Yesterday my office complex had a blood drive. Being a regular donor, I was more than happy to take part. I invariably get a bruise at the injection site, but it's harmless and goes away in a few days so it bothers me not one bit. But last night, the crook of my elbow was the most beautiful shade of blue I think I have ever seen. I wanted to take it to a paint store and have the color matched, it was that pretty. Sadly when I woke up this morning it was just plain old blue-purple bruise color and so my walls will stay boringly white.

I swear I have the weirdest housemates ever. Saturday evening I was sitting in the TV room reading a book, and TambourineMan comes into the house, apparently does not see that I am reading and asks, "How do I make my hair white?" Uhh... Huh? I looked up from my book, gave him a funny look and said "What?" And he told me he was going to a bachelor party and the groom had white hair so all the guys were supposed to show up with white hair. Now, TM's hair is going gray anyway, and is only about a quarter of an inch long, but it's not white. He pulls a can of "Instant Blonde" spray out of a plastic bag and says "Do you think this'll work?" So I said let's try, and we went out on the patio and I sprayed some on his head. It was gold and glittery, so, no. I suggested he try flour, so we went into the kitchen, grabbed the flour jar, and rubbed it on his head. It worked pretty well but he ran the risk of having flour dandruff all night, and if his head sweated at all he was gonna have pasty hair. Ew.

He went upstairs and showered and got ready to go out, then came back downstairs and said he didn't really want to flour his head, he was just going to go "as is". I said he should do whatever, all the while thinking "If you weren't going to do anything wiuth your hair, W(hy)TF did you ask me for help?!"

A conversation I just had with my friend Dee:

Judy: I'm trying to figure out where I can get samosas for lunch
Dee: LOL!
Dee: any mexican place with a bar
Judy: ?
Dee: You can get Samosas for lunch at any mexican place with a bar
Judy: you can?
Dee: pretty much, they're not that complicated.
Judy: samosas are indian?
Dee: wait, sorry, yes samosas are a food and indian.
Dee: There is a drink that's called something really similar
Judy: what were you thinking of?
Judy: Mimosa? Sangria?
Dee: must be Mimosa, but I swear there is one with an S
Dee: (not Sangria)
Judy: hmm. I don't know
Judy: but I'm totally posting this
Dee: ppbbbttthhh~~~
Judy: :-D

So, Keegan has this project car... it's a 1987 Lincoln Towncar. It is huge. You could fit three of me in that trunk, and the trunk is the smallest part of the car. Keegan had taken it to a shop to see about getting the transmission fixed. The shop did not want to work on it's particular idiosyncracies, so we went to pick it up Thursday night. The plan was to reattach a throttle cable and have Keegan drive it home (he'd had it towed to the shop) and I'd follow in Keegan's other car.

So we got to the shop, and popped the hood so Keegan could reattach the throttle cable, as I stood shining a flashlight over his shoulder. Ultimately he was unable to do it. So we decided to push it onto the street and have AAA tow it back to his house. Did I mention how big this car is? Or that it's made of 2.5 tons of steel? But, we started pushing it anyway. There was the slightest incline to push it up. When you're pushing 2.5 tons, even the slightest incline makes your job harder. We had pushed it *maybe* 18 inches, when Keegan yelped, stuck his foot into the car and stepped on the brake, and announced we were done. The car slid back into place and Keegan rolled on the ground in pain. He had done something to his leg, and couldn't put much weight on it the rest of the night (it was like, 10:30 at this point). I said no, you get in the car and steer/brake, and I'll push.

So, I pushed. All by myself. In shoes similar to these (they were actually Bisou Bisou velvet slides that I've had for like, 5 years so I couldn't find a picture). I'm pretty proud of that actually. I pushed that car at least 50 feet- forward about 10 feet so Keegan could let gravity back it up and turn the nose toward the street, because it was too long to do it in one turn, then out of the shop lot and onto the street. A guy saw us and helped push for about the last 5-10 feet, which was appreciated, but we had some good momentum built up by then. Then we sat and waited half an hour for a tow truck and I attempted to talk Keegan into calling a doctor about his leg.

As it was, once the car got towed I drove us back to my house and worried about him being able to drive home and made him call me when he got there, since it was his right leg that was hurt. He went to his doctor on Friday and it turns out he tore a muscle in his leg and will be on crutches for at least a week. Which sucks for him. But I am mighty.

I just called my doctor's office to try to get an urgent care appointment. The conversation with their receptionist went like this:

Receptionist (R): Primary Care Group.
Me: Hi, I'd like to make an appointment with Doctor Lady or one of her associates. I got a letter saying Doctor Lady was leaving the practice, is she still there?
R: Yes, she is still here until the end of the month. I'd be happy to make an appointment for you but our appointment system is down, it won't be fixed til Monday so I can't make an appointment... [blabbity fling flang blah I wasn't listening and she would not be interrupted]... Could you call back Monday?
Me: Well, I was hoping to get an appointment today.
R: Oh... today? Doctor Lady isn't in on Fridays. In fact, none of the doctors in our care group work on Fridays.
Me: Okay... what to you do if you have patients that need to be seen on a Friday?
R: Well, we usually refer them to our on-call doctor, but I was just informed that she is booked for the rest of the day.
Me: Then what do you suggest I do?
R: We tell our patients that if it is an emergency that they should go to the ER.
Me: Umm. It's not an emergency, but I think that I am getting a [censored] and I'd really rather not wait until Monday to me seen.
R: Oh! Uh... let me see if Doctor Other Guy can see you. He's not in our care group though.
Me: I don't really care.
R: Well, I don't know if your insurance would cover it. What kind of insurance do you have?
Me: [censored]
R: HMO?
Me: Yes.
R: Okay, let me check on that for you. [pause] Hi, yes, Doctor Other Guy can see you, but his only appointment is at 2:00.
Me: 2:00 will be just fine, thank you.

Ultimately she was helpful, but getting the runaround (or voicemail with no return call) is pretty much standard with this office. Given that my doctor is leaving the practice anyway, it's time to find a more helpful care group.

**updated to add that yes, I was right. And the doctor I saw (who I swear was like, 3 inches from death himself) gave me the prescription to up my wellbutrin from 150mg to 300mg, so hopefully things in that arena will be much improved.**

Brad and I had a discussion about religion last week that we both felt was worth sharing, so this is up over at his place too. Brad was not raised with church as a regular part of his life. I grew up in a Christian family and was pretty hardcore (to the point of semi-obnoxiousness, I totally admit that) about it in college and for quite a few years after. I've mellowed out a lot in recent years, but I definitely still have my beliefs (though a few of them are quite unpopular with some of my Christian friends).

And so without further ado:

Brad: what was the other thing?
Judy: oh- uh, welcome to short attention span theater... i was going to ask you about the coffee shop from last week
Brad: oh, the Christians
Judy: you metioned the scary youth group
Judy: yeah
Brad: they weren't scary... just surprisingly young to be so wrapped up in Jesus.
Brad: So, did you belong to a Christian youth group and get together on weekends/during the summer to talk about Jesus with a slightly older church leader?
Judy: i know 5 year olds who are that wrapped up in jesus though
Judy: no
Brad: and use words like "Body of Christ" in conversation?
Judy: my youth group took summers off
Judy: the highschool kids at my church do though
Judy: and i'm going to hazard a guess that they were not talking about the actual body of christ, unless they were talking about communion
Judy: they were probably referring to the body of believers as the body of christ
Judy: Christianity has a bit of its own lingo (as i'm sure do other religions)
Brad: wow
Brad: well, I was blown away. You see, to an outsider, it looks like a cult.
Brad: A cult that is recruiting young kids, who don't have the mental capacity to question anything until they're teens... and then the questions start flying.
Brad: it made me very uncomfortable. it was like witnessing a crime.
Judy: interesting perspective, although in a way i agree with you
Judy: i have friends who say that they accepted jesus when they were 3 or 4
Judy: i say a three or four year old child doesn't understand a decision like that
Brad: that's so stupid, I can't even comprehend it.
Brad: and it sounds as if they are competing.
Brad: the youngest wins.
Judy: but if you are taught that from a young age, and still believe it as an adult...
Judy: i don't think that's true
Judy: it's not about age, i don't think
Brad: ok
Judy: these friends of mine tell of being in sunday school or VBS and remember making that decision
Judy: but really, following any belief system is a decision you make over and over again by the choices that you make
Judy: obviously you can't ask someone to make that decision at 4 years old and then provide no way to keep it up
Judy: but if they're raised in a family that believes that way and it becomes a lifestyle, then okay, but i believe that the real choice to keep following it happens later, when you can understand the decisions that you're making *and* can choose that decision over peer/societal pressures
Judy: which is my problem with VBS programs, and, my very VERY unpopular problem with Billy Graham crusades
Judy: (tell me to shut up anytime)
Brad: agreed. there is too much hypocrisy in religion. There are so many Christians who believe that hate is the answer, that I can't fathom any church really supporting those beliefs, but they do. Muslims who blow up innocent people are another example. That's not Islam. That's something else.
Brad: on a smaller scale, people call themselves good christians, then break the 10 commandments on a regular basis. then there are people who condemn others for not believing.
Judy: i think that's totally valid and totally right on
Judy: the extremists shed a really bad light on evryone else
Judy: and that's true of almost anything, not just religion
Judy: as for believers who condemn others for not believing, well, i have issues with that too
Brad: yes, they do. but there is nothing extreme about a mid-western mom who knits on saturdays, cooks for the neighbors on sunday, attends church regularly, and then tells someone in a very soft, mom voice that they're going to hell and nothing can be done for them if they want to have an abortion, be taken off life support as a vegetable, or take the word "God" out of the pledge of allegiance (which I think is fine where it is, but I'm
just sayin')
Brad: sorry, that last part might have been confusing, but my point is that religion defines the "rules" of living, but evolution of the human race is not bound by rules of any kind.
Judy: it wasn't confusing
Judy: there are extremist churches out there
Brad: ok, but I'm saying you can take the most non-extreme of christian churches and still be shocked by the things they believe. it just doesn't work in this day and age.
Judy: yes but can't only say that about christian churches
Judy: i think that's something that spans all religions
Brad: true.
Judy: my view is that faith is a very simple and very personal thing
Judy: and when you dress it up in the trappings of doctrine and things that are the ideas and creations of people rather than God - that's where the big problems come in
Judy: and you get the whole "but this is how it has always been"
Judy: well, okay, but we have a whole lot of stuff now that we didn't have then, that couldn't be conceived of then
Judy: but people don't like change
Brad: I agree with all that.
Judy: my personal view is this
Judy: faith is a very, very simple thing
Judy: that "religion" complicates
Brad: very true.
Judy: i believe that everyone has to make their own choice
Judy: for me, that choise is believing that Jesus died for me and loves me no matter what i do
Judy: NO MATTER WHAT I DO
Judy: the mere fact that i believe is my proof that i'm going to heaven, whether i have an abortion or take someone off life support or become a serial killer
Judy: but, i respect the fact that not everyone believes what i believe, and whether or not I think someone is going to hell for their disbelief, i'd never say that to them
Judy: it's not my place to push my beliefs on them.
Brad: and that's why you and I get along
Judy: i don't want anyone pushing their religion on me, i have my beliefs and they're not going to change, so then what would make it okay for me to to do that to someone else?

There are a couple of segments of song lyrics that are really resonating with me right now; the chorus of Five For Fighting's "Two Lights" (the title track of his new album):

Tear out my heart
Feed it to lions
For this one wish I beg you this tonight
Show me no mercy,
But spare me my pride,
I'm going for a drive

And the bridge of Staind's "Take This":

You believe
That's the way you choose to be
I've always had to see
The brighter side of this
So I don't lose my faith
Now the sun has gone away
It’s getting colder every day
So before I freeze to death
There’s something I should say

They're good songs, you should check them out.

A client brought us a box of Torrone, these AMAZING nougetelle candies from Italy, and they're taunting me from their gorgeous box on the visitor table. I seriously could have eaten half the box in one fell swoop, but then I'd be the fat coworker who ate all the candy, which is not a good thing to be, so instead I'm the coworker who had one piece like everyone else and is now attempting to ignore the box.

I get off work at 5:30. I rarely leave the office before 6. I'm not sure why that is, I guess there's just a ton of work to do and I always think maybe I can get a jump on the next day. So today, as usual, 5:30 rolled around and I barely noticed, except for Li saying goodbye. She has a long commute so she leaves religiously at 5:30. J1 usually works as many extra hours as I do, but today she came flying out of her office at 5:31, right as Li was saying bye to us.

J1 was like "Judy let's go. Come on!" I was in the middle of burning a CD and said so. J1 went into the kitchen/file room/copy room and grabbed my lunch container.

"Here's your container. Let's Go! We've been here long enough!"

I labeled the CD I had burned and slid it into a sleeve, and started closing programs on my computer, them goading me to hurry up and the three of us laughing the entire time. I grabbed my purse and stood up, realizing I had forgotten to rinse my coffee cup. I took it to the sink and J1 started turning off lights. We all walked out together and I was in my car by 5:39. I'm still not sure what the urgency was, but I think we all had a really long week last week and are feeling this week becoming something similar.

Oh, and completely unrelated- my housemate plays guitar and he gets really into it. All my friends hate it as much as I do and we roll our eyes at each other if they're here to hear it. Tonight I was trying to watch Grey's Anatomy on tivo, which happened to be a rerun of an episode I hadn't seen yet, and he started up. I was sitting right next to the tv and I could hear him over it from two rooms away. So I went in there and asked if he could possibly do that a little bit more quietly. I did not, as I wanted to, yell at him. I was very nice. And he played quietly and I could finish my show without the tv blaring. It's the little things, you know?

Yeah, I know bullet point entries suck, but deal with it. Some of these might be expanded upon, others likely will not be.

- With regard to the previous post, we're upping the medication next month and seeing if that fixes things.

- Blogathon went well, thank you so much to all my supporters (both those who sponsored, those who hung out and those who IMed/called to see how I was holding up)

- My best friend told me yesterday that she's getting married.

- I still have not figured out how I'm spending my vacation, since it looks like 8 days in New York isn't gonna happen this year. I have a couple of friends I'd like to visit, but since they work those'd be weekend trips.

- I miss having a pool. Maybe that'll be a criteria for the next place I live. Yes, that means my housemates still suck.

- If you have housemates, and they have friends over, and they're talking about something upsetting, the right thing to do is to give them some space, even if they are in the livving room watching a tv show you are interested in. Joining in on the conversation is the WRONG thing to do. FYI.