kapachino

Category: personal

  • Friday Things: To Focus On

    Now that I’ve pretty much gotten settled into my new routine, I took stock of my life and decided that there are a few things that I need to focus on in the immediate future, and here they are.

    Study for (and pass!) the OCN exam.

    This is a priority. I take the oncology certification test on November 30, and I really need to pass. First of all, I’m taking the day off work for it, and I will be SO embarrassed if I come back the next day having failed. But mostly, it cost $265 to apply to take, and another $250 for a review course. If I pass, I get reimbursed. That’s a big incentive.

    Get Cleo back in shape.

    My favorite pup has become a fatty. Recently I saw this picture of her from a few years back:

    And this is her now (oh the shame):

    So I’ll be upping the amount of walks and trips to the dog park and switching to “healthy weight” food. Poor girl can’t help it that she has a terrible metabolism.

    Prepare for Christmas!

    I’d like to go into December with a good handle on all things Christmas. It’s my favorite holiday, and I don’t want it to be stressful. These are some things I want to get done sooner rather than later:

    • Finalize my wish list
    • Figure out what to give my family and search for deals
    • Have a complete list of names & addresses for people to send cards, and make significant progress on getting them out
    • Learn to make apple cider
    • Make an advent calendar (this will involve some very simple sewing but I am kind of petrified)
    • Put up a tree and decorate!

    What are you focusing on these days?

  • Job Happy

    It’s been a week, and I love my new job.

    I wake up thirty minutes later in the morning (still 5 a.m., but at least I don’t have to see the number 4 anymore), I catch the bus five minutes from my house, and sleep or read on the way in. The building I work in is brand new. I have my own mobile phone while I’m there, with a number specific to me, which is very convenient when waiting on phone calls from doctors and such. The people I work with obviously like each other and I’ve already started to become friends with someone my age. They’ve even started planning their Thanksgiving luncheon; I’m bringing mac and cheese.

    I have to be on orientation for a few weeks, so right now my days are fairly slow. Still, it’s exciting to come in each day and see what treatments we’ll be giving. We do a lot of chemo, iron, blood, lab draws, and injections. I get to form a relationship with the patients, but most of them are in pretty good shape since they’re outpatient, so overall it’s not too demanding. The documentation required is SO much less, and I leave every day right on time, instead of being forced to wait for the next shift to come on. It’s fantastic.

    Even though I haven’t worked four days in a row (let alone five) in years, I don’t feel overwhelmed at the thought of going back tomorrow. I’m excited to have a whole weekend to look forward to, and then hopefully years of job satisfaction to enjoy.

  • Three Things You Never Knew You Didn’t Need To Know About Me

    First.

    I have this thing with symmetry. It’s kind of like an OCD tendency. It expresses itself in many different ways, like if I’m walking and my right foot scuffs the ground I don’t feel right until my left foot scuffs the ground too. I have these urges all the time, but for the most part I can resist them. The one area I never resist, though, is with eating. I must have the same amount of food, texture, and taste on both sides of my mouth. I’m very adept at it by now, so that it is almost an unconscious act.

    Second.

    I was in a play in college. It was called The Dining Room and it was a portrait of WASPs. There were essentially many different scenes in it, without recurring characters, but every one was centered around a dining room table. I played a flirty middle-aged woman, a high schooler skipping school to drink with her friend, and a maid. I wanted to keep acting and try out for the musical, but playing soccer prevented me. I’m in love with theatre and now live vicariously through my brother, who works in the industry.

    Third.

    If you were to ask me what my favorite physical feature on myself is, I’d probably say my eyebrows. My mom told me a long time ago that I have nice eyebrows, and I’ve been proud of them ever since. I’ve never once gotten them waxed, but I pluck them diligently – almost every day. Recently, however, my tweezers broke and I decided to ask for new ones for Christmas instead of buying them myself because I am cheap. In the meantime, I’m using some extra forceps from work. They are huge and awkward and don’t grab very well. But they’ll hold me over.

  • Currently In November

    I’m out of my slump, I think! Wahoo! Let’s go November, bring us some fall weather will you?

    Current Book(s): I told David he could pick out a book for me to read, and that always means true crime. In this genre, the well-written books are excellent and fascinating, and the bad books are just terrible. David reads everything. It works out because he pre-screens them for me and I only read the best ones. (Some past favorites: In Cold Blood, The Stranger Beside Me, and And the Sea Will Tell.) So right now I’m reading Columbine by Dave Cullen, which he spent ten years researching. It’s so interesting.

    Current Playlist: The song that’s playing right this moment is “Ramona” by Guster. It’s a good one.

    Current Shame-Inducing Guilty Pleasure: I’m back on my chocolate chip-eating kick. But my nutritionist said that I can have dark chocolate every day, so that means it’s healthy, right?

    Current Color: I saw this olive green sweater dress on Ruche, and now not only am I in love with olive green but I desperately need a sweater dress.

    Current Drink: Just see my previous post to read all about Mix1 protein drinks, my current obsession.

    Current Food: These are my staples lately: eggs, beans, hummus, and fruit. I think I might die without them.

    Current Favorite Show: I had a dream the other night that I was on Dancing With the Stars. I constantly wonder how I would actually do on that show if I could be taught to dance. I think I might do alright if I could get over my embarrassment.

    Current Wishlist: I started working on my Christmas list, and since I usually only get one major gift each year I’m trying to decide between upgrading to an iPhone 4, an e-reader, or a nice pair of riding boots. What would you choose?

    v. v.

    Current Needs: I really need to learn to cook. Maybe what I should ask for for Christmas is cooking classes, because I can never motivate myself to do it on my own. I also need to get back in to exercising other than running. As we are finally able to focus on getting pregnant again, I’m putting a hold on running just to be safe. I want to start swimming, biking, and doing yoga instead.

    Current Triumphs: Well, we were finally able to do an IUI last week. After two years of infertility it was a relief to actually do something like that. We won’t know any results for another week and a half, but no matter what happens I’m in a better place mentally now that we have reached this point. I’m extremely hopeful that an IUI will work for us one of these times.

    Current Bane(s) of my Existence: Medical bills! My goodness, they keep rolling in. If it’s not for David’s hospital stay, it’s for infertility testing and treatment or annoying things like the dentist. One of these days we’ll get them paid and get back on top of our finances.

    Current Celebrity Crush: Y’all, I am sorely lacking in celebrity crushes. They are so much fun to have, and yet I can’t think of one. Who do you recommend?

    Current Indulgence: Can I tell you how much I love being a Nintendo ambassador? Every now and then they send me fun stuff to tell you about. Last week the new game “Kirby’s Epic Yarn” was delivered out of the blue and made my day. My brother-in-law, the video game freak, was there when I opened it. He actually had been watching trailers of it and was totally jealous. So I’ve been playing it almost every day since then, but I’m definitely going to pass it on to him once I beat it. :)

    Current Blessing(s): I feel like I’ve been granted a supernatural dose of patience. For the most part I’m not going crazy waiting to get pregnant, or to pay off our debt, or for our next vacation. I don’t know if it will last, but for now I’m basking in God’s provision for today.

    Current Outfit: Oh, I haven’t showered yet today so I’m still in a cotton tank top and shorts. Nothing to see here, move along please.

    Current Excitement: I start my new job next week! I’m looking forward to riding the bus to work again, calmer days, meeting my new coworkers, making weekend plans, and seeing what my new routine will be like.

    Current Link: For gluten-free stuff, I’m completely depending on Living Without. For local, organic food sources (like Thanksgiving turkey!) I’m using Local Harvest. And for laughs, have you seen Very Mary Kate?

    Happy November!

  • Why I’ll Never Be Super Nurse

    I work with a lady who I like to call Super Nurse. In addition to her full-time job in patient care on our unit, she is also in school to advance her degree. She is the chair of about a thousand committees. She is constantly conducting employee inservices and creating educational posters for the rest of us. She does research projects to figure out the best patient care. She plans all our parties. For a long time, I thought I wanted to be just like her.

    But then this year happened. We had a miscarriage, David dealt with debilitating pain and got both of his hips replaced, I developed food intolerances, and sunk into depression. My job, in which I formerly thrived, became a huge source of stress to me. I was the chair of a single committee, and even that was too much. Eventually, as you know, I went so far as to take a new job – one that I hope will be calmer.

    I’ve been feeling guilty about the decision. I’m not even thirty years old yet! I should have tons of energy! And yet here I am, wiped out at the end of every day, needing a regular schedule and less stress in my days. How am I ever going to be like Super Nurse?

    But then I realized that I have no idea what her life is like outside of work. Her job could be everything, her whole identity.

    I love being a nurse. I think it’s the perfect vocation for me, and it’s a fantastic profession. But it’s only part of me. I have way too many other interests and priorities to let it consume me.

    I want to be home every evening and weekend when David is there. I want to be more involved in my church. I want to read more, to see more shows, listen to more live music, run more races, take my dogs to the park more, make my house look pretty, learn to cook, and I even want to watch more TV. I want to have children, for goodness sake.

    I’ll probably never be like Super Nurse, but I’m okay with that. I’ll still be a darn good one.