Monday irritation: my crappy doctor and her substandard office staff

I can't STAND it when people don't call me back.

The day after I found out I was pregnant, I called my new ob/gyn to make an appointment and left a message. I never got a call back. The following Monday, I called again, left another message (somewhat nasty) and got a call back within an hour. I scheduled an appointment. The next day, I found out that I had a meeting at work that conflicted with the appointment, so I called back the next day and left a message that I needed to change the appointment. That was last Tuesday. A week later, still no call. So I finally just gave up, called my second choice, and scheduled my first round of appointments with her instead, and then called my old ob/gyn and got into a ripping fight with the nurse over who called and who didn't call. She claims that she left me a message after getting my second message (which she didn't...she called and got me on the phone), and claims that she never got my third message at all. We got into a pretty good argument on the phone, and it finally just ended up with me screaming at her that I was going to get another doctor and that SHE (the nurse) was the reason why I was doing that. Just what I need to start out a Monday morning. At any rate, I now have a new doctor, and THEY at least answer their phone. My bloodwork is scheduled for next Tuesday, and my first appointment/exam with the doctor is not scheduled until December 9. The disappointment though was that they told me over the phone that they don't do the first ultrasound until twenty weeks, which I guess is when I get to find out what sex my baby is. That was disappointing. I was kind of hoping I would get to see the baby earlier than that, but I guess that's something that I'll need to discuss with my new doctor. I'm just really disheartened right now in general. I wish I could just go back to my old doctor, but he's just too far away.

Our Halloween was quite nice. We got a lot of kids last night and they were just so cute. The most popular costume for boys was Spiderman and the most popular costume for girls was a fairy princess. They all looked SO cute. I think I ate more candy than I should have, that's for sure! I ate a lot of good food and drank a lot of water to counteract it, but I don't think it did very well. I feel kind of icky this morning and very tired, of course. We also went to Olive Garden for our anniversary lunch Saturday which was great.

Our cabinet project is going VERY well. We got two of the upper sections completely done yesterday. They just look like brand new cabinets. It's amazing what a good cleaning, a couple of coats of paint and new hardware will do to old cabinets. We already put our dishes away in one of them, but our teas and spices need to be put away in the others, and that's my task for today. P is going hunting this weekend, so I'm not sure when we will resume painting the next round, but it probably won't be until the weekend after this one.

Today is my last day of vacation. Waaah! It has just been entirely too short. I got a call from C a few minutes ago advising that she got a fire today and really wants me to go with her, so she's going to pick me up first thing in the morning to go out there. So much for easing back into work. Today I have plans to get things picked up, walk the dogs, schedule my insurance exam in December, and just kind of get things in order for the week. I also need to make food for tomorrow's day in the field, hit the gym, and in general, stay busy.

Here's the Sunday Brunch!

1) What candy are you passing out on Halloween night if you are staying home? We had a mix of Starbursts, Heath, Baby Ruth, Nestle, Twix, Tootsie Roll pops, Yorks, Junior Mints, etcetera. It was great.
2) What was your best Halloween costume? It is a tie between two. One year my mom made me a harem girl costume out of raspberry fuschia gauze and black velvet with a turquoise blue sequined cummerbund, and another year she made me a flapper girl costume out of navy satin and black fringe. They were GREAT. I'll have to see if I can find pictures sometime.
3) Are you doing anything on the night of Halloween if you are not staying home to pass out treats, and if so, what are you doing? Ha! We painted cabinets!
4) What is your favorite Halloween décor? (ie, witch, ghost, pumpkins) I love pumpkins. I just think they are so cute.
5) Do you carve jack o’lanterns? We haven't the last few years, but we plan to next year for sure. Everything will change when we have children.

Monday Madness:

1. Code your own website or use a template? I use a template. I'm lazy.
2. Use a digital camera or a film camera? If digital, do you print your own pictures, order them online, or send them out? I use a digital camera, and to date, I haven't printed any out. I need to get a photo quality printer someday.
3. Make your own cards or buy them at a card shop? I buy them at a card shop.
4. Draw your own graphics or get them from the internet? I get them from the internet.
5. Take showers or baths? Showers.
6. Make your own candles or buy them? And are they soy or paraffin? I buy them and they are paraffin.
7. Celebrate Halloween or not? I celebrate it.
8. Sleep in on weekends or get up early even if you don't have to go to work? I sleep in whenever I have the chance.
9. Correct other people's grammar, or just let it go? I let it go if we are talking, but if it is in writing, I correct if I can.

And get this, WHILE I was writing this entry, the stupid doctor's office called again. The nurse said that it was just really bugging her that I got so upset, so she checked her records and notes, and turns out that she did call the number that they had in their computer records for me that was incorrect, and she apologized. I asked her why she just didn't call the number back that I had left for her in my message like normal people do when they get messages, and she said that she was really sorry and that she had no excuse for it. At least I got an apology. She finally confessed the reason why she never returned my call from the Friday before...apparently their office manager just quit and they have a temp in their office retrieving messages or something. A perfectly plausible explanation! Had she just told me that from the beginning, I probably would have just said, "Oh, that's fine" and canceled my appointment with my new doctor. But no, she had to hem and haw about how she did return my calls, blah blah. She even admitted to me that she just assumed I was one of those people that she gets a lot of that call and say that she never returned the call and then call back after they check their office voice mail to say that they did get her message. I specifically told her though that I HAD checked my office voice mail prior to calling her just to make sure. But then she told me something else that really worried me. I went in a month ago for prepregnancy bloodwork to be done (a titer check for my vaccination levels, screen for toxoplasma which is the parasite you can get from cat feces) and they claim that the lab said I never showed up when I DID show up! I even had to explain to the technician what toxoplasma was! You would think that any normal doctor would follow up on it, but this one didn't. The nurse said they would call the lab and find out what happened, but basically any problem with my blood now that could have been found PRIOR to me conceiving is there and it's just too bad. This makes me angrier than the not-returning-calls issue!

*running away screaming*

I can't take anymore today!