Is It Wrong That I Want One?

I saw an article last week, saying that these hats were being worn by a lot of people in Greenland in advance of the visit from the Vice-President and the Second Lady. 

Is it wrong that I want one? I don't want America to go away, really. Just the current iteration of leadership, from the top right down to the local level. They really all need to just go away.

*****

Here we are, on the last day of March. I know that Kym's birthday is here, so best wishes! It's always nice to find another March birthday person. 

Of course that means that tomorrow is April 1, aka April Fool's Day. I have my volunteer gig tomorrow morning, so I hope the kitties are not planning a prank for me. 😊 (Though I should probably be more worried about my own kitties at home, to be honest ...)

Have a good rest of the day, and here's hoping that April has good things in store for all of us.

Words for the Weekend

Scrolling through Instagram this morning, I came across this, and thought it was well worth sharing.

Have a good weekend!

Well, I Didn't Mean To Do That ...

Hello there, and happy springtime! I certainly didn't mean to disappear for as long as I did. But when you have two weeks in a row where every day has at least one thing going on that zaps your will to live, you tend to let a lot of things go by the wayside.

Today is the first day in two weeks that I have absolutely nothing going on - no appointments, no obligations, no must-show-up-at-a-certain-time events, and boy is it nice! And I do have something tomorrow, but it is my monthly lunch get-together with my friend Louise, so that doesn't count as part of all that has come before - that's something I'm looking forward to doing!

Anyway, spring has sprung in the garden: 

These little narcissus are a happy surprise for me. A couple of years ago, I bought a small pot of them for Easter, and then once they were finished blooming, planted them in a spot in the garden where I thought they might be happy. And of course within days, the squirrels had dug up the bulbs! But apparently not all of them, because these bloomed unexpectedly, and there are a few others that look like they are trying - so what a nice surprise when I noticed they were there. And it looks like a tulip that was in the same situation is trying to come up as well. Maybe my gardening works better when I assume it's not gonna happen ... 

And my forsythia in the big pot is blooming, which makes me extremely happy! Though I need to figure out how to take care of it better, because it's pretty spindly. I wanted to cut it back last year, but a neighbor said not to, because it would not bloom again. Since she has all kinds of flowers and plants in her garden and is successful, I left it alone. But it's just gangly and spindly, with flowers at the end of the branches only. So time to do some research. (Please feel free to share any info you might have about forsythia - I would appreciate it greatly!)

Of course last night it was in the low 30s, temperature-wise, so I'm not sure how well anything will be doing now ... 

My next project is to get new glasses. I had an eye exam on Monday, and I had taken the glasses with my most recent prescription in them that I had been wearing when I fell in January. One lens got knocked out, and the other terribly scratched. Well, I got a new prescription anyway, so when I handed them over, we realized that not only had a lens popped out, but the frame was broken, and of course not in a way they can repair it. I don't want to give them the frames I'm currently wearing, because then I have no glasses at all - and though the ones I'm wearing have my previous prescription in them, they are better than nothing. So I went to the Warby Parker near us, and found three frames I liked, and brought them home to have The Tim help me decide (they have a "free" try-on program). Then I'll return the ones I won't be using, and drop off the other one at the eye exam place. So theoretically, in two weeks I'll have new glasses with the most recent prescription. Which will not just be nice, but will close out the last part of getting things taken care of after my fall in January. 

And that's all of the news and blathering I can think to share right now. I'm working on laundry today, so I should check on it as I think I heard the buzzer on the washing machine a minute or so ago. 

I hope all of you will have a good day. I'm looking forward to this afternoon, since it is Opening Day for baseball, and the Phillies game will be on TV. It's not the home opener - that's on Monday - but I've been looking forward to seeing how they will do this year. 

Let's hope it's a good season!

Revisiting Some Oldies But Goodies

Hello! Before I write any more, I wanted to thank everyone who sent birthday wishes to Milo the Koodle. It was truly lovely, and I think he had as good of a birthday as he could without his bestie, Pip. But we did our best, and he liked the treats and the playing and the extra attention, and really what else can you ask for, whether or not you are a cat??

The other day, I was remembering when I started this blog. One of the things that was really popular - because blogs were "social media" then - was people thinking of Q&As, answering for themselves and then tagging other bloggers to do the same. It was kinda fun, and you could learn something about people that they might not otherwise have a reason to ever tell you.

So I decided to give one of them a try today. The difference is, I'm not tagging anyone else to do the same. You are more than welcome to if you like, but when I know when I am tagged for anything, I feel obliged to at least consider whether or not I want to "play along" and frankly 99% of the time, I just can't be bothered. So whenever I do one of these posts, if you feel inclined or inspired to also do one, go for it. But trust me, I'm not going to pressure you!

Today we are revisiting:

Ten Things About Me That You May Not Know

1. I did not graduate from high school.

2. I have both a bachelor's degree and a master's degree.

3. I went with my mother and my sisters went to the 1964 World's Fair in New York. My father was there for this work, and so it was our "vacation." The *only* line my mother was willing to wait in was for the Vatican Pavilion. Otherwise, we saw exhibits with either short lines or small ones. You know, like the Bulgarian Pavilion ... We were allowed to get one souvenir each. I opted for a hat with my name embroidered on it. But the guy misheard me, so I ended up with a souvenir that said "Richard" on it.

4. I was born in Wheeling, West Virginia, but have lived in many many places, both as a kid and as an adult. I have lived in Philadelphia for longer than anywhere else, and the house where we live is also the longest I've lived on one house during my life.

5. I was named for my great-grandmother. If I had been a boy, my name would have been Jeremiah Patrick, after my great-grandfather.

6. The first place I clearly remember living was at 162 Park Avenue. Teaneck, New Jersey. 

7.While we lived there, my father brought home my first pet, an white angora kitten he found at his work. I named her Frosty Fitzgerald Arthur (we didn't know at first if she was a boy or a girl, hence "Frosty"; JFK had been elected President, leading to the "Fitzgerald"). She lived to be 18 years old, and her favorite person was always my father; she died about a year after he did.

8. I have only been to a kids-type camp once in my life. It was Girl Scout camp, and a) I hated it, and b) I left early because my hand caught on fire at the camp fire when the girl sitting next to me failed to watch where she was aiming the stick with her s'more on it when she took it out of the fire.

9. I have a fake belly button.

10. I have survived three types of cancer: breast, ovarian, and kidney.

So there you go. The sad thing is, while writing this, I thought of at least five or six additional things, and I'm sure if I went ahead and decided to include those, I'd think of even more! Which is why you're still getting TEN things, no more than that! 😊

A Birthday Post

Things have been rough so far this year, so it's especially nice that we have a little more than a week of various happy things starting today.

Happy Birthday to Milo the Koodle!

This stinker turns 13 years old today! Life is never boring with the Koodle, I have to say. He definitely keeps us on our toes, and keeps the other cats on alert a lot of the time. He's still missing his best Pip buddy (as are all of us), so we are hoping to make this birthday an extra good one for him with lots of attention and treats. 

He is actually a very good boy overall, and cuddly - as long as it's when HE wants to cuddle! He doesn't miss much that happens around here, and every morning he sits right next to me when I have my breakfast. If I'm having cereal or oatmeal, he insists on having the very last bit of milk in the bowl - and if I am not forthcoming with said bowl, he will tap me on the arm with his claws in the event that maybe I have forgotten he's there.🙄

Nothing is as much fun to him as a game of Kitty Tease (the fishing rod with a bit of fabric at the end) - he LOVES playing that! The biggest problem is that he is not happy to share it with anyone else. He'll "catch" it, and then hold it in his iron jaw until something distracts him and I can pull it out so the others can play. 

So we'll have some Kitty Tease time today, and there will be treats. I bought a can of his favorite wet food to split among that cats for his birthday dinner, and I bought him a catnip toy which I'm sure will be the cause of much hilarity for all. I'll stop at a local place and buy a cupcake so we can have a candle and sing "Happy Birthday" tonight. 

We could all use some reason to celebrate. 💖

In My Next Life ...

1. Who are these people?

2. Where are they, and why do they look so content?

3. They are all white - so ... where is this, geographically?

4. Am I the only one who thinks the female patient almost looks like Carmen Miranda, with that plant above her head, looking almost like a hat??

5. Spoiler alert - the person who made this illustration has likely never visited a doctor's office or medical waiting room.

I had an appointment yesterday for my annual mammogram and a breast ultrasound. My appointment for the mammogram was for 9:30 a.m., and the ultrasound was at 10 a.m. I arrived as instructed by 9:15. I got home at 2:30 p.m.

My appointment was in a brand, spanking new, high-end, all-the-bells-and-whistles new building. Previously, I had gone to another building about a block away, and though it was likely about 40 years old, it wasn't an awful place to wait and/or have the appointments. So I was curious to see how the new place was so much better and more wonderful.

By the time I left, I decided that I should become a "patient consultant" to places building new and "better" facilities. Because this one had lots of issues.

Aesthetically, it is fine - new and "modern" looking, but not in an overly offensive way. No one would mistake it for anything other than a 2000s medical building, at least here in the U.S.

You enter into a glass-enclosed atrium. There are upholstered chairs placed in different areas of the lobby, along with the requisite large potted plants. And as you look around, there are kiosks situated along part of one wall, and tucked wayyyyy into a corner is a very small desk console with "Information Desk" on it in barely visible signage. There are three different elevator banks, again with barely visible signage, telling you what elevators go to what floors.

The kiosks are apparently where you initially "check-in." My instructions said to bypass those and head directly to the 4th floor. I was grateful for that, because I could tell that many people trying to use the kiosks (some quite elderly, and some for whom clearly English was not their first language) were having troubles, and there were lines behind them of 4-5 people each, which I'm sure didn't help.

I got to the 4th floor, and for the first time saw a decent sign telling me where to go. However, once there, it was unclear if someone worked there to check you in. I did find that person, behind a screen, and got checked in. 

After waiting a while, my name was called and I was directed to the Changing Room to change into the hospital gown for said procedures. The "lockers" provided to store your clothes, etc., were the size of a cubby at a pre-school. So you were supposed to put your winter coat AND your clothes in there. The person directing me said to bring my purse and any valuables with me, because the locking systems on said lockers didn't work. She vaguely pointed down the hall to the waiting room. And the hospital gown was in fact not a gown, but a cape - I spent an inordinate amount of time looking for something resembling a sleeve until I figured THAT out!

The waiting room as a) tiny, and b) had couches. Only. No individual chairs. Now I don't know about you, but I don't really enjoy sitting on couches with people I dont' know. Plus, couches encourage people to spread themselves and their belongings out, and there was a lot of woman-spreading happening. There was absolutely nothing else in the waiting room - not even a fake plant. And at one point, a couple of people had to stand, because the room was small and there was not any seating left. I was in there for an hour and a half, and let me tell you, I got really tired of just looking at my phone. There weren't even any "paintings" on the wall to stare at senselessly.

Then I got called for the mammogram. Holy crap, that room was HUGE! I am not kidding when I say it was approximately the size of our first floor in our house. And yes, there was lots of equipment, but there was also enough space to host a gathering. 

Then I was sent to another waiting room to wait for the ultrasound. Same set up as the first room. I waited in there for 2 hours. Finally got called to the ultrasound room, which seemed much more reasonable, size-wise. Then sent back to the waiting room to wait for the doctor and get the report from both tests. Another 2 hours. 

Once that was over, I was told to go back to the changing and leave by the "exit door, not the same door you came in when you first arrived." So I wandered down a poorly-marked hallway until I saw a small sign that said "Changing Room." It looked vaguely familiar and fortunately, it was the right place. Then I had to find my way to the exit, which was once again a) circuitous, and b) poorly designated, signage-wise.

When I FINALLY got home, I decided that in my next life, I should set myself up in business as a person who represents "the public" whenever someone is planning a new building. Because this new building may have been bigger, brighter, and contain more/better (?) technology, but it was a disaster as far as design usage was concerned for patients. I was honestly appalled, because the older building I was used to was only frustratingly the same as far as the small, cubby-sized lockers. It was the one thing I had expected to be an improvemenet in the new building.

Once again, I told myself that in a Bridget-centric world, that building could have been so much better. Unlike most of the time, I hope I get one of those surveys they send after an appointment - I have a lot to tell them!

On top of which - I have to go back for another test at the end of the month - GAH! I told The Tim that maybe I should pack a lunch ...