Here it comes...

It has been almost a year since this blog began. CRAZY! I am going to be 26...CRAZIER!!! For as long as I can remember, 26 has been my favorite number. I don't know why...it just has. Maybe this year will show me why that is the case. I know that I will need to make it what I want it to be. Can't wait to see what is in store.
I leave for Boston tomorrow AM. In 10 hours to be exact. I've traveled a lot in my 26 years but never have I been "out east". I am SUPER excited. I think my co-workers were going to kill me if I didn't stop talking about it. Oh well. The timing of this trip couldn't be better as the H1N1 has hit the hospital like a ton of bricks. I have 4 co-workers out sick this week alone with suspected cases. Needless to say, I am not sad to leave that place for a few days.
I would love to stay here and make this a really wordy post (you know how I love that), but I need to get packing and doing laundry. I feel like I am cramming for finals tonight although the object I am working towards is much more fun than some dumb test that equals half my grade. I'll be back Tuesday and I am sure I will have some stories to tell!

Thought you might laugh...

So, the other day I was bored and thought it might be fun to read through some of my old diaries. The following excerpts come from the very first diary I ever had. It is a hard bound book with a lock that was given to me by my first grade best friend. Here goes:

Friday 11/1/91: Today I went to my nabrs house. We had Rost beef, Putatose, rolls and carets. It was good. then we had Apply pie. it was good too. I like my nabrs house. Sined, Abigail Allen


Sunday 5/31/92: Today I went to the park to play ball (softball).

Saturday 10/31/92: Dear Diriy there is a cute boy in my class named _____. Pleas don't tell. by,Abigail


4/31/94: Dear Becky (I started writing to my best friend), I had a good easter but I got spanked because my room was messy. Abbie


There were quite a few other excerpts. All as life altering as the ones above. Man, to be a kid again! I especially remember the last one as getting in trouble on Easter seems as unfair to me as taking away a summer vacation.
Also a side note, I cried for the first time at my "new job" today! Guess it is not a "new job" anymore!

Abbie asks: Have you seen me?

So there I was....minding my own business, as I usually do, when out of nowhere this face became the one that I know will haunt my dreams. I was walking to my car, which was parked on level two of the parking ramp at work. As I approach the vehicle I notice a very large form sitting on top of my car right above where the driver's door meets the rest of the car. As I get closer I realize that perched on top of my car is what one who is uneducated in the animal life on the U campus would assume to be a cross between a very large kangaroo and a somewhat smallish Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep. I am not one of those people and so I knew exactly what I was dealing with. It was a Tamiasciurus UOFMUS, commonly known as a Squirrel from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus region. This is no ordinary squirrel.
I walked closer to the car making as much noise as possible to try and scare it away. This did nothing. I then proceeded to lock and unlock my car repeatedly hoping this would do the trick. This in turn only alerted the monster to the fact that he was not sitting on a park bench.
Now, part of the problem involves the fact that I park directly underneath an oak tree at home. It is Autumn as you probably know and the acorns are falling off the tree about as rapidly as NFL players are having season ending injuries. There are acorns EVERYWHERE. I have been using my windshield wipers in the morning just so I can see out my window and I try to go from 0 to 60 mph as fast as possible just to lose a few. There are even 10 or so embedded into my paint job.
This being said, the scary monster was eating away at some of these acorns, not fazed in the least by my attempts to rid him from my car. All at once, he spotted me. He looked right at me and.....STAYED PUT. He was not moving. He was however, ever so slightly preparing for the attack if I should try to get any closer to the car (aka his personal vending machine). Now, if you know me at all, you know that I am afraid of pretty much everything. Once I screamed at the sight of a pillow because I though it was smiling at me. This being said I did what any sane person would do in this situation. I walked slowly over to the passenger side of my car as I was calling my co-worker on my cell for reinforcements. I slowly climbed into the car as I hyperventilated into the phone while explaining the situation to my on call sidekick. I shut the door and started to climb over the center console to make for a quick getaway. Just then....my panic button went off on the remote that I had in my hand the WHOLE time. Mr. Scary Monster scurried away faster than Michael Johnson ever ran with his gold shoes. Needless to say, if I ever see that squirrel again....the panic button will be in hand!

I'll penalize you!

Hey there, long time. Sorry about that. I am sure all of you readers (Hi mom!) have been on the edges of your seats just waiting for the next installment of this VERY exciting blog. So here we go.

Things have been going pretty well. The new church is great. Love the sermons, adjusting to the music (and not being a part of it), trying to figure out how to get involved. The move has been pushed back to November. I will SO enjoy being closer to work and Church but I am also trying to make sure I find a place that I can stay for awhile. I am not a fan of moving.

Isabelle turned 7 this year and I am feeling older by the minute. I can't believe I am an aunt of three and 2 of them speak more Spanish from their Dora movies then I learned in three years of high school. I am still waking up to find new, strange bruises on my arms and have deducted that I am indeed.....a ninja by night. It is the only explanation.

Work is going well. I still have yet to cry at my "new" job. Side note: When does a job stop being new? My co-workers try to find new ways to make it happen. There have been many attempts to yell at me, steal my lunch, pretend my dog died and my new favorite....poke me in one of my already multi-colored bruises. The last option didn't evoke tears...it only made soda come out my nose.

A little over a month ago I had to report a customer that was calling in pretending to be a nurse and prescribing for herself. I found out this week that she was fired. I also found out I may be getting subpoenaed. I am not too scared as this will be the third time that has happened and nothing has ever come of it (except that I had to change my name and promise to never speak to my family again). We'll keep you posted on that one.

This week I had a patient who's co-pay through their insurance was over $800 for a month supply. I called the insurance to find out why and they said that they were penalizing the patient for needing to get the brand name. Now understand that I don't typically root for patients who request brand name and tell me they "don't like those damn genetic (no this is not a typo) drugs!". In this instance though I am inclined to be a little more understanding. It was for a transplant patient and it was their anti-rejection med. The doctor said that we must dispense brand name because they don't think the generic works as well in this situation. Not something I would want to compromise. Even though it was per the doctors request and they filled out all the required paperwork to get the brand name approved the insurance company still wanted to "penalize (their words)" the patient for this request. If the patient received the generic version...their co-pay went from $800 to....$0. I was outraged. I have had it up to here (visualize me drawing a line over my head) with insurance companies. That is all I have to say about that one. Except that I would like to penalize them. Alright....I am out of here. Hope all is well with all of you (again...hi mom!). Peace out!!!

Fecal excitement.

This is a true situation that happened to me at work this week. Some of the names may have been altered to protect identities:
(I am standing at the front intake window of the pharmacy typing away at some scripts for an eye surgery patient. "Mr. Customer" walks up to my counter.)
Mr. Customer: (Leans close to me with a smirk on his face) "Um...could you please call your environmental services department? Someone pooped in the floor."
Me: (Not taken aback at all as my previous job was at a psych hospital) "Oh sure, did you see this in the men's bathroom?"
Mr. Customer: (said with a giggle and more smirking) "Uh no...it is in the hallway!"
Me: ( I am totally flabbergasted as to how someone could have possibly relieved themselves out in the hallway.) "Uh...ok. Thanks for telling me."

Now the story gets better. I am unaware of what the number is to Environmental services, so I do what I think is the best option...I tell Ron. Now for those of you who do not know Ron...I am sorry for you. I can't explain him in a non-wordy post such as this but I will tell you he has a story for every situation and a smart comment for every person. He also knows EVERYONE who works in the hospital. The pharmacy is in uproarious laughing fits at this point and people are saying, "How did this happen?" and " Did the person pull down their pants in the hallway or let it run down their leg?" (sorry for that one)
Ron calls up environmental services and the conversation went something like this:
Ron: "Uh yes, my co-worker just informed me that someone has pooped in the hall out here by the discharge pharmacy. Could you please come up here and clean it up?"
(Pause for time where environmental services says something into the phone)
Ron: "Um, let me check...(places hand over voice part of the phone) ABBIE, what color was the poop in the hallway?"
Me: (crying from laughter) "Ron, I have no idea. I never saw the poop, someone just told me about it."
Ron: (to ES) "Um she doesn't know the color. (Pause for ES to say something) Um...let me check. (places hand over receiver again) "Abbie, where is the poop in the hallway?"
Me: "Ron, I DON'T KNOW. I NEVER SAW IT. I think it is somewhere out by the bathroom/vending machine/elevator area."
Ron: (to ES) "Apparently it is by the bathroom/vending/elevator area. Apparently it is a long line of poop."
At this point I am dying. I have not laughed so hard at work in a LONG time. Ron proceeded to pretend he was still talking to ES and ask me the consistency and how much there was. At this point I had to walk away to compose myself. Sometimes it's the little things in life...life people pooping in the hallway...that make my day!

It's about time!

When I was a VERY little kid (well young anyways), I wanted to be an ice cream truck driver. I told all of my relatives that I was going to do this when I got older. Now my intentions behind it were good. I remember thinking about how the ice cream truck driver brought smiles to the faces of all the kids in the neighborhood just by driving through, ringing that bell, and selling us cold treats on hot summer days. I wanted to make people smile like that.
My next aspiration started in 2nd grade. I remember it very clearly as I asked for a business suit for my school clothes that year. I wanted to be a news anchor. I like to talk, as I'm sure you have guessed and I like the news. I wanted to be the one who kept people up on the happenings. This dream lasted through most of elementary school. Then came the dream to be a teacher, a missionary to Haiti, and finally in my last years of high school and early part of college the dream was to be a psychologist. Now, if I look back and remember the time in high school never in a million years would I picture myself to be where I am now. I know that by the time 25 hit I pictured my life to be much much different.
The thing is, I am happy about it now. As I sit here today I am thankful that my dad talked me out of going to school in California. I am glad that I stopped taking college classes in which I wasn't putting my best effort forward. I am even proud to be a drug dealer at this point in time. Do I want to stay here forever? NO! Do I plan on going back to school? ABSOLUTELY! Do I know that as the years go on it will only get harder to go back? ABSOLUTELY! Do I feel at peace with where God has me for this time? Yes I do. Am I getting annoyed with myself for asking and answering so many questions here? INCREDIBLY!
I say these things because I know God has been at work in my life so much lately. I feel his presence and I think back to when I started this blog, on my 25th birthday. That was 9 months ago to the day and I feel more at peace and closer to my Savior then EVER before. For this time, He has called me to be content. My friend keeps telling me that she sees it as a transition period. God is moving and working and building up to some great BIG things and I can't wait to see what they are! I really can't. He is working in SO many areas of my future and the first steps were to get me right with him. That is a lifelong process!
I believe he wants that for each of us. I know wholeheartedly that God wants to see us succeed. Sometimes as life is moving we think we know exactly what success will look like for us...but God has a completely different picture. Sometimes, for some people, God gives them a dream from a very young age and and allows it to come into reality as soon as possible. That is not my story. My story has been through A LOT of obstacles. I have gone through some pretty rough times, but on the other side...years later...I am a better person. I love watching God at work in the lives of those around me. I love to see his promises fulfilled when we earnestly seek him. Although it is hard sometimes, when people ask me why I'm not a.) Married b.) a _______ (fill in profession) or C.) married :), I know the answer. The answer is God. He is preparing me for a future that I haven't even imagined. He is preparing you too. Please don't think I am being cliche. I know it's true. The Lord will bless those who earnestly seek Him.
Tomorrow is my first Sunday at my new church. I am so excited to get involved and start seeing what is in store there. I wanted to get involved and build some relationships before I moved up to "the cities" so it wasn't all new at once. I'll keep you posted!

Part 2

Ok so here is where I left off: At this point I have walked to the police car and gotten in the front seat. The policeman gets in the driver's side door and I am sure he is about to tell me that I am under arrest and that my sister will have to fend for herself on how to get home. The conversation that followed was much, much worse!
OA: "So, you're on your way back from Idaho huh?"
Me: "Yeah."
OA: "Is this your current address?" (as he looks at my expired license)
Me: "Yeah."
OA: "So, what is it you do for a living, there in MN?"
Me: "Well sir...I'm a drug dealer." Ok, ok...so I didn't use those words exactly but to be honest...that is what I do.
OA: "REALLY??? (said with a little too much glee) So, when you mix Oxycontin with water does it turn to solution right away?"
Me: "Um....I'm not sure."
OA: " Is it illegal in MN to crush up your prescription medications and inject them?"
Me: " Um...I'm not positive but I am pretty sure that it is."
OA: (said swiftly) "Well, it's not illegal in Montana."
Me: "Oh, well I'm really not sure. I'm a Pharmacy Technician not a Pharmacist."
OA: "So, what's the deal with Oxycontin? Why does it have such an effect on people and why do they crush them up?"
Me: "Well, I don't know a lot about the chemical make-up but it is an extended release tablet. You'd have to ask a pharmacist (which I am not) about that."
OA: "So like, what percentage of the actual tablet is drug and what do they use for filler?"
Me: "Um, well.....I'M REALLY NOT SURE...SINCE I AM NOT A PHARMACIST!"

Now the next 5 or 6 or 72 questions proceeded to ask about drugs. Which ones were the most often forged? How many patients I had on certain ones? What color certain ones were (ok that is an exaggeration, but you get my point). After this the officer proceeded to ask me:
OA: "Who is in the car with you?"
Me: " My sister and her two kids."
OA: "What are the kid's names?"
Me: "Isabelle and Elise."
OA: " What are their ages?"
Me: "6 and 4." (At this point I am getting slightly irritated and concerned)
OA: "Who is ** sister's name**?" (said as he is looking at the slightly expired registration)
Me: "That is my sister."
OA: "Who is ** brother in law's name**?"
Me: "That is my brother in law."
OA: "So what, does he think your family is weird? He didn't come to the reunion?"
Me: "Well actually (not that it is any of your business), they are going through a divorce right now so I think he wouldn't want to be around my extended family."
OA: "Oh, yeah I suppose. Ok, well I am just going to issue you a warning as I clocked you going a little fast (I mean my grandma's grandma's grandma drove faster then that in her model T). When was the last time you were pulled over?"
Me: " About 4 years ago." (I didn't tell him that that incident involved a breathalyzer...I thought that would be too much info :) )
OA: "So, what was the name of the company you worked for?"
Me: (At this point I am contemplating lying but figure why start now, maybe this man is going to do a trivia contest about all of the people he pulls over) "Fairview."
He then hands me my warning which has my name as Marie Marie Allen and my address as only the numbers involved. He then tells me that we are through and asks very pointedly" if he has handed me back ALL of my documents." I start to get out of the car but not before a million things rush through my head. Like maybe I should say, "Now that we have talked all about my job....let's talk about yours. Would you say that today is a slow day for you? Would you say that you prefer to pull over the people that drive slower than a turtle going through molasses, as opposed to the people going 30MPH above the speed limit? Are you planning on using what you have learned today about drugs to do anything illegal? Do you plan on visiting MN anytime soon?"
I intended on asking all of these things but instead got out of the car and slowly walked back to my sister's car. I knew a new interrogation would follow, and that one would be the worst. There is nothing more humbling then having to admit you are wrong to the 6 year old in the back seat who hangs on your every word.