Hobbit-ish Potpurri: On the Road

Good Afternoon Humble Readers...

I hope that you are all enjoying your weekend.  As I write this we are in the midst of a major thunder storm with hail, but when you read it, I will be on the road with my Beloved.  We will be driving the most beautiful highway in the world (in my hobbit-ish opinion), through the mountains, heading toward my Mom's fabulous cooking and real summertime weather.

*****
I'm hoping that we get to stop a few times on the drive.  There are some great places to visit between here and K-town.  I'm especially hoping to have some pictures of the Enchanted Forest for you when we return.

*****
Thank you to everyone who gave great suggestions on how to deal with my 24 hour urine collection.  I ended up doing a variation on Kristen's cooler idea (as the only cooler we own is a big one and would have been far more conspicuous.  I ended up taking a tote bag with several containers, ziploc bags, and a frozen water bottle in a plastic bag.  I also sort of limited my water intake, so I only ended up having to pee once while I was at work.  I made up all for the lack of H2O when I got home, and ended up peeing all night.

*****
There were a couple of very funny moments that came out of the whole pee collecting situation.  First, yesterday at 4:00am I got up to pee and went to find the collection jugs.  My Beloved, in an effort to be thorough when he was cleaning up the kitchen, saw a plain paper bag on the counter.  He didn't look inside.  He just threw it out.  As in the dumpster behind our condo building.  So, at 4:00am, I'm having what can only be called a meltdown because I can't find the jugs or the bag (with the lab requisition in it) and I am visualizing having to put off our trip just so I could pee in the damn jugs that I would have to replace.  Keep in mind I wasn't really awake, and I was fully over the edge.  My poor Beloved, had to get dressed and go dumpster diving in the middle of the night.  Have I mentioned how much I love him?  The other funny moment was a dream that I had this morning... in my dream I had overslept, and was rushing to get my sample to the lab.  I ended up getting lost in the hospital, and I was running around for hours (and was very late for work) carrying a bunch of vials of pee, asking people to help me find the lab.  Goofy!

*****
We had a scary moment at work the other day.  A little boy, about 3 years old, was in the kids section, and collapsed.  I don't know exactly what happened, but we ended up needing to call the paramedics.  The little boy was unconscious for a moment or two, but then when he came to he was screaming and crying.  The EMTs were pretty sure that he was going to be okay, but took him to the hospital for a full exam.  It was a stressful half hour, that's for sure.