A Tall Girl's Adventures in a Tiny World

I hold in my hand the statement of charges for last month's trip to the ER. Here is the breakdown of what my insurance paid: Ultrasound $2565 Emergency room $2646 Blood admin $458 Laboratory $1958 Laboratory $1813 Total payments $8640 A few things run through my mind as I examine this: (1) For this much money, couldn't they have provided me with a long enough bed, an actual blanket, and perhaps a pillow? And is that $2646 "emergency room" charge so high because of the 4 hours I waited in the triage area, for the 4 hours I waited for lab results (even though we all knew what the hell was actually happening)? Or is this charge simply for the remarkably bad bedside manner of the napoleonic attending doc, who couldn't even bother to look at me when asking about my bleeding vadge and who seemed pissed off at me for wasting his time by miscarrying a 10-week-old fetus on his lunch break? (2) Had I known the u/s was going to cost $2565, I would have asked her to check out...

Travel with me, for a moment, into my subconscious and take a listen to this fabulous dream I had the other night: I'm in a Presidential press conference, standing against the wall at the side of the room where all the really important people stand, right next to my BFF, Michelle Obama. Barack (and I can call him Barack now because my status as a press conference wall-stander indicates that we're tight) is standing at the podium talking about the latest jobless figures, the mounting Taliban threat in Pakistan, our over-dependence on foreign oil, yadda yadda yadda. A reporter stands up and asks "But Mr. President, what are you going to do about the pirates?" With that question, Barack pauses, looks down at his hands, then looks straight at me and says, "Pirates? Pirates?! That's it. I'm done." And he storms out of the room. But wait -- it gets better: A number of people race after him, shouting "Mr. President! Mr. President! Come back! We're...

My belly is too big, and I'm sick of it. So I bought running sneakers this weekend. Mind you, I haven't really run since I stopped playing basketball. That was 1995. There was a brief period just before I found out I was pregnant with Sweet Boy that I jogged often. It was a stressful time -- Chris had been in the hospital for almost a month, and I found the only way I could deal with it was to just go outside and run. I've had some stress in the last few months, one could say, so lately I've been feeling that same urge. To just be outside, pounding my angst out on the pavement. My BFF said to me, when I'd told her I bought running sneakers, "Um, did you forget that you hate to run?" It's true. While I'm running, I really hate it. My knees hurt, I cough like a chain smoker, I am keenly aware of all the flabby parts of my body. I don't know if you could even call it running; what I do is more like lumbering, trodding, ka-thumping. More elephant t...

[Alternate titles for this post include, Time to Toot My Own Horn, or Daily Affirmations With TallGirl] I've written before about how much I like my job (see here ) and how I fear for my job (see here ). And I've bitched and moaned about my job (see here ). This was an especially challenging week, filled with unclear project parameters, multiple do-overs, un-budging authors, and tight deadlines. But today I received some affirmation that, dammit, I'm good at what I do. An author team with whom I'm currently working sent me the acknowledgments page (finally) for their book. They said thank you to pretty much everyone they've ever worked with, and everyone who's ever touched their manuscript. But the final paragraph made me especially smiley -- and even a tiny bit teary: An enormous thank you to our editor, [TallGirl]. We’re suddenly at a loss for words to express our gratitude for all of your support throughout this project. Your calm and positive attitude kept u...

Indulge me with some celebrity crush time now, won't you? I'm not sure if it was his portrayal of the little asthmatic with the uncrushable Goonie spirit or the discovery that he and I share a birthday, but I've had a crush on Sean Astin since I was about 10 years old. My mother tried to quell my love by pointing out that even then, I already would have towered over him -- I believe he's a mere 5'5" tall -- but she was unsuccessful, and TigerBeat posters of my sweet Seany covered my bedroom walls. Nearly 20 years later, when I saw his Samwise Gamgee carry bff Frodo up that lava-spewing Mordor mountain, I dabbed a tear from my eye -- as my husband chided me about my "little boyfriend." I admit, we'd make a pretty giggle-inducing couple, me and Mr. Astin, but still, he's on my List of Five (more on that another time). Soooo...imagine my excitement that Sean Astin is now voicing a character on a new Playhouse Disney cartoon! This interview reki...

I was bitten by the travel bug early in life. And I love a good road trip much, much more than a trip by plane or train. Because my parents were both teachers, we spent most of every summer road-tripping around the country -- mostly camping because teachers don't get paid in the summer (at least they didn't 20 years ago), and camping is cheap. We had a giant green "maxi van" when I was in grade school that my mom rigged up like a camper. (This pic isn't the actual van, but it looked a lot like this.) She built a double bed for her and my dad in the far back, fashioned a little cot for me that fit over the two front seats, and my brother sacked out in the middle bench. There was room enough behind the far-back seat to fit a cooler and a giant box of nonperishables, and the camp stove and tarps and gear fit in boxes under the seats. My mom was super-crafty and innovative. And we saw many of these United States from the inside of Sam van Green. (This was before my si...

Time for some good news --- and a great photo of our buddy Musa, smiling and healthy! Ruth and Musa will be returning to Freetown today. Please keep Musa, Ruth, and the Kabba family in your prayers as he continues to heal and grow and flourish. He will be celebrating his 12th birthday in May --- hooray!