Random thoughts

1. I think I am going to make ginger snaps this weekend. I have a good recipe that is originally from the early 1900s. It still formulates delicious ginger cookies 100ish years later. If I make them this weekend I will post about it and give the recipe.

2. Yesterday on the way home I burst into singing Christmas carols. I sang 7-8 of them, all the verses I know (which is quite a few). I felt a surge of Christmas spirit. Shocking as Christmas is my least favorite holiday and I am usually decidedly bah humbug. Perhaps this therapy of having the entire week off between Christmas and New Year is working to melt my Scrooge's heart.

3. I need a hair cut. I always struggle with my hair and now that I am doing presentations and some public speaking I really need to get it together. I am thinking about getting a cut like Kathy Bates in "Harry's Law". I think it would look cute and professional at the same time. She has a double chin, I have a double chin, she has a roundish face, I have a roundish face. I think it will work.

4. I need to buy some suits if I am going to be doing this pubic speaking stuff. I think I am going to use Kathy Bates again for that, (she is somewhat round and I am round). She wears simple dark suits with beautiful shirts or dark trousers and a dark shirt with beautiful jackets. Simple, attractive, professional. Best of all I can take just a few pieces of clothing and rearrange them so as to have several outfits.

5. I need more sleep.

6. I really want to go dancing. When I was in San Francisco a few weeks ago I almost got to go Contra dancing but it didn't work out. I want to go dancing, specifically folk dancing, like reels and schottisches, Irish, English, Swedish and what have you country dancing.

7. Things went just fine with my talk on Saturday. The participants seemed to really like it and I certainly enjoyed it. It was fantastic to watch them catch on to coding ICD-10 and see them succeed at it. I am looking forward to doing another one.

NaBloPoMo Day 3, well sort of

Today I am not using the tickler because it feels lame to depend on it every day and I have other stuff to talk about...

Somehow by bonne chance I was invited to assist at a symposium for my professional organization on the subject of ICD-10. For those of you who do not live and breathe health care like I do, ICD-10 is a big change to the way we indicate that something is medically necessary and we communicate this to insurance companies so doctors and other health professionals can get paid for the work they do as well as keeping track of stuff like why people get sick and die. This is such a huge change I often compare it to the sky switching from blue to say purple.

Anywho, I am extensively trained in this new system and looking for opportunities to use it so I don't loose it. Which brings us to the symposium. When the opportunity was presented to me to help out it sounded like I would be facilitating discussion on this huge impending change and what it will mean to all of us in health care. Just making sure the conversation flows along nicely and we hit the talking points that the symposium organizer would like to cover. Easy peazy

Then Monday happens

On Monday I find out that I am actually going to be presenting formally at this occasion AND nothing too big just EVERYONE WHO IS ANYONE in Houston health care is going to be there, about 200 people worth. No pressure or anything. And of course I need a hair cut, I don't have business cards and WHAT AM I GOING TO WEAR!!!! I am confident about the content, I can talk about that all day. I am confident in my ability to teach the content, it is my pleasure to teach. The issue is the things that I find tricky like clothes and hair. Oh and I don't have business cards so I am going to have to find a way to make some up pretty much for free because I am broke.

This is a fantastic opportunity for me to show my chops to the health care community of Houston and to really make great contacts for myself and for my students. I just need to remember to breathe and it will be okay. This chance thrust itself into my hands without any prompting from me and I am grateful. I am also (mostly) secure in the knowledge that this would not have come my way if I was not ready for it. I think that once I start talking and interacting with the audience that my initial fear of how not looking professional enough will dissipate and I will forget myself and just let it flow.

In other news, my fence is getting repaired, oh joy, oh delight, oh playing with my dogs off leash in my back yard. Also my neighbor's dog won't come over and bark at me in my own yard.

My fence came down in Ike and I have missed it sorely, or rather I have missed being able to play with my dogs off leash outside. I love my landlord.

I am off to work on my presentation, give it a little polish. The symposium is this Saturday morning, send me good thoughts.

NaBloPoMo day 2, so far so good

NaBloPoMo tickler 2. . .

"If you knew that whatever you ate next would be your last meal, what would you want it to be?"

One cooked with people I love for people I love. Cooking food then eating it is such a wonderful sensual pleasure to share. Some of the most fun I have had in my life involved too many people in the kitchen while chatting, cooking, and drinking wine. I love that laughing, close, jostile, bumping hips, touching each other, tasting, smelling ah lovely. Then of course there is the reward of sitting down at the laden table and eating together while talking about everything, preferably outdoors with wine flowing, kids playing, easy relaxation and all of us being ourselves. This would be a perfect last meal.

The meal we would be making, that is a hard choice. If it were my last then I will go with something classic. . .

Roasted garlic with goat cheese, tiny tomatoes, and basil leaves on crunchy toast rounds ,

Spinach salad with red onions, walnuts, and apple with chunky blue cheese dressing,

Grilled bloody, rare steak, baked potato, grilled asparagus and a nice Pinot Noir

Chocolate cheesecake with a shot of espresso with a lemon twist

and after all that a fine cigar and some really carmely mellow burbon.

NaBlPoMo and away we go

Well here we are, November, time of Thanksgiving and good intentioned blog posting for NaBloPoMo aka National Blog Posting Month. I want prizes!

The tickler for today is "What is your favorite part about writing?"

I have not written fiction in a very long time, probably about 3 years. I write a lot of non fiction in the form of acedemic papers. I miss writing fiction. One of the things I am looking forward to if I ever finish school is writing for pleasure. My favorite part of writing for pleasure is creating characters. I enjoy inventing interesting people and breathing life into them. I also enjoy finding the perfect word, the word that conveys exactly what I want to say no more, no less.

I often have a hard time paring down my writing. I read an excellent book on concise writing called "Writing Down the Bones" By Natalie Goldberg and it has helped me make my writing more spare. My natural resting place, however, is verbose. I like the idea of making my writing be the minimum most clean it can be, practice however, eh.

I like writing metered poetry, I like the constraint and the creativity it encourages.

I will leave you with one of my favorite poems of all time, not mine but Pablo Neruda's

I love it not just for the beauty of the words but also the perfect way it speaks to a love I have experienced, simply elegently perfectly described:

Sonnet 17

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,

or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.

I love you as certain dark things are to be
loved,in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms

but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;

thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,

risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.

I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;

so I love you because I know no other way

than this: where I does not exist, nor you,

so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,

so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.

The above is a salt rose

Old faithful Day Book, how I love ye

We are about to enter into November which is NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) and I am planning to give it a grand effort again this year. In the little quiet that remains of October I thought I would rely on my old friend the Day Book for this month's last (and only) entry. . .

Outside my window:

As people say here in Texas, it is fixin' to rain. A cold front is moving in and with it comes rain.

I am thinking:

I am feeling frustrated about working so many hours. I love my job but it is stealing my life. I believe that I am finally to the point where action on this front is impending.

I am thankful for:

Today I am thankful for a friend of mine who paid back part of some money I loaned her. I was flat broke and worried about making it home with the fumes in my tank. Her small repayment means that I can get home tonight without worry. The best thing is I forgot that she owed me money so it was a delightful surprise.

From the kitchen:

This weekend is a celebration of my friend Ellen's wonderful recipes, I am making her Monterey Beans and Cheese as well as her Tuna Turnovers and her absolutely fantastic Carrot Cheddar Soup (sorry I don't have a link from Ellen's site for it). I am also making a roasted chicken and some jambalaya. (I cook on the weekend for the week ahead)

I am wearing:

A dazzling Marlene Dietrichesque tailored suit with tomato red high heels that match my lipstick, I am wearing white gloves and I have a top hat and swagger stick. Oh and my hair is done in finger waves and marceled. . . or possibly I am wearing navy blue scrubs and white nurse clogs with my hair in a french braid.

I am creating:

Cells and carbon dioxide.

I am going:

Into the frey that is Houston traffic in the morning, I have a doctor's appointment, ugh.

I am reading:

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

I am hoping:

That the part time remote coding gig I applied for works out.

I am hearing:

My students diligently working on their assignment.

Around the house:

A pit as usual, it is a comfortable and happy pit, but a pit none the less. I also have absolutely no plans on cleaning this weekend other than the kitchen.

One of my favorite things:

I had a gourmet push-up the other day. Remember those little paper tubes with orange sorbet inside with the plunger to push up the sorbet. This was made with orange gelato topped with a chocolate ganache but still wrapped up on a plunger...wonderful

A few plans for the rest of the week:

Meeting with the president of the Houston chapter of the AAPC (one of my professional organizations) to discuss my speaking at a symposium on ICD-10 next week.

Words I am pondering:

"Mindfulness is the aware, balanced acceptance of the present
experience. It isn't more complicated that that. It is opening to or
recieving the present moment, pleasant or unpleasant, just as it is, without
either clinging to it or rejecting it."

Sylvia Boorstein

Here is a picture I am sharing:

I know I usually share pictures of my dog but this time here is a picture of an owl, well actually a painting. I think I am going to have this tattooed on my shoulder. . .

Day book ramblings. . .

Outside my window:
Earlier this morning the sky was grey and it looked like rain, but now the sun is out and it is just partly cloudy. I wonder when this drought is going to break. It can’t last forever, right?

I am thinking:
A lot about how busy I am and how I need to SLOW the hell DOWN. I have to find a way to change how I live my life. This 5 hours of sleep a night 4 days a week is taking a toll on my body and if that were not enough this working 18 hours a day 4 days a week aint makin’ me any younger either. I want time to sleep 8 hours in a row, to cook daily instead of doing it all for the week in one day, to read and think and stare into space, to paint and write. I know that this is for a short time but it has been 3 years and I am starting to feel a little resentful and like my life is passing too quickly to be spending it working constantly.

I am thankful for:
That the job I have to work so long and hard at is one I absolutely love, even if it is stealing my life away.


From the kitchen:
This weekend I am going camping. One of the things I am going to be making is hobo pie. I have a hobo pie maker. For the uninitiated a hobo pie maker is a little cast iron box on a long metal stick that you put in the camp fire to cook various things. I have 2 favorites. 1. Rye bread, sharp cheddar, spicy mustard and little smokies and 2. White bread, apple slices (or berries), cinnamon, brown sugar, oatmeal and a little bit of butter. See the picture right for a better view of the pie maker.


I am wearing:
A bun cage on my hair, it is a little metal cage with beads on it held in place by 2 silver pins. It captures my hair and keeps it together. (see picture for an example)

I am creating:
I am working on a paper on ROI for EHR implementation for small physician practices and the implications for compliance to the HITECH act and HIPAA.

I am going:
Camping this weekend! Oh I need the woods so much right now.

I am reading:
Bullfinch’s Greek and Roman Mythology

I am hoping:
For rain and that I will get some of the scholarships I have applied for.

I am hearing:
My students working on their test

Around the house:
As usual I need to clean it before I go camping this weekend. I have a friend house and pet sitting and I don’t want them to see what a complete slob I am. (Partial slob is fine though)

One of my favorite things:
Dramatically reading stories to little kids, even adults really

A few plans for the rest of the week:
Did I mention I am going camping?

Words I am pondering: I had never heard of this poem or this poet before yesterday and I love this poem:

Basket of Figs
Bring me your pain, love. Spread
it out like fine rugs, silk sashes,
warm eggs, cinnamon
and cloves in burlap sacks. Show me

the detail, the intricate embroidery
on the collar, tiny shell buttons,
the hem stitched the way you were taught,
pricking just a thread, almost invisible.

Unclasp it like jewels, the gold
still hot from your body. Empty
your basket of figs. Spill your wine.

That hard nugget of pain, I would suck it,
cradling it on my tongue like the slick
seed of pomegranate. I would lift it

tenderly, as a great animal might
carry a small one in the private
cave of the mouth.
Ellen Bass

Here is a picture I am sharing:

This is a pic of Ms Lily and me posing in a hamish way (sorry it is so dark, I couldn't get it brighter)

Cleansing the palate from woe

I have been feeling kind of blue and stressed lately so I decided to cleanse my palate and make a short list of 7 things I am grateful for/love . . .

1. I love it when my dog dreams and barks in her sleep, those funny, squeaky, quiet woofs always make me smile. I also really love my dog, Lily, she is an American Bulldog and is quite smart, and I also think she may have a sense of humor. In addition to all that, Lily is a world class spooner.

2. I love it when my house mate, who is a total owl, randomly makes me breakfast in the morning. My day starts at 5:30 AM while his is just ending and to not have to navigate fire and appliances in my semi comatose pre tea state is lovely.

3. I love my car, yes it has cost me a lot of money in the last year what with a new engine and transmission BUT it is practically a new car now. I like the color- bronze, it is delightfully fast, handles wonderfully, and looks deceptively lady like. By the way, it is a Dodge Intrepid in case you were wondering.

4. I seriously love my job. Every day there is something fun or delightful I get to do, every day I get to make a difference in people’s lives, every day I feel respected, liked and valued. It is awesome. I have the pleasure of teaching something I am passionate about and find endlessly fascinating. I also get to write papers and articles as well as speak at seminars.

5. I enjoy being immersed in academia, I teach for a living and I attend school. I love the conversations, the reading, the research and even the paper writing and how it all meshes together with my career enriching the classes I take, and the classes I take enriching my career.

6. I love my house. I have a beautiful comfortable bed. I have finally discovered the joys of sheets with thread counts higher than 12 grit. I have 9 pillows of various qualities, a very firm mattress and cozy rug on the floor. My room is full of bookshelves with an embarrassment of riches of books as well as little oddments I have collected. I have a great vintage velvet couch and love seat in my living room and 3 large fish tanks with interesting creatures leading their fishy lives.
I have a kitchen that is easy to cook in and I have food in my fridge and pantry. My yard is huge and I have flowers growing, lizards creeping and hummingbirds humming.

7. Most important of all, I have people I love who love me back. Even though we are far apart we still are connected to each other and that is a wonderful thing.