Category: personal

  • Sleeping Habits

    You never really know much about how you sleep until you start sleeping in the same bed with someone for a period of time. Take me, for example. I’ve never been told that I snore, talk in my sleep, sleepwalk, or anything like that. I assumed that I curl up on my side, eventually roll over onto my back, and stay like that without moving for pretty much the whole night.

    I go to sleep much earlier than David does, so he tucks me in at night and then comes to join me a few hours later. Most of the time I don’t even notice when he gets in bed. But the other night I vaguely remember rousing to him shaking me and saying my name.

    “What is it?” I mumbled.

    “Nothing,” he replied. “I thought…you don’t want to know what I thought. I thought you were dead!” And then he gave me a big hug. I was so tired that I drifted off again right away, but I remembered enough of it to ask him about it later.

    He thought I was dead when he came in the room because I was frozen in an unnatural position. He said that my arms were in the air, as if I was trying to climb something. They were just stuck there: not as if I was having a dream about climbing and my arms were moving, but as if I had already undergone rigor mortis in that position. And he shook me at least three times before I finally responded.

    Apparently it’s not the first strange position he’s found me in. Next time, I hope he takes a picture!

  • Ugh

    I was in an elderly patient’s room this morning giving her medications. She was complaining to me about how she drank her coffee too hot and it burned her tongue. Then she asked me, “Will you brush my teeth? Maybe that will help it feel better.”

    “Of course,” I replied, since she has difficulty caring for herself. So I went into the bathroom, got her toothbrush and toothpaste, then came back to the bedside.

    She had popped her dentures out and handed them to me. Was not expecting that one. Aaaand, that is another activity I can add to the list of Things About Nursing That Make Me Gag.

    P.S. I still love my job.

  • Hello Friends,

    I’m alive, I’m married, I’m happy, and I’m busy!

    Our wedding was amazing. Or so I thought, at least. I keep checking my photographer’s website for pictures, but they aren’t up yet. I really want to share those with you, but for now please be satisfied with the pictures from our honeymoon. I am just going to give you the link to Flickr, because I already did a lot of work with the pictures on there and I’m too lazy to choose the best ones to put up here.

    Except for this one, which is my absolute favorite:

    We went to Kauai, Hawaii and it was the perfect place. Not commercial at all, completely relaxing, with tons to do if you want. There were beaches, mountains, canyons, and rainforests. I loved it. See the pictures HERE. They come complete with their own little stories.

    And, post-honeymoon, I love being married! We’re already saving a lot of money on gas, and there are plenty of other benefits too! But life is still crazy being back to work (and having to stay late most days), getting moved in (half my stuff is still at my parents’ house), and adjusting to living with a boy (he doesn’t go to bed before nine like I do. Why on earth not?). Anyway, you may or may not be hearing from me on here right now, but I’ll see what I can do.

    Love you all!

  • Contrasts

    I just got a call at work today from the husband of a woman I took care of almost every day for a month, who we sent to hospice last week. She passed away this morning, only 43 years old.

    I’m so glad she’s not in pain anymore, but I keep picturing her husband at her bedside, sweetly taking care of her. One time I came in the room to see her sleeping, but propped up on the table in front of her was a card that said “Honey” on it for her to read when she woke up, while he sat and watched over her. He doted on her.

    And I’m getting married in four days and boarding a plane to Hawaii. This is life, isn’t it? I wish everyone was as happy as I am right now, but some people are very, very sad. Sometimes when I think about it, I feel guilty for not being sad too.

  • Making It

    I wish I had more time to update you, but my goodness life is a whirlwind right now. Last night I went to David’s for the evening and it was the first time we’d seen each other in four days. We watched DVDs of “The Office,” indulged in chicken fried rice, and worked on wedding favors. I really needed a night like that.

    The wedding is in eight days – wow, my heart just started pounding – and somehow I think everything is going to come together. There are still a bunch of details to get out of the way, but thankfully I have this weekend off. Although I do have to work three days next week.

    Speaking of work, it has still been really tough lately. Everyone is saying that our patients are sicker than ever, we are almost always full, and we don’t have enough nurses. Some days it feels like an ICU, except that in the ICU each nurse only has two patients, while we have four, five, sometimes even six. At the beginning of this week one of my patients died who I’d been with for three months. Yesterday another one I’d become attached to was transferred to hospice. She was in so much pain that she couldn’t even concentrate to say goodbye.

    My days “off” right now are not restful; they are chock full of errands and tasks to complete. Here is what I did on my last day off, Tuesday, for example:

    • Final gown fitting
    • Pick up ring
    • Pharmacy
    • Buy makeup
    • Work on favors
    • Haircut and updo trial run

    Not to mention that the traffic since Ike has been exponentially worse than ever due to many stoplights being out and free tollways. Sooo…

    All this to say that I can really use a vacation. Luckily I have one coming up!