Abstract Random

A list of disconnected news for you today. I'm up to my eyeballs in work these days. I've got a ridiculously long to do list that seems to be getting longer by the hour. The next few weeks are going to be bruuutal.

In happier news, Arun got his cast of yesterday. His hand is still far from healed but the surgeon was happy with how it was progressing and decided it could come off. He has to be careful with it and keep his pinky and ring fingers taped together. He's also got some exercises he needs to do a few times a day but I think life will be a lot easier for him now.

We had a wonderful dinner with Craig and Jessica at Fraser Cafe the other day. I had a super tasty tomato and goat cheese salad to start and had sea scallops with lentils, parsnip puree and seasonal vegetables as my main and it was delicious. I highly recommend checking it out.

I'm feeling ready to start thinking about getting a kitten. We seriously considered getting a dog but I don't think I'm ready for that much structure/responsibility so a cat it will be. I've been researching breeders (we're going to get another cornish rex because they're much easier on our allergies) and have been in touch with a couple of them who seem quite reputable. They're both having litters in March so if all goes according to plan we'll have a new furry family member in July.

Arun fell while skiing Friday night and broke a bone in his left hand and hurt his foot, thereby dashing his hopes of competing in the Vancouver Olympics and landing us in the emergency room. We got to the hospital at about 10:40 on Friday night and spent the whole night waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting some more.

The ER was pretty much my definition of hell. It was cold, dirty, uncomfortable and full of sick people, weirdos and cops. There were two televisions on either side of the waiting room on two different channels, both with the volume way up. One was on A&E, which was playing a marathon some obnoxious cop drama so there was plenty of shouting and shooting. The other one was on CTV Newsnet, which was replaying the same loop every half hour.

By 6 in the morning I couldn't take it anymore. I was seriously about to lose it. Arun, being the best and most understanding husband ever, encouraged me to go home and get some rest since I'd have to go out and get groceries etc. Saturday day. I felt terrible for leaving but it really was for the best. Arun got seen soon after I left, got x-rays and a cast and got home shortly after 9.

I realize his break wasn't an emergency/life or death situation but I find it ridiculous that he was in emergency for 10 hours. We learned after the fact that the hospital only has one doctor in emergency after midnight. WTF?!

Needless to say, the rest of the weekend was extremely quiet. We caught up on some sleep and watched season 4 of Dexter. While Arun was skiing on Friday I had gone to see A Single Man, it was heartbreaking but visually stunning and well worth seeing.

Arun's still pretty sore. We'll have a better idea of how his hand is healing in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, send your bone-healing positive thoughts his way.

Arun got Thomas Keller's new cookbook, Ad Hoc at Home, for christmas and we've been wanting to make something from it ever since. Even though it's supposed to be full of "recipes that you can make any or every day," most of them are far from what I would consider weeknight recipes.

We decided to try his recipe for short ribs, which you have to make at least a day in advance. So we spent our Saturday night making the red wine reduction sauce and cooking the short ribs. The plan was originally to grab a quick dinner at Imperial before heading to Hartman's for groceries but we ran into some neighbours on our way out and they kind of invited themselves along to dinner with us, which was fine but delayed things somewhat. We didn't get started until 10 and were up cooking till 1:30.

We spent about another hour on Sunday making celeriac with caramelized onions to go along with the short ribs. It all turned out to be well worth the wait, though. Everything was deee-licious.

We also had a nice brunch with friends on Sunday. Back in the fall we established a standing date for brunch with friends on the third Sunday of each month. We try a different place each month, this time we were at Fresco on Elgin. It's a great way to get everyone together more regularly, I really enjoy it—and not just because of the eggs benedict.

I realize eating like this isn't congruous with my plan of getting in kick ass shape for my birthday. I have, however, been working out regularly the past couple of weeks and will be upping my workout intensity this week (and every week from here on out). Long cardio sessions, negative reps and intervals, here I come.

Hello and happy 2010! (Do you say "two thousand and ten"/"two thousand ten" or "twenty-ten"? I'm thinking twenty-ten is the way to go.)

Anyway. After two lovely weeks of sloth it's back to the usual work routine for me this week. The hardest part has been readjusting my sleep schedule from my ideal stay-up-till-1, sleep-till-9 back to the necessary 11:30 bedtime and 7:00 wake up. I hate waking up early.

I'm not one for new year's resolutions (I usually save that sort of thing for my birthday) but in advance of my rapidly approaching 35th birthday, I have resolved to rededicate myself to the gym in an effort to feel good and be super fit for then instead of feeling old and icky. I've got 11 weeks and it's not like I'm completely out of shape so it's doable. And it's nice to have a goal to focus on instead of working out just enough so I can eat without guilt, which is my usual motivation.

Once the city gives the okay for the general population to get the H1N1 vaccine, I'll be lining up to get the shot. I've done lots of reading up on it and for me the benefits of getting vaccinated greatly outweigh the infinitesimal risk. Here's why I'm getting vaccinated:

I'm a woman in my 30s and H1N1 is disproportionately affecting young women. Of the people admitted to a Canadian intensive care unit between April and August, the mean age was 32. 17% of them died and almost two-thirds of those who died were female.

I know what it's like to be really sick. I caught pneumonia four years ago and it knocked me off my feet for weeks. I never want to feel that way again.

I've had seasonal flu shots for the past few years and I've never had any side effects. This vaccine is made using the same process as the normal flu vaccine. I have a general distrust of Big Pharma, not to mention Health Canada's drug approval process, but the fear-mongering about this vaccine isn't very well founded from what I can tell. The chances of having a serious adverse reaction is one in a million. Compare that to the potential for 10 million people sick, 100,000 people in hospital, and 10,000 people dead and the numbers, for me, speak for themselves.

But it goes a lot further than just self-interest. Yesterday Milan posted a link to an excellent article that argued it's selfish to refuse the H1N1 vaccine. I have a husband who is prone to respiratory infections, an elderly father, a mother with a compromised immune system, a baby nephew, a friend who is pregnant, and a coworker whose partner has cancer and I don't want to put any of them at risk. By getting vaccinated I'm helping to protect not only them but all my friends and family—and the broader community in general.

Then there's the strain this is going to put on our already struggling health care system. People hospitalized with a preventable flu could overwhelm our health care system and unnecessarily use up the limited resources that should be used to treat others. There are only 110 intensive care beds in Eastern Ontario and intensive care wards routinely run at or near capacity. In the past two months over a quarter (27%) of the people in Ottawa who have caught H1N1 have ended up in the hospital. If that trend continues, there will be bed and equipment and staff shortages in no time and the consequences will be tragic.

I'm not going to tell you what to do but I hope you'll seriously consider these things before you make your decision.

It was a weekend full of dinners out. Friday we went to B-Side for the second week in a row because it's in our 'hood and because we had been in the mood for sharing an assortment of small plates (also: they have cava by the glass). Saturday we went to the Black Cat for our official anniversary dinner and yesterday we went to Absinthe with family (because Allium was closed). Both were fantastic.

Today I feel like I really need to go to the gym but, of course, forgot my workout clothes at home. Tomorrow.

In self-inflicted injury news, my finger's healing well. It still hurts when I accidentally knock it on something, which I do at least a couple of times a day. But I graduated from gauze to regular bandages late last week and it looks and feels a wee bit better every day. And so long as the bit of fingernail I lopped off grows back, I won't be left with a permanent reminder of my stupidity. Fingers crossed.

You know when else I should pay more attention? When I'm wielding a large, sharp kitchen knife. I cut a chunk off the tip of my left index finger last night while chopping scallions.

Arun looked at the bit of finger on the cutting board and immediately suggested we go to emergency. I insisted on waiting for a bit and after about half an hour I admitted it was pretty bad and called Telehealth Ontario to see whether or not they thought I needed to go to emergency. They said yes.

So we went to emergency and the nurse took a look at it and said they couldn't do anything for it (the way I cut it isn't stitchable). When I told her that Telehealth said I should come in and have it looked at she rolled her eyes and said they tell everyone to go to emergency. She then just taped a big piece of gauze to my finger and told me it's the kind of cut that's going to bleed and bleed and take a long time to scab so until then I should keep it elevated and apply some pressure to it.

After taking another look at it this morning, I think I'll be walking around with a heavily bandaged finger for a long time. I just hope my fingernail grows back properly (did I mention I lost part of my nail?). It's gross. And it really hurts. In any case, I'll be staying home today to nurse it and listen to Maximo Park.