Happy Valentine's Day, (e:peeps). I wish you all could find the kind of love that i am fortunate enough to have in my life. Simple & uncomplicated, trustworth and solid, yet full of passion and life and verve. I adore the fact that no one else really gets us, 'cause we get us and that's all that matters.

Happy Day, y'all, whether you chose to celebrate it cynically, romanticly or indifferently. Just celebrate it.

I am getting texts from coworkers about the craziness of my job. NOW i totally understand why i got what i called the "26-2 face" of shock and horror during my training last summer. I may need to practice my SCIP-R on friends and family before i go into work this weekend.

I just coloured another bright red stripe in my hair. I am too lazy to do my whole head these days, so i have just been doing a big section at the front. I told myself when i loose a certain amount of weight, i will go get myself Goldwell Elumen-ated.

In bad news, i accepted an overtime shift without looking at my datebook closely enough and i now cannot go to my friend, Kirsten's baby shower. She is due in March and found out recently that she will be having a girl. She's very happy about that. We have plans to eat Mexican together tomorrow for dinner... yum....

It is bad enough they have one of the world's worst tv ads.

I get off work at 11pm. Last evening's shift was a hellish one full of SKIP-R, calls to nurses, emergencies and drama. Full moon fever. I went to Tim Horton's with co-workers to blow off a bit of steam and got home at 1.30am. I went to bed at 2.30am, probably fell asleep by 3am.

This morning at 7.45am, the Stanley Steamer truck struggled to back into the neighbour's driveway. A driveway that is one of those ilegal pads that uses our sidewalk ramp bits and half the time one end of a bigger vehicle blocks our way out. So it can be difficult to get in and out of. Which means the beep beep beep of a vehicle backing up was right outside my bedroom door.

Then, the humming of the vacuums started. And i am cranky. And i hate Stanley Steamer. And i think my neighbour's are assholes. But i thought that before they hired Stanley Steamer.

Work is goint o be peachy tonight.

Oh, and i was supposed to work a double last night. My usual 3pm - 11pm shift follwed immedicately by the 11pm - 7am shift. But, i traded out with someone who wanted nights. Sadly, however, i feel like i didn't get any sleep and worked it anyway.

Ha! Made you look. Nope. Not what you think. Nothing as interesting as a human without clothes.

Friday (could have been Thursday, but it wasn't until Friday that i noticed), i lost my sunglasses. And they just don't make them that dark anymore. I miss them.

And, i lost both my Buffalo Zoo AND (e:strip) bumper magnets. My poor car looks so naked.

Kinda funny what gets into my head sometimes.

I want to go and get my hair coloured. Goldwell has these amazingly cool "fun" colours from a line called Elumen. The pure colour range blows my mind and i heart it so much.

And what could be better than celebrating turning 40 by doing something a 16 year old should want too?

So, you ask, what is my problem? I hate upkeep on those colours. I hate to have to go and fork over the bucks for someone to do what i could do if i could just take my head off, put it on the table and do it myself.

So,i heart it but i am lazy and cheap.

What is a girl to do?

You make me want to have blue hair.

Since there is almost nothing new or exciting going on in my life besides the usual work, never ceasing head cold and hatred of driving in the snow, i give you... a cat youtube video.



Ah, but i am dreading turning 40 later this week. Do i really have to grow up?

(e:Uncutsaniflush) and i had a rare day off together. We decided to go do something fun and touristy and, as we call them, one of our mini-adventures.

First stop, lunch at our favorite Mexican place in this area (kinda tied for a place down in Knoxville we love, but that would have been more of an adventure than we had time for). Carlos's Cantina is a place we frequent regularly (e:leetee,44483) and i am thinking i need to send in a very positive review of this amazing little place to the Bill Rapaport restaurant guide.


Very yummie jalapeno corn chowder we both had to have.




(e:Uncutsaniflush)'s chicken mole enchiladas.




My delcious vegetarian buritto (inside is the best veggie chili EVER!)



Like every time we are there, we wish it were a tiny bit closer... and not across the ditch. Carlos is an amazing chef and the atmosphere is as friendly as he is. Ya'll just HAVE to go.

After all the cold weather and the wonderful food to warm us up, we thought we would continue the trend of subtropical and head to Niagara Falls to the Bird Kingdom. Temps inside were very nice.... and the birds were damn cute. The Lorikeets there were very aggressive, nothing like the tame laid back ones at the Buffalo Zoo. And no pics inside that part, because they take pics and try to sell them to you.

Ah, but i took some of my own... lots, actually.


























The waterfall in the main aviary was very nice... there's something mildly amusing to me taking pictures of this waterfall knowing how close to Niagara Falls i was.




Keeping warm on the inside of the waterfall.




There was also a house inside the main aviary that had the most amazing carved wall.






The drive home reminded us of why we needed the subtropical min-adventure in the first place.

Or in this case, a condesending bitchy nurse practitioner. Heaven forbid i see an actual doctor.

Yeah, ok, so, i got the labs done in September. Got a call that freaked me out. Shit, least they could do is soften things a bit. Or wait, be accurate. Don't tell me disorder X is "under control" if i am not even aware i have said condition! ANd, i never did find out all the numbers and what, exactly, they mean. I went on my 'script based on faith and them saying some results were 'high'. I was asked to come back in 3 months to have the labs redone, check on things, renew the Rx, IF NEEDED. My assumption, fool that i am, was that the highness noted would be lowered with said medication.

Fast forward to now. Yep, been taking the meds. But, i reckoned it was about time to call, ask for my offical numbers and make that 3 month (ok, it's been longer, but, well, life has been busy) revisit.

This all makes sense, right? I mean, go in, get labs done, get a perscription for an issue, come back when the health care professional requsts?

Nope. Wrong. Apparently, i wasn't supposed to come back, want to know what my results were last time, do as requested and return.

Well, at least not until i lost some weight. Because, until i do, there is just no point. Uhm, excuse me, bitch, but was i not just following your orders? And, would you mind telling me what the results of my blood labs were? I got the fuzzy photocopy. I guess my job is to figure out what it all means from google searches, 'cause i'm too fat/stupid/unimportant for her to bother with?

Bitch. And she wondered why my normally low blood pressure was high? Uhm, maybe 'cause i got this lecture last time? Can you spare me the Weight Watchers advert and get to why i came?

I find it interesting in a mildly frustrating way how a person can easily get tangled in red tape.

Now that i work for the state of New York, i am in a union. That union gives me and my spouse dental coverage. Back in September, my spouse needed some dental work. The dental office filled out the paperwork and sent it in. Then, i got a notice from my union explaining to me the amount of money i would get back. Cool.

Fast foward to now. I have yet to see said money. I call my union. They say that they cannot tell me anything about the claim because i was not the patient. They also tell me that they will not be able to tell the patient anything because that person is not a member of the union. *sigh*

Uhm, hello? How do i find out the information then? Talk about a vicious circle...

Eventually, she got around to telling me i needed to fill out a HIPAA form if i wanted to know what happened to my 30 bucks. She told me where to find the form to download it.

Yay. Progress.

Then, based on some information my husband gleaned from the form from my union, perhaps the union paid the dentist?

Worth a try. I called the dentist. Yep, they have had the money since late September. OMG. Why did you not send it to us or tell us? Hell if i know.

Can anyone recommend a dentist?