I'm not stupid

Last night at work an older woman asked to speak to the pharmacist. She was concerned that using her inhaler was causing her blood pressure to increase. The pharmacist started asking her questions.

Pharmacist: "How are you using your inhaler?"

Woman: *Annoyed tone*
"Like I am supposed to."

Pharmacist: "Ok, I get that, but could you explain to me what you do when you use it?"

Woman: *More annoyed*
"I use it like my doctor tells me to! I think I am getting too much medication when I inhale."

Pharmacist: "Alright. How many times do you click the medication release button?"

Woman: *Raising her voice*
"I click it once and breathe in twice. I must be getting twice the medication. Something is wrong with this thing."

Pharmacist: "Ma'am, if you only click the button once, it doesn't matter how many times you breathe in, you are still only getting one dose. Are you sure you aren't clicking the release button twice?"

Woman: *Almost yelling*
"I'm not stupid!!!!!"
*Storms off*

So.... Have you ever seen the seemingly idiotic warnings on products? The warnings that say things like "Please don't drink the shampoo" are there for a reason... BECAUSE SOMEONE DRANK THE SHAMPOO! When someone comes to us in the pharmacy, we ask basic questions and also questions that may seem odd. No, I don't think you are stupid, but I have seen and heard a lot of odd situations. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if you told me that you thought that you were supposed to stick the ibuprofen tablet in your ear when you had an earache.

So give me a break and bear with me when you come to me for help. I didn't seek you out.

The little things

Kids are awesome. They are honest, silly, and can make observations about their environment that as adults we often don't see.

Last weekend we had some family friends over for dinner. At 2 years old, little Halle was cracking me up all night. We were all having some adult beverages at one point and she asked, "Papa Mark gonna drink your dinner?" What do you even say to that?!

I also love the innocence of children - which is why I think this is beautiful:

Culinary genius

I love to cook. It's a stress reliever for me and the results are generally pretty darn good. I feel a sense of accomplishment when a meal is perfectly executed and I pride myself on preparing different kinds of food so we don't get bored. You want homemade pesto? Done. Pork chops? Done. I try to stay away from the pre-made freezer or boxed meals because everything is just so much better with fresh ingredients.

When me and Adam moved in with my parents, Adam was introduced to our go-to family meals. Quesadilla Thursdays are always fun. Steaks are always superb. And then there is Ramen & Eggs (ramen noodles cooked with 1/2 the water, 1/2 the seasoning, then after those are cooked, crack an egg on top, cook the egg, and serve). The first time Adam had this Ramen concoction, his eyes lit up like he was just given a million dollars. He asked, "Why haven't you ever made this for me before?" as if I had been withholding the holy grail for the past 3 years.

Now he eats it all the time. He loves it.

I suppose I should be grateful. A five minute meal can come in handy from time to time. I just find it amusing that after years of cooking for him that was what floated his boat.

You learn something new every day. :)

Just a little louder

Sometimes I find it astounding that in just over a month, someone is going to hand me a doctorate degree.

Case in point: A family approaches me at the pharmacy yesterday holding two boxes. They don't speak any English and anything that I learned in my medical Spanish class has now gone out the window. I assumed they were wondering which box of vitamins would be the best for the woman they were pointing at. There was actually no difference between the two products and so I took one box in each hand and said, "It's the same thing." The gentleman took the boxes back with a questioning look and pointed at the woman again and asked if it was for her ojos (I actually remembered that meant eyes), and I think something about her bones. I nodded, pointed at the boxes and again said, "They are the same thing." He holds up the boxes again as if to ask "Which one?" My response was to practically yell, "SAME!!!" at this poor family - at which point I realized that we just had a language barrier, the people were not deaf, and talking louder would not help anything.

I really hope this degree I get comes with a English to Spanish dictionary.... and some common sense.

Perhaps I am doing it wrong

So my friend Betty just wrote a blog on the whole Jon & Kate + 8 possible/probable divorce happenings that have recently been in the news and it got me thinking. How do people expect to treat each other with such blatant disrespect and then expect their relationships to last? I don't claim to be a relationship genius - believe me, I've made more than my share of mistakes - but there are some things that need to happen between two people to make a long-lasting and meaningful relationship.

I do not and will not ever understand the couples who constantly fight. Privately, publicly - it doesn't matter - some people will fight just for the sake of fighting. Simple decisions like having chicken or fish for dinner will ignite WWIII. How on earth do these people think they are going to make it through the big stuff in life?! Even better is when these couples announce that they are going to get married... because that fixes everything.

This is not to say that people should not disagree. It's absolutely normal and healthy to disagree with your significant other, but doing so in a productive way will save both of you the anger and aggravation that comes along with a knock down fight.

But hey, who am I to judge? Maybe tonight I should pick a fight with Adam just for fun. Perhaps I am doing it all wrong.

I'll let you know how that works out. :)

Pants optional

In December of 2008 Adam and I made the big move out of Savannah and into his mom's house in Phoenix. We were there for 3 months, then made another move to my parent's house in Omaha. In theory we were going to be saving a ton of money and were going to be able to spend quality time with our families. While both of those things are true, there was one thing I did not take into consideration....

In a house occupied by parents, pants are not optional. I don't mean to make people think that I never wear pants or I am a nudist or anything, but when you live alone you can do anything you want in your underwear. Eating Cheerios, vacuuming, or waking up at 3 am to grab a glass of orange juice can all be done in the comfort of your skivvies. This is not so acceptable when other people are in the house with you.

Today I start the 33 day countdown when I will again have a place to call home and pants are once again optional.

Excuse me?

Walking into an apartment complex:

Apt Lady: "So what are you looking for in your future home?"
Me & Adam: "Somewhere that allows pets and has a nice kitchen."
Apt Lady: "Do you have a preference on which floor you would like to live on?"
Me: "Not the bottom one - I worry about noise."
Apt Lady: "What kind of noise? I live on the bottom floor and I don't hear anything."
Me: "I don't want to hear people having sex above me."

*Silence*

Adam: *Looks at me in horror*
Apt Lady: *Looks at me in horror*
Me: *Thinking to myself that perhaps I should have turned on my internal filter*

Apt Lady: "Well... I don't think that should be a problem here..."

At this point I feel the need to explain that I have lived in several places where I hear lots of things going on above my head and that was the first example that I could come up with. We had also nicknamed our last neighbor "Thud" because that is all we would hear when he came home and played with his dogs.

We didn't end up getting an apartment there. :)