Feb
16
2010
And we were not amused

It started because of these.

Oh…they’re nice & clean now.

But this morning they tracked in little muddy footprints all over my living room floor.

At the time, my thoughts weren’t ‘how cute would this be for a post today?’

They were…

THAT’S IT! I’VE HAD IT! YOU ARE GETTING A BATH, YOUNG LADY!

So I scooped her up & plopped her little butt straight into the kitchen sink.

There wasn’t much resistence…just a few whines until she realized when Mommy says ‘That’s it!’, she means it & it’s best to just let her have her way.

I didn’t get a single shot of her little drenched-rat body….looking at me with those forelorn little beadie eyes….with the mud smudged nose (which I somehow managed to miss entirely).

I was focused.

I was a mad woman.

I was NEVER going to have to sweep these damned dirty floors again!

“Aahhh….Mom?…..I have to pee.”

Feb
15
2010
No, I'm Not Eating Two - Thank you

*Before you ask, yes…still in pain. Tomorrow makes 2 weeks straight & I’ve decided everyone is tired of hearing me complain about my head hurting.

So no more! We’ve got important things to discuss here, people!

Like how I’ve had so many embarrassing moments while living in Korea that I’ve officially had to start counting them to keep them all straight.

It’ll be great…our own inside joke system. I’ll say ‘Number Twelve!’ and everyone will roll around on the floor laughing.

[ok, maybe not so much]

But here it is….Number Twelve….in all it’s absolute, horrifying, want-to-go-hide-in-a-corner-&-never-come-out glory.

I’ll call it….

= THE BIG FAT AMERICAN =

A few weeks ago Eric & I decided to swing into Charley’s to grab some lunch to go.

Charley’s is a staple of the American military food vendor system – everywhere you go, there’s a Charley’s.

It’s a cheese steak kind of place, where they cook up hot beef or chicken sub sandwiches.

But you’ll notice that this Charley’s isn’t in the PX food court – it’s attached to a Shoppette (their word, not mine) not far from the mail room.

Shoppette: Kid you not, the official term for all the base’s 7-11 like convenience stores. I mean really, could they think of a more silly word for a bunch of testosterone-pumping Little Green Men to have to use on a daily basis.

For example, ’Hey, I’m goin’ to the shoppette – you want me to pick you up another strawberry-mango wine cooler & some cherry chapstick?’

And because the two businesses occupy one non-descript military industrial steel building, there’s a pass-through inside.

See?…

Just turn left & you’re smack dab in the middle of the shoppette.

So here is where our story begins.

Eric & I walk in…and before heading up to the counter to order he says,

“Get me a regular Philly Cheese Steak with extra sauce – I’m going next door to get us some chips & drinks.”

So I saunter my happy butt up to the counter to find Ms. Korea 2003 working away in her perfectly starched size extra-petite uniform as she says in her broken English,

“Yew-ah ordeh?”

‘Yes, please – I need one regular Philly Cheese Steak with extra sauce and one regular Chicken Buffalo.’

“Yew-ah wannta comm-bow?”

‘No, thank you – just the sandwiches.’

Without batting an eye she punches in the order & meekly steps to the back to fiddle with the fry machine.

As I’m standing there in line waiting for them to finish up the orders of the soldiers in front of us, Eric finally makes his way back across to the Charley’s side to stand in line next to me.

At which point, Ms. Korea 2003 turns to see us together.

Suddenly she let out a very big, yet still highly feminine laugh – almost doubling over..looking me dead in the eye…and says…

“Ohh…yew-ah…ordeh…forah…tewh!!!”

[deep, dramatic bow with sweeping hand flourish]

Ladies & 2 Gentlemen of the blog, I give you Number Twleve.

Thank you & Goodnight.

Feb
12
2010
Only without the fruity drinks & complimentary chicken wings

Just before Eric left for work this morning I realized a few things:

  1. It was Friday.
  2. My head still hurt.
  3. I had taken all but 2 of the Imitrex I had been prescribed.
  4. The TMC would be closed over the weekend & for the Lunar New Year on Monday.
  5. And if I was to survive the long weekend, I had to get those meds refilled.

TMC – Troop Medical Center: The on-base doctor’s office / pharmacy / lab / after-hours clinic.

Lunar New Year: The traditional day to celebrate a new year in Korea. It’s a family-focused holiday – not just for the living, but for their last four generations as well which are thought to still be on earth after their death.

So I sent Eric off with a copy of my ID card (a requirement for someone else picking-up your meds) & went back to bed.

Around lunch-time I got a call from Eric saying the pharmacy would not refill the Imitrex because I had been given a 15 day supply just 2 days ago.

I looked back at the pack I had been given – 9 pills.

(Hmm…not really sure how 9 pills are a 15 day supply.)

But the long & short of the story is that my wonderful, kind & caring neighbor, Cynthia, took me to the urgent care clinic.

I got to see Dr. I’m-in-a-Hurry again (although this time he was very nice – must’ve caught him on a bad day back in November) and as usual played  the part of human pin-cushion for fresh-faced Privates & the crusty-old Korean nurse as well.

Since all my symptoms scream ‘classic migraine’, I’ve not been given any tests – no blood work, no MRI.

Just the typical “let’s-see-how-this-does” round of ever-increasing levels of pain medication.

So today I got the cocktail – benadryl, toradyl…and a couple of other dyl’s I can’t remember…along with a new prescription for the next level up & orders to come back Wednesday to see the flight doc.

(They weren’t happy with my blood pressure.)

But then again, I wasn’t so happy that the cocktail didn’t really work as prescribed – it only lessened the pain….making me pretty dizzy & sleepy.

So as I walked out the door to their goodbyes of ‘I’m so sorry we can’t do more’…remembering how they all fervently promised that the cocktail would “immediately take effect” & “make me feel better”…I kept hearing Inigo in my head:

‘You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.’


A FAVOR TO ASK: Cynthia gave up a day with her husband…who’s been working mad hours & will soon be going off on his own month-long-away-from-home duty…to trek me to the TMC, scold me in true best-friend fashion for both not going in sooner & calling her earlier, cleaned my kitchen & brought me supper.

Would you please stop by her blog, Tribe of Stinson, and say hello & thank you for me?

*ADDED 2/13* – You can also email her at cynthia [at] tribeofstinson [dot] com. (Spelling it out this way keeps the email spammers away – just be sure to be the @ & ‘.’ back in there.)

Like me she’s somewhat new to Korea, still trying to adjust to life here, trying to find her blog voice & wonders if there’s anyone out there listening….you could help me repay the unending kindness she’s shown me.

Thanks so much!

I’m off to bed.