Well, so here I sit in my apartment at 11:00 on Monday morning, having been sent home early from work yet again. We're entering that "dead zone" of summertime, where everyone is on vacation or at camp or otherwise entertained, and so we just don't need as many nurses (there were three of us this morning with nothing to do). Throughout May and June, we were doing a ton of camp physicals (and, therefore, filling out a mess of forms), but we're finally (dare I say it?) tapering down now. Just in time for flu shot clinics to crank up, I know, but still.

The first thing I did with my unexpected free morning was stop by the Apple Store and pick up the laptop case I've been eyeing for my new laptop, which I will be buying in just four more weeks (cue excited squeal)! I'm picky about my laptop cases anyway, and since this is the one I'll be carrying at PA school, I had to be especially thorough in figuring out what I would need. I needed a case that was 'professional' enough to go on clinical rotations and the like, but also flexible enough for me to bike with it in all weather conditions. I needed organizer pockets and enough space for some papers and accessories along with the laptop, but not so much space that the bag would be bulky and heavy. I also had to solve the problem of a 'rattling' laptop (I'm getting the smallest laptop possible, the 13-inch, but almost nobody makes laptop bags with sleeves to snugly fit a computer that size, because they can double their markets if the bags can also fit 15-inch laptops). After much research, I decided to get a blue neoprene sleeve to snugly fit the laptop, and then this Brenthaven bag to slip it all into. The neoprene adds extra padding to fill up the 'space' in the bag's laptop sleeve (not to mention, gives me extra peace of mind in case I do something clumsy), so my shiny new toy won't rattle around inside the bag, and -- one of my favorite things about it -- the bag also converts into a (surprisingly comfortable) backpack for biking purposes. There's also plenty of room for extra stuff, even a textbook if I need it (though I'm told that I'll be doing virtually everything on my laptop, and that my textbooks will mostly stay at home for study purposes). The bag also has a lifetime guarantee and is environmentally friendly. So... I think I did pretty well.

I'm not sure how I'm going to spend the rest of the day... it's cloudy and threatening-looking outside, so I might just curl up with a book and some coffee. We'll see.

L Quote of the Week: I bought some (delicious) sorbet at the grocery store last night, made with blood oranges. L asked for a bite, and I extended the loaded spoon. She happily closed her mouth around it as I warned her, "It's blood orange, so it'll taste a little different than regular orange." She froze, mouth partly open, poised to spit, and asked me in garbled panic, "Does it have blood in it?!"

Yeah... Sweeney Todd Sorbet, that's what we eat around here...