Tabby Brown

I have a new friend. Their name is Tabby Brown. Who exactly Tabby Brown is remains a mystery to me. I was greeted with the cutest envelope in my mailbox yesterday, obviously written in a child's handwriting. When I opened it, it was a class project about Flat Stanley (who is in the picture). This class project is to see where Flat Stanley can go. I am supposed to mail a postcard back to Tabby's school and forward Flat Stanley on to someone else. I definitely will participate in this class project, as I can't deny anyone who writes me in cute little handwriting. But as to who Tabby Brown is, I still don't have a clue. Anyone know this child?

And on a side note, if I forward Flat Stanley on to you, you better participate in the project too!

I Did It! I Finally Did It!

I applied for the "best job in the world"! After turning in my application video, I received a note letting me know my video will be looked at and approved over the next few weeks. Few weeks?!? I don't know if I can bare to wait that long. But, once my video is up, you all will know, so you can start voting for me...despite how dorky I am in the video! You know you all want to read my blogs from the Great Barrier Reef!

When Sickness Strikes

Yesterday I was working, minding my own business and I got sick. It started out me just not feeling well. Before I knew it, it was full blown pain, with me in a ball on the floor at work (which I am pretty sure freaked my coworker out). And me, being the person that I am, finished the day out. In my defense, I had like an hour left and it would have taken that long to find someone to cover for me. Then, after work, I decided to take the bus home, since it was right there. I spent the entire bus ride hunched up in a ball. I did use my brain enough to call and meet me at the bus stop by our house. When I got up to get off the bus, I could barely walk. Seriously, everyone was staring...I am pretty sure they all thought I was drunk. But, I made it off the bus and into Ian's arms, before deciding that I needed to lay on the sidewalk.

After making it home, I thought I could battle out the pain on my own. This turned out to not be true. So, Ian called NHS (National Health Insurance) to get their advice. They were able to book me an appointment with a doctor at the hospital. I didn't even know this option existed! So, we phoned a taxi (I wasn't going to do the bus thing again!) and went to the hospital. At the hospital, I was able to see a doctor within five minutes. I didn't even have to fill out any paperwork, show ID, or anything! The doctor was nice, though she probably thought I was a crazy person, given the fact that I was rocking myself on the floor and throwing up (or perhaps just a semi-crazy person in pain!). Anyway, after a couple quick tests, two shots and two prescriptions later, I was sent on my way. At this point in the story, I would like to point out that I didn't have to pay anything for the hospital visit, shots or the prescription. I did have to pay for the round trip taxi fare (28 GBP), but I am pretty sure that is less than most people's copay in the states!

After my hospital visit, I thought I would wake up this morning, symptom free. That did not happen. After an agonizing day in bed, Ian called our doctor and she got me in within 45 minutes! Ian walked me over to the doctor, which is about a block away. She determined that I had a kidney infection that got out of control. How it got out of control, I don't know? It's not like I spent days in pain, just hours. Anyway, she added another drug to the mix and said I should be feeling better within 48 hours. Here's to hoping!

I would like to point out that all together I spent 28 pounds on a taxi and 5 pounds on a prescription, bringing my grand total to 33 pounds! AND, never will I see a bill in the mail for the portion that my insurance company didn't pay! Even though I don't always see eye to eye with the NHS, I would have to say it was a winner in this situation.

What's the first name of your first child?

SAY WHAT?!? I didn't even know I had a first kid!

So, I go online to do some banking today and the following security question pops up:

What's the first name of your first child?

Being the person that I am, I actually tried to guess the answer to it. After a couple tries, I gave up and called the husband. The question threw him for a loop too. After a little bit of troubleshooting, it turns out I was trying to log onto someone else's account. I was relieved. I was seriously afraid I had a first child floating around out there that I didn't even know about!

Kind of Cool

So I was playing around online today and came across a picture of Pink and low and behold, she is wearing the same shirt I have! Now, I don't feel that I need to dress like a celebrity, or even be anything like a celebrity, but I thought it was cool that she felt like she wanted to be like me and went out and bought the same shirt as me! What do they say, imitation is the best form of flattery? Thanks Pink!

Appreciating the Parents

I came across this article yesterday, Your children will appreciate you (when they've reached 22), and I thought it had a lot of truth and insight to the parent/child relationship. Basically, what the article is getting to is it takes leaving the home and experiencing real life before you start appreciating what your parents have done for you. Of course, the article says it takes having a child or reaching the age of 27 for women, 29 for men, before you actually start respecting your parents, but at least the appreciation comes on before that! This got me thinking...

When I was a teenager, I wasn't very nice to my parents. I didn't see them as trying to protect me, but more as trying to stifle my social life! And, looking back at it now, it wasn't even a big deal. But we all KNOW now that the things that matter at 16, don't really matter in real life! Anyway, fast forward a couple years...I can't tell you the exact time I started to appreciate my parents, but I would say it happened before I was 22. When I was 22, I got married and that forever changed my relationship with my parents, for the better. I no longer felt they had to be my parents and they were all the sudden my friends. And I truly love and value my parents wholly. They are so great and I can be 100% honest with them, which makes the relationship work so well.

Anyway, all that to say, I think this is a good, and true, article; worth taking five minutes of your time to skim. Even though part of it applies to me, not all of it does. Marriage really was the key to the next step in my relationship with my parents...I love those two!

SNOW!

It snowed today! I was very excited. I know you can't tell from the pictures, but it was snowing hard core for a couple hours. I threatened to make snow angels right outside my work. My coworkers really wanted me to, but they pretty much encourage me to do anything stupid, so I decided not to! Even without the snow angels, the snow was beautiful and exciting.