bananarama

I am feeling a smidge less crabby now. Not sure why I was crabby, or why I'm feeling better, but these things probably contributed to my feeling better:
1. Cricket and taxes (see this movie! Don't let the plot outline, and all that stuff about cricket and taxes and Victorian India fool you, it's not boring. And never mind that it's almost four-hours long...)
2. See previous post with cute dog faces
3. Visit from S
4. Fresh-baked cranberry orange muffins

Anyway...back to work tomorrow night.

Life with dogs

So I said, "Ted, what shall we do today?"




























"You mean, besides sleeping on the couch?"

Ted seemed less than enthused. Until I tried to take a picture of Tessa, looking sleepy and cute with her tongue hanging out of her mouth.















Yeah, didn't turn out so well. Oh well. Back to sleeping on the couch, I guess. The above photo illustrates why there are mostly pictures of Ted on this site. Because that's what happens when I try to take a picture of Tessa.

Cabley hat

Cabley hat
Originally uploaded by rosebuttons.

Here is the basic cable hat, from Stitch N Bitch Nation, using Rowan Polar yarn. Supposed to be adult size, but it turned out wee.

still here...

Ack! I haven't posted in a while. If there was a chance that anyone read this, I might feel guilty. But I don't.

Anyway...this week a dear little 82-year doolally came into our ICU. She had been at the dentist, simply to have a crown replaced. BUT...somehow, she inhaled the old crown. Inhaled it pretty good, right past that epiglottis and way deep down into her lung. They tried to get it out with a bronchoscope, but couldn't. I think it was finally removed two days later, surgically. Sheesh. As if you needed one more reason to avoid going to the dentist.

This week I did my taxes, and now I get to decide what to do with the "free" money that Uncle Sam has been holding for me all year. I want this. I also really want one of these. But I really really want to go to Iceland, and maybe Paris and maybe even Amsterdam. With a stop in England, of course. But over next Christmas I think I should go on a Mediterranean cruise or maybe just to Vegas. All these choices! In the meantime I should go fill my car with gas and go grocery shopping.

Saw Brokeback Mountain last night, I liked it very much. Mostly because I love cowboys and the west and horses, and it showed that being a cowboy can pretty much suck most of the time. Which is true. But it was pretty well done.

I'm really crabby this weekend so I'm going to sign off now, since I can only think of more crabby things to say.

What every girl wants

My pal Luke came across these, and of course they are what every girl wants. Well, every girl who knits, and of those girls, those who happen to mostly knit at night...anyway, they're perfect.

I finished my super soft white cabley hat tonight, but it turns out I miscalculated when I substitued bulky Rowan Polar yarn for the Lamb's Pride Worsted the pattern calls for. So, I finished Bambino's super soft white cabley hat tonight. While we don't know the gender, we do know that Babykins will have a warm and toasty head next winter. Tomorrow I will cast-on for the adult-sized version.

lazeeeeegirl

Ahhh...I just had the most deliciously lazy day. I wore sweatpants all day long. I didn't brush my hair. I watched four hours of trashy DVD (the OC!) while I worked on my tweedy plaid scarf then the Bambino blankie then I started a soft white hat for me while I watched One Day in September. It's a 1999 documentary of the events at the Olympics in Munich in 1972, as depicted in Spielberg's new movie, Munich, which I haven't seen yet. I wanted to see the documentary first, sort of as a primer, because I didn't know very much about the events and get annoyed when I'm watching a movie based on "historical" events but keep saying to myself (hopefully not out loud, but you never can be sure...) "Seriously? Did it really happen like that? Or this the part where I suspend disbelief for the sake of entertainment?" Anyhow, very well done documentary, once you get past the weirdness that is Michael Douglas narrating. But, all I can say about the events that September...uhm, Germany? Way to fuck that one up. Maybe they weren't just embarrassed enough over a little thing called World War II. After 6 million, were eleven more inconsequential? Sheesh. Thanks for diverting my usual disgust and embarrassment towards the US government for an hour and 34 minutes. Oy. I could go on, but I don't want some angry Bavarian on my case.

Wheeee

Tonight I met S at Coastal Kitchen, in Capitol Hill. We ate Portuguese food which was good, but I couldn't have any Portuguese fish because it all had some kind of bacon sauce or something bacony on the side, so I had something artichokey and chickpea and portobello, which was really good anyway. S is nice and tall, and he really needs a haircut. But he's really quirky and funny and kind of nervous and shy and an only child from Iowa. We seemed to have a lot to talk about. After dinner he showed me his super cute bright blue scooter, and let me ride it! Wheee! I went in a straight line, down an alley, but I can't turn yet. I want one! Then we had a drink at the Canterbury and it kind of smelled funny in there and the gin was icky but it was okay, and I told him all about pygmy goats. He loves goats. Heh. So yeah, good banter. Whenever I said something like, "Here's this really weird idea I have," he would get this really interested, excited look in his eye. And he liked my car a lot. So do I!

In the bathroom at the restaurant tonight I learned that the 3-year-old Portuguese King Sebastian ordered his armies into Africa, to their bloody death. The following day it was discovered that his nanny has misunderstood his request for strained peas.

Now I'm very tired. I wish I had pics of the weiner meet up today, but maybe next time. I have absolutely nothing planned to do tomorrow and I'm really really excited about that. I'm going to watch lots of DVDs, work on the plaid scarf, the Bambino blankie, cuddle with the short dogs, and maybe clean the bathroom. Oh I can't wait to do nothing!!

I see you

The past two nights I had an "off-service" patient in the ICU, meaning she wasn't an oncology or stem cell transplant patient, she just came to our unit probably because the other ICUs were full. She was 24, and came to the hospital for a complicated abdominal surgery. She sailed through that, then her dialysis fistula (surgical permanent graft between blood vessels in the arm used for kidney dialysis) clotted off, so she had to go to Interventional Radiology where they were going to try to bust out the clot with a balloon threaded through her artery. Well, that failed so they kept her in IR to insert a temporary dialysis catheter into a vein through her chest well. I know, blah blah, medcakes. Just a little background. BUT...the night before going to IR, her potassium level was pretty high, probably because she hadn't had dialysis (see fistula clotting off...). To bring it back down, she was given a large dose of insulin (insulin drives potassium back into the cells, thus lowering potassium levels in the blood). And in order to combat this large dose of insulin, she also got some D50 (big dose of dextrose) to avoid dropping her blood sugar level. Well, apparently, this didn't work too well, so they repeated this procedure the following morning, then sent her on down to IR where she got large doses of fentanyl (narcotic) and versed (sedative). I know, my astute readers, even if you're not in the medical profession, you are wondering, did anyone check her blood sugar in the midst of all this insulin and dextrose? Apparently not. So our little patient went happily to sleep in IR while they poked about with catheters and the like, and when all that was done, seemed to be taking her sweet time waking back up. Actually, she didn't wake back up. So her nurse called a "code", gave her lots of narcan (reverses the effects of narcotics, really pisses off drug addicts when you administer it in the ER, but that's a completely different story) which had no effect, and a doctor began bagging her (administering oxygen with a mask and bag, just like on ER!). Finally someone checked a blood sugar level, it was 35. That's really darn low. Me and you and Sue over there are probably around 80 to 120 most of the time, and that's good. Below 50 and you might fall asleep, or go into a coma. Your brain eats glucose for energy and food, and nothing else, so it gets pretty pissed off when there's no food. And if you're following the timeline of the story, you might be realizing that our little patient could have had such a low blood sugar for g*d knows how long. If you're even more astute, or a nephrologist, you will also realize that our patient is in chronic renal failure (dialysis, fistula, etc). And how does the body get rid of insulin? Through the kidneys. But what if the kidneys don't work? Insulin hangs around. And like Pac Man, just zips its way through the blood, chomping happily through every bit of glucose in its way. So we'd give her dextrose, her sugars came up briefly, then within a few hours, she bottom out again.

Following her "code," the patient, I'll call her Katie, was transferred to the ICU which is where I met her. Her family and friends were at her bedside, tearful and worried. Katie was awake, staring off into space. She looked tiny in the big bed, with long hair, huge blue eyes, she looked 12. She wouldn't track, make eye contact, follow commands, or communicate. She was fairly restless and agitated. The nurse giving me report explained her current neuro status, as well as her extensive medical history. As he ran down the list of the neuro assessment, I asked, "Well, what's her baseline? What do I have to compare to for improvement?"
"Her baseline? Well, last week she was working at Starbucks. That's her baseline."
The nephrologist examined her later following dialysis then spoke to me in lowered tones in the hallway. "What I'm really afraid of, which is really possible, is that the damage is permanent," she confided. By the morning, Katie was tracking better, and much calmer, but hadn't spoken a word. She responded to questions simply by nodding, but she nodded to everything. Her best friend stood at her bedside, talking to her, "Dude, you need to talk to me," she said half-joking, as her voice quivered.

Anyway, I came back the next night, and Katie was sitting up in bed, surrounded by friends, trashy magazines, and stuffed animals. "That was freaky!" she laughed. "Hypoglycemic coma and shock SUCKS!"

Sometimes they get do get better.

Doggie of the Day

In case I needed another one, here is Reason #74 why I'd rather stay at home than go to work. Well, technically, reasons #74 and 75. That's sort of not true, I actually look forward to going to work and mostly really enjoy my job (I know, I'm crazeeeee). But, when these little faces beg me to come back to the down blankie and them on the couch, it's a tough call.

D, the burrito date from last night, emailed and said he wants to get together again. He even suggested going to the p-a-r-k with the dogs or playing tennis with his son (eek?). Maybe we'd do better if we were just hanging out rather than over a meal. Should I give him another chance? He still wants to see me even though a.) I admitted to not having a problem with running into toddlers with a shopping cart...hey, it only takes one time, and they won't do that again!, and b.) Nary even a hint of a goodnight kiss last night, since I sped off as fast as the Matrix would go. Hmm. I guess this idea that other people of the opposite sex actually want to make plans with me and spend time with me is a bit new, since I'm used to competing with the dwarves from Worlds of Warcraft for attention and I was usually less compelling than a Southern Comfort and Coke...funny that.

So...to recap, date with S on Saturday to eat Portuguese fish (I'm excited, he's an architect and he builds things from wood!), possible tea with G next week (he has red hair and is 6'3"), and cocktails with J at the Matador either Sunday or next week. Then there's D...maybe I'll give him another chance. OR...I'll invite them all to the same place at the same time, I'll hide in the next room, and my friends will circulate, making small talk with the possible suitors, and vote on a winner. We could do it weekly! Like Survivor, except voting people off Rose Island!

Ho hum

All I can say is, I'm glad I'm the girl and phooey on feminism, because at least I get free burritos out of this dating thing. Date with D was okay, burrito was excellent, as usual. He was getting over this "flu" thing and kept coughing, and would end each cough with a little "Ow" whine. So yeah, that was hot. And he seems to be very into working out, and healthy food, and things that I am not. Granted, I see the value in working out and healthy food, but as lifestyle choices and not riveting conversational topics. I think I might have spent more time getting ready to go out than dinner actually lasted. Things seemed a little boring. I'm not sure if it was because I wasn't too excited to go in the first place (not a good sign that when I went to pick him up and he wasn't outside waiting, I wondered if 45 seconds was a reasonable enough time to wait before calling it a night and going home). Or maybe just we didn't have a lot in common or much interest in each other. Perhaps I didn't need to say, "Do you need to finish your water or are you ready to go?" And I had to drive, which seemed weird. Probably only weird because I'm so super picky and always look for things to be weird, but still. So when I dropped him off he asked if I wanted to come in, and offered to show me the clock he had with his own picture in it, but I demurely declined, citing an early meeting. So yeah.

Stay tuned for Saturday night, with S. What should I wear? Is a skirt and boots too much for a first date? Jeans and boots? Comfy elastic waist pants? Come on people, help me here.

I went to the gym today, for the first time in 3 years or so. Big step for me, because I'm always confused and intimidated by gyms. But I went, rode the bike for 23 minutes, and left. Of course I'll do more next time, and if it isn't so full I'll maybe try to figure out how to use those big machines with the weights and pulleys and thingies or something. Still need to clean the bathroom, but I have a scarf to work on and The Madness of King George to watch.

Farmgirl

I've been thinking, maybe I should buy a farm in Maine. Like this one . The mortgage payment is less than my rent! Of course, I'd have to build a barn and probably a hay storage building on the property for the pygmy goats, miniature donkeys, and horses, but I wouldn't have to do that right away. I could drive the Toyota out there but eventually I'd have to get a truck. Hmmm. Sometimes I get ideas and they seem good and right now I can't really think of a good reason why I shouldn't buy a farm in Maine. I could start a whole new blog about it, I'm sure it would be amusing to read about my adventures trying to milk the pygmy goats or clean the barn. Oh, and I'd need alpacas too, for their wool. I'd build a little guest suite so anyone could come and visit anytime :)

giggles

I usually don't like these things, but this one made me laugh.

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Rose!

1. All the moons of the Solar System are named after characters from Greek and Roman mythology, except the moons of Uranus, which are named after Rose!
2. If you break Rose, you will get seven years of bad luck.
3. Baskin Robbins once made Rose flavoured ice cream.
4. During severe windstorms, Rose may sway several feet to either side.
5. Olive oil was used for washing Rose in the ancient Mediterranean world!
6. Rose can't sweat.
7. Marie Antoinette never said 'let them eat cake' - this is a mistranslation of 'let them eat Rose'.
8. Half a cup of Rose contains only seventeen calories.
9. You should always store Rose in an airtight container in the fridge!
10. Originally, Rose could not fly!

http://thesurrealist.co.uk/trivia.pl" method="get" style="background-color:#5F5F42;color:#CFCF95;padding:4px;text-align:center">I am interested in - do tell me aboutherhimitthem

Moooosic

I'm becoming more and more nocturnal, which isn't really a problem, unless I want to be awake during the day. Which I occasionally do, since most of my friends continue this "awake during the day" thing and I do like to see them. I have no trouble falling asleep at night, but then I wake up at 4:00am and can't get back to sleep. So, like last night, I lie in bed for a while, get annoyed, and finally get up. I make a cup of tea, watch a movie, knit a bit, then go back to bed around 7:00. Last night I couldn't even fall back asleep at 7, so I took a Benadryl and didn't see the light of day till around 2:00pm. Phew. Perhaps tonight I'll take the Magic Pink Pill a bit earlier.

I need music! I'm trying to make a new playlist for the gym, but I'm tired of all my music and need new stuff. I haven't heard anything lately that tickled me, so I need suggestions! I have an iTunes gift card just itching to be used, but for the life of me, cannot figure out what I want. So...what should I buy?

Tomorrow I'm going out for a burrito and maybe a margarita or two (depending on how interesting I want my date to be ;) ) with D, the fellow who I only had a drink with a few weeks ago but not dinner so I was really hungry then he got the flu last week so we had to cancel the burrito thing, so we're doing it tomorrow. He's the one with the 9-yr-old son. The son isn't coming along, obviously. Just mentioning that. But I have plans on Saturday with someone entirely different, and now I'm sort of more excited about that. I will not give any info until Sunday however. Just in case. Don't want to junx this one. Oh well. Can't go wrong with a burrito, so whatever.

Yay! I'm going to see the Atlantic Ocean before I'm 30! So will the wee short doggies. Now I just have to get a fun new camera to take to Cannon Beach...

Day off again tomorrow...my ever glamorous life will be filled with laundry, scrubbing the bathroom, going to the gym, and knitting. Oh, and burrito with D. I'm a little nervous about it being by first time at the gym. (Hee...were you worried how that sentence would end, considering the lead-in? Hah! Beware the non-sequitors...) Last time I went to a new gym by myself, I had a really hard time on the elliptical machine, and just hated it. Couldn't figure out why everyone else seemed to really like it, because it kicked my ass hard. Three days later however, someone was kind enough to show that me that I had been doing it backwards. So yes, while I may be able to solve a New York Times Sunday crossword puzzle, I happen to be a bit, uhm, special when it comes to physical fitness. Hey, I hated gym class. Guess this is payback. But, I have my new gym shoes, so I can do this. Right, Corky?

Leash laws

From CannonBeach.net, the best explanation I've seen yet for the necessity of leash laws in certain areas. No other explanation necessary. (This link will load a short video.)

at least babies don't have suction cup hands

Muhahaha! Thank you Steph :)

And dear readers, if you happen to be having a baby in June, you can be assured that bambino will be sporting this awesome little squid hat, handmade all special-like :)

soggy brains

Just like rain, but when it's 2 degrees.-->

I think Seattle's brains are getting soggy, or just water-logged, because people get a lot stupider when it rains for 21 days in a row. Either that or my patience for other human beings wears even thinner. But I have rain boots. And enough already with the rainy complainy...it could be worse. It's not like you have to shovel rain, put on rainscreen, or buy rainglasses. You don't even get rainbite on your nosies and toesies. All you get is wet. And no one ever died from being wet. So seriously, lazy people, it's about the only bad weather you don't have to do anything about except turn the little nobby in your car to wipe it away. Oh and also...this is Seattle. Palm trees and sunshine are a bit further south, if that's what you were expecting. Okay, that's all for now.

Dating update...supposed to have burritos and margaritas with D tomorrow night, but he claims to have gotten the flu. Or, as a less cynical person would say, he's come down with the flu and we'll have to reschedule. Actually, I probably believe him (aside from the semantics of the definition of "flu" from a male vs. female perspective, but that's a whole other rant). And I have a full day of car maintenance and budget shopping and lunching and gym joining and food buying tomorrow, so I'm rather looking forward to logging some couch time in the evening with the short dogs, my down blankie, and an Ingmar Bergman flick.

Observations from online dating website: There are apparently no men shorter than 5' 10" in the greater Seattle area, however, something interesting about actually being 5' 10" is that you may appear to be anywhere from 5'3" to 5' 8". Even though that can't be true, because no men are shorter than 5' 10". Like a funhouse mirror. Or something. Also, I have decided that men who feel it is necessary to state that they're looking for someone "intelligent" don't deserve someone intelligent. Which must be why they're still looking for one.

Oh! If you act soon, you too can have a cool SIFF membership card and passes to as many movies as you can watch in late May/early June! www.seattlefilm.org I got mine, cried a little as I spent the money, but it was a treat to myself for the overtime I've been working and the toilets I've been flushing.

Just a little thing...

My patient tonight, R, weighs over 500 pounds. This presents interesting nursing challenges, like needing six people to roll her onto her side to change her linens. My back hurts just a twinge, mostly from sometimes having to lean so far over her to look at a drain or incision. She had surgery three days ago and just got extubated today, so while it will take her a while to recover, I think she'll be okay, barring any complications. She's wheelchair bound at home, but she still does live on her own. I'm feeling oddly overprotective of her, hearing other nurses make jokes and comments about her size. Now on one hand, nurses have exceptionally sick senses of humor, and we can make off-color jokes with the most seasoned of truckers. We justify it as a defense mechanism to some of the horrors we see...the old saying, "If you don't laugh, you're just going to cry." But on the other hand, for the most part, nurses retain a certain code of senstivity about a lot of things, especially things you don't say in front of a patient, even a sedated patient. But apparently someone's weight is a free subject, as if they had more control of it than a drug addict or an alcoholic. Maybe people are more uncomfortable about it because everyone's in danger of putting on a few pounds, maybe it's a constant and real fear. But seriously, it's not like this woman woke up one morning and made a conscious decision to weigh 500 pounds, nor does she want to weight that much. Okay, I'm stepping off my wee soap box now.

In other news, the pt L from a previous post died tonight. On a morphine drip with his family at his side, so that's a good thing.

Good banter

Hrm...the happy bunny quiz post does not agree with this page layout, but I really like the happy bunny...phooey.

Met D at the usual place last night for a drink. I somehow got confused and thought it was going to be dinner and drinks, but he said he had just eaten, so just drinks it was. He had the Dragonstooth somethingorother and I just had a cider. For dinner. Hungry Rose. So...he's 29, lives in Capitol Hill, works for a small software company downtown, grew up around here and went to the UW...okay, so I suppose those facts describe 87% of Seattle...I had a pretty good time, he's pretty funny, and he laughed at me too so I think that means he thinks I'm funny or he's terribly rude but I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt. There was good banter, about random stuff, which was kind of a nice relief because I'm sick to death of the "interview" style date where you just sit across the table from someone and recount your life story and try to act interested enough to ask them questions about their life. He did mention a couple of times how obsessive he was, about things such as healthy eating, clean kitchens, and 1200 thread count sheets...which might be okay, since those are okay things to be obsessive about, but perhaps one shouldn't use the word obsessive to describe oneself four times on the first date. Then again, I'm lucky if I don't go off on the wonders of pygmy goats (which I didn't!) so I can't really talk. We made plans to go out again on Wednesday so I guess it went pretty well...

Oh, he has a 9-year-old kid. Not sure what I think about that one. But he bakes bread...

tee hee!

Who's Your Happy Bunny?
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Happy freakin' New Year

Just thought I'd update things into the new year, happy 2006 or whatever. I somehow ended up working every holiday this year, so in response to the usual "How were your holidays?" question I guess all I can really say is that the potlucks weren't too bad and no one died on a holiday. And I also seem to have been working way too much lately, and it looks like I'll continue this. Not really sure what went wrong with the scheduling. I haven't been in the ICU for a couple of weeks, had "floor care" patients. I had pt L, a 59-year-old fellow who is still in the hospital nearly two months after his stem cell transplant, seems to be losing his graft (transplant is failing, he is losing his bone marrow), and has multiple infections...he became so frustrated with his condition last night after being incontinent for the second time that he just broke down and cried, cried that he wasn't getting better, that he was going backwards... He's right, but what do you say to that? My other patient, A, is 31, had a transplant a month ago but then her kidneys shut down because of one the medications she got, and is now struggling with congestive heart failure. She cries each day because she just wants to go home, more than anything. She wakes up in the middle of the night and she can't breath because her lungs will suddenly fill with fluid. On the other side of things, a patient we had for over six months last year, who was intubated four times, had parts of her lungs, her gallbladder, and appendix removed, and got a stem cell transplant, sent Christmas greetings saying that she's happily tooling around her home town in her new mini Cooper. So people do get better.

Nothing is funnier than Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson singing "99 Red Balloons." And nothing is better than brand new flannel sheets :)

Date tomorrow! Usual time, usual place. My dear S has helped me decide what to wear, I will have a full report afterwards...