Merrell's Are Not Acceptable Bike Wear and Other Observations

Whew!  I'm home!  Sookie is glad.  My body is glad.  Kelly doesn't ever want to come home.

Two weeks ago, I was headed to the 5th International Family and Patient Centered Care Conference in Washington, D.C.  Last week, we were heading to the Outer Banks of NC for vacation.  Soooo much has happened!

The Conference:
It was phenomenal.  That's the only way I can describe it.  I was surrounded by people who believe in what I do for a living; who value my education, but also value my life experience and its role in my work; and by some of the most incredible figures in health care in the world.

I learned so many interesting and valuable things that apply to my hospital work and also to life in general.  For instance, if you have a user name on Twitter, a blog, Facebook, etc. search it on Google.  I had over 5 pages of hits on mine.  I had no idea that much was publicly available!  Also, prospective employers do that as well.  It's a good thing I only swear about personal things.

The VP of Canada's largest health system said we were the best presentation of the conference.  Wowzas!  Ummhmm, yeah, yeah.  I shook my tail feathers on that one.  People from stellar facilities suggested we become educators in FPCC.  I am humbled and awed.

I discovered that getting down into the Metro was a little like a snowy mountain scene in a James Bond movie...I have a picture in my head, but I can't figure out which movie...It's just this cavernous tunnel burrowing crazily into the ground.  I've ridden the NYC subway dozens of times, but the D.C. Metro threw me.

I discovered Lady Anti-Monkey Butt.  What is THAT, you ask?  It's this fantastic anti-friction powder.  Great for hot days and bras or thighs.

Finally, Jenny Lawson's book Let's Pretend This Never Happened made for great plane entertainment.  My manager and I read together and were so boisterous with our laughter that we met a woman at the hotel who recognized us from that!   


Next, the beach!

We went to Nags Head, Outer Banks, NC.  Those are the barrier islands off the NC Coast for which lighthouses and pirates are famous.  For those of you familiar with my fear of bridges, you'll understand that this is a HUGE deal.  There are three doozie bridges, one over 5 miles long.  It's not a beautiful scene either like the 7 Mile Bridge in the Keys.  That aqua water just soothes my anxious soul.  Anyway, we made a convoy of Sanders from here to there.  It was great driving and we arrived to beautiful weather and waves.

This is literally just out of the car: 

I'm slightly less pale, except for the myriad skeeter bites on my face and body, today.  I'm much more rested.  I'm more literally rounded, having read four books in 5 days.  I'm puzzle queen after this monster, which I did not complete on my own, but I was obsessed by it.







The winds picked up to storm-force yesterday.  This morning it was still so bad that it blew the hair wrap off my head which was drying my hair.

Our ride home was adventurous.  I saw an El Camino and realized it's the original hybrid car.  I saw a man on a Harley sporting Merrell's.  REALLY?  In what HOG chapter or Gran Torino scene do comfort clogs go with a kick ass motorcycle?  I am driving down I-40 as excessive speed and those suckers stood out in the lane next to me.  Seriously shaking my head at that...

Home Sweet Home it is, to mounds of laundry, a lonely cat and dog, my Altima (a story in itself) and my bed.  Ahh, my bed...see you soon, friend.