Waiting for my sheets to finish drying

Holy smokes! I've reached over a thousand visitors to the blog! I don't know how I feel about that. I'm suddenly feeling very conscious of the fact that people across the world are reading my idle ramblings. I don't write anything I wouldn't want the world to know, but it's still weird to think people across the world do know... even if they are just my friends :)

Seattle has been stereotypically Pacific Northwest this past week. Lots of rain and gloomy out. However, "gloomy" isn't part of my normal vocabulary anymore. Terms regarding light have been simplified to "night" and "day," so this gloomy has been outright bright for me! Speaking of redefining- a month later, I'm still finding myself winding down and catching up on sleep. I find myself going through one of those cycles of life, trying to get back to who I think I am but then finding that of course I can't regress in personal growth. I don't even want to be who I was! Even so, there are aspects of personality that are enduring, and sleep deprived lunacy isn't one of mine. Lunacy, yes, but not sleep deprived.

In my mind, certain things are part of Seattle's personality as well. A few months ago Shawn and I went biking down to Golden Gardens and Shilshole and saw one of those aspects:



In an odd sort of way, it reminded me of Set.

Continuing my babysteps into the 21st century

I took the Facebook plunge (myspace is, like, so passe), and now I've joined Skype- and been pleasantly surprised by both. I got to talk with Miki in Japan tonight, and she came across crystal clear! In fact, even her yawn was contagious from across the world and she could hear the catfight from my alleyway! Ahh Miki. I miss you :)

Now for your random picture of the day, Grandma's new cat, Peanut:



We were laughing last night about how funny it would be if she turns out to be a big cat. Grandma would totally be the old women doting on the fat, cranky cat named "Peanut." I don't think that'll happen, though. She's a sweet kitten and Grandma feeds her just the right amount.

In other news, I got moved to evenings again this week and for most of next week! Hooray! I'm still feeling better every day as I get to sleep at night.

Evenings again this week!

I admit it, I'm a list person. If it's not on the list, it won't get done, and if I lose my patient's report sheet, my brain might as well have just walked out the door. I do have fun finding old lists, though. This morning I found a yellow scratch pad with the directions to Steff's home in Iowa, the beginning documentation of our trip to Seattle, a mention of Minooka, IL (I have no idea why), more directions to unknown locations (I should really label them), letters, and songs that I like. On one of the back pages, there's a note to ask Dad for the "celery photo" of me. I actually got it last week, so that's another check off the list!



There's an explanation to this picture, though maybe not a good one. Dad got a new phone and wanted pictures of people to show up when they called. We were taking family pictures when he went into the other room for a phone call. Seizing the opportunity (and vegetables from the nearby vegetable tray), we had some fun :) For the next year, the office girls would answer his cell phone laughing at my picture. I think it's sort of freaky.

As Katie would ask, why am I not married? :)

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

While I did set my alarm last night, I didn't save it and it went off this morning at eleven instead of nine. Even so, I managed to get a hike in with Rachel and Katie. We went to Discovery Park (yes that counts as a hike) and got quite a surprise- snow! And lots of it!



I would say we got well over an inch, but I'm a terrible judge of age, height, group size, and snowfall, so add or subtract a bit as you will. By the end of the hour and a half, we were pretty cold and wet, but it was worth it :)



It really did stick on the ground, though. It's now 3:30am and most of it seems to have melted, but there are still patches of snow. The roads were pretty bad earlier in the evening. My back porch was reminiscent of Chicago last winter but to a much lesser degree:



On the subject of snow, there's a tree in front of the elevators at work that's decorated with fake snow and tinsel. It's also decorated with no less than six cardinals. The cardinal is the state bird of Indiana, and I've never even seen that many in the woods behind our house on any given day! The tree is colorful though :)

Idle thoughts

Tonight was my last night doing evenings (day doing evenings?). Come Sunday, it's back to nights for me. *sigh* I'm really actually feeling better every day (more peppy and happy and such), so I feel all strong-ish and ready to take on the night, but I know it'll slowly eat away at my soul again. Or maybe just my body and mind, but you know...

Some randomness I felt compelled to note:

Evel Knievel died today. The only things I really know about him are from Brian Regan and short clips floating around the internet, but I still feel some sort of loss. He was a daredevil of yore, complete with the cool cape and all.

I got Zach's newest musical self-portrait today. It actually makes me happier that maybe is warranted, but I've listened to an old one for years and love it. This new one is good so far- seeing as how the first song is by Amos Lee, I would expect no less. Thanks, Zach! I think the whole idea of a yearly music self-portrait is actually a good one. I am retarded when it comes to self-awareness and expression, and music has helped me a lot in this regard. Alternatively, you could go all superdork and just write a book about your life (otherwise known as an autobiography...) like Ben and I did.

I took this picture the other day at Gas Works Park with my cousin Katie. Somebody had done this to all the bricks around the sundial at the top, and it made me happy. Sort of reminds me of my brain this week:



I live a short walk away from the park and it's my favorite view of Seattle at night. As per Wikipedia, the park "contains remnants of the sole remaining coal gasification plant in the US." Coal gasification. *snerk* Gas Works is perhaps my favorite park of all time. I like the kite hill, the grassy field for frisbee, the cool old buildings and structures, the views, and the famous Gasworks Kite Shop just up the road. I could do without the creepy bums who lurk in the boiler and pump house, but such is the price of such an awesome park.

One last lighthearted picture from home this past week:



I'm a scrooge when it comes to work clothes. I refuse to spend more money that absolutely necessary on clothes that are going to get all MRSAfied, VREed, and CDiffed. The scrub tops we had to use in nursing school are actually good quality, so I set about pulling out the "College of Nursing" stitching when I was at home. Not sure it was worth the effort but ah well. I seriously contemplated leaving it like this to see what remarks it would get, but in the end Mom gave the thumbs down.

Needing to hug my family

Four transplant recipients at three Chicago hospitals have contracted HIV and hepatitis C from a single organ donor, U.S. health officials said on Tuesday.

It's incredibly sad this could happen and I hope they'll start using the NAT test more judiciously in the future, but I understand the time constraints too. Occasionally there just is no time to wait for a few more hours. I think what bothers me most about this is the questionable informed consent of at least one of the recipients. She was doing well on dialysis and supposedly turned down a kidney a while back because of the high-risk behavior of the donor (which her current donor was known to have). Without knowing the full story, it sounds as if she may not have been given all the information she needed.

Organ transplantation obviously has inherent risk, and we try to do what we can to make it less risky. Bodies are unique and dynamic and I doubt we'll ever be able to anticipate or fix everything- though the healthcare collective will always strive to that end. We're all learning as we go. I don't think this incident should scare potential recipients away; instead, I think it should reiterate the importance of communication and informed consent... and the potential risk. My heart goes out to all four recipients and their families. Donate your organs, y'all!

Think I found my new sport. France needs nurses too, right?

It looks fake at first, but I assure you it's not. I'm wrapping my mind around the fact that you can survive a trip over a mountain cliff with only a "wingsuit" and zoom mere inches away from otherwise deadly things at over 100mph... and now I really, really want to try!

My dad sent me the link in an email saying, "Absolutely CRAZY! But once mastered it has to be the rush of all rushes. Don't try this at home...." Uh, Dad? I'm seriously considering a trip to Pujaut, France, tonight.

My only means of portable music at the present time

It's a pretty day out, though not what I would call warm, so I decided to push myself this morning and go for a run on the BG Trail. Within twenty yards, my kneecap was cracking and popping all over the place, so I settled for a cold walk hoping things would pop back into place (this is the dance I go through at random intervals if I'm running much). I felt sort of silly walking in my running clothes while obviously cold but reminded myself that nobody was really looking anyway.

Then I realized they were looking at me. Not casual glances as they biked/ran by but purposeful looks. I ran through the quick list (Something on my face? Toilet paper on my shoe? Plumber's crack perhaps?), but nothing came to mind. Just then a flash of yellow caught the corner of my eye:



Ah yes. When I was seven years old, we all got Walkmans for Christmas (I believe the same Christmas I thought batteries were an amazing present as well). Mine has survived through every conceivable test a kid could put it through and outlived numerous other tape, CD, and mp3 players. It plays perfectly, and the only signs of wear are scuffs that rubbed off my initials that had been Magic Markered on (yes, I just verbed that) and the small, red bungee cord holding the clear front part on. It's clunky, yellow, and has a bungee cord around it- is it any wonder people are looking?

Most of the people on this part of the BG Trail are associated with UW, so there are a lot of students and a number of professors. That being the case, I find it amusing that this Walkman is older than the most of the students! Conversely, most of the professors remember when Walkmans were new, and a few have actually commented on mine. It's a good conversation piece when I'm not freezing or gasping for air!

Incidentally, there's a unique market for these things! Does it make me retrohip?

Just for fun, I saw this at a park the other day on a run and it made me smile :)

Hey ya... times three

I remember back when "Hey Ya" by Outkast was popular on the radio. It grated on my nerves, though admittedly it's kind of catchy. I didn't even notice when the stations stopped playing it. Then one day I heard this guy in Arizona:


I've become a fan of his since and not just because he has an awesomely bushy beard :)

Somebody posted this Hey Ya spinoff today and I thought it was pretty cool too:


Hehe, I love Snoopy :)

Brilliant, as usual

About a year ago, Michelle took an unannounced hiatus and I fell into a deep depression when thinking she may not start writing again. Thankfully, she came back and all is well in the world again. One of the things I enjoy about her blog is how relatable she is. For example, as I lounged around by the fire today reading and enjoying the sun (or daylight, at any rate), I wondered several times if I'm using this day most appropriately. I nixed hiking because it's cold and rainy. I got groceries (surprise, surprise). I did laundry and cleaned. The rest of the time I relaxed. Part of me felt guilty, but I'm still way behind in the sleep department, so I don't feel that badly. As I just followed up on her latest posting, I see she is feeling the same way on her break,

But this puts a lot of pressure on me to really make the most out of this week of vacation I'm on now. Every second, I'm thinking to myself, "Am I relaxing enough? Am I enjoying myself enough? Am I using this time productively? Are Cal and I bonding enough?" I'm really a fun person.

So for now, I'm calling it all good :)