Last week was hell week. Coming off of a wonderful weekend with my Brother and the kids I was tired but glad to have some joy under my belt.

On call 2 of the 3 days in the office and the whole weekend
one "day off" was spent in an all day meeting in Denver
1800 pages of "stuff" to read, none of it uplifting
dealing with taxes
Saturday night in the urgent care

I was short on sleep, patience, and hadn't cooked anything to eat for the week so I had nothing yummy to soothe my soul.

So the question is, what can I do to make this week better?

1. I slept about 11 hours last night so I'll go into the next week rested.
2. Made a huge pot of fried rice with shrimp to munch for the week
3. making a pot of mushroom barley soup so I have a variety of yums
4. No reading! bought a book of short fiction to read instead
5. Hired a book keeper and will have her do the rest of the tax stuff
6. Scheduled a massage for my day off
7. Starting the week with a date with Guy at New Belgium Brewery
8. Already got in a good swim
9. Starting the week with a clean house and clean laundry
11. Only on call one day this week! YAY

Funk

Today I started with a good swim. Working on increasing power in my stroke. I did a time trial. 11 min 20 seconds for 500 meters. No Michael Phelps but better than before!

***** My intention was to spin but a very rude person took the bike I had ******
***** "claimed" by putting my shoes on it. I know, get over it. ******

I got to work and, not only did I have my wonderful Paula, I also had the extern to help us while we were on call. She's bright, enjoyable, personable, and professional.

I had 2 new patients today and have another tomorrow. The business is growing gradually. A few patients a day. A handful of "keepers" and a handful of those who will come in randomly when they absolutely have to.

***** Nevermind the patient who I really like that I had to "fire" because of *****
***** issues. Nevermind the frustration of getting charts for med refills of *****
***** patients not seen since 2005. Nevermind the issues of the "practice" and *****
***** dealing with the financial issues of a business that is not a profitable *****
***** business to be in. *****

I came home to the man I love. To the ingredients for green chile enchiladas ready to be thrown into a casserole and heated through.

***** I'm smelling this wonderful smell filling my house and it's not done yet *****

OH YEAH, THAT'S NOT A RANT... THAT'S GOOD!

I know I shouldn't complain. Sometimes ya gotta rant. Now that that's out of my system!

Shawarm-ish

This has been a good weekend in spite of the fact that Guy has been up sking and I have been home. My to-do list had about a million and one things on it, give or take 3/4 of a million or so. I know, for a fact, that I crossed at least 2 things off my list.

So, the basement trim and doors are painted and the doors hung. The laundry is done. I made a huge crock pot of Ropa Viejo for Guy to eat this week. And I made myself something vaguely resembling Shawarma but made with fish and veggies. It's pretty good for a complete bastardization of a really yummy dish.

Today I was talking to my Mom. She just signed up for her first Tri. I'm so thrilled to hear her so excited by the challenge. I had plans for a good workout but I also had a long to-do list. I wasn't about to skip the workout after talking to Mom!

So I test rode a Specialized Ruby Elite road bike. It's suh-weet! I have a few other bikes to test ride... but I think I'm gonna be really happy to have a bike that fits my shortness.

I went to the Arapahoe Natural Area on the east side of town. Early in the morning it would almost be in the shadow of the evil, even if it is green, Walmart but for the Interstate in between. Being on the east side, it's flat... loops of dirt winding around wide spots in a branch of the Cache La Poudre River that they actually call "lakes." There are signs with the fishing size limits for the anglers who apparently hang out there.

There were no anglers today. A few folks lounging in a rowboat. One guy doing laps around the largest of the "lakes" in a kayak. A 4-pack of ladies on horses having a great time in the river. And me. Well, and a bunch of Canadian Geese who have no intention of heading back north as it warms up. The mountains poked their snowy tops toward the blue and overcast skies. An abandoned farm between me and the mountains gave it a picturesque, rural look though the sounds of the I blared behind me. One piece of farm equipment sat parked on a peninsula into Big Bass Lake with a beautiful pattern carved into the soil where something will soon begin growing.

My loops gave way to the pool. Two straight lanes with 4 people moving back and forth. A liquid treadmill but slightly less boring. 30 minutes was all I could stomach before coming home to my "duties" and my Shawarm-ish. Now, back to work.