So, it’s time for another blog/rant/update!
1. As many of you know, my dad recently had surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. He did very well, better than even the surgeons thought he would do. Not that they were expecting a bad outcome, but this had been my dad’s third surgery and they expected a longer recovery. He was in the hospital for 5 days and is now home, wandering around the house looking for something to do. He’s not one to sit around and do nothing for long periods of time, and with the restrictions they’ve placed on him (no driving, no lifting, no pushing, no pulling) it doesn’t leave much for him to do. Hopefully in a few weeks he’ll be almost back to where he was before the surgery, and life can resume.
2. I did find something a bit alarming while I was visiting Dad in the hospital…the stairwells were really hard to find. I know that sounds like a minor annoyance, and there are people out there who couldn’t give two shits about taking the stairs. But as a person who hates exercise and tries to get the most out of everyday activity, I like to take the stairs whenever possible (and count it as a workout)…if I can find them. I wandered through three buildings at St. Mary’s Hospital looking for stairwells before I finally gave up and just took the elevator. I used to work there and knew were most of the stairwells were, but over time I guess I had forgotten. My poor mind can only remember so much, and apparently hidden stairwells don’t appear to be a priority. So as I was wandering around looking for stairs, I found myself wondering about the mayhem that would ensue should an actual fire break out. The only people that would probably survive would be the employees who knew where the stairwells were. And given the high amount of elevator traffic, I doubt most of the employees know where the stairwells are. I did finally locate several sets of stairs, and as I lumbered up the six flights to Dad’s unit, laden down with my backpack, a laptop, and a winter jacket, I wondered about the rationality of taking the stairs. But I did it anyway, and probably don’t need to work out again until I’m back in Florida.
3. So I’m back in Rochester now for about 2 weeks, and it’s weird. I grew up here so it shouldn’t be weird, but it is. I like that things feel so familiar. I was able to find the post-office on the north side of town strictly from memory (all those trips to the bowling alley in high school helped!), and I don’t find myself lost very often. Rochester seems like a pretty easy town to navigate…or maybe it’s just that I spent so many of my early years here. I don’t know. I guess it’s good and it’s bad. Sometimes I’ll find myself in a store or a part of town that reminds me of friends who I don’t get to see much anymore, and that makes me sad. And then there’s other times I’ll find myself in places that remind me of dates gone wrong, boys I’d like to forget, and drunken nights where I just wasn’t drunk enough to forget my bad behavior. Therein lies the trouble with visiting a place that holds years of familiarity. I sometimes wonder if I could move back to Rochester someday, have a new start of sorts, but still regain some of the good stuff from the old days. I don’t know if it’s possible to start over in a place that holds so many beginnings. I know I’ll probably be back here someday, when mom and dad start needing more help with their day-to-day living. Hopefully that’s years away, but one never knows.
4. It’s cold here. I expected it to be cold, and with –20 degrees yesterday morning, Minnesota did not disappoint. Honestly, I thought it would be worse. After living in North Carolina and Florida for most of the year last year, I had become accustomed to warm weather. When I’m in Florida, I bust out the coat and scarf when the temps drop below 60, and I wear a hoodie until the temps get up near 80. But then I get back here to Minnesota, it’s 15 degrees outside, and I throw on a hoodie, mittens, and a scarf and call it good. I don’t get it. I should be freezing. I should be huddled up under a blanket in my parents’ house refusing to leave under no circumstances. Why does 50 degrees in Florida feel so much more uncomfortable than 20 degrees in Minnesota? If anyone has any ideas, I’d love to hear them, because I’m really confused by the whole thing. I really did miss the snow though. I sat next to the window on flight home and sat riveted by the snow during most of the flight. I guess at heart, I’m a four seasons kind of gal. I know when I settle down for good, it’ll be somewhere that gets snow. I can’t do this ‘palm trees at Christmas’ thing…it’s too weird. Driving in the snow has been going well…I thought I’d be more nervous than I am…although I did drive home on the interstate going 50 miles an hour the other day…hahaha! It was dark out and the road was shiny! I was getting passed like I was standing still, but I didn’t care. Driving in the winter makes me nervous. I went in the ditch for the first time in my life last winter when I was home, I’d really like to avoid repeating that whole scenario if I can.
5. One thing I’ve been frequently partaking in since I’ve been back is Caribou coffee. I used to drink Caribou when Simon and I first started dating, as that was his favorite place to get coffee. You could say Caribou was my introduction to coffee. Over the years I’ve gradually become a Starbucks person, partly because once you get out of the Midwest, it becomes difficult to find a Caribou. And I’d like to add that I prefer to patronize little mom-and-pop coffee shops, but honestly, their consistency varies so much that I end up leaving disappointed more often than not. I feel bad saying that, but it’s true most of the time. At least when I go to Starbucks or Caribou, I know what I’m getting pretty much every single time. So there’s my rationality in going with the big, corporate coffee places. It’s not something I’m overly proud of, but there it is anyway. So back to Caribou…I had formerly written them off as nothing but milk and sweets with a little bit of coffee flavor. I felt like Starbucks and Dunn Brothers delivered more coffee flavor and less sweet, but in the past few days, I feel that Caribou has stepped up their game. I really enjoyed my coffee drinks, and I’ll be somewhat disappointed when I go back to Florida and only have Starbucks as an option. Ah, the troubles of traveling across the country…hahaha!
6. Okay, so I took typing classes when I was in high school, and I distinctly remember the ‘two spaces between sentences rule.’ And I just recently found out that that rule is obsolete, and that that particular rule really only applies to typewriters. So here I’ve been double-spacing between my sentences all this time, and just recently found out that I’ve been doing it wrong. Was I taught wrong? Or did I just not get the memo that things have changed? I found some literature stating that double-spacing between sentences went out in the 70’s. So now I’m trying to put one space between sentences, and my right thumb (my spacebar thumb) is being very uncooperative. Many of you might not even notice or care, but as someone that types as much as I do, it’s been a struggle. If Facebook doesn’t auto-correct my spacing, I know there will be random big spaces and little spaces between all my sentences. This new information has also been a hit to my typing speed. It’s almost like finding out that my Zodiac symbol changed. I don’t think I’m a Scorpio anymore, which is all right because I always found the dark and mysterious sexpot description of the Scorpio to be an inaccurate description of me. Not that I think the Zodiac correctly describes anyone, but maybe my new symbol will be a better fit…when I get around to figuring out what it is. As you can see, it’s not a priority.
7. Unfortunately for Simon and I, when we moved to Florida we neglected to bring along our Poo Log, which is a book that is designed for people to document their bowel movement satisfaction, taking into account smell, consistency, time spent in the bathroom, and number of wipes to a clean bottom…amongst other things. We like to keep it on our coffee table so our guests know that they’re visiting a ‘regular’ household. Most of the time…depends on how much cheese I’ve been eating, I guess. So now that I’m back in Minnesota, I made sure to put the Poo Log in my backpack so that it will come back to Florida with me, where it will regain its place of honor on the coffee table. I’m sure Simon has plenty of bowel movements to back log (as do I, but his entries are more entertaining), and our roommate Ellen will probably add a few entries as well.
8. My pug Brie has been having eye troubles lately. Apparently she injured her eye at some point and now has an ulcer, which we’ve been treating for the past few weeks. Now the vet wants to do surgery that may or may not help the ulcer heal. I tell you what, with these pugs it’s just one thing after another. I love them to death, but they are some of the sickliest dogs I’ve ever met in my life, and I feel like mine are two of the healthiest pugs I’ve been around. They’re lucky they’re goofy and sweet, because the rest of them is nothing but a mess. Simon and I have had lengthy discussions about how our current pugs will most likely be our last pugs. It makes me a little sad, because I really do love pugs a lot, but everything that comes along with them is a bit of a financial, emotional, and physical burden. Simon has me agreed to only two dogs, one of which may or may not be a pug. That’s the agreement. I know he’s leaning towards no pugs, and I’m starting to come around to that idea as well. Lady, the mutt, has been almost the perfect dog. If only I knew what she was.
9. I’m currently in the fourth book of the Harry Potter series. I tried reading the Harry Potter books years ago, and just couldn’t get into them. I was annoyed by the hype and really questioned how good they could really be. Well, I like them. I think the author is a good writer and the character development is pretty good. I feel that the people that compare J.K. Rowling with Stephenie Meyer are completely off base. They’re worlds apart in their writing ability. I think lumping them together in the same category is actually an insult to Ms. Rowling. But that’s just my opinion, and I haven’t fully gotten over my Twilight anger. So anyway, I’m on the fourth book, which Simon says is his favorite of the six. I’ve borrowed it from the library, and noticed that some disgruntled library patron has gone through the book and scribbled out the word “damn” wherever it occurs. Who does that? Especially to something that isn’t their property? So I sit here and wonder what kind of person would do that. My uncle Mike is convinced that it’s some crazy Catholic…hahaha! I’d be lying if I said I didn’t agree. What I have in my head is either a sheltered young child who wouldn’t think twice about skipping mass on Sundays, or a disgruntled retiree from the Midwest, also of the crowd that doesn’t skip church. Why I correlate disdain for swearing with the church-going sect, I couldn’t tell you. It’s just a feeling, I guess.
Ugh, I’m double-spacing again…
10. I am in love with my nephew, Jett. He’s the cutest, most fun little baby I think I’ve ever been around. He’s always happy and smiling, and he’s at that super fun 6 month-old phase, which is my favorite. I think babies are the most fun when they’re flopping around, smiling, and making those cute gurgly noises…that’s the best. Then they start talking and walking and all hell breaks loose. Not that the walking and talking isn’t fun, I just personally enjoy the flopping and the gurgling more. He’s getting so big! He’s 6 months old today and he’s in 12 month-old clothing. He was recently up here with my brother, Chris, for Dad’s surgery. Mom and I went to two different stores to try to find a snowsuit that would fit little Jett, and the only suit we could find was lavender. So, Jett got to wear a lavender snowsuit for the few days that he was here. He didn’t seem to mind. Chris didn’t like that the snowsuit said ‘Peace’ on it, but other that that he seemed okay with it. Like we said, in Minnesota in the winter, you don’t dress for fashion, you dress for warmth. I’m confident that Jett was plenty warm in his lavender snowsuit, even if everyone who saw him thought he was a girl…hahaha! Oh, and I like to call him Jettrick…that’s my nickname for him. I think he likes it.
11. So Simon and I have been having talks about what we want to do with ourselves. With the idea of kids ruled out, there’s really no reason for us to settle down just yet. I’m one of those people that like to have a plan…even if I don’t follow through with it, I like to have one. So here’s my plan. We’ve loosely committed ourselves to a two-season contract with the hospital system in Florida. After this current season, we’re hoping to go to Boston for the summer. I’ve been busy filling out applications for California, Massachusetts, and Washington State. Ugh…the licensing process is such a pain in the butt…and expensive! I’ve spent about $600 in the past week in licensing fees, postage, and passport photos. As an aside, I HATE my current passport photo. It’s the worst photo of me in existence, and that’s taking into account all those drunken photos from college when I was about 20 pounds overweight. I won’t let anyone see my passport; I’m so ashamed of it. And I know, it’s like a driver’s license, it’s supposed to be ugly, but I don’t think any of my driver’s license pictures have been ugly. And so I find it unacceptable that I have an ugly passport photo. I just want to lose the thing so I have an excuse to get a new one. Either that or Simon and I could get married…then I would have to get a new one. I think my current passport will probably expire before that happens though…hahaha! The passport photos I had taken for my license applications were so good! Why can’t I just trade them out? Or paste the new photo on top of the current one? Life just isn’t fair. ;) Anyway…my Massachusetts license is in the mail as I type this, hopefully well on its way to the correct person. I’ve heard that the license process for Massachusetts takes a long time, so hopefully I’ll have my license by May, which is when we would like to be up there. If we can’t get Boston, we’d like to either go to Seattle or San Francisco. I think all three of those cities are good choices, and I think we’d be happy in any of them for the summer and early fall…although we have friends in Boston and Vermont, so Boston would be the most ideal pick. We’ll just have to see! Over Thanksgiving weekend this year, Simon and I will be trekking down to Peru with some friends to see Machu Pichu…I probably spelled it wrong, but you get the idea. We’re super excited and a little nervous, of course, but I know it’ll be fun and an amazing experience. Our friend that’s planning it is such a fun girl, I know she’ll have all the details down to a T, and we’ll all have a great time. After Peru we’ll head back to Florida for another winter season that’ll probably take us into June of 2012. After that starts the big planning part…
12. I’d like to become ICU trained one of these days, and the only way to do it is to hang up the traveling shoes and take a permanent job somewhere for at least two years. Having a permanent job scares me a little bit, seeing as I haven’t had one in over 5 years. The nice part about my current job is that there’s always an end in sight, which is really nice when we’re in the throes of a crappy assignment. With a permanent job, I won’t be able to just up and leave without burning bridges, so I’ll have to stay on staff for a while, which brings about the risk of getting settled and staying somewhere too long (God forbid!). So we’re weighing out our options. We could come back here to Minnesota and I could try to get a job at Mayo, Fairview University, or HCMC. I think the type of experience that I’m looking for would be best found at one of those three hospitals. I’ve worked ICU overflow at smaller hospitals during my travels, and granted, they gave me the easiest of the lot since I’m not an ICU nurse, but both patients that I had were the type of patients that I’ve taken care of on a general care floor. If I’m going to get ICU trained, I want to take care of real ICU patients, and I feel that the only way to really do that is to work at a big hospital, or one that gets a lot of regional trauma/really sick patients. I’m chasing the sickies! Other options would be Fletcher Allen, which is the hospital that we worked at when we were in Vermont. I LOVED Vermont. I can’t express enough how much I loved living there. I loved the people, I loved the state, I loved the food, and I loved New England. Vermont is probably one of the places I’ve lived that actually felt like home, and if they have an ICU position open up within the next year or so, I definitely see Simon and I heading up there for a couple years. But I don’t want to rule out any of the other places that we’ve been…I know Colorado has some really good hospitals, Duke or UNC in North Carolina would be great places to learn, Boston has some of the best hospitals in the country…the options are out there, I just have to find the balls to commit!
13. And last but certainly not least, an update on my laptop. I’m in love with my Apple. I remember my friend Jenny making the comment that once I got used to the Apple, I’d wonder why all computers aren’t built like them. I honestly couldn’t agree more. Granted, I don’t do anything complicated with my computers. They are a vehicle for word processing, internet browsing, and photo organization. That’s pretty much it. I know I’m not using my computer to its full potential, but even if I needed to do more, I still think the Apple would be my choice over a PC. I quietly told my good friend and staunch PC user that I bought an Apple, thinking that he would be mad at me, but instead he loudly proclaimed, “Great! Now I won’t have to fix your PC anymore!” So even he can see the merits of Apple computers for someone like me. If I understood and could troubleshoot PCs as well as he does, I’d probably still have one. However, I understand PCs about as well as I understand quadratic equations, and there it is. I do have one gripe with Apple in general, and that’s their whole Big Brother thing that they’ve got going on. And really, Simon pointed out that all the illegal stuff I was doing with my PC was still illegal…just because I was able to do it on the PC and not the Apple doesn’t make it right. So he has a point. Apple seems to have figured out how to keep people from using bootleg copies of software and whatnot…at least for people like me that can’t figure out how to get around their security and licensing software. I understand the theory behind why they’re so strict, but at the same time I can’t help feeling that I’m being watched.
Anyway, that’s it. There’s lunch to be had and I’m getting hungry. Until next time!!
