What a Day!!

I was scheduled for an 11:00 appointment with my plastic surgeon’s nurse practitioner to go over the surgery (in just 15 days!) and have some presurgical screening done. The hospital is only about 30 miles away, but I allowed about two hours because one never knows about Philly traffic. Also, those two hours included a stop for a venti White Chocolate Mocha for the road trip.

It was a good thing I left so early. It took FOREVER to get there. On my way I passed a sight that struck me as rather curious. Two police cars had pulled over a hearse. Is it just me or does that seem peculiar to anyone else?? I’m hoping it was an empty, off-duty hearse and the ocean of traffic wasn’t a funeral procession gone astray for lack of a leader.

I don’t mind traffic when I’m prepared for it. And thankfully, I was prepared for it today. But I can’t help but feel sorry for the people who drive into the city every single day. What a nightmare for them! Getting into Philly from the west is a challenge in itself. Freeways narrow from four to two lanes with cars merging on both sides and exits on the left instead of the right. Thank goodness for my Los Angeles driving background, is all I can say.

I got to the medical offices about 40 minutes before my appointment. Not a problem as I had a book with me. Gleefully I thought about all the reading I was going to get to do in the waiting room. Alas, it was not meant to be. It took me 25 minutes to find a blasted parking spot!! Wait. Let me rephrase. It took me 25 minutes to find a blasted parking spot ANYONE COULD PARK IN! What is with these people in little cars who take up two spots???? Come on, folks. Parking is a precious commodity and all of us space seekers driving around mindlessly like drones were there for a reason. Like a bloomin’ doctor’s appointment!! And MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

So I didn’t pass the patience test very well. Finally found a spot – of which I hate to admit I was over the line on one side. But that wasn’t my fault because the car on the right was over the line into my space and the car on the left was over the line into the space left of it. So there was enough room for me, just not nicely between the lines. If my kids had been with me they would have said I was parked like Grandma Flossie (who they never even knew – smart alecs!)

Got to the waiting room, had to fill out reams of papers that were identical to the reams of papers I’d filled out back in October, and finally got to read. I’m reading A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. Oh. My. Gosh. It’s embarrassingly funny. I sat there with what I’m sure was a stupid grin on my face while my shoulders shook with uncontained mirth. There were a couple right out bursts of laughter.

Got called back, did my thing with the nurse practitioner and then was shuffled across the street to the hospital for blood work and an EKG. Why is it when I try to tell the medical staff who weighs me I’m wearing about 30 pounds of extra clothing they laugh? I’m not trying to be funny. *sigh*

I was glad to see that the cars on either side of me were still there because I was worried about being cussed out by someone else who thought I had inconsiderately parked in two spots. Unlike all the other rude people who did that, I had a good reason.

Traffic coming home was much better. The freeway runs right by the high school and, ironically, when I was at about that point my phone buzzed me with a message. It was the school. Apparently there had been a bomb threat and the school had been evacuated. You know that panicky, sweaty, cold/hot, shaky, I’m-going-to-burst-into-tears-‘cause-it’s-better-than-passing-out-while-I’m-driving feeling you get when you think one of your kids is in danger? Full force, baby. Thankfully the next message was Todd calling to explain the call to me so I wouldn’t burst into tears or pass out while I was driving. Taylor is in high school, but he’s in the 9th grade and they have their own 9th grade center across the street from the big high school. The big high school was evacuated to the 9th grade center, bomb squad complete with dogs were called in and a thorough sweep was done. No bomb anywhere.

I have to say that even though it was the high school and not the 9th grade center, it didn’t make me feel a ton better. Yesterday in another high school in this same county a boy walked in to school with a gun and committed suicide. I’m thankful he didn’t shoot anyone else – they don’t seem to think it was ever his intention – but it’s still so overwhelmingly sad.

And that, in a nutshell, is why I spend my Sunday nights with a bunch of wild and crazy teenagers at church. I don’t delude myself into thinking I will make a difference to any of them, but in the immortal words of Fats Waller – One never knows, do one?

READING

As I mentioned above, I’m reading A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. This is a true (but no doubt exaggerated) account of his trek from the bottom to the top of the Appalachian Trail. The book has had me laughing, snorting, giggling, chuckling, guffawing, snickering – you get the idea. Hysterical.

And for those of you who are interested, I finished Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas a couple days ago. I loved the book and I very much liked the characters. So much so that I can’t decide between Derek and Sebastian so I’m calling it a draw. If I was forced to decide I might choose Derek simply for the fact that he overcame so much adversity to get where he was. But don’t hold me to that. I’m extremely fickle and likely to change my mind.