WALK A DAY IN HER SHOES.........

On a serious note...yesterday evening I was sitting in my car, in the Triangle Town Center parking lot waiting for my daughter to meet me for some shopping. I'd brought a magazine to look at to pass the time. I was amazed to get the last regular parking spot right where the handicap spaces started.

I was pretty deeply engrossed in the article I was reading, tipped my head up for just second to take a sip from my travel mug and froze. There was a woman in the handicap spot one row over from me. She was just closing the gate on the scooter rack attached to the back of her SUV. I watched her...wondering how she would get in the vehicle now that her scooter was safely stored away and she didn't have anyone there to help her. The driver's door was open, so she must have opened that before loading the scooter. (I missed this) She stood there for a minute, then placed both hands on the scooter rack and slowly inched her feet around the side of her ride. She kept her hands firmly placed on the side of her SUV while she painfully and very, very slowly moved toward the open door, stopping every few seconds to catch her breath. It took her almost two minutes to go from the back of her car to the driver's door. When she got to the door, she stood there for awhile, head bowed and then reached inside the vehicle and pulled out a small stool. Placing the stool on the pavement she stepped onto it, paused for a few seconds, slowly turned herself around and using the steering wheel pulled herself into her car. She sat with her feet dangling for several seconds, then grabbing her legs, pulled them into the SUV and turned herself around in the seat. Finally after another break, she held the steering wheel and lowered herself out to grab her stool and pull it inside, before driving away.

I wanted to go help, but I was literally frozen in fascination at such a brave, courageous woman. I don't even want to take a walk around the block for exercise and this woman drove herself the mall and managed to get herself headed back home again. What a lazy, ungrateful person I've become.

Besides the fortitude this woman showed, she looked lovely. Her hair was styled in a blond bob and she wore a deep orange top over a flowy black and white skirt and black shoes. So not only did she take the time to go to the mall by herself, even though she was handicapped, she took the time to look nice while she was there. How many of us think about how we're dressed while we're out shopping?

Resolution to myself: Stop being too sluggish to fix myself up before leaving the house. Stop complaining about every little thing that's not absolutely perfect in my life. Stop bitching when I can't find a parking space close to the door. Think about this woman and be forever grateful for my strong legs and body and stop worrying about the fat around my middle or my ever increasing cellulite. How trivial! I've been moaning a lot lately, but I can't for the life of me figure out why I have anything at all to bitch about. How about you?

PEDRO SAYS...........

My hubby and I always try to make our road trips fun. Sometimes we rent a book on tape to listen to, we play the child's game of naming items we see starting with each letter of the alphabet, we name a certain model car to look for and score points for each one we point out.

On our recent trip to Florida we got caught up in the South of the Border signs. (SOB for true fans) For my Northern friends you may not know what I'm talking about, but SOB is a landmark on I-95 just over the North Carolina/South Carolina border in Dillon, SC. It is sometimes referred to as a "tourist trap", but I prefer to think of it as a "tourist complex". They have lots of shopping,(imagine 13 different styles of backscratchers), places to eat, a motel with over 300 rooms and a campground. The area is marked by a huge sombrero 200 hundred feet in the air which can be spotted way before you actually arrive at the exit.

What makes SOB really great is the billboards they have lining the highway for 200 miles before you even arrive there. There are 120 billboards, featuring their mascot Pedro and we decided we would read each and every one of them between Raleigh, NC and Dillon, SC...with a Mexican accent of course! I started and I got to read the signs as long as I didn't miss one. Once I became preoccupied and skipped one...my hubby got to read till he missed one. Silly...but fun when the signs read: "Pedro says: You never SAUSAGE a place" and "You're always a WEINER at Pedros". By the time you reach the exit...how can you NOT visit this place?

I just discovered that they offer a lovely wedding package there. Hmmmm, maybe for the renewing of our vows on our 10th anniversary?

DO AS I SAY...NOT AS I DO OR IT'LL COST YOU

I received my pre-operative instructions from my surgeon yesterday. Attached to the instructions was another sheet entitled, Rescheduling, Insurance & Financial Policy.

One paragraph really jumped out at me on that sheet: In the event that you should need to reschedule your surgery date for other than emergent situations, please be advised that a surcharge of $50.00 (fifty) will be charged to your account.

The next paragraph stated: Please also be advised that due to the emergent nature of surgery, there are instances when your surgeon may be called to an emergency or due to conflicts in the operating room, we may have to reschedule your surgery. We are very grateful for your cooperation in this regard.

Now hang on a dang minute...if I reschedule it costs me $50...if my surgeon reschedules I should just be cooperative, but I don't get $50. Hmmmm, seems like a double standard clause to me. Kind of like waiting in the office for an hour after your appointment time...but if I arrived an hour late...they'd make you reschedule. What's wrong with this picture? Oh wait...I get it...I didn't do eight years of college, plus a residency! Never mind...I get it now!

WHAT'S UP DOC?

Doctors really can be frustrating individuals. During my preliminary visit to the surgeons office last Wednesday, I was handed five sheets of paperwork to fill out before I was taken back to see the doctor. Three of those sheets asked about my visit and why I was there, along with other various life-probing questions, so I couldn't help but laugh when I was finally shown to a room and the nurse asked, "so how can we help you today?" Hello? Didn't I just answer that question at least three times before coming into this room? Okay, so maybe the nurse was illiterate, so I helped her out..."I was told I need to have my gallbladder removed." The nurse smiled sweetly, told me the doctor would be in to see me soon and left the room.

I was fine, until the doctor entered the room and said, "So what brings you to my office today?", while opening my chart. OMG...are you kidding me? Are you going to remember when you get me on your operating table and I can't speak up for myself, what the purpose of my "visit" is? After I brought the doctor up to speed as to why he was meeting with me, the rest of the visit went very smoothly as he explained to me in detail how he would perform the procedure.

Just be sure we're all on the same page on surgery day, I'm thinking about taking a magic marker and writing across my lower abdomen..."GALLBLADDER REMOVAL", just in case the doc doesn't have time for his morning coffee and experiences fuzzy brain. I'd hate to wake up with a colostomy bag and a stone infested gallbladder still firmly embedded in my body. The only decision I need to make now is...should I use a black or a red marker?