nothing like drawing blood in the morning

In an effort to allay fears and to be medically proactive, I had a full lab workup this morning testing for, among other things, parasites and malaria. It's just kind of peace of mind, you know?

Also, I'm sure there's a bet somewhere among friends and/or family pertaining to me and chloroquine-resistant mosquitoes. So, consider the lab result a settled score.

These blood tests are routine to me now - I had them all done in December, too - but the poor nurse this morning hadn't prepared slides like this in a while. Her name tag indicated she was a temp (who knew they had nurse temps?!) and she seemed older to me. While only 6 slides were needed, she probably took 15 trying to get it smeared right.

She asked me about Africa in the way that well-meaning strangers ask me about Africa. It usually goes something like this:
"Oh, wow, Nigeria, huh?"
Yep.
"Did you like that?"
Yep.
"I'll bet that was real interesting."
Did you want me to pull out my slideshow and storybook or should I just let you get back to work?

Okay, I don't say that last part. But I think it.

After a similar exchange with the nurse, she said offhandedly, "You know, that's real neat. I wish my kids would do something like that. They just keep popping babies out. I'm like, 'Couldn't you find another hobby?'"

Nurses say the darnedest things.

P.S. Lab results due next week. I'll keep you posted on this nail-biter.