shopping for a couch is not as easy as i thought it would be.

i never realized how many different couches are out there. reclining or non-reclining, leather or microfiber, different sizes and shapes, firmer cushions or softer cushions. and I'm not even going to mention the different colors.

the first stop was Ikea, probably the funnest furniture store, but not the best place to look for a couch. i know the store has like Swedish roots or something. aren't Scandinavian people supposed to be tall? because all the couches were very short and compact. i think it's designed for little squishy apartments. and not so much for comfort.

so off i went to Raymour and Flanigan. once i managed to dodge an overly friendly saleswoman, i was free to roam around and flop down on couch after couch. we happened to be in the store on the day of an extended sale, but the prices weren't that exciting.

and another thing i forgot to calculate-Mr. FCG (for those of you who didn't like the moniker, you should know that he has no problem with it) is a good 10 inches taller than me. so i need to find a couch that will be comfortable for him as well. so we grabbed a relatively tall frum guy and asked him to try out the couches. and we did the same thing yesterday to a poor unsuspecting 17 year old boy in a small sidewalk furniture store.

but i may have found something. slowly but surely, I'm getting there. last final is in a week and a half. then i can focus more on wedding plans and less on renal failure.

summer vacation, here i come!

as part of my psychiatric nursing clinical experience, my class conducted a screening in the college for anxiety disorders. we set up in a large room in the student union, and put up signs for free pizza. that's the only way to attract the attention of the college students.

we had the participants fill out a questionnaire about stress levels and anxiety. then based on that we discussed the possibility of anxiety disorders, stress management skills, and if needed, introduced them to student counselor on campus, so they could make an appointment to speak with her. once they finished talking we gave them a ticket which was redeemable for a free slice of pizza. the counselor running the screening explained that she knows a lot of the students only come for the free pizza, but it's worth it if she gets at least five or ten students to talk about their anxiety.

i think some of the students thought they couldn't get the pizza if they didn't have anxiety issues. so they made some things up. which made it very hard to keep a straight face when talking to them:

me: so you checked off that sometimes you have spells or attacks when you get anxious or frightened?

student: yea. sometimes, I'll wake up in the middle of the night, and then i can't fall back asleep for a little bit

me: is there something that causes these attacks?

student: well if i think about something bad that happened to me, it makes me have trouble sleeping

me: did something happen to you?

student: ummm....well my friend was sick, like last year

me: and is she OK now?

student: oh yea she's fine...

(at this point the conversation kind of deteriorated, so i gave her the ticket for pizza)

or take another conversation that my classmate Stephanie had with a student:

student: sometimes i get really anxious, and then my heart starts beating fast and i sweat a lot

Stephanie: what happens to cause these attacks?

student: like when i see mice

Stephanie: well i think everyone gets a little anxious when they see mice

I'm not making fun of people with anxiety disorders. it just amazed at how stupid some of the stories seemed.

This post is dedicated to all bookkeepers and accountants who have spent the last few weeks working tirelessly (maybe some have been a little tired) over the past few weeks to feverishly meet the tax deadline. This morning when sister1 got into the car, I realized that I had not seen her in three days-and we live in the same house! It was nice to get reacquainted with her for a bit. And I know that everyone who knows someone who’s an accountant is looking forward to seeing their parents/siblings/spouses/children/friends again. Welcome home, we missed you!

Pesach.

the time we were freed from slavery.

and we're supposed to free ourselves from being slaves to our own desires.

what are you a slave to?

i know right now I'm enslaved to my computer. yep, once again I'm waiting for an exam grade. we were supposed to email our professor before Wednesday so that on Thursday when she logged into her computer she would email everyone back. unfortunately for me, with all the Shabbos and chag, my week feels like it's been Friday Shabbos Sunday, Friday Shabbos Shabbos Sunday, Friday Shabbos Sunday....so i totally forgot to email my professor before pesach, and now i might have to wait until Thursday to find out how i did on my exam. but I'm not too worried, since everyone else in my class got in the 90's-psych nursing is pretty easy. the thing to remember is that involuntary admission can only happen when the patient is a danger to themselves or others. knowing that can help answer almost every single question.

in the beginning of the semester our professor told us that we should go see a Broadway show called Next To Normal, a story of a dysfunctional family affected by one of its members living with bipolar disorder. i had plans to go see Lion King with my future mother in law and assorted sisters-in-law, but the show was sold out. so on Thursday morning she got tickets to see Next To Normal. this wasn't a feel-good musical, where you leave singing. it was an emotional drama, and by the end of the show almost everyone was crying. but i must say, it was very powerful. my semester working with mentally ill may have opened my eyes to gain a little bit of what people deal with when they live with a mental disorder. i found it poignant and beautiful at the same time. highly recommended.

but the part of Pesach that's always been my favorite, and that which I've mentioned in the past, is the family part. first days we had a cousin from the Midwest over, a tradition three years running, and we did the second seder in the nursing home, like we did two years ago. second day lunch was spent at grandparents with Uncle2 and various other cousins. for shabbos we had Aunt from Far Away with all her kids, and we went to visit Uncle1. for the last days, we will be eating and hobnobbing with various other relatives. i know that by the time the dishes are all put away and the chametz is brought back out (hopefully not too late on Tuesday night, i need to be in the hospital at 6:50am on Wednesday) we'll be more than sick of each other and only too happy to get back to school/work, but for now, we're enjoying the chag, the weather, and the family, in a country where we are free to do as we please.