Winter doldrums

I think I've realized why we pile our holidays in the winter, because we need something to cheer us up. Every year about now I get worn out and impatient and generally in a not-so-good mood. The patients at work get older and sicker, the staff start getting sick and calling in to work which makes us all work harder. The days are so short that when I work I don't see the sun for 2 whole days sometimes. You don't realize how depressing that is until it happens to you... The end of semester assignments start piling up and everybody is tired. I just don't care about anything, the bottom line for this time of year is: I just want to go HOME! I'm giving thanks Thanksgiving break is only 6 days away... and I'm almost ready to bust out the Christmas music a week early, Carrie has.

have YOU voted today?

I voted for the second time in my life today and I must say I'm proud of myself; it wasn't even a presidential election! But with the polls right down at 4 corners, it's really not that hard. Voting in a small town is great. You have to sign your name in a book and you get this manilla folder to hide your ballot. Then you have to mark your answers with a sharpie and slide it in a box. I'm even more proud of myself because I knew all the people I voted for except the governor. I'd even met most of them personally because of Health Care Policy class last semester (one of them even came and taught a class for us). That means I even knew some of what they stand for (mostly about healthcare issues). Tennessee's Senatorial campaign is an important one and there were also serious issues on the ballot like an amendment about marriage being only between a man and a woman and whether people can sell alcohol in Collegedale (can this issue please be settled???). So here's to being a well informed voting citizen! Tomorrow when you see the news will you be able to say your vote made a difference?

Git R Done

Saturday night was the Extreme Dodgeball tournament. I've never seen so many SAU students dressed in crazy clothing. Attendance was worth it just to see the fashion show.

Ryan's team was Git R Done with Nataniel, Chris, Jonathan, Jill, and Erica.


Ryan does the "na, na na na, na na, come get me" dance

And yet I still claim him...

In other news I set a few records today. I had 6 patients at once for the first time. It's very scary to walk in the door (a little late because of a car accident blocking the road on the way in) and see that there's not enough staff and night shift is going crazy because somebody coded (and died) unexpectedly at 5 AM. All of the administrative nurses for our 3 sister floors were even there on a Sunday because of the short staffing, we should have taken pictures to document the occasion. I also bleached my favorite oldest uniform cleaning off my stethoscope with bleach wipes after being in my isolation room. So I threw the top away tonight after almost 3 years of faithful service. I have been needing to throw it away for awhile, maybe this was the handwriting on the wall. So there's a few work rites of passage for me...

sick day

So I woke up this morning at 3 AM with the same stomach ache I'd gone to bed with but reaching throw up proportions. Thankfully this was at 3 AM instead of 5 AM so I had a chance to call work and tell them I was staying in bed today. Being a nurse is really a touchy thing when it comes to being sick. You can't go to work if you can't eat or are weak or heavily drugged or can't think because you're so congested and sleepy because 12 hours of constant exercise and brain activity is a marathon with big risks to your patients. So I laid on the couch and watched Leave it to Beaver (how many ways can that boy find to get into "trouble"? The things he does are so lame compared to what kids do on TV shows today). And wait until you get sick to notice how many commercials are about FOOD when you want that to be the farthest thing from your mind. Both Stephanie and Ryan came to see me bringing me "sick drinks" and comfort. With perfect timing, Movie Gallery called me with a free movie rental and Ryan went to get it for me. I barely got through the end of it before falling asleep for the rest of the afternoon. Stephanie's coming to make me chicken noodle soup tonight and I almost can't wait. After one bowl of cream of wheat, I think my stomach is ready to tackle something else. So even though I've been sick all day it's been nice to take a day to just lay on the couch because I've been running around pretty crazily the last few weeks. I was probably headed for one of these "slow down" moments in some form. And I've seen how nice it is to have people a phone call away to take care of you. I feel very loved...

can't we just enjoy the outdoors???

The weather was so beautiful on Sabbath that 8 of us tried to take a trip to Lula Lake to enjoy the outdoors. Unfortunately, the ranger had other ideas (I admit we did do exactly what the sign said not to do by parking at the exit and walking in but... he could have been a little nicer) so we took off to Signal Point to try again. After parking in nonexistant parking, we enjoyed the overlook for a few minutes before heading home.

The newest couple, Jonathan and Kelli

On top of the world

The boys: Chris, Jonathan, Jerad, and Ryan

The girls: Kelli, Brittany, Katie, and me

the whole group (almost)

Dad sent me some of his pictures so I thought I'd include a few. Here's the biggest group picture we managed to get...