First Impressions

Here I am with the grey bull himself. Plus some pics from the monutains yesterday. As always, pictures never do God's creation justice. Although to my none divine eye this place looks like boney piles. If I were God, I would plant something on them. Once again, be glad that I am not God.

Eeerrrr...

Y-oming? Y-not?

I am packing for a long weekend in Wyoming. It is rectangular state somewhere between here and the West coast. In my head I get it mixed up with Arizona. In the same way I mix up zebras and giraffes. And orange and green. I think it has something to do with the way I learned these things. Like they are stored too close together in my brain.
I will make an effort not to say I am glad to be in Arizona. I think it would be like someone mixing up Pennsylvania and Kentucky. Duh. Unless you are from Wyoming and you know that they are both oddly shaped states between the Mississippi River and the East coast. I have been wearing Abi's-er-my jean jacket to get in the mood.
Mostly I will be myself. They already know I can't play the piano and I don't cook. Most everything else about me is good stuff, so I am not worried. Pray for me anyway...

Blooming

All in my yard. I am ruminating (?) on the idea of Jesus as a Gardener. If you throw in Sarah's thought about God making snowflakes just for fun and for our pleasure, it is an interesting idea to think of Him planting and growing things.

These all survived the winter and are blooming today no thanks to me.

Still to come: Azaleas, daylilies, clematis, iris, astilbes, and hopefully coral bells.

Capital Offense

This is one reason I will never have a Capital One card in my wallet. These people annoy the life out of me and I don't even have an account with them. This is a picture of the mail that they sent me yesterday. 4 envelopes and 4 credit card offers in one day. I got one. Dave got one. Amanda got 2. This has been going on for at least a year. Do the people who have Capital One cards in their wallets know that their interest rates are so high because of all the money the company spends on paper and postage? Is there a 'do not write' list? If they really want to be of service to me they should just save up what they're spending on postage and mail it to me at the end of the year. I'd put that in my wallet.

Happy Poly II

(This one has a nose.) Some days are just this good. Some days you need a microscope to find a smile. This is what your blood looks like if you've got the joy, joy, joy down in your heart.

This is National Medical Laboratory Week. Just in case you wanted to rush out and have your blood drawn to celebrate.

Sneaking Out

We decided to leave NYC with a different approach. In the middle of the day instead of the middle of the night. We decided to drive the pick-up truck through the tunnels instead of over the bridges. Lincoln vs. Washington. Lincoln was the weekend winner--hands down.

No taxis for us. We just drove the pick-up through downtown Manhattan.
I took a few drive by shots (of the photograhic variety) including this one of the Empire State Building. I think the bug splattered windshield adds authenticity. I left my heart and my battery charger in New York.

Why We Came

Load Up The Pick-up

We rented a pick-up truck to haul a few pieces of furniture to New York. It was a vehicle roughly the size of our house. (see photo) No problems until we reached the George Washington Bridge. This is evidently an engineering wonder to control access to the city. This first ploy is to use signage to confuse drivers. Next is a series of long cues and lane changes and closures and EZPass and cash only tricks to slow traffic to a crawl. Then when frustration has passed and resignation sets in (this has something to do with breathing exhaust fumes), the two lanes divide into 12 just before the toll booths. On the other side of the tool booths is a large parking lot littered with a few diasabled vehicles. On the other side of the parking lot looms the bridge. And all twelve lanes are feeding into ONE LANE to cross the bridge. The beauty of this plan is that cars arrive in the city one at a time. A very personal welcome to New York. Its good to be here. Signs suggested using mass transit to see the Pope this weekend. Right now he is in Yonkers. I think you have to cross a bridge to get there. We are not going to see the Pope.

Happy Poly

What your blood cells look like if you eat too many smiley cookies from Eat 'n Park.

Can I Mail That For You?

Remember when I mailed my nametag? Well this week I threw the mail in the garbage. Not the junk mail sent to me. No, the outgoing mail. The envelope containing the checks from Alex's paper route. Not in the kitchen garbage at home. No, the garbage can in the dining hall at work. Now whenever I look at the garbage cans I envision little puppets sticking their heads out singing "I Had a Bad Day". Could this have been Whimsical Wednesday? Just wondering...

In My Dreams

We are listening to the audio book 'Black' by Ted Dekker. The main character goes back and forth in his dreams between two worlds and what he learns in one world, he can apply in the other.
Today for lunch I made a very good taco salad using some left over roast beef. The guys complimented it and I told them the idea just came to me. Like in a dream. So maybe in my dream world I am a creative chef. Maybe I have my own cooking show. And I've written a cookbook or two. Maybe people just refer to my recipes using my first name. "I'm making Ms. Brenda's taco salad." Maybe I have done guest appearances on the Today show and Oprah.
Maybe I should do the dishes...

Butler Eagle Covers Everything

Mars, PA--Temperatures soared here this afternoon, making working outside nearly unbearable. The intense heat caused local newspaper carriers to shed first their shirts and eventually their pants. When asked if he was concerned patrons would not want their papers delivered by a nake'd (rhymes with snaked) boy, one carrier replied that he thought the loss of such customers would be offset by those who had never subscribed before because the paper had never offered nake'd delivery.
In other news, the pool is not set to open for another 6 weeks.
By then Alex will have grown so tall that all his jeans will be shorts and he will be set for summer.
Alex's sisters are busy calling and texting each other to celebrate that they grew up before their mother had a digital camera and a blog.
And this just in--Those families whose clocks automatically adjusted ahead for daily savings time on the first Sunday in April are still looking for that missing hour.

The Dresser

This is the dresser we salvaged in Alabama when I was pregnant with Stasi. We refinished it before she was born and put all her baby clothes in it. It traveled with us for 25 years and ended up in the upstairs bathroom-holding steam curlers and body lotions and nail polishes. Too ugly for words. But now I have painted it and it is ready for the next generation of princesses. Complete with polka dots and jewels.

Yeah for salvage and redemption.


Yeah for paint.

I salvaged the bench as well. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

Painting Things

I am painting things. Like dressers and benches. And my hair. I found that white satin indoor/outdoor paint covers all my gray. And obviously lasts through multiple shampooings. Is it real or is it Glidden? Only my hairdresser knows for sure.
I will take pictures of the dresser as soon as the drawer pulls arrive . We got them on ebay. (It's better if you win it.) Ebay could easily be an obsession. Good thing I can't remember my password.
The bench is taking longer because it needed glued and tightened and sanded. Tomorrow it will be ready to be sealed. And then painted. White and purple. Because I had to pry the lid off of the purple paint in such a way that I can't get the lid back on the can. So I just have to use up the entire quart of purple paint. After the bench is painted it needs it's seat covers replaced. This is the ultimate project--involving paint and a trip to the fabric store.
Any purple paint left over after the bench I am just going to streak into my hair. Just call me Aunt Vi. (Was her real name Violet?)

The Truth

Tell me the truth. Sometimes a story is just so unbelievable that a mother knows it can't be true. Go ahead and call to verify, 'cause it's the truth. So I call and of course it has some truth woven in, but it is not the truth. Give me the whole truth. You make me feel so guilty. Maybe you feel guilty because you are guilty. Do I have to say it? Yes, and you have to make it right. Do you have to go with me? Yes, because once you lie, trust is destroyed.

It is always easier not to make a mess than it is to clean up a mess.

Do you feel better? Yes.

If only they always learned the lesson in a teachable moment...

Spring

In my side flower bed...

Big White Flag

I give up. It's not easy. I hate to lose, especially this one. I hate even more that I was right. But today I will wave the big white flag. Declare a truce. Holler "All-ee, All-ee in free!"
Somedays I just get tired of playing the game.

On a brighter note, I am playing a little April Fools Day trick today. (Sometimes I am so clever that it's not even funny.)

But I think this is a good one. hehehe

Crystal Queen

These 'textbook' crystals showed up today at the end of my first shift.

Just when you think you've seen all the crystals you ever want to see, just take a look at these. These are uric acid crystals from a finger joint.

Exhibiting all of their full wave plate color compensated polarizing charaacteristics.

Now here are some pics from a knee fluid. These are calcium pyrophosphate crystals.

Okay are you ready for this? Intracellular AND extracellular (in the same field!!) (This picture could be better, but really I was very busy)

And just when you think you've seen everything (or at least more than you wanted to see)...

I have one more. Earlier in the day I commented that I had never seen an intracellular crystal on a Wright stained smear. (I know, you'd forgotten what a great conversationalist I am.)

TADA! The differential slide on the same knee fluid: The cell in the upper right is a segmented neutrophil. The cell in the bottom center looks like a lymphocyte with an intracellular crystal. How totally awesome is that?

Intracellular and extracellular crystals with full wave plate color characteristics of calcium pyrophosphate identified.

Some days it pays to work 12 hours.

My Next Big Event

A year ago we were planning the first of two weddings. Amanda won't let me arrange her marriage and Alex still thinks girls have cooties. So I think there will be no weddings to plan this year. And if we're going to have any babies this year someone will have to announce something soon. So I am going to plan my baptism.
Actually this would be my second baptism. I was baptized as an infant and up until recently I have been pretty happy with that experience. But while reading through the book "Living The Resurrection" it occurrred to me that I wanted to be baptized again. If I like it, I will then search for Scripture that will support allowing multiple baptisms. You know, like every Spring, or once a month. (Go ahead and pray for me now, but hold your theological insights/corrections/outrage until later.)

Here are some things I would include:
1. Invitations to friends and family to share this celebration with me.
2. I would share my story. I would take all the time I want. (After all, it's all about me.) Let's call this a testimony, cause I don't want to be preaching!)
3. Someone with a deep voice announcing (loudly) : "This is my beloved daughter." (There would be a brief opportunity for God to do this Himself.)
4. The song "You are Being Loved"

I would sing this myself as oppossed to having someone who can really sing do it. (God will be pleased with this even if no one else is.)

Remember--just in the planning stages. Got any ideas you want to share, I will certainly consider them.

Squirrels Spring Cleaning

The squirrels who live in the shed have eaten holes near the roof for easier access this winter. There was just no fighting them this year. But today they started chucking stuff out the holes onto the ground below. Big piles of used squirrel bedding and empty nut shells.
I am going to clean out the upstairs this way. Just open the windows and start heaving things out from the eaves. Anything you have here you might want to make arrangements to get soon. Time to start my Spring cleaning.

Not So Much

Around 2:30 today I decided that maybe the trade wasn't such a great idea. If I had worked today I would still have Tuesday off. Now I have to work on Tuesday and my day off is gone.
Although I was totally blessed by being in church this morning. So I am still glad I traded. Remind me of that on Tuesday.

Trade You

Today at work I switched days. Traded tomorrow for Tuesday. Didn't fill out a schedule change request form. Didn't run it by anyone important. Didn't get it okayed. Just traded, even up. Sunday for Tuesday. A weekend day for a weekday. This was a good trade. Like when your lunch has a jumbo baloney sandwich, which you hate, and someone at your table offers you lebanon baloney which you like. And you just trade and the afternoon is better for both of you. And you never have to tell your mom. Yeah, like that.

Anything Goes

Went to see the high school musical tonight. Not Disney's High School Musical, but the musical at the high school. They did Anything Goes, which is also the musical that my high school did way back when. I only remembered one line, spoken in a Chinese accent. If lady with all paint up face will hold unruly tongue, I will talk. I will tell all. I was never in the musical. So why after 32 years do I still have this line in my head? I would like to clear it out so I have room to remember where my car keys are, or to move the load of clothes from the washer to the dryer. While I am at it I would like to remove the phone number from Brinser 2 North (717-367-9815) and make room for my children's anniversary dates and my grandchildren's birthdates. There are a lot of other things I could probably live without in my head, but I can't think of them right now...

Does This Headband Make Me Look Taller?

15 People Have Died Here (OR) Take That Off Your Head

Yes, I went away to the mountains for a week with my husband, my mother-in-law, and my preadolescent son. And, yes, we all arrived back home in one piece. (Except for the car, which arrived home, but with not with all of its pieces intact. But I digress...)

This is a picture of us at Whitewater Falls. It was taken by a stranger. Little does my family know, but the presence of that stranger may well have saved all of their lives.

See us all smiling? No, wait. Maybe I am the only one smiling.

See Alex carrying a strip of fabric and a big stick? (Like Isaac, he carried this wood up the mountain by himself.)

Notice my feet poised to run. Because I am really thinking that I could strangle one of them, beat one of them with a stick, and push the last one over the cliff.

But then along comes another happy vacationing family.

Makes me wonder if Abraham had been in a Hebrew National Forest if he would have gotten to the point of strapping Isaac to the altar. Just about the time Isaac asked (again) why he always had to carry the wood, and why were they going up this mountain, and were they there yet for the fortieth time, and Abraham was ready to just tie the kid down and light the match, along comes another father and son up the trail.

Wait, it was another Father and Son who did intervene. Wow. That wasn't where I saw this post going, but my family should be glad that there is a Power greater than me. I know I am.

Aside: There is an old Lane family legend concerning a first born son and a visit to a National Park Site with a strip of cloth tied around his head that is relevant to this story. (I personally have no memory of this, but it has been collaborated and retold so many times over the years that I am convinced of its authenticity.) Instead of lamenting that we never saw the inside of the Lemon House (?) we should be glad our mother did not strangle one of us and we all lived to tell the story.

On Top of Great Smokies

I have been playing with my pics in Shutterfly this am. I printed them to Target because I can not wait for the mail. I always thought you would need a really expensive camera and several lifetimes to capture those kind of shots you see on calendars. It turns out that God's creation is so amazing on any given day you can just show up with a little point and shoot digital thingy that you don't really know how to work except on one setting and you can get great pictures. Totally unedited. The thing that has me awed this morning (er, is it after noon already??) is that the pictures only capture a small part of the size and the colors and the grand scope of the whole place.
Maybe I'll pick up groceries on my way to Target...

Unidentified Laboratory Objects

Last night at work I was attempting to identify urinary crystals. They were not typical of any crystals I knew and I couldn't find any textbook pictures that were helpful. So I left them for the experts this am to identify. The 'experts' reported them out as "unidentified crystals". I should have trusted my first instincts.

What if all our lab results went out that way...

Indeterminate amount of blood glucose.

Probable Type O blood.

Pregnancy test presumed negative.

Approximately 235,00 platelets.

>100,000 org/ml maybe E.coli possibly susceptible to some antibiotics

This is not the world I usually work in.

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/reprint/353/24/e21.pdf

Flay of Fish

Dave and Alex went ice fishing on Saturday. Caught enough for supper on Saturday. Fortunately the fish arrived here cleaned and ready for breading and frying. That's because, as Alex reported, Mr. Clary flayed them right at the lake.

flay –verb (used with object)
1.to strip off the skin or outer covering of.

2.to criticize or scold with scathing severity.

Just imagine those poor fish being scolded so severely that they lost not only their skin, but all their bones as well.
(This is why I gave up my night job. Sleep deprivation make me want to flay things. Too often my family serves as the direct object. It's a wonder my children have any skin left.)

fillet –noun
1.a boneless cut or slice of meat or fish

–verb (used with object)
10.to cut or prepare (meat or fish) as a fillet.

Moon over Mars

I thought the lunar eclipse the other night was spectacular. Here I was on earth (in Mars) watching my shadow creep across the moon. I took this picture out the living room window. (I think the little white dot in the lower left is Saturn.) What an awesome view of the universe. If Saturn looks like a dot, how insignificant must I be? Like a milli-pixel. And yet...

I am being loved
I am being loved
Right now at this very moment

There is a song being sung over me
By the One Who breathes life into me.

(See Zephaniah 3:17--an awesome 'with' verse)

I have been reading about wonder. And how there is no place for it at work. And how much I need it in my life. And how it is hard to convey it to someone else. (So if you can't really grasp the wonder of this, don't worry about it.)

The God who created the universe also created me. And the Same One Who keeps the planets in place cares where I am. And He loves me. Wow.

The Molinator

Guess the reports of the snowman's death were somewhat premature. Turns out he was just hiding underground until the warm spell passed. Caught him yesterday in the act of resurrrecting. I am always beneath you, but nothing is beneath me. Mwa ha ha... Looks like he is pretty proud of himself.

Just look at that smirk on his face...

Sunshine?

As I was going out the door to take Alex to school the sun was shining in through the kitchen window onto the fruit in the jar on the table. (Can you use all your prepositions in one sentence?) So I stopped to take a picture of it. It made me wonder what made it picture-worthy. And why did I have to get the picture right then? The table and the jar are always there. The fruit is almost always there. Usually I take pictures of unusual things. (My kids when they were sleeping or clean, for instance. The only pictures of my living room have a Christmas tree in the background.) The unusual thing today was not the fruit. It was the sun.

And I wasn't sure it would still be there when I got back twenty minutes later.

And this is what it looked like out my kitchen window when I got back twenty minutes later.

(My friend the communist, holds meetings in his RV...)

So today I will soak up every little bit of sun that comes my way. (...before it goes out on me)

Where Did My Snowman Go?

No, I'm pretty sure he's dead...

If you want to make a snowman...

Don't count on me!

Happy Valentines Day

FAFSA,the OC, and Other Figures.

I have been working on taxes, etc. for two days and I am living inside the proverbial shoebox of papers, receipts, and forms. So far I have filed our federal and state returns. I have completed Amanda's federal and state forms, but she needs to check them over before we file them. I have completed the FAFSA for 2008-2009, except I am waiting for Amanda to call me back and tell me how much money she has in her checking account. This is the last FAFSA I will have to file unless Alex grows up and goes to college. (This is certainly an uncertainty at this point.)
On another note of financial importance, Amanda still owes $300 for this semester. We sent them the full amount we owed, but this month a bill came showing a remaining balance of $300. So here is the explanation from student accounts. Remember the class you signed up for that has a $300 fee? The one we never billed you for? It is billed on a separate account called "Other Charges". And we always apply any payments to the 'OC' account first. So the money you sent to pay off your tuition and room and board was applied to the account your mother never knew you had. The 'OC' account is for parking fines, disciplinary fines, and other nasty things you don't want your parents to know about. (Why an engineering class falls in this 'OC' category, I don't know.) So, today I called the school to make them explain it to me. You know, why you took my money and used it to pay a bill you didn't want me to know existed. And so we agreed that they would send me a statement showing the charges, and then I would pay it. What a novel idea. You send me a bill. I pay the bill. You send me a receipt. Go figure.

Everybody Needs a Little Howdie

My Dad drove his van into a tree on Saturday. Quite by snowy road related accident. So while the ambulance crew is strapping him to the backboard, he has his great nephew (whose brother was also being hauled away for a CAT scan) call my Mom to get Howdie's phone number. Not to tell her about the accident--just to get Howdie's number. (Howdie owns a salvage yard and does all the body work on my Dad's vehicles.) My Mom is not dumb. (She raised 7 kids-most of whom learned to drive.)

"Why do you need Howdie's number?"
" We had a little accident."
"Is everyone alright?"
"Yes, we're all okay."
"How is the van?"
"Not so good."
"Okay, do you have something to write with?"
Notice the complete absence in this conversation of anything resembling a tree, 911, paramedics, blood, ambulances, hospitals, and/or suspected head injuries.

So this is the order of things: Accident, 911, Howdie.

My Dad trusts Howdie. He knows he will come and haul the van away. He will take care of his equipment, his glasses, and hopefully his tossel hat. He will call him when the van is 'ready'. He will treat him fairly. Howdie is probably in the will ahead of me.

The oddly reassuring thing about this is that it is so typical of my Dad that I know he really is okay. I don't need to see the CAT scan results.

(Love you Dad.)

100% Off The Cover Price

We got two issues of Sports Illustrated this week in the mail. Last week's issue, which typically would arrive midweek, arrived in our mailbox this Monday(the day after the Super Bowl). It looked like it had already been read. The Big Question on the cover was "Can the Giants Get to Brady?" Oh, oh!! I know this one. Something a little anticlimatic about getting the pre-Super Bowl issue the day after the game. So I'm wondering where the magazine spent the weekend. Maybe someone was leafing through it at the Post Office. Maybe a postal worker 'borrowed' it for their Super Bowl party. That's a pretty good deal. Only I think if I pay for the subscription, I should get to read it first. So here's a little secret: when the much anticipated swimsuit edition comes out this month, they will have to find someone else's copy to ogle, because I opted not to have that issue delivered at all. Like the pre-Super Bowl issue, I already know what will be in it. And I don't need that in my mailbox.
This week's SI came on Friday. Evidently, it didn't take as long to read.
Oh, and I miss Life of Reilly.

Cleaning and Scrubbing and Grown up Babies

I share these thoughts about houscleaning with Katie from the novel "True to Form" by Elizabeth Berg:

...now I'll have to scrub the toilet. And vacuum. And
dust. And the Venetian blinds will take forever....They are so boring to
do even when you have music on, and you think you'll crack up before they're done. Do the main part, okay, but then comes the dumb little ends and they all have to be dusted on both sides. Venetian blinds are
what hang in hell, and every day Satan says, "My, my, I see we have some dust again."

The High Cost of Vacation

My five days off were followed by 6 days 'on'. In the 48 hrs before I left for California I worked 24. And I have worked 52 hours in the week since I have been back. So today, on my day 'off' I am changing beds, doing laundry, cleaning the house, taking Alex to the eye doctor and Tae Kwon Do. I have several other things on my list, but I don't know if I will get much of it done. Tomorrow I work 12 hrs. I'm really not whining, just feeling like I didn't have time to revel in my trip. So here is what I wish my day was like:

Brother-in-Law Day

What happens when it rains in Southern California...

Thankfully we had scheduled Brother-in-Law day. Joe wanted to cancel because of the weather, but he rallied and found a way to entertain us with the help of his able lab assistant Tyler. (I have some good video of this egg sucking science demonstration, but once again I will need assistance to post it.)

Venice Beach

Tattoos---check!

(Sorry, I couldn't figure out how to flip this image. Just tilt your head till I can get home and fix it.) *fixed, <3stasi

Not on the list because it was beyond my wildest expectations:

11. Painting graffiti at Venice Beach

Rose Tenenhier

Maybe we need to travel more often so we get very good at it. We were waiting to board the plane listening carefully so we didn't miss the call to board. They called a few individuals and those needing assistance and first class passengers. Soon we were one of the few people not in line. The only new announcement for boarding I had heard was for Rose Tenenhier. I asked if we had missed something, but Nancy says, No, that is us. And I'm thinking I maybe didn't understand the last name, but none of us is named Rose. Nancy says, No, we are 22, and she points to our boarding passes. So slowly I see 22 is higher than 10 and we are in row 22. Rows Ten and Higher.
And then the engine wouldn't start because an valve was frozen because it was 12 degrees in Pittsburgh. So the pilot called the mechanic in Houston. Imagine that call. Houston, we have a problem. We arrived in Houston and ran the length of the airport, but missed our flight by 2 seconds. The really funny thing about this is that our luggage made the flight.

10 things we might do in CA

1. Surf lessons from the hunky beefcake

2. Buy matching sister outfits (preferably with fish)

3. Sing California dreamin' and Wish We All could be California Girls

4. Get tattoos

5. See famous people everywhere and take papparazzi pictures

6. Soak in the hot tub till our fingers wrinkle

7. Have a party with Meg and Ty's friends.

8. Carry on

9. Fight like sisters

10. Giggle till we pee our pants

Temperature Check

Today's High Mars PA 14 degrees
Today's High Huntinton Beach CA 63 degrees