A productive weekend

Last night was a small family reunion of sorts. I got to meet a bunch of family from my grandmother's side. It was pretty cool, actually. While I missed the girl's weekend, this weekend has still turned out to be fun. I'm not ready for it to end.

I ran around Greenlake twice today, but settled in at a pace that worked out to an 11.5 minute mile. While I won't win any marathons, I'm proud because it was non-stop (5.8 miles) and I didn't even feel like collapsing. Interestingly, though, I wore my heart rate monitor and while it marks me as running in the high 50's when I sleep, it runs 90's to 110's while I'm awake. And my average running rate was 171! Yowzers! My leg feels a little worse for the wear, but I'm still moving around ok.

It has been cold lately, and this morning was no exception. It actually snowed the past two days! Even so, today is gorgeous. I nearly lost both my upper limbs to frostbite this morning. They're still thawing out! I've become used to the fact that while standing in one spot, it can be both sunny and raining on you. Also, you can look northeast to the Cascades and see clouds dumping snow, south and see a few puffy clouds, and west to the Olympics and see dark rainclouds- all while you're standing in the sun with a rainbow over your head. Seattle is cool that way :)

Like I mentioned before, the cherry blossoms are out in force, and a couple other trees have joined the explosion. There are a lot of these trees:



From now on, I will call them popcorn trees, and everytime I walk by them, I'll want to grab a handful of blossoms to munch on. These houses wanted to join the color explosion too:



I would possibly buy one of these condos based on color alone! My little Razor phone doesn't do it justice...

Gazza update: As I'm writing this, the beast is smiling in her sleep. Really. She's passed out in a sunbeam, twitching in her dreams, and smiling. I wonder if dogs perceive "smells" when they sniff in their sleep? Today she stayed home alone for forty minutes without freaking out- for the second time! Hooray! I remember when I couldn't even take a shower alone... A long way to go, but definite progress (I'm smiling now too).

Ready for the weekend

Holy moly, I jinxed us all with that last post- it snowed today! Jeez. So much for in like a lion, out like a lamb... Incidentally, apparently they don't teach that phrase in Arizona. Understandable, I guess, but I had figured it was just one of those things everybody knows. Kind of like "olly olly oxen free" or "thirty days hath September."

As ironic as this may seem, I haven't had much to say. I'm in a place where I'd rather just be. I joined a running club, though. On Tuesday I ran a whopping twelve minute mile, but on Thursday I ran a ten and a half minute mile, both of which were around Greenlake. While that may be laughable to most of you, I was quite proud of myself (and my heart and knees for not exploding). The people are super friendly and fun to run with. Gazza even ended up in a Seattle PI blog!

Tuesday may well have been the first time in my entire life that I actually enjoyed running with people. I learned that if you can't hold a light conversation while you run, you're running too fast. That made me happy, but it also slowed me down and that didn't make me so happy. But yes, I'm officially running now. You should come join!

Part of the reason I caved to peer pressure and went is because I need to feel more in control than I have lately. I find myself reminding myself that I don't need to be stressing about anything because everything is as it should be (that was an awkward sentence to write out). I'm just a worrier, especially when I don't understand what is going on around me. Must... have... control....

Lastly, I think toilet paper that is marketed as eco-friendly isn't a reflection on how biodegradable or recycled it is, but rather how much it feels like cardboard, thereby reducing your overall TP use in the name of a comfortable bum. Just so you know.

Spring has sprung

Somebody complained today about how spring lasts forever in Seattle. I have to totally disagree with the complaining part- I think it's one of the things I like best about the area, actually. I'm not a winter sports nut and of course I like summer, but spring and fall are alternately my favorite seasons. I love the crunchy fall leaves, brisk air, autumn colors, and the sense of the world about to sleep.

Fast forward past the actual sleep and I love the waking up part too. Even the warm fake-outs make me happy. A few tantalizingly warm, sunny days followed by rain. The big secret is that it's still not that cold. Usually. The winter gloom here (that I don't think qualifies as "gloom" since it stays green year round) is broken like cracks in cement by spring flowers. And gorgeous cherry blossoms! The birds start singing. The sun is out just a little longer every day, and you find yourself out there with it, willing it to stay out even just a little bit longer. You want it to join you, illuminating all the new paths and crevaces that are asking to be explored. You want to greet the world.

Yeah, I love Seattle's long spring.

Sorry for the lack of postings. I've been preoccupied.

Work is good, but today was emotionally tough. I had been told numerous times that kids crash fast and can be more emotionally draining to work with but that only became reality for me today. They do and they are.

It didn't feel much like Easter today. I've been sleeping really well and woke up feeling fine, but it just didn't feel like Easter. It was cold and rainy (analagous to the happenings in the unit, actually). When I used up the remaining light outside with Gazza this evening, it had cleared up and was very pretty out. Actually, what does Easter feel like?

Gazza was great this evening. I wanted nothing more than to spend the evening with my immediate family for a variety of reasons, but the fuzzy mutt made me feel better with her goofy smiles, rabbit jumps, and snoring :)

Check out this kid's videos on YouTube. He's amazing.

Get it away!!!!

Can't....unnnncuuuurrrrrrllll......tooooeeeeesssss.....

I can't stand to see the picture long enough to keep posting. That's all you get.

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

Instead of dancing (or trying to) at The Paperboys show tonight like I had planned for the last month, I'm in my amazing purple leather chair in my banana pajama pants and doing stuff for work. As much as I'd like to blame this lameness on work, blame actually lies with the dog. In her quest to see how much I really love her (and by that I mean how much I'll spend on her), the beast broke her nail today. Hah, you scoff.

My dog, the one who doesn't make noise, who didn't even whimper when over a hundred porcupine quills were pulled from her face and legs, cried when I touched the broken nail. After some friendly advice, I took her to a vet (thankfully not the emergency vet... waaaay too pricy. Sorry pooch!). I'd like to say I was all cool, calm, and collected, but as I watched from the other room, I failed. They put a muzzle on her (standard protocol, understandably) and it took two people to hold her while they clipped/cleaned/cauterized the nail. I heard her cry through the muzzle and then started crying too. That's right, I'm cold-hearted enough to restrain adults and children in the hospital... but I lose it when my dog cries. Pansy. For what it's worth, the vet and technician both complimented her manners.

Just so we're clear, I'm not complaining. For all her social promotion, she can be equally socially restrictive, but I am so in love with this dog. We spent yesterday morning at Golden Gardens with a very cool Chesapeake Bay Retriever named Levi and his equally cool owner. They wrestled and played ball for several hours while I got to make another friend on the shores of Puget Sound. Hard to beat that. As much as I love The Paperboys, I loved that even more :)





And yes...

A relaxing weekend

It strikes me that with the aid of Wikipedia and YouTube, I could do this whole blog without writing down one unique thought. At the risk of doing just that, check out this spoof. It should at least make you smile.



I only found it because I googled "Cletus" to check my spelling. A friend of mine has a dog by that name, and while he doesn't wear plaid or a trucker hat, he has an awesome mohawk. I brought Gazza over with me to let him and his brother out for a bit this evening, and after they wore each other out, they plopped down on the couch and I was soon serenaded by the sound of three dogs sound asleep punctuated only by the growls and woofs of their sleep.

Thoroughly mesmorized by my binary clock

Day five? Completed! Hooray!!

And now begins unit orientation. Oh man.

I'd been planning to see Michael Chapdelaine at Dusty Strings in Fremont tonight for a while. You know, free concert and awesome guitarist (plus they allow well-behaved dogs). I didn't know one guitar could make so many sounds! For some reason, I couldn't stop thinking about how much he looks like the guy from Quantum Leap! I wish some friends had been able to appreciate him with me, but it's a friendly crowd there :) The following clip is only a small sample of the stuff Michael can do. Again, he is awesome...



Work was ok this morning, and it got better when one of the speakers brought in some pie for Pi Day. What? You don't know what that is? Look at the date!

After that, though, things took a nose dive for a few hours. Suffice it to say, expected funds didn't make the leap from work to my bank account. A certain automatic withdrawal will need the money tomorrow... and I unexpectedly don't have it. And amidst those frantic phone calls, my phone died. And then I got stranded in the parking lot, late for my first day on the unit. Yeah, it just kept getting better and better. They turned back around quickly too, though (ha, guess I'm getting a hint of how things will work with peds). The second half of the day on the unit was good. I think I'm really going to like it (if I can get over how small and sick they are).

A friend kept Gazza at his place after picking her up from the car in the afternoon (and driving me back to the hospital...), so I picked her up there this evening. She was having so much fun with the other two dogs that it seemed a shame to bring her home! After the five day car stint, new house with two dogs, and a concert, she's pretty wiped. To be honest, I am too. In fact, I'm going to bed at 10:30 on a Friday night and I like it!

Cold and rainy out. Blech.

Day Four? Mercifully over!

Today was pretty dull. More of the usual nursing orientation stuff. Helpful, mostly very much needed, but still tedious. One might even say tortuous. My rear end is not meant to sit in chairs that long! Things are just so different. Sometimes in good ways and other times just different. There are a lot of new protocols, norms, (patho)physiologies, and people to learn. This is round three, so I'm sort of getting the hang of it by now, but it's still stressful.

Today after lunch, I new coworker and I decided to take the speaker's advice and get lost. This place is huge. Way bigger than it looks from the outside! We stumbled across some cool places as we were finding floors we didn't know existed from elevators and doors that seemed to magically appear. Near the end, we headed toward a familiar bank of elevators and were stopped by a greeter who saw our confused looks. As we related our recent adventure, I made some comment that made it very clear that I had know idea we were standing on the threshold to our unit. I was more amused by the feeling of deja vu than embarassment! They might want to keep me under wraps for a few more days...

Gazza seems to be doing ok. We're nearing her limit of consecutive car days, but she seems to be fine. I took her to Fremont tonight and she was clingy, so now I'm going to stay in and read while she snores on my lap. You think I'm kidding? I kind of like how she validates my introversion :)

I heard this on the radio this evening and remembered how much I like it.



PS- I just realized that LJ post was almost two years ago to the day. That's... strange...

Hump day

Day three? Sayonara!

Nothing super interesting to post about, or even just remotely interesting. I like this place, though.

I don't know why it took me over a year to figure out why the daffodils and crocuses are all over around here- they're UW colors. It's really pretty to drive by campus, and the cherry blossoms are coming out too. Ahhh spring :)

Random newsbits today:

Blind man regains sight after doctors implant son's tooth in his eye. Yes, you read that correctly.

Congrats to Lance Mackey!