What we've been up to

Jeni and I have been doing some projects to help Lisa and Brian get ready for Clara Ann's first birthday party. We're very excited about her party. It is a rubber ducky theme, which turned out to be more challenging to find stuff for than you might think. Jeni and I cut out about 120 rubber duckies from yellow construction paper for decorations and Lisa ordered a bunch online so the kids will win rubber ducky prizes.


This is the invitation for the party. It turned out really cute. Jeni came up with the idea, and after a few tries we ended up with this one and we're very happy with it.


These are the treat bags for the party. Jeni made these cool little triangular boxes filled with pastel M&Ms for all the kids, and attached Clara Ann's picture with a thank you note on the back.


Lisa and Jeni went to Tickled Pink and Caroline made this dress for Clara Ann. It is monogrammed and reversible.


This is the other side of the dress.


And this is Clara Ann's party hat. Gracie had one for her first birthday too, but with everything going on, didn't wear it, although there are some super cute pictures of her in it later.

I know Jeni has had a big time helping Lisa with the party planning. And with Lisa and Brian being far out of town I know it made things easier on them too. It's crunch time now ... just one day away!

Deciphering the questions

Sometimes as a doctor you have to try to decipher what the patient is actually asking. When we were in school, we were told what a "hitch in my giddeyup" meant, and thank goodness, because I hear that a lot. And I know that if "Arthur is visiting," their arthritis is flared up, or "sore as a risin" is sore as a painful pimple. So today an older black patient said, "What good for a gum ball?" She had to ask me about three times, because I wasn't tracking. You see, I lost my voice last night*, and am having the hardest time discussing things with my patients, so when she said, "What good for a gum ball," I started thinking all kinds of things. First, I thought, maybe she's offering an old country remedy for losing my voice, suck on a gum ball and it'll help relieve the lost voice. But I ruled that out. So I started going through possible answers ... Don't chew gum, it's hard on your TMJ, not great for your teeth, choking hazard. Then it occurs to me, gum ball -- "You mean an ulcer on your gum?" "Yeah, a gum ball." Well, duh.

*As for losing my voice, it's such a pain, and I blame Nikki because we had such a good time visiting last weekend that we stayed up late (2-3 a.m. each night) and I wore myself down, then my sinuses flared up and drained into my throat, causing me to lose my voice. So now I have to explain, with no voice, that, no, I am not sick, and that it's just a sinus thing, and it's OK, I'll have my voice back tomorrow, but thank you for your concern -- all this without a voice to begin with. The saddest part is we weren't even partying, no drinking, just sitting up talking and enjoy the company. If I'm going to wear myself down like this, at least let there be a party.

Surreal Friday

Last Friday was such a surreal day at work. The building I work in is raised with parking under the building, and as a car was pulling into the drive it got hit from behind. This tap sent the car careening down the hill that goes to the parking area. The driver, in a panic, looked into the back seat to check on the six-day-old baby in the back seat. As this happened, he must have hit the gas, and veered left, slamming into the building and the mechanical room for the elevator. It was the strangest feeling hearing and feeling the thud of a car striking the building and the people in the building who saw the accident happen screaming and the chaos of fire trucks, ambulances, and police cars. Very bizarre. Thankfully, the people in the car were not seriously injured, but the building took a big hit.

Here's what the building looked like after they came and clean everything up.




I found this one on my computer at work before the cleanup but after the car was removed (wish we'd gotten one with the car in the building and the firetrucks blocking both lanes in front of the building. No matter what kind of doctor you are, it's never a good sign to have EMS in front of your office...)

Worth linking to...

When you have a free minute at your computer, I recommend:
Maybe You Should Die, featuring greeting cards that say what you really mean. (Warning: lots of the four letter words.)
Etsy, a site full of amazing hand made art and objects. Warning, this is a serious time sink.
Indexed, a blog that uses graphs to discuss life ... ok, maybe not the best description of this blog, and if you struggled conceptually with geometry and statistics, you may struggle with this blog, but check it out anyway.

The list just keeps growing...

We have moments in our lives where we speak without thinking. It could be something insignificant, or you could really put your foot in your mouth. And then there are those things that come out and you think, "When I die, I hope I'm not judged for this."

When Jeni and I first moved to our house it was in the Fall. Now, as you enter our neighborhood, there is a median in the entrance basically creating an in and an out lane. The median is as long as the first house's yard. So we noticed on Mondays all these cars would park at the first house, and once the few spaces in front of the house were filled people would park straight out from the median in a long line of cars down the middle of the road. We figured this was some big Monday Night Football party every week. But then the Spring came around and still all these cars. Couldn't quite figure it out, but that didn't stop us from grumbling about all these people parked right at the entrance of the neighborhood.

Then one day I'm pulling in from work and I see some people parking, older than I imagined, and a diverse group, and then I see it -- they're all carrying Bibles. It's a Bible study! I had been fussing and fussing about these cars thinking it was a party when all along it was a Bible study. When I'm at the Gates of Heaven I'm hoping this isn't brought up. "So, Dean, you really thought they were watching football all that time, huh?"

Well, I topped that today. I don't know if I had too much sleep last night, or not enough, but my brain was off on odd tangents earlier than usual. As I was adjusting a patient this morning I noticed a pendant on her necklace. Now, let me preface this by saying that I've had all kinds of patients, wearing all kinds of jewelry. But I neglected to see the cross also on the necklace, so the pendant that had flipped over bore a striking resemblance to Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster. (Oh, yes, I did...) I asked, "Is that Nessie on your necklace?" (OK, she admitted she has been to Scotland in an attempt to see Nessie...) But no, it was not Nessie. You see, the rose pendant that the Pope had given her happened to flip over and, facing the wrong way, did look like a legendary sea monster, but alas, no, just a gift from the highest ranking religious official of the Catholic church. So, again, at the Pearly Gates, I can hear it now, "Nessie? Really? Oh, Dean, we need to talk."

I think I'm done talking for the day...

Just a quick note to wish everyone a

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Writer's strike

I'm glad the writer's strike is over ... I almost read a book!

Montel and chiropractic

I forgot that Montel Williams suffers from multiple sclerosis, but then I received this link to a YouTube video of him discussing his amazing results after receiving a chiropractic adjustment.



I think this is very cool because I know that chiropractic works, I've (obviously) studied it and seen the results first hand, but it seems to carry so much more weight when a celebrity people trust gets results. I remember when people talked about Emmitt Smith getting adjusted on Dancing with the Stars ... it's nice to get some positive mainstream attention. What I like most about Montel's piece is the fact that his issue goes beyond the headaches and low back pain that chiropractic gets pigeon holed into so often.

And if you thought I'd make a post without a Star Wars reference, think again! Since I'm linking to YouTube, watch "George Lucas In Love" and enjoy a good laugh!

Arrested Development movie?

Rumor has it that the very very early prenatal rumblings of a possible Arrested Development movie are starting. Eonline said that Jason Bateman and Jeffrey Tambor are both on board if it actually happens. Our fingers are staying crossed.

Recommended reading

Looking for something to read? Check out the Locus recommended reading list for 2007. (I checked, no Star Wars reference here. Sorry...)

Star Wars USB flash drives

I want my next USB flash drive to be one of these. (OK, this was really an unintentional Star Wars reference, since I started by seeing this one.)

Lego's Millennium Falcon

Continuing the (unintentional) Star Wars theme from yesterday, check out this time-lapse video of the largest-ever Lego set being assembled -- Han Solo's Millennium Falcon. The assembly took several nights and is sped up to finish in 3:38. It's amazing, really, that the instruction book is even spiral bound. Crazy! (Reminds me that I have to assemble my X-Wing Fighter from Tracey and Clay.)

The highlight of my day ...

The kids who come into my office always brighten the day. I really enjoy the interactions with the little ones. Well, today, two young brothers came in, one with a Buzz Lightyear toy, the other with a stuffed R2-D2 and stuffed C-3PO. I asked the one with the Star Wars droids who he had, and he told me C-P3O and Arthur-D2. And really, can you beat Arthur-D2 for a pick-me-up?

LOST premiere

We were very excited about LOST coming back last night. The premiere just confirmed what we thought at the end of last season, that the flash forward was not to the end, but to the middle of the show, and hopefully alludes to the season finale of this season with Jack, Kate and Hurley returning to the island. Nice to have some TV worth watching again.