Ladybug! Ladybug! Fly away home!

So I have this project I started a few years back that I work on now and again. It involves poetry and scrapbooking paper. Actually, that's all it is- writing out poems I like and posting them on scrapbook paper. I know, I never claimed to be cool...

Anyway, Dee has introduced me to a few new poems I might use. When she saw my ladybug paper (oh come on, who doesn't love ladybugs??), I told her I wanted to use it but don't have a good poem for it. In the process of googling a particular ladybug nursery rhyme (vetoed), I came across some lady bug facts.

For example, did you know in Switzerland ladybugs are called "good God's little fatty"?


Image courtesy of one of my favorite artists who sadly passed away last year.

Putting the cart before the horse

So after a quiet day interspersed with crabby Seattlites, Dee and I finally made it for a sunset stroll at Golden Gardens. I was all excited to take her on one of my favorite lowtide walks and was disappointed that it was, in fact, high tide. Like, super high tide. Like, I read the tide table incorrectly yesterday. Oh well.

So we left the party scene and headed to Magnuson to let the dogs burn off some energy without burning up themselves (it was a toasty 90 degrees today). We met a couple with a black labradoodle that is strikingly like Gazza. Gazza is of course a labradoodle, but her eyes are an uncommon gold (think tiger's eye stones) and her body is a combination that I haven't seen much- lab body and blocky lab head with the springy poodle legs and tail. I don't know, you'd have to see it. Anyway, if I were to cut out her silhouette and put the other doodle (*snerk*) in front of it, they would match perfectly.

So the owners are a friendly couple and chatty. In the course of conversation, Dee mentioned something about photography and the dude said he had a camera like she was talking about that she could have. After a quick exchange of emails, we left.

He said he is a pastor of a local church, so we decided to verify that and look him up tonight. He is indeed the pastor and we surfed the site a bit. Our favorite part? Under the "plan for growth," they state plans to reach out to the community. Makes sense, right? How about, "we intend also to train the pastor." Uh, train your pastor? Really?

Hmm.

Tally ho!

I heard a modern day horror story the other day. A rather well known blogger that uses, um, Blogger lost all of his post in a system glitch. Without backup. Yowch. Maybe I should start backing these up for the sake of collecting the computer equivalent of dust? Seeing as how I'm on nights until July 28th, I suppose that will keep me busy. Oh yeah, and my awesome quilt (that is ridiculously time consuming)!

I've got my work cut out for me.

Update: Holy smokes! My LiveJournal blog goes back to August 2005!

Surprise, surprise!

It's sort of a running joke that Dee (my sister) and I are so completely different that we can't agree on anything. And I mean nearly everything. Whether it's music, decor, activities, food, or you name it, while we may not detest the other's preferences, they're certainly not our own.

I preface this post with that tidbit because I've gotten her hooked on boba tea. And then today we promised each other to try new flavors. And then we decided we liked the other's choice better.

A bag of cinnamon bears with my name on it in the middle of the sidewalk wouldn't have surprised me more.

Sand fantasy

I've been out not sleeping (much, anyway) and instead playing out in the sun with my sister and our dogs. If you happen to be stuck inside on a beautiful day or night like this, maybe this little clip will cheer you up. It's not a sand fantasy like my day on the beach, but maybe it can be for you?

The sun is coming up... and I am going down

So, I quit. I finally broke off my ties to the adult world. I'm now officially a singularly pediatric ICU nurse! The last day (or night, in this case) of orientation was Wednesday, and now they've cut me loose. Buahaha! Ready or not, here I come...

No but really. I have mixed feelings about the leaving of adults, but I think it's the right decision. Who'd have thought I'd leave Chicago and especially that I'd be working peds?? It's been an interesting year and a half.

I finally realized something the nurse educator said she discovered right away: people ask how you can work in peds because it's so unfair that they suffer. I've learned that I can work here because it's unfair. Now, I'm not saying adults deserve everything they get, but by and large, we do bring it on ourselves over years of treating our bodies badly. And yes, I'm right there with the best of 'em. But because it's so unfair with the wee ones, I find it easier to extend that much more grace, effort, and sympathy. Yes, it's gut wrenching but I find it personally more rewarding.

Plus everything is smaller and the hospital rocks.

Your turn

Pardon this lame post after the absence, but I've only got two brain cells to rub together at the moment so it's all you get.

KT just wrote a post about love and romance. It made me smile a lot to answer her question and now I'd really like to hear your stories. So tell me, what are some of your romantic memories?

C'mon. Suck it up and post. I'd really like to hear them :)

Rockin' the accent

So I have a little tracker thing for this blog (muahaha! I'm stalking you... stalking me!). Today I noticed somebody from Italy found this little ol' thing. I also see that it was by way of googling "Erica Gazza." I don't know why I was surprised that somebody from Italy found my site. I mean, I guess I should be surprised they didn't find it earlier.

Woofda Gucci Ragazza, as she is known in the high society circles she frequents, is ashamed that I call her 'Gazza. She's even more ashamed that I say it like the Midwesterner I (sometimes) am: Gazza, like the Gaza Strip. Oh yes, when she hits her teens, she'll be texting her friends all, "like, my mom is so lame! She's totally embarrassing at the park! I'll never get a date!"

Welcome to my world, beast! And happy six month anniversary :)

In which I answer my own question

May it be known that I'm the world's worst speller. I kid you not (though I'm sure you've all noticed by now anyway), I consistently tested below the fiftieth percentile in school for spelling. I'm pretty sure I never passed any of those spelling "pretests" that are a rite of passage for American school children. Yep, Thursday nights found me cramming for the actual weekly spelling full on "test."

Since I won't have handy-dandy Google on hand during the writing portion of the GRE, I've resigned myself to the fact that I'll just get docked for spelling. Kind of like I did in grade school for not writing cursive until they all just forgot about it.

Anyway, all this entry meant to ask was, why can't I ever spell "weird" correctly? I suppose I already know the answer to that.

Looking for my circadian rhythm...

Have you seen it anywhere? I last saw it a few weeks ago. I think all the sun and people scared it away. Maybe it was the dog?

Dude, my fridge has more food in it now than it ever has! I made a grocery trip shortly before Dee got into town and then she stocked it with all her stuff. I'm not accustomed to moving things around to find what I'm looking for. In fact, it's kind of overwhelming. Who knew there were more options than peanut butter and cottage cheese toast or pancakes?

Speaking of food, as Dee and I were driving down Roosevelt today, she was asking about certain shops and things along the way. When she asked about the QFC, I said I didn't know about it and didn't think there was one nearby. So then she turns around in her seat to point out the QFC... that we just passed. I was all, seriously? Have I been driving on this road for over a year and failed to notice the big grocery store?? In my defense, the sign isn't highly visible coming from the north (which is the only direction you'd be coming from on Roosevelt). I don't know, maybe I'm just not that observant.

PS: Hi Mara! I hope you're feeling better!!