Bloody Wednesday

Since I work at UCSF, there is also a giant medical center right up the street from my building. This happens to be the centennial of the nursing school so they are having different lectures and things like that this year until the actual party day. They are also having a blood drive. Their slogan is "100 Pints in 100 Days." This is going on until the first week of May. So I have done my good deed for the day and donated a pint of blood for the cause plus 4 little vials for whatever they want to do with them. I'm hoping it's something that defies the laws of nature and will somehow assist my sister, Betty Lou, in taking over the world (her evil plan to take over [and therefore save] the world). Hopefully when she reads this, she will get the joke. It's a sister thing, I assure you, you don't want to know. It's eternally nerdy, just like us.
NERD PRIDE. Considering smart people are ostracized and taken advantage of in middle and high school, Betty Lou and I have now taken pride in our nerdiness and are happy to be smart girls. It is no longer a source of shame to be good at everything and smart to boot. I once asked our mom if she would rather be pretty or smart and could only be one, what would she choose? She shocked the crap out of me and said PRETTY! I would choose to be smart for the following reason: Beauty is fleeting, intelligence is forever. Come on now!! Then I asked AG and she said smart (of course!) and this is why I love her. I did not reveal Mom's answer until later. I was still shocked. More later....

Crazy Patients

I work in the Pros department at UCSF. We are a specialized field of dentistry dealing with crowns, bridges, dentures, and implant crowns. Because we are so highly specialized, the types of patient we get here tend to be on the more "interesting" side. Translation: By the time you NEED a prosthodontist, your mouth is in pretty bad shape. Also, we get a lot of crazy people. This brings me to today's story. A patient called in complaining that his doctor is incompetant and he wants to change to someone else. I asked him if he would tell me the name of his doctor so I could gather background of the situation. He REFUSED to tell me the name of his doctor! He also refused to tell me his name. I explained to him that in order to fix the situation and make everyone involved happy, I would need this important info. He refused. Beth, my lovely and talented supervisor heard me repeatedly ask him for the information and then told me to put him on hold. She told me to tell him that I was done talking to him because this conversation was going nowhere and he was being uncooperative. This is why I love Pros: I am allowed to say things like that to patients and it is totally okay because they are being unreasonable. Where else in the world can anyone do that? NOWHERE!! Heehaaahee!! Evil laughter! All that being said, I love the other 99.998% of people that walk through my doors as patients and they love us in return. Cheers!

For Cookie

Much happened over the last few day in the land of Merlicious. Middle of last week AG got a call with some sad news. One of her besy friends from home (Merced, CA) died on Valentine's Day. She had complications with Pneumonia. It gets worse: She was only 38, leaves behind a new husband (they were married 9 months), and a teenage daughter. It gets even sadder than that! She was raised by her grandmother who died when SHE was a teenager too! The irony is crazy sad and incredibly horrible. The good news is that the husband is adopting the daughter and they'll be okay, but still.

Of course, we went to the funeral. I rented a car for the first time and we left Friday morning (the viewing was that evening) and we got there around 5:00. Cookie was cremated and there was a huge display board with memories on it from all the people that loved her. Did you know that most people that are cremated don't have those weird urn things? The holders for the remains come with a variety of options. Cookie was in a mahogany box with an 8x10 picture of her on it.

We stayed with AG's brother Todd and his girlfriend Jenny. They just built a house in Chowchilla just outside Merced and it is fantastic. First of all, it's literally on a golf course. Second of all, each bedroom has it's own bathroom. Third, they are the most welcoming people in the world with the only rule being "make yourself at home," we had some serious fun. And they have a new kitten! He's very, very cute. That brings us to Saturday. The memorial service was mid-morning. There were over 300 people there and there wasn't a dry eye in the house. This woman was well loved by everyone she ever knew. She was always smiling and AG said she never had an unkind word to say about anyone, ever. She was always there with a hug and a listening ear. No matter what, she was always there for you. I never got the chance to meet her, but I wish I had. The world is truly missing someone special now.

However, this is about celebrating life! Sunday rolled around and we left Chowchilla around 1. Got home around 4 (avoiding the toll road takes a little longer, but it's free). Also, we went to Wal-Mart on the way home. We don't really have Wal-Mart in the SF and I don't have a car anymore, so we took advantage of the situation. We got: shampoo, 24-rolls of toilet paper, and laundry detergent for less than $12!! Woo-hoo and yay!! That is almost unheard of where I come from. Then we were on our merry way and got home in time for the Oscar pre-show. So we made some cookies, popped a couple of beers and settled in for a night with Oscar! Ellen was hilarious as always and nothing special happened after that. Well, nothing I want to talk about here. I love AG so very much. She makes me happy, and is always there for me no matter what. Even when I am down in the doldrums and being a total Bitchy McBitch, she loves me anyway and helps me get through it. Happy Mer!

I'm Back

For some reason, I couldn't get into this account for a long time. Anyway, as usual, much has happened. Long story short: Evil roomie totaled most beloved car, Merlicious decides not to kill her and become better person for it and is now losing weight even faster because she (I) has to walk everywhere. Truth be known, I like it. Work is the same. Amazing girlfriend continues to be amazing. We got the cats back from her mom and they missed us terribly. AG (Amazing Girlfriend) helped rearrange my room and now it looks really cool. We are using my new bed-in a-bag and I have these cool hanging lights now that match my new bed stuff. Talked to mom yesterday and she says they might fly me back to the homeland of Colorado for lil' sis' college graduation in May. We'll see. I seem to be going back there a lot this year. More on that later, but now I have to go. Cheers!