Betcha this song gets stuck in your head!

Um, creepy! And yet so cool...

Quack!

Wow. Tuesday was awesome! It was the first time in nearly eight months that I made it out of the house for more than two hours for something social... with the beast at home (and without catastrophe). Hooray! She was home for nearly five hours, and while she was more anxious than I'd like, she calmed down and we went to bed happy. 

I had a really fun time at the Duck Dodge! Dee and I met Erlin and Andy a few weeks ago and got invited along. I'd wanted to go ever since I started watching from Gasworks, so I was really excited. Dee left for Texas last weekend (as Gazza clearly reminds me by moping around and looking for them), so I was left to go alone. I can be relatively social, but I still freak out on the inside. Do we ever get over "will they like me?" Anyway, it was "prom night" and I hadn't had time to find a prom dress, so I was feeling doubly unsure about the whole thing. It turned out fine though- we all had a blast!

So the way it works is that there is a theme for the race and everybody dresses up accordingly. That's a big part of the experience- the race is just a unique venue! It's mayhem once it starts because while Lake Union seems big, it gets to feel very, very small when single man boats and huge America's Cup yachts all scramble around on the same course, ducking and dodging (get it? get it??). There are crashes with awful sounds and some yelling, but man is it cool! Afterwards everybody rafts up so that twenty or so boats are lashed together and everybody wanders around to eat, drink, and be merry.

Leigh and I were Duck Dodge virgins, so we got to do the ceremonial walk across all the boats choosing to kiss either the mast or master of each boat. We kissed most of the captains, but there were a few masts that seemed a much more appealing option ;) Anyway, it was a riot and we had a great guide to introduce us to all the boats. And then we got to watch a guy rock out on an accordion with his goth prom boat!

Our beautiful captain, Erlin.

Our studly second mate, Andre.

The Duck Dodge virgins.

Most of the crew!

Probably somewhere in Idaho right now

So after spending a month up here with me, Dee and her wee little beasties headed back down to Texas this morning. As we stood in the cool Seattle morning, she said, "well, this will be the last time I'm cold for a couple of months." At least it was beautiful nearly the entire time she was here!

Gazza has been kind of mopey. Her alter ego, Gucci, didn't appreciate Dee's dogs taking up any of my attention, but she appears to miss them anyway. She keeps going back to check the room.

Broken

The broken clock is a comfort, it helps me sleep tonight

Maybe it can stop tomorrow from stealing all my time

And I am here still waiting, though I still have my doubts

I am damaged at best, like you've already figured out

I'm falling apart, I'm barely breathing

With a broken heart that's still beating

In the pain, there is healing

In your name I find meaning

So I'm holding on, holding on, I'm barely holding on to you

The broken locks were a warning, you got inside my head

I tried my best to be guarded, I'm an open book instead

And I still see your reflection inside of my eyes

That are looking for purpose, they're still looking for life

I'm falling apart, I'm barely breathing

With a broken heart that's still beating

In the pain, there is healing

In your name I find meaning

So I'm holding on, I'm still holding on,

I'm barely holding on to you

I'm hanging on another day

Just to see what you will throw my way

And I'm hanging on to the words you say

You said that I will, will be okay

The broken light on the freeway left me here alone

I may have lost my way now, but I haven't forgotten my way home

I'm falling apart, I'm barely breathing

With a broken heart that's still beating

In the pain, there is healing

In your name, I find meaning

So I'm holding on, I'm still holding on

Barely holding on to you

~Lifehouse

Not that I blame her

Dude, my dog loves boba. I know it's just carbs and she's the carb queen after all, but really? 

Incidentally, there's a really good boba place nearby. Mmmm....

Lost in translation

Dee

Did you know that "Montana" is a bastardization of "montaña"?

Me

Interesting. Makes sense.

*pause*

Me

Did you know that "Tetons" mean boobs?

Dee

Really? Aren't they kind of pointy for that?

Me

It's cold up there.

Boogie down!

Dee and I were in Olympia today before picking up her friend at the airport. It's a really cute little town, not what either of us was expecting. There are lots of little restaurants and shops downtown, and I would have liked to have spent more time exploring. Don't think I'd want to live there, but cool.

We both especially like the Dancing Goats coffee shop. Do you know the legend of dancing goats?

Here comes the sun!

I will have a pity party once on here then I'll get over it: I'm on nights for another month. I was planning on transferring to days for a while, but they decided to keep me on nights for the whole two months. *sigh* It's what I agreed to, but I had gotten my hopes up (and made plans) when I was told I'd be on days. Oh well. At least it's not forever and at least the people are cool!

With that in mind, I'll just give one big ol' apology on here to all my friends, etc for being sketchy when it comes to doing things. When the mood and ability to sleep hits, I'm all over it. Most of you have seen me sleep deprived and it ain't a pretty sight. More importantly, it's not a safe sight. So yes, I am in fact sleeping (or awake, for that matter) at the most random, unpredictable times! Suck it up ('cause I am too). I'll resurface at the end of August.

Now that we're all clear about that, how about this weather and the sunsets we've been having? 

Wow. 

Testing, testing, one, two, three...

So Dee finally got me to break down and get not just a new phone, but a whole new computer! The phone was free, I might add, thanks to her amazing shopping skills. The computer, however, was not free. In fact, my wallet is still recovering, but it'll get over it.

That said, I've defected and am now the proud owner of a Mac. It's great so far, but I'm really not used to the whole one-button-mouse thing yet. Where is my right clicker?? And also, I see the "delete" button, but it's more like a "backspace." Where is the real delete button?? Don't even get me started on iTunes. I gave up my iPod (after it gave up on me) for a Zune, but I've rendered it obsolete by getting the computer. So bear with me as I get everything transferred over and learn to use this thing.

Why did I bring this upon myself? Because my old computer had been limping along (after an eight month stint of not even booting up). I couldn't handle the random closing of all windows and random rebooting. It was driving me bonkers. 

So yeah, hang tight folks.

Mmm mmm good!

Finally! Validation. I should write my own entry about the art of peanut butter and cottage cheese toast. Hey, don't knock it 'til you try it.

I like the DMZ, Papua New Guinea, India, and of course Chicago

This might make you smile on Monday morning in your cubicle/nurses station/desk. He lives in Seattle and is probably a pretty cool guy. I'm diggin' the music.

Hey, who turned out the lights?

Ok, the narrator doesn't help, but I think this is real.

KT thought flipping a canoe and dying in the Nooksack River would be an embarrassing way to go- I'm going to say this would be worse.

One step closer to doggyhood

As Dee and I are talking in the living room, I see Gazza's hind end in the bathroom. She has this weird obsession with the toilet, but she's never gone into the bathroom by herself. It slowly dawns on me what she might be up to...

Walking up behind her, she is indeed drinking from the toilet. Hmmph. Potty mouth.

Why yes, I speak dog!

We have spent more days at Magnuson Park's dog park that I care to admit. We mix it up with Greenlake, Golden Gardens, and hikes but let's just say the bulk of our exercise is at Magnuson. Why, then, did it take me so long to notice the bottom of this sign? In fact, Dee had to point it out to me.



And yes, I swim at the dog park. Seriously people, get over it. Despite the shallowness, the current is strong enough a few yards out to wash away any concerning, uh, liquid matter. Oh well, more room for me!

Two birds with one stone

Me: This is so cool! [re: Gazza being home for nearly four hours today, pre-dogpark no less]

Dee: You'll have to blog about it.

Me: Yeah! *pause* Is it a sad statement about my life that moments like these I can't wait to blog about? I mean, shouldn't I be calling friends or something?

Dee: Um, honestly? Yes.

So there you have it- my new life in Seattle. I'm ok with it, it's just drastically different from Chicago, and even Arizona.

And I just blogged about it, so... yeah.

The mythical box of evils

...isn't so mythical anymore. Pandora.com is horrible on my pocketbook. So far I've been able to resist, but man, there are so many new artists I can't get enough of!

Got to give them props- it's a brilliant idea.

I'm horrible at keeping secrets, but if I can pull off the latest adventure, it's going to absolutely rock. Stay tuned!

Inadvertent self promotion

I got this blog tracker thing mostly out of curiosity. But more than anything I think it's made me more curious! I'm not getting all that many hits, relatively speaking, but who are you people? I've never heard of some of the cities, and I certainly don't know the countries based off dots on a map!

I wish I had started at least recording the countries for my own personal knowledge, but I suppose the ClustrMap will have to do for that. The Site Meter thing only records the last one hundred visits. Or more accurately, I'm not curious enough to start shelling out dollars to keep a more detailed record.

But the past hundred have included Spain, Germany, UK, Austria, India, Ireland, Canada, and the UK. I think a lot of those posts came from various Google searches, but I don't understand why my personal pictures were coming up on them. Are my Picassa photos searchable? Also, it says since this past March, I've had 1,646 site visits and 2,545 page views. Not that I completely understand what that means (though I know it's not counting my visits), but the numbers are biggish.

Anyway, this whole internet community thing is really interesting, but more than anything I'm really curious who these people are and why, if at all, they continue to read this stranger's blog. I'd love to be up among the ranks of The Underwear Drawer, Dooce, Mighty Girl, and Dad Gone Mad, but wouldn't we all?

Oh well, it's all very interesting anyway. Thanks for reading!

Waiting for Godot

You know, there is probably some pithy comment to be made about a parallel between this article and my life... but it escapes me at the moment.

It reminds me of a nursing home resident where I did a rotation in nursing school. He was convinced he was in a hotel and adament that he get out and back to whatever his business was. He spent the majority of his waking hours on the couch at the nurses station pestering them to let him check out and grumbling about the shoddy service at the "hotel." It was sad, but I won't lie- it was also kind of amusing. He was sweet and obviously had a work ethic, but he also couldn't function outside the facility. Sometimes he would get belligerent and then it was really sad.

I can't help but think a similar bus stop might prove helpful in his situation. I like the idea. Call me what you will, but I've seen enough in my short career to consider it a valid method.

In which I compensate with pictures

I haven't been in a posty sort of mood lately, as you can tell. I'm feeling a bit withdrawn, a lot tired, and spending non-retarded time (or at least, not as) with Dee. The nights aren't terrible, but I'm still pretty retarded after night two. July 28th can't come fast enough!

Gazza has been so good with the whole nights thing. She pokes Dee awake a few times a night then pads quietly back to my bed to sleep. She still sleeps all day with me and doesn't seem to mind (she stays on the bed snoozing by choice), but she's also been at some park or another every day too. So I'm calling it a success. A few fun ones from our recent forays:









A few things on my mind lately...

We're getting really crafty this summer. Artsy-crafty, that is. We're both making quilts- something I swear each time I finish one that I'll never do again. I'll let you all see when and if I ever finish this time consuming project. Also, we've gotten into pottery painting. They charge an arm and a leg here (surprised?), but it's good for my mushy brain on my days off. Plus we like listening to and making fun of the people who come and paint next to us. My theory is that people are so engrossed with their work and relaxed that conversations with friends just flow. It's just that they forget they are a mere two feet from other painters and we can hear every word they say.

I was/am entertaining the idea of buying a home. The money I'm spending on rent is ludicrous, and my lease is up in September. Don't get me wrong, I love my place, but it's not the best financial situation to be in. The mortgage and real estate work has been educational and mostly fun, but it's not looking too promising for the immediate future either. I find it amusing that the two cities I'm most seriously considering fall at opposite ends of the rent vs. own spectrum (according to MSN). The Seattle area is best to rent in, while the Pittsburgh housing market is best to buy in. I could make a good case for both cities at this point, but I'm committed here for a bit. Besides, for all its shortcomings, I like Seattle a lot.

That said, I have an idea. But I have to ask Mom and Dad first ;)

Again, I apologize for the meager updates, but don't expect me to update out of obligation- I'm not that sorry!

Graduation time

You're not going to believe this! Well, maybe you will because it's approaching normal behavior, but I was blown away. Dee and I went to paint pottery and yes, we left the beast behind at home. Dee had to practically hold my hand the whole way out and then keep me from running from the car when we got home... but Gazza spent three hours home alone!

She didn't seem nervous at all, just excited to see me like any other dog would. We wrestled and she was very playful but not really needy. I'm stunned.



Good work, beast!

Houston, we have a problem...

The whole hospital is colorful and asthetically pleasing, as hospitals go. It smells aseptic for the most part (a bonus in the locker room!), but there really aren't many bare walls (or floors or ceilings for that matter).



At some point they must have hired a specific artist because the style of whimsical painting on many of the walls are the same- from the radiation rooms and elevator banks to the hallways scattered throughout the hospital. I'll admit I'm not a huge fan of the style, but whatever- it's something other than sterile white to look at, and it's themed. Art is like a party- add a theme and it's a winner.

As I was standing by a space themed location in the hospital, I noticed this particular part of the mural:



And then I cringed. I could maybe handle the ears of various animals sticking out of their space helmets, but the elephant's trunk?? You're killin' me here! But then again, he is spewing stars out of his trunk all creationist story style, so maybe I should just go with it...

It's the little things in life (rounded to the tenth)

I've been taking care of a patient on CRRT. That's continuous dialysis because a patient is too unstable to tolerate big shifts in fluid (in and out of the body). In addition to cleaning the blood, it's also used to help pull off extra fluid we've given through IV's, meds, etc.

Basically, what goes in must come out, right? While that sounds great in theory, some disease states makes that a very difficult request. Sometimes the patient just flat out needs more fluid for his/her blood pressure, regardless of what problems all that extra fluid may cause.

The numbers sound all nice and round, but they're really not. With a flush here and there, changing volumes of continuous drips, and various volumes of meds (ie: 4.44 mL), you just work meticulously with your numbers and do the best you can.

Which is why when my patient's net gain over the past day was +167.2 mL, and I pulled off 67.2 mL over two hours to give myself an even +100, I got really excited. Down to the tenth of a mL?! I rock.

Or something.

As if I didn't have enough to think about

Two questions occupied space in my brain last night:

Does a vecuronium drip inhibit the doll's eyes reflex?

And are interspecies yawns contagious? This latter one isn't really patient care related (unless you consider me a beast at three in the morning and I very well may be at that ungodly hour!) I've given Gazza my yawns before and sometimes I get hers, but I don't know if the frequency of it is more/less/equal to that of human-to-human yawns. Ideas?

Me^4

So there are four Wendy's in the ICU's- three nurses and a specialist. I've never seen so many Wendy's in one place! I mean, there were three Wendy's with my last name registered at ASU, but only one of them was actually physically at school when I was there. Interestingly, she was a professor in the English department and I thoroughly enjoyed reading her students' frantic pleas for extentions. Students are very creative in their excuses! After a while, I was getting way too many of those emails and decided only to redirect the honest sounding ones. I'm pretty sure I was docked charmic brownie points for it, but I'm at peace. If they can't bother to read the syllabus closely it's not my fault!

Anyway, back to work. In addition to all the Wendy's, there are also, I think, three Brookes. So no matter which name I use, my destiny appears to be working here. And since I just finished orientation, that's probably a good thing. But lest I get all full of myself, the head Wendy made it clear that she's Wendy #1 and I'm Wendy #2. It's all good :)

Also, I still think this is cool: