Hangin' at the River

It's been so hot here in Heathenville that, in the interest of self-preservation, we took the kids to the river last night. I've never been swimming in a river before (and I still haven't LOL), but it was nice. We went with friends and had a little barbecue (turned those burgers with a stick since no one thought to bring a spatula). The kids had a fantastic time and Aaron only needed to be rescued once. Within minutes of getting into the water, Aaron had gone out over his head. Mike had to jump in, fully clothed, and save his little behind. He coughed up a little water and Mike asked him if he was okay. "I'm fine. Put me down," Aaron responded. Then he was back in the water, thankfully a little more aware of his limitations. We stayed until dusk and came home to a much cooler house. It's 10:30 am now and the boys are both still sleeping. I'll be surprised if they wake up before 1 today since they were so tired last night.

This Week's Reads

Wow, I had a great reading week. Six books and they were all great. I think my favorite was "Vanilla Ride" by Joe R. Lansdale, simply because it's been so long since there was a new Hap and Leonard book. Yay!

Just a Pretty Picture

My pretty impatiens!

This Week's Reads

Another light reading week for me. Standout this week is "Lust, Loathing and a Little Lip Gloss" by Kyra Davis. In this, the fourth in the Sophie Katz series, Davis borrows a little from the paranormal genre. Excellent read. If you haven't tried the series, start with "Sex, Murder and a Double Latte." Is that a great title or what?

This Week's Reads

Light reading week for me, as I only finished three books. I started about six, but couldn't get into any of the others. Nothing real stellar this week, just some nice reads.

Doctors and Lawyers and Such.......

So, yesterday I had my first appointment with the civilian doctor who will be treating me for my abnormal pap smears (TMI? Don't worry, I'm not getting into details). I arrived at the clinic right on time and was pleasantly surprised. Complimentary valet parking for clinic patients? Why yes, that sounds just fine. Free WiFi in all waiting rooms? Huh. Providence 2, Navy Clinic 0. There wasn't even a single sign threatening death and dismemberment if I didn't turn off my cell phone. In fact, I leisurely checked my email and Facebook on my BlackBerry while waiting for my appointment. I even texted Meircee from the exam room! But why was it necessary to text Meircee from the exam room? Well, it was necessary because I had the need to vent! The Navy clinic conveniently neglected to forward my chart to the new doctor, making it necessary to repeat the procedure I had already had done. No, this procedure is not a fun one, or even a benign one. I was not a happy camper. Providence 2, Navy Clinic -1

When Dr. Wong made his appearance (at the precise time my appointment was scheduled: Providence 3, Navy Clinic -1), I nearly fell over. He was a Doogie Howser, I swear! My first clue should have been his diploma, hanging on the wall. You know, the one that was dated 2002? Heck, my kids are older than this guy's medical degree. What the hell is up with this? I am not supposed to be older than the doctor. Am I? I'm used to being older than the nurses. The corpsmen (aka nurses) at the Navy clinics have always been younger than me, and that includes when I was a twenty-year-old new mom, but the doctors? Oh no. They are supposed to be much, much older than I am. Apparently this middle-age thing is sneaking into all aspects of my life.

My procedure went just fine (fuzzy covers on the stirrups: Providence 4, Navy Clinic -1) and the doctor and his staff were very nice. My only complaint was with the whole weighing-in thing. At the Navy Clinic they just ask me how much I weigh and take my word for it (heh). Here, they asked me to step on the scale. At first I thought it was weighing me in kilograms, because surely that number couldn't be right. It must be blah blah point blah blah. But alas, it was blah blah BLAH point blah. Erg. Providence 3, Navy Clinic -1.

Now I wait two weeks before my follow-up. Dr. Wong will tell me then what treatment is necessary and then he'll perform the procedure (no more Navy Clinic for me-at least for this). I'll get to experience that valet parking a few more times and then hopefully I can be done with doctors (both older and younger than I) for a long, long time.

This Week's Reads

This week's reads included a spectacular memoir by Meredith Norton about her experience having Inflammatory Breast Cancer. Lopsided was funny (think Augusten Burroughs) and touching. Check it out!

At Long Last

In case you hadn't noticed, Heathenville has been on hiatus. That's fancy-talk for "I've been too lazy to post anything." I've been shamed, cajoled and now *forced* to update, so update I will. ;)

The kids are great. Marissah is still glued to the computer, watching old Friends episodes and enchanting us all with her renditions of Linkin Park songs. Apparently she doesn't realize that she only sings louder with the headphones on.

Micah is taking advantage of the fact that he doesn't have to set an alarm every morning by sleeping until noon every day. Yes, noon. This is the kid who once stayed up until 1 am while we were driving back to California and *still was up bright and early at 7 am. Now he's sleeping until noon. And he's not even a teenager yet!

Aaron continues to make us laugh, even when we want to cry. There was an incident over the weekend involving a banana and my kitchen ceiling that I am still too traumatized to speak about, but rest assured, Aaron was the instigator.

Doc, the fat Lab, is still doing what he does best: barking at anything that moves, and that includes the wind and flies outside. He drives me insane, but he sure does play nicely with the kids and they love him to pieces, so I guess we'll keep him. For now.