GRE

I took the GRE today and did MUCH better than expected. I could not stop smiling as I walked out of the testing center. I was very happy with my score considering how little I studied. Thanks to good friends for all the well-wishes! Glad it is over and DONE!

Melissa : GRE

You : This Post

:)

Fort Worth

I drove to Fort Worth today to take a chemo class

What a charming city-

sparkle lights everywhere and cobblestone roads!

My Mini car fit right in downtown

Had a wonderful run along the river

after a long drive alone...

I sure missed Katie and Tara as I drove

But I am loving this lovely Texas fall weather

and this beautiful Texas city!

Batwoman

Sometimes I live an exciting life. Last Monday was just one of those days. Monday morning I arrived at work and was notified that we couldn't have any kids in the clinic until 10 am because there was a bat trapped in the clinic (it was discovered when it flew in to my boss's head when she arrived at work at 5:30 am that day). One of the doctors was super excited at the idea of catching a bat so when it came out he chased it around the clinic with a huge bed sheet. He did not catch it. So animal control was in the clinic for about 3 hours and then said that they had taken care of it so we would not have any more problems with the bat. Phew! Skip ahead 3 hours...

I am chatting with this little 6 year-old boy while he is getting blood. All of a sudden there is a scream and the other nurse I am working with runs away screaming "BAT!!!! I'M CALLING ANIMAL CONTROL! FIND A NET!!!". So this bat swoops in to the room and is flying around the room. This little boy is tethered to an IV pole and the bat is circling his head. I grab a paper "pillow case" off of a pillow and try to encourage the bat to fly away from him. The bat flies in to the huge glass window just feet away from my patient and falls down stunned. I don't know what got in to me, but I was fearless. Just as the bat reared its head and hissed (or whatever bats do) at me, I grabbed him with my hands. Yep. Trapped a bat with my hands!! This from the girl who squeals at the sight of spiders. I threw him in the paper pillowcase and then in the garbage can. I calmly walked away from my little patient and then when out of his sight I threw the bat upside down in an empty room. I notified my boss to call the animal control people and to not let anyone turn over the garbage can or go in the room. Then I washed my hands and went back to my patient. He looked up at me and said, "Hey remember that time when you caught that bat?" I thought, yes. Yes I do. I won't soon forget that. We did some crafts that afternoon and when he left he said, "I really liked when you caught that bat Melissa. That was cool." He gave me a hug and a high 5 and was off.

Animal patrol arrived and needed to talk with "the woman that apprehended the bat." These people were wearing huge boots, had leather gloves and long tongs to grab the bat with. They wrote my story down, asking for EXACT times in a little notebook that I am pretty sure was from the Dollar Store. Very official. Nice job catching the bat on the first try folks.

In case you were wondering, I was gentle enough that the bat was still alive and well when animal control arrived. Too bad he will probably be killed to be tested for rabies. I am now known as "bat-woman" or "bat-girl" at work. And... the doctor who wanted to catch the bat was quite upset that, as another nurse put it, I had stolen his thunder.

For your enjoyment I have posted pictures of what the bats that live in Austin look like...

This was the face that looked up at me and hissed. Eeehhhh.....

This is what was flying around the clinic

Happy Halloween!

-Batwoman

Fall Food

Last week I made Sunday dinner again.

Butternut Squash Soup, spinach and Craisin Salad

and Pumpkin Cookies. Yum

Thanks for the pics Ivy!

Ivy's pictures make everything look wonderful...

Recipe below YUM!

One onion (a big white one) chopped.

Used cooking spray to saute onion in a big pot

Cut the butternut squash in half, and after scooping out the insides put it in a baking dish with about 1/2 inch of water in the bottom. Cooked it at 450 for about 20 minutes (basically until soft enough that I could scrape it off of the skin). For this group I used the two squashes.

Cut the squash in to chunks and threw them in a blender with chicken broth to help blend it

dumped the mixture in to the pot

Added cumin, dash of nutmeg, salt, ground pepper and tumeric- all to taste.

Added half package of fat free cream cheese, though this prob wasnt necessary. Then had fat-free greek plain yogurt (i think this is the best!).

Ingredients:

5-6 cups chicken broth (2.5-3 cans)

Butternut squash

onion

cumin

tumeric

salt

pepper

nutmeg

may add cream cheese, yogurt

I found already cubed butternut squash at Whole Foods this week... what a timesaver!

Best Job Ever!

I love my job! I submit to you that I have the BEST job ever! I get to spend time playing with wonderful children and teenagers every day while helping them fight cancer and other life-changing illnesses. I get to color and do art projects, play dolls, play board games and keep up on my nursing skills. Plus... I got to catch a bat. Will post on that soon... I am so blessed to have this wonderful opportunity in my life!!!

Find of the week

This made me laugh out loud at Walgreens.

Are they serious?

I ask you this... why does a dog need a Snuggie?

Along the same lines...

why does anyone?

Spin Class

Wednesdays are happy days because they are spin class days with Ivy. Thanks for being my motivation to go to spin Ivy! I always feel so much better after a great spin class!