Hill of Beans

Hola. It's one of those rare days when I've run around like a nut all day, just to come home, run 3 miles on the treadmill, grab dinner, and...still be wide awake as if it were noon. I feel like I need to pop a Benedryl to get some sleep tonight!

This doesn't happen too often. Maybe it's because I've had too much coffee (four huge cups plus one espresso) today? I now sneeze with my eyes open...and have to watch all movies in fast-forward...and cannot register my pulse without using exponents...and I've typed all of this so far in 2.32 seconds...with my feet!

Seriously, though, tonight I'm writing to entertain you with my foible of a life and to decompress. The day started out harmless enough with a monthly state-of-the-union breakfast meeting. I progressed onward with meetings until I had to meet with my suing former-employee in the late morning. The meeting went well enough (but I have my first hearing next week in court) and I swung by the employee's former department to see how things were going and to obtain the manager's John Hancock on a few forms. After my rounding, I rushed back to my office in Administration to turn around and return to the other St. Fozzie's campus.

Just as I arrived, I heard a Rapid Response paged overhead, to that same department! Two seconds later, they called a Code Blue! Crap! What did I DO? With my arms full of folders and files, I rushed back to the department to find a group of young interns/residents running to the scene [cue the theme song from E.R.]. Spotting the Director of Nursing overseeing things, I thought everything was okay. I talked to a few staff and learned that a patient had fallen and couldn't get up (too bad she didn't have her LifeAlert necklace on) and then lost consciousness. The patient was rushed down the hall to the ER and the drama dissipated.

I went on through my day, rushing from meeting to meeting, constantly shifting gears (as I usually do on Thursdays, it's just my routine). Then I got paged by that same Director of Nursing, that the patient who had fallen had a broken hip and was in emergency surgery. Fabulous! That is just great.

So I finished up some work and headed home...to an empty house. Jack has school three nights a week this semester.

I don't think I told you, but Jack and I made the fiscally-foolish decision to purchase a treadmill. I say "fiscally-foolish" because it went on credit. It's generally not my principle to charge things like that, but I was desperate. I was *not* buying new pants because I outgrew my others!

Now, I've had a gym membership for most of my adult life and have often used it. I get into routines and use exercise as a way to blow off steam. Well, with my funky hours, the absolute LAST thing I want to do after working a long day is drive 20 minutes out of my way to go to the gym. So I would opt to come home, do 10 push up's and call it a day. Well, I'm not exactly 18 anymore and know I need to take care of my heart with all my stress. So we bought a treadmill. It's not a top-of-the-line by any means, but its motor runs well enough to allow me to run. If I get home and I'm too tired to run, I walk. It's something to get my rear in gear!

I've talked enough tonight and still feel awake enough to start tackling my ethics paper. Do you think Juan Valdez will name his donkey after me?