Jesserka and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Today being Thursday, the children's hospital held Grand Rounds at 8am. I wanted to get to the hospital before 7AM to see my 3 patients and write their notes. Which meant I had to catch the 6:30AM shuttle to the new hospital, which meant leaving the apartment at 6:10 to catch the bus to take me to the shuttle. (We lowly med students don't get real parking at the hospital. If we drive, we have to park in a lot that's far away, then take a 20min shuttle to the hospital... so I take the bus to the old hospital, then take a shuttle to the new hospital.)

Anyway. I woke up ass-early and got ready. I decided to wear a floral patterned red skirt to commemorate the warmth and the fact that it's almost Friday. I ate my yogurt and ran out the door. I caught a bus and got to the shuttle stop at just about 6:29...... and it wasn't there. I figured I must've missed it. So I made the best of the situation and went to Starbucks and had myself a soy misto while I waited for the 7AM shuttle. I figured being 30min late wasn't going to cramp my style too bad. But then... the 7AM shuttle never showed. 7:05 came and went, 7:10 came and went. At this point I didn't know if the shuttles weren't running at all, so I decided to take the ridiculously roundabout bus route to the hospital. By the time I got there, it was nearly 8 and I had to miss Grand Rounds so that I could see my patients. It was a full hour and a half since I'd left home. To think: I could have slept that much longer!

[The work day was fine, fun times on Infectious Diseases. Lots of sick kids getting better, and grateful parents. Being a pediatrician is going to rock my socks.]

Fast forward to 5:30, which is the departure time for the last shuttle going back to the old hospital. We weren't done with rounds yet, so I knew I wasn't going to make it home on the shuttle; I was going to have to call poor Eric to pick me up. Which he generously agreed to do (insert my grateful rambling about how great he is whereas I'm a terrible lazy whiney wifey)--but he was just on his way home, so it would be at least a half hour before he could get me. Great, I thought, I'll get a snack and sit outside in the beautiful new outdoor picnic space, reading the Times on the Blackberry. So I got myself a piece of carrot cake and sat at a shaded table on the terrace. I put my legs up on the ledge beside me and read about Obama's Guantanamo speech. As I sat there, there was a bee that was obsessed with my skirt. It thought I was a flower, which, I mean, who can blame it?

I've never been the girl who screams and waves her arms around as she runs around in circles all because of a damn bee.

So I sat there and let the bee buzz around as I read, and it went away--must've figured out my skirt isn't yummy and pollenacious. Then, a couple minutes later, I looked up and saw a big spider crawling around on my bag, so I leaned forward and brushed it away. As I leaned forward I felt something tickling my back, just under the waist of my skirt. I scratched at it... and felt something sharp. A sting, to be exact. It kinda hurt but not really, and I was like. Did I just get stung by that bee? So I rubbed my back and realized there was definitely something foreign back there! I was totally revolted by the idea that the bee had flown up my skirt. I flapped the bottom of my skirt around, and looked down. A dead bee plopped onto the ground below the chair I was sitting in. Gross.

I felt funny, then glad that I was at a hospital in case I had an anaphylactic reaction. I took a few deep breaths and monitored myself for symptoms. None. I went to the bathroom and examined the wound for a stinger. None (but there was a nice red wheal & flare, just like in the textbooks). I called Eric to whine and laugh at myself about how sorry I felt for myself.

And then he came to pick me up, and we came home. I've given myself an excuse not to exercise today. We ordered pizza. :) Hooray.

So really it wasn't such a terrible horrible nogood verybad day, but it could have been a lot better! I'm driving, from now on. And from now on, picnic = pants. Yessireebob.