Sigh. I had to drive to that very street where that poor bus driver was killed this morning. I had an appointment to see the Doctor, and my hospital is right on Georgia Ave. I felt so horrid going down there. Not that I was afraid of getting shot particularly (even though I insisted on sitting in the back of the big car), but it was just so close. None of them have been that close. Even though I drove to the area where the shooting was and wasn’t there in person when it happened, it was still eerie to see all the police cars and all the traffic. I’ve just seen it on TV until now, because I didn’t have any reason to go to the other areas. So I didn’t go. I stayed in my quiet little suburb. But this was different, and it was sad to see all the frightened people going and out of the hospital, and hearing that dreaded S word as I passed people in the halls.
But no more talk of that right now. It’s depressing.
I went to the hospital to see my Doctor and had to handle it all on my own since my Mother had to take Steven to see his Doctor. I was fine with that, I’m so used to it anyway. I talked to the doctor, she poked my belly to test for whatever it is they test for on those exams, and then sent me off to get my blood drawn (lots of it), and get an x-ray of my abdomen. I didn’t have to wait at all at the lab for the blood tests – I literally walked right in, sat down, and thank heavens I had a good technician. Normally I’m a really horrible stick – in one year alone I had over 180 injections of some form or another (in the hospital, all legal and ethical, of course) so my veins are really scarred. Like I told the tech, they roll, they blow, they evade, they do everything they’re not supposed to. But she did it first try! I had to pump this little squishy ball in my hand again and again and again until my hand was turning purple and it hurt like heck, but I kept doing it anyway. I spent a while rubbing my elbow to bring the veins up, cause they just aren’t there. I remember one Doctor telling me, “You’re dead!” cause he just couldn’t see any veins on my arms. But, she got it, so hurrah!
Getting x-rays was the funniest. I had to wait for a while, I noticed this rather nice looking Army man was looking at me from across the waiting room. I smiled at him once, then went back to my book. He was called back, and then a few minutes later so was I. I was taken back to a dressing room with little private dressing stalls. And there he was in a hospital gown; he wasn’t smiling at me then. He kind of blushed then looked down at his sock-covered feet. I ducked into my stall, put on the hospital gown, and then had to open the door when I was done so the x-ray techs would know I was ready. But Specialist Lindsay – as I later found out was his name – was in the stall across from me, sitting there very carefully trying to keep himself covered. It was so awkward but so hilarious. I tried so hard not to laugh as we just sat there and tried not to look at each other, but tried to figure out if the other person was looking. You know, that timid little ballet with the eyes where you both happen to look up at the same time, blink, then look back down in opposite directions. It was so funny. I’m glad he was called back first so I didn’t have to stand up first. Then, when I was done, he was still in the other x-ray room so I was able to duck out without anymore blushing faces or awkward looks.
We all got home around 4:30, then the lady in charge of that activity that I took the portraits for, she came over to look at them. She got SO excited when she saw them, she just loves the photographs. And that makes me really happy. She was so overjoyed she did a little happy dance in my room and gave me a great big hug – which is a big compliment from her cause she’s not usually like that. Two of the pictures were of her daughters and for a minute I thought she was going to start to cry because she loved it so much. I can’t wait to see what the girls do when they see them, or better yet, what their mothers do. 🙂 If just one of those Moms gets teary-eyed I think I can count this as a huge, whopping success.
I have almost all of the portraits printed out now and as soon as I finish this I’m going to trim them down to size. Hurrah!
After that lady left, my Mom and I went to the parking lot at our local church building and I got to drive for the first time. It was in our big honking suburban, which I really didn’t want to drive, and now I have reaffirmed that feeling. I did okay, honestly. I only jerked the brakes a few times, but my Mom says that’s because they’re really super sensitive. You tap them and unless you get it just right it’ll jerk. Plus, I really hate the gas pedal. I put it into drive, let go of the brake, and all on its own – I wasn’t even touching the gas – the car started moving at 20mph. Cars shouldn’t do that. Especially not big cars. No worries, I didn’t hit anything, I didn’t damage the car, I was fine. I just really don’t like that.
Good news is, though, the first time I tried to park it I made it well-within the lines AND it was even the parking spot I was aiming for! I also backed up into a parking space and came SO close to getting in the lines. I was just a little crooked. But still, huge accomplishment in that car! I’m so proud of myself. 🙂 Now if I could just get a smaller car so I don’t feel like such a teeny little insignificant ant attempting to fly the concorde.
After driving, my Mom and I had to go home, then I went out with the little youth group thingie to volunteer at the local home for “Seniors”. We helped out with their bingo game, which was pretty entertaining. Last week we all painted pumpkins for the prizes for the game, and they were all a big hit with the old people. I didn’t feel like painting regular pumpkin faces, so I did landscape paintings on mine. I felt kind of bad – they were the last two pumpkins left and a few people didn’t want them. I wasn’t really offended, just kind of disappointed. But afterward, the lady who got my favorite landscape talked to one of the leaders and said she wanted to meet me. I was pulled over and the woman told me, “You should be congratulated, this is such a work of art! The detail is just amazing, it’s beautiful!” I was so happy she loved it so much, you should have seen her face. She was beaming. It was the crowning event of the entire evening. I took her picture with it, so you can see her face as soon as I get the pictures back. 🙂 I took them on a friends’ digital camera, so I should get them on Sunday. 🙂 I’m so keeping that picture of that sweet old lady holding up my pumpkin. She was just so cute.
That was my day. Now I’m off to go trim photographs and put a few of them in the frames. True, it’s a little late for that, but I can’t sleep, so I might as well do something constructive. 🙂