Gabe the Ravenous Chocoholic and Mondays

First of all let's just talk about yesterday. I was going insane for something sweet and trying my hardest not to binge and eat the entire bag of 100 Grand bars. Plus...they were frozen and I refused to wait for them to defrost. I didn't feel like trying to make chocolate chip cookies again but I needed something STAT!!! Enter: No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies, introduced to me in 2006 by the one and only Shawna Gobble. I was doing the ultimate multitasking: talking to Clary (while she was making cookies and chicken-fried rice), making the cookies, eating the "dough," cleaning, and doing the dishes. I was so impatient that I stuck them in the freezer. Mission accomplished. They were (are) scrumptious! I scarfed down...well it doesn't matter how many but there are plenty left over. Yum. YUM! YUM! YUM!  

It's Monday. This means that Sunday nights I don't sleep well. I know that Mondays are always busy at the hospital because we have to do additional work from over the weekend since we're not fully staffed on the weekends so that kept me tossing and turning. Plus, I had some crazy vivid dreams last night. I was living in NYC (which was incredible!!! BLISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!) and I was friends with Reagan (I love her blog) and her husband Jake. It was awesome. I woke up at 2am and for some reason kept thinking I had to get up soon. When I finally realized it was 2am and that meant I could sleep for 4 more hours, I happily slipped back into slumber only to toss and turn and re-position myself dozens of times, fall asleep and repeat. Then I work up at 6:05 which is basically a death sentence since it's pointless to go back to sleep when I know my alarm is going to go off in 20 minutes! I got out of bed and the first thought that came to mind was, "I can't wait to get back into bed tonight."
Then I got in my car and my gas light blinked...drats. Last week I saw gas for $3.07 and I don't know who got ticked off or what but now gas is $3.32 and I'm severely annoyed. Please, PLEASE just stay under $3 (and while you're at it feel free to go back to $1.50). And another light stayed on. Let me just tell you, when ANY light stays on, I freak out. A light stayed on. I panicked. 
                               
Usually my thoughts immediately go something like this: My car is going to explode or Something is going to internally blow up or My tire is going to go flying off on my way to work, I'm going to swerve, kill myself and maybe someone else or My tire is going to pop and I'm going to lose control and flip over and then my car will explode. Clearly I watch a few too many action-packed movies where cars explode. I like those movies. Anyway, I looked it up in the handy dandy driver's manual and discovered it was telling me the tire pressure was low. Ok great, thanks...WHICH TIRE?!?! So I called my mom, because that's what I always do when I start to panic about something, and she told me to just bring it to the dealer. Well, that would involve me being tormented from now until I brought it to the dealer. And that would involve me finding the closest dealer, figuring out when I could bring it in, and then bringing it in. Do you know how long that might require me to be tortured by this horrid light????? TOO LONG! I was convinced I just needed to put air in my tires so I did and that annoying little light went off. YAH! Feelin' good. Feelin' good. 


But despite the restless sleep, crazy morning, tire fiasco, and it just being a Monday, today was pretty swell. I saw a whoppin' 12 patients today and all on my own but one. I wrote orders, called nurses, made jokes with patients, busted out notes like I was a veteran, and had a good day. BUT OH MY LANTUS can I just tell you something AWKWARD that happened??? I cover the rehab floors (which means hip and knee replacements) so I went upstairs during lunch time to check on a few patients while they ate and one notorious patient (who is REALLY sketchay) stopped me. He has a deep, hoarse whisper, and a gaze that makes me feel slightly uncomfortable, and he speaks in puffs like this: Hey. How. are you? What. is. your name? Pictured it? Creepy right? Well keep reading. I introduced myself and he shook my hand and then...he KISSED my hand. Now, had he been younger, not in the hospital, and attractive, I might have blushed and been flattered. But since the circumstances weren't even close to that...OHmylantus. OHmygosh. Ohmylantus. Ohmyuncomfortable. Oh my. Oh gosh. OH gosh. Oh please don't touch me. I know, some of you may think I've overreacted but forthelove, no. NO. I'm a woman and I think we are born with a little innate alarm that goes off when we sense a creeper. At least I'm convinced I have an alarm and it goes off when I sense as sketchy situation and a creeper. Just sayin'. Shockingly enough, I maintained my composure and chatted for a moment more and then off I went to bathe my hand in hand sanitizer and soap and water. OOOOOH creepy. Gotta love working in healthcare. 


So that was my day. It was good. I can't wait to go to the gym, shower, and then curl up in bed and read. Well, really I just can't wait to curl up in bed and read. I'm currently reading, "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell. I highly recommend it and any of his books. I've read his book, "Outliers." VERY interesting and insightful and just delightful reads. Peace out! 

Man, I feel like a woman!

Bust out the Shania Twain!

Today was a fabulous day. It was "Employee Appreciation Day" at the hospital I work at. The kitchen planned a fabulous meal for lunch and dinner so the kitchen was absolutely abuzz with work. We had the grills fired up, knives chopping away, people running around, orders being shouted, bread being sliced, desserts being topped with whipped cream. It was so much fun! It was a long day--10 hours--but a really enjoyable day. Employees came in to eat even though they had the day off! The menu included: hamburgers (which were delicious-I wolfed mine down...it was about 1/2 lb. of beef! Mmm!...Mmmm!.....delish!), chicken, veggie burgers, and kielbasa with onions and peppers; spinach, strawberry, pecan salad with a raspberry vinaigrette; potato chips; ambrosia salad; potato salad; chili and cornbread; yummy gooey fudgey brownies; and apple crisp. SO good.
I digress from the purpose of this blog (typical, I know)....We also hired some extra people to help serve and such because this day is always very, very, busy. The hired help came from the Boston area and they were mostly foreigners, which I always think is cool because in my experience they always have cool stories or observations, interesting backgrounds and such. Anyways, of the helpers there were two men there: one from Morrocco and one from Columbia. I was lucky enough to work with one or the other throughout the day stocking things, lifting heavy things, putting things away, cleaning up messy hallways filled with boxes and sodas and equipment (perks of being a woman...I just can't lift some stuff! Heeheehee). Both men were very polite, very kind, very helpful, and very chivalrous. While there were countless times I could have done things myself, lifted things myself, they were insistant that I let them do it. THANK YOU. Chilvary is not dead!!!!!! WAHOO! I didn't mind that one of the men, from Columbia, was incredibly, incredibly attractive. Although, that made me intimidated and a tad shy, but I kind of enjoyed it. I mean come on, I'm a college girl surrounded but ding-bat hormonal, immature (for the most part), boys. Can you blame me for enjoying their company? I was treated like a woman! I was respected! They held doors for me, took my trash for me, went out of their way to put things away for me, asked me great questions. I mean I felt like a woman ought to! It was fabulous! I will also add, it has been my personal experience that the foreign men I have dealt with have almost always treated me like a woman, with great respect and kindness. So, any male happening to stumble upon this, take my advice: treat a woman like a woman and with some respect, yes that would include watching your language and opening my door. It goes a long way and means a great deal.