Off to the bay!

I'm outta here!
Heading to Bay St Louis for a relaxing weekend of drinking coffee on the beach. Just me and the tar balls.
I'm glad to leave my work drama behind. This week my pharmacy manager got in a fight with my store manager, and my pharmacy manager called me at home to vent about it. ON MY ANNIVERSARY. And talked for an hour. This is both proof that my pharmacy manager is a single man, and the explanation for why he is still a single man. The fighting is basically about pharmacy operations - scheduling, work flow, etc. The store manager thinks we suck a little. He's right, we do suck, but we're working on it. We're under new management! My pharmacy manager thinks this is none of the store manager's beeswax. He's right, too. The store manager's job is to keep Mucinex in stock and make sure the bathrooms are clean, neither of which he does. It is not his job to tell pharmacists how to run their show (this was a major issue when I worked at Walmart; the store managers would come tell us what to do with blatant disregard for legality or ethics.)
To help me navigate the issue, I've compiled the benefits of siding with either manager.
Why I should side with pharmacy manager:
- I have work with him every day
- Pharmacists should stick together
- He does not have an irritating back-to-front combover like the store manager does
- He has a clue, unlike the store manager, who literally has no earthly idea what goes on in the pharmacy.
Why I should side with the store manager:
- Maybe I could use my leverage to bribe him into cleaning the bathrooms
- Pharmacy manager is a slob like nobody's business and this would teach him a lesson about leaving important files everywhere!
- He's just clueless enough for me to start running the show completely if we "teamed up". I would totally start a campaign of free peanut butter cups for employees on busy days.
On second thought, I'll just ignore them both and continue being the stellar, overworked pharmacist that I've always been.
Have an awesome weekend everyone!

Good Morning!

And happy long-run day, haha!
Thanks for all the sweet comments and congrats yesterday on our anniversary. I also loved all the comments about married vs. single life and the special aspects of each. I can relate to all of those, on both sides! Looking back at my wedding pics reminded me that I wanted to do a few posts on my wedding - I was on a very strict budget, both of time and money, yet I pulled off a unique wedding for under $8000 total. This included every single dime we spent, from the rings to the reception. The average New Orleans wedding costs $36,500 (the national average is about $30000) so I feel pretty good about cost. I might put up some posts on saving money without stressing out. If I can get my act together :)
Yesterday the hus surprised me with this Mignon Faget cuff: I love it but I wish he'd quit getting me extravagant gifts when all I gave him was a leftover Christmas card with the verse crossed out and my own message written inside.

So, my long run: I resolutely set the alarm for 5 am this morning, then I checked the weather and saw that it was 90 degrees with 90% humidity basically from 3 am to 7 am. What's the point of even getting out of bed? I ended up getting on the road at a little past 6, maybe 6:10. It was already warm and super muggy, but I was prepared this time: I brought Cliff shot blocks (which are pricey, geez, over $2.50, good thing there are 2 servings in there), gatorade, and a little baggie of sea salt and potassium tablets. I was going to compound my own capsules, but I didn't have time to swing by Castellon pharmacy and pick up some empty capsules. Sometimes I like to play pharmacist.
This run went ok. I was feeling slow and sluggish from the start and I had "heavy legs". This is because yesterday I tried a new workout as my cross train day, and I whomped my thighs.* Plus I forgot my compression hose yesterday at work. But really it was ok; I have super sore stiff quads now but I got through my run well and even picked up the pace for the last few miles. I was a lot slower altogether compared to last week, but I think part of that is my chosen route: going up and down St Charles ave a few times during commuter hours is slow going - lots of traffic turning in front of you and lots of lights. I also had some longer walk breaks because it takes a freaking long time to chew those shot blocks; I tried running and chewing and it was making me queasy so I canned that idea. I had 3 shot blocks and about 13 ounces of gatorade, plus 90 mg of potassium and a highly exact pinch of salt.
My shot blocks review:
Good:
-More portable for spaced calories - you can eat 33 calories at a time instead of trying to squeeze out small portions of GU, then run holding an open GU pack.
-Kind of like eating candy! Yummy!
-Nice, healthy ingredients (I mean, as far as fake foods go).
-It was a pleasant change to chew something instead of swallowing gel.
Bad:
-I could feel them in my stomach, but take that with a grain of salt because I get sick to my stomach a lot when I run.
-After eating them I felt like brushing my teeth for the rest of the run.
Have you tried shot blocks? What's your running fuel?
*If you're wondering, it wasn't some awesome thigh workout. It was a Women's Day ab workout, and I was obviously doing everything wrong since my abs feel fine and my thighs hurt!

Three Years

Three years ago today David and I got married!
The wedding was nothing special...




But the end result was. It's been the best three years of my life!
In reflection of the three years, here are three things...
...that I enjoy about being married:
1. Coffee and newspaper in the mornings.
2. A second opinion
3. Sweet little text messages throughout the day.
...that I didn't expect:
1. He really is totally clueless in the kitchen. I thought that was an act.
2. I sleep better with company!
3. You never stop learning about each other.
...that I remember about our wedding:
1. My hairdresser put my long, thick hair up with about 400 pins and NO HAIRSPRAY. Most talented person ever.
2. My brother Nate fell asleep during the ceremony.
3. David whispered, "You look beautiful" as soon as he saw me!
...that I miss about being single:
1. I never had to actually cook a meal - I'd be happy with just a piece of fruit and cheese.
2. The bathroom was always clean.
3. I never found kitchen utensils in weird places (yeah, yeah, I know he's trying to help with the dishes...).
If you're married, what do you enjoy? Now I love my husband but I also absolutely loved my single life - so if you're single, what do you love about it?

And finally, do-it-yourself distressed furniture

I promised to show you how to cute-up your made-in-Cambodia-some-assembly-required furniture, and here it is.
I had to furnish my bedroom with furniture that ships flat because I have a tricky spiral staircase. It's really just a half-spiral, but it's challenging to get furniture up there without taking out the banister. Usually anything I decide to take upstairs is probably going to stay upstairs, or come down in several pieces.
When I graduated from pharmacy school, my adorable hubby bought me a sewing machine. Prior to this machine, I'd always used a table machine - the kind that comes installed in a wooden table. I couldn't reuse the table I already had because the new machine didn't fit into the old table's screw-on design. I ended up buying this small desk from Target since it nicely fit the available space (my bedroom has two windows, a door, a closet, and a fireplace, leaving very minimal wall space).
I put the desk together and stood back to admire my handiwork - and realized that the desk turned my hither-to cozy bedroom into a decrepit dorm room. Something must be done!

This easy "antiquing" simply keeps furniture from looking too new or plastic.
You need rough sandpaper and elbow grease - that's all. Simply sand the edges off without extending too far onto the flat surfaces. The particle board that shows through looks kind of like wood, right?

Tips for success:
- Use rough sandpaper
- Spend extra time rounded off the corners. They should get the most wear.
- Be a little sporadic in your sanding: Don't sand off every single edge and vary the amount you sand down as you go.
- Don't forget the knobs - or replace the knobs with something cuter. Replacement knobs go cheap on Ebay.
- This works on white furniture. If you use it on black fake furniture then the sanded areas will be lighter, which looks odd.
- Of you are worried about longevity of the furniture, you can swipe varnish over the sanded areas to keep moisture out. Or you can figure the piece won't last too long anyway and just shrug.

This look is not supposed to be country or shabby-chic, it's just a fast way to un-plastic your bedroom.
What's your best DIY furniture trick?

Doing it Yourself

When it comes to chores and projects, the Yankee in my tends to want to do it myself. I don't like paying people to do things I can do on my own. I learned to change my own oil in college and used to crawl under my car (no jack required) every 3000 miles, thrilled at the $15 I was saving. If I can make it, I will: granola bars, clothes, stationary, quick fixes. If I can repair it, I will (with the occasional dubious result. I "fixed" our toilet once and it ran until it overflowed).
But I've been thinking lately that there are some things that it makes sense to pay others to do. I read somewhere that if you make more per hour at your job than you'd pay someone else, plus you don't have the right equipment, you should pay someone else to do it for you.
I get my oil changed now because I don't have a driveway and I don't want to get run over. But I still fix my own dishwasher, change my own wiper blades and air filter, and make bread from scratch. It's hard for someone cheap like me to pay someone else to do something I feel capable of doing.
I draw the line at electrical work. I hated that part of physics and shocked myself in lab. If it has an electricity source I'm not touching it!
What would you pay someone to do?
Clean your house (I really want a maid! Just to do one thorough cleaning a month and I'll do upkeep!)?
Wash and fold your clothes?
Paint a room?
Hem your pants/do alterations?
Steam carpet?
Trim your bushes and water your plants?
What's your cut-off point for doing a job yourself verus paying someone else?
Image from Demotivateus.com, which is a website full of awesome stuff.

In which I am put on the spot and have an awesome day

Sorry I've been a little quiet over here. I blame my crazy Wednesday. Quick recap:
Tuesday my highly-excitable (in a good way - passionate, I guess) boss called and asked me to pop in at a market meeting for the company. I dutifully showed up on Wednesday morning, finding myself in a room full of all the district managers from Texas to Florida. Big people. I am little people. Scary.
The moment I walked in, purse still in hand, the clinical director called me to the front and basically asked me to introduce myself and what my clinical plan is. I'm being cryptic here because I have some company secrets and stuff but basically I'm heading up HIV care in the area. Well, luckily I was prepared with off-the-cuff remarks thanks to some news headlines from that morning which gave me an interesting anecdote to base my few sentences on.
The rest of the meeting was a surprise to me, but I found out I've been selected to head up a new project that spans our entire market! I'm incredibly excited. It's an area I'm interested in, it calls on specific skills and abilities, and it's a great opportunity both for myself and my company.
And it's a lot of work. But I'll take it! I love having a lot on my plate!
The best part of the meeting was that while the clinical directer was introducing lots of resources and facts and plans, most of those present treated it like new information. For example, most didn't know that pharmacies have access to copay assistance card websites for low income patients. However, my district manager DID know, because I had already spread this info around the district. We're already a step ahead of the game. Hopefully this made it look like I know my stuff :)
The rest of Wednesday was a little crazy. I left the meeting all elated, but had to go straight to another meeting before heading to work. I ended up getting stuck in traffic, and did my second meeting via phone (honestly it wasn't anything I needed to be there for anyway). I got to work a little late and discovered when I got there that my closing pharmacist - the 2 pm to 10 pm shift - had called in sick, and there was no one to cover for her. I called our scheduler and we worked out an awesome deal: I worked the rest of my partner's shift, and got all day Friday off instead. Tada, three day weekend!
That did mean that I closed the store Wednesday and opened up at 7 am on Thursday though, so I've been pretty exhausted. I'm enjoying my day off by working on my new project. Once I finish today's assignments, I'll be back with an easy DIY you can use to make crappy cardboard dorm furniture look like priceless antiques.
Image from someone else's blog.

Little Loose Ends

That's what this post is.
1. My calf muscles have gotten huge, and I hate it. How did this happen? Why do I have to look like Lance Armstrong? On the plus side, I'm pretty sure I could kick your head off.
2. This morning when I came to work a big, confused, lumbering palmetto bug (ie flying cockroach the size of a bird) met me at the pharmacy door. I stomped it in a moment of extreme bravery but I really don't think that's in my job description.
3. Last night I blew a fuse for my stove. We live in an old house, so I sent the hubby out with a new fuse so I could make dinner. Not happening: the second, and third, fuses blew as well. We called an electrician, but let's all pray my stove is broken. It's ancient and cooks unevenly and I'd be really happy with a new one. Until we find out it's microwaved quesadillas for dinner.
4. I bought a precious little black Ann Taylor dress from Ebay for 99 cents! It's tags-still-on new and has pockets. I lurve pockets.
5. I got a last minute call to join in on a market meeting tomorrow. The markets in my company are a couple of states; the district managers usually attend these meetings. I get to go and do my HIV spiel, and that's kind of exciting!
6. Sometimes I want to raspberry people who rain on my parade. My sister is sometimes one of those people. I am secretly raspberrying her in my head. To her face I am sending an un-offended, un-offending email of love and rainbows, because that's what sisters do.

7. This is my candy stash. I hide it in a shoe box under my desk. My husband knows I have a candy stash, but he hasn't found it yet. Every so often I have a rough day at work, and all I have to do is wait for him unglue himself from his mac so I can snag a peanut butter cup. It's awesome.
What's going on in your life this Tuesday? And do you have a candy stash, or do you (horrors) share? Or are you so freaking awesome that you don't have a stash because you don't crave chocolate or candy, and even if you do you simply employ your cast iron will and say no???