Germaphobe

Have I become a germaphobe? Maybe. . . but am I justified? I do believe so. I went to a local grocery store with my mom and little sister on Saturday and watched as the lady slicing the meat in the deli talked on her phone with her gloves on. . . . scratched her face with her gloves on. . . adjusted her apron with her gloves on . . . and then proceeded to slice meat with her same gloves on. I might have even noticed that the pinky finger had torn through. Now let me ask. . . . are you serious? That is disgusting!! We might have stopped at customer service to complain about our disgust.

Update on the lice: I didn't contract it. Lucky me!!

My Good Deed

Joseph and I have been working with a less active family in our ward and their little 8 year old girl has really taken to us. She rang our doorbell about 5 times this morning so we invited her in for breakfast. After breakfast I invited her to come and do her hair with me (she is a little bit dirty - like dirt on her hands and face). We tried combing out her rats nest hair and decided it needed a little bit of conditioner. So I washed her hair over the tub and as I was combing out her wet tangled hair I noticed a few little bugs near her scalp. . . . LICE!!! Run for cover!! (Disinfect everything. . . or throw everything out. . . or move. . .I can't decide which) I finished doing her hair and politely asked if she had ever had lice of which she replied no. Then I quickly sent her on her way and disinfected my combs and hands as quickly as I could. GROSS!! I've been paranoid all day that I've somehow contracted lice and I'm itching all over. . .I've never had lice before and the thought of it makes my skin crawl. My good deed in helping my little friend comb her hair out for the first time in months has now turned into my worst nightmare. I thought I would kill the lice even if I don't have them but the pharmacist strongly suggested not placing the insecticide (lice treatment) on my scalp with out the bugs. So now I just sit and wait and have Joseph pick through my hair every five minutes like two monkeys sitting in a tree. . . well enough from me I need to go shower again!

Multi-tasking

Jogged to the store to buy some hamburger for dinner. . . burned calories. . . .bought groceries. . .worked out my biceps (holding the 2 lb hamburger logs in each hand) . . .got rid of my anger. . .cleared my head. . .who says people are incapable of multitasking?

My Mountain Man

While most people were relaxing over spring break Joseph was beaver trapping. Beaver trapping? Really? Who does that? Well Joseph does. In fact he's gotten really into the whole mountain man thing and we are going to the Rendezvous in a couple of weeks. Here is Joseph in some authentic mountain man garb.

As for me . . . I spent all day Thursday taking my first series of board exams - ANESTHESIA. . . and I PASSED (only 2 more to go)!! This was extra exciting due to the fact the the patient I was going to inject ended up getting trismus (very painful jaw muscle problem) and I had to use my mom at the last minute without ever having practiced on her. I might have been a little nervous. . . and a little shaky. . . so thank you mom for being willing and brave!

What happens in Vegas. . .

This weekend I had the privilege of going to the MWC basketball tournament in Las Vegas with Joseph, my older brother, and my dad. . . .that's right a boys trip. Somehow I always find myself on these "boys" trips. They are pretty fun, but there's so much testosterone I find myself booing the refs and getting back in touch with my really competitive athletic side (most people should not see this side of me. . .it can be scary). This trip was pretty interesting. We got to the BYU game like 4 hours early and bought our tickets and waited outside with the New Mexico and San Diego State fans to get into the arena early. Our tickets were good for two games so we decided that we'd stay for the game before BYU's to see who they'd be playing in the final game. We took our seats and waited for tip off. About 4 rows in front of us this Lobo (New Mexico) fan was standing waving his arms spilling beer all over himself. It was clear this wasn't his first drink of the night. He proceeded to mumble incoherent Lobo cheers trying to get his fellow Lobo fans to cheer along with him. We laughed at this man thinking how we were so glad that we were a few rows behind him. As the game began this fan moved from row to row in our section sitting on the stairs annoying everyone in earshot. People would ignore him and he would move on to the next. Soon he was sitting in the aisle next to my father who paid him a tiny bit of attention. . . and he made himself comfortable on the concrete steps next to us. . . for the next 2 hours of our lives.
He'd stand and cheer every now and again and try to get us to cheer with him, we would laugh and shake our heads and he would laugh and tell us "you're killing me." At about half time he rose to his feet gave each of us a high five and fist bump at least five times a piece and eventually made his way down the stairs much to our relief. As he walked away we quickly used some hand sanitizer and Joseph mentioned that he'd bet money that his guy thought that the game was over. Sure enough not 5 minutes into the second half he was back with another beer in hand mumbling how he had thought that the game was over. Once again he made himself comfortable on the cement stairs next to us and yelled and cheered and tried to get us to cheer along with him. My dad threatened to make him leave if he spilled his beer on him and the man took extra care not to do so. What a guy. I sure do love fans from other schools. . . especially drunk ones.
Speaking of other fans. . . UNLV beat BYU (it was a terrible game) and after the buzzer sounded at the end of the game UNLV fans shouted at us to "*&^% BYU" and "Not in our house." Thank you UNLV fans for letting us know where you live. . . now we'll know where to send our hate mail. And oh wait, pretty sure you lost the next night "in your house" That's weird!! Thank you San Diego State for desecrating their house.

I Heart Cilantro

If someone were to ask me what my favorite herb is I would not hesitate to say Cilantro. It's beautiful, and so so tasty. It adds color and yummy goodness to any dish. Recently I decided to add it to twice baked potatoes and it was a dish to die for. Here is the recipe:

Bake 5 medium potatoes (word for the wise - poke with a fork and wrap in tin foil, do not stab with a knife or the peels won't work very well later)

Meanwhile Saute:

2 Tbsp butter

1 C sliced mushrooms

1/4 C diced red onions

3 cloves minced garlic

Cilantro to taste (I put in almost 1/4 of a bunch, but you can choose how much you want)

Once the potatoes are baked unwrap and discard the foil. Cut each potato in half length wise, scoop out the middle and place in a large bowl. Make sure you leave a thin layer of potato inside the peel so you don't break the peel into pieces. Place scraped potato skins in a greased 9x13 baking dish. Once all of the potatoes are scraped out, mix 1/2 cup sour cream and a dab (I used maybe 2 Tbsp) of milk (to your desired creaminess) to the potato middles and mash. Once mashed mix in the sauteed veggies and some cheddar cheese (I think I used about 1/2 C). You may also want to add a dash of salt and pepper at this point. Mix together well, then scoop mixture back into the potato shells. Place back in the oven uncovered for 15-20 min. or until the potatoes are warm all the way through. I broiled mine for the last few minutes to brown up the tops. Eat and Enjoy!!

These potatoes are so yummy that we've had them the past 2 Sundays. Love them, love how the Cilantro gives them a good kick. If you like this recipe you are sure to love the Cilantro Paprika steak we make. . .

Phobia

Phobia. . . what is a phobia anyway. According to dictionary.com a phobia is "a persistent, irrational fear of a specific object, activity, or situation that leads to a compelling desire to avoid it." This last week was an interesting one at best full of what some might call phobias.

First of all I turned 24 which is an age I never thought I would actually be and made me think of all the things I thought that I would have done by this age (definitely something to reflect on later). 24. . . Freaky deaky!

Second I found a board patient for my clinical board exam in April (such a relief and she is PERFECT). I won't even try to explain what you look for in a board patient because no one will know what I'm talking about. You have to spend hours upon hours in a dental office doing calculus detection to understand. In this case a phobia overcome.

Third (and this is where it gets really juicy) I have my anesthesia board exam in less than 2 weeks. After some stress endured by a fellow student over board patients for our exam I gracefully (and don't forget that) volunteered Joseph to be my patient. The anesthesia board exam is quite simple. You give 2 shots in 2 different spots in the mouth while some examiners watch your form and skill. Simple enough right? I thought so. . . .well I called Joseph to ask if he would be so kind as to be my patient (keep in mind he had volunteered a few days before) well he said yes. Now looking back I don't know if he was really willing or was just trying to be kind seeing that it was my day of birth, but he came early to pick me up so I could practice on him.

He joked around with some fellow students and instructors in the waiting room while I set up the chair. Then he came back and I placed topical anesthetic in the appropriate spots. Now I need to make a disclaimer here. . . I am a great anesthetist! I am gentle and kind and I do a good job. Back to the story. After a few minutes I removed the topical and picked up my syringe. Shot #1 - success!! Second practice of shot #1 - success. Now on to shot #2 - first attempt - I hit bone. As I'm explaining this to my instructor Joseph claims to have been imagining people grinding piano keys out of bones (weird, but ok). I pulled the needle out to try again. . . second insertion was a success until Joseph blurts out that he is about to BLACK OUT. I quickly removed the needle and watched as he seized and blacked out. Everyone started to panic. People were yelling for the doctor, someone ran to grab the oxygen tank, and everyone backed away. . . but me, I quietly mumbled to myself, "Oh, he does this when he passes out." And this is true. Remember when Joseph got his tonsils out and passed out after the IV? Well I certainly do. He came to seconds later and regained the color in his face. He was fine!! But is Joseph really that afraid of needles? Does he have a real live phobia? Maybe so, but if he does why did he say he'd be my patient?

He won't be my patient, don't you worry. In fact I will never give him a shot again. . . even if he needs it.