If you're blue and you don't know where to go to, why don't you go where fashion sits, Puttin' on the ritz.

Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Halloween was fun, now it’s over.  It was exhausting for all involved.  Yesterday I did the mail and completed a $9600 batch all while wearing a severed neck costume that Carrie bought for me.  The neck injury was quite a novelty around the office.  While I found it entertaining, it was also a bit confounding.  Karina conned Dr. Asby into coming to my desk to check on my ‘sore throat’.  She didn’t give me any advanced warning.  I hear, “Her desk is down here” coming down the hall and then Dr. Asby shows up in the cube asking to take a look.  He doesn’t notice the sizeable faux gash across my neck right away, and when I didn’t open my mouth for him to check my ‘noids, he asked if he needed a flashlight.  Then the light came on and his eyes got wide as he quietly exclaimed, “Oh, sh-t.  You got me.”   Then I was summoned to the conference room by Jeff, only to go in to him asking the drug reps from some meeting if they had anything for my sore throat.  One looked at me and started mentioning some strep test as the realization crossed her face and she started laughing.  I felt obliged to speak with a fake hoarse voice as I excused myself.  At the end of the day, there was some scheme contrived my Karina, Jeff, and who knows who else, to stick me in a pediatric exam room and have Dr. Bengtson come in to the room on the false pretense of a same day sore throat patient.  This was not really an enjoyable assignment, and not one I volunteered for.  Dr. Bengtson is very proud of his prankster abilities, and not fond of being ‘taken in’.  He smelled a rat, and refused to enter the exam room saying something about there being no registration papers or ticket.  I overheard all this from the exam table after being literally run down the peds hall, led by a nurse, with a hospital gown covering my neck so that I wouldn’t terrify any youngsters waiting to see the doctor.  So, having been sniffed out by King Hoax, the nurses released me.  It had taken the five to ten minutes I sat in the exam room for my heart to stop pounding, some sort of involuntary stage fright.  Now I felt like some traveling freak show.  Just as I was finishing up grumbling to the girls about the situation, Jeff comes over and drags me back over there saying that he fed Bengtson some story about the ‘patient’ (me) being his sister.  Ok, Jeff, you have a sister young enough to see a pediatrician.  I’m sure this cinches the prank fact for Bengtson.  They paraded me back down through peds, stuck me in a different exam room, but at least left the door open and visited with me while I waited out the whole fiasco. Eventually, he showed up, wouldn’t look in the room without first making a big production with his leg in front of the door and exclaiming that his leg was being pulled.  I still haven’t gotten over the yicky feeling that he somehow thinks that I was the ‘mastermind’ behind the whole thing. Being the butt of this joke was a real pain in the neck.  This was the only downside; the effect of the costume was overall fun and enjoyable.  Thanks Carrie!   Rumor mill is a rollin’; I hear change in the wind here at the office.  It’s strange days around here, again.  Very cyclical.  Rarely a dull month.  I know from Tracy and my regular life comparisons, this seems to be the norm for office life.  Is it this way in every profession?  – Happy birthday to estranged father Phillip Lloyd Hodel.  – I’m about ready to give a negative review of American Honda Finance Company.  They have been putting me off since Friday on a decision that makes a big deal to us.  All we want to do is move a payment back and they keep telling me they’ll call, then don’t, then say they need more info.  Last night representative ‘Brian’ said he would call before five or first thing this morning.  Still nothing.  Horrible customer service.  We’re going to see if our bank will take over the loan pretty soon. – Glad to hear a word or two from uncle Steve.  I always find your literary witticisms insightful and entertaining.  Delighted that you’re on the mend.

Word(s) of the day:  SEQUELAE

Lexie log:  Lexie’s reaction to the severed neck was priceless.  I didn’t tell Daddy or Grammy that I had it either.  Fun.  Daddy opened the door and gasped, “Oh my God!”  Lexie looked at my face, then the ‘wound’, her eyes got huge, her mouth dropped open, and then she looked up at my face to check my reaction and to see if eye was ok.  I had a big grin on my face, and showed her it was fake, had her touch it, and then removed it in front of her.  She thought it was icky, funny, and ‘scary’.  We tried to go trick-or-treating to the house across the court, but she was so tired and they had it decorated up so well, that she only got to the door once then ran screaming back for her Daddy.  The spooky music and sound effects, blue lighting, cobwebs, spiders, and multitude of other effects really creeped her out.  We got neighbor Jim to come out on the driveway, take off his mask and talk to her and then she thought it was great.  She had as good a time at the Harvest festival at Tawny’s church as could be had by an overtired two year old.  She did the beanbag toss, supervised by Tracy’s mom, Zoe, and some airplane checkerboard thing, but the big event in the room was the inflatable rock climb.  We waited in line, all the time I was doubtful about her size for the harness, and were re-assured by the people running it that as long as the harness fit her snug she would be able to give it a go.  Well, she was so excited about doing it that I knew we would have a tantrum if the harness didn’t fit.  It was a little loose, but they let her put it and the helmet on, and give it her best shot.  She didn’t want to give up.  She was just too short to reach the first ‘ledge’ to pull herself up.  She wouldn’t give up on her own, but we eventually got her distracted by other activities.  I’ll have some pictures to post, but we looked at them last night, and once again, our camera disappointed us with the darkness of the pictures.  We’ve played around a little, but can’t seem to get a setting that will solve this problem.  They get the idea across though.  She was asleep in the car by the time we got home, but when I pulled her out, she woke up long enough to point and neighbor Jim’s house and say, “Scary, want to go scary and trick-or-treat.”  Then after I laid her down, she got her fifth wind and stayed up until 11:00.  I’m sure we would be excellent candidates for the reality show “Super Nanny”, or “Nanny 911” in the area of bedtime.  We give up pretty easily if she refuses to go down to sleep.

Today I’m grateful for Frank and Lexie, fun children events, Steve’s improving health, our car’s smart windshield wipers, Carries costume gift, good coffee, weekends, and hopeful anticipation.