Thursday, October 4, 2012

Hello Boards, Goodbye Husband.


Life has been great lately.  Aside from getting sick and straining a muscle, I have managed to get back to my normal running routine and I am now a member of the local yoga center.  I haven’t made any friends yet, but having an adorable puppy has led to lots of random conversations with strangers.  And that my friends… MAKES ME FEEL NORMAL AGAIN!  :)

Who knew human interaction would be so exciting.  You’d think I’ve been stuck in the pen (that’s gangster for penitentiary) for YEARS!

Mosley a.k.a. Mosie, Mose, Mosie-Wosie, Puppy, Puppy Love, and Puppy-Luppy (no wonder the dog doesn’t answer when I call) has been quite the little human attraction lately.  Whether we’re walking the greenbrier river trail or picking out fresh pumpkins and tomatoes from the farmer’s market, the pups (yet another name) attracts people like a magnetic force field.  One man, who stopped me on the river trail to tell me about his daughter who has a yorkie, recognized me in Kroger and actually said HELLO!  (SCORE ONE FOR PUP!)

I haven't randomly bumped into ANYONE that recognized me in the 3 ½ months I have lived here.  That was a good feeling.

People know me.  I don’t only exist in my head.  NICE.

                                                                             Source

Puppy has entered my life at the perfect timing.  J has started studying for boards, and I have been pretty sick lately.  Last week I had strep throat, and managed to strain a muscle in my back at yoga class.  I could not comfortably sit, eat, sleep, lie, or stand for three days.  The doctor gave me a heavy dose of muscle relaxers for my back, and for someone who passes out at the mere sight of Benadryl; it was quite a hilarious adventure!  Puppy kept me entertained and cuddled with me during the lonely recovery.  It was nice. 

Story:
J has a friend doing the GTA (graduate teaching assistant) program here.  In an effort to give me a little more human interactions than Kroger, we all met up for dinner this past Friday night.  I’d been in pain all day, but kept resisting the muscle relaxer.  Around 6pm, I decided I couldn’t fight the pain anymore (I was also sick of standing like the hunchback of Notre Dame).  We met for dinner at 7pm, and everything was going well.  I was actually holding my own, and I felt pretty dang good.  I decided to order a glass of Pino.  (You see where this is going, right?)



One glass of Pino + flexeril + Cap = me developing a severe eye twitch, a toddler’s attention span, and a very hungry tummy.  I would make a hilarious drug addict.

After a plate of stuffed ravioli, chicken parm, 2 breadsticks, AND a slice of strawberry cheesecake (and 3 hours of board exam talk), I WAS A HOT MESS!

I attempted going to the bathroom after 3 hours of uncomfortable sitting, and SERIOUSLY could not straighten my back.  Please take a moment to picture it…

A drunk, 5’1” girl with high wedges (this decision was made right when the flexeril kicked in obviously), an eye twitch, and a back warp 1000x’s worse than Quasimodo trying to make it to a bathroom that was LITERALY on the complete opposite side of the restaurant and down a wheel chair ramp.  I did all this while trying (and failing) to look normal.

HOT MESS, PEOPLE!

  Source

Also, during the long blur of a dinner… we apparently made arragements to do it all (minus flexeril) again this weekend. 

This means I have to show my face again to these very same people.  (HOLLA!)  <-- That’s white girl for not cool.

My flexeril and I might have ruined my only hope for permanent friends in the Burg.  FUN!

So back to my post about how life with puppy has come at the perfect time…

J has officially started the never-ending trek of stressing for boards.  Granted, I’m no med school student (thankfully), but starting to stress about something that is literally 8 months away makes me want to pluck my eyeballs out.

Last night, while I’m peacefully laying in bed saying my prayers and thinking about political debates, puppy, and how many cups of coffee I’ll have in the morning, J says… “Cap, do you realize boards are in JUNE?!  I ordered a Q bank online today and I will have 3,007 questions I have to complete.  Then, W says there is another bank I should get with 2,100 questions (thanks W), AND I worked out this plan where if I work 20 questions a day every morning… I can finish them all before June.  I’m going to start tomorrow.  W also says I should start taking practice board exams once a week in May, so that will take up about 6 hours a week on top of the questions I’m already doing.”

HUH?  I was only on my second cup of imaginary coffee when you started that stress rant….

“J, RELAX! It’s OCTOBER!  I fully believe you should indeed start preparing yourself for board exams, but maybe you should hold the stress level down a notch until… I don’t know… maybe MARCH?”

This whole second year bit is going to be a hard one.  I’m thankful pup is around to talk to me, because I will obviously not have a hubs for quite a while.

First year had it's troubles.  With getting acclimated to living 1000 miles away, snow, and J working on cadavers, but that all seems like a magical Disney vacation compared to the feelings I have towards 2nd year.  


 -Cap


2 comments:

  1. so this whole story is amazing, but my favorite part is what you said about someone recognizing you. That happened to me recently, and I couldn't quite put into words how exciting it was. You said it perfectly! I don't only exist in my head!

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  2. Cap,
    Maybe I'm a bit partial but I do find you quite entertaining. I wish I could come for a cup of coffee or a play date with Puppy Luppy in the snow. I do, however, have something on its way to you that might even be better than an afternoon with Mom. Be looking for it..... sent it out yesterday. I love you!
    P.S. Hope you're feeling better - sorry you were sick

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