kapachino

Author: Kathleen

  • Does This Mean I Need Another Vacation?

    Last night when I went to sleep at 8 p.m. David lay down in bed with me and took a nap. It was a nap because he could never ACTUALLY go to bed that early. Anyway, he decided to get up a couple of hours later, once I was already asleep. Apparently his movement stirred me halfway out of my dream, because I started talking to him. He thought I was completely awake.

    I wasn’t just babbling random words though, or so he tells me. I started clearly demanding that he give me all his prescriptions and medical records so that we could get him admitted to the hospital. Since I’m a nurse and he had been sleeping, he seriously thought that something was wrong with him. I was so insistent that he started to get really worried. 

    At this point I vaguely remember that I was trying extremely hard to convey something to him that seemed so obvious to me, and I didn’t know why he didn’t get it. Eventually he asked me if I was partly dreaming and I responded, “I thought you knew I was!” 

    When David reminded me this morning about what happened, I had no recollection of the events. He finished the story by telling me that I should try dreaming more about him than the hospital. My coworkers think this means that I need a vacation, and I tend to agree.

  • happy friday to me!

    I got up this morning, as usual, a little after 4 a.m. to get ready for work. As I was in the shower, I heard my phone ring. At first I thought it was my alarm, but no – I had turned that off. When I got out, I checked my messages and it was my unit calling me to say that they had too many nurses scheduled for the amount of patients on the floor, so would I like to take a day off?

    At first I was, of course, really excited about this. Then, for a split second, I thought, “Maybe I should say no, I want to work. After all, if I stay home I won’t get paid.” But that thought didn’t last long. Everyone will get called off at some point, so why shouldn’t today be my day? Yesterday was my scheduled day off, and I already got all my chores done then. And I discovered some really great sales at Banana Republic, which I would love to explore in greater detail.

    So here I sit at home, on my couch. I have already showered and played some Mario Galaxy. I am thinking of reading for awhile and then venturing out to do some shopping. What would you do with an unexpected day off like this?

  • silencing the enemy

    Psalm 8:2 – “…You have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger…”

    ***

    For my mother’s birthday, which was yesterday, my brother and I gave her a gift that she’s been asking for since last year. We recorded a simple 6-song CD of worship songs for her. I sang, and my brother played guitar and sang a little. It was done in the course of an afternoon and evening in a makeshift studio in his roommate’s closet. When I listen to it now, I can think of a million things that we could do to make it sound better. But when I gave it to her yesterday and we started listening, her eyes filled with tears and she said that we couldn’t have done anything better for her. Even now that I’m grown, it’s still so nice to see evidence of my mother’s love and pride in me. I’m happy with the gift because she was.

    ***

    Last night was the second week in Beth Moore’s newest Bible study. I felt blessed to attend with all the beautiful women in my family, minus my sister-in-law Kim, who was missed. What a wonderful experience to join hands with thousands of women as we prayed a powerful prayer for our new president. May our president know the fear of the Lord, and when he comes to a time of crisis and the whole nation is looking to him, may it be as the prophet Isaiah said: “Your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’” (ch. 30 v. 21)

    ***

    At home before I went to sleep, as my husband tucked me in, our girls Eddie and Cleo hopped up to join the fun. With the love of my life on one side of me, and our smiling puppies licking our faces, I couldn’t have been happier.

    ***

    Praise God for the beautiful moments of life. Praise Him that as long as we praise, no matter how timidly, our enemy cannot open his mouth!

  • On Starting To Exercise Again

    When I first got Cleo over a year ago, I was running a lot. I would take her to the park and we would run 5 miles together no problem. (Well, no problem after I purchased her a choke collar having learned the hard way that she loves to chase squirrels.) I was in pretty good shape then, and it felt good. 

    Now I look at Cleo, and there is a reason we call her our little sausage. She even has a couple of back fat rolls. And yesterday, my nurse mentor/friend Pat said to me, “I’m not saying this because you look like you’ve put a single pound on your body, but have you gained weight? I’m only asking because most newlyweds gain weight.” And later that day, two OTHER women I work with told me I look like I HAVE gained weight. Maybe it’s because I was wearing my pink scrubs for the first time in awhile, but still. Aren’t women supposed to know that we don’t say that kind of thing to each other?

    Truthfully, I’ve probably only gained 3-4 pounds since I got married. I don’t eat badly, even though I really REALLY love having chocolate after dinner. But ever since my indoor soccer team disbanded a few months ago, I haven’t been exercising. It’s thanks to my physically demanding job that I haven’t gained more, I think.

    I’m really getting the itch to be more active again. My new year’s resolution is to ride my bike and do a race at some point. I’ve decided that I don’t want to ride outside the neighborhood alone, however. My friend Sara said she’d ride with me, but I’m waiting for her to get a new bike. Until then, I’ve got to start doing something. I asked for a Wii Fit for my birthday, so maybe that will help on days I don’t want to get out of the house, but I need more than that.

    So, Methodist is sponsoring the annual Stride4Stroke 5K in March, and I signed up to be a part of our unit’s team. I’m going to run it. I used to be able to run a 5K in my sleep, but not so much anymore; I’m going to have to train.

    Which is really the point of this post, to tell you about a great website that I found to help me: www.djsteveboy.com. On it are free podcasts that you can download to listen to while you run. I chose the one called “First Day to 5K.” The podcasts have upbeat music that you listen to, and then there is a chiming sound that lets you know when you switch from walking to jogging. They are designed by a coach, and you just need to run to them 3 times a week for 9 weeks. I’ve found that running at intervals like this is really the best way to get started. It’s not too overwhelming, you feel good, and it helps you ease into running shape again.

    Cleo and I ran week one today, and although I’m not too winded, my legs are definitely tired. Poor Cleo was huffing and puffing right alongside me. Hopefully we can find time to complete the program together.

  • One Hazard of Marriage

    I absolutely love being married. I don’t have anything to complain about, except this: it has become exponentially harder for me to wake up in the morning. Over the course of these few months of marriage, I have gotten into the bad habit of pressing my snooze button for 30 minutes, which is just not acceptable! I believe this is for a combination of reasons:

    1. Being married and having two incomes allowed us to buy something I’ve dreamed about for years: a Tempur Pedic mattress. In my opinion, it is amazing. Perfectly forms around my body, with just the right amount of give.

    2. Although for awhile my dog Cleo was too excited about the prospect of an entire house for her to explore and a new sister to share it with that she had taken to sleeping elsewhere, I have since forced her back into my bed at night and hopefully brainwashed her into liking it. I now wake up almost every morning with her stretched out beside me as close as possible.

    3. Finally, how can I be expected to hop out of bed at 4 a.m. when there is a warm, soft, deeply breathing body next to me? I’m not talking about Cleo, but a human who gets to sleep for at least 3 hours more and looks incredibly adorable doing it? All I want to do is cuddle up next to it.