The Sky is Falling!!!

Not really but it might as well. Check this out. Starbucks is closing all of its U.S. stores for 3 hours tonight for employee training. From 5:30 to 8:30pm I believe that all work and production will come to an abrupt halt and students everywhere will drop to the floor. OhmygoshwhatamIgoingtodo!!!!!!!! Actually, I'll be o.k. Thanks to a good nights sleep and continuous activity I'll be able to sail through this rough patch. What will you do?

Breakin' the Rules

I broke one of the cardinal rules of the laboratory on Friday. You read right. Meghan broke a rule. What did I do? Here's a clue:

Yep, I brought my coffee into the lab. I sat at my computer and I enjoyed me a cup of joe. Later on I did it again, this time with a cup of tea.

What spurred this rebellious act? Well, I was thinking to myself how much I enjoy just sitting down with a beverage, whatever it may be and doing my work instead of standing out in the hall next to a three drawer cart and having to get up and go out every time I want to have a drink.


Don't freak out, there wasn't any activity going on and I thoroughly disinfected my work station and then I destroyed the evidence.

Close call

Last night I visited a family that is very near and dear to my heart. I love their daughters as if they were my own. While mom and dad went out for a few hours the girls and I watched High School Musical 2. The oldest was filling me in on all the gossip and rumors about the characters. The following converation ensued:

C: Did you know that in real life Sharpay has a baby?

Me: No, I didn't.

C: Yeah, and Sharpay and her boyfriend aren't really boyfriend and girlfriend.

Me: Oh? That's not good.

C: Do you know how babies are made?

Me: stalling and thinking that this could go one of two ways Yes C, I do know.

C: That's good. So do I.

Me: stammering what?! Did you learn in school?

C: No, I just know. But don't they teach you that stuff in 4th grade?

Me: Yeah, 4th or 5th grade.

C: starts talking about another topic

Me: *sigh* Whew.

pic credit: bestandworst.com

The Cure

I received a call last night about 5:00pm from the apartment complex that my roommate and I were going to move to in May. [Sidenote: interestingly, at the same time, I had a feeling of being nervous about this move.] So the apartment that we had is no longer ours. They gave us two options, neither of which are good. Today, I have been looking at different apartments, which is not how I had planned on spending my first weekend off. I knew that things were going too well and should have expected something like this. Maybe I'm being overly dramatic, but this is a big deal to me. I just want to drink uhh I mean wish it all away.

Mary and Max

When I first met Mary in 2001, she was 90 years old and had just recently lost the right to climb up her ladder to clean out the gutters. Mary was gifted with the ability to tell amazing, unparallel stories. She would tell stories of listening to James Whitcomb Riley recite poems, her favorite, Little Orphan Annie (she is the little girl sitting on the grass looking away from Mr. Riley) She once told me that during the time that this picture was taken, that she thought a monkey was going to pop out of a box that was being cranked, her father told her that it was a movie/picture camera. Mary would also tell stories of how she learned to drive in Crown Hill Cemetery and later stories about her beloveded Bill; how they met for lunch at Hook's drug store and shared sanwiches and milk. Mary's memory held onto the most exquisite details and her stories seemed as if you were living in it right then.

During warm months, when I returned home from school Mary and I would sit outside, me with a can of Sprite, and she with a bottle of water. Max, my dog would oftentimes join us and lay out in the sun. Max was the only dog that Mary was never afraid of in all her years, perhaps because of her fear of dogs from when Lockerbie, Mr. Riley's dog snapped at her all that time ago. Mary and I would talk about the weather, how school was going, what my plans were, but mostly we talked history and the things she did when she was my age.

About this time five years ago, around 5:30 am Mary was on her way out of her garage to put mail in the mailbox. Somehow she fell while making her way out of the garage. It wouldn't be for another 3hrs. until she was found.

That day I had decided to skip my early morning class and go to school late. I let Max outside one last time before leaving for the day. When I called for him to come inside he would not come. Instead he focused intently on Mary's garage door. I went outside and looked over and noticed that her garage door was half way open and there was a heap of something lying next to the car. I went on over and found Mary lying on the concrete in sub zero temperatures with nothing but a coat and canvas shoes that had come off. Working quickly I found a blanket/covering and covered her while calling for an ambulance. Having recently had knee surgery I wasn't confident I could pick her up and didn't want to cause her more pain. The ambulance arrived and the firefighters took her to the hospital and I followed behind. Mary had suffered a broken hip, hypothermia, and mild frostbite on her toes. The ER doctor said it was good that she had been found, 30 minutes more and she would not have survived.

Every year afterwards Mary sent Max and I an anniversary card. Oftentimes the card would have a picture on it that looked like Max. Inside, she would always write the same message:
"Dearest Meghan and Max,
I hope that you are enjoying our anniversary. I know that I am.
Love, Mary"

For three years Max and I received a card from Mary. In 2006 Mary returned home to her beloved Bill. Every so often I find myself missing our conservations, or buying Trader's Joes Lemon Curd, Mary's favorite. Even more often, I look at Max with amazement and wonder, "How did you know?"

People I See

There are two famous people that I see frequently at work. Well, they look like the Hollywood stars.

Darnell, the Crab Man from My Name is Earl rides the same bus that I do. He always has a smile in his face just like in this picture. For some reason, he also carries a blue duffel bag wherever he goes. I invariably wonder what it is that is inside.

The other person I see is Dr. "Ducky" Mallard from the hit show NCIS. Why, he eats breakfast in the same cafeteria that I do. He even takes a fiber suppplement for *cough* umm, well I better not say. He wears green scrubs daily, and just looking at him, I would peg him for a pathologist.

I'll be sure to add more "stars" as I see them.

One of my favorite nurses at work comes up with the strangest conglomeration of words. This week it was: monkeyfool. As in, "them kids actin' like a monkeyfool" I always bust out laughing when she says this, it never gets old to me . Thanks DeDe for brightening up my day. I'm looking forward to next week's new word.

I hate that I don't have a computer at home and that I have to wait until the weekend to go to the library to update my blog. I've tried writing down interesting things that happen during the week but even that falls to the wayside. And telling someone to "hold on a minute before doing anything to that compound because I just remembered something for my blog and have to write down now before I forget" just isn't going to cut it. I guess I'll just have to keep up with my bi-weekly visits to the library and fight the snotty nosed kid and the rebellious teenager for the computer because "IT'S MY TURN!"

Welcoming the Year of the Rat!

pic. from: ifood.tv

Have you hugged a rat today? If you didn't already know, February 7 marked the beginning of the year of the rat. It includes those who were born in 1960,1972,1984, and 1996.