Why I love the no-cell phone while driving law . . .

I lead a busy life and rarely have time to return phone calls. I used to make all my calls during my commute, but now CA has a new law restricting cell-phone use in cars. I really like the restrictions. My drive is a lot less pressure-filled and very peaceful. I get to listen to NPR without any interruptions, though I have to switch to my iPod when I'm driving through the mountainy things. I learned two important things today, see below:

In the news: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/23/dontask.donttell/
You can listen to the podcast on NPR, it was really good. Doesn't sound like much is going to come of it very soon, but at least it's being talked about. Plus, it sounds like both Dems and Reps are for change. Good job all you dopey congressfolks!

If you're trying to sell your house http://www.snopes.com/luck/stjoseph.asp this may be worth a shot.

We went out with some visiting Ann Arbor friends to a restaurant called the Melting Pot. It's a fondue restaurant, I think I may have lined my blood vessels with all sorts of debris in a single sitting. The dessert was divine, plus everyone knows that dark chocolate is good for you and may play a role in controlling blood pressure in pregnant women (http://www.medindia.net/news/Dark-Chocolate-Protects-Pregnant-Women-from-High-Blood-Pressure-Study-36037-1.htm). Good enough for me. Our Ann Arbor friends have a daughter Petra's age, the girls went to The Best School Ever together (see side bar). They were overjoyed to see each other. It was wonderful to watch them catch up last night, their two little heads pressed together whispering and laughing hysterically. Today the girls are together again, hitting the town with Julia's parents. It warms my heart to see Petra so happy, but then it also makes me a little sad that they're not together. My heart feels big and happy all the while it feels like it's breaking a little. Good-bye's are not my forte, I don't look forward to tonight when we send them off.

Signed house papers yesterday. There was one little glitch, Lars and I declined to sign a document that was a bit shady. Lars got it all taken care of today and now all of our documents are in. The closing is supposed to "record" today. Keys-in-hand? Not yet. I'll believe it when I see it. I'll let y'all know more when I do.

A beautiful work story: I saw a patient for her fist visit of the pregnancy today. She had 3-miscarriages in a row, then a healthy baby girl. Then this February she lost another pregnancy, and to make it more heart wrenching it was a twin pregnancy. Today I just skipped to the chase and put the Doppler right on her belly, we heard a steady heartbeat of 168 BPM. The patient started crying, her 5-year old daughter started crying, and I had myself a good cry, too.

Finally, congratulations to Cousin Rachel, my mommy hero. She's just announced she's halfway through her pregnancy with her 5th child. Her own pregnancy history is even more heartbreaking then my own so this is an absolutely wonderful thing. Yay for Rachel and Baby Cinco!