Five things and some crafties

1. Stayed up late sitting on the porch watching rain and lightning with Eric last night.

2. Slept very well.

3. Glorious date with my baby.

4. About to get crafty. A few new ideas in my brain.

5. Rain and lightning outside the window right now.

New frame collages

Spray painting bottle caps for a project you will see very soon!

Five things I am grateful for today

1. Last night I had a great night at work. Only three patients for over half of the shift, my favorite tech, another friend working closely, lots of hard laughter and good food. I couldn't really ask for more.

2. Today E and I went on a date to Sauce. I love that place!

3. In the mail I received several packages from my Etsy shopping spree. My koi stamp, my anatomical heart stamp, my rad wrist cuff, and two packages of adhesive pearls...I mean about 9 packages of adhesive pearls in two envelopes. YIPPEE!

4. Hung out with Meadz. Lots of fun with her.

5. Hope.

Five things I am grateful for today

1. Slept all day. I love you, Sleep.

2. Playing with RR.

3. About to start crafting with no end in sight.

4. Staying in my jammies all day long.

5. Some very fun purchases on Etsy:

koi stamp

anatomical heart stamp

funky chick stamp

human skeleton stamp

alphabet rolling stamp

recycled paper album

canyon maple rubber stamp

blooming dill rubber stamp

hummingbird rubber stamp

rose rubber stamp

bird tracks rubber stamp

I think this would be considered an all out shopping spree! I am grateful for my job that supports my love of crafts.

Five (x2) things I am grateful for today

1. I am grateful that when a situation grew intolerable at work last night that I had Compassionate Communication coming out of my mouth even when I was most furious. Good for me.

2. The chance to hold hands with a tiny old lady having a panic attack at 3:30am and hear about how much she loves hummingbirds.

3. Mostly my work environment is very supportive--specifically the charge nurses, the techs, and our manager.

4. Eric gave me a Skor bar. I love those.

5. White nectarines.

6.Snuggling with my E-Frey.

7.Cute Roofrauff face.

8.One of my favorite techs will be my partner in crime again tonight.

9.Looks like a storm is brewing!

10.I have tomorrow and Tuesday off.

Five things I am grateful for today

1. Check out this most awesome wrist cuff I bought on Etsy this afternoon! See, all summer (and most of the spring and fall) I wear a skirt and a tank top which is all fine and good until I go for a walk. Where to put my key/id/money for unforeseen adventures/yard sales/gelato? Well, this is the perfect solution! I love it!

2. This morning was 2 for 1 massages at the massage school. Yep, two massages for 30 bucks! E and I had a relaxing date.

3. Then we went to lunch at Sweet Tomatoes. Salad and um, more salad please! Yippee!

4. Our house is gloriously clean.

5. Today I sent in my transcript requests for applying to grad school. It's become more real.

Five things I am grateful for today

1. I have made the decision to apply to the Master's program that I mentioned a little while back. I found the syllabi for the courses and it was almost painful not to get to start reading the books and articles and doing the writing assignments right away. I want to learn about these things! All about them! It feels awesome to have made a decision. And now to begin the application process.

2. Last night at work I started to get in over my head and asked for some help from my coworkers--they swooped right in and really saved me. I didn't have to ask them to do specific things they just figured it out and helped. It took so much of the stress away.

3. I just ate a really good sandwich: a poppyseed roll with roasted red peppers, that funky spread (but without roasted red peppers and with pecans as well as cashews), goat cheese, avocado, baby lettuces, and basil. YUM.

4. Yesterday I spent awhile drawing. It was wonderful. I learn so much every time I sit down and really focus. Drawing class tonight!

5. I feel hopeful about my future.

Five (x2) things I am grateful for today

1. New haircut! I lucked out at Supercuts. If you need a good haircut, go see Lorraine at Swan and Grant. Apart from doing a great job she was really fun to talk to and seems to really like her job.

2. A good (though short) workout

3. A nice chat with Mead after going to the gym

4. Secretly I have always thought those pots that you plug in and heat up your water super fast for tea are way cool. That being said I have my reservations about heating things up in plastic, not to mention the fact that they are just another unnecessary thing to own and take up prime real estate on my kitchen counter. But when I saw one in Mead's most recent give away bag tonight, I could NOT resist. I think it is something I will own for a short time and then pass along, but for now, holy crow does it make water boil quickly. I swear it is boiling before I can even pick out my tea. So to celebrate I made myself two cups of tea (sitting here with both of them now) and a whole big bottle of tomorrow's peach iced tea. RAD.

5. I am having fun watching my friend Abby develop her gluten free bakery business in Vermont. It is amazing to watch someone I love make her dreams come true.

6. Today I ordered nine packages of adhesive pearls from two sellers on Etsy. You know the pearls I mean: these pearls. Seriously, I am so in love with those darn things. Each package will have 60 pearls. I realized about a month ago that there don't seem to be ANY for sale in Tucson.

7. Time to draw boxes. This is my last week of class--until September when I will likely start over. Yep, Drawing Fundamentals 1 all over again.

8. I practiced yoga last night. Planning on doing it again here in a little while.

9. Tomorrow night I work, but THEN I will have 4 nights off!

10. You know, lately I just can't keep my list down to five things. It's neat when the list overflows. There is so much to be grateful for.

A few things I am grateful for today

1. RAIN! Monsoons have officially begun! Thunder, lightning, the smell of creosote and sweet rain. Yippee!

2. Raw food potluck, I could write at least five things just about this--amazing food--too many delicious things to list, nice earthy crunchy folks to hang around with, they seemed to like my lettuce wrap contribution, watching the sunset in the backyard, the storm that started and we danced around in. It was super!

3. A good massage at the massage school

4. Some nice living room yoga

5. Lurking around with E and RR. While I was doing yoga RR tried to help as usual by getting as close as possible. Yoga to him means that I am on the floor, a prime location for stealing some scritches.

6. Blueberries and grapes on sale at Safeway

Five things I am grateful for today/

1. I slept soundly all day.

2. A three hour training for work that turned out to take only one hour

3. Dinner with Mead and Phoenix at the Korea House. Man, I love that place.

4. Roofrauff's eyebrows

5. Feeling happy again

Five things I am grateful for today

1. Good sleep.

2. Eric and I went to see Bodies: The Exhibition today. It was truly amazing, inspirational and really well done. I am so glad we went.

3. An hour long phone call with my Momster.

4. Spinach pasta with red sweet onions, summer squash, tomatoes, fresh basil, butter and a little cheese on top.

5. A night of reading, drawing and maybe more card making ahead of me.

Craft night/Dance party

Last night was wonderful. I went to drawing class from 6-9, came home and made cards/danced in my studio until 4am. Eric was lurking around working on his own projects close enough to talk to and show each other what we were working on, which made it extra fun.

Here are some pictures of a few of the cards that I made:

Five feel goods

My studio is a little bit simplified after an organizational/decluttering fiesta I had last week. I am not sure if anyone can tell the difference besides me... but there really is a big difference!

When I was 17 my mom gave me this scarf. I love it. I love my mama.

His tail blurred in its waggley happiness.
Mint sun tea plus limeade=Love.
Playing with my paper, yippee!

Five things I am grateful for today

1. Last night I had five easy, grateful patients; and brought along two darn good meals.

2. A good day's sleep.

3. A gentle, nurturing boyfriend.

4. A couple of days off.

5. In the shower I just thought of a new design for cards using my handmade paper.

Five wonderful things about my dad

1. His awesome sense of humor and ability to laugh at himself

2. His kind and gentle way

3. He was 100% honest in word and deed.

4. His intolerance for bullshit in any form (drama, dishonesty, any lack of integrity from an individual, the government, or any source.)

5. He was ALWAYS looking out for, helping and providing for the ones he loved. He was never too busy to stop and help me figure something out or hang up my wind chimes or taste something I was cooking even when he wasn't hungry.

I miss you, Dad.

Five things I am grateful for today and stuff

A lot to be grateful for today...

14 hours of sleep on Friday night.

Six home visits yesterday and they all went well.

Last night I went to dinner with one of the people in my compassionate communication group--we ate delicious Thai food at Karuna Thai, then went to Bookman's and both bought a couple of books. It was so fun getting to hang out with someone so like minded.

I got the new Anne Lamott book from the library. While I was there I also found the new Stephenie Meyer book, ah guilty pleasure!

My friend Rene came over for dinner tonight to celebrate passing her boards and getting a job on our unit as an RN. I made this watermelon/mint/feta/sweet onion salad as mentioned in the last blog post, frozen artichoke hearts that I sauteed in a little bit of butter and garlic, green salad with tomatoes, yummy cheese bread and teriyaki chicken pineapple meatballs. To drink I made iced limeade mixed with mint sun tea with a squeeze of lime and mint leaves in it. We had SO much fun! We ate, and ate, and ate. Then we went for a nice long walk with Roofrauff, and Eric snuck up on us to say hi and meet Rene. After our walk Rene and I came home and played Scrabble and ate the strawberry shortcake she had brought for dessert. Yum! And oh how I do love Scrabble. And then we talked, and talked, and talked. And then it was time for second dinner, of course. Avocados with olive tapenade and grapes on the side.

Grocery outlet has 100% recycled aluminum foil for just 99 cents right now!

Okay, so here is what I have been scheming about: I have been wanting to work in integrative medicine for just about ever now, and wishing I could work on the wellness end of things more than the illness end. All of you who know me already know this. So I scheme and scheme and just keep working my job because really I don't know what else to do. Until the other day-- during a conversation with my new counselor we sort of figured out what it is about nursing that works and does not work for me. I really love the connection with my patients. I love the occasional opportunity to discuss making lifestyle changes with a patient so that they might become healthier-- but mainly my patients are not very interested in health. I love being present for their journey--painful and scary, joyful and beautiful. But I want to work with patients who truly do want to be well. And I mean "well" in the holistic sense. Eating well, exercising, spending time outside, doing things to feel spiritually connected, being creative, not holding resentment, etc. So I am thinking about doing this master's program and then basically becoming a wellness counselor. I want to work with the willing and interested. I want to include the spiritual elements of psychological wellness in my work without having to "work around them". I would keep working as a nurse through the two year program, and possibly even after that as I try to accumulate some interested folks to work with on their own health and wellness.

Today I ran into my physician's assistant who is very holistically minded and also has an acupuncturist working in her office. Her office, by the way, feels more like an old adobe house with hardwood floors than a medical clinic. I told her about my scheme and asked if she would be interested in renting space in her office to me, and referring patients back and forth. She lit up and said that it is her dream to have the office be an integrative center and really dug my idea. Clearly I am not going to go get my master's depending on this interaction, but it is really exciting to know that someone I respect so much would be so optimistic about my scheme. And at this point it is just that...a scheme. So I am trying to consider it from all angles and not get too attached yet. I am researching, pacing around, scheming some more, letting it lie, waiting for clarity, you know how it goes...

It is scary to think about pursuing what I most want.

I am so grateful for the support of those close to me as I try to figure this out. Thank you Prince Charming, Wendy, and Mom!

(Mead and Regina, you both can come home from your vacations anytime now! Jeez, I really miss you both!)

Five plus one things I am grateful for today

1. My friend/coworker Rene passed her nursing board exam this week! Yay! I am so happy for her! I am also excited because I get to be her preceptor for her 2-3 month training. This will be a great learning experience for both of us. Nothing makes me sharpen my skills and knowledge like having to teach.

2. I am being flooded with home health work right now. It's great! I have done three visits so far in the past two days, and then am doing six more tomorrow. Plus I am the on-call nurse for tomorrow.

3. Tonight I am just going to relax. Mmm, eat something simple and read my book. I am really exhausted, my shift ended up being 15 hours last night due to a scheduling error, and now I have been doing visits and dealing with details at the home health office for the past four hours. I am so very happy to be home with nothing I have to do.

4. The other day when I picked up Mead's CSA they had a sampling of things you could make with the produce they were distributing. One of the things was a yellow watermelon, red onion, feta and mint salad. It pretty much blew my mind. I am scheming to get some mint and feta... though I might switch it to chevre as I am not exactly in love with feta.

5. The smell of garlic naan in the toaster oven.

6. Last night was a busy but not stressful night of work. The time went by quickly, I had a great team, I learned a lot. It's kind of neat how much I learn every time I work even after doing this job for 3.5 years.

A little catch up...

I haven't written all week! I have been so busy having fun that I haven't made any time for gratitude lists.

Fourth of July fireworks with Eric and Jim (Eric's twin brother) were really fun. Eric grilled amazing food for us on Monday. Truly we have been on a several day date since Sunday night. This has been one of the best weekends ever. I could list off everything wonderful that has happened but I am heading to work in a little over an hour and want to lie around for a while.

Currently I am really excited about a secret scheme. I will elaborate on this later.

I miss you, Little Blog. Back soon, I promise!

Five things I was grateful for last Sunday

I wrote this list last Sunday around 4am. So I am backdating it.

1. Holiday pay at work.

2. A very sweet text message that made my whole day from a certain lovely beast.

3. A good day's sleep.

4. Indian "pizza" and mint sun tea. For the Indian pizza I took garlic naan from TJ's and baked it in the oven, once it was a bit crispy I took it out and put down a layer of palak paneer and then a layer of lentily-tomato-y goodness, the dotted it with plain yogurt. It was delicious. I generally am not a fan of fusion but this was nothing like actual pizza and it's the fusion of flavors I dislike not concepts.

5. I reorganized my closet.

Grateful, grateful, grateful

Today was truly a really good day. It started with snuggling Eric, my favorite thing really. Then we had breakfast: chicken apple sausages, eggs, peaches and nectarines, and the leftovers from the awesome casserole I made late last night. (okra, tomatoes, grilled zucchini and onions with a delicious cheese sauce and a great cheesy crust) That darn casserole really was heavenly.

Then E went to work and I went to meet my new counselor who I really connected with immediately. She was supportive, kind, insightful and said scary things. I think it's important for a counselor to point out the scary things I work so hard to avoid looking at. Also she comes at this therapy thing from a Buddhist perspective, which for me is the most comfortable approach to psychology. AND she's an herbalist, goes out into the desert, collects her own herbs and makes all of her own products with them, how neat is that? I feel hopeful that she'll help me heal in a healthy way from this excruciating loss.

As I walked out of the building the first I felt the first few sprinkles of the monsoon rains starting. I turned my face up and just let the rain fall on me. As I was standing there with a big smile on my face two guys drove by in a car with grins mirroring my own and yelled "RAIN!!!"

After my appointment I went to do a home health visit but the patient didn't answer the door. So I took the opportunity to go to Govinda's for vegan night and scarf down as much goodness as I could. Mmm, it was delicious.

Tonight my Compassionate Communication group met and another member had bought me a book as a present. It's a book about the Enneagram (she is one of the people who pushed me to take the test last week.) How sweet that she thought of me! I was just going to get the book through the library, ha!

After our meeting I drove home to find Mr. E. Beast lurking outside of the house. What was he doing? Bringing me chocolate covered, peanut butter filled pretzels from TJ's. YUM! Thanks Baby.

Then Regina stopped by to borrow my sewing machine. It had been way too long since I last saw her so it was good to catch up for a little while.

"Today I didn't even have to use my A.K., I've gotta say it was a good day." Hahahahaha. Yeah, what can I tell you, Ice Cube and I are tight.