Weirdness.

Dear Diary,

I'm so sorry I've been neglecting you, Diary. It's just that this has been a couple of weird weeks, what with badgers, new jobs, illness , my mom-in-law was in town, and I've been testing sponge shoes. Meanwhile, here's some news for you: blood in the pee is no big deal.

13. *Cough* First, and certainly not least, Sweet Baboo brought a Boston bug back. And, I caught it from him. As bugs are wont to do, after a few days of crudeness it snuggled down in my chest and set up house. I've spent the week racked with deep, productive coughing spasms. Oh, well. At least it's a productive cough, right? It's kept me from running. In fact, it's kept me from doing much of anything other than sitting and sulking.

12. New job. So, Monday was the big Orientation day for the new job. Since I didn't want to be one of the sixty new employees who was remembered for her deep, wet coughs, I took some cough medicine. I also took some Dayquil. I didn't think about doubling up on the dextromethorphan because they were two different formulations. Turns out that didn't matter - I spend most of the afternoon robo-tripping without realizing what I was doing. I kept shaking my head, trying to clear it. But, I wasn't coughing. In face, I wasn't doing much of anything other than desperately trying to stay awake. Three cans of Mt. Dew and an energy drink later, I was still trying to stay awake AND I had to pee.


11. New NEW job. You'll recall, Diary, that last time I mentioned that another job had opened up at the New Job place. This one is full time, rather than the PRN for which I'd been hired, and it's in the child and adolescent unit. So, I did mention to New Boss that I was wanting to get more hours, since Old Job had told me they just couldn't have me part time, and were trying to replace me. Unhappily, I might add. They aren't happy I'm leaving.

So, New Boss asked if I would be interested in the position. I said, sure, I'd love to apply for it. So I am.

Then I found out that she might have been leaning pretty hard on folks to hire me.

10. Um. The vacating social worker told me all this and then assured me, Don't worry. Nobody here will hold it against you - it has nothing to do with you.
Uh, Gee, thanks, no. It has nothing to do with me, I thought. She might as well have added, It's just something you can feel painfully self-conscious about for the next few months.

9. Gee. So, I struggled a bit with this. I hate the idea that I'm forced upon people. Meanwhile, I'm trying desperately to learn this job, quickly.

8. Moths. We've got a swarm of them apparently, migrating through town. I just killed one while writing this. With my hand. Ew.

7. Critters. Chloe the Wonderdog erupted one night. She usually settles down, but this time she didn't. We let her out into the yard, which again, usually settles her down, but this time it didn't. I went back to bed and left the Jonster to deal with it, and then he tapped on our bedroom door a few minutes later, Mom? There's a badger in the back yard.

Baboo and I were all, did he just say Badger?

We got up to investigate, and sure enough, there was a badger cornered in the back yard. Luckily Chloe is bred to hold things at bay - she doesn't attack. I've heard they're pretty mean when cornered. We all went to bed and this one apparently didn't trust the situation, and dug his/her way out of the corner. I don't know if it's a resident. I know that we were ware that something had been digging holes near our compost bin, and we'd assumed it was rabbits, or a mole. You have to understand that from the perspective of a girl bred to the suburbs, this kind of wildlife is pretty exotic to me.

It is not a honey badger. But it apparently doesn't give a shit.

6. Sooooo, the take away message here is that if you choose to make your back yard a certified wildlife habitat, you don't necessarily get to choose the wildlife. Badgers are protected as a fur-bearing animal, and can only be hunted or trapped with permits. DreadPirate assures me that it's only after my compost bin. We'll see. I don't mind it getting in a turf war over compost with Larry the Turtle, but if my fish start disappearing, well, then it's game on, bitch.

5. Endings. I started packing up my office at old job. One of my hall mates stopped by, Oh, Misty, it's so sad...you're taking yourself out of your office.
She's right. I make an effort to have a warm, cozy office. Not only is it where I spend up to 8 hours a day, but it's a cozy oasis in the midst of a stark, clinical environment. I figure that the people in my office are not having the best day of their lives. I want to help put them at ease. So, I have lamps instead of the harsh overhead lighting, tapestry, and chotchkes scattered about. It's a very social-worky, therapist-y sort of office. I try to keep the marathon medals to a minimum.

4. Blind melon kitty is in heat again. Now she's pathetic, and annoying. But she's still amazing: she's chasing the moths all over the house. She can't see them, but of course she can hear them, fluttering against the window, or wall, or light, or whatever. She's caught a couple of them, too.

3. Shoes. Sweet Baboo bought me a pair of Hokas, and I've been wearing them for some medium distance runs (6-8 miles). They're as good as a shoe with 2-inches of padding should be. There was no miracle. I suspect all the hype is cognitive dissonance from people who have spent $170 on a pair of shoes and don't want to be disappointed. Sweet Baboo, however, had to take his back - they actually hurt him. They did something with his running stride that was not beneficial and caused pain. I'll be wearing mine to the Ship Rock marathon this weekend up in Navajo country.

2. So, back to New Job, and the people that are going ti intervi me. I'm mulling over ways to charm the hell out of these people. Cash? Muffins? My winning smile?
One of the nurses asked me if I was going to be around for a while, and I said yes, I do tend to prefer to nest. It's true. I would have stayed at the Old Job in definitely until offered something much better, and that doesn't happen too often in my line of work.

Well, tell us something about yourself then.

How to respond without alienating? How about, "I run about a dozen marathons per year," or, "I have a blog that some people read," or, "I have three master degrees?" No, no, no.

Finally, I just said, I have a badger.

1. I ran the Shiprock marathon today. I got leg cramps for the first time, which slowed me considerably. I'm also recovering from bronchitis. And, it was HOT. But the real treat was after I finished and sat down to pee and realized I was peeing blood. I went looking for a doctor, and met a PA, who assured me it was not big deal. So there's your trivia facto for the day.
...