Toadfrogs and Elephants

Babies are so cute. Here is Liza Upshaw in the outfit we gave her. See the little pink bunny on her tummy? I believe she is about 4 weeks old. How sad that I probably won’t get to see her until Christmas time.

I have finally decided that I will never make it through my class if I continue reading books at the rate of a couple a week. There is a used bookstore in Paducah that I love to visit whenever I am home. I am still getting books off of trade-ins (courtesy of my mom moving and cleaning out her library). I tend to find an author I like and read everything they have in print. Most of the time this works out great.

There is always an exception, and that author is Fern Michaels. I read one of her newer books “Late Bloomer” and really enjoyed it. However, most of her older books I don’t like at all. The bad thing about me is once I start something I always try to finish it. I decided now would be a great time to finish up her Vegas trilogy. I can read while I work out or have a few spare minutes, but I definitely won’t be reading when I should be studying. It’s more of a chore to finish these.

My biggest pet peeve is her characters are inconsistent. In one book you have a couple that love each other and all is going great (yes these are romances). In the next book he is off having an affair and she has always known he wasn’t faithful. It seems to me the author should have alluded to that a little earlier instead of making me like the character and then turning him into a jerk, with no warning!

Here I go about the dog again… While I was studying all Friday night, Wade taught Madison a new trick. She will now play dead. She doesn’t have it down perfectly, but it is hilarious to watch. She sees the treat in your hand and wants it so bad that she doesn’t listen. She goes to her pillow (where she often gets a treat) or sits or lays. Eventually it sinks in that the new words mean lay on your back.

While I was in class all day Saturday, Wade met me for lunch and brought Madison. We ate outside at SA (my work), which has a nice lake and trail. There are also a bunch of Canadian Geese. It took Madison a while to notice them, but she swam out to the middle of the lake after them. We’ve never seen her voluntarily get in the water, especially past where she can stand up. Maybe she is a bird dog! She kept swimming out, then coming back to us, and then jumping back into the lake. It was hilarious. I’m sure glad she had to ride home in Wade’s car!

I used to say we had a dog that never barked or growled. She whines occasionally, but that is about it. I may have to change my statement. Lately Madison seems aware of everything and feels compelled to let us know. She woke me up three times last week growling at something outside. (Did she get off the bed to check it out? No.) Then she barked Friday to let us know the delivery man had arrived. I’m not sure if she is just more aware now or what.

Wade dragged me to the movies tonight. After class all day (8+ hours), I wasn’t up for much but Wade really wanted to get out. He wanted to see the new Wallace and Gromit movie: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. I was less than thrilled, but didn’t put up too much of a stink (Wade might argue that one). We were pushing it close (as always) and ended up at one theater a little too late. So we went on to the next one, and Brad joined us. I have to admit the movie wasn’t that bad. It was actually pretty good. Not near as good as “Best of the Best”, but few are! There was a short before the movie that I found hilarious – penguins and polar bears and Christmas time.

We had an infection control specialist come speak to us in my EMT class tonight. This guy has taken some big certification test and works closely with the CDC. During his four hour talk, he had some great stories and explanations.

Why hamburger meat must be fully cooked: I always wondered why restaurants only serve hamburgers fully cooked. I know my mom and several others prefer them a little more rare. However, all restaurants will serve a steak rare. The specialist informed us that the bacteria is found in the exposed part of the meat (the outside). Even a rare steak is cooked on the outside, if not at all on the inside. The problem with hamburger meat is that it is all mixed together so it all must be thoroughly cooked.

To ruin sweat tea for all the true Southerners: The process of making sweat tea, especially when the tea is hot and sugar is added, creates an incubator for bacteria. Most people let the tea cool naturally rather than running it over ice to speed it along. The bacteria thrives in the warm environment with sugar. He also said the bad taste you get when tea has gone bad is when the bacteria has grown enough that you taste the bacteria over the tea and sugar. (This particular topic came up during a Hepatitis A discussion.)

My mom sent us a Halloween goody bag. There was a pumpkin hat, some decorations, and a new collar and glow-in-the-dark bone for Madison. Doesn’t she look snazzy?

I was sitting in my EMT class tonight and realized that I am one of three misfits. As a simple way to break down the group: Of 35 students, 32 smoke. We have a break every hour and all 32 of them go to the one designated smoking area on campus. About 30 out of the 35 have no prior college experience. I am also one of the older people in my class. The oldest is a 50 something woman and everyone else seems to be under 21.

I overheard this conversation during a break and thought it was hilarious.

Boy says, “Are you a Christian?”
Girl responds, “Yes”
Boy says, “I think God put you in this class to help me pass.”
Girl says, “I know God put me in this class to finally pass it.” (This is her third try.)

Oh geez!

If you remember a while ago ( a long while ago) I mentioned that Wade and I had created a tin of fun activities (AKA – Burch Continuing Education). One of the last activities chosen was to make an icon and place it in the decorative posts at the bridge next to Phipps Plaza. Wade created the icon, a painted cloud, this summer but we never ventured down to Buckhead. Tonight we planned a combined movie and cloud gluing. We missed the movie, but we succeeded in the second – kinda.

Wade, the cloud, and some liquid nails

It turns out the liquid nails we used on the back of the cloud was a little old – and not very sticky. The cloud fell very shortly after the picture was taken. We retrieved the cloud, but it was too broken to fix. Maybe we’ll try again later.