Meg's List of Insane Happiness

I was inspired this morning by one of my favorite columnists, Mark Morford of the San Francisco Chronicle, to do a list of things I'm insanely happy about. Sometimes I get so drawn into work and cold weather and trying to figure out where to put my 403 (b) money given the crappy options they give us, not to mention the tanking economy, that I forget that there are a lot of things that make me smile. Without further ado, I give you Meg's List of Insane Happiness!

1. Handwritten letters. This week I received a note from my dear friend Rachel, who made the awesome move to NYC where she works for American Eagle. There is nothing like opening the mailbox to find a cute envelope and the personal touch of a handwritten letter.
2. Body Worlds 1 at the Milwaukee Public Museum. This looks so amazing! I'm determined to go. All the bodies in the exhibit are from people who have willed their bodies to science. They're preserved through a process called Plastination, and you can see healthy vs. diseased tissues, how the body's joints work, and the wonder that is human anatomy. I personally think this should be a {paid} field trip for the OR employees at St. Luke's :)
3. www.pandora.com. I love this website! I know it's been around for quite some time now, but I still feel compelled to tell people about it, lest they live in caves and haven't heard about it :) The current song is: Carolina by Benjamin Gibbard (of Death Cab for Cutie).
4. Sleeping in, and not setting an alarm. After a long week of work, it's so nice to be able to go to bed without worrying about getting up at a specific time. Now granted, my body has trained itself to wake up at 7 am because it thinks it should be at work, but it's nice to not hear the obnoxious "beep beep beep" of the alarm.
5. My new television. It's 26", LCD, HD, has bells and whistles. But the thing I'm most excited about is that I can now see the picture from my couch, and not just shapes that vaguely resemble people. And I put the TV stand together by myself. I'm a handy girl!
6. Exclamation points. My 7th grade English teacher would be in a tizzy over all the exclamation points in this post. And in all of my posts. But I absolutely LOVE them!!!! They're just fun :)
7. My hot pink stethoscope. Even though I don't use a stethoscope anymore, since I work in the OR, it still makes me smile. I feel it's very important to have a sense of fun when it comes to work.
8. This mirror from Urban Outfitters. It's recycled, and I think it would add a lot of POP! to a room.
9. These stamps from the USPS. You tell me, is this something normal people want to commemorate with a stamp? Just makes me giggle a litte bit!
10. And finally, the promise of spring. 66 days til Opening Day!

Peace and love,
M

Blog for Choice Day

Today is January 22, 2008, the 35th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade. Roe vs. Wade established that women are entitled to privacy regarding their health care choices, yet the anti-choice activists are hellbent on limiting those options. So why do I vote pro-choice?

I vote pro-choice because I am:

Angry and confused as to why other people think their religious and personal convictions regarding my body somehow outweigh mine, and perplexed as to why the majority of these people seem to have an XY chromosome and never, ever, will be faced with the decision to have an abortion.

Devastated that only 13 percent of women in the United States and only 7 percent of women in Wisconsin live in a county with an abortion provider.

Frustrated because abstinence-only sexual education DOES NOT WORK, yet the federal government refuses to fund anything but. Let's face it, kids are having sex. Shouldn't we arm them with the facts and information they need to be safe?! I simply cannot wrap my mind around the warped argument that talking about sex will make people have sex.

Highly concerned about the amount of misinformation regarding birth control methods and sexual education being distributed by anti-choice groups. Let me lay some facts out for you. Plan B does not cause abortions; it works by delaying the release of an egg or by preventing the implantation of a fertilized egg in the uterus. It cannot end a pregnancy. Depending on the method, birth control has a failure rate of 0.03 percent to nine percent, compared with the 85 percent failure rate of no birth control. Using a condom does not cause/increase the risk of STIs; in fact, besides abstinence, condoms are the only way to protect against STIs. Giving young girls the HPV vaccine will not encourage them to become sexually active. It will, however, protect them against the strain of the virus responsible for the majority of cervical cancer, and how is that a bad thing?

Disturbed because pharmacists can subject me to their morals and refuse to dispense Plan B, the FDA-approved emergency contraceptive, based on conscientious objection.

Scared because Wisconsin has not repealed its pre-Roe vs. Wade abortion ban, and should Roe vs. Wade be overturned, having an abortion in Wisconsin will become a felony.

Horrified that the US Supreme Court upheld the 2007 Federal Abortion Ban, which does not have a provision for the health of the mother! Just wait...SCOTUS will be performing your next pap smear.

But I do have hope. The Wisconsin State Assembly recently passed the Compassionate Care for Rape Victims Bill, which requires all emergency departments to provide information on emergency contraception to all victims of rape. This was the first pro-choice bill to be passed by both houses in over a decade. With a pro-choice governor, it is expected that this will be signed into law in the coming month. The three Democratic candidates for President support Roe vs. Wade and a woman's right to choose (I can't say the same for the remaining Republican candidates).

In the end, I respect your morals and convictions. However, I do not share them. My body, my choice--not a pastor's, not the president's, not anyone but me and who I choose to make the decision with.

Peace and love,
M

cold and snowy

Well, after 2 days of bitter cold, we are getting dumped on by the snow gods! It has been snowing since this morning and it's still going strong.

Bad news: the water pipe to my shower burst this morning, and the plumbers have yet to come. I considered going to my Aunt's parents' home, but Nick and I don't want to drive in this weather. It took him 2 hours to travel what normally takes 3o minutes this afternoon! The plows haven't been out much since then either.

I think Hawaii sounds good...

yummy gyros

I know the Packers are playing right now, but I wanted to share my latest kitchen experiment with you. I absolutely love to cook, and having Nick around means I can make more than single-person food! Tonight I made chicken gyros, and they were delicious. Now I know, chicken gyros, but I just can't bring myself to eat lamb!! It's very easy and quick; you are able to easily make the yogurt sauce and slice the toppings while the chicken is marinating.

2 chicken breasts
2 TBSP olive oil
1 clove garlic
1-2 tsp lemon juice
~1/2 tsp (to taste) dill weed
salt and pepper to taste

Cube chicken. Marinate in above ingredients 15 minutes in refrigerator. Fry, stirring often, until done.

1 cup plain, unsweetened yogurt (very gross in any other situation!)
1 tsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic
~1/2 tsp (again, to taste) dill weed
1/2 cucumber, peeled and chopped

Mix ingredients together.

Serve in warmed pitas, with feta cheese, onions, greens, and tomatoes. Top with yogurt sauce.

And in an update re: Cloverfield, I actually liked it! I was really tense the entire time...I burrowed into Nick's shoulder, and I jumped a couple of times, but at least I didn't scream like the girl sitting next to us! I wouldn't recommend it if you get motion sick though, as it's all filmed with hand-held cameras.

::ETA:: I forgot the author of the book I mentioned yesterday: Sera Beak.

Okay, back to the Pack!!

Peace and love,
M

A freezing cold Saturday

Today's political issue is...photo-shopping!!! I'm sorry, that just makes me giggle.

Funnies from work:
A resident while working on opening the abdomen of a larger patient: "I can't move my
bowels!" She realized what she said when we all burst out laughing.

A nurse to one of our docs: "S, if that IV pole had a skirt on, you would hit on it!"

The same doc as above, introducing himself to me: "Don't call me Dr. K. Well, only when the
patient's awake. We want some semblance of respect in this room, I guess."

Book pick- The Red Book: A Deliciously Unorthodox Approach to Igniting Your Diving Spark. I was really turned off to organized religion about a year ago, after a year of being really into it. This is written for women, by a woman. And she's fierce! There's nothing tripe and self-righteous about this, and it is focused on showing you how to tap into yourself and your spirituality, not someone else's religion.

Music pick- The Bahnan Brothers. This is the band of one of my friends from camp. Greg would really appreciate you checking them out at: www.myspace.com/bahnanbrothers! They're very eclectic, which, as you know, I love!

Movie pick- Well, it's not really my pick, as I don't like scary movies, but a relationship is all about compromises...tonight Nick and I are going to see Cloverfield. I'll give you my take on it later...that is, if I actually see any of it from between my fingers!

Peace and love [and stay warm],
M

Fun website

Every now and then, I find a website that is just off the wall zany. This one is just great: Map of Strange. It's crazy things people have found while surfing around on Google Earth and Google Maps. Really, I don't know who has the time to do this (they're obviously not nurses), but it's fun to see the strange sights!

In other news, there isn't too much going on. I'm working a lot and trying to keep up with housework. It's definitely a challenge to make myself clean when I come home from work and all I want to do is snuggle up on the couch! I have to start taking call soon too, which could definitely wreak some havoc on my already poor sleep schedule. EEP.

Nick took the first big plunge and came with me to Monroe and met my parents! It went very well; my parents only shared a few embarrassing stories about me, and Nick deemed my family "normal." I think he needs to hold off on that observation until he meets the rest of my relatives, for example, Uncle "What are your intentions with my god-daughter" Jim! ;)

Peace and love,
M

my sense of humor

I find it highly humorous that in Milwaukee, the television station BET is right next to all of the Christian stations. They're basically polar opposites.

Peace and love (and go Obama!),
Megan

My Marmalade, 1993-2008

Sad news to report: my dear kittycat, Marmalade, passed away on New Year's Day due to pneumonia. He got sick after Christmas and died in his sleep. He was such a sweetie and I miss him so much. If you didn't pet him enough, he would headbutt you for more. He also tried to eat a bee once, and it stung his throat on the way down, so he couldn't meow...instead he squawked. He was fat, orange, and perfect.

cutest pics you'll see all day

I might be biased, seeing as he's my cousin, but I still think Nicholas is the cutest kid ever!




Nick is two and a half years old, and loves reading, puppies, and fish. I took these at Thanksgiving this year after he discovered that dice are very fun because they make lots of noise!

Peace and love,
M