And when I had braces, I went to an orthodontisterologist...

So speaking of words that don’t exist – I was recently browsing through some of the message boards on WebMD. I like to keep up-to-date on the latest news about what sorts of things will eventually kill us all – this month, it looks like trans fats are the things to avoid like the plague. Thankfully, coffee and alcohol are now considered to be GOOD for us… (in moderation, of course…) The message boards on WebMD are some of the best places to bust that myth about how “there are no stupid questions.” Oh yeah, believe me, there ARE stupid questions. (Or, you could say it the way Rick likes to say it: “there are no stupid questions, just stupid people who ask questions.”)

One of the questions I happened to see the other day concerned a woman with some sort of persistent wrist pain. After listing all her symptoms, she wondered if perhaps she should go to see an “orthopediologister.” Say it with me, now: orthopediologister. It just rooooolls off the tongue, doesn’t it? Orthopediologister. I was confused when I first read that word, because I’d never heard of this particular medical specialty. But when I broke it down, I realized it was obviously some sort of a cross between an orthopedist, a cardiologist, and a general practitioner. It’s so obvious now…

I mean, really – was that person being serious, or was it supposed to be a joke? Do we use the word “orthopedist” so infrequently in everyday conversation that people actually forget how to pronounce it and spell it? I can’t really remember EVER using the word “orthopedist” in a conversation, yet I’m able to tell you that an orthopedist is a doctor who specializes in the skeletal system. Is that not common knowledge? Do I spend too much time watching “Scrubs”? (Well, yeah, I probably DO spend too much time watching Scrubs… it’s not MY fault that they’ve started showing reruns almost constantly on the comedy channel. But c’mon, it’s a funny show! Cut me some slack…) Oh well… I hope that woman was able to find a competent orthopediologister in her area… they can be hard to come by…

And in other unrelated news: I have to pack some time tonight or tomorrow morning for our trip to Chicago. Rick and I are doing the road trip thing and driving up, and then mom and dad will be flying up in a few days. I’m really looking forward to this trip – it’s been much too warm here lately. It was 78 degrees today. I am SO ready for a change in the weather. (On the positive side, however, since the milk steamer at Seattle’s Best was still broken today, I had no problem ordering an iced coffee this afternoon. I probably would’ve ordered an iced coffee even if the steamer had been functioning perfectly…)

I think we’re officially done with our Christmas shopping… I finished most of it last week, but we still had most of Rick’s family – four sisters, his mom and dad, and many nieces and nephews. No, wait – only one nephew. Poor guy. (I know how he feels – I was the only girl in my family…) I always buy the younger kids presents, and the older kids get checks, but we wanted to get all the adults gift cards – the problem, of course, is that everyone likes something different, and it’s a little inconvenient to run around to six or seven different stores to purchase gift cards. But one time when we were at a Randall’s grocery store, we noticed they had an entire display of gift cards – they have just about everything you can think of. Restaurants, department stores, Home Depot, sporting goods stores, Starbucks, cards for hotels and airlines, girly bath stores (I love girly bath stores… uh, you know, just in case anyone wanted to get ME a gift card…), Barnes and Noble… they even have gift cards for online sports sites like MLB.com. So it ended up being really easy to finish up our shopping. And I never ONCE went to the mall this year…

Well, speaking of Scrubs (three paragraphs ago), it’s on right now, and I need to walk on the treadmill for a while before I start packing. I’m sure I’ll soon post updates of our travels, so YES, you’ll all be subjected to my random pictures and rambling commentary. Something to look forward to, right? :)