Five things I am grateful for today:

1. I just got home from the gym. I am really grateful that I LIKE to work out. I was there, did my elliptical-ing, lifted weights, stretched, thought about going home and then thought, "hmm, I could watch 45 more minutes of Grey's Anatomy if I just sat down on this stationary bike". And so I did. My love of that show is downright embarrassing. I claim to dislike t.v. and then what? I go and fall head over heels for a stupid drama. And oh how I cannot get enough of it! Then I came home and ate 6 pieces of cheese. I think the workout made it taste even better.

2. I finally made that pear crisp this morning. We had it for breakfast with some divine chicken sausages, over medium eggs and sourdough toast. It turned out well, not crisp, but still good.

3. On Sunday I am getting two new patients! Yippee! Both on the east side where all of my clients are except for one.

4. Two days until one of the very best holidays of the year! Eee! More on the details of that later.

5. Patience. I am grateful for the patience I am attempting to cultivate as I go through a small dry spell of inspiration. I just don't want to do crafts. So yeah, grateful for patience.

Five things I am grateful for today:

1. I really dig my new job. Being a home health nurse rocks. My patients are appreciative of the visits even if my information goes in one ear and out the other. All six of them are nice people. Yes, I have six now! (well, five officially but six this week) Started my sixth patient today, in fact! And with only six patients that leaves me doing about 3-4 visits a day--that leaves lots of time for for being creative and enjoying the rest of my life. Part time, I do love you so. Soon I will hopefully have 5-6 visits a day, that is my goal to best support myself. But for now, I dig all of this free time.

2. Tonight I am making slow roasted tomatoes and a pear crisp. Yes, I am referring to the recipe I found the other day on The Pioneer Woman Cooks' blog.

3. Today when I got to my patient's house and realized that I had run out of gloves, just in time for a dressing change with MRSA positive wound, I was lucky as heck that he had a whole box of them there waiting for me. PHEW! I would have had to drive back to the office (6 miles) just for gloves.

4. My dad had his last (of two) IV treatments today for the clinical trial he is in. Now we wait for three weeks and he has a PET scan. If he has made improvements since his last scan, then they continue. I am grateful that he seems to be less sick this time--so far--than last time. Please, please, please let this be a peaceful-non-sick night for him.

5. This morning Eric and I took a long walk together (with Roofrauff, of course) on the Rillito path. It was super windy and kind of cold but otherwise wonderful.

Five things I am grateful for today:

1. The warm windy afternoon. I ate lunch outside in complete comfort.

2. The blog Kind Over Matter.

3. Our fridge is now mostly empty of leftovers which means I get to start all over and cook new things!

4. E and I ate breakfast and dinner together.

5. Tonight I begin the third week of The Artist's Way. Yippee!

A few things I am grateful for right now:

Sweet, creamy coconut thai spiced tea with sweetened condensed milk. The pear crisp recipe and pictures posted on The Pioneer Woman Cook's blog. Eric's grilled goodness. A bike ride at sunset. My warm winter jammies, I can't believe how soft they are, mmm. The chance to be alone in this perfect quiet house--Eric out having fun and RR sleeping on the couch, head on a pillow.

I have been feeling really introverted yesterday and today--maybe it's the weather--the cooling off of this town. But I am totally satisfied to stay home and be quiet. Satisfied, no, relishing it really.

It should be time to start the third week of The Artist's Way but I am a bit behind. I think I can get more out of week two if I let myself take more time. It really is a rich week as far as areas to explore. So that is what I will do now--go write and play with these exercises. Then maybe I will start week three tomorrow. Maybe.

Wishing goodness out into the world from my warm little nest.

Five things I am grateful for today:

1. Mmm, great massage from my massage therapist, Maggie.

2. E, Maggie and I had dinner together--I made a meaty red sauce with ground chicken, red peppers, fire roasted tomatoes, and lots of other good things in the crockpot, it cooked for 11 hours and was delicious. Also we had caesar salad with homemade croutons, garlic bread, and a goat cheese, marcona almond and honey appetizer. Mmm hmm. Now I am sleepy from all the eating.

3. E and I went for a bike ride this afternoon. The temperature was PERFECT. And the air smelled good.

4. I am so grateful for what a great communicator Eric is. He has such a kind heart and loves me just the way I need to be loved--with a lot of patience, and willingness to compromise. He is home tonight and we are spending most of tomorrow together too. I love that.

5. Wendy is settling in to Seattle without any problems so far. I am so glad, moving is such a pain in the rear and she is making it look like no big deal. I hope everything falls into place for her and she loves her job, makes great friends and is really happy there.

Heck Yeah

What an awesome night! Despite my initial misgivings I went to the Tucson Raw Vegan Potluck and had a really great time. I met people involved in the health part of health care, ate awesome food, saw my friend Sande, found out about NIA classes in Tucson, and, and, and it was just rad. I am feeling super happy and extra alive.

I haven't taken a NIA class in forever...at least 3 years! I am so excited to dance again! Tuesday night I will go try it out.

I brought nori rolls with avocado, grated carrot, sliced cucumber and Bragg's Liquid Aminos. YUM! They turned out delicious! Very messy to eat, but delicious.

This was my artist's date for the week. Every week in The Artist's Way you are supposed to go on a date with yourself--do something you don't usually do, get outside your comfort zone, with the hope of it inspiring you. This definitely inspired me--to eat healthy, to do yoga, to dance more, to make more of an effort to meet a few more people who are more like me here in Tucson. They exist! Who knew? Just when I thought there were only a tiny handful! I guess it's hard to meet like-minded, healthy people when I mostly have hung out at home and in hospitals. And no one seemed judgmental at all of the fact that I love cooked, meaty foods too. They were more interested in connecting with me about what we do have in common, than shunning me for what we don't. Lovely. Yes, it was.

Five things I am grateful for today:

1. Two good patient visits. Plus I get a new patient tomorrow; another daily dressing change. Yay! That will be six patients!

2. Homemade croutons on our huge caesar salad for dinner. Thanks Wendy for telling me how to make them a couple months ago. And we had sloppy joes--which were for some strange reason totally divine.

3. That lovely lady who cleaned our house a few weeks ago is coming back! November 13th, yippee!

4. This morning E and I had a mini-sort-of dance party. He called me a stork. It was lots of fun. I am smiling just thinking about it.

5. Mmm, it feels good to be this sleepy knowing I get to go to bed now. I love sleeping. Night night.

Five things I am grateful for today:

I love today.

1. Two home visits, both went well. I felt happy driving to their houses, happy to be there, and happy driving home.

2. Had lunch with Eric--quiche and salad. And wow, have I made a discovery! Annie's Naturals Woodstock salad dressing. I LOVE IT! It's a sort of tomato-y/tahini-y wonderful discovery. I am so excited about it.

3. Last night I stayed up doing crafts til around 2:30. E came home from work around 11:45 and looked at bikes online by my side. It was great. I made 12 new magnets that resemble: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=23651917 I made them to sell at the Tucson Medical Center craft fair--I am officially registering for it again this year. This will be my third year. It's Friday, December 4th, if anyone wants to come! It's not really my genre--but it's fun seeing people I used to work with, and I have done pretty well both years. So even though my crafts don't "fit in" exactly, it's still worth my time and effort. I also worked on cutting fabric for hot packs and for eye pillows. The hot packs are the big seller at TMC, much more than my cards or other crafts. Looking around my craft studio right now, it is a complete mess--for the first time! It is in full use, cutting mats and paper cutter on the rug with scraps and scissors everywhere and my desk is covered with works in progress. I love it.

4. Tonight is supposed to be craft night at my house but no one can make it so I am heading over to Regina's to have dinner with her and her two super-cute sons and do crafts with her. Three hours til craft night! I can't wait!

5. Mom and Dad are going on vacation to Sonoma County and San Francisco in a couple of weeks. Good for them! I am so glad Dad feels good enough to go on vacation, that is RAD.

Five (plus one) things I am grateful for today:

1. Wendy and I just had a great conversation--about all sorts of things. I am so happy that our friendship is growing, just like we are. Warm fuzzies in her direction.

2. My sweet blue schwinn took me to the gym this morning for a nice little workout.

3. Wow, that quiche so ROCKS. Breakfast quiche-y goodness for me.

4. I haven't seen my friend Toni in a long while, he has been in Italy for the past month and before that we just didn't make time. Tonight we are walking (with RR) at sunset and then going to eat Chinese food. I am so excited!

5. I have two visits for work today, and I have the strangest feeling--usually when I work there is a sense of dread, or at least of distraction. But these two appointments just feel like another good part of a good day. I think this means I am doing the right thing.

6. I know I say this a lot, but I am SO enjoying The Artist's Way. I am getting so much out of doing the exercises and the writing. I really feel like I am growing creatively thanks to this.

deliciousness sans pictures

My camera battery just gave out and I can't find the charger so no pictures of the goodness happening in my kitchen right now. But here is a description and I wish you could smell it!

Quiche with spelt crust, innards: spinach, onion, mushroom, chevre, sun dried tomatoes, parmesan, eggs and milk, salt and pepper.

Chili: kidney beans, peppers, onion, corn, tomatoes, half a zucchini, chili powder, salt, pepper.

Tomorrow I am planning on making corn sticks with my new/thrifted cast iron corn stick pan. Here is a recipe in case you aren't familiar with corn sticks: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Cheddar-Jalapeno-Corn-Sticks-104644 Will mine have chiles and cheddar? Most definitely! I made the chili today because it is always better the second day, so why not wait til tomorrow to eat it? Good thing I have the quiche or I wouldn't be able to restrain myself.

I also made hard cooked eggs: http://www.incredibleegg.org/recipes-and-more/basic-hardcooked-eggs

I was going to make my mama's banana bread recipe but lost steam and am planting myself down to read my book now. First I might eat a slice of quiche and some salad.

Five things I am grateful for today:

1. I have four visits today for work. Three are done, and they went smoothly. I expect the fourth will too.

2. After my third visit I decided to climb into bed and zone out for awhile. Not exactly nap, just lie there and be happy. It was lovely. Roofrauff napped under the bed to keep me company.

3. It is windy and the clouds are neat today.

4. After work I am taking RR for a long walk on the Rillito path. I wish I spoke dog language so I could tell him how excited I am for some quality time together. I did the best I could with English.

5. As I was leaving my new patient's house he said, "I enjoyed your visit. And I don't enjoy most people."

As many things as I need to write until I start feeling better

Okay, right now this is officially difficult and therefore even more necessary.

1. My two new patients seem very nice, and live within 2 miles of each other. I did both of their start of cares in about 2 hours. That cut a full hour off from my first earlier this week. Sweet. One patient is a sweet old Jewish guy and the other is a tiny old lady who must be at least 98% sweetness. How can so much sweetness be in something so small? I wonder that about Roofrauff a lot too.

2. I accidentally scheduled my appointments too close together and didn't have time to make lunch. So E came to the rescue and made it for me. I got home and he had made me a sandwich with cute lil apple slices on the side and a glass of ice water. I scarfed it down while he sat with me, and he even washed my plate. What a sweetheart.

Ok, I am starting to feel better already.

3. I got a massage this evening from Maggie, my magically great massage therapist.

4. I mostly don't have to work for the next two days.

5. I talked to my mom for a few minutes today.

6. I think this job might teach me some really important things. And even though I really hate growing, I might be better for it, eventually.

7. Tonight there is nothing left to do but relax.

8. The house feels done to me. I don't look around and think, "I really need to work on THAT" anymore. There are a few little things--the front and back porches specifically--but mostly I just relax here now. Eventually I might want to do more things to make it even more homey, but for now, it feels great.

9. Ceiling garden.

10. My cousin Jenni and my friend Ana Piranha are pregnant--they both want babies more than anything in the world. I love it when my loved ones get what they want.

11. I am so happy my car doesn't need any major work.

12. Tomorrow begins my second week of The Artist's Way. I am enjoying it so far though a lot of it doesn't really apply to me. I am digging writing my morning pages every day. I am also liking my focus on becoming more creative.

13. I had a few extra minutes before my massage and was starving. I stopped by the coop for a snack and realized I didn't have my wallet. So I scrounged around my car for change and found 50 cents. For that I got about 15 tamari almonds which did the trick.

14. Two out of my four patients today seemed to really appreciate the care I gave them.

15. This studio is so beautiful--it is the perfect environment to relax and create in. How wonderful that Eric cleaned it out for me to use and helped me set up this space. I love it here. As I look around I see not only all of my rad supplies but also lots of gifts that my friends have given me and made for me over the years. That makes it feel even better.

16. Dad has no symptoms of cancer. He is living life to the fullest and as normally as he can. I am proud of him for choosing to focus on the positive and moving forward with his living.

17. I have been listening to Hipster Daddy-o and the Hand Grenades in my car. It is so fun because I get to drive around and listen to Eric sing. The shows always end too quickly for me--so this feels like a big treat. To listen to Swamp Thang over and over, ahh I love it!

18. Okay, time to put on my jammies and party like it's Saturday night--Hello Book, it's me, Alexandra. Wanna snuggle? Zzzz.

Feeling much better now. So much to be grateful for and happy about.

Some things I am grateful for today:

There are a lot of things to be grateful for today.

1. Right now, on our stove, dinner is simmering. A soup of sorts with potstickers, sweet onions, garlic, red and yellow bell peppers, summer squash, shitake mushrooms, and secret spices/sauces. It smells awesome.

2. Today I went to see what is going on with my car after it made a really weird noise. I had a really good experience with Desert Toyota's service department--they spoke to me respectfully, completed the estimate in the predetermined amount of time, told me that I really don't need much done besides the scheduled maintenance, served me drinks while I sat and waited, explained things to me in words I understand, and really seemed to care. It was strange. And wonderful.

3. In the office today I explained (in no lack of detail) the story plus how I felt about a conflict I was having with a patient who is noncompliant and complaining about my wound care. (I am doing his wound care STRAIGHT out of the doctor's orders and his wound is healing beautifully, despite all odds.) My supervisor laughed really hard and said, "did you really say that? Good for you! That is exactly how you should have handled it." Sigh of relief, my "take no crap" attitude gets to stay--as if I would know how to tone it down anyway...

4. I stopped by the house between appointments and had lunch with Eric. That has to be one of my favorite perks of this job.

5. Tomorrow I get two new patients. That means that I will be officially up and running next week.

6. It is 8pm, I am in my jammies, and am going to write in my journal and do crafts all evening.

7. See #6. Wow, that is so rad.

8. I talked to my parents and they are doing really well.

9. I secretly installed one of those "as seen on t.v." led lights so that E can read in bed without holding his flashlight. I can't wait to show him! When he gets home I am going to have him lie in bed and hold his book, then I am going to turn out the lights and turn it on. Hee hee hee! Yes, he really should have a lamp, but with the current room set up that just won't work right now. This is a great temporary solution.

10. I love my ceiling garden, every time I look up it makes me happy.

Goodness

Tonight is craft night--and this is what I made to share: spicy spinach pizzas from Trader Joes with homemade hummus, thinly sliced yellow and red peppers, sun dried tomatoes, minced parsley and green onions. They turned out delicious. I baked the pizzas til they were a bit crisp then I let them cool and put the rest of the toppings on. Served cool. Way cool. Hee hee.

Tonight Sande came over to do crafties with me. We ate the above feastling, plus crunchy roasted chickpeas, a pear, and tea and cookies for dessert. Here she is working on her vision board, it looks really neat.

For my craft I made these magnets. By the way, today I stopped by Popcycle to give them a scrap of astroturf to display my barrettes with--I happened to have 15 Day of the Dead magnets with me in the car and brought them in to show off, they took all 15 of them! Yippee! (x6)

Five things I am grateful for today:

1. My supervisor looked over my start of care paperwork for my new patient and had nothing but wonderful things to say--I mean really wonderful, supportive, appreciative things to say. She even called the director in to tell her about the high quality of my work. I am still feeling glowy.

2. Grocery shopping like a fiend today, yeow! Our house is filled with fresh goodness!

3. Spent the morning with Eric, always a good thing.

4. Roofrauff, Mead, Lucy and I walked the neighborhood loop tonight.

5. This morning I wrote for awhile, an assignment for The Artist's Way. I realized that no one in my life has stepped on my creativity--no one has discouraged me in strong enough way that I remember. However, I do remember all of the encouragement that I have had throughout my life in terms of pushing me to express my creativity. I had to write about three people who have helped support me and help me grow creatively. It took several pages to describe just how supportive my mom has been throughout my life of my creative efforts. It was nice to be with her in this way, even though she is in Oregon and I am here--I felt so close to her, so grateful for everything that she has given to me, and it is so very much. Thanks Mama.

Good night, World.

An extra five

1. E and I went on a date to go see Zombieland. It was hilarious. I love dates. I love Eric.

2. I went to my NVC practice group tonight for the first time since last spring. It was great to see the facilitator and to be reminded of all that. I hope NVC is one day my default way of communicating.

3. I saw my second home health patient today--I thought I would have a hard time knowing what to teach her, but it came naturally. That felt really satisfying, like I am exactly where I should be. We talked about nutrition, meds, and kegel's exercises. She was really receptive.

4. Tomorrow I am meeting my third patient.

5. E and I are going on a late night date to IHOP right now.

Five things I am grateful for today:

1. Yesterday was a super wonderful day. I got to spend a ton of quality time with Eric. We went to an ethnic food festival (Tucson Meet Yourself) or as we like to call it, Tucson Eat Yourself and ate all sorts of yummy things. We met up with Mead and her boyfriend Phoenix down there. Then we went to Home Depot for a new sink and also got a plant for the ceiling garden. We came home and finally hung the ceiling garden--pictures forthcoming. Mead came over to trade a hair cut for a massage last night. So we hung around, cut hair, chatted, back-rubbed and ate a yummy dinner: whole grain pasta with sauteed red and yellow peppers, sun dried tomatoes, carmelized onions, garlic, some sort of special chicken sausage that Eric had found for us, chicken broth and light havarti over the top. It turned out great, Eric, Mead and I all agreed!

2. Speaking of great I am really happy about my new haircut! It is a bob with the layer-y front I got at aveda left intact. Thanks Meadz!

3. When I went to sleep last night (too early thanks t0 some benadryl) Eric climbed in and kept me company til I could no longer keep my eyes open (about 10 minutes probably) but it felt just like being a kid and getting tucked in. Fell asleep feeling very loved and nurtured.

4. Today we get to spend the day together again (our weekend). Yippee!

5. I found a great space saving idea for the kitchen. We have this awkward space next to our oven it's about 14 inches across, by 24 inches deep, maybe deeper. But you can't easily reach the back of it. So I found this crate of Eric's that soda probably lived in originally that is about 6 inches high by 12 inches across by 24 inches deep. I decided to store my baking ingredients in there, in mason jars. It is so convenient and now those ingredients have a nice home.

A good day

I am done. I no longer work at the hospital. And I really think it is going to stick this time. I feel like the whole world is offering itself to me. I am full of inspiration and hope.

Today was such a hard day--hard and rewarding. I had a patient actively dying (with cancer) with all of his family around him. He was totally lucid and able to really take in all of the loving things they had to say to him. I was lucky enough to have another nurse on the unit who used to work hospice full time who said, "hey I will watch your other patients, you can stay in the room if you want to." Wow, how generous. So I had the opportunity to really be with the family and answer all of their questions as best I could and get them the things they needed. They had so many questions and needed so many things, that it worked well for me to sit near the door of the room and chart so I could help them. They were really afraid and didn't know what to expect/what was normal.

I mostly just felt lucky to be of service to them--until the end of the shift. Towards the end the family decided to let each person say their private goodbye--and I left for this part to go check on my other two patients. I had to come back to finish my charting and give him a med while one of his daughters was saying goodbye. She said, "thank you for teaching me to stand tall, Daddy." And he responded, "you always have, and I am so proud of you." So I headed out of the room as quickly as I could to go hide in the med room and cry and cry. I also cried saying goodbye to the patient and to his family. And all the way home. And right now. It's strange I guess to be grateful for this--but I am. Grateful to witness so much love and the intimacy of this functional family. And grateful for my own. And how often is my job truly meaningful? How often do I feel that I have truly eased another's burden in some way? Every single member of the family that was there hugged me goodbye at the end of my shift. This was a deep and rewarding experience.

I have Sunday and Monday off. (One home visit on Monday actually and it is near our house.) Tomorrow I am starting the twelve week program in the book The Artist's Way. Though this morning I started doing the "morning pages" (starting the day by writing three pages). I feel serious in my dedication to doing this program, or at least starting it and seeing if I enjoy it. I mean, if it's not inspiring then I probably won't stick with it. But right now, from reading the introduction and basic tools sections, I feel pretty optimistic. So like I said, I did my first "morning pages" writing this morning and it felt really good. All day I felt just a little more in touch with myself. I decided a few days ago as a gift to myself to celebrate my hospital time being over, I would do this program.

I feel whole and healthy and filled with hope.

Five things I am grateful for today:

1. Our house is clean. Not kinda clean, but really, really clean! Our friend hires this great woman to come clean her house and I got her number and today she came and cleaned our house. It is GLORIOUS. E and I are both so happy, we just walk around marveling.

2. This afternoon we sat on the futon on the front porch and relaxed. The temperature was perfect. First we ate pizza and salad out there, then E took a nap while I did paperwork for work. It was sweet as heck.

3. I got a package in the mail from my mama today! Four kinds of tea from her trip to Vancouver, BC. Market spice, chocolate mint rooiboos, peach apricot honeybush and decaf Irish breakfast. All four are decaf as I have this weird caffeine intolerance. Thanks Mom!

4. An hour and a half massage today.

5. E has a Hipster Daddy-o show tonight so we are just hanging around the house chilling, my favorite (his too, I think...) Then at 11 he will rock. I am trying to stay awake!

Five things I am grateful for today:

Mead and I went to dinner at Govinda's. I am grateful for my kindred spirits, spread out as you are. And I am grateful for the salad dressing that they make in the restaurant. Wow, yum!

My second home health patient lives close to my house and seems like a really neat lady.

I spray painted my thrifted metal card catalog boxes a nice brown with hammered finish today. Here are two pics. I like 'em much better now that they aren't that ugly neon green with purple drawers (that's how they were when I bought them.) Considering that lack of lighting these pictures are okay, but they don't do the true colors, or neat texture, justice. Oh well. Rest assured, they look pretty rad.

It's so much cooler out now. Summer is over and the delicious fall weather is beginning.

Right now I am going to climb into bed and read my book. Good night Moon.

Five things I am grateful for today:

1. I just got 9 hours of sleep.

2. Yesterday my six hours of work passed without stress.

3. I am grateful for the kindness of my work friends and their sadness over my leaving. It is really nice to spend time at a job, put your heart into it and leave having made a few deep connections. I will miss those people! Last night after work my friend Celeste invited me over for dinner. She made us fettucine alfredo with mushrooms and peas, we sat outside at her place in the foothills, looking at the dark mountains and laughing up a storm, as well as sharing deeper heavy things. Then we sat on her couch and talked and talked. It was a night of goodness.

4. Today at 9:30 I am going with my supervisor to open a new case, a case that will be mine!

5. Tonight is craft night.

In other news I am reading The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. I am thinking of reading a chapter each week and doing the exercises as if I were in a formal class. It would take 12 weeks. It would be nice to have a focused project in my studio, though it is also craft fair season too...Just thinking about it today.

magnets and agenda

Here are the magnets that I have been working on. Sorry about the poor picture quality! By the time I got done making them I was too tired to care about the pictures.

I bought this agenda for work to keep my home health appointments straight. Of course, I couldn't resist decorating it! The second layer of matte medium is still drying. The tiny clothes pin is to mark my place so I don't have to flip around. I love this little project because it is totally self indulgent with some of my favorite images and the best of my affirmation stickers.

Five plus two things I am grateful for today:

1. That it's almost over. Bring on the jammies, flossing, brushing and zzz's.

2. Today one of the clerks came in on her day off because she knew today was my last full day and she brought me cookies from a local bakery. Three big cookies to celebrate. How very kind. It feels good to be recognized and cared about. Every once in a while I meet someone and they inspire me in a profound way--Catie is one of those people. The way she asks questions of those around her makes them blossom--she really cares about people's details, and watching them respond to her makes me want to be a better listener, less self-involved, and to slow down a little. She is neat, I hope we get to be friends in real life.

3. I think I am going to have a home health patient within 5 minutes of my house! (If all these patients work out, then I will have a total of 4.) It turns out that we have around 6 full time nurses working for my agency--the Tucson office has been open 20 years, and is still run by the lady who opened it. But it is a surprisingly small team.

4. Today at work I think I actually might have made a small difference. I taught my patient in depth about the importance of protecting herself from cooties because she is on high dose steroid therapy. No one had taught her about this in a way that reached her--and I watched the light bulb go off as I gave her ideas of how she could involve her 10 year old son in helping to protect Mama/the importance of VERY frequent hand washing, and not taking care of sick people, even if they are loved ones this season. It was pretty cool.

5. I talked to Mom and Dad on the phone tonight, they both sounded really good.

6. Wendy got the job in Seattle!

7. I am done setting an alarm. I am done with 12 hour shifts. DONE.

Some gratitude

Another quick post as I am leaving for work in a few minutes. Today is my last full day of working in the hospital. I split up my other shift into two halves--Wednesday and Saturday afternoon.

1. Today is the last full day I work at the hospital.

2. I have leftover sweet potato tacos for lunch.

3. Yesterday I left 20 magnets at Bohemia. I took pictures before I took them though, I will post those soon!

4. The sun is coming up and the clouds are moving fast.

5. Last night E, RR and I went for a walk at sunset. We noticed all the little things--mailboxes, pretty plants, bats, rabbits and so much more. The sunset was postcard beautiful.

6. We stayed up having fun--I was sealing my magnets with matte medium and Eric was trying to find me the perfect bag for home health. After looking at lots of catalogs he settled on one that he already has that he uses for riding his motorcycle. How sweet!

7. Did I mention that today is the last full day I work in the hospital??? Well, yes, it is.

8. It sounds like I am getting two more patients who are on the way to my first patient's house. It will make a nice route.

Okay, off to do this day. Must remember to enjoy it.

Five things I am grateful for today:

This will be quick because I need to leave for work.

1. Last night I went to Eric's show and it rocked. They were so awesome. My favorite part was watching him having so much fun doing something he feels so passionately about and seeing all these other people who get it. The crowd was super into it. It was a punk show so I guess I was the only one standing there with a big smile on my face. But everyone else seemed really happy in their angsty way.

2. I put my etsy shop back up yesterday--not completely but as much as I could without seeing what I still have at home (I was at work). While I was doing this (during a break) a couple of coworkers saw and ordered paintings, not through the site but directly. They seemed to really get my love of anatomical hearts with wings and bird feet/nests/etc.

3. I got home from work last night and E had made me a frozen pizza. All I had to do was sit down and be served. Then he wrapped up the leftovers for my work lunch today.

4. Yesterday's work pace was very slow and even.

5. Tonight E is grilling dinner for me! I love it when he has lots of days off! It's so sweet having him around plus his cooking is AMAZING! For lunch yesterday at work I had leftover chicken, corn and zucchini from the day before and it was just as delicious as when we first ate it.

Some more things I am grateful for today

Okay I am being super negative and have come here to scrape up the things I am grateful for, once again.

1. All the dust under the bed is gone.

2. I have a nightstand with a lamp on it. Also I have a path out of bed that doesn't include climbing over Eric.

3. I am going to go read my Art Journals and Creative Healing book until I fall asleep.

4. Eric grilled teriyaki chicken and zucchini plus made his delicious corn today. And there is enough leftover for me to take it to work tomorrow. Yum!

5. Roofrauff is SO cute. He is sleeping on the couch.

6. For the last long stint I have been wearing black and olive green scrubs to work because those are the only colors we are allowed to wear. Now that I am starting up in home health I got out all my cute scrubs and man, they are SO cute. I would buy them all over again!

7. Wendy had her 2nd interview with the Seattle Science Museum today. They are serious about her it seems, YAY!

8. My glorious new colored pencils arrived by mail today.

9. My mom sent E and I a Halloween package today with really cute paper napkins with witches, gummi booger candy and a light to go in our jack-o-lantern. E promptly ate almost all the boogers. HAHAHA, that is so fun to write.

10. I had my first independent home health visit today. No problems.

11. My parents are in Vancouver BC on vacation for a few days. I talked to them this morning while they were driving up there, they seemed really excited. Excitement, good for them!

12. I watered all of the plants for my ceiling garden today. They aren't hung up in here yet, but still it was fun taking care of them.

13. I think that my part of the major work on the house is coming to an end. Very soon I am going to stop the cleaning and organizing projects and start the maintaining phase. We have completed almost all of the jobs that I wanted to get done quickly. In truth Eric has very little left as well--just organizing the living room and the second craft room closet, I think. After this it will be projects to make things great, not just good enough. Projects like painting the craft room, regrouting the tile by my craft room door, and whatever else E wants to work on together. I thought it would never end, but now that we have hit this point, I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Yay for us!

14. Only one more week of working in the hospital.

15. I love my friends and family.

Alright, feeling much better.

Five things I am grateful for today:

1. I just woke up from 11 hours of sleep. I meant to do art last night but instead I got into bed at 7:45 and called it good. It felt very luxurious.

2. Only four more hospital shifts until I have completed my contract with St. Joe's.

3. E and I went grocery shopping last night and have lots of good things to eat.

4. My family is doing pretty well.

5. I am feeling that once I no longer work at the hospital I will hopefully be able to feel more like I am living the life that I intended to. It is easier to be kind when I am not stressed out. I am more artistically inspired when I am not stressed. I will have more time to walk Roofrauff, do yoga, ride my bike and do art because I will be working less hours each day. I am hoping that I can make my life simpler. I may have said this before but it feels more true all the time.

First day

Today I went for my first home health visit and am feeling really happy about all of it. I am being trained by a nurse named Sharon, she is in her 60's and has been a nurse forever. In this case that means that she knows what she's doing while still feels very inspired to help people as much as she can. She was very optimistic that I have found my home in healthcare and feels that it is her job to welcome me, train me really well, and make sure that I want to stay. Wow, how NICE! In the 12 years that she has worked there they have only had one Spanish speaking RN and she left awhile back. She said that they have to treat me like the commodity that I am--I thought that I was surely dreaming.

So for today's training we drove to a trailer park on the west side of town to open a case--a case that will be MINE! My first home health patient! Eeee! He has a wound that is not healing--his whole calf that involves applying xeroform, covering it kerlex, and then ace bandage. Apart from that it is my job to make sure that he complies with his non-weight bearing status and doesn't smoke. (smoking inhibits blood flow=prevents good healing) So I will be doing this dressing change daily (except while I finish up with St. Joe's/or want a day off). Also every patient has a full assessment and vitals taken at each visit. Tomorrow I go see him by myself!

Speaking of St. Joe's, I spoke with my manager yesterday and she said that there needs to be a 3 month period between a seasonal contract ending and a per diem contract beginning. Looks like I won't be working in the hospital at all anymore. I thought I would feel disappointed but all I feel is liberated. Time to start something new. I have high hopes for this new job and the new life that will hopefully come with it. It does not seem like a high stress position at all. It seems complicated and really challenging, but not stressful. Filled with gladness.