Award Shows
In most award shows, they present an award known as the life time achievement awards. This award should be known as the "congratulations, your not dead yet" award. But this has been taken to a whole new level: The TVLand Awards. This show is honoring classic TV shows and the people who were in them. It's amazing that some of these people can breath for themselves. This is the "congratulations, We are really surprised that you aren't dead" awards.

The Joys of Science
Who says scientists are wasting time?

Lifestyle Changes
I went grocery shopping with my mom today and it was a pain. Because of her condition she has to watch her sodium intake. It is hard to find products that aren't loaded with salt. Light and fat free products are no good because they replace the fat with salt. And forget about soups. Campell's makes a cream of mushroom that has 30% less sodium than the original. That's true and it sounds good, but for a little perspective is needed. The original has between 800 and 900 mg of salt. That's almost a full gram. The reduced sodium soup contains about 430 mg. That's just terrible. Can foods, most cheeses, salad dressing and even bread have high sodium. It is hard to find stuff to correspond to her new diet. And don't think a place like Whole Foods offers anything better. They are just as bad. Their only saving grace is that their products are lower in chemical preservatives. But this is made up for by increasing the amount of salt to improve shelf life. But we are finding alternatives, even though they are few and far between.

On a good note, Mom did return to work for a few hours today. She went in for the Republican caucus meeting and left after that. It was more of a visit than a return to work. I think it did her good, plus it boosted moral at the Senate office seeing her.

On a strange note, we received a copy of the Wall Street Journal today. This is bizarre since no one subscribes to it. I was told to throw it out. So I was taking it out of the plastic bag when it fell open to reveal a story about implanted defibrilators. This story said that these devises are responsible for extending life for up to three years. But the one she has extends life even longer than that. The other weird thing about this article is it talks about a drug that she was given while in the hospital. She had a bad reaction to it and its use was discontinued. According to the study, this drug does absolutely nothing to prolong life and in fact it may have a detrimental effect. So its a good thing that she reacted against it.

Drink of the Week
For those of you who are trying to use up Chambord, try this one.

Raspberry Smash

1 oz. Absolut Vodka
0.5 oz. Chambord
2 oz. Pineapple Juice

1. Fill mixing glass with ice
2. Add Absolut, Chambord and pineapple juice
3. Shake
4. Strain into a rocks glass filled with ice

What a mess
Today, I did my best not to fall asleep at work, and I made it. Scott had to make a pick up at 5:30 this morning and left his alarm on, which went off 15 minutes later. That was not pleasant.

When I got home from work, I had to walk my mom around the neighborhood. She is starting to do better; still very high spirits. But the fun continued later on. She washed her hair and required help drying and styling it. I was the lucky one for this job. Currently her hair looks like it should be back in the 1950s. That's what she gets for asking me to put her hair in hot rollers. How was I suppose to how to use those things?! Hopefully this gets me out of the job for awhile.

And by the way, I'm jealous that Andy is getting a Mini before I do.

I'm back
After a week of not blogging, I have returned. Mom is now home and moving about. She has been walking around the court. Today was a very busy day for her. After going to the doctors, she went to the store, had a friend visit, went to the mall and voted in the Maryland primary election today. This is the most activity she has had in a while. She goes back for a check up next week, then the following week she meets with the transplant team to get on "the List". I don't want to scare anyone with this. It is only a precaution just in case the medications do not work. We are being very optimistic about everything.

My week has been very busy and its only Tuesday. I had to take 2 three hour long tests in the last two days. I'm a bit burned out. But life is starting to get back to normal. I'm almost sleeping through the entire night. This is quite an endeavor since G. Scott has been on call the last few nights and he talks really loudly on the phone in the middle of the night. The stress levels from my mom's illness are starting to subside, allowing for better sleep. But things really won't be close to normal until after April 17. That's when I retake the bloody MCAT. So things are slowly returning to normal, or as close as to normal as I or my family can get.

Drink of the Week
I proudly bring back this feature. This weeks drink is

Banana Moo
1.5 oz. Banana Liqueur
1.5 oz. Cream

1. Fill mixing glass with ice.
2. Add banana liqueur and cream.
3. Shake
4. Strain into a rocks glass filled with ice.