West Coast Grace

A little humour in the face of falling temperatures...

2011-08-31T21:07:00.001-07:00

Otherwise known as, I need something to laugh about regarding the weather if this rain and cloud mean the end of summer already.

The Official Canadian Temperature Conversion Chart:

50° Fahrenheit (10° C)
Californians shiver uncontrollably.
Canadians plant gardens.

35° Fahrenheit (1.6° C)
Italian cars won't start.
Canadians drive with the windows down and still wear shorts and T-shirts.

32° Fahrenheit (0° C)
American water freezes.
Canadians have the last cookout of the season.

0° Fahrenheit (-17.9 ° C)
New York City landlords finally turn on the heat.
Canadian Girl Guides still sell cookies door-to-door.

-60° Fahrenheit (-51° C)
Santa Claus abandons the North Pole.
Canadians pull down their earflaps.

-109.9° Fahrenheit (-78.5° C)
Carbon dioxide freezes, makes dry ice.
Canadians get frustrated when they can't thaw the keg.

-173° Fahrenheit (-114° C)
Ethyl alcohol freezes.
Canadians get a day off from work to go tobogganing.

-459.67° Fahrenheit (-273.15° C)
Absolute zero; all atomic motion stops.
Canadians start saying "Cold, eh?"

-500° Fahrenheit (-295° C)
Hell freezes over.
The Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup.

Random Things: A List

2011-08-08T20:32:00.000-07:00

1. Hello. I know it's been a while since I've written. I'm not going to count the days because I don't have the time. tempo e denaro folks.

2. M and I celebrated our 7th anniversary last Saturday. We couldn't believe seven years had gone passed when it seemed possibly four years at the most. It has been a good seven years, challenging and wonderful at the same time. I remember the day like it was yesterday. We may have been late coming back from the hairdressers. The bridesmaids dresses may or may not have been closing properly, causing my three visiting aunts from Ontario to scramble after my three attendants to pin their dresses closed. Four or more pairs of black socks might have been borrowed from the pastor (who thankfully lived in a manse next door to the church) because the groom, the groomsmen, and possibly even the ushers did not remember to bring black socks. White socks with black tuxes - so classy. But it was a great day. I remember being nervous before the ceremony but being totally relaxed afterwards - it's done, we're married, now the party can start. I remember being served food and punch by my new father-in-law at the standing reception. Sushi - yum! Photographs, cruising around in a silver El Camino, laughing, enjoying the day. It was exactly the day we had planned out - a fun, relaxing day with eachother and our family and friends. We have been so blessed and are looking forward to many more years to annoy, I mean, love eachother.

3. To celebrate our anniversary, we went to Vancouver for supper and then strolled around the downtown area a bit. It was a beautiful, warm night that has been scarce this summer and we decided to grab a table at a pub right on the sidewalk and have a pint (or two). It was a great place to people watch. A woman walked by wearing acid-washed jeans and a fanny pack. A guy walked by with a bright yellow snake draped over his shoulders (yes it was real). Guess which scared me more? Hint: it wasn't the snake.

4. I love Swagbucks. I get free stuff for doing searches I would normally do for my job. It's awesome.

5. Just as I was working tonight I could not remember how to spell inevitably. It scared me. But then I spelled somatically right. So it's a wash. Phew, I'm okay.

6. My oldest baby A, turns 4 (four!) this Thursday. I'm in denial. I can't believe it has been four years. Where has the time gone? What a little pint-sized, fireball of blessing she has been. One is for sure - our life will never be boring.

6. I went to see The Wiggles with A as a birthday present. It was so much fun. I will be singing "Hot Potato, Hot Potato" the whole rest of the week but it was worth it. She had a blast singing and dancing. However, I have to say that riding the Sky Train made a bigger impression on her than seeing Anthony, Murray, Sam, and Captain Feathersword live on stage.

7. I have just said goodbye to someone I've spent a lot of time with the past few months and have known for almost a decade. It was hard shutting the book on that friendship, but I know I'll see him and his friends again, probably not for a while. Other old friends are clamouring for attention and I've been neglecting them and the new friends I could possibly make. I am talking, of course, of Harry Potter. The final movie came out a few weeks ago but I wanted to read the series over before I saw it. It was a bittersweet moment when I read the final page of the final book, knowing that the last movie was waiting for me to see it. And then what? I have a long relationship with Harry Potter. I started reading the series for a university class on Children's Literature. The books had been out before then and my sister loved them but I dismissed them as a fad. Then I was assigned to read the third book for my class. I decided to read the first two as well, to get the whole story. I was hooked by the first line. Since then, every year or so there has been the delicious, delightful anticipation of a new movie or book. But now that is gone and I am a bit sad. I felt the same way after finishing reading the whole The Lord of the Rings books consecutively. I felt like I was saying goodbye to old friends, who I spent a lot of time with (albeit procrastinating studying for finals). Anyways, it's time to move on and so I'm looking for some recommendations.

8. Costco had Christmas decorations in their store on Monday. Seems like it gets earlier and earlier every year. Pretty soon the stores will just leave them up all year round.

9. I don't really have anything important to say in #9. I just didn't feel like ending at #8. My younger but taller sister is getting married in 10 days. Things are busy but exciting. You won't see me for a while, but hopefully I'll be back before September. Happy August!

Five MInute Friday - Wonder

2011-06-24T17:31:00.000-07:00

This is from the website: The Gypsy Mama. It's called 5 Minute Friday and the rules are to write about the theme (this week is Wonder). But you're only allowed five minutes.

I thought it might be a good way to get some regular writing. So here goes:

Frank Sinatra sang a song about being "Young at Heart".

At one point in my life that was my goal, to never lose that wide-eyed outlook on the world. Somehow though, in the midst of adult concerns like mortgages, taxes, fire insurance, housekeeping, politics, the economy, and most of all striving to be a good mom that got lost. I am slowly trying to find it again.

For example, one morning this week as we were eating breakfast, a blue jay decided to duke it out with two robins for the worm-hunting rights in our garden. He was an arrogant fellow, bright blue body contrasting with black crowned head twisting and turning and exerting his rights. The robins, seemingly with the attitude of seeing it all before, gave ground. Only to return when the jay flew off after a matter of minutes, not content to stay in one spot.

I could have turned my back on this spectacle in order to concentrate on getting breakfast into my two little girls, doing dishes, starting the tidy up. All the things that fit into the schedule and "need" to get done. But I didn't. Instead, I dragged my chair to the window so A could see and we watched the little drama play out between these creatures. She was enthralled. The colours, the bobbing heads, the pecking beaks, the black intelligent eyes, the flutter of wings. I experienced the wonder with her, through her eyes.

I was glad that I ignored the "should do" and took a moment for wonder.

The wonder of a creation that takes my breath away with its beauty.

The wonder of the Creator who never ceases to amaze me with His love and grace.

My Favourite Things Monday: Books/Series

2011-05-17T21:01:00.000-07:00

My Favourite Things Monday, on a Tuesday - do you see the trend here?

One might wonder how I find time to read, let alone re-read books, with two kids and a full-time job and a part-time job. But I do. I have to. It's a compulsion. I'm the kind of person who has at least two if not three books going at the same time. If I have three books on the go, one of them will be a cookbook. One is usually a fiction and the other is usually nonfiction. I go through the fiction faster than the nonfiction choice, but I like to have variety. And I usually like to leave my various books lying open all the around the house. I like it that way, but M doesn't. I don't really get it.

This week's theme is books that we like to reread. Ever since I had to read Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban for a university course, I fell in love the whole series. Almost fanatically. As in pre-ordering the books months before they came out. Staying up until the wee small hours in the morning, or sometimes not at all, because I couldn't put the book down. The seventh book came out a few years ago, and the final movie is due this summer. I really don't know what I'm going to do with myself, now that all things HP are finished.

Sigh.

I think I can manage to find something to divert myself from my pain and nostalgia.

As in re-reading the series again. For the nth time.

However, there are other diversions. I've discovered these great books called The Pink Carnation series. Regency era romantic spy suspense combines with a little Bridget Jones or Becky Bloomwood. The modern-day heroine is a history graduate student doing research in England. It's not a huge stretch to see why I like this.

I also return to Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility or the lesser known Persuasion once in awhile. Pretty much anything in the historical or historical fiction category will catch my attention. Other authors I like are Philippa Gregory or Micheal Phillips (although he can be very pedantic at times).

My Favourite Things Monday: Spring

2011-05-10T20:28:00.000-07:00

After a hiatus from MFTM, here it is again, with an appropriate theme: Spring.

My friend here wrote about Spring blossoms. And while I love the explosion of colour that is taking place, with some tulips blooming as big as baseballs, my favourite part of Spring this year has been the ability to do this:

It has been a long, cold, wet, rainy Spring here on the West Coast. Apparently, we can blame this on La Nina. M and I were talking just the other day about how warmer it felt last year in February, when we went to Vancouver to check out the Olympics, than it was last Saturday, attending a very drizzly May wedding.

But there have been days, few and far between, where the sun has teased us for an afternoon, as if to assure that he's still there, although being coy. And so, making hay while the sun shines (always think of Pa Ingalls when this phrase comes to mind), I gather my laundry and out I go.

As usual, I have company in the form of my two little girls who have been cooped up way too much this rainy season. They follow me like eager puppies being let out of the kennel, almost tripping over my feet or their own. I let them run around the deck while I hang the clothes up. They are sad to go back in when I'm done. I tell them we'll play outside later when it has warmed up a little.

If it hasn't starting raining by the afternoon.

Motherhood Manifesto: Because ALL Moms are Super

2011-05-07T20:04:00.000-07:00

Because ALL Moms are Super

This entry has been a long time in the writing. A lot of different ideas, words, conversations, etc. have been brewing in my mind for a few months. I thought it would be fitting for them all to come together on this day (commercially) set aside to celebrate motherhood.

It all started off with a short tangent during Tuesday Morning Bible Study early on in the new year.

As a side note, I love the ladies that gather together on Tuesday mornings. We are at different stages of life as women, wives, and mothers and yet we all come as Daughters of a King - Who loves us immensely and unconditionally. I love being able to share “war stories” with other mothers of young children. Often, while sharing a story, I am able to laugh at an experience that had originally stressed me out. It is good to learn to laugh and perhaps not take myself so seriously. I also deeply appreciate the wisdom that comes from women whose children are older – who have been there – and are generous with their encouragement and kind in their wisdom. Truly, a blessing.

Anyways, one morning we went on a tangent and someone shared how sometimes she felt inadequate when she read on Facebook how someone she knew had kids bathed, ran a mile, baked bread, washed the clothes, etc., fill in the blanks... and it was only 10 in the morning.

I am rewriting what she said but the gist is the same. And we all are prey to it. The comparison. The how-do-I-measure-up? The I’m-still-in-my-pajamas-at-10-so-there-must-be-something-wrong-with-me. The pressure. More often than not it is self induced.

Nowadays, it is not enough to be Mom or a Stay at Home Mom. (note that I didn’t say “just a Mom”. Really. There is no such thing.)

Perfection is required. Or at least the allusion of perfection. Our hair: coiffed. Our clothes: stylish, clean (as in free from those shoulder mucous swipes or the greasy hand prints at thigh height). Our kids: neat, tidy, and presentable at all times (never mind the runny noses or the dirty knees or the scraggly hair coming out of the bows). We bring our kids to play dates two times a week as well as music groups and gymnastics We do this, all the while keeping our house sparkling and cooking healthy meals for our family. And, if that’s not enough, we might even be a WAHM (Work At Home Mom – which is a misnomer really, because what Mom doesn’t work?) and have some sort of cottage industry going one where we make boutique _____ (insert craft here) and sell it on Etsy or eBay. We wake up at 6 am to work out, thereby keeping our firm form, even after having two or three kids.

Am I exaggerating? Is anyone else laughing at this unattainable idea of perfection that is being foisted on us women? Does anyone else ask Who are we being perfect for? or Why the pretense?

This Mothers Day, I’d like to take a stand against the “SuperMom syndrome” that is so prevalent and pressuring. I ask you to do the same. We need to come together and agree to stop doing this to each other. We need to agree to be real with what life is like and accept ourselves and each other and life without comparison or worry and with love, grace, and humour – even in the face of snot swipes on sleeves or spit up on shoulders or being late (yet again). Let’s agree to stop playing the perfection game.

We have been called by God to be mothers and caretakers of His little ones. It’s a daunting and scary and challenging task. It sometimes – or often – feels undoable. But we have hope. He calls and also equips. He is always with us. He forgives our shortcomings. He is the ultimate Encourager through His Word. We “can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.”

So let us agree to encourage each other in this shared calling and spur one another on with love and kindness and a listening ear. Let us share our joy on the days when we do feel like a “supermom” and the laundry and the baking and the cleaning does get done in record time. Perhaps not by 10, but by the end of day. Let’s share laughter (and learn to laugh) at the days where, when we’ve been up with crying babies half the night, we are still in our PJs at 10 and the house doesn’t get too much attention that day. Those are often the days when Murphy’s law applies and someone unexpectedly shows up. Let’s realize that being a mother or housewife means more than a clean house and some days you just want to spend the whole time playing with your children. Let’s all recognize and be able to openly acknowledge that we don’t have it all together all the time.

Being a mother is busy and dirty and noisy and seemingly goes from one diaper change to the next. It is wiping noses and cleaning up spills and vacuuming up cheerios and fish crackers every day.

Being a mother is smiles and hugs and songs and giggles and love and joy and excitement and amazement. It is a calling. It is a blessing. When you’re a Mom, every day is Mother’s Day, whether Hallmark says so or not.

Medical Word of the Day: Xanthelasma

2011-03-23T09:49:00.000-07:00

Xanthelasma: also called an xanthoma, is a fatty skin growth. It looks like a sore or bump under the skin. It's usually flat, soft to the touch, and yellow in color. It has sharp, distinct edges. They are usually more common in people with high blood lipids (or fats). Comes from the Greek word xanthos for yellow.

Medical Word of the Day: Cardiac tamponade

2011-03-09T21:10:00.000-08:00

Cardiac tamponade: the compression of the heart that occurs when blood or fluid builds up in the space between the myocardium (heart muscle) and the pericardium (outer covering sac of the heart). Some symptoms include anxiety or restlessness, chest pain, rapid breathing or difficulty breathing.

It is not to be confused with tapenade, which is a yummy dip made from olives. I get mixed up all the time. It's a good thing I'm not a doctor.

old words, same meaning

2011-02-22T21:37:00.000-08:00

Give us this day our daily bread... I needed a reminder of these words...

We recently finished a sermon series on the Lord's Prayer in our church. Even though I've heard and said those words countless number of times during my life they took on new meaning the past few months.

One particular phrase persists in staying at the forefront of my mind: Give us this day our daily bread.

The word bread is important, my pastor said. Jesus was teaching us to pray for what we needed for life, for living, for this day.

Jesus wasn't teaching us, Give us this day our daily dessert.

Food is a big deal in our house these days as Anneka is learning to eat and appreciate solids. She loves sweet potatoes and beans; peas are definitely not her favourite. Homemade applesauce from Grandma is also a big hit. Cheerios give her a chance to relieve some teething pain by chomping on something hard and also practice that important hand-eye coordination... Her gastronomic adventures are just beginning.

The other day my Dad told us about a conversation he had with a man who had traveled to Costa Rica... he spoke about a man whose house consisted of poles in the ground with bits of tin attached on top like an awning and people who were thankful for one meal a day...

I face Anneka as she sits in her high chair, little mouth open wide for food like a baby bird's. As I try to feed her as cleanly as possible (she is learning how to eat, but I, as first-time mom, am also learning how to feed her) I realise how blessed we are. Meals are not gourmet at our house, but we never have to worry where our next meal will come from. Our house is not as fancy or as done-up or as colour-coordinated as we might like and our furniture might be just on the good side of shabby, but we don't have to worry about the cold and the rain...

It is hard not to be swept up in the rush for that perfect pillow or paint chip... or to think how much better our house will look if we could afford to put new carpet in or if I could just get those fabulous candles... So much importance is put on things and appearances that don't mean anything.

As Anneka finishes her food and smiles up at me with a carrot-coloured grin I know that God not only cares for me and gives me and my loved ones what we need for each and every day, He is also feasting me with dessert...

originally posted in March 2008 here

ticking away

2011-02-15T15:50:00.000-08:00

So I had these great plans (even to the point of making it a Resolution) of applying myself more diligently to my writing and my blog. Work on My Great First Novel has been put on the backburner as I tend to my young children and my hard-working husband. As any parent of young children (and maybe not-so-young children) knows, one usually does not have the energy even to brew a refreshing cup of tea (or pour a nice glass of wine, I'm just saying...) in the evening, let alone do anything that smacks of extra exertion. Perhaps a folding of an article of laundry or two, but any real work takes supreme, mind-over-matter effort.

But I am okay with that. Life right now centres around two little girls who giggle and smile and cry and laugh and bug each other and me and make life anything but boring. Writing can wait; first words or smiles or steps or sentences cannot. Besides, ideas come to me at all hours of the day or night (especially when insomnia comes to call) and those all get jotted down, in the view that someday they
might become a sentence or paragraph of something grander. My intention was to somehow fit it all in. If I couldn't blog every day, I was going to aim for every other day or perhaps twice a week. To get some juices flowing if only a little faster than molasses in winter.

As you can see, since January, that has not happened. We have not, as you might have worried (and I know you were worried), fallen off the planet. It's just that the busy-ness of life in the West Coast Grace household stepped up a notch since M went back to school the first week of January. Since I'm the only one working, that's what I've been doing more of... working. M gets home in the afternoon and that's when I place myself in front of my computer, valiantly fight against the temptation of Facebook and email and all the other blogs I follow, and work. My laundry is suffering. As I type, there are at least three baskets full waiting to be folded and one more in the dryer. I figure it's okay as long as we all have clean clothes. We're down to the one-month-more mark and I will be happy when it's over.

So rest assured, it's not abandoned just postponed. At least until the ides of March, which will hopefully be more beneficial for us than for Caesar. (Hey, it's my 100th post, if I can't get away with a corny literary allusion here, when can I?)

Mother of a Sale - Fuzzibunz!

2011-02-07T17:43:00.000-08:00

I'm sharing this because I love this site and I get a chance to test out and review some cloth diapers!

Medical Word of the Day: cryptic tonsillitis

2011-01-18T20:10:00.000-08:00

Cryptic tonsillitis: the tonsils contain many crevices called "crypts" and in some people, these tonsilar crevices become full of white debris that has a foul odor; this debris is made up of bacteria, food particles, dried mucus and dead white cells. This can lead to halitosis (or bad breath). The debris is referred to as tonsil stones or a "tonsillolith".

Occasionally in some people a low-grade sore throat will accompany the presence of tonsillolith. Cryptic tonsillitis will come and go, although the removal of the tonsils altogether is the only way for a real, longterm cure.

And you thought just plain old tonsillitis was bad...

My Favourite Things Monday

2011-01-10T18:13:00.000-08:00

This week's theme is jewelery. Perhaps a better title would be "Favourite jewelery I have lost and have not found back." I have a couple of those. For example, a pair of gold twirly earrings that M had given me for my birthday. Lost for good last year under a foot of snow somewhere in Telkwa, BC. Another pair of gold earrings I got for Christmas from my father-in-law before he was my father-in-law are lying somewhere at the Vancouver Aquarium. I like to think that Milo the sea otter found it somehow and is keeping it as a toy. Makes me feel a little bit better about losing them.

Since it's too late for Christmas, guess what I'll be asking for my birthday this year?

it's a wonderful life: a list

2011-01-10T15:53:00.000-08:00

1. I watched It's a Wonderful Life for the first time in my life this past holiday season. It was wonderful (sorry for that). It struck me as kind of A Christmas Carol in reverse. Whereas Scrooge needs a hard push by the ghosts to get him to see the errors of his ways, George Bailey needs a nudge to see the value of a life lived generously, a life lived out of love for others. It was a wonderful (there it is again!) way to take a break from the wonderful busy-ness and craziness of our holiday season.

2. Big White. We started off our holidays with a quick trip to Big White with some friends. What a great visit. The men skied. The women talked like only good friends can and relaxed while the kids played and entertained each other. When a couple of good, old friends get together, it always feels like a holiday. And when a weekend away feels like a week-long holiday, it's even better.

3. Playing tourist in my own backyard. I love it when out of town guests come and I get to see my neck of the woods through new eyes. Although the new eyes still viewed the Olympic torch as an eyesore. Robson Street, Granville Island, Tsunami Sushi, the Aquarium... Vancouver is a wonderful city, but abnormally cold... Baby E spent the day at Granville Island being bundled up as we trundled along. A couldn't get enough of the whales, otters, Nemo fish, dolphins, sharks, turtles, sea horses, birds.... she was talking about them for weeks afterwards. I see National Geographic in her future...

4. I mentioned family. We had hosts of out of town guests here in BC for Christmas and New Years. It was busy. It was fun. We stayed out way too late. We ate way too much good food. And then we got sick and it wasn't so fun anymore. But then we all got better and went right back at it. We got an extended holiday mode because some family didn't leave until the week after New Years. It took us a week to recover, which is the reason you're reading this now instead of before.

5. I feel like this list needs five items. It cannot be complete without a number five. Here's my wish to you for a wonderful, grace-full 2011!

Medical Word of the Day: Caliectasis

2011-01-08T18:55:00.000-08:00

Caliectasis: dilation of the calices (single calyx), usually due to obstruction or infection.

Calices is the plural of calyx. A calyx is a cuplike division of the renal pelvis. For a little bit of etymology, the word calyx comes from the Latin word for cup.

My Favourite Things Monday (on a Tuesday)

2010-12-21T20:30:00.000-08:00

This week's theme was favourite kitchen gadget. I have two that I dearly love. I may not use them all the time, but when I use them, I feel better about the task at hand.

The first is a grapefruit knife. We have become reacquainted over the past few months as the Summer and Fall fruits have slowly ebbed in freshness and availability. With Winter comes the grapefruit and this curved knife makes eating it all the easier because not only can you separate the fruit from the outer rind, you can also cut the segments into separate pieces. Genius. The job becomes that much more fun if the grapefruit is exceptionally juicy. Breakfast!

Mine is not exactly like this because I ordered my a long time ago from Pampered Chef, but apparently they don't cell them anymore.

My other favourite is this:

I have three of these in varying sizes ranging from medium to extra large. They are real wood. They are made in France. They are a good handful. They make me feel like a real chef when I'm cooking. Because the closest thing to a real chef I'm going to get right now is only just to feel like one. Again, mine are not exactly like this one. I ordered mine a couple of years ago from Victorian Epicure and they don't sell them anymore. I may just cry if any of mine break and I can't find a suitable replacement.

If you're wondering why I wasn't enterprising enough to take pictures of my own things and post them on here - I have a baby and a preschooler and I work and it's Christmas and I haven't even downloaded the family picture I'm going to use for my Christmas card yet. Meaning I haven't even sent out cards yet.

But I still have 3 more days. I should be fine.

Photos courtesy of Chef Tools Online

when 3 become 4: get me to the church on time

2010-12-09T11:23:00.000-08:00

Certainly, for most people, Baby #1 is a big adjustment. The newness. The change. This Other Person to care for. Life becomes very different. But really, after a while, you realise that Baby #1 doesn't really cramp his/her parents' style too much. If you want to go out to a friend's house on a Friday night, just take her along and put her to bed there. Pack and plays are a mother's (and a father's) best friend sometimes. The best invention ever, if you ask me. Even better than sliced bread (because I've mastered the art of slicing my own). For us, getting ready to go out, to church for example, only required an extra 45 minutes in the morning, feeding time included.

It's a whole different game when 3 become 4. You would think that with 2 parents and 2 kids it's easy to divide and conquer. And usually it works out that way, with the baby being the easy one - feeding, dressing, napping, transferring to car seat, leaving. Done.

It looks so good, so easy, on the page. But it's exactly when it looks and feels like it's going good that suddenly it just doesn't.

You're all ready to walk out the door and Baby E has a diaper blowout or a massive spewing spit up. So much for the groceries.

Or all 4 of you are sitting the car, dressed in Sunday best, on time for once, and the car won't start. Because someone, and we're not mentioning any names here, bumped the back hatch light on while heaving the buggy into the car the previous day, after a walk in the park. So it stayed on all night. So of course the battery is dead. So much for church.

Or you're putting your daughter's shoes and suddenly there's a puddle on the stairs. "Mommy, I peed." No, really. So much for being at Grandma's on time.

You see where I'm going with this.

One lesson I have yet to learn well is that when life throws those OOPS moments at you, there's only one thing to do (only one thing you can do, really): laugh. My tendency is to stress over it. I tend to take life and myself just a little too seriously. But I have come to realise that sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you just can't get to church, or the grocery store, or the park, or so-and-so's house, on time because kids do pee and puke and cry and cars do break down or batteries die at the most inopportune moments. There will come a time when I will probably be able to get to places on time because I won't have shoes to tie, coats to zip, tears to dry, or accidents or spills to clean up... and I know that I will miss it.

Medical Word of the Day: keratocanthoma

2010-12-07T15:33:00.000-08:00

keratocanthoma: are rapidly growing, red, dome-shaped bumps (papules/nodules) with central craters. Occasionally, these will disappear spontaneously. They are often treated to avoid further involvement or destruction of underlying tissue. They are of concern because of the similarity to squamous cell cancer.

(from the Greek kerat - meaning horn.)

medical word of the day: proptosis

2010-12-07T15:05:00.000-08:00

Proptosis: the abnormal protrusion (bulging out) of one or both eyeballs; this could be an indication of something serious.

My Favourite Things Monday

2010-12-07T14:38:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to think of ways to keep me blogging in ways other than regular updates of Medical Word of the Day. Although it helps me remember odd medical words and could provide some interest to other logophiles out there, I wanted something a little more personal to write about. My friend Thelma started this weekly entry about some of her favourite things. This could be fun.

This week's entry was a favourite spice. Mine is Bay Leaves. I love the name in French - feuille de laurier. Makes me think of the name Laura and former prime minister Wilfrid Laurier (yes I am an unapologetic history geek). I love the scent and I love the taste. But most of all I love this new recipe I discovered in an old file of mine where it calls for bay leaves that have been crushed and sprinkled over chicken as it braising. The full beauty and richness of bay leaves is fully released when you do this, in a way that dropping a few leaves in a pot of soup or spaghetti sauce does not. Delicious.

And yes, I know I posted this on a Tuesday, but really, time goes by fast enough already, are you going to quibble about a day?

You can't HANDLE the thirsty!

2010-11-22T22:00:00.000-08:00

Further to my last post (see below). I felt the need to add and clarify a few points. I hope you read The Pioneer Woman's ever-so funny post. If you haven't go and read it, you won't understand this next bit.

The very next day after reading this, I was determined to try it out. When A whined that she was thirsty, I chuckled inwardly at the thought of belting out "You can't HANDLE the thirsty!"

I decided to try it out and it didn't go so well. For the record, I did NOT yell it out Jack Nicholson style, but A still looked at me as if I was going crazy and almost started crying.

I quickly told her I was just joking around (insert feeble hahaha here)and meekly got her some apple juice. Perhaps we have to wait until she's a little older to try it again.

Also, I quoted this:

"A subperiosteal dissection was carried out on both the buccal and medial aspects of the ramus."

And I said I didn't understand it. That's not quite true. As Greek as it might seem to most people, it's actually Latin and pretty easy to break it down. Let's do a little etymology, shall we?

First of all: subperiosteal. Sub means below so you could take this to mean below the periosteum. If that still doesn't help you, we take it further: Os is the Latin word/combining form for bone, peri means around or surrounding...

So periostem is a membrane that lines (i.e. surrounds) the outer surface of all bones. It goes on the say that Endosteum is a membrane that lines the inner surface of bones.

Buccal is cheek. The ramus is the posterior part of the mandible (jaw bone).

So the above sentence, which would take place in a jaw reconstruction surgery, (essentially) means: the doctor dissected or cut down to below the level of the membrane surrounding the posterior part of the jaw bone on the cheek side of the bone as well as the middle side of the bone.

To me, the first sentence sounds easier and more concise. If the second sentence still sounds like Greek or Latin to you, it is good that you are not the one transcribing important medical documents.

You can't HANDLE this!

2010-11-17T21:38:00.000-08:00

I don't usually do this, but this made me literally laugh out loud. Not a simple, vapid LOL... but a serious, hysterical, outright guffaw. I'm supposed to be working right now but needed a break from dictating a boring dental procedure and this was just the pick-me-up I needed.

I went from this:

"A subperiosteal dissection was carried out on both the buccal and medial aspects of the ramus."

Did you understand any of that? Neither did I. But I get paid to type out stuff like that. Sometimes you get lucky and get a surgery where some guy swallowed his dentures and they caused a bowel obstruction. But not today.

To this:

You Can't HANDLE the Homeschooling!

Please read this post from my new favourite: The Pioneer Woman.

You will love it. Trust me.

Lest We Forget...

2010-11-11T15:51:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to share two of my favourite war time poems...

In Flanders Fields,
Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

DULCE ET DECORUM EST
Wilfrid Own

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.
Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime. . .
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.

when 3 become 4: get me to the church on time

2010-11-07T20:32:00.000-08:00

medical word of the day: keratoacanthoma

2010-09-29T22:02:00.003-07:00

when 3 become 4: in the wee small hours of the morning

2010-08-31T19:59:00.000-07:00

A has recently dropped her naps. I was dreading this as some sort of catastrophic event in her short little life - Mt. St. Helen's-sized emotional eruptions due to tiredness at 4 in the afternoon. We have had some of those episodes and short of giving her a nap at that late hour, a nice calm Baby Einstein dvd (just music and animals) is a lifesaver.

Because on the days that I have caved in and given her a nap, not only does she stay up and part-ay in her room until 9:00 at night she gets up at 3:00 IN THE MORNING.

It's exhausting.

To say the least.

One night I heard her crying and I got up. We've been trying out having her sleep without pull-ups, which is a big step in the whole potty training journey. The first week when she whined during the night, it usually meant she had to go or had had a bit of an accident. I went in to check her and perhaps take her to the bathroom and change her pajamas. She usually went right back to sleep after that, which is very good for Mom and Dad who need their sleep as much as anyone does to stay chipper and cheerful.

Not so this night.

You would think a dark, somewhat chilly house at 3 am would discourage a small child from wandering the halls. Not so our undaunted daughter. What does she do if it's dark? She drags the piano stool all the way down the hall in order to turn on the big hall light!

I still wasn't in deep sleep from getting up with her previously. I had left our door open and was awakened by this bright light streaming into our room. What was going on out there?

Me: What are you doing?
A: Turning on the light.
Me: Why?
A: It's dark outside.
Me: It's still night time, of course it's dark out. You're supposed to be in bed!
A: I want to play toys. I can't see them. I need the light on. (sidenote: A can talk very well, in full sentences. She actually said, I can't see them. I need the light on.)
Me (very tired and grumpy to the point of being monosyllabic): No. No light. Bed time. Now.

It took me a little longer to get back to sleep that time. We had a lazy morning that day, perhaps with a little more coffee and a little more Diego than is our wont. That's what's needed when you're working on a few hours of sleep and you feel like it's the wee small hours of the morning when it's the full sunshine of the middle of the day,

Medical Word of the Day: Epicanthus

2010-08-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

Epicanthus: a vertical fold of skin on either side of the nose (or in other words, the inner corner of each of the eyes), sometimes covering the inner canthus; a normal characteristic in persons of certain races, but anomalous in others (apparently it is hereditary in Asian people and is of no medical significance.) It is also called the epicanthal fold.

Medical Word of the Day: Blepharochalasis

2010-08-13T22:03:00.000-07:00

Blepharochalasis: a rare syndrome consisting of recurrent bouts of upper eyelid edema associated with thinning, stretching, and fine wrinkling of the involved skin. The lower eyelids are not commonly involved. These episodes often result in eyelid skin redundancy (i.e. your have way too much skin on your upper eyelids, and they sag).

Operation required: Blepharoplasty (repair [plasty] of eyelid [blepharo]).

They do a pinch test to make sure they are taking the maximum amount of skin they can, while still allowing your eyelid to close!

when 3 become 4: back to the beginning

2010-06-07T21:47:00.000-07:00

When 3 become 4.

And move into a new house.

All in the same week.

It's an understatement to write that things got a little crazy.

Little E was born at a trim 6 lbs. 15 oz. at 12:30 in the afternoon on Monday, January 25, 2010. She was the smallest and cutest little thing I'd ever seen. Whereas A was fitting into 3 month onesies a week after she was born, I actually had to go out and buy tiny newborn onesies to fit my new little girlie.

That Friday, only 4 days later, we moved into our new house! All week, while A stayed at her grandparent's house and I reveled in E's newborn cuteness, M was busy packing, moving, cleaning, organizing, etc. and building a new storage room in our new place.

We spent our first night there on Friday and the next day A came home to a new house and a new baby sister all in one swoop.

The next few months were busy, almost a blur, so say the least. So many things were going on at once: minor house renos, more unpacking and organizing, getting used to a new baby, getting used to having two little ones, having an older child adjust to a new sibling and all that entailed....

E is four months old now, so we've been in our house for four months. It seems like we're finally coming up for air after a long, grueling swim. We're poking our heads above the surface of the water and saying to ourselves: Wow, things are getting done, rooms are painted, gardens are barkmulched, vegetables are planted, and things are slowly making their way to their rightful places (maybe even after several temporary ones).

And now that the weird rainy May weather has passed (it is the West Coat after all), and the sun seems to be smiling on a sunny June, sitting on our deck and looking over our nice, big, green backyard hearing A play there, it feels pretty darn good.

It's about time

2010-06-07T20:16:00.000-07:00

It's been four months since little E was born and we moved (all in the same week, I might add) and four months since my last post.

I was visiting a friend's blog and she has this tool that shows how long it's been since the blogs that she follows has been updated. Mine said four months. I hadn't realised it had been that long. Of course, I know my little E is four months old now (and a most adorable four-month-old babe she is) but somehow baby time and normal time didn't seem to be going at the same rate.

The point of this is to announce my return to bloggerworld and a new blog column: when 3 become 4, adventures of a busy life of a family of 4!

an abrupt end

2010-01-22T12:17:00.000-08:00

... to a love affair that should have ended a long time ago...

Read on a box of McChicken portions:

Breaded seasoned chicken meat and skin, comminuted and formed - must be cooked.

I find this excerpt is disturbing on several levels:

1. "Meat and skin" - I think that if it was all-white breast meat they would want that to be known. Obviously, it is not. There are many parts of poultry anatomy that can be classified as meat. I, for one, do want to guess which parts are in my "McChicken portion". Also, the question of How much meat and how much skin? comes to mind.

2. "Comminuted" - broken or crushed into small pieces. Another definition is crushed and pulverized. I had never come across this word until I became an MT and it was used in the phrase "comminuted fracture": fracture in which the bone is splintered or crushed. Somehow, a comminuted fracture sounds better than comminuted chicken meat and skin. But it gets better.

3. "Formed" - after the chicken meat and skin is crushed and pulverized into small pieces (probably to keep people from guessing the mystery chicken anatomy meats and the proportion of skin and meat) it is then formed into patties. Yum, yum.

I think I need to watch "Supersize Me" again after this baby comes. When I'm pregnant, I crave McDonald's burgers and fries like an newbie ex-smoker craving a Marlboro. When I need it and ask for it, that's a cue that my husband should have read my mind 5 minutes ago, gone out to get it, and I should have it in my hands right now to enjoy it.

If we hadn't been moving, and if M hadn't gone to McD's to get boxes, I would have never have read the instructions and ingredients that were on the McChicken portion box. Now, I can't get the phrase out of my head. It plays like a broken record on a turntable, over and over again... (chicken meat and skin, comminuted and formed)

It is a small blessing that I've never craved a McChicken portion sandwich, but it begs the question of what their hamburgers are made of. I don't think we got that box. Needless to say that one phrase (let's have it again in case you forgot it: chicken meat and skin, comminuted and formed) has proven the sudden death sentence for a pregnancy-driven love affair that should not have even started.

a rose by any other name...

2009-12-06T20:34:00.000-08:00

Juliet was talking about the simple fact that Romeo was only her enemy because of his last name... if he was a Fitzgerald her Daddy wouldn't have a problem... But would we really have as much love for Romeo had he been named Hubert? "Wherefore art thou Hubert" just doesn't have the same ring.

Shakespeare knew what he was about when he was writing the names for his characters... which just goes to show you how important it is to pick the right name for your child.

I have always had the conviction that the name you give your child sets him/her up for life... A name should have a meaning, whether by naming after a loved one or an important historical figure or just the meaning of the name itself. I was almost a Pamela (inward shudder... and apologies to those bearing that name)... thankfully, Diana was a family name and my parents chose to call me that.

Baby #2 is on the way and M and I find ourselves in the same boat as with Annie - trying to find a suitable name. And as usual, we are finding it very difficult. I took a book out of the library entitled 10,000 Baby Names. We didn't find any we liked. You would think this would be an easy task, given that we both agree that we like more traditional names and veer away from the trendy, popular names. It's not as if I'm at Anastasia and he's at Jane, so one would think the gap between us is very narrow. It seems a veritable chasm.

And since I became a Medical Transcriptionist, a whole host of names have just dropped from being options. Certain medical terms that I hear daily sound the same as personal names. Colin makes me think of colon. Brady makes me think of bradycardia (slow heartbeat). Melena is black, tarry stool. Ainsley just sounds too close to anus. I apologise if you or any loved ones have the names above or ones similar in sound or spelling. This is just me. I'm sure each specialty, from engineering to literature has its own words or names that become taboo. For instance, those knowing their Bible stories well (and even those who don't) would not willingly sentence their dear daughter to life with the name Delilah, no matter how beautifully it might roll off the tongue. I would never name my daughter Morgan ever since I took a literature course on the King Arthur stories; three months of hearing how maligned Morgan of the Fairies is as a literary character will turn you off of that name, no matter much how much you might have liked it before. And I did. It was at the top of my list for girls names before then, but now it's just ruined for me.

So, what's in a name? Plenty, if you're an over-analyzer like me. I happen to agree with another literary character who said something to the effect that if a rose was named something dreadful like a skunk cabbage, it wouldn't smell as sweet...

Medical Word of the Day: dacryocystorhinostomy

2009-11-25T13:44:00.001-08:00

Dacryocystorhinostomy: surgical creation of a passage for drainage between the lacrimal sac and the nasal cavity; used to treat patients diagnosed with lacrimal sac or nasolacrimal duct obstruction; this can be caused by chronic stenosis of the nasolacrimal duct and can be congenital or acquired. Obstruction of the nasolacrimal dcut is common but is not a serious condition.

Lest we forget...

2009-11-11T08:38:00.000-08:00

Dulce et Decorum Est

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped5 Five-Nines that dropped behind.

Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . .
Dim, through the misty panes10 and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.

Wilfred Owen, March 1918

Medical Word of the Day: navicular

2009-11-04T21:41:00.000-08:00

navicular: one of the bones on the top of the foot. Athletes are particularly susceptible to fractures of the navicular bone but a navicular fracture can also be caused by osteoporosis or other bone conditions.

a mother's love

2009-10-14T20:58:00.000-07:00

Ask any mother (or father) and they will tell you there's nothing they wouldn't do for their children.

I didn't realize the full force of this in myself until recently.

The other morning, as I was checking on my daughter and giving her a cup of milk to have in bed, I noticed a big, black, creepy spider crawling on her bed, coming so close as to even crawl on her face. It continued on down the front of the bed to the floor, but not before my heart went from a just-getting-up sleepy beat to a full-fledged fight-or-flight, I-just-had-12-cups-of-espresso-in-a-row type of beat.

I have never liked spiders. In fact, the term arachnophobia pales in comparison to what I feel around them and towards them.

So I ran from the room.

But before you judge, I ran from the room to grab fistfuls of Kleenex. And then I came back.

The creature was still there, black, thick, long, legs scurrying down to the ground. I made a desperate lunge, but didn't quite get it and almost lobbed the thing on A's face. A, to her credit, did not freak out but I think she was concerned why her parental figure was having fits of paroxysmal gasping over seemingly nothing.

The second attempt worked. I ran with my thick wad clenched and crunched up in my hand (I hope you don't need the explanation that I needed a thick wad so as to not feel the spider in my hand after I had caught it), ran to the bathroom, and flushed it triumphantly down the total.

I then ran back to bed and tried to calm my clamouring heart and gasping breath. I did what any wife would do after a catastrophe and called my husband who, to his credit, did not laugh. At least not to my face.

A small event you might think. A personal overcoming of epic proportions, I tell you. Something that would have never happened if I hadn't care about A more than my own fear.

A mother's love.

Medical Word of the Day: achalasia

2009-10-07T21:28:00.001-07:00

achalasia: a disorder of the esophagus, which affects the ability of the esophagus to move food toward the stomach; a rare disease of the muscle of the esophagus, the term achalasia means "failure to relax" and refers to the inability of the lower esophageal sphincter (a ring of muscle between the lower esophagus and the stomach) to open and let food pass into the stomach. As a result, patients with achalasia have difficulty swallowing food.

Medical Word of the Day: Neutropenia

2009-10-07T20:19:00.000-07:00

Neutropenia: an abnormally low level of neutrophils in the blood. Neutrophils are white blood cells (WBCs) produced in the bone marrow that ingest bacteria. Neutropenia is a serious disorder because it makes the body vulnerable to bacterial and fungal infections.

A person can be low in the other types of blood cells, such as Thrombocytopenia, which is an abnormally low level of the clotting cells or platelets; it can arise due to decreased production of platelets in the bone marrow or increased breakdown of platelets in the bloodstream, spleen, or liver. Thrombocytopenia is characterized by easy bruising and increased bleeding.

On an unrelated note, I promise to provide an update of West Coast Grace life that is unrelated to Medical Transcription, as it seems all I have done lately is Medical Word of the Day. I am enjoying my job immensely and just want to share all that information with you...

Medical Word of the Day: Hallux Valgus

2009-10-01T15:16:00.000-07:00

Hallux Valgus: a big toe (the hallux) that is bent outward (valgus) so it overlaps the 2nd toe; a bunion is a localized painful swelling at the base of the big toe that can accompany hallux valgus and is frequently associated with inflammation. Hallux valgus can be related to bursitis or osteoarthritis. Or come from wearing the wrong kind of shoes all the time (shoes that are too tight or cause the toes to be squeezed together)... sad news for all those high-heal wearers.

Medical Word of the Day: Dental Caries

2009-09-26T09:43:00.000-07:00

Dental Caries: holes or structural damage in the teeth; as in tooth decay, as in cavities. Hmmm, bet you didn't know that. Somehow, it just sounds better as cavities. If you went around telling people you had caries, people might think you had a weird disease.

Tooth decay is also one of the most common disorder, second only to the common cold. So brush your teeth.

Medical Word of the Day: pulpotomies

2009-09-25T21:29:00.000-07:00

Pulpotomy: Surgical removal of a portion of the dental pulp, usually of the coronal portion; or removal in a dental procedure of the coronal portion of the pulp of a tooth in such a manner that the pulp of the root remains intact and viable. This is usually done to avoid pulpectomy, more commonly known as root canal.

Medical Word of the Day: Dermoid Cyst

2009-09-22T21:06:00.000-07:00

Dermoid Cyst: usually in the ovary; a bizarre tumor, usually benign, in the ovary that typically contains a diversity of tissues including hair, teeth, bone, thyroid, etc.

A dermoid cyst develops from a totipotential germ cell (an embryonic cell that is capable of developing into any variety of body cells) that is retained within the egg sac (ovary). Being totipotential, that cell can give rise to all orders of cells necessary to form mature tissues and often recognizable structures such as hair, bone and sebaceous (oily) material, neural tissue and teeth.

Dermoid cysts may occur at any age but the prime age of detection is in the childbearing years. The average age is 30. Up to 15% of women with ovarian teratomas have them in both ovaries. Dermoid cysts can range in size from a centimeter (less than a half inch) up to 45 cm (about 17 inches) in diameter.

These cysts can cause the ovary to twist (torsion) and imperil its blood supply. The larger the dermoid cyst, the greater the risk of rupture with spillage of the greasy contents which can create problems with adhesions, pain etc. Although the large majority (about 98%) of these tumors are benign, the remaining fraction (about 2%) becomes cancerous (malignant).

Removal of the dermoid cyst is usually the treatment of choice. This can be done by laparotomy (open surgery) or laparoscopy (with a scope). Torsion (twisting) of the ovary by the cyst is an emergency and calls for urgent surgery.

Dermoid cysts of the ovary are also called simply dermoids or ovarian teratomas

Medical Word of the Day: Ileal Conduit

2009-09-22T19:05:00.000-07:00

Ileal conduit: A surgical procedure in which the normal flow of urine is diverted through a segment of the small bowel (the ileum) to a collection bag outside of the abdomen; also called a urostomy. Ileal conduits may be performed when the bladder has been removed (for example, when a person has bladder cancer).

Ratatouille's Ratouille

2009-09-21T18:06:00.001-07:00

I love cooking. I read cookbooks for fun and love trying out new things. It's no wonder, then, that I fell in love with the movie Ratatouille when it came out. I can watch that movie over and over again. Same with the movie No Reservations. After much searching I found the ratatouille and soup recipes that Remy the Rat makes in the movie. Haven't tried them yet, but they look delicious.

Here's the Ratatouille recipe, officially called Confit Byaldi and created by Chef Thomas Keller of The French Laundry in Napa Valley. I think this is a pretty fancy version of what is supposed to be (I think) rich, hearty, peasant's stew. French Women Don't Get Fat has a simpler version that sounds just as good.

CONFIT BYALDI

FOR PIPERADE
1/2 red pepper, seeds and ribs removed
1/2 yellow pepper, seeds and ribs removed
1/2 orange pepper, seeds and ribs removed
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 cup finely diced yellow onion
3 tomatoes (about 12 ounces total weight), peeled, seeded, and finely diced, juices reserved
1 sprig thyme
1 sprig flat-leaf parsley
1/2 a bay leaf
Kosher salt

FOR VEGETABLES
1 zucchini (4 - 5 ounces) sliced in 1/16-inch rounds
1 Japanese eggplant, (4 - 5 ounces) sliced into 1/16-inch rounds
1 yellow squash (4 - 5 ounces) sliced into 1/16-inch rounds
4 Roma tomatoes, sliced into 1/16-inch rounds
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/8 teaspoon thyme leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

FOR VINAIGRETTE
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
Assorted fresh herbs (thyme flowers, chervil, thyme)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

1. For piperade, heat oven to 450 degrees. Place pepper halves on a foil-lined sheet, cut side down. Roast until skin loosens, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let rest until cool enough to handle. Peel and chop finely.

2. Combine oil, garlic, and onion in medium skillet over low heat until very soft but not browned, about 8 minutes. Add tomatoes, their juices, thyme, parsley, and bay leaf. Simmer over low heat until very soft and very little liquid remains, about 10 minutes, do not brown; add peppers and simmer to soften them. Season to taste with salt, and discard herbs. Reserve tablespoon of mixture and spread remainder in bottom of an 8-inch skillet.

3. For vegetables, heat oven to 275 degrees. Down center of pan, arrange a strip of 8 alternating slices of vegetables over piperade, overlapping so that 1/4 inch of each slice is exposed. Around the center strip, overlap vegetables in a close spiral that lets slices mound slightly toward center. Repeat until pan is filled; all vegetables may not be needed.

4. Mix garlic, oil, and thyme leaves in bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle over vegetables. Cover pan with foil and crimp edges to seal well. Bake until vegetables are tender when tested with a paring knife, about 2 hours. Uncover and bake for 30 minutes more. (Lightly cover with foil if it starts to brown.) If there is excess liquid in pan, place over medium heat on stove until reduced. (At this point it may be cooled, covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days. Serve cold or reheat in 350-degree oven until warm.)

5. For vinaigrette, combine reserved piperade, oil, vinegar, herbs, and salt and pepper to taste in a bowl.

Medical Word of the Day: ecchymosis

2009-09-12T13:41:00.000-07:00

Ecchymosis: The skin discoloration caused by the escape of blood into the tissues from ruptured blood vessels. Ecchymoses can similarly occur in mucous membranes as, for example, in the mouth.

Medical Word of the Day: pneumaturia

2009-09-09T22:03:00.000-07:00

Pneumaturia: passage of gas or air from the urethra during or after urination.

From pneumo, Greek, meaning air or lung (in this case it would be air) and uria, also Greek, meaning urine. There is something wrong with your urinary system (like a fistula) if there is air present when you pee.

Medical Word of the Day: mucopus

2009-09-09T21:25:00.000-07:00

This one surprised even me, as I had never come across the term before.

Mucopus: mucus (fyi: this is the noun; mucous is the adjective, as in mucous membrane... this is something I was confused about) mixed with pus; mucopurulent discharge.

Apparently there is also a heavy metal band by this name, as I found out when I googled the term. Not very attractive. The band or the term.

Medical Word of the Day: defervesced

2009-09-03T10:54:00.000-07:00

Defervesced: the abatement of a fever, as in: The patient defervesced (her fever went down).

It is not, as I first thought, the opposite effervesced, which is to emit small bubbles of gas or to show high spirits or animation.

the need to be silly

2009-09-01T12:26:00.000-07:00

At 11 o'clock last night, after working three hours at my part-time job, which was after working all day on my full-time job, I felt the desire to pull a Matt Harding. For those of you who don't know or who have forgotten who he is, Matt Harding is the guy who, in lieu of having a "real job" (whatever that is, really) went around the world and got someone to tape him dancing, sometimes alone, sometimes with others. He dances his silly stepping/hopping dance in front of the Eiffel Tower, in a place called Tongo, in Timbuktu, Iceland, Ireland, the South Shetland Islands... wherever his fancy feet take him.

In university, after a night of hard studying, and before everyone went to bed, it was natural to congregate in someone's room or the living room and just unwind... and perhaps a G&T would somehow make it into your hand as well... we would talk about stupid stuff, or TV shows, just giggle about nothing in particular or vent about a ridiculous essay topic we had been working on... Can I really write 20 pages on why Stalin invaded Korea after WWII? Does Emily Dickinson really address the issue of existentialism in her nature poems? Do we even really care about this stuff?

Last night after an exhausting day, a frivolous moment was exactly what I needed... a G&T is out of the picture for at least five more months or longer... so I should have taken a leaf out of Matt Harding's book and put on some music and danced my own little dance. However, and perhaps this is showing my age, I was so tired that I just went to bed... that was probably the most ridiculous thing I could have ever done.

Next time, I will heed the wisdom of giving into the need for some silliness... it's just a good thing our windows look out onto a greenbelt...

Medical Word of the Day: cystitis follicularis

2009-08-26T20:55:00.001-07:00

Cystitis: inflammation of the bladder.

cystitis follicularis: inflammation of the bladder, in which the bladder mucosa is studded with nodules containing lymph follicles.

Medical Word of the Day: plica

2009-08-25T13:20:00.001-07:00

Medical Word of the Day: Plica

Plica: a fold or folded part; especially, a groove or fold of skin or a fold or ridge, as of skin or membrane. In the case I had, there was a plica in the knee, which was causing the patient a lot of pain.

ch-ch-ch-changes

2009-08-16T20:58:00.000-07:00

There have been a number of big changes in our west coast grace life these past few weeks. It seems life was sort of "on hold" until after we returned home from our vacation in Peachland and then it started pouring down us....literally - in the form of rain which was a nice change after the heat and humidity of the previous few weeks.

The biggest change of all was moving Annie into a big bed. M and I had been talking about it but were not in any big hurry. However, the day we got back from holidays, she took it upon herself to climb in and out of her crib not once, but five or six times. It was quite a feat let me tell you. She would grasp the railing and haul her little legs up and then literally fall in or out of the crib, whichever way she was planning to go. To prevent any injuries we decided, with much trepidation on my part after hearing numerous horror stories, of putting her in a "big girl" bed. It went surprisingly smoothly, with only a few days of her getting out of bed and playing with toys or trying to look through the window when she was supposed to be in bed sleeping. It was a bittersweet moment, seeing her so small lying on the big mattress, knowing she was my baby and realising she was growing up. She's only two and already I think she's getting way too big.

Another big change comes with me starting my new job. It's been going very good. In fact, it's only been about 3 weeks and I'm already through my training and onto being a full-fledged medical transcriptionist! After all the years of hard work, it is so good to have reached this goal. It's quite exciting to be actually working in the field I've studied for so long and I'm surprised that it's not as big of a change as I feared it was going to be, especially since I have a babysitter coming in once a week to take care of Annie. But she loves her Auntie P! I also think it's time to bring back the medical word of the day as well.

My body is also changing, making room for this baby. I think my stomach is smaller this time comparable with Annie, and I wonder where this baby actually is hiding. I guess it will pop out soon enough and I am enjoying the fact that I'm almost halfway (almost 20 weeks) and I'm not even wearing maternity clothes yet.

So... changes... looking back on them, especially the move from crib (read baby) to bed (read toddler/big girl), is not as traumatic as the first night when I peeked in on her and I wondered where my baby girl went. And I know in a few years I'll peek in on her and wonder where my tripping toddler went, and so on... It seems that more changes happen more often lately and I wonder if I'll ever get used to it... and I wonder if when she's 20, I'll look at Annie and remember the first night she changed from my baby to my big girl in the blink of an eye....

good things come

2009-07-08T11:16:00.000-07:00

I was going to give this entry the title "good things come in three's" and then I realised that though I was only going to write about three of the good things that have been happening in our west coast grace life, I could write about countless more!

1. The first good thing is making her/his appearance around January 13. Annie is getting a little brother or sister in the New Year. It was hard to be excited about it when I was sicker than a dog, but now the nausea seems to have passed, thankfully, and life can start getting back to normal. I think Annie was wondering what had happened to her Mommy.

2. The second good thing shows either that God has a sense of humour or that His timing just isn't the same as ours. After three months of job searching and sending out resumes to what seemed like every possible transcription company out there, I finally got a job! It's really exciting and the greatest part is that I get to start in a few weeks, after the sickness has passed. Wonderful...

3. The third thing is related to the first thing. I had wished that I could announce that we found a house and were moving. But now, it doesn't seem like such a big deal anymore. When we found out I was expecting house-hunting suddenly become such a big pressure and weight on us. We HAD to find a house soon, before the baby came, because we NEEDED more space. It was a huge stress on us and it wasn't pleasant. We talked and prayed a lot about it and figured out a few things: We are in a great place now, even though it isn't as big as we would like it. No one knows what the economy is going to do, no matter what the experts say. It doesn't really seem like a buyer's market, because sellers are getting what they're asking for or more, even for dumpy houses that need a lot of work. People have lived in small spaces before, like a six-child family living in a three-bedroom house; it's been done. The good thing is that the pressure is off! We're still going to look and if we find the house for us, we'll put an offer in, but it's now longer a stress and a weight and if we live for a few months in our two-bedroom suite with a baby and a toddler, we will be a bit cramped but we'll be okay. Contentment learned is a good thing.

summer is here

2009-06-01T12:17:00.000-07:00

A numbered list, not it any particular order, of what has been happening lately in our West Coast Grace life...

100. The number of jobs it seems like I've applied for... online, etc.

7. The number of rejections I've received. What are the other 93 people doing? I'm not sure, but I'm hoping they're falling over themselves at my transcription credentials.

1000. The number of times I've worried about jobs and feeling discouraged that I've received no positive feedback. It's also the number of times I've reminded myself that God is taking care of us and that He will provide. As a friend of mine keeps repeating on her blog, God is good all the time!

3. The number of weeks filled with beautiful sunny days we've had down here. Nothing is better than sitting outside eating lunch or dinner or just hanging out... and forgetting to put sunblock on your legs and almost getting a second-degree burn! Annie has a slide and a little pool and there's no better way spending the afternoon reading a good book and watching her play and splash around.

2. The number of days this past weekend that we spent at the beach, first the lake and then the ocean. It's also the number of sea snails that Annie threw at me yesterday at Crescent Beach. I didn't enjoy that too much.

1. The number of new words Annie seems to come up with every day. It's amazing to watch as she learns and grows... every day brings a new word or phrase or adventure. She's such a joy (except when she's teething, which brings me to my next point...)

4. Teeth (eyeteeth, that is) that are coming in at the same time in her little mouth... I will be so happy when they're all in.

494. The number of pages in the latest book I'm reading, Paris 1919 about the Paris Peace conference after WWI. Not your usual light summer reading, but I've had my eye on it for a long time. I am a history major after all.

9. I wanted to reach 10, but apparently I've run out of things to say...

10. The End.

Thought for April

2009-04-30T11:28:00.000-07:00

On the last day of April I came across this short piece by Canadian journalist and writer Gregory Clark. It perfectly describes the scene that has been unfolding outside my windows this past month, as Spring inches her way forward.

When we think of the word power, we usually first think of electric current, engines, jet aircraft of some such marvel of the age. In our minds power has also something to do with big nations.

But there is another power that we can make ourselves aware of right now by going out in the back yard and looking around at the earth, the lawn, the beds, the trees. The power of a mysterious thing called life, as revealed this month in living nature, can, if you see it intelligently, make all the combined powers of man look pretty frivolous.

Down on the ground at your feet, within the one glance of your eyes, are a million fragile green pins. They are the new grass, so tiny, so fragile, so utterly weak you wonder the breeze does not destroy them. Up out of the beds, poke the tender nebs of what will soon be garden plants. So delicate, a raindrop should shatter them. On each tree, a million buds in every one of which the infant leaves are more delicate that then frailest tissue paper.

In the robin's and sparrow's nests, eggs of a fragility for which is there is no synonym. And in a week, nestlings, naked, too feeble to raise their heads, eyeless, ghastly in their weakness.

But in a stupendous rush, the power of life within four weeks will have tranfigured every living thing, every tree, every blade, every flower, every bird, every creature, into a force of radiant, raging, triumphant life that should leave us speechless in our humility.

The author doesn't say it here, but even more amazing than the show of life in Spring is the One behind it who orchestrates it all and cares for it all, day in and day out, season coming and season going... our God and Father is a great God.

on the brink

2009-04-20T10:40:00.000-07:00

I've shared this story partly on FB already, but thought I'd flesh it out in all its nuances... So this past Saturday I was buying beer at the liquor store. When it came to my turn the clerk studied my face for a moment. It wasn't a momentary glance, it was a study, a good look in the eyes. I was so certain that he was going to ask for my ID. I had my fingers on my DL ready to slip it out of its protective pocket. Not that it was bothering me, turning 30, but a little reassurance about the age would have been nice. I don't know what he saw in my face (perhaps a plea) but then he proceeded the scan the item through.

Not that this would have bothered me any other day (and there have been other times when I wasn't asked) but being on the brink of 30, I probably read way too much into it. We all have our little neuroses.

When you're 19, fresh in your age of majority, you look forward to being ID'd (atleast I was). It was a badge of honour; you couldn't wait to flip that DL out and prove you were in that store legally. "You want to see my ID? Here it is!" That excitement soon rubs off and turns into an annoyance, until you're about 25 and you quickly whip that ID out, feeling happy about it once again, but for entirely different reasons. "That clerk thinks I'm 19!" And then comes the day when the clerks stop asking at all. I don't know if I'm there yet, but time will tell, literally.

On a related note, I do say goodbye to my 20s in a few days. When I was in my early 20s turning 30 was the equivalent of the world's end of fun and carefree. Being 30 meant mortgages and babies and responsibility. But now as I turn 30 it doesn't seem like such a big deal. Probably because I already have the responsibility of a mortgage and a baby. I kind of dealt with the shock of "becoming an adult", first when we bought a house and then when Annie was born. So it's not as much of a shock as much as a continuation of something that's already happening.

That I'm not going through some kind of crisis surprises me because I thought I would be hit harder. Perhaps because in this day and age, 30 is the new 20. You're only as old as you feel, I've always felt that. Years ago a friend of mine felt old when he turning 25 and I told him that 25 wasn't old and he was silly for feeling that way. My younger self was silly for feeling that 30 was old.

But talk to me in about five years about how I feel turning 40 and you may get a different story.

.

sunshiny day

2009-04-15T12:09:00.000-07:00

Last week while doing groceries, M and I bumped into a friend from up North who now lives down here. We hadn't seen each other in a while and it was good to catch up (as much as you're at to catch up while unloading groceries onto the till [sp?] at Superstore, which is always VERY busy).

This friend asked me how I liked living back down here and I fear I was perhaps too enthusiastic (gushing, almost jumping up and down) and felt I had to tone it down with a qualifying, "Well, it's good to be by family again."

But don't get me wrong. M and I don't regret moving and living up North. We loved it up there. We grew as individuals, as a couple and as a family. Annie's birth certificate will always read Smithers, BC and we will always be reminded of that. We enjoyed the scenery and the small-town life. We left behind friends and family that we miss on a daily basis. If they all moved down here, life would practically be perfect, but that's not the way things work out, unfortunately.

But moving back here felt like moving back home. I think that principle applies to people all over the world who identify with where they were born or where they grew up or if they become attach to the geography or the way of life. There are people from up North who belong up North; they love it, they relish it and wouldn't live any other way. Some people feel the same way about New York or Newfoundland or Vancouver or Saskatoon. And some free-spirited souls feel no attachment whatsoever and are able to feel at home wherever they put their feet.

But on a day like today, after a few days of cold and rain (it felt more like a Fall day than a Spring day this past Easter weekend), when the sun is shining gloriously and trees are showing off those pink, yellow or white blossoms and the fresh scent of the earth being renewed is wafting in the breeze... then really, there is nowhere else I want to be...

new tricks

2009-03-30T13:35:00.000-07:00

As of Wednesday I will be able to say, for better or for worse, "This month I turn 30."

The number of my age doesn't mean so much to me as the meaning. I feel that by the age of 30 certain habits and irresponsible tendencies of my 20s should be put behind me, at least to the best of my abilities.

Case in point, I will admit, and people who know me well will testify to this, that I am forgetful. I have doublebooked myself for events, forgotten I was supposed to meet friends for coffee, forgotten birthdays, etc. I figured this was a bad trait that I would work on to improve and I thought I was doing, not excellent, but okay. I was feeling pretty good about myself.

Example: as a mother of a child in our church's nursery, I was put on the nursery list. Last Sunday I looked at our bulletin and noticed I was on for babysitting in the afternoon. On the way home I repeated to myself: Babysitting next Sunday afternoon, babysitting next Sunday afternoon... Saturday night Anneka in the throes of teething pain kept us up for two hours during the night. I knew it was okay for me to stay home during the morning service my babysitting services weren't required until the afternoon service. Boy, I was sure proud of myself for remembering! So we get to church and I walk Anneka to the nursery and two people are already there. We don't have a lot of babies/toddlers in our church. I think you can see where I'm going with this. It turns out last week I read the bulletin wrong. It turns out I was on the list for babysitting in the morning. Hmm...

For awhile I did feel like a total dweeb for remembering the wrong details. I was so proud of myself and put such effort into trying to remember and to have it fall flat was extremely disappointing. Only in chick lit books like The Shopaholic are traits like scatterbrainedness portrayed as cute and endearing. In reality they come across as irresponsible, especially in someone like a mother who is supposed to be ultra-organised.

They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks. I disagree. At almost 30 I don't consider myself old and I'm still learning organisational skills. For me, this was a giant leap... at least I remembered that I had to babysit at all. The next step will be getting the time right.

in conclusion

2009-03-28T13:56:00.000-07:00

This past week I finished my course.

This is big news. It means that the work, effort and stress I poured into three years and three months of my life is over... not to mention that during that time I was almost hospitalised, had a baby, and moved across the province... all the while being able to maintain decent grades.

In some ways, though, I feel as if I was cheated out of some sort of opportunity of tying up loose ends. I was going to call this blog entry "Where's my denouement?" I feel like I went straight from the climax of the story right to the conclusion. The stress and hard work never let up and then with one final telephone conversation with my practicum supervisor and one very good evaluation it was over. Done. Say your farewells... and these people that have been an integral part of my life for three years are suddenly just not there anymore. Not to mention the work, online discussions, emails, etc.

I'm excited of course. It is an accomplishment whatever my feelings are about it. It is good to be done and to know I've done well. But the sudden-ness of the whole thing is what has me feeling a little like the rope holding me to the Medical Transcription dock has come loose. My wonderful instructors at Selkirk were the ones that kept me going with encouragement and support. Now they're gone and I'm left to navigate these waters by myself... a newbie MT. And it is change of course. No matter how many times I complained about working on this blog, it still was a major part of my life for three years and there will be some adjustment as I get used to that.

But the good news for all my readers is that there won't be any more Friday night procrastination rants and complaints, when I was supposed to be working and obviously not applying myself very well.

The next part of the journey? Finding a job. Wish me luck... and I'll keep you posted.

the movie

2009-03-25T12:32:00.000-07:00

This weekend I took part in a ritual sure to have been celebrated by people, mostly teenage girls, all across the continent, perhaps even the globe.

I watched Twilight, the movie.

I loved the books, as you can see here. But I was entirely ambiguous about the movie. It was disappointing in many ways, even giving moviemakers leeway with regards to the process of turning books into movies. Like I said on my FB page, at the risk of angering some pretty fanatic Twi-hards (the name for Twilight fans... although I really doubt that any of them would visit this blog...) Edward, who is a "tortured soul" kind of character in the book, looks constipated for most of the movie. The actor finally gets it right by the last scene. Jasper, not a main character but one of the more intriguing ones, looks the same way. I wonder how they could keep up the look that long while shooting such a lengthy movie. The only character I really thought was a perfect fit or who got the role right was the actor who played Bella's father, Charlie.

Another criticism I have of the movie is that it wasn't believable. I don't remember much from the acting course I took many years ago in college, but one thing that really sticks out is my professor stressing that what is going on onstage must be believable. It doesn't matter if it's written in the stage notes, if it's not done in a real way, the audience won't believe it and it will be forced and staged (kind of a paradox, really, that a play shouldn't be staged and it can't be forced even though you have to follow the stage directions).

I didn't really understand this until I was doing a dialogue with classmate and we had our coaching session. We were doing the scene from The Diary of Anne Frank where Peter and Anne have a conversation about movies and movie stars and Peter (finally) kisses Anne. My prof told me, Anne, that even though the stage directions said, Peter kisses Anne, Anne, in the scene, really works to get him to kiss her. If she didn't, and Peter kissed her anyways according to stage directions, it would seem false and fake. The kiss had to be believable. It had to come from somewhere, for some reason. Peter has to want to kiss her and the audience has to see that to believe the kiss is real.

I unconsciously apply that lesson to movies, even though it has more to do with the theatre. Most movies are not really lacking in the believable factor. But I found that Twilight was, especially when Bella and Edward are declaring their feelings for each other. Having read the book I knew that it had it to happen, but in the book you know all the feelings, thoughts and events that precede that scene. You know where they are coming from. In the movie, Edward has done little to cause Bella to fall in love with him and so their relationship feels forced.

But perhaps I'm reading too much into it. Movies based on books are rarely as good as the books are, with changes and shortcuts and different character interpretations. Imagination has no limits, which is what you use when you read; movies have to be within a certain time frame, they have a thrill factor and not be to complicated, etc. I do tend to give moviemakers a little leeway taking all that into consideration. But I guess I am a bit of a purist and tend to be critical when too big of changes are made or major things are left out(like the dragon scene in the movie version of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and when the actors chosen do not fit into my reading of the character. A few of the book characters who really come to life (for me) in the movie version were Winona Ryder who plays Jo in Little Women, Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn in Lord of the Rings, most of the actors in the Harry Potter series and, in part, the newest version of Pride and Prejudice.

There is a risk involved watching a movie based on a much-loved book. You are asking the director and the actors to form the feel of the book and its characters for you. You risk altering the world and characters your imagination has formed, based on the author's words. Sometimes that first impression doesn't come back and your view is tainted by a bad movie interpretation. I have had that happen and it is sad in a way. The author is the first one who came up with and created this world and those characters in the first place. Anything else besides his or her written words and your imagination is really just getting it secondhand.

medical word of the day: ecchymosis

2009-03-07T19:58:00.000-08:00

ecchymosis:

The skin discoloration caused by the escape of blood into the tissues from ruptured blood vessels; it can similarly occur in mucous membranes as, for example, in the mouth.

medical word of the day: giant cell arteritis

2009-03-05T14:56:00.001-08:00

Giant cell arteritis: an inflammation of the lining of your arteries — the blood vessels that carry oxygen-rich blood from your heart to the rest of your body. Most often, it affects the arteries in your head, especially those in your temples. For this reason, giant cell arteritis is sometimes called temporal arteritis or cranial arteritis.

Giant cell arteritis frequently causes headaches, jaw pain, and blurred or double vision. Blindness and, less often, stroke are the most serious complications of giant cell arteritis.

Prompt treatment with corticosteroid medications usually relieves symptoms of giant cell arteritis and may prevent loss of vision. You should start feeling better within days of starting your treatment.

medical word of the day: xantelasma

2009-03-04T22:17:00.001-08:00

Xantelasma: xanthoma of the eyelid.

Xanthoma: yellowish firm nodules in the skin frequently indicating underlying disease, such as diabetes, disorder of fats (lipid disorder or hyperlipidemia), or other conditions. A xanthoma is a kind of harmless growth of tissue.

The word "xanthoma" is made up of "xanth-" from the Greek roots "xanthos" (yellow) and "oma" (swelling) = a yellow swelling. A xanthoma is a circumscribed yellow swelling, a yellowish nodule.

medical word of the day: odynophagia

2009-03-04T21:07:00.000-08:00

Odynophagia: pain on swallowing food and fluids, a symptom often due to disease of the esophagus.

Background: from the Greek roots odyno-, pain + -phagia, from phagein, to eat.

Similar to dysphagia.

(short) book review

2009-03-02T22:17:00.000-08:00

So I cut my evening working hours short (at 10 p.m.) tonight in order to work on my lesson for Bible study tomorrow morning. But then I entered blogosphere and got distracted. Oh well.

So before I go just a quick paragraph on The Jane Austen Book Club. I read it because I love anything and everything Jane Austen except the movie Becoming Jane which is an entire fabrication of the great author's life (and I am fully aware I'm repeating myself. Maybe if I say it often enough, people will not be tempted to see that movie and also will tell everyone else in the world who went gaga over it that it is a LIE.)

Anyways, probably because of this great love I was really excited about the book and I imagined how I would write it if I would write about that. I guess I loved my ideas or expectations more because the book was a disappointment. Self-absorbed, self-pitying characters who are somehow in this book club together only because they love Jane Austen. They don't really know eachother that well, but they spend their time criticizing the others in the group (each chapter we get to see into another character's thoughts, but really, it's just a different tune to the same song that gets quite annoying after a while). They are so petty in their judgments and the author's attempts at providing the typically abusive, exotic, multiple-marriaged, self-tortured, sexually odd backgrounds for each of the characters feels contrived. But perhaps that is the point... the richness of Austen's characters juxtaposed with the pettiness and emptiness of hers... perhaps... it feels like a stretch.

I ended up skimming through the book. I don't often not finish a book because I do want to give an author the benefit of my doubts, although I am often disappointed when I do that (I shudder when I remember Mohintin Mistry's A Fine Balance... I hated it, but give me credit that I finished it). I would want someone to do the same for any of my writing even if they were intensely critical as well.

I am not giving this a recommendation. I guess it becomes a check on my reading list as one of those trendy books I read but didn't like or more likely didn't get. But when moving in certain circles at least I can sound smart.

medical word of the day: nutcracker esophagus

2009-02-26T21:59:00.000-08:00

Nutcracker esophagus: a condition in which the muscles of your esophagus contract too powerfully. Over half of the cases of nutcracker esophagus are related to gastroesophageal reflux disorder (GERD). Symptoms include chest pain, difficulty swallowing or a sensation that food is stuck in your esophagus, and heartburn. Sometimes you may not even be able to eat solids but can only ingest liquids.

two minutes

2009-02-24T20:58:00.000-08:00

... to tell you about two interesting books I've started to read recently. The Year of Living Biblically, One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A.J. Jacobs. An editor-at-large for Esquire magazine, Jacobs decides to explore religion and faith and follow the Bible as literally as he can. I was only on the introduction and I was hooked. He is at time irreverent, but he actually asks some good questions and brings up good issues about faith and religion (which is surprising that he is so refreshingly honest, being a journalist..)

Also, The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler. I'm less sure about this one, but being a lover of all things Jane Austen (except the movie Becoming Jane which is really a total fabrication), this book has always been on my list.

I'll keep you informed as to how they go.

overheard...

2009-02-20T20:30:00.000-08:00

teenaged boy talking to his mother in the toilet paper aisle at Superstore...

"Wouldn't it be the coolest thing if you could make a bobble head of yourself?"

Yes, because that's EXACTLY what the world needs... individual customized bobble heads...

bread maker

2009-02-19T16:15:00.000-08:00

That's me. We don't use a machine in our household, our bread is fresh, made from scratch, and there are no unpronounceable ingredients in it (flour, yeast, honey, canola oil, and salt, there you have it). For less than it costs to buy a good loaf of bread from the grocery store we have fresh made bread every week.

But of all my times making bread, yesterday was the pinnacle, the apex, the zenith... the most perfectly shaped, perfectly golden brown loaves I have ever had the honour of pulling out of the oven... I have made bread many times, but they have never looked like this! Needless to say I was pretty pleased. Because though it always tastes good, I am not a pro at the aesthetics of bread making. Sometimes they look downright hilarious and could aptly be called mutant loaves. If I was a baker I would have been fired a long time ago based purely on my inability to shape bread dough. But yesterday I left that all behind...

What's that you say? Where are the pictures of those lovely loaves? They were attacked before I could grab the camera. Apparently they were too good not to slice up and slather with butter.

One thing I like about the internet is that if someone is passionate about a topic, there will be a blog about it. If you're interested in learning more about all things bread go to A Year in Bread.

mud-licious... or, for a rainy day

2009-02-18T20:12:00.000-08:00

...which wasn't today for those of us living on the West Coast. It was gorgeously sunny!

But as we know, it also rains a lot on the West Coast. And after the second (or third) consecutive week of rain and greyness, it can start to get to you... but I came across this wonderful quote to remember when all those dreary days make you want to walk into oncoming traffic...

The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful. -E.E. Cummings

I just can't wait for that next puddle-wonderful day...

medical word of the day: amaurosis fugax

2009-02-17T21:30:00.000-08:00

After weeks of typing and coming across no new interesting words, this came up yesterday:

Amaurosis fugax: A symptom described as a shade coming down over the eye; a temporary loss of eyesight can be a partial loss of sight or a complete loss of sight.

This temporary interference with vision is usually related to atherosclerosis in the blood vessels that supply the brain. It can also occur with excessive acceleration, as in flight.

Background: amaurosis is the Greek word for darkening, dark, or obscure. The ancients used it to refer to dimmed vision, especially if there was nothing they could see that was wrong with the eye itself. Fugax is related to fugitive (fleeing). Amaurosis fugax therefore means a fleeting loss of vision.

bibliophile

2009-02-05T21:16:00.000-08:00

I am unashamedly in love with books. This love affair has lasted my whole life, nurtured by mentors and teachers who have shared their favourites with me and have recommended other literary treasures.

I knew I loved reading but I didn't realize how much I loved books until I returned to my local library today after an absence of almost 4 years (also, my previous fines followed me as well, much to my dismay). This was the library I had poked around for pretty much all of my childhood and young adult-hood (see here).

When I was in university I had a great library at my fingertips (Koerner Library) and plus I had an endless reading list taking History and English, so going to the library was the last thing on my mind.

Today I had what has been called "a Jonah day" (10 points if you know where that saying is from)... and when M came home he took one look at me and sent me out (I have such a good husband). I had been talking about going to the library because I had recently finished the Twilight series and was looking for something else to read.

So I went to my hometown library. As soon I as walked in I was bombarded by a whole host of good memories and just inhaling the scent of paper and glue and bindings lifted my spirits. As I nosed around the Classics and Canadiana sections and moved to Adult Fiction, I realised a few things: First, how much I just love books. The sight and smell of them, the endless possibilities they represent... Second, how much I miss my own library, currently sitting in boxes in a storage shed at my grandparents-in-law. Third, this library does not have a good selection. Fourth, this might have been the reason my teenage years were so full of random book picks (again, see here). Fifth, I might as well let the librarians do the work for me, so I went to the computer and requested all the books that I wanted to read but couldn't find. They will conveniently be delivered to my library where I can pick them up.

Anyways, do you remember that scene in the movie Beauty and the Beast where Lumiere and Cogsworth show Belle the library and the books reach up the ceiling and she needs a ladder to get to them all? (can you feel the excitement here?) That is my dream library! Built-in solid oak bookcases, hardwood floors, a big desk, deep leather armchairs with burgundy velvet ottomans and, of course, a fire crackling merrily in the hearth... a place where characters could come to life and you could be transported to an unknown land, all by picking up a good book...

In my younger days I had wanted to marry an member of the English nobility (not necessarily a duke or baron, a minor title would have suited) because those manor houses have fantastic libraries and that was the only way that I could see of obtaining one...the idea of being "Lady Di" also had its attractions... but it was those rooms full of first editions I was after...

Well, I married someone with a Dutch pedigree as spotless as my own and there you have it. And I must admit that building my own library has been a great adventure, one that I never would have had if I had married my English lord. What fun is there in books that are not your own? The whole fun in loving books is to make them your own, with pencilled in notes, underlines, spilled coffee or tea (or even oatmeal, if you're making oatmeal for breakfast and the book is so good you can't put it down, so you stir the cereal and read at the same time). The quest for the next book in an eagerly awaited series, the excited uncertainty when you pick a up a new author you haven't read before, the endless discussions (or agonies!) over good books with good friends (that Mr. Darcy! or Elizabeth or Harry or Edward or Emma or Tess or Anne).

One thing I am really excited about is the prospect of sharing this love with my little girl. To relive Bilbo's adventures or Anne's shenanigans with her will be so much fun. And perhaps one day in the far future, when I'm old and grey, grandchildren will come to my library, pick a favourite book, curl up on my lap in an old chair with a fire merrily blazing beside us and... who knows what adventures we will have? But I know for certain that it will be good.

word of the day: propinquity

2009-02-02T22:12:00.000-08:00

I love words, especially words that sound interesting or are fun to say... some words you just want to say over and over again... letting them slide over your tongue like tiramisu or chocolate mousse... like the word slowly...

Propinquity is one of those words. It even has a wonderful meaning: (noun) nearness in space, time or relationship.

Origin: Latin propinquitas (nearness), from prope (near).

I don't know if I'll ever use this word in daily life or in a future novel, but it sure is fun to say.

in review

2009-01-28T15:03:00.000-08:00

So I finished reading the Twilight series today and felt the need to write about it. Spoiler warning: if you haven't read or finished the series, continue you at your own risk.

I first heard about Twilight when the movie came out last November. I didn't even know it was a book, let alone a whole series. I must admit that I dismissed it (and disdained it as a teenage fad) immediately. To me it was just Interview with the Vampire for the next generation, kind of like Averil Lavigne is this generation's Alanis Morisette (although I think Alanis did it better).

I had done the Anne Rice and Interview with the Vampire thing many years ago. And I had moved on. I have a unique approach to reading... I obsess and then read all I can of a particular author or genre. I spent one summer reading Jeanette Oke and cannot and will not pick up another book of hers. I did the same thing with John Grisham (although I will pick up a new book of his if it looks interesting), Stephen King, Margaret Atwood, Thomas Hardy, Tolkien, Lewis, Irish writers, Canadian lit, Harry Potter, etc. I went through a lot of genres and authors this way. I had probably read a lot that I shouldn't have, or perhaps shouldn't have read certain things at the age/stage I was at. Most of the time I would just wander around the local library and pick up books that sounded remotely interesting. Your reading list is not boring that way, but you do get exposed to a lot of things you might be better off not knowing...

I had the same approach with the Twilight series. I probably would not have read it at all if my 17-year-old brother-in-law hadn't given it to me for Christmas. But once I picked it up, I was hooked. And I'm still trying to figure out why exactly this is. I mean for fantasy it is average. Harry Potter it is not. It does not even reach the same level as Lewis or Tolkien.

Maybe it is pure escapist fiction at its best and I was at a point in time where I needed something frivolous, mindless, vicariously exciting to give my mind a rest from stress, my course, trying to hear and identify the many different terms describing just how many different ways the human body can suffer (the cancer ones are the hardest).

However much I was hooked on the series there are some problems.

The story follows the story of Bella, your relatively average teenage girl who has real self-esteem problems. She falls in love with a member of the local vampire family Edward, who is the most perfect, wonderful, polite, beautiful, sensitive person on the planet. She can't get over how perfect he is physically, emotionally, personally. She reacts like a spineless jellyfish everytime he gets within two feet of her (although I do have to be honest to myself about this... M does the same thing to me). But her spinelessness goes deeper than that. Any self-respecting feminist would read this book and gag (as I did at times). It gets quite nauseating, but Bella just can't help herself... sigh... She's very descriptive.

This book is geared towards young adults/teenagers, an age group that already goes through mental hoops dealing with self-image, self-consciousness, etc. Reading this book would give me an even bigger complex.

I am probably not the best judge of this, being into many different kinds of books myself in my own teenage years, but I figured I was kind of an exception. I was a reader and that already set me apart from a lot of people. I was reading adult books when I was 14 or 15 so I didn't really know what Young Adult (YA) books were like. But I don't think they were as physical and sensual as this series is. Once Edward and Bella get together, the raging hormones take over. But since Edward is afraid of hurting Bella they don't ever take it all the way. However, they do seem to do everything else.

Also, all the characters seem to be stricken by extreme self-absorption and melodrama. Edward leaves Bella because he just can't take hurting her anymore. Bella just can't understand why someone as perfect as Edward can even be with her. Neither one can live without the other, literally (as book 2, New Moon describes). Jacob the werewolf, also in love with Bella, runs around in a funk of unrequited love and self pity.

I've had many discussions about this series with others who are fairly educated and well read. They too were hooked, although perplexed about it. One friend currently in college said she and her friends talked about how they could disguise the books so they could read them in class (the boring ones, of course).

On the other hand, I am a reader, a writer and a strong proponent of the written word. Even though I don't like everything about these books, I like the fact that kids and teenagers are getting excited about them. Anything that gets them away from the TV and computer and into a book is a good thing. Anything that gets them excited about books and reading is a good thing. And if the random and sometimes awkward literary references scattered throughout the series gets them into Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice or even Romeo and Juliet it will be even better.

So, if average writing gets teenagers (and adults) excited about reading and entices them onto bigger and better things then, in review, lovesick, self-absorbed, vampire teenager melodrama just might be worth it.

odds and ends

2009-01-22T21:05:00.000-08:00

I thought it was about time for an update.

So many good things have been going since the Christmas holidays that I haven't had the time to write or even think about what to write. So here is an update about what has been happening in the VW household, according to me. Because I'm sure if you asked M about it, he would have an entirely different opinion... he says, she says...

1) I had a great Christmas with my family. M had a great Christmas with his family in Lethbridge. Due to the freakish snowy weather in BC, flights were canceled, delayed, etc. Not to mention the roads and highways going to the Vancouver Airport were closed or hazardous. A look back here will serve as a reminder to how we West Coasters respond to driving on snowy roads. There is a reason this blog is named after the rain we get here, not snow...

So yes, I was in Abbotsford and M was in Lethbridge on Christmas. However, I do want to express my heartfelt (and almost desperate?) thanks to WestJet for their superb customer service in helping me change my flight. I shuddered at the thought of being stranded in YVR with Annie for any number of hours or, even worse than that, on a plane! like all those Air Canada people... thank you, thank you, thank you...

But I had a great day and the next morning I flew to the beautiful city of Calgary and then onto Lethbridge to spend a week with my out-laws, I mean in-laws. We had a good time with 15 adults crammed into one house. IT WAS COLD. IT WAS WINDY. IT WAS SNOWY. Needless to say we didn't venture out too much. Needless to say it reminded M and me of living up North. Needless to say we expressed our happiness at not having to go home to that kind of weather... I love the Valley. A good time was had by all... R&Cs to enjoy in the evening, lots of Settler games to play, crocheting to learn (yes, you did read that correctly) and best of all, family members to hang out with and spend time with and enjoy, not knowing when the next time we would all see each other...

Moving on...

2) I am now officially done the course part of my program and an knee-deep or wrist-deep in a practicum that I am thoroughly enjoying. I thought I would find the transition from course to work very difficult. To be honest, I was getting so stressed out from my course that I feared I wouldn't even enjoy the work anymore. Not exactly the best outlook after working three long years to finally reach this goal. But it is great! My supervisor is a wonderful lady who has nothing but good and encouraging things to say about my work! What a relief! And I love the job! All the new words get a bit tedious after a few hours and then I either take a break or usually it's late enough I just go straight to bed... but I'm excited to be almost done...

3) This past week has been gorgeous in the Fraser Valley. I know Vancouver has been shrouded in fog but where we live the sun has been shining gloriously. Which is another reason I haven't been blogging. When it's raining like it so often does here, there's no excuse. But Annie and I have been out walking almost every day this week. I almost think the calendar is lying to me saying it is only January 22. I can't say enough about it...

4) Singing with Pierce Brosnan. Now, I know the story line is a little on the sketchy side, but when you have been a fan of ABBA for decades like I have (thanks to the influence of an older sister) you cannot but like Momma Mia the movie. I watched it with my sisters last weekend. We did the sing-a-long afterwards... I loved it so much I want to organize a group viewing and sing-a-long. I fear that I will receive the same enthusiastic reponse as I did when I suggested a Sound of Music sing-a-long for a piano fundraiser for our church up North...

5) I did not mean for this to turn into a numbered list. I couldn't sleep last night because my mind was churning along at a million kilometres a minute. I could have produced enough electricity to power my street with all the synapses and processes going in there. So I did something constructive: thought about what I would blog about.

6) I've been checking out my friend Thelma's blog a lot lately. Clearly it is very cold there because she has been blogging a lot lately. This post, about artistry and domesticity not necessarily canceling eachother out reflects many thoughts that I have had about the exact same issue. As she puts it,

You have to understand that most liberal arts majors spend many hours imagining their lives as anything but 'domestic'... and by domestic I simply mean the daily chores of life which are unavoidable unless you wish to live in squalor. While we study all sorts of juicy stuff in university, moving steadily towards some vague, unspecified future, we know only one thing : our lives will not be ordinary.

We will travel. We will spend months in a tiny apartment overlooking the Seine, stabbing away at a cheap typewriter because we haven't sold a story in months and can't afford the electricity. We may marry (though it's unlikely) and if we do, he will be some misunderstood artist who insists on wearing a ragged black cape for inspiration while standing out on the balcony of some Swiss chalet, barefoot and freezing. We'll latch on to strangers as Muses, seek inspiration in the most unlikely places, so that when we win some obscure Canadian prize for our first short collection of poetry, we can offer some witty, esoteric anecdote to the literary student who interviews us. We will dress oddly, in a randomly thrown together yet artistically fashionable way, and try to have some trademark feature (massive white handkerchief, strange headpiece, messy hair pulled back into a bun, etc) so as to maintain our sense of mystery. And through all this, we will do whatever it was we studied so hard for in university. (Di has probably spit her coffee out twice while reading this, because she knows exactly what I mean.)

You're beginning to see how in all of this, things like doing dishes, folding laundry and preparing meals don't play a role. We'd be much too busy eating the petals of lilies so that in the poem we were writing we wouldn't be limited to touch, sight and smell in our descriptors.

Adjusting to reality in terms of being a successful writer/poet while living a regular life actually took a bit. I had it in my mind that no one living a simple life of hard work and ordinary chores (sans travel, eclectic husband and 'starving artist' experience) would even be considered for publication. Some editor would look at me in my jeans and tee-shirt (sans unique hankie, headpiece or wild hair) and grunt, "Nope. Boring life. Go away."

After four and half years of marriage and a having a child, sometimes the level of domesticity I have achieved shocks me. But it is an accomplishment and a blessing. And when I'm holding Annie in my arms and take in the scent of her sweet-smelling little head or take out a loaf of homemade bread from the oven I realise I revel in my domesticity as much as I ever did my artistry.

So.Odds and ends. Travel. Work. Holidays. Home life. Writing. Typing. Family. Friends. All part of living in West Coast Grace.

it grows back

2008-12-30T19:45:00.000-08:00

It is important to know your hairdresser.

Every time you visit your hair stylist you take your life in your hands. Not in the manner of Sweeny Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, but the life of your outward appearance or perhaps your social life is at the mercy of a person wielding a sharp blade. It is in your best interest to know who that person is.

Case in point. When I was in Grade 11 with a full head of blonde curls, the idea came to me that layers would be the best thing. Really, I thought, I don't know why I had never considered layers before. Layers would bring my hair to its fullest potential.

So who did I choose to perform this monumental task? A hairdresser from the shop my mother went to(my mother does not go there anymore). I told her exactly what I wanted. And I was so excited about my layers that unwittingly I put my full confidence in this older woman who I was sure knew what she was doing.

Half an hour later I walked out of the door with most of my beautiful curls gone, sporting a mullet. No, your eyes did not deceive you. A MULLET. A curly mullet. I was devastated.

But I learned my lesson and never entered a beauty salon for the better part of two years. My sister was thinking of pursuing a career in hair dressing and I was her willing guinea pig. Of course, you get way you pay for (or in this case, what I didn't pay for) and I think that in the period of time before my sister entered beauty school my hair was cut a little crooked. But it all worked out in the end. I got free or hugely discounted cuts, colours, streaks... you name it, I did it... except for a mohawk, that is.

Because in the end I realized that hair grows back. Your life may end (or you think it ends) for a few months, but the mullet grows out and the curls grow back. And since then I've had a cavalier attitude about my hair. Colour it red? Sure. Cut it pixie style? Done it. Had bad styles? Lived through them.

Before Christmas I was desperate to have my hair cut. It was long with a bit of the scraggles and I had taken to wearing it up all the time just so I wouldn't have to look or deal with it. Having recently moved back to the Valley I didn't really have a regular stylist anymore. The one I had before I moved was all booked up and I really was in a quandary.

But since desperate times call for desperate measures, I picked up the phone and dialed... Sears Salon...

I got to the salon and I met my hair dresser for the first time. I mentioned layers. She, I think (I hope) talked about layers in her limited English.

As this unknown and ESL hair dresser swung that black plastic cap around my neck, my nerves flickered a bit. My former mullet flashed before my eyes and I wondered if I still had a chance to make a quick escape, with my hair and my life still intact...

I stayed put. And the hair came off. Lots of it. Inches and inches. And when she gave me the okay to put my glasses back on to take a look after she was finished, I breathed an inward sigh of relief. It was fine. And even if it wasn't the most polished or most perfect hair cut I had ever received, it was okay.

After all, it always grows back.

open letter

2008-12-17T20:50:00.000-08:00

Open letter to the Residents of the fair city of Abbotsford:

RE: Driving in inclement weather.

I understand that driving in snowy conditions can be dangerous. Before I had experience in driving in these kinds of conditions, I too was apprehensive when at the wheel on a snowy road.

However, bad road conditions is no reason for all good driving habits to be discarded. So how can I explain why the person in front of me was driving 20 km/hour on a fairly clear road and the person behind was tailgating me? I was going so slow I could have been going backwards, but actually I couldn't because I would have gotten rear-ended.

As it seems like this snow and cold weather is going to continue for a few more days at least, we need to collectively recover our road sense and minimize the stress of drivers who actually know how to make their way on snowy roads.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Di

P.S. Just to let you know that people throughout the country look at how we react to and drive in this kind of weather and LAUGH AT US. Let's keep our self respect.

medical word of the day: hypokinesis

2008-12-17T19:53:00.000-08:00

I am writing my last test tomorrow and am extremely excited and nervous about it.

This term has come up a few times in my transcription the past few days:

hypokinesis: Diminished or abnormally slow movement. Also called hypomotility. This may be used in the general sense of activity or motion but also can be used to describe the function of blood vessels.

post #30: medical word of the day: anicteric

2008-12-10T21:09:00.000-08:00

Things have been a little hectic here lately and if you were wondering why this blog has been quieter than normal, see the post a few entries down labelled: Hiding Part II.

The move went alright. We really like our new place, especially the quiet... this means no more sirens blaring past our place at all hours of the day and night. Our suite is always open for visitors, so if you're in the area let us know.

Of course after a stressful event comes a cold. I had a humdinger of a cold that lasted a week (I'm just starting to feel better) and moved from my head to my chest to finally reside in my sinuses... I once read a piece in a home medicine guide book that perfectly describes how I felt the entire week. It went something like this...

... do you feel so sick that you're afraid you're going to die? More to the point, do you feel so miserable that you're afraid you won't die?

All in good humour, sometimes head colds can make you feel that sick.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel. The move is finished, cupboard by cupboard, room by room we are getting organized and pictures are being hung on the walls. I write my test on Dec 18 which means my coursework is finally done and I've only my practicum to do.

Last but not least, the return of the medical word of the day:

anicteric: without jaundice (icteric meaning, of course, jaundiced or with or having jaundice)

medical word of the day: egophony

2008-11-24T20:15:00.000-08:00

Another one for today! These do help me to remember the words I need to remember later, perhaps for tests, but certainly in real life!

egophony: increased resonance of voice sounds, with a high-pitched bleating quality, heard especially over lung tissue compressed by pleural effusion; or a peculiar broken quality of the voice sounds, like the bleating of a goat, heard over lung tissue in cases of pleurisy with effusion. adj. egophonic.

medical word of the day: cachetic

2008-11-24T20:08:00.000-08:00

I looked this word up phonetically (kakectic) and came up with nothing. So once I was done the file I had to look it up in the transcription key. I had not seen or heard of this word before! So now I share it with you.

cachetic: Having cachexia, physical wasting with loss of weight and muscle mass due to disease.

People with advanced cancer or AIDS or other forms of disease may, and often do, appear cachetic.

hiding part II

2008-11-21T18:58:00.000-08:00

After reading a fellow blogger's (and friend) entry about hiding (check out Life as Two which you'll find in the sidebar) I was going to comment on her blog when I realized I actually could write my own entry about hiding...

She writes on her blog that when she's stressed, things aren't going well, etc. she retreats into herself... no blogs, no emails, no nothing... I react to stress the same way. In fact, my two best friends know that when they don't receive a phone call or email from me for about two weeks, it's time for them to call or write or send a little note to check up on me... thanks S & P! What would I do without them? My DH (meaning Dear Husband, to borrow a phrase) knows that he should tiptoe around me, but doesn't, and says and does silly things to try and get me to laugh... or knows that coming home with a bottle of red wine and perhaps a movie to watch is just the thing to ease my stress.

Another good sign that I am in self-retreat/survival/stress-coping mode is if you find me reading (yet again, for probably the seventh time) the Harry Potter series. I don't know what it is about that series but it is a great way to spend a half an hour or an hour when I need to escape from the pressures of this life...

I can look back on this blog and notice where my most stressful times were - those times where weeks or months went by when I didn't have anything to say. Like M, all I really wanted to do is whine and who wants to hear that... I didn't have anything nice to say so I didn't say anything at all. You won't believe how many times I sat down to write something and came up with nothing except how tired and stressed I was feeling.

Right now is one of those times. It is a Friday night and I am working, which is the last thing I want to do after a busy week. We move (yet again) next weekend. The end of the school term is fast approaching and all I can do is think about HOW MUCH work for my course I have yet to complete.

That is where I will leave it. If you're thinking about me or worried about me, a little note of encouragement is always welcome, and especially your prayers.

There is only one small problem. My HP books are currently in boxes in a shed in Surrey. I guess Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt will have to do...

martini recipe

2008-11-18T12:46:00.000-08:00

After seeing the newest James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace (which I applaud for the expanded vocabulary in the title as well as the movement to normal, non-titillating names for its female characters), I was reminded of a drink I used to love so well... the martini. It brought back memories of days when I was obsessed with Frank Sinatra, swing dancing, and the era that I thought epitomized cool. BFF's S and P will remember those days well...

As a result of this obsession I posess a lifetime's supply of martini glasses...

The ubiquitous phrase "shaken not stirred" made famous by Bond has not really seemed to increase the popularity of the original martini, while sweet mixed martini cocktails have seemed to multiply in number (blech... a drink served in a martini glass does not a martini make). An original martini, made with either gin or vodka (or both), blended with vermouth and garnished with a cocktail onion, a lemon peel or an olive is an acquired taste... strong tasting and certainly not sweet.

Anyways, as someone who appreciates a good martini (I recommend Bombay Sapphire gin for its great taste) the martini ingredients Bond orders in the movie sounded so good... after some internet research, here it is (from Esquire):

The Vesper, 2006

Shake (if you must) with plenty of cracked ice:

* 3 oz Tanqueray gin
* 1 oz 100-proof Stolichnaya vodka
* 1/2 oz Lillet Blanc
* 1/8 teaspoon (or less) quinine powder or, in desperation, 2 dashes of bitters

Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and twist a large swatch of thin-cut lemon peel over the top. Shoot somebody evil.

Here's a quote from Bond from Ian Fleming's book, Casino Royale about why the drink is so strong,

When I'm...er...concentrating," he explained, "I never have more than one drink before dinner. But I do like that one to be large and very strong and very cold and very well-made. I hate small portions of anything, particularly when they taste bad. This drink's my own invention. I'm going to patent it when I can think of a good name."

medical word of the day: colonoscopy

2008-11-15T13:45:00.000-08:00

Instead of potentially boring you with another definition, read this story:

http://www.miamiherald.com/living/columnists/dave-barry/v-fullstory/story/427603.html

the right kind of tests to fail

2008-11-14T19:03:00.000-08:00

Over the past two weeks I have started numerous blog entries only to have them fall by the wayside with lost interest...

The good news is that, if I had an infection it is gone! The uncertain news is that my Dr. is perplexed by my symptoms and so I am scheduled for an ultrasound in December to rule out cholecystitis or renal calculi (which are just fancy ways of saying gallbladder inflammation and kidney stones). So now I just have to wait, with occasional twinges of pain in my RUQ (right upper quadrant)although I am told that kidney stone sufferers experience pain so intense it feels like labour.

But what I am getting out of this experience is thankfulness that I know what is going in my body. I took my ultrasound requisition form and I read it and I know what it says. Before I used to go to the doctor and not really know what was going on except for a: "this is what I feel like" or "this is where the pain is". I used to take my prescription to the pharmacy and take all the pills the doctor prescribed without a second thought.

I am not suggesting everyone become an expert in medical terminology, but knowledge is power, especially when it has to do with your health.

medical word of the day: tests

2008-10-28T17:09:00.000-07:00

In the last two days it seems my life has been about tests.

The test I wrote today marks one more milestone in the fits and starts that has been this medical transcription course. Or maybe it has just seemed to progress in fits and starts and lurches (and thus not smoothly) because of all the other things that have happened in the meantime.

However, this is the second last test that I will hopefully ever have to write for this course. As I type this blog entry now at 5:11 it is finished and emailed with all the trepidation of an early-teenage boy gathering up the courage to ask a girl out. Will she say yes?

Will I pass?

Wish me luck as I await the results.

I am now going to enjoy a much needed, restful night off, albeit a night off with no soothing glass of red wine as I am on antibiotics to waive off a possible kidney infection. I went for the proverbial blood and urine tests yesterday and am awaiting the results of those as well. Hopefully my GP and I have caught this one on time and can hit with some stronger medication and nip it in the bud, thus avoiding the extreme illness I experienced the first time.

These are two tests that I hope to fail.

medical word of the day: coryza

2008-10-25T12:06:00.000-07:00

I do have a week of words to make up for and I keep on coming across interesting ones.

Coryza: a head cold.

The word "coryza" came from the Greek "koryza" which is thought to have been compounded from "kara", head + "zeein", to boil. The "boiling over from the head" refers to the runny nose, an all-too-familiar feature of a head cold.

Now when you have a simple cold you can call in sick and say that you have coryza. Your coworkers will think you have something really serious while you spend your day sipping chicken noodle soup and watching Ellen reruns.

medical word of the day: shotty

2008-10-25T11:59:00.000-07:00

I know it has been awhile. I have been feverishly and frantically studying at every spare moment for my test this coming Tuesday. But here is your interesting word for today.

shotty:like shot; resembling the pellets used in shotgun cartridges.

This adjective is not disturbing in itself. However, it is disturbing when used to describe someone's lymph nodes.

don't trust the spellchecker

2008-10-20T13:41:00.000-07:00

Doctor's dictation:

...she has previously been seen in evaluation by myself...

What Word tells me I should change it to:

...myself have previously seen her in evaluation...

Moral of the story:

...it pays to pay attention during those mind-numbingly boring grammar classes because it will help you avoid looking like a fool someday...

Time to Say Goodbye - lyrics

2008-10-16T22:04:00.001-07:00

The English Translation:

When I'm alone
I dream on the horizon
And words fail
Yes, I know there is no light
In a room
Where the sun is not there
If you are not with me
At the windows
Show everyone my heart
Which you set alight
Enclose within me
The light you
Encountered on the street

Time to say goodbye
To countries I never
Saw and shared with you
Now, yes, I shall experience them
I'll go with you
On ships across seas
Which, I know
No, no, exist no longer
With you I shall experience them

When you are far away
I dream on the horizon
And words fail
And yes, I know
That you are with me
You, my moon, are here with me
My sun, you are here with me
With me, with me, with me

Time to say goodbye
To countries I never
Saw and shared with you
Now, yes, I shall experience them
I'll go with you
On ships across seas
Which, I know
No, no, exist no longer
With you I shall re-experience them
I'll go with you
On ships across seas
Which, I know
No, no, exist no longer
With you I shall re-experience them
I'll go with you
I with you

English / Italian:

Quando sono solo
Sogno all'orizzonte
E mancan le parole
Si lo so che non c'luce
In una stanza
Quando manca il sole
Se non ci sei tu con me, con me
Su le finestre
Mostra a tutti il mio cuore
Che hai acceso
Chiudi dentro me
La luce che
Hai incontrato per strada

Time to say goodbye
Paesi che non ho mai
Veduto e vissuto con te
Adesso si li vivro
Con te partiro
Su navi per mari
Che io lo so
No no non esistono piu
It's time to say goodbye

Quando sei lontana
Sogno all'orizzonte
E mancan le parole
E io si lo so
Che sei con me con me
Tu mia luna tu sei qui con me
Mio sole tu sei qui con me
Con me con me con me

Time to say goodbye
Paesi che non ho mai
Veduto e vissuto con te
Adesso si li vivro
Con te partiro
Su navi per mari
Che io lo so
No no non esistono piu
Con te io li rivivro
Con te partiro
Su navi per mari
Che io lo so
No no non esistono piu
Con te io li rivivro
Con te partiro
Io con te

If you google the song title two links come up from YouTube, watch the first one, where Sarah Brightman is wearing a white dress. It is so wonderful. The song sounds a little like Bolero... enjoy.

Medical Word of the Day: tachypnea

2008-10-16T21:35:00.000-07:00

Seeing as I haven't posted these in awhile, I feel the need to make some days up.

Tachypnea: rapid breathing; abnormally fast breathing or a respiratory rate that is too rapid.

The prefix tachy- means swift or rapid; it comes from the Greek word tachys, meaning "swift." The word ending -pnea denotes a relationship to breathing; it comes from the Greek pnoia, meaning breath.

Medical word of the day: avulse, avulsion

2008-10-16T15:31:00.001-07:00

As a writer and perhaps aspiring author, I love great action words. This one has particularly violent tones which made me hope that I never have to use it in a sentence about me or anyone I know.

avulse: to tear off forcibly, as when a tooth is lost in an accident.
avulsion: the forcible tearing away of a body part by trauma or surgery (as when a surgeon must remove a nail from the nail bed).

Six Things That Make Me Happy

2008-10-15T14:44:00.000-07:00

In her tag, May specified that these things cannot be every day things, they have to be specific to me. It seems weird to me that not everyone would enjoy these things, perhaps we can learn from eachother's little quirks and expand our horizons a bit.

Be patient with me, my things take some time to explain:

1) Clean sheets. Clean pjs. Clean self. There really is nothing like the feeling of climbing into a bed made with crisp, freshly laundered sheets (double points if they have been hung on a line!) in clean, comfy pajamas after a nice, long, hot bath or shower. You just feel clean from head to toe, inside and out, surrounded by a nice scent and you just sink into bed. A thick, warm, soft, cuddly duvet also helps.

2) Turkey. This requires some explanation. As I don't live at home anymore, it's been a long time since I actually experienced it, but in thinking about turkey (as Thanksgiving was this week) it brought to mind these memories, which never fail to bring a smile to my face: groggily waking up at 6 in the morning hearing clinking noises in the kitchen and then the oven door opening and closing. This is a Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter tradition. Something about those noises makes you feel that all is right and ordered in the world because you know Mom is getting that bird ready... Coming home from Christmas service with carols in your heart and on your voice, you enter the kitchen and are welcomed by the rich, meaty, spicy smell of roasting turkey and stuffing. This is one of the things I missed when I moved out and what I looked forward to when we stayed there when visiting (when we used to live out of town). I will be missing out on this now that we live back in town.

3) Words. Good, strong, descriptive words... A lot of people like reading, but how many people can say they savour a good, funny, unusual, word? This is one of the reasons I started my "Medical Word of the Day" blogs. I just had to share these words that I would never come across in day to day life. Plus they look and sound fun to say: Borborygmi - need I say more?

4) Musicals. Yes, as in movies where the actors and actresses, overcome with emotion (happy, sad, silly), spontaneously break out into song. Rogers and Hammerstein, The Sound of Music, Bing Crosby, Mary Poppins, Sinatra, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers... I just can't help myself. Old movies can be included in this as a subcategory. Indeed, sometimes it seems I am the only one my age who has seen and likes Casablanca and I own it.

5)Time to Say Goodbye... I fell in love with this song the first time I heard it, sung by Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman. One of my very good friends played it on the piano during the signing of the register at my wedding... sigh...shivers...

6)A good cigarette. I am not smoker, but sometimes there are those moments, like sitting cross-legged on a floating dock at the end of a scorching day, and the lake is giving the warmth back to us and reminding us how hot the day was (as if we had forgotten)... my best girl friends are there to enjoy this moment with me (they know who they are) perhaps there is a Corona in my other hand, perhaps a G&T... in any case, a Benson & Hedges 100 (they are the long cigarettes because I never could find one of those elegant cigarette holders) is so apropos...

And now to tag... well, not a lot of my friends have blogs... but Pauly has one, so she is tagged!

Autumn

2008-10-10T19:35:00.000-07:00

I know September has been over for a few weeks now, but I came across this passage while reading an author who has never failed to make laugh out loud, causing my husband and brother-in-law to give me strange looks. If you ever have a chance to read any of the stories from The Vinyl Cafe by Stuart McLean do so.

As I read this passage I had to chuckle, as M and I found ourselves in the same situation:

from Home from the Vinyl Cafe,

September is the most beguiling of the months. It is the month that won't let go of summer and it is the month that calls from the crow's nest of the year and announces, in the thinning air and morning dew, that summer is gone and autumn is already here. One day September will lull you into believing that you should assemble your things and mount a picnic on a Saturday afternoon - September is made for Saturdays. But when Saturday comes, you spend the morning fumbling around in the attic, looking for sweaters, because it is raining and cold. You look at the picnic supplies you gathered and you wonder how you could have been so misguided.

September is a month for plans and a month for no plans. The month of full shelves and empty fields. A time for leave-taking and taking stock. It is the end of summer and the beginning of all that is to come.

medical word of the day: borborygmi

2008-10-08T16:22:00.001-07:00

The medical world is full of interesting and unpronounceable but fun-looking words such as this one:

borborygmi: a rumbling noise produced by the movement of gas through the intestines. from the Greek borborugmos, of imitative origin.

medical word of the day: H. pylori

2008-10-07T22:22:00.000-07:00

Another interesting sounding name...

Helicobacter pylori, more well known as H. pylori: This unusual name identifies a specific bacteria that can cause infection of the stomach. This infection can contribute to the development of diseases, such as dyspepsia (heartburn, bloating and nausea), gastritis (inflammation of the stomach), and ulcers in the stomach and duodenum.

H. pylori is a fragile bacteria that has found an ideal home in the protective mucous layer of the stomach. These bacteria have long threads protruding from them that attach to the underlying stomach cells. The mucous layer that protects the stomach cells from acid also protects H. pylori. These bacteria do not actually invade the stomach cells as certain other bacteria can. The infection, however, is very real and it does cause the body to react. Infection-fighting white blood cells move into the area, and the body develops H. pylori antibodies in the blood.

... the mental picture of bacteria attaching itself by long threads to the cells of my stomach is just not appetizing or appealing.

But really, I couldn't keep something like that to myself...

medical word of the day: dysphagia

2008-10-06T20:39:00.000-07:00

Two for the price of one today! I didn't put an entry up for Saturday, and while working today I just seem to come across interesting terms.

Dysphagia: difficulty, discomfort, or pain in swallowing; usually due to problems in nerve or muscle control (for example, like after a stroke).

(Phagein in Greek means to eat; trouble eating.)

medical word of the day: Xiphisternum

2008-10-06T20:02:00.000-07:00

I picked this because it sounded so neat.

xiphisternum or xiphoid process: pointed cartilage attached to the lower end of the breastbone or sternum, the smallest and lowest division of the sternum. Cartilaginous early in life, it may become ossified (bony) in adults. It is sometimes simply called the xiphoid. Also known as the ensiform cartilage or process.

The ancients thought the xiphoid looked like the tip of a sword. The word "xiphoid" is from the Greek "xiphos" (straight sword) + "eidos" (like) = straight sword. "Ensiform" is from the Latin "ensis" (sword) + "forma" (shape) = sword shape.

four walls

2008-10-02T16:08:00.000-07:00

On a day like today, it is easy to forget that there is a world beyond the walls of our two bedroom apartment.

On a day like today, the challenges coming at me from within these four walls seem as insurmountable as all the problems of the four corners of the earth.

A day of no naps follows a night of no sleep. A stuffed up nose and fever exist simultaneously with three teeth trying to make their way to the surface.

This adds up to a miserable child who adorably wants to sit on my lap to be comforted one minute but is scrambling off to get into something she shouldn't the next. This does not make for a good day. This, along with the pressure to work on my course, makes for a certain element of constant stress.

I have always prided myself in maintaining an interest in the world beyond my little world. Many people have a daily life of hardships that I cannot even fathom. But is easy to forget about all that and to have a very narrow vision when it comes to day to day life.

For example, when I vote it is with thanks in my heart for the many people a hundred years who stood up for democracy (Emmeline Pankhurst and Nellie McClung among them) and the knowledge that for many thousands of years this was a privilege unheard of for men and women ( I am an historian, after all).

So on day like today when the four walls threaten to close in on me like an Indiana Jones movie, I need to remember that what happens beyond our home could have a great impact on what happens inside it. And the reverse is true as well.

Enjoying a nice glass of red wine while watching the evening news after a day like today makes it a little easier. Small blessings.

I wish I could vote for Gilles Duceppe

2008-10-02T13:03:00.000-07:00

This may sound strange, but even though I am not even remotely Quebecois, everytime there is an election I just want to vote for Gilles Duceppe.

I don't know what it is about him... Maybe it's because he is so debonair. Or because he's got such panache. It could be his well-coiffed silvery hair.

But what I really appreciate about him is the fact that he can basically a) tell every other party leader they are idiots b) tell them where to go and how to get there and c) make it sound so elegant and funny. And he does it every single debate. Repeatedly. It's one of the reasons I just love watching the debates.

The other party leaders get their zingers into each other as well, but it just seems like Duceppe can take it one step further and without falling into the category of taking cheap shots. It's a skill I don't have, but can fully appreciate.

I may visit Quebec again in my lifetime, but I think I can safely say that I will never live there. And as I head to the polls on October 14 I will mark my X beside the candidate's name I believe will work in Abbotsford's and Canada's best interests, but I'll be thinking of someone else.

disclaimer: the above does not necessarily represent political expertise but remains purely the author's opinions, of which she has many