Beyond This Door...

Turkey Day was alright for me, leaning on the side of crappy - Angel was rather sick, and The Bear developed a weird rash literally overnight. Once we made the rounds as far as family goes, we decided that they should both be taken to the ER to find out what's wrong. M'love was in quite a bit of pain, and hadn't had the best of days the day before. Teddy, meanwhile, seemed almost completely oblivious to the fact that he now looked like a slice of pizza, since it didn't seem to be an itchy type of rash.

After we checked in, we made our way to the waiting room. Clearfield Hospital isn't really known for it's speedy processing and treatment (sorry, but it's true), so I anticipated a rather lengthy and boring wait with a squirming 11 month old to keep me busy. Not only was the wait not terribly long, but when Angel went to the bathroom, I overheard one of the most bizzare and hillarious sentences ever come out of the mouth of a woman in the ER waiting room...

"They tried to stick a tree in my butt, see if it would grow."

Yeah. This chick actually said those exact words. No lie. Mortified and slowly descending into maddening laughter, I turned my head to see who'd said it. It came from the general direction of a rather... shall we say, choice... family, and the only two female vocal candidates were MUCH bigger than me, so I quickly turned my head back around and tried to stifle my growing case of the giggles.

When Angel came back, I headed out to the truck. For starters, I needed to get outside and smoke a cigarette. And two, I wanted to write those exact words down as quickly as possible so I wouldn't forget them when I wrote this, the inevitable entry on the moment. Once I got into the cab, I lit my cigarette, rolled down the window a bit, and opened the glove box to pull out a Micky-Dee's napkin. As I was writing, an ambulance arrived (oddly without sirens or lights, so I never noticed it til it was there) and a patient was being unloaded by the crew. The exchange between this crotchety old gent and the female EMT at the end of his gurney proved to be an unexpected bonus...

"I'll walk in there my own damned self, thank you..."

"No, you will stay right where you are."

Just like a mom would say to her unruly kid. Of course, it was one of those 'you had to be there' moments, but rare is it that anyone would get a double dose of Karma comedy in one night, let alone at the Clearfield Hospital ER... So of course I wrote that down, too, just as soon as I finished making sure I had my notes on the previous shot of teh funnay all squared up. Finishing my cigarette, I hurried back through the blustery Central Pennsylvania chill and into the ER waiting room, eager to share the whole experience with Angel.

Sometimes, even the not-so-good moments in life have a funny way of giving you something to smile about. Angel and Teddy are both fine, though Angel has bronchitis, which I know first-hand bites, and bites hard. Teddy's rash was just a reaction to a common antibiotic, and he should be fine in the next day or two.

One thing I do know for sure right now: You should never burn the candle at all three ends, especially on Black Friday...

UPDATE: Whoops. Forgot to re-mention: Don't forget that Wil will be on NUMB3RS tonight. Check your local listings. IGN has an article (with corresponding Fark Thread) featuring a quick 'interview' with Wil, who quickly and decisively dispells any rumors of a TV comeback, given his latest string of guest shots. No, our boss is happy being a writer, and we're all glad for it.

Not that it hurts to see teh Wheaton on teh Tube every so often, mind you...