked. And it turns out, so is my family.

My new Wii only came with one controller. The games are sooo much more fun with 2 or more players so another controller was a must-have. Thinking that I was being sneaky, I left work a little bit early and drove to Best Buy to get my second controller. But as fate would have it, as I pulled into the parking lot a strangely familiar man walked out in front of my car. It, of course, was my dad. He was on the same mission to pick up a second controller…

Turns out, dear ol‘ dad is a pretty big fan of my new Wii. So much in fact that the poor guy walked out of that store with $150 in Wii accessories this afternoon. We now have the Wii gun, the Wii controller chargers, a few extra Wii games and of course the sacred second controller. The two of us came home, ripped open all the packaging and played our new video games for about 3 hours. We bowled, we skied, we boxed, we duck hunted, we fished, we drove army tanks…. We did it all.

After dinner I went back upstairs and completed my daily fitness test on my Wii Fit. I also jogged in place, did step aerobics and attempted several yoga poses. I’m in love.

Today is a big day, regardless of who you voted for. During my morning blog-surfing I came upon this letter to President-elect Obama. Truly amazing words….

Dear President-elect Obama,
Today is truly a landmark day. It feels trite to even write about it because the press coverage has inundated us with reminders of what a shift this marks in the turbulent race relations this country has experienced throughout our history. I am proud of the advances we have made.

I did not vote for you, but I believe in a Sovereign Lord who appoints leaders. I will respect your position and your office. I do not hold ill will towards you, but instead I pray for you. I pray that you will submit to the authority of The One who put you in office in the first place. There will be constant public opinion polls, water cooler chatter and talking heads espousing their views of your performance. I pray that the approval you seek will be from God alone.

I pray that you will remember the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr and Abraham Lincoln, the two leaders you seem to seek to emulate the most. I pray that you will embrace their quest for equal rights. I pray that you will come to understand this as a call to protect ALL LIVES equally–including the unborn lives in this country.

I pray that you will be protected from the lies and the enemy, the intoxicating ill-effects of power and the human tendency to think of ourselves more highly than we ought.

I pray that the astounding swell of public support that you have (both from the media and many citizens of our world) will not go to your head but will, instead, go to your heart. I pray that you have appropriate confidence, but that you do not believe the hype about yourself. May you be a leader people follow not because they have to, but because they want to.

May your wisdom and strength come from the Lord. May your heart be tender towards the love and will of our Father.I pray for your marriage and your family–that despite the intense glare of the media spotlight you will be able to have a home that is a haven of love, peace and rest.

May you be a leader who models integrity–who stands for things that count. In short, I pray you don’t blow it. But when you do make the inevitable mistakes, I pray you will be able to own up to them.

And finally, I pray that you will find your identity…not as a black man, a mixed race man, but as an American…and more importantly, as a dearly loved child of God placed in this position at this time for specific purposes. May you find your purpose and embrace it.

Happy Inauguration Day.

Yesterday afternoon I found myself wandering the isles at my local Target. As I was checking out, a lady walked up behind me proudly caring a Wii Fit. I immediately put on the southern charm and asked her if there were anymore left. She said that she thought she saw a few more on the shelf back in the electronics department. I quickly finished my purchase, took the bag to my car, and did a half run/half walk back inside the store.

It seems as if I spoke too soon and most certainly bragged too much. I woke up this morning to a balmy 15 degrees. As I made my drive north to Cleveland the temperature fell to 10 degrees. I am here to tell you that its cold out there… not Michigan cold, but still really cold. I will spare you the sermon on Michigan vs. Georgia cold and wet vs. dry cold. I will tell you that I broke out the two layered pants look this morning as well as the scarf. I am also embarassed to admit that two counties canceled school today due to the “extreme cold”. No comment.

Last night was my Thursday night girls, mexican food and Grey’s Anatomy party. After stuffing our faces with mexican goodness we settled into a friends living room. Surrounded by a fire, soft blankets and a bottle of wine we sat mesmorized by Meradith and her fellow doctors for a complete hour. The laughter and gossip picked up during the commercials and then went comptely quiet when the show returned. Its a great show… what can I say? I would like to take this time to offically complain about ABCs choice to put Private Practice on after Grey’s Anatomy. I much prefered its 9pm Wednesday night time slot. Because staying up to 11pm to watch my 2nd favorite show is certaintly way past this girls bedtime.

Happy Friday.

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