Day from hell? Quite possibly . . . .

a.) I got up at 4 am.

b.) There was an insane amount of surgeries today, and I worked beyond my normal shift.

c.) The "oil line" on my Blazer snapped, broke, blew--use your choice of words for it, which in turn left me stranded on the side of the interstate waiting for 40 minutes for my father to come to the rescue. With the help of 4 gallons of oil, shutting the truck off during red lights, and having a mild heart attack, we got the truck to a parking lot to assess further damage. Repairs for the oil line/set of tubes will run over 500 dollars, not to mention the tow to the shop . . .and even then, I'm not sure if the engine is trashed. We won't be able know until this first part is repaired, unfortunately. And oddly enough, my father replaced the oil and filter last night. The tubes blowing today is unrelated to the oil change, but the fact that my truck dumped brand new oil and ruined a perfectly good filter adds salt to the wound. Damn you, car gods!

d.) I drank a lot of coffee (the parking lot belonged to a Caribou Coffee), so sleep is a long way off.

It really could be worse. On the flip side, I have a great neighbor in Mike who took care of Dima while I was hoping to not get killed by a semi, and I have a terrific mother and father who are doing their best to help with the mess. I didn't die, by the way, so it is probably good that I was physically able to drink coffee, stay up too late, and pay off my credit card bills for the rest of my life. I'm blessed . . .really . . . . And if I'm lucky, the engine isn't cooked. If I'm not lucky, well, I'll owe credit card gods more of my blood, sweat, and tears.

Oh, the drama! Am I one of my Thistledew girls?

LCD Bulbs--Who needs 'em?

This will be short, as I am not writing from my computer. My laptop has given up the ghost, yet again.

I'm looking forward to writing about my last two weeks in PA, Washington DC, NY, MD, NJ and CT. Amazing friends and family members, a fluttering of the heart for Yale (there is a theology and literature program that has caught my eye (thank you, Nicoley)), New York City (Mason Jennings got it right with his song), and so much more. A whirlwind of fine conversations and laughter, this trip has been good for my soul.

More later . . . .