Exhibit E

It's Friday; and when it's Friday in the Nichols' household you can count on a few things: 1) The laundry basket is spilling over with dirty clothes 2) The fridge has somehow gobbled up the groceries I just bought and 3) The week's long worth of driving hither and thither has taken its toll on our handy-dandy Honda accord and the gas gauge needle has predictably tipped to the big, giant "E" on the dashboard. Thus, in my endeavors to be a really great wife, I typically spend my Fridays attending to the aforementioned list of "to do's" (i.e. laundry, groceries, and gas).

I was working on the latter portion of my list this morning when an older gentleman pulled up behind me at the gas pump. Initially, I thought he was going to pull around me to the empty space right in front of mine. Certainly, he wouldn't just park his car and wait for my gas pump when there were four other vacant slots at the Fred Meyer gas station. And then, I remembered I have to lower my expectations of people because he was doing just that. He wanted my gas pump! And he made it clear that he wasn't going anywhere! There he sat at pump #10, staring at me. Waiting. Waiting some more...perfectly content. I felt so much pressure to hurry! And then I thought to myself, "No! I was here first, old man! Get your own gas pump!"

Do you ever think that some people were placed on the earth just to try our patience? You know that movie The Truman Show? Like that! It's like the Lord is really just seeing how we will handle ourselves in certain situations, kind of like those stories of beggars or bums who are blown off by ordinary people like you and me, and then they end up being very prestigious and/or important individuals. Do we lose our temper? Roll our eyes? Curse under our breath? Shake our fists...or certain fingers? Guilty. Hmmm--The Rachel Show. A scary thought.

P.S. I thought of some of my favorite pet peeves (an oxymoron, by the way):

1) When almost-empty shampoo or soap bottles fall over in the shower...over and over again. Hate that.

2) When I'm trying to take x-rays on patients, and between "takes" they are flipping through a magazine. I have to "interrupt" them in order to finish my job. I had one lady the other day that wouldn't look up for me to place the film until she was done reading the sentence she was on. Hey, lady! Did you know you're at the DENTIST?! Where we take X-RAYS! The ONLY part of the appointment where we need your complete cooperation and participation?! Sheesh. Until next time ;)